Mission "Turn this day around" was a miserable failure. Treadmill didn't quite happen. I got lost in a very moving episode of Dr Phil (note the sarcasm). I got so wrapped up in this episode that I lost track of time, and then it was time for the kids to get up. Oh did I mention that it was an episode I'd already seen!?!? Ugh.
So anyway, the kids get up, and we decide to skip painting since it's nice out, and we play in the sprinkler. I'm enjoying my book and I realize... hmmm John hasn't called back to tell me that Lucas is awake. I was waiting for an update about his fever, which was low-grade when he woke up. I think it was at like 100.4 or so. No big deal, I figured it was because he's teething. Well I call him and he said Lucas was not awake yet, and up bubbled a bit of that maternal instinct. I wanted to tell John to wake him up, since he'd been napping for 2 1/2 hours and he usually only naps 2 hours, and he was due for another dose of tylenol, if needed, an hour before that. But, I felt guilty telling him what to do. He is Lucas' father. He takes very good care of him, and has only Lucas' best interest at heart. So to save myself a potential argument, or to save John's feelings I said nothing. John said he'd rather let him sleep, as he's obviously not feeling well. I had no valid argument for that, who's to say which was the better course of action?
Well, I got a frantic phone call 20 minutes later saying that Lucas' temperature was 104. That's right 104. I was panic-stricken. "GO! Take him to the ER. I'll call Bob and tell him you can't come into work, then I'll make arrangements to meet you there". It's now about 4:45. I call Bob, he's extrememly cooperative. I call my boss, and she jumps on the 5:00 train. (Mind you, she had to sprint to the train to make it there!)I told her that I was going to call a neighbor to give them a heads up that if I felt I had to leave they may need to take over for me. Then my cell phone died. SERIOUSLY?!?! So I pack the kids in the car, and go to the Verizon store to buy a charger because GOD FORBID I buy a universal charger that actually works. NO no, i get an error message that sais "not an authorized charger blah blah blah". So after a 20 minute wait to get the stupid charger, I finally plug the phone in - nothing. No texts, no missed calls. I rush abck to the house, feed the kids, and at 5:55 my boss pulls in and I jet. I called Lori, thank goodness for her, to talk to me on hte way to the hospital to keep my mind occupied. I made it back to Milford in record time (under 30 minutes). I run into the ER where I have to wait in line for 25 minutes to be buzzed into the ward.
And there is my little baby. He's sitting on his Daddy's lap, looking about as miserable and pathetic as I've ever seen him look. He has red eyes from crying, and no color in his face. But one tiny hint of a smile at me, and I think he's never looked better. All the way to the hospital all I could think about was worst case scenarios that are too scary to even put into words. To see him sitting up, breathing, and showing any kind of emotion was more than I could take. I scooped him up from his Daddy and snuggled his burning little body. He was so hot. We laid on that gurney for hours, as nurses came to take his temperature over and over again. Before I arrived they had already determined that he had a sever ear infection, and had taken a chest x-ray, which came back clear. We just had to wait until his fever was controlled, under 101, to go home. Around 8:30 we were discharged and I began a frantic search of area pharmacies for generic Infant Tylenol, thanks to the recall. No one had any - just Children's strength. Sooo I asked a pharmacist if there was a way to dose children's tylenol to infants, and wouldn't you know she had a box of infant's strength behind the counter. I was so happy, I bought and ran home. Oh wait... the dosing on the box is for ages 2+, despite it being INFANT STRENGTH! Ugh... so then it was telephone tag with the urgent care pediatrics office before I could even give him a dose. It was an hour late. I was panicky. They told us to wake him ever 4 hours for tylenol and every 6 hours for motrin, and to give him both throughout the night. So, we were essentially waking him up every two hours. He was a trooper though, and when we took his temp again at 8:30 am it was back to low 100's.
I'll tell you, there is no worse feeling than being stuck somewhere when your child needs you. I realize that John is perfectly capable of handling the situation, and Lucas is lucky that one of us is able to be with him always. However, it doesn't change the gut wrenching feeling I had yesterday. Today, I need to just relax and snuggle my boy.
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