A Sick Boy

The only reason I will announce that I am happy this little girl is still enjoying the comforts of my womb is because little man came down with some kind of nasty virus that has kept him in and out of fevers since Friday night.

On Friday, upon arriving at daycare with little man, there was a note in tapped to his cubby, "there is a case of conjunctivitis going around." Fabulous!

My parents picked little man up Friday and he wasn't well. He was just out of sorts and quiet. We went about our business when he got home, but you could tell he was starting to come down with something. By Saturday mid-morning, he was a wreck and his eyes were starting to get puffy. I decided to take him to the pediatrician to get his eyes check. No conjunctivities, but a virus that will make him feel crummy.

Doing my motherly duty, I asked about the whole cold/cough medicine debate. The PA we saw is fantastic, young and a father of young children...so he gets it. He said he doesn't give his kids anything but benadryl and tylenol/motrin when they are sick. As a result, I decided to skip my usual dosage of Triaminic (which really works for little man's cough) at nap time and give him a dose of benadryl on Saturday. I thought to myself, "well this will be great...he'll get a ton of sleep," then I ran off to wal-mart for my weekly grocery shopping.

When I got home I was greeted by the hubs with a horror story. Apparently there are side effects to go along with benadryl that are less than pleasing and all together scary for parents and children. Little man woke after 45 minutes screaming, hitting and kicking the walls, and unconsolable. There was nothing hubs could do to calm him down. After about 30 minutes of this behavior, little man wore himself out enough to go back to sleep. I got home 45 mintues following that and had just finished unpacking the groceries when the process started over again. This time, I tried to deal with it. He would not be consoled for a good 20 minutes. He was like a boy I didn't recognize and completely out of control. As scary as it was for me and the hubs, I can only imagine how scary it was for little man to be that out of control. I was finally able to calm him down by taking a bath with him. It actually worked, but it took a long bit of clinging on little man's part to fully calm down.

It was a nightmare and not one I wish to repeat. I will go back to triaminic b/c I know it works. I have to keep the benadryl on hand, but will only ever give it if he has an allergic reaction to eggs or nuts.

This proves, once again, the good Lord knows what he's doing. All those nights last week when I was praying for this little girl to come out and play, he wasn't ignorning me. He was allowing me to care for a sick little man in a way that only I can. Mommy's always provide the best comfort - hubs, if you are reading this today...no offense to you b/c you did great this weekend with him.