Levi, before being sick, is standing in the backyard maybe on Mother's Day.

I slept in until Pete was done showering.  So, at ten after 5 this morning, I got up, got his lunch together and began tidying the kitchen.  I received an idea-inspiring email from a friend, and worked on some things for that conversation.  I put the laundry in the dryer, got my lunch together.  I was feeling quite productive.  I spent too long in the shower, but was still doing good on time.  I began getting Levi’s breakfast together, and finally, at 7:30am I went to get the Bug up.

Levi had squawked an hour earlier, but he put himself back to sleep.  He didn’t really want to get out of bed, but didn’t raise too much of a fuss when I scooped him and Rabbbit out of bed.  His head was HOT!  It felt like it was on fire, so I laid him on the changing table and touched his tummy and legs, which were warmer but not hot like his head.  The window was closed, he had no covers on, and the heat was turned off.  So, I looked at the docile babe and ran into the bathroom to get the thermometer.  We haven’t had much luck with little person thermometers, but we did have a $7 standard, digital thermometer from Walgreen’s.  So, I asked Levi to play a little game – keep the thermometer in his mouth until it beeped.  Immediately, it seemed, the readout was 101.5!  My baby has a temperature, a fever!

We are all getting over colds, but Levi has never run a fever.  Yes, he’s had weight issues, ER visits, bumps, scrapes, and colds.  But, my little baby has never had a fever.  Kids get sick, but as a first time mom, this was his first fever!

I didn’t even change his diaper, I just scooped him and Rabbit up and we went into the kitchen.  He was quite uncomfortable and would moan frequently.  I grabbed the Children’s Ibuprofen and poured 1 dose.  He can now drink out of cups, and they flavor this medicine so well, I didn’t even need to tell him to drink the whole thing… he just did.

I called the Pediatrician and left a message with the answering service, left a message with the daycare, left a message with my work, and called my husband.  All before 8am.  Nothing opens until 8am or 8:30am!  The on-call doctor called right back and assured me there was nothing to worry about but to bring him in if I felt it necessary.  I read at the daycare they only want kids to be late if there’s a doctor appointment, and I really wanted to rule out an ear infection, so I waited until 8:30am.  Levi and I watched T.V. until 8:10am, and then he began to feel better.   So, we ate breakfast – he certainly had most of an appetite.  I was able to secure a 9:30am appointment at 8:45am, and by that time, Levi and I were both ready and dressed.  So, now I just had to get the car ready.  I had to pack for the doctor’s office and a potential daycare drop.  (Did I mention my dear husband forgot his license today and that would have been another trip?)

We arrived at the doctor 5 minutes early, and we were called in right away.  All told, it was a 20 minute visit – record time!  Levi loved the parking garage where he could hear his echo as he yelled, “What!” in the car and in the garage.  He loved pressing the elevator buttons, and he loved the toys in the waiting room.  But, fear and trepidation took over when we went through the doors into the exam rooms.  We used a different doctor, who was wonderful.  She checked for ear infections, swollen glands, and confirmed his runny nose.  The nurse had  already taken his temporal temperature, which read 98.6.

The verdict, though, was that kids can’t attend daycare when they have a temperature over 100.3 in a 24-hour period.  So, at home we stay.  Now, Mr. Levi is napping, but we’ve had a busy day.  We played baseball in the yard, watched some OPB, tried to spray off the aphids with soapy water and our new spray bottles, and then lunch.  He didn’t have much of an appetite for lunch, and he barely squawked going down for his nap.

So, that’s the day-to-day diary of Mr. Levi and his first fever.  Everyone was very helpful and understanding, especially about missing work and allowing us to have an ‘extra’ day for daycare.

But, the thing that gets me is that I don’t like missing work, and now I have to if the kiddo is sick.  Everyone was understanding, but what happens when you get a boss who isn’t?  Family comes first, because there is a limited point to having the job if there is no family to take care of… I suppose we’ll see what happens when I go back to work tomorrow.