Poor sick baby

Jocelyn has been sick since Tuesday. We noticed that she was really warm super early Tuesday morning. But I didn't think much of it, because it was uber stuffy in the room we were staying in, and I was also roasting (Mike was even hot, and he's never hot). Then when we woke up for real, we packed up, said our goodbyes, and headed out from Aunt Mary's house in Grand Rapids, MI to O'Hare airport. Jocelyn was fussy and then sleepy on the ride, but she always gets fussy and then sleepy in the car.

Then we were at the airport, waiting in the terminal while Mike returned the rental car. Jocelyn went from being happy / playing / walking / talking to CRYING. She just burst into tears. I didn't know what had happened. She was just sitting on the chair next to me. So, of course, I picked her up and gave her a big hug. That's when I smelled it. She had a major poop. I was still confused about what she was crying about, but then I felt it - the wet spot where the very wet poop leaked out of her diaper and onesie. And Mike had the baby wipes in the lunch bag.

Luckily he showed up just a few minutes later and the three of us headed to the first class area ladies' room (luckily it's not a heavily-used one - airports should have family bathrooms!). Poor Jocelyn had a majorly full diaper, and the texture was just not, well, right. I also noticed she was a bit warm, but we didn't give her anything yet.

Once we got on the plane she wanted to nurse and she passed out. She slept basically the whole flight (she usually doesn't sleep on the plane, but looks around and plays the whole time). She woke up at the end and cried at landing, which is also not usual for her. She was also significantly warmer, and not just from cuddling with me. Once we landed in Newark we made our way to the Admiral's Club for more changing, and this time there was temperature-taking. 101.9 F! That was her highest fever to date, so we immediately called the doctor. The prescription - rest, fluids, the fever reducer of our choosing and temperature monitoring. This was not enough action for me, but we took the advice. Call back if there's vomiting, diarrhea, unstable or increasing temperature or anything else strange.

So we drove down to Spring Lake and Jocelyn was just sort of tired and cranky, which was very understandable. We skipped our stop at Babcia's altogether, we only popped in at Miss Amanda's to pick up the booster seat, and we headed down. She puked all over herself within the last 2 miles or so of the drive, but seemed a bit better after that. A bit more Tylenol, a later bed time than we liked, and a baby in our bed all night, but we hoped for the best.

By morning the fever did not go down, so we switched to ibuprofen. That was a great idea, as it allowed the fever to go down and also served as a good pain reliever. Jocelyn was much more herself during much of the day. We still didn't put her in the car at all, and she was lethargic and uninspired when we took her outside (she normally loves outside), but she was pretty good. Cranky at points, but fine overall. We dosed her with more ibuprofen before bed and called it a night. She made it half way in her own crib and then we had to bring her to bed, where she slept latched on to me, but whatever.

This morning, however, she was BURNING UP! 102.1! So I decided it was time to take her to the doctor (and give her another dose of ibuprofen). A call to a local pediatrician sent us to an urgent care clinic about 15-20 minutes away. They assessed her ears for infection and throat for strep - both came back negative. So the prescription was still the same - rest, fluids, love, and come back if things get crazy or worse or unstable. She slept the whole way back from the doctor, passed out half way through our lunch, and slept for a good 3.5-4 hours (I may have joined her for two of those hours!). I offered her some food, which she refused (even a teething biscuit that tastes like an animal cracker!), and then nursed her some more.

We were ready for dinner, and my BIL (Jocelyn's Uncle Jeff) was working as a waiter that night, so we had dinner at his restaurant. Poor Jocelyn fell asleep in the car. She was so conked out that actually unhooked the car seat and brought it into the restaurant with us so she could keep on sleeping in it. She slept until we were just about done eating - a good hour+! She woke up a bit fussy, but cheered up once we held her and gave her some water.

Once we brought her home she ate two small cubes of strawberry and about a bite of bread. It was something, but not great. She was a bit more herself - with some talking, playing, answering the questions of "What does the cow say?" with "MMMmmmmm" and giggles, etc. But she was weak. Walking was hard. Her poor legs were shaky under her and she was off balance. It was frustrating for her. And I think that she hurt, because she would suddenly burst into tears and become inconsolable. Despite being fever-free all day, we gave her some ibuprofen for the pain she was clearly feeling. Eventually she fell asleep, even though it was way past her bed time. She's been in her crib this whole time (knock on wood!) and hopefully she stays there for a while to come (like the rest of the night). Being the worry wart that I am, I look in on her every 30 or so minutes.

Poor kid, though. She was SUCH a champ in Michigan (which is its own blog post, if I ever get to it). This is a crappy reward for such amazing behavior. And it also sucks that she's sick on vacation, when she should be having fun. We wanted to take her to the ocean, and Grandpa kept his schedule open to play with her, and she hasn't wanted to play. Instead of having fun she's miserable. My only solace is that she won't remember having a crappy vacation where she was sick for half the time. At least she had a blast in MI, chasing dogs, watching birds, and having her crazy great-aunts fawn all over her. But my heart breaks for her.