Dexter has had a fever since Sunday night/Monday morning. I started to get concerned because he just wasn't acting normal. He wouldn't eat his baby food, he wouldn't play or talk like he normally does. He just wanted to be carried around and was so incredibly fussy whenever he was alone on the floor. I'm trying my best not to be the "freak out" mother who takes her kid to the doctor every time he gets sick, but yesterday afternoon, his temperature was up again to 37.7C. I know that technically 38 is a fever, but this has been going on for days. His highest was 38.5 and his lowest was 37.3 (after Tylenol), but most of the time it was around 37.7. I caved and called the doctor because his appetite was down. With such a dramatic difference in activity, I was starting to get worried. Luckily we have superb insurance on him for just these occasions. We pay through the nose for it, so we might as well use it. The advice nurse told me to bring him in since it had been 3 days and he's still very young.
Everything checked out ok. He'd had a runny nose for a while, but it had been clearing up. The docs chalked it up to an upper respiratory infection even though his lungs were totally clear and his nose is no longer stuffy or runny. They checked his ears - or tried to. Apparently, he is an earwax making champion. They scooped and scooped and scooped. There was enough earwax scooped out of his ears that if you rolled into a ball it was about half the size of a pea. His right ear was particularly bad and he had signs of a slight ear infection that may have been the culprit, but just cleared up on it's own.
We were there for 2.5 hours because I insisted that they check his urine instead of me coming back later to have them do it. They put a little stick-on bag on him to catch it. Of course, it took him FOREVER to pee. He pees on me quite frequently these days, even after months of happily being bullseye free. The bag wasn't quite sealed, so most of it ended up outside the bag, meaning in the diaper and on my leg. Luckily, his urine didn't have any signs of infection.
By the end of the visit, after being on Tylenol for the past 3 days, every 4 hours, he was due for another dose when he started feeling better. He started babbling and standing and making a bit of noise. At home he started crawling around and pulled himself up on the couch. I told Mr. Cobra that next time he gets like this, I'm just going to take him on a walk by the doctor's office because he magically gets better every time we go.
It's frustrating because I don't instantly take him to the doctor. I have a wait and see attitude, but it's seems that whenever I call, they always tell me to bring him in. I asked about the fever because I know a fever is 38 C, but is that under the arm which is usually a degree or two lower? Do I seriously wait until it's 38 C with Tylenol? It's a bit confusing, and I know some people refuse to even give their kids Tylenol. Whatever… he's better today, so that's all that matters. He's still about 80%, but he did finally wave bye-bye again today.
