Sick Little Boy

Well, we had quite the weekend around here. I was gone most of the weekend at a leadership retreat for Mars Hill (I will tell more later) which left Mike home with Samuel. Little did we know he would be a sick little boy...

Thursday afternoon, Samuel woke up from his nap with a pretty high fever. We gave him Tylenol right away which seemed to help for a short time. He was also running the classic cold symptoms (runny nose, cough, clingy, whiney). Since Mike had practicum until 7:30 and I had the Leadership Retreat starting at 7:00, I took him with me until Mike was finished. Everyone noticed he wasn't himself. He laid in his stroller, drank water and drifted in and out of sleep. That night was the start of hell. We were up and down all night with him between trying to break his fever, control his cough and sooth his molars which are breaking through!

Friday morning, after very little sleep, he headed downtown with me for the retreat. Mike took a half day and picked him up so he could come home and rest. He seemed in much better spirits in the morning, but still was fighting the fever, runny nose and cough. By this point he was also very picky about what he would eat which were blueberries only! Mike controlled his fever all day and finally got him down for bed late that evening. He was up and down again all night.

Saturday morning he woke up and didn't have a fever! It has disappeared as quickly as it had come on. He still was fighting his runny nose and cough but seemed to be on the up swing. He spent most of the day down and out. Lots of sitting on dad's lap watching cartoons. Saturday evening we spent three and a half hours awake with him until I finally put him in the car and drove around for an half hour to get him too sleep. To say the least Mike and I were running on empty as Sunday morning came.

We figured we had battled the hard part and how it was just getting back to normal. That was until he woke up for his nap with a rash all over his stomach, back, neck, and face. Mike quickly gave him Benedryl in case it was an allergic reaction. I got home shortly after lunch and called the nurse hotline at the Children's Hospital. The nurse spent a ton of time with me and diagnosed him with a viral infection. There is nothing we can really do but wait it out! Great!

So, Samuel has the viral infection called roseola. There is really no way we could have prevented it and really no way to treat it. The rash will probably continue for another day or so then he should be on the upswing. In the meantime he gets Benedryl and hydrocortisone cream to control the itching and cough medicine at night so he and we can sleep. He is drinking plenty of fluids and is staying hydrated. From talking with others, I guess it is a pretty common childhood illness that has to take its course. Oh! The joys of parenthood!