A Sick Boy

Two nights ago we had what was potentially our most scary moment as parents thus far. Gavin woke up shortly after 1:00am and was crying pretty hard which would qualify as unusual for him. It's not very often that he ends up sleeping with us, but that's been happening more and more lately; I'd say he's wound up in our bed more in the past six months than the previous two years combined. I digress...

The little monster (it's just a nickname; don't be [too] alarmed) is just burning up. I've heard the term "burning up" countless times before, but I think I was usually the one "burning up". That said, Gavin was hot to the touch. Never felt anything like it that I can remember, but it's quite possible that I have and just shrugged it off. After all, it seems more likely that I would find this sort of thing more important and memorable given that it's my own son.

Got out the thermometer... 102.8... damn!

*Swim break. Gavin brought me a towel, wanted a bath, and we compromised. 30 minutes later and we're back from the pool...*

We dosed him with Tylenol and he went back to sleep fairly readily as did I. However, Kim - being the super-mommy that she is - was up throughout the night doing research and checking his temperature to make sure the Tylenol was doing its job. I can't even pretend that I'd make it in this life without her doing the heavy lifting. What a champ!

6:30am rolled around pretty quickly and Gavin's torso - his upper half uncovered and shirtless the remainder of the night, mind you - seemed to be emitting an acceptable amount of heat while his legs - covered throughout the night - were still radiating tons of heat. Another dose of Tylenol, an hour later, and he was around 98.6.

Kim went ahead and made an appointment for him that morning and all went well. We were worried it might be an ear infection as he ran such a high fever.

*Um, I just overheard Led Zeppelin's "Moby Dick" on PBS. Wow.*

Long story short, it's just a virus and he's now on the road to recovery. Just Tylenol to keep his fever at an acceptable level and we should be back to good in about a week.

I'm guessing this parenting thing isn't going to get any less scary our first time through. Just when you think you've got a jump on things, a line drive finds a gap and rolls to the wall. Together - and undoubtedly through prayer - I know we'll find our way through the not-so-easy ones.