27 December 2015

Spoke too soon about being out of the woods with Titus.  Turns out he only went down so easy because he was *really ill.*  He woke up to dream feed about 11pm last night and I was shocked at how hot he was.  The thermometer under his arm said 39.5/39.6*C (103/104*F) and it was still high after we gave him paracetamol.  And he was all floppy and his eyes weren't focusing and his breathing was starting to sound labored and intermittent. And it freaked me out enough to pack him up to the Sick Kids emergency room where the nurses took his vital signs and sure enough, his heart was racing at 220-240 bpm.  They weighed him up and gave him as big a dose of IBprofin as his weight would allow, but it still took over an hour for the temperature to come down completely.  Then I sat holding him with a pee-cup balanced on my knee trying to get a urine sample for another 2 hours.....  unsuccessfully, I'm afraid!  But by then, he had had a good drink, had smiled and cooed and generally flirted with everyone coming in the room, and fallen asleep again exhausted.

I think because Felicity is so so fair-colored, I haven't appreciated how light and fair Titus also is.  The (flurescent?) lights they use at the A and E show up every variation of color on the skin - I was able to see all the blood vessels and scarring on the back of my hands too - but after the flush of the fever left him, he was scary pale and clammy with poor little blue dark circles under his eyes.  How is it possible to love someone so much when you've only known them such a short time?

I got home about 4:15am in the end and unfortunately, Felicity woke up and needed settled back to sleep, but I was finally falling asleep myself by about 5:30am.  Whew.  Bless his heart, Simon hadn't slept while we were away either and he managed to contain Felicity on his side of the bed and then took her down to give her breakfast when she woke up for good at 7am-ish.  I dozed a while and then got up at 9:30am.  We called for reinforcements and Felicity went off to spend the afternoon with a friend so we had a chance to go back to sleep with the baby for a while this afternoon.

Titus was running another fever this morning, but it came down quickly after medicine.  He's delicate - been startling quite a lot and I've been trying to move him slowly and keep my hands on him as I think he's just got that kinda flu-ey, achey body.  After the fever dropped, he's been clammy and cold this afternoon again.  Much more responsive though and still eating well.  So I think we're going to give him a bath and try to have an early night of it for everyone.  Hopefully tonight will be a better one for sleep.

Mixed feelings about today as the weather was truly gorgeous - clear skies and sunshine.  On the one hand, we would have been a lot more miserable cooped up at home looking at the rain, but on the other, I hope we get another few days like today once we're all feeling better again.

I had a crazy idea to take a last-minute train down to York tomorrow, but I think that will have to wait for another time.