It's been getting kinda chilly at night here! And for the past few days, we have not even broken 70 degrees. As I walked to my car after getting off work today, I was shivering a little in my sandals and it made me think about the other week when Smiley got sick.
Smiley rarely ever gets sick. Certainly, sometimes he has sinus headaches, which can be a form of "being sick" I suppose. But it's not really an infection or a virus; it's just an allergic reaction. I digress.
I remember waking up because Silas wanted to be fed. He wasn't crying, just fussing some, and I reached over to pull him close to me. I was still half asleep myself. As I fed Silas, I noticed that the bed seemed to be vibrating. I realized that Smiley was shaking, somewhat violently.
It took me a few moments to register this; I thought perhaps I was dreaming or imagining things. But no, I reached out towards Smiley and could feel him shaking under the blanket. I woke up more fully, wondering if this was a seizure. I thought about panicking, but decided against it.
Silas finished eating and fell back asleep, perhaps lulled by the vicious amount of shaking. Then, it stopped. For a minute, anyhow. I was now wide awake, though Smiley seemed to be sleeping. My eyes were heavy and tired, but my mind was racing. Why would he be shaking so badly?
After a few minutes, I put my hand on his shoulder to wake him up and ask him if he felt ok.
Sleepily, he said that he was just really cold and could he have another blanket. I got up and got him another blanket, three other blankets in fact, and draped them over him. He was still shivering with an unreal ferocity.
But when I felt his forehead, he didn't feel particularly warm or cold, which was strange to me. I had thought maybe he was getting a fever. But no, he just keep shivering away. I asked him if he wanted anything else and he said no, so I tried to go to sleep.
Maybe ten more minutes went by, and then all of the sudden Smiley sat straight up, pushed off the blankets, went to the bathroom and began throwing up just as violently as he had been shivering. After I stopped staring in surprise, I got up and brought one of the blankets to help keep him warm as he threw up in the sink.
I had been getting up every two hours or so to feed Silas and was dead tired, but now was not the time to complain about it. I rooted through our dresser and came up with some warmer, comfier clothes for him to change in to. I got him some water, and brought him the thermometer.
Remembering that he hadn't felt warm just 15 minutes ago or so, I was shocked to feel how warm he now felt, and stunned to see the thermometer reading out a 103.2 degree fever.
"You don't do anything half-assed," I said as he drank some water and sat on the bed. "I'm this close to freaking out and going to the emergency room."
"So this is what being sick feels like," he replied.
"Yeah, except for I don't remember ever throwing up my insides quite like that. And most people I know would take little sips of water in case it came right back up, instead of drinking the whole cup."
We settled back in bed to try to get back to sleep and I remember being thankful that I was still on maternity leave so that I could bring him to the doctor tomorrow without having to use additional leave time.
After an hour of spotty sleep, Smiley sat back up and sprinted into the bathroom again, throwing up once more. His temperature had gone down though, so I just rubbed his back as he vomited and hoped that whatever he had wasn't contagious because I hate throwing up.
Long story short, it turned out his had a UTI. Now, I don't know about you, but the time I got a UTI, I was sick, certainly, but my fever wasn't that bad and I didn't throw up even once. It was like Smiley's immune system determined there was an infection and decided to just clear everything out or burn it up, and to do so sooner than right away. I have NEVER felt someone shiver so violently and I've lived where it gets pretty darn cold out!
So yes, that is what I thought about while I walked to my car today, shivering softly.
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