Fever

This is our poorly little man waiting for treatment at Colchester Hospital. Yesterday he was very sleepy in the morning and when he did eventually wake, he was grizzly and clingy. At baby massage, he cried and grizzled every time I tried to massage him, he was only content when I held him close and cuddled me. I went to my mums in the afternoon and he was intermittently smiley, then crying and miserable. I knew he wasn't right, I'd brought some calpol in the changing bag and gave him a small dose about 5pm, texting J to let him know that our boy seemed to be under the weather. 

But by 10pm, it was clear he was getting worse, his head was roasting hot to touch and his temperature on both our non-contact thermometer and digital one were fluctuating from 37.4 - 37.8°C. He also had loose, green, mucus-y stools in his nappy. We called 111 and gave out his symptoms and they gave us an appointment at the walk-in centre up the road immediately. We stripped him down to his vest, and with just a soft blanket loosely covering him, we battled through the sheet rain and cold to get him to the doctor. We were ushered in after about 15 mins and Harrison had clearly had enough at this point. He screamed like I've never heard before, his eyes rolling in the back of his head, not focusing on me and J. The doctor struggled to take his temperature as he squirmed and cried in our arms. It was heartbreaking. The doctor said he had a fever and a very high pulse - at 208bpm it was well over acceptable levels. He recommended we take our boy to the children's ward where he would be monitored overnight. At this point, I was struggling to hold back the tears. I felt utterly helpless. 

We drove the short distance to the main Colchester Hospital entrance and tried to find a way in as the hospital gets locked up at 10pm. A friendly cleaner took pity on us and let us in. We were shown into a private room that had already been prepared for us. The nurse and doctor came in to assess Harrison, who was so overtired and bewildered at this point that he lay forlornly on the cotbed and didn't out up much of a fuss to the doctors ministrations. They took his temperature, pulse, urine sample and checked his body over. Thankfully the doctor seemed to think that he had a nasty bug, his throat and right ear were both inflamed and he could hear some mucus on his chest. He prescribed him some antibiotics and told us to take calpol a few times every day for any pain he had and to reduce his temperature. Eventually, around 2am, the discharges our little boy and we were allowed to go home.

Back in our house, Harrison fed as normal but given that his routine was all out of whack, he didn't sleep very well and just wanted to be cuddled. And it's been much the same today. His temperature and pulse have returned to normal levels, but he has slept for most of the day. When he's been awake, he has alternated between crying miserably and smiling and playing (usually 30 mins after medicine). 

J and I are shattered and yet relieved our precious boy seems to be on the mend. Going to the children's ward was undoubtedly one of the worst moments of my life. I can't begin to tell you how my mind was racing with awful thoughts of what might have been. Even typing these words forms a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. I hope and pray that our boy continues to get better and is restored to full health again soon. And I also hope that Harrison never has to go through the distress of being that poorly again.