Celebrating a fever

Hunter had a rough start to his week. The weekend was a little rocky, but I just attributed it to daddy being out of town and a weekend alone with mommy- he was going to see how many limits he could test.  Monday, he was very aggressive towards the staff and the loud noises seemed to bother him more.   Tuesday was a better day, but still had a few issues at school.

This morning, I went to help him get dressed and he felt warm- I checked his temperature and was surprised to see 99.5 on the thermometer.  I actually doubted it was working correctly, since this child has not run a fever in almost four years.  I went back into my medical history and checked- the last date I recorded a fever was 11-8-10.  I checked Paige's temperature- 97.5.  I re-checked him again- 99.9.

Fever.

A real, true fever.  Well, I guess not "technically" a fever if you go by the pediatrician guidelines. But for a child that is usually 97, and hasn't had any type of fever response due to his whacky immune system, I counted it as a fever.  

I called his pediatrician as well as Dr. G, just to get their opinions on my course of action.  The pediatrician told me to watch and wait, and Dr. G said if it became a true fever (over 100.4) to take him in to see the doctor.  

I checked my email while the boys relaxed with a TV show and checked my bulk mail- sometimes his classroom teacher's emails will go there instead of my inbox.  I saw an email from her on Friday, indicating that a student had been out over the weekend with strep, and had returned to school on Tuesday.  So going through the incubation period...it would be quite possible he could have strep.

His behavior wasn't "streppy" though- he wasn't totally obsessed with electronics, his separation anxiety wasn't increased, and he wasn't excessively moody.  I had emailed his teachers on Monday asking them to watch for an eye tic that I saw on Sunday and Monday- but I haven't really seen it since.  Dr. G's nurse thought the eye tic could have been the start of the immune response,and now we are getting fever.  

So I checked his temp again, and when I saw it was 100.7, I decided to take him in.  His rapid strep was negative- praise God! They will grow out the culture but I am hoping he made it through this recent exposure without contracting the infection.  Although I pray for him to be more socially involved with friends at school, at times like this, it is helpful that he tends to be more of a "loner."  He keeps away from the germs!

I do think this little virus is a blessing to us- I don't like that he isn't feeling well, but his body is responding appropriately!  It is actually telling us (and him!) that something is wrong.  Before, we had to guess based on behavior.  I told the nurse practitioner today that I was there for the first time based on clinical symptoms, not behavioral.  

I think this is just another reason to have faith that IVIG is working.  Praying for a quick recovery and back to school!

Making candy corn banner this weekend

School pictures!