The Pox

The day before the bean's birthday, she woke up with red spots all over her body. I was trying to think of anything new she was exposed to at the same time that the boy was telling me it didn't look like hives or a heat rash. Then we remembered that the bean had an unexplained fever the night before and it all fell into place . . . the chicken pox!!

Honestly, we were still debating whether or not to vaccinate her at her one year appointment, so we weren't heartbroken at the thought of the bean ending up with natural immunity (no boosters required!), especially since it looks to be a mild case. Its a mystery to us how she ended up with it, though. We don't know of any friends or relatives or other children at daycare who've had it and I know of people who've taken their children to pox parties to no avail, so I'm surprised we ended up with it without even trying.

Like I said, its a mild case and the bean is fighting it off the way she approaches most things--with laughter and smiles.

Ode to Tylenol

Tylenol, you are a miracle drug;
if you were a person, I'd give you a hug.
Our baby awakes shortly after midnight;
Cheeks flushed and warm, what to do for our plight?
I find the thermometer, wishing I could sleep more;
I'm wide awake when I see a temp of 102.4!

Quickly, we look for that red and white label.
There you are (our savior!), on the night table.
One holds her arms; the other, the head;
getting her to drink is the part that I dread.
I swear under my breath as our operation goes south,
why won't this kid just open her mouth?

Finally we say enough is enough,
with her face and our bed covered with the stuff.
Thank you, Tylenol, her fever has passed!
I drift off to sleep wondering why you taste like such ass?
When she sees the bottle, she tries to escape.
Can you blame her? Your flavor should be called dirt, not cherry or grape.

Forewarned doesn't mean anything

Well, we knew it was coming. We expected it and were warned by, well, everyone. Still, the reality of the daycare sickness is harder than we expected. And it came sooner. Just two weeks at the place, only two days without her moms, and the bean has bronchiolitis. She's miserable and has spent much of the last three days groaning or outright crying. Its certainly not helping that her moms keep coming at her with the ultimate baby torture devices--saline drops and a nasal aspirator.

I know this is not at all uncommon and that all babies go through this, but that knowledge doesn't make it any easier to see the thermometer up above 100 and to see the bean not able to nurse because she can't breathe through her nose. It breaks my heart to see her in pain and know that there's precious little I can do about it. Get better soon bean!