Sick

Asher has been a part of our family for five months now.  And for that entire time he hasn't had so much as a sniffle.  Until Thursday morning. 

I knew something wasn't quit right when he laid down on the couch right after breakfast.  That boy doesn't just lay around in the mornings. 

After taking a few minutes to enjoy the peace and quiet I immediately went to check on him and found his head to be a bit warm for normal.  A thermometer confirmed my suspicions.  His temperature was 99°.

His temperature rose as the day wore on and eventually he reached 102°.  He complained of his stomach hurting, then his head and his mouth.  But, mostly he just laid on the couch and did nothing.  He did drift off to sleep for a few short cat naps too.  All this behavior, very unusual for Asher. 

But, by the evening he was back to himself.  Still had a fever, but was up and playing.  No congestion.  No stomach ache.  No complaints.  And he ate dinner. 

So here's the thing.....what do you do?  I never rushed my three older kids to the doctor for a fever at four years old.  If they had no other symptoms or complaints I would wait it out a few days.  It was usually a virus, ran it's course and that was that. 

Claire is a different story.  If she runs a temperature, there is a good chance it is a bad thing.  I will always take her to the doctor right away.  She doesn't complain until it's a full blown ear infection/sinus infection/uti or whatever.  And when she goes downhill, she goes fast!

But, this boy is new to us.  We don't know his body.  We don't know how he reacts to being ill.  So, when he woke with another 99° temp this morning, we heading in to our doctor. 

And boy was it a good thing!

A quick swab of his throat revealed the culprit. A strep infection.

Poor guy!

Although, don't let this face fool you.  As soon as we got home he was off and running with the pack again.  But, apparently it has finally caught up to him.  He has been up crying twice tonight, just since we put him down a few hours ago.  I have moved his bed back into our room for the night so he won't disturb anyone else. 

Thankfully, I was able to get two doses of antibiotic in him today.  Hopefully, he will be feeling much better by this time tomorrow. 

Quarantine?  I think it's a little late for that!  Now we just have to wait and see who will come down next.  Given the fact that he accidentally spit IN my face and mouth at the doctor's office today while he was talking, I'm either going to get it or I'm immune to this germ! 

I know this isn't his first illness.  His papers say he was found in a hospital with a respiratory infection.  But, this is his first illness with us.  I don't want him to be sick, but I'm thankful we can take care of him this time.