With two boys, it was bound to happen eventually. I actually thought our first trip would be from a broken bone or huge gash, but instead, a 105 degree fever brought mom, dad, and Joshy to our delightful Haymarket ER on Saturday, April 17th.
Friday started off with Paul taking Josh to the doctor's because we figured he had an ear infection (classic low grade fever, fussy, not eating, hitting ears, etc). Sure enough, he had his 3rd infection in his left ear. Paul got the antibiotics, gave him some tylenol, and took him shopping (don't ask, it's Paul). Seemed happy as a clam. I get home from work around 5:30pm and immediately notice how hot the little guy feels. I took his temperature and it was 104.3. Whoah! Wasn't expecting that. Jake had never had a fever over 104 before. I remember always thinking that 104 and above was an immediate trip to the ER but given my incessant reading about toddler/infant illnesses and fevers, I knew we'd be okay as long as I could get the fever down below 104 with tylenol (and 105 is the red flag to go to the ER). And sure enough, the tylenol brougt it down to about 102.5. The poor little guy was so miserable and just wanted to be cuddled. I felt so badly for him. We all know it's no fun to have a high fever.
Saturday morning rolls around and he had a very low grade fever so we went out to the Haymarket Earth Day Parade for some fresh air... then he slept for about 3 1/2 hours. That is very unsual for him so we knew he still wasn't feeling great. By that evening, his temperature was 105 degrees and tylenol wasn't even doing much good in bringing it/ keeping it down. I drove from my mom's house to our house to drop off Jake with Auntie Sara (so awesome to have great friends close by to help out in emergency situations!) and Paul and I went up the street to the Haymarket Medical Center ER (so wonderful to have a 24/7 ER 5 minutes up the road!). The intake nurse and doctor definitely seemed concerned that his temperature was so high and that he looked so out of it. He was literally laying limp in my arms and he could barely keep his eyes open. It was horrible (and scary).
They immediately put an IV in (not easy to do on a baby...) to pump him with fluids, took blood to check for infection, and did a chest x-ray to check for pneumonia. After about an hour, the doctor told us that the x-ray was negative and the blood work looked fine (sigh of relief). She said it was doubtful that the ear infection caused that high of a fever so it could be a virus or some other kind of infection. At that point, they wanted to check for a urinary tract infection so in went a catheter for a little sample of golden goodness. That came back negative as well. By then, Josh's fever had come down to about 100.3 and he was much more alert and squirmy (and clapping). One of the nurses gave Josh two shots of antibiotics in his chubby little thighs and then we were on our way home (at 2am....).
The staff was fantastic and even though we were there for 5 hours, everything ran very smoothly and was quick. Even Josh's little hospital gown was adorable. He was REALLY ticked that they put the IV in his right arm with a board on it so he couldn't bend his arm.... that is his treasured thumb sucking hand!! :-( He had a hard time settling down and sleeping because he couldn't suck his right thumb. But other than that, Josh was quite the little trooper.
His fever continued at about 103 on Sunday but was gone by Monday morning (thankfully!). We went in to see his pediatrician on Monday afternoon as an ER follow-up visit (required). She checked his ears and lungs and all of that good stuff and everything looked fine. She thought it was most likely a virus that just caused an exceptionally high fever in Josh for some reason. Also came to find out that Motrin seems to work better for Josh than tylenol, so that will be good for future reference (and fevers!). We sent the little guy to school on Tuesday and what ends up happening? I get a call around 3:30 that Josh has a rash all over his back, chest, and stomach. I immediately thought of an allergic reaction to the antibiotics he had been given (since he is allergic to penicillin). I take him (and Jake, fun!!) to urgent care on Tuesday night to see if the doctor thinks its an allergic reaction rash or a viral rash. He thinks it looks like an allergic reaction but that we should see his pediatrician in the morning for her to make the final call. So yet once again (3rd time in 5 days), Paul takes Josh back to the doctor's and she says it is definitely a viral rash.
Long story short, Josh probably had Roseola or something of the sort. It comes on as a sudden high fever and then when the fever breaks, the rash breaks out. The unfortunate part about those kinds of illnesses is that the kid is contagious before the rash, not during the rash. So you don't know what they have until after the fact. By Friday, Josh was back to normal (no rash) and eating and playing like his normal jolly self. We're all back to being healthy and hoping to stay that way for a while!
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