Ode to My Sweet Little Fever Boy

Maxwell is my fever kid. His big sis, Lil, cranks one out every now and then, but Max? This little man has us up and worrying and hemming and hawing at least every couple of months.

Last night, around 2 a.m., we swear, his fever was nearly 105 degrees. One-oh-four-point-nine, to be exact. We medicated, we soothed, we sponge bathed him first in the middle of our king-size bed, and, finally, after an hour of getting nowhere, in the tub. There were popsicles, sippy cups of ice-cold apple juice. And hallucinations. Lots of them.

Like waterslides! and race cars about to plow us down. There were colors: “Oh, it’s just a color. Red, very red.” There were crazy talks with little cousins who weren’t there. Fights in his sleep about wanting to try something I can only imagine must have been a bubble-blower of some sort, since his little lips pursed and blew hot air on me repeatedly.

Now, mind you, we had taken the little guy to the doctor yesterday. We didn’t quite get the antibiotic started early enough, evidently, because man! Did that fever ever skyrocket!

But high fevers? That’s not all Max can do. Oh, no, he does febrile seizures too! Luckily, we didn’t witness one last night, but this little man has earned himself two very speedy trips to the local ER in the back of an ambulance. Luckily, this hasn’t happened since 2008, but who’s counting? There’s always the possibility of it happening again. And, to be honest, the seizures aren’t as terrifying as you might imagine. Especially once the antibiotic kicks in.

So, today, thank you for making me a mother in this day and age. Thank you, Lord, for not making me a mother in pioneer times who has to send Father off on the horse and wagon to fetch the doctor to practice his questionable apothecary that may or may not help my son, who feels like he is burning from the inside out.

Oh, and thanks for helping us finally start to break that fever around 4 a.m.; for the 102.9 degrees that popped up on our digital thermometer. (Hey! It was an improvement.)

Thanks, most of all, for letting Sweet Little Fever Boy wake up fever- and hallucination-free. Until next time…