Welp, we just dealt with our little guys first fever! Over the last several months we have been extremely cautious of where we choose to take J, given the pandemic. If we ever have to run to the store we either drop him off with my mom or one of us stays home with him. If we don't have to take him to anywhere that's indoors unnecessarily then we've personally chosen not to.
So you can imagine our surprise when our little guy woke up on 9/9/20 at 4a with a very high fever! We gave him some infant Tylenol and assumed teething may be the culprit. However, when the fever barley broke and he seemed uncomfortable, we immediately called our doctor. We were able to speak to a nurse and get some advice for how to keep him cooled off and what we can do till our appointment with the doctor the next morning. It all seemed typical, the cool wash cloth, light weight clothing, which we chose to just do diaper. It all helped but the little guy still ran a low grade fever through the day. By the evening it reached up to 102.8! We met with the doctor at 8:45a on 9/10/20 and he let us know that since J didn't have any other symptoms other than high fever and diarrhea, he wasn't too concerned. He said it sounded viral which he could get from ANYWHERE especially with us having dogs and him crawling now. He mentioned that he had seen recently, more cases of Roseola, which is a VERY common viral infection most children get between 0-2 years of age. He said if it were that, we would see a rash break out after his fever started to drop. Since his symptoms appear to be similar to Roseola, to keep an eye out for a rash. If so, continue with Tylenol or baby Motrin and keep him hydrated with extra feedings.
Since the fever started on 9/9, J, my mother and myself had VERY little sleep. We sent John to bed because J only wanted to be held by me or my mom, and we figured he had work anyway so best for him to get rest, no need to suffer with us. Although, he was stellar at running to Ralph's at 5a to get more infant Tylenol and run to Starbucks each morning, lol. He ended up calling out on 9/11 to stay home and help watch J so that my mom and I could finally close our eyes for just a minute.
We were blessed that J continued to eat solids, minimal but still had an appetite. As well as took extra bottles, which in our case was a blessing I had so much milk stored in our freezer, because our boy was taking it down!
Sure enough by the afternoon on 9/11/20, our little guy broke out in a large rash across his chest, shoulders and face, at the same time his fever broke. Now, I never want to see my child have a rash or anything on him, but the sight of the rash gave my momma heart such sweet release to know that we finally knew what it was for sure, and that he was gonna be ok! The Doctor had prepared us, as well as google, lol, that the rash can last for 3-5 days so not to be alarmed when it doesn't go away soon. It felt so good to see our boy play again, laugh and no longer have a fever!
Its now the 11a on 9/12, as I sit at my computer and write this and am thrilled to report he is fever free, the rash is faded but still slightly there and he is still asleep!! He has not gotten any real rest during this and to know that his little body fought that fever off and his immune system became a little stronger, makes me feel better.
I learned over the last 3 days that when I pray and I feel like God isn't answering fast enough, that my only job is to keep praying and not play God in determining what 'fast enough' is. As I prayed I could hear God say, will you only show your faith when it's 'easy' or when you have to stay faithful. So I hugged my little guy and continued to pray. Because I will show J that we will praise God on the mountain top and we will pray when we walk through the valleys. That our faith and prayers will not be shaken by time. In the moment it felt like my little guy was never going to have his fever break. But from start to finish it was 3 days, and when we spoke to our doctor he said the fever usually lasts up to 3 days and then the rash appears. But his fever broke on day 2. God is good, all the time. And He knows what He's doing. As I reflect, I can see God's blessings and hand over the situation that I didn't see in all the moments. I see now the memories my son got to make with my mom, since she never left our side starting 9/9, which fun fact was her birthday, till he was fever free on 9/11. She even stayed till he went to bed to make sure he was ok. We snuggled, cried and laughed making memories we will never forget during a time that felt scary. All the while, God knowing what He was doing, making our faith stronger, teaching us how to be the best parents for J and knowing that our son was going to be A-ok!
*The photos range from day 1-day 3 when the rash broke out. We also kept a schedule for his fevers each day and would take a photo of it at the end of the day, to start another day. This way we could make sure we had all the information in case anything more developed and the Doctor would need it. The baby fan came in handy as we would wet his hair and blow the fan on him to help cool his head!
It's never easy when our sweet babies are sick 💔😪 He made the sweetest little patient, his sweet little smiles warmed my heart. Thanking Jesus he's on the mend. ❤🥰😘