The Never-ending Fever

Kate doesn't get ill often, but when she does, it's usually only for a few days tops and then all is right in the world again.

So, when she woke up in the wee hours of Sunday morning last week with a fever, we thought that it would be over in a few days and we could continue on with our lives.

We were wrong.

Sunday, we all stayed home from church to keep Kate from spreading germs. She seemed to want us both, so it was good that we were all home together. She slept a lot, we dosed her with children's Tylenol and Advil, etc.

Monday, the fever was still there and again, she slept a lot. She drank lots of water and lemonade, but didn't really want to eat. Then she threw up--that's when I called the doctor. By the time we got to the doctor, she was acting pretty normal and her fever was under control. The doctor said it was just a bug and that she would get over it soon enough.

She never threw up again, thank goodness. On Tuesday, she didn't go to preschool and again, she slept and slept and slept. Only wanted to drink water and once in a while I convinced her to have a popsicle just so she could have some calories at least. I thought for sure she would be better by Wednesday, so she could go to play group and then go back to preschool on Thursday.

NOPE

Wednesday and Thursday were more or less the same--fever, sleeping, and little appetite. By this point, I was panicking. What if she had something even worse? What if she had gotten rabies from that cat bite she got on Memorial Day? She wasn't even taking ice cream, which made me think, "OH MY GOSH, SHE'S DYING!" I offered many prayers for her health.

I should mention that I was sleep deprived because Kate was waking up all hours of the night asking for water. I'm also pregnant, which doesn't lend itself to having lots of energy. Double whammy. It doesn't help that I have an anxiety disorder, so I naturally tend to panic. But bear with me, I wasn't used to Kate being sick for so long. She's a very healthy child (apart from eczema and food allergies)--I mean, she's only had antibiotics ONCE in her three years of life and that was in eye drop form. Yeah, I got really lucky in the healthy kid department. We consulted with Nurse Grandma numerous times, who assured us that Kate would be just fine. I have decided that everyone needs to be related to a nurse.

By Friday, things were starting to look up. Her fever was in the low grade range, so we hardly had to give her medicine. She was still sleepy, but she at least ate a little macaroni and cheese and drank some apple juice for lunch. That night, her fever broke. HALLELUJAH! I may or may not have sung (to the tune of "The Morning Breaks"), "The fever breaks, the virus flees!" Hey, I was sleep deprived, give me a break.

So now, my sweet, sassy little girl is back and making up for lost calories by eating everything in sight. I like having my good eater back.

We all went to church today, and it was joyous. I was chatting with another mom about Kate's illness, and her Nursery leader said that her daughter (who is about the same age) had the exact same thing about a month ago--waking up all night asking for water and all! She had also freaked out when her daughter had it (because the fever just would not break), so now I don't feel silly.

Now we can venture out into the land of the living (ha ha), although now we're entering a heat wave with highs in the triple digits. I think we'll be spending quality time at the pool and in our air conditioned condo. God bless air conditioning.