Well, Good Morning to You Too!

Good Morning West Virginia! A few inches of snow & schools are closed. Pretty typical; snow is very unusual in Appalachia, you know...

Papa had an appointment this morning, so he got to greet Alexander when he started to fuss in his nursery. Alexander Loves to see Papa in the morning. Well, he loves it, until Papa has to leave for work. Then the inconsolable crying starts.

So this morning we distracted ourselves at the bird feeder, while Papa snuck out the back door.

We saw the West Virginian State Bird; a bright red cardinal. Along with his not-so-red lady friend.

Then a family of House Sparrows flew in for a little snack.

And finally a lone little Nuthatch grabbed a bite.

Did I mention the babe put in a pretty bad night? Well, he did. At 4am I dosed him with some Motrin to get his fever back down. And although he was miserable when he woke @ 7:30, his fever was a respectable 99.9*.

Shortly after Papa left, the little hot potato started fussing more. But I figured it was the typical, "I love my Papa more than my boring Mama," routine. So, we went upstairs. Listened to some Jefferson Airplane,

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall

The babe zoned out for the chorus, while I tickled his belly & tried to sooth him. I kind of thought he seemed shakey. And his fingers were quite cold, but the rest of him was feverish. So, I figured I was seeing things.

He got restless, & wanted to go look for Papa downstairs. So we did... no luck, of course. So the crank continued. And he loves to eat Mama's cereal, so I figured, that'd be a sure fire way to cheer him up. Strapped the poopsic in his booster, poured some cereal. And he still looked like he was shaking, but he never stops moving, so, it was hard to tell for sure.

I gave him the first bite out of the bowl, thinking all he needed was some Cheerio/Raisin Bran Therapy & he'd feel all better. But, even the way he was eating didn't seem right. And this time I knew he was shaking.

I called Dr. Arch. The new lady, who doesn't know us, or so I thought, answered. "Of course, I know you Mrs. Mama. We got Alexander's picture yesterday." (Yeah, I sent a thank you card to the Dr. & her lovely ladies. With my family so far away, i don't think I could have made it through the first year without weekly calls to Patty, Kristy & the doc.)

Anyway, she new me. I told her his fever was only 99.9* an hour ago, but that he looks like he's shaking. "He's probably cold," she said. "Blah, blah, blah," she continued. By that time I had him out of his seat, undressed & ready for yet another rectal reading.

"His fever is 103.5 now," I said. "Blah, blah, blah," she continued.

"I think his lips are turning purple. And his legs are purple & spotty."

"Hold on, I'll get the nurse...Go to the ER now."

"Bye."

OK, probably way more detail than you needed. But maybe when Alexander reads this in 20 years he will appreciate how quickly his Mama acted & want me to hold him, even when Papa is around:).

So, off we went. Papa was already at Wheeling Hospital for his appointment, but he silenced Mama when she called... I don't think he'll do that again. So I texted him, "Er." He didn't check that either, until he was getting into his car to leave...

Papa arrived just after they weighed the hot potato, 11.4 kilograms & poked his rump roast with some KY (Yep, i guess that is the preferred Wheeling Hospital brand. Talk about product placing.) 104.2*.

Then we had to listen to the addict next to us moan in "pain," requesting her drug of choice. Had to laugh when she peeked out of her door & walked nimbly down the corridor in her nightgown when no nurses were looking. I guess her pain wasn't a 10, like she had said...

Anyway. Nose swab; No flu. Chest X-ray; no pneumonia. Full body search; no rash. Fluid behind his ear; but no infection (yet). So, "it's just a virus." Well, we already kinda knew that, it was more the Febrile Seizure, that brought us to the ER.

About an hour after some extremely expensive ER Motrin, the babe's fever had only dropped to 103.5. After the nurse took it, she said "Uh oh. I better go tell the doctor." Well, geez. Luckily, they still discharged us. Two hours after the pricey ER Motrin, Z was only cooking at about 102.5.

So, we're home again. Motrin & Tylenol every 3 hours. The ER doc led us to believe that Virus' & 104 fevers shouldn't last more than 5 days, so hopefully we'll all be napping normal again by tomorrow. But, no swim lessons Saturday, I suspect.

The very efficient Aunt Jenn did some independent research while we were occupying ourselves with bedpans & dimmer switches, and reassured us that fever shakes or Febrile Seizures are fairly common with high fevers, but that once a babe's had one, more are likely.

So, let's just pray for bucking the trend!