So Sick!

My Poor little Nathan is finally getting over being very sick! He started getting a fever around 9 or 10am on Tuesday and was not acting like his normal happy self. As the day went on he became more cranky and clingy and his fever crept up to 102.7. He had a rough night of sleep, and as I was nursing him one of the times he woke up I noticed his anterior fontanelle (soft spot) was tight, swollen and bulging. I called the 24 hour nurse line at the pediatrician's office and they confirmed what I feared, he needed to be seen in the ER to make sure he didn't have meningitis which could be causing the swelling in his head. Philip stayed home with the older two boys because it was about 3am, Wednesday morning, and I loaded Nate up and drove downtown to the children's hospital. We got right in to be seen and the meningitis work up was started right away. Poor Natey had to have an IV started (just in case he needed fluids and to draw blood work), spinal tap and catheter inserted for a sterile urine sample. It was so sad to watch him be held down, poked and prodded. Of course he cried and cried during the procedures, but as soon as I was able to hold him he calmed right down each time. He is just such a sweet baby.

Tuesday...first signs of illness

Thankfully, all the lab work came back negative for sepsis or meningitis and only showed that his white blood cells were elevated in response to something, likely a virus. As relieved as I was that nothing too serious was going on, I also felt so guilty that I had "allowed" him to have so many awful tests done on him "all for nothing." We were discharged home at about 5:10am and got home and back to bed at about 5:30. Although all the lab work was reassuring, Nathan ended up getting worse the 24 hours following the hospital visit. His fever would not go down despite medications and stayed between 102 and 104 all day. He was lethargic, clingy, cranky and seemed to be having body/head aches. His fontanelle stayed swollen all day and actually didn't get better until Thursday evening. Who knows why. Thursday he was a little better, as long as I stayed on his medication, but continued to be fussy and not acting like himself at all. So sad. Finally, on Friday he turned the corner and had normal temperatures most of the day. He seemed almost like himself at bedtime and I am hoping he will wake up tomorrow and be our happy, easy going baby again! Trials like this make me realize how wonderful it is to have 3 healthy boys. What a challenge it would be to have a child with chronic illness! Nate's recovery is a huge answered prayer! I hope to never see my little love that sick ever again!

saw this often :(

We did this all day Tuesday and Thursday while both brothers were at school