Josiah has been on a modified vaccination schedule. As in, last week he got his very first shot ever. Yes, quite off the beaten path. The purpose of this blog is not to delve into that, but to explore the happenings AFTER that shot last week.
Perhaps it was my offhanded comment that I hoped to visit the doctor for more than shots so Josiah doesn't remain so incredibly traumatized at the assault that beheld him last week...or maybe it was the temporary compromise in immune system...but 48 hours after Josiah's vaccination he spiked a high fever. Of course that meant one thing...I internally panicked. I, the one previously asserted to be a mother of steel by the pediatrician, started having chest palpitations of my own when Josiah hit 104.4 at 10:30pm. We dosed him with ibuprofen, gave him a big glass of ice water, threw him in the bath, and phoned the doctor. Can I say how grateful I am for a doctor that we can call at all hours?
She echoed my sentiments about the situation with a few choice words and begged me to give some other symptom that would indicate the fever wasn't because of the vaccine. Unfortunately I could not. We formulated a plan on when to head to the ER, and Josiah slept in our bed while I woke up every hour to make sure he wasn't heating up despite the ibuprofen. We made it through the night and a few hours into our morning Josiah said, "Mama, my mouth hurts." I promptly snagged the flashlight and shined it in his mouth to reveal a plethora of red spots and pustules. I called the doctors office and made an appointment 45 minutes later. I beamed as I walked through the door, knowing she had never been happier to see us. Josiah was not beaming. In fact, it was taking a lot of convincing to reassure him there would be no more arm medicine that time. She did the full exam and finally said, "ok, let me look in that mouth." Josiah opened his mouth and the doctor and nurse practitioner both gasped at the sight. They said he had such an awful case of strep throat that they didn't even have to test it. Our doctor joyfully made a victory lap around the room since this indicated the fever was not related to the vaccination. I don't think Josiah was quite as excited. He wanted to do without the strep and any more shots. We went home with an antibiotic prescription. Josiah remained pitiful for several days. He ran a fever for 3.5 days and woke up in the middle of the night crying in pain from his mouth. We were housebound and at some point I had to give up on ideas of being productive. We just sat around, played quietly, and watched a lot of kids tv programming cuddled up on the couch together. We did do a lot of laundry, though! The grace of the Lord was heavy over Mommy and Daddy, because despite sharing a bed and comforting our pitiful boy, we did not get sick. Thank you, God!
Now life is back to normal, though we lost a couple days in the sick vacuum. I'm really grateful that I was off work those days and that we didn't have anything planned during that time--another blessing in disguise!
Many people have asked, and we have no new news on the arrival of our new baby. Today could be the day...
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