Fever One

Not pictured: The giant pool of snot, sweat and drool that seeped into my shirt. To say I didn't mind because OMG SNUGGLES is an understatement.

Well, nine months into our stint as parents, Baby E came down with his first fever. He was fussy all Tuesday night, but we just chalked it up to teething and growing. But Wednesday morning, he was not a happy baby. He didn't seem overtly sick, just stuffy, so we took him to daycare. I got a call at 9:30 am from our provider and she said poor baby was just not happy and needed his mama. She usually cares for the kids even if they are sick, but E was pretty much inconsolable. So I left work, stocked up on saline nasal spray and M&Ms and took my little boy home. Wow, a baby with a fever is awful. He wasn't too hot when we got home, but during a diaper change, I noticed he was HOT. I've never been around a baby with a fever that I can remember, so I was a little freaked and took his temp. It was just over 101, so I stripped him down to his diaper and called the advice nurse. She was super nice and advised to just keep him comfortable, give Tylenol every six hours and watch out for any shivering or trouble breathing. Baby E spent the rest of the day and evening sleeping fitfully, crying, or eating. I was completely worn out by 8:00 pm and L was working a double, so I just gave up on everything and fell asleep next to E. L got home around midnight and E was still running a low fever, but he was starting to look a little healthier.

Around 4:00 am, he had a full bottle and his skin was back down to a normal temp. When we woke up for the day this morning, he was so much better, his fever was gone and he was ready to get up and play. I watched him for any lingering symptoms for another hour and, after consulting with our daycare provider, took him in and went to work. He's still feeling not great, but daycare is able to take care of him so I can get something near a full day of work in. Speaking of which, I just spent 20 minutes decorating a rosemary tree some kind person sent to my boss because I just needed to have actual work step off for a bit. My mentor resigned yesterday morning and basically was all "Bye, nice knowin' ya." and another boss is just like "You don't have time for my non-urgent requests, so I'm going to flood you with useless task requests." I do not respond well to passive-aggressive cries for attention, so I decorated an FTD rosemary Christmas tree and now I smell like a Williams-Sonoma.