On that Monday when I picked him up from daycare, he had a fever, but they didn't call because it was 100.9. They call at 101. I still freaked out a bit, since he was a little fussy and tired and had never run a fever like that.
On Tuesday, he made it at daycare until about 1:30 before I got the call saying that I had to pick him up. It was close to 102. Straight to the doctor, who did a little blood test (he didn't cry one bit - I almost did.) that showed that Zooey was fighting something viral. Needless to say, the rest of the day involved lots of nursing and cuddling. He feel asleep on my shoulder, which he never does.
Josh and I both stayed home the next day to tag team Zooey, but he was happy and fever free all day. I think we both spent a lot of the day staring at him, wondering if the worst was over and waiting for something horrible to happen.
All this to say, that experiencing a sick baby for the first time is another unnerving chance for me to learn to feel and actually trust my maternal instincts. My thoughts kept reminding my that I am completely responsible for this tiny person and I had no clue what to do. I found it extremely hard to actually believe that Zooey was okay. Even when he was happy and playing, I was just waiting for him to spike some horrible fever. Everytime he coughed I thought of that scary commercial about whooping cough and was convinced that was what Zooey's cough sounded like. I was constantly coming us with escape routes and emergency plans.
That Wednesday night Zooey cried and coughed for most of the night. I cried a lot of the night as well, convinced that something must be wrong. The next morning Josh told me that he kept trying to take Z from me to let me sleep for a bit and I just cried and mumbled something about changing his diaper and nursing him - clearly letting him go was out of the question.
Needless to say he's made a full recovery and is proving to have a very strong immune system. You'll be happy to know that I've made a full recovery as well and feel I'll be more prepared/ calm next time. We'll see.
Poor Zooey. :( But it sounds like all that love, nursing, & snuggle time helped him recover. Breastmilk is so amazing as well as your instincts. And it's amazing that his first illness wasn't 'til 8 months.
ReplyDeleteYour vigilence is hilarious/awesome and pretty normal. Now that you knocked that one out, hopefully you'll feel more calm and confident next time.