Sick Jack!

Poor baby Jack. Last Friday (1/22), I kept him home from daycare with a fever. Last time he had a fever, it was just a cold, and the doctor couldn't really do much, so this time I figured I'd just let it run its course. (See left. He was still happy on Friday - runny and stuffy, but happy!)

By Saturday afternoon he was so lethargic and groggy that my "mommy radar" went off. Something just wasn't right. I hesitated, but called the doctor (thanks Mom for the advice!)

Sure enough, they wanted to see him right away. Turns out he had double ear infections and RSV (which you can read about here.) RSV is a pretty common, but ultimately scary, respiratory infection. Unfortunately there is no real treatment for it, because it is a virus and therefore immune to antibiotics. It is also very contagious and is the cause of a lot of infant hospitalizations. The ear infections, on the other hand, seemed to follow the RSV and were easily treatable by Amoxicillian (you remember the pink stuff you took when you were little? Yeah, Jack hates it.)

Anyway, it was a scary weekend overall. By Saturday night the only fluid I could get into him was Pedialyte through a medicine dropper. Thankfully by Sunday afternoon he was starting to eat a little more normally (even if all he wanted to do was nurse.) He also decided he liked solids again on Monday. So we are getting better, slowly. It is still a fight to get the antibiotics into him - he really, really hates it, but Justin has gotten a good system down of forcing them into his mouth and then forcing him to swallow.

He has a follow-up doctor's appointment on Monday. They are requiring him to get a flu shot then, as he is over 6 months old and that's safe now. (Even though he technically had the flu in December, they want to make sure he has immunity to as many strains as possible.)

We also found out that our big boy is now 17 lb 4 oz! He will get measured and a checkup at his next appointment; I will post all his stats then. Until later....