Logan's First Fever

Logan has had a couple of colds in his short little life, but this past week he had his first fever. As we had been planning for his 1st birthday party which took place on Halloween, we had a lot going on. Days of crappy weather before his party; the day of his party it was chilly (48 degree high) and mostly cloudy (even though the weatherman said it would be mostly sunny...liar). While Logan was in a nice warm monkey costume made by his Grandma and covered in blankets in his wagon while we went to and fro through the zoo....it was still cold. I came home that night with a low grade fever which turned back into a terrible cough and then a cold (I am almost over it all though). I blame my sickness on the stress of planning this great party and lack of sleep (from the stress of planning this great party).

Sunday night Logan felt warm and his fever was around 99.6. We gave him some tylenol and sent him to bed. Monday he awoke with a fever of 100.6. We have a temporal artery thermometer, but we quickly found out just how inconsistent it can be if done on a different part of the forehead. So we went back to the digital thermometer under the armpit. I have heard that this temp may not be super accurate, but it can get you a really good guess-timate (in the meantime, this is how his doctor's office takes the temp, so it must be accurate enough as long as it is held in the center of the armpit and his arm is held down). Anywho, that is the method we continued with for the next couple days. We gave him more tylenol and checked it after lunch (tylenol lasts 4 hours). His fever was now 101.1.....more tylenol....which would help during the 4 hour window. I gave him a warm bath to cool him down as well. He didn't last in there too long as it was not its normal 'hot' temperature. His fever was 102.2 before bed. Poor little guy. By this point I had learned that alternating tylenol and motrin works better. Motrin is better at reducing the fever, but can be more harsh on his stomach, so it should not be given solely. Okay. So John picked up both meds on his way home. We gave him motrin before bed and checked him 2.5 hours later when we went to bed - his fever was down to the 98's - great.

Tuesday was more of a repeat of Monday. Besides having a fever and having glassy eyes, his only other symptom was that he would click his throat (as if he was trying to itch it...interesting how this reflex just comes naturally). He was drinking wonderfully; eating - eh, not so stellar, but he would eat; played just fine; and took really long naps - 3 hours! So I knew he wasn't feeling well, but he didn't show any other symptoms of feeling terrible, so we didn't call the doctor. I said if he woke up on Wednesday with a fever we'd call as we are going out of town soon and I needed to make sure he was healthy.

Wednesday....101.1. Okay, I called the doctor and got an appointment for 11:20 with our favorite doctor, Dr. L. I gave him some motrin and put him down for a nap and when I was ready to go, I woke him up. He was sooooo sweaty. Of course, this means that he is breaking the fever on his own. Oh well, I still wanted to take him to the doctor just to be sure there isn't some other infection. (by the by...since he was so sweaty, his hair was soooo curly....love it!)

Since I had given him motrin, his 'fever' for the doctor was non-existent...97.0 to be exact. They weighed him (22 pounds 14 ounces) and checked him out. Breathing good. Eyes good. Nose good. Ears good. Throat - aha! Sore throat. He had some blistery looking things so he tested him for strep which was negative. He said normally it is negative, but we just wanted to rule that out as if it was strep he would need an antibiotic. He said to just keep doing what we're doing.

I actually learned something. Dr. L said that since he was completely fine other than 'having' the fever, to not give him tylenol or motrin. Apparently all his body knows to fight off an infection is to have this fever. By giving him medicine to reduce his fever his body can't fight it off as fast - it just masks the symptoms. The only reason to give him medicine for 'just' a fever is if the fever is making him cranky and not feel well. Logan was never really cranky with his fever so we could've gotten away with not giving him meds and who knows, he may have broke his fever sooner than later. It was a pretty fascinating lesson for me. I don't want to give Logan medicine if I don't have to...and the doctor and nurse said that they are trying to educate people more on this as we have been 'taught' from the past that as soon as you are sick to take medicine. The truth is, a lot of it has to run its course....fluids and rest really are the best ways to get rid of viruses. Now if it is not a virus and something like strep, then an antibiotic may be necessary. So I wanted to sahre this with whomever reads it. Hopefully I made sense.

As of tonight, the last time we gave Logan medicine was at 8:30 AM...and he is fever free and no more glassy eyes. Yay. For his actual 1st birthday tomorrow, he will be healthy!