of course, not all the “firsts” of the first year are the happy ones. sooner or later first fever was supposed to happen. but no matter how many times you will hear from doctors and read on Internet that “fevers in babies are normal” and that every baby will experience it at least once before he or she turns one, when it actually happens you feel horrified and desperate and probably as miserable as your little one.
it happened during our New Year’s trip to Mexico, after a beautiful long day at the beach. we were driving back home and Leo was dozing off in a car seat too big for his little 7mo body. I was holding his head to prevent it from dropping, and noticed how hot was his skin. “Too much sun” I thought. it was indeed. his cheeks were rosy, and he was crankier than usual before bed time. I pulled out the thermometer I always carried with me on our trips but never had a chance to use. it beeped at 100,5F. not too high, but definitely a fever. we hoped that good night rest would cure it and cuddled to sleep together.
at night I felt as if his skin was burning. it was. his breathing was fast, he was tossing and turning around. I popped thermometer in his mouth once again and saw 102F on the screen. I felt the heat of a worry, almost crying. that night I couldn’t sleep at all. half of the night I was pacing up and down the room rocking him in my arms, checking the temperature every hour, nursing him continuously, praying he would feel better by the morning.
at 7am he woke up with his usual smile but without any strength to sit up. his eyes drowsy and sad, he couldn’t understand what was going on with him. he tried to crawl but stumbled, his body limp and weak. he could only stay awake for an hour or so, and eagerly fell asleep on my arms again.
I had baby Tylenol with me but was a little worried about the dosage and side effects as I never gave it before. I started with one tablespoon and checked his fever in an hour – it dropped back to 100,5F. throughout the day kept on nursing him on demand to keep him hydrated, and was happy to see he didn’t loose his appetite. I also did some research and tried different home remedies to help him fight the fever: vinegar body rub and potato slices in his socks. both seemed to ease the fever and made him more energetic, but not for long.
we spent last 3 days in Mexico like this, and with a heavy heart I was getting ready for our flight back to NY. the only consolation was that we will be able to see our pediatrician right away. fever was going up and down, always between 100,5F to 103F. his appetite dropped and he developed mild diarrhea. I was counting hours until we see our ped on Monday.
of course, by Monday he started feeling better. they still prescribed us to do blood test to outrule any serious viruses. I broke down into tears while holding his arm when nurse was drawing blood from his vein – I swear could feel the pain. “Mommy, are you ok?” she asked. I guess I didn’t look ok. they offered me a private room and a box of tissues – I needed both. never before a fever so little hit me that hard.
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