My Super Sick Little Sidekick

I was baffled last weekend because Cooper had diarrhea, and I thought it was from switching him to milk.  I thought I got it under control by Monday morning by mixing more formula with less milk over the weekend.  Monday afternoon, I got a phone call from school that he had a 100.7 fever.  When I picked him up, he was just laying in the crib holding his blanket.  It broke my heart.  And so began the working single momma with sick child debacle!

I am fortunate that I work out of my home and that it's my slow season.  I didn't really have to take time off because I wasn't with any customers this week.  (It also helped that Cooper would take 3.5-4.5 hour naps, so I could crank out a lot of work during that time.)  When I had to talk to customers, I apologized upfront for the lovely background noise of a cranky toddler. Anyway, after I picked Cooper up from school, I called his doctor to see if this could be a reaction to his one year shots which he had had three days early (highly unlikely).  I then asked if perhaps the switch to milk could be the cause of the diarrhea (unlikely).  For three days, I dealt with a clingy one year old who had a high fever, diarrhea, loss of appetite, and a rash all over his body. He is not a snugly boy, but my goodness he has been this week! 

I knew he was really sick when I came back to him after sending a quickly email to a customer (my office is in my living room right next to the kitchen) and found him this way.  He had gotten really quiet, but I thought he was just hanging out eating his Cheerios and toast.  Oops!  I removed the tray, washed his hand, and laid him in his crib for a four hour nap.  Poor little guy!
 

I caved yesterday and took him to the doctor because his fever was still high when he woke up from his 14 hour slumber. I was told every day I called that he most likely a stomach virus going around and that I was doing everything I could to "help" him, but I could bring him in if I wanted.  I felt comfortable doing what I was doing and realized not much else could be done for him because it was viral.  But enough was enough, so off we went!

When the nurse looked at my pathetic baby, she couldn't believe how horrible he looked when she had just seen him six days ago.  She took his temperature and it was normal.  Of course it broke on our way there, but I still wanted to make sure my little sidekick was okay.  The doctor came in and looked in his ears only to find he has a double ear infection!  My little guy has been fighting a high fever, a stomach virus, and a double ear infection and surprisingly he has been a trooper!  No wonder why he has been sleeping 17-18 hours a day.  I feel horrible for not taking him in sooner.  As in the past, he never shows any signs of an ear infections (this is number three), so I couldn't really have known. I was just trying to keep his fever down and his stomach calm.  Poor little guy. 

We stopped at Target on our way to the doctor to pick up some Pedialyte, and as we were walking in, we saw our good friends (the ones that are moving).  They had Sidekick's birthday present in their car, and look at what he got!  This little guy is so much more content and comfy sitting in his special chair. 

Sidekick napped for five, yes five, hours yesterday (he slept a total of 19 hours), and he went to bed one hour later at 8:00. As I type this, it is 8:30 AM, so he has been sleeping for 12 1/2 hours.  Wow!  I'm hoping we are officially on the mend.  We've got things to do this weekend and the weather is going to be gorgeous!