Thursday, 12/11, David was a little fussier than normal. Not much made him happy, but it was really an off and on kind of thing. He had three soiled diapers that were a little softer than normal, but nothing too bad. By dinner time, he did not want to eat much, and just cried in his booster seat. I wiped him down, and decided that he just needed an early bedtime. It's been a little crazy in our house between Christmas stuff and all the birthdays, so I assumed he was just exhausted.
Friday was Jillian's 3rd birthday! Phil and I taped ourselves waking up Jilly by singing "Happy Birthday" to her. David immediately started fussing, so Phil picked him up. David felt so hot to the touch. I searched everywhere for a thermometer, but could not find a single one. I ran to a store and bought an ear thermometer. David had a temp of over 103. Knowing all the things we needed to do and had planned for the day, Phil offered to take the day off to help take care of David. Davey was acting pretty sad, and was still not eating or drink very much. He gets very clingy when he doesn't feel well, which he gets from me. We gave him Tylenol and offered soft foods and water. Throughout the day, his fever would go down to 101 or so. He really didn't have any other symptoms, so we assumed this was just one of those 24 to 48 hour bugs that he needed to fight off.
Around 5pm, Phil and Jillian went to pick up some BBQ for dinner per Jilly's birthday dinner request. While they were gone, David's breath seemed to get really shallow and fast. This concerned me, so I counted his breaths per minute (or rpm). It was 54 when I counted, so I called the triage nurse through his pediatrician. She had me count again on the phone, and it was 48 rpm. The nurse told me that 50 rpm tells them he needs to be seen in an ER immediately, so she suggested I take him to an after hours clinic. I rushed him over there, and he was thoroughly checked out. They did a flu, strep, and urine test (via catheter, poor guy), which all came back negative. A time or two, someone would ask about his tummy, but I didn't notice anything, so I always answered with "no." At the end of the visit, the doctor there told me that with his high temp, if he is still not feeling well by Saturday, I should bring him back to check for an ear infection. His ears were clear at the time, but I guess that can change quickly. I took him home, and we went ahead and did cake and present for Jilly at 9 pm. He ate a few pieces of meat dry before we sent him to bed.
Saturday, I had an 8 am hair appointment. David was still feeling icky, but Phil told me they'd be fine. Once I got back, Phil's parents were on their way to have lunch with us for Jillian's birthday. With David's fever, they decided to come by for presents, then go to lunch with just Phil, Jillian, and Phil's brother and sister-in-law. David was a little more animated when Grandma and Papa were around, but he was still a little pitiful. David and I had some alone time while everyone went to lunch. He slept most of the time, and his temperature even went down to 100.2 or so. I was hopeful that meant things were looking up. Every so often he would kind of cry out, but I was able to calm him again fairly quickly. I didn't think much of it considering how high his temp had been. Phil brought me something to eat, and I let David have about half of my roll. {This is the last thing he ate until Tuesday mid-morning} With his temperature lower than it had been, I went ahead and went grocery shopping. It was going to be a big trip anyways because some of the food is for Christmas when we have my family over! I was pretty wiped out myself by the time I was done.
At dinner time, David was really not interested in food or drink. We tried giving him Pedialyte, but he barely sipped at it. I was starting to get a little concerned, but his temp was still lower than it had been. We put David to bed at 7:45 pm, but he was crying loudly by 9 pm. Phil and I decided that, to try and get a little sleep before church, Phil would sleep on the couch, and David and I would sleep in our bed. We gave him some Tylenol, and we got settled. Throughout the night, David would sleep a little, but then curl up into the fetal position and just cry. I would move him, offer water, etc. Nothing seemed to make him better. His tummy and head got really hot at one point, so I took his temp and it was 104. I gave him more Tylenol, but over an hour later, it was still in the high 103 range. We tried a warm bath, but nothing was making this fever go down. Not knowing what else to do, Phil and I decided that he would go to church, and I would just keep the kids at home to rest. I had a children's Christmas program I was in charge of Sunday at 4 pm, so I wanted to keep the kids as comfortable as possible.
Sunday morning, I texted my mom to tell her we were staying home. Even without any other symptoms, including David not messing with his ears at all, my mom wisely suggested we go back to the clinic I took him to Friday night. I figured that was a good idea assuming that he had a double ear infection, and waited for the clinic to open at 10 am before loading the kids up to go.
To be continued...
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