DOUBLE HEADER

Daycare called me at work yesterday afternoon to let me know that James was "crying inconsolably and just not himself, but not feverish, so could I please bring some ibuprofen?" (his diaper bag had been without meds all week due to the McNeil products recall last Saturday). Of course, I was ready to run right out to the store to find some generic ibuprofen and drop it off. Then I looked at the time - 2:45pm. Might as well call it a day and just take my sad baby home. He was fine when I picked him up, other than the fact that he LOOKED like a wreck. Like he'd been crying all day. His eyes were red, watery, and weeping. His breathing was labored with that "lack of energy due to sobbing" effort (you know what I'm talking about, where the sighs come out stuttered and pitiful). It was as though he'd just cried himself out by the time I got there. Yet he was happy to see me, talkative, and still not feverish. We stopped by Walgreens to pick up the ibuprofen, and by the time I got him out of his carseat at home he felt like he was on fire. I took his temperature and was not at all surprised to see it reach 101.7. I called Jay (we had driven separately that day), then the advice nurse (our pediatrician's office had just closed). We were instructed to give ibuprofen throughout the night and go see the on-call doc in the morning if he was still feverish. Within an hour his fever was gone. He ate a good dinner, played with us, had fun in the tub, drank all his bedtime bottle, and was in bed no more than an hour after his usual bedtime (mostly due to the late afternoon nap, while he slept through the fever). In fact, he slept all night and we only heard him fuss once, but he put himself right back to sleep. Then as a series of strong thunderstorms came through this morning, the noise woke him up, crying and pitiful. When Jay came into our room with him, he looked worried and asked for the thermometer. Yikes! Fever of 102.9! We knew we'd be going to the clinic as soon as it opened. We gave him some ibuprofen and he promptly fell back asleep in our bed, a little heater we were having trouble cooling off (when James doesn't feel well, he HAS to be held, carried, snuggled, or draped over us one way or another, so giving him space is not an option, even though we try). I couldn't pass up the opportunity to document James sleeping on TOP of his Daddy:

We arrived at the clinic and were able to get right in (even though we didn't have an appointment). James drank a bottle while we waited on the doc, then fussed at the nurse over getting his weight (24 lbs 4 oz dressed) and temperature checked (back to normal). Bad news though - James was diagnosed with his second ear infection (a double middle-ear infection) and first real case of conjunctivitis (in both eyes). The doc sent us on our way with antibiotics and eye drops. While we waited on the Rx to get filled, we grabbed some breakfast at the donut shop (we figured since James was sick that he deserved a treat). He thoroughly enjoyed his first donut-hole (and was only pretending to share with his Daddy):

He's been in a pretty good mood all day, despite his sickness. But again, when James doesn't feel well, he wants to be held, all day, no matter what. Thank goodness for the Beco. Here is James while I was making lunch this afternoon (he had fallen asleep within 5 minutes of me wearing him around the kitchen, and stayed that way until all the dishes were done, the counters were cleaned, and lunch was ready):

We'll see how tonight goes... After lunch he napped for 3.5 hours (unheard of, especially since he'd already napped for 45 minutes on my back), but again he's in bed less than an hour later than usual. Hopefully all this "sleeping it off" will work it's wonders again with this double header sickness!