Monkey Scared Me

My son(monkey) scarred me real bad this weekend. On Thursday night, his father picked him up early from his mothers because she said he wasn't feeling well. I got home and took his temp and it was 102.9 *scary* He has never been sick before so, I really didn't know what I should do. My first instinct was to go immediately to urgent care, but I calmed down and called the doctor on call that evening. She called back a 1/2 hour later and I explained his symptoms- the previous week he had some congestion and a runny nose, and the day before my MIL said he had a case of diarrhea(TMI), and now this fever. He was still pretty happy, not as much energy, but not irritable or anything. The Dr. told me that I should just give him some Tylenol to reduce the fever, watch him and give him fluids so he doesn't dehydrate. I asked her when I should worry, at what temp.? *And this is when I got a bit upset* The Dr. then laughs at me...yes, no need to read it again, she laughed at me. and said, what are you worried about brain damage and seizures or something? I said well, honestly, yes. What's a dangerous temperature for a 7 month old. She then chuckled again- as if I went to medical school or something and proceeded to tell me that an infant who is neurologically sound will not let his temperature raise to a level that is dangerous to his health. But if you think it will help**the gall of this women, I wouldn't have asked if I didn't think it would help**a dangerous temp would be around 108-109, and we generally like to see the baby if he gets a temp of 104-105 *good thing I asked because he was basically one degree away from that range*. She said there was no need for me to go out and sit in the ER, because there's really nothing they can do- his body is just trying to fight off an infection. If it doesn't get better within 2-3 days, bring him in to be looked at.

So, I hungup with Dr. Unsympathetic and watched the little monkey very closely, taking his temp every hour and making sure he got plenty of fluids and rest. I took Friday off and his temp teetered around 101-102, still scared. On Saturday morning he was still at about 101- and I was all set to take him in, but he seemed to have a little more energy, so I thought I would give it until about noon, and to my relief, by about 11:30 he was down to 99 and by 2:30 he was back at a cool 98. I was so relieved. His energy came back and he was back to banging on the couch cushions. For my first bought with a sick baby, I think I faired pretty well.
After almost 8 months (on 12/17), I still have never had to clean up any vomit- my child has NEVER thrown up, not even a little spit up when he was really little. Once it goes in, the food only comes out the other end, so I think I'm pretty lucky in that respect.