Sick puppy

William has been one sick puppy this week! It started with a fever Sunday evening. My mom was in town, and William and I were scheduled to fly back with her to Connecticut. We decided to cancel the trip just to be safe, and boy am I glad we did. I absolutely hated to miss out on seeing my family, but it was the right decision.

He had a fever from Sunday to Wednesday. He was feeling pretty good though - was still crawling around and getting into things. Every time his temperature would creep up (the highest was 104.1), we would give him a bath to bring it down. That worked pretty well. Mikey and I have each been getting up once a night to keep his medicine coming.

On Wednesday, the doctor and I decided it was best to bring him in for a look. He determined it was all viral, and it would just have to run its course. Oh, and naturally W had no fever when I took him in. The doctor noticed a few small dots on William's arms and legs. He said it would probably get a little worse but wouldn't take long for the virus to run its course. In the meantime, treat the fever if it came back and give him cold foods for his bright red sore throat.

Wednesday night, he had a few more dots on his arms and legs but nothing major. His temperature was gone, and I thought the virus was on its way out. The next morning, the rash had gone wild but still no fever. By midday, the rash was out of control, the fever was back up in the 103 range, and W was acting like he felt extremely sick. I had never seen him feel anywhere close to that terrible. The doctor heard him grunting over the phone and immediately got worried that something had settled in his chest, and he had developed pneumonia.

Off we went to the Texas Children's ER. Luckily, our doctor called ahead, and they were able to "fast track" us through the process. It seems the raging rash also makes them want you in and out quickly. I don't blame them - I would be worried if I was there for my kid's broken arm and ended up next to someone who looked like William. They did a chest x-ray and found nothing out of the ordinary. Apparently the rash is not terribly unusual because none of the people we saw at TCH were all that concerned. They said to treat it with Benadryl, treat the fever like we've been doing, and only come back if he starts to breathe too heavily and starts grunting again.

He had a fever again overnight, but he slept through his medicine doses thanks to the Benadryl. The rash looked worse this morning, and then he got sick right after eating just a little for breakfast. The doctor said his digestive tract probably looks just as bad as his skin, and the applesauce I gave him may have been too acidic at that point. Whoops. Lesson learned. So far so good on that front the rest of the day, although he has mostly been getting milk. He doesn't seem terribly hungry.

So that's where we stand now. He's super sleepy because of the Benadryl. When he's awake, he spends most of the time clinging to either Mikey or me. Occasionally he'll break out of that and show his usual curiosity. Those moments of normalcy are so exciting for me! I miss my healthy, curious baby who gets into everything. It's really sad to see him so sedate, itchy, and hot.

If you would like to see photos of his rash, look below. Be forewarned, it's bad. I just know that if I read this blog post, I would be wondering how bad it could really be. Let's start with a picture of how stinking cute he normally looks.


This was taken the day of the first Aggie game of the year. The outfit is 2-0, so of course he has to wear it every game day.


This was taken Wednesday night. He was still feeling OK at this point, as you can see by his desire to play with kitchen utensils. You can see some bumps that look like bug bites.


I took this one Thursday morning. I thought it was bad then!


Here's one taken Thursday night.


Also from last night. His legs look just awful too.

It's worse today, although I almost don't think it looks worse for some reason. I think I'm just getting used to it. His eyes have been pretty swollen, and his hands and feet are like sausages. Poor guy doesn't want to stand up or crawl because it hurts. His skin is stretched so tight. Any time he lets us put him down for a second, he just sits there. Thankfully, Mikey's mom gave me some much-needed relief during the day today. With her help, I was able to take a short walk to get the mail (felt so good to get out of the sick zone), eat breakfast AND lunch, do laundry, and relax a bit.

So you know what we'll be doing this weekend...trying to nurse our sick puppy back to health, as well as getting some rest ourselves (hopefully W will cooperate). Thank goodness Mikey is the BEST person to share parenting responsibilities with. I would have lost my mind without his help!

My sanity is also intact thanks to my mom, who has received and returned emails, texts, and phone calls around the clock for five days now. She is an unbelievable support system with a crucial combination of a cool head, lots of sick kiddo experience, and much love for all three of us. Thanks, Mom! And sorry for all the worry I caused you when I was sick as a child. I am forever in your debt.