my heart breaks

jobiann · July 2013

I just held my crying feverish baby (see my other posts below for the details...basically he has roseola) for 45 minutes on my lunch hour. My heart is absolutely broken. Finally his fever went down and he was more comfortable but at that point over tired and I had to leave to go back to work. So I handed him back off to my Mom, he fussed a little louder but as she rocked him he got quieter and quieter and soon fell asleep. I then had to leave for work...I'm praying he stays asleep for a few hours and rests up.

Just got an update from my sister, she says he is sleeping soundly, his temperature has continued to fall. I'm hoping he wakes up hungry after all of that and will at least give a smile or two.

MH is going over there at 2pm to help her with the next dosage of medication since I'm unable to leave from work....let's hope it goes better then the 11am one. The little bugger has gotten smart and won't take it in a short bottle with formula, from a bottle nipple or in his baby food. He HATES the Tylenol/Motrin.

Edit: let me say I know there are worse things out there....DS just basically has a fever that needs to be regulated with medication that will last anywhere from 2 to 5 days. I know other babies have far worse situations. I just had to vent...plus I always think it's good to share things like this because someone on this board is bound to have the same thing happen to their LO (I hope not, but statistics prove otherwise).

82Sonia · July 2013

Poor guy! I'm glad you know what it is though and how to treat it. It's okay to vent and it's okay to be sad over things, even stuff that in the great big scheme of things, is not a huge deal. I sobbed when DD got pink eye Stick out tongue

emja0214 · July 2013

I hope his fever keeps decreasing! Poor little guy!

jobiann · July 2013

What I've learned from being in day 2.5 of this...(hopefully only one more day and we start seeing the fever break tomorrow)

1. don't slack on the 3 hour rotation of Tylenol/Motrin. The fever will continue to rise without it. A little fever isn't bad as it's just his body fighting the virus, but my little man will get as high as 103.9 if he goes too long without it. This morning my Mom skipped his 9am dose because he "felt" cooler. Two hours later it jumped to almost 104. Scary!

2. don't put the medication in the formula bottle...then he/she won't take just plain formula...and they need to eat/drink when they have high fevers like this.

3. The best way (for us) to give the medication is to have someone else hold them gently but securely with the LO facing outward on their lap while someone else gently pushes on their lips to to make fish lips and squirt 1/3 or so of the medication towards one of the cheeks....then hold until they swallow, it may take a minute or so. You can gently blow in their face to force their swallow reaction. It seems mean, but for us this is the only way to get it down him. We also tried it in the baby food, he sometimes will take it but only if he is in the mood so it's a gamble.

4. teamwork, I'm so blessed to have a partner who is there through everything (although we've both had our times of frustration). It is easier with two. And in our case my Mom and my sisters have been a great help.

jobiann · July 2013

Basically he has roseola...it is classified as a viral disease with 3-7 days (most common of 3 days) of a high fever followed typically but not always by a rash once the fever breaks. It is very common according to my doctor and everything I've read. My Mom said all of us kids had it and my sister said both her boys had it. It happens to younger children between 6 and 18 months. The fever stays high unless it is treated with the Tylenol/Motrin rotation. It is contagious as well.

And it isn't fun.

Jessie333 · July 2013

Poor little guy. I hope he feels better soon!

ohiodoxiemama08 · July 2013

Aww, my heart breaks for you both. And thanks for the tips. Hope he's back to normal soon. I, too know there's worse things but I'd be super worried too. Hang in there!

jobiann · July 2013

shanie33:
jobiann:
Basically he has roseola...it is classified as a viral disease with 3-7 days (most common of 3 days) of a high fever followed typically but not always by a rash once the fever breaks. It is very common according to my doctor and everything I've read. My Mom said all of us kids had it and my sister said both her boys had it. It happens to younger children between 6 and 18 months. The fever stays high unless it is treated with the Tylenol/Motrin rotation. It is contagious as well.
And it isn't fun.

Poor thing - hope he gets better soon! How did you find this out? He just developed a fever one day?

He was pretty cranky on Sunday but I thought it was just teething and actually he was sneezing a lot come to think about it. But late that afternoon he felt warm so I checked his temp and he was at 100.4, two hours after that he was 102.9 so we gave a dose of Tylenol....he slept pretty good that night, woke up in the morning with a 103.4 fever...took him to his doctor. She said her daughter had this same thing three or four weeks ago.

She checked him out all over and nothing else screamed another condition so she said it most likely was just going to be a high fever for 2-5 days followed likely by a rash once the fever breaks but there are cases where no rash occurs as well as she said sometimes the fever is very very mild that they baby/parents hardly know they are ill and then all the sudden the rash appears. She said it will go away as rapidly as it came on.

My Mom was the one who first mentioned the actual term roseola...I think it's an old term. He is perfectly content except when the fever gets high, no rash (currently), no vomiting, no diarrhea, he eats well, poops/pees well.

I have been in close contact with his doctor twice a day, she'll ask for updates. It's nice to have a great doctor who is also a friend.