Sick again....

Caleb has been sick again. He has had a fever for the past 3 days and is extremely stuffy. I think it's the same "virus" that Isaac had last week. (When I took Isaac to the doc last week, he was diagnosed with the Roseola virus, but he never got the red rash, so I don't really think that's what it was. He warned me that Caleb would probably get it too since that's what is "going around.") It seems to just be in his sinuses, so I am hoping it doesn't settle into his chest. He's working very hard to breathe, especially at night, but his lungs are clear. I almost took him to the ER the first night because he was retracting so bad, but now he's just breathing faster than normal (and he breathes fast to begin with.) Hopefully it's just a bad cold. Anytime he gets a fever, we are on high alert because we never know if an infection is brewing somewhere.

We gave him a little dose of Benadryl for the first time the other night because he couldn't breathe through his nose and it was making him panic and gag. I was a bit nervous to give it to him since I know it can have the opposite effect on some kids and make them wired. Since his fever was so high that night, I wanted him to sleep in our bed to keep a better eye on him. He chatted himself to sleep. It was so funny because I could tell he was SO tired, but I think the Benadryl was making him a little loopy. He was saying our phone number, (something he just started saying out of the blue this week!!) talking about birds and circles. So funny.

Now I am beginning to question myself for exposing him to other kids this winter. The past 3 winters, he had little to no contact with anyone but our family (and medical staff of course). But his docs really encouraged me to get him out and about this fall/winter. It's not like I really take him to a ton of places (speech, library, church, and Target) but he seems to be picking everything up that's "going around." He's been getting sick at least every other week. I know that he needs to be exposed to these germs and even though these illnesses have been hard on him, he hasn't gotten so sick that he needed to be admitted, which is great. But I am just worried that one of these times it won't be a virus (it will be bacterial) and he'll get really, really sick. On the other hand, I also see him in settings with his peers and he has no idea how to act. (At library last week, Caleb stood and picked his lips while Isaac walked around the other kids and tried to do the actions for the songs.) He NEEDS this interaction with other kids, and not just during the warmer months. Plus, he's at the age where being at home all day, everyday gets old too. We just can't win. I was really hoping to check out The Big Backyard and Monkey Joes because they look like they'd be great places to play during these long winter months. Maybe I could wrap him in plastic and put a SCBA mask on him....

Thanks to all of you who emailed me and suggested that C might have a bladder/urinary tract infection. That thought did cross my mind too. However, the only time he was wetting his pants was when he was really into something (like TV, toys, or playing the wii.) It's not that he's going more often and he's been waking up dry in the AM. It's been better this week since I have been more "on top" of taking him to the bathroom. I guess we were just spoiled that he always told us before!

And yes, he's wearing the same shirt in the picture above that he was wearing in this picture taken Sept 1, 2007!! Too bad the Vikes are done for the season!