By the time you have four, you have learned a thing or two

There is a lovely bug out there called Roseola that effects babies and toddlers, and is characterized by a sudden, high fever that lasts for a couple of days, then drops, followed within a couple of days by a red rash. I do not remember if Elli had it or not, but then, I was working so much the first two years of her life, that I remember far less than I wish I did. So my first encounter with it that I clearly remember was with Tobiah.

Tobiah was about 14 months old, if I remember correctly, and it was during the lovely swine flu "epidemic" we had in 2009/2010. My best friend's daughter had contracted swine flu, and was in the hospital. We had all been exposed very briefly shortly before her daughter started showing the serious signs, so I was overly paranoid about every little sniffle that came out of any member of my family. I am sure you can imagine my distress when Tobiah became listless and very snuggly, then very suddenly spiked a fever of about 104. Without hesitation, I loaded the kids in the van, and rushed him to Children's. Thankfully, it happened when Rich was home (or maybe I picked him up from work? This was two years ago, so I'm not completely sure), so he was able to be there with me. They did the "quick test" for swine flu, which was negative, then also did the test that took longer, and told us they would get back to us the following day if it was positive. They did not seem concerned, but I still did not sleep at all that night. I think knowing a little girl just three months old than Tobiah that was in the hospital, struggling, with swine flu made things a little too scary for me. And, well, lets admit it, I tend to worry about my kids, sometimes I bit much.

Anyway, needless to say, we never heard back from the hospital, and the next day Tobiah's fever was lower, and the following day gone. The day after that he broke out in that lovely rash. I believe the doctor at Children's had mentioned roseola to us, or perhaps I had heard it from another source, but I remember being very relieved when I saw that rash appear.

Fast forward about a year, and Naomi is not quite a year old, and very suddenly spikes a very high fever, and becomes very fussy, not wanting to be put down. By this point I was a little slower to rush the kids to the doctor, knowing kids get better far faster if left at home, at least when there is not a true medical need to be elsewhere. So, I called the consulting nurse to get their advice on what to do, and they basically said if she was staying hydrated, to keep her home, but if the fever lasted more than three days, went over 105, or she started having other signs like vomiting, shaking uncontrollably, etc., to take her in. If I remember correctly, the thought of it being roseola never even crossed my mind until the rash showed up, and I felt pretty dumb. Needless to say, Naomi was fine, and never ended up at the doctor for that one.

Well, by the fourth child, you learn a thing or two! Last week Ruth was getting increasingly crabby with every passing day. She had been getting teeth (and still is working on at least one), so I just chalked it up to teething and did my best to comfort and console her. Thursday rolled around, and I was working like a fiend to get the laundry caught up and the house cleaned since we were having my in-laws over and having Elli's party on Sunday, and were going to be gone Thursday night and all of Saturday. Yeah, I worked pretty hard. I did notice Ruth felt a little warm, and was a little surprised she wanted to wake up long enough to nurse and eat a few bites, then right back to sleep, but figured she was still getting teeth, and might have a bit of a cold. We went to Tobiah's Preschool Christmas Program that evening (Tobiah was so cute, honestly could have done better, but I think he was just done from literally being at school since 8:15am, and it was then 7:00pm), and she thankfully stayed pretty content as long as we were holding her. Then we got home and got everybody to bed, and Rich brought her to me to nurse her, and she was burning. Poor babe had a temp of 103.5. The very first thing in my mind this time was roseola, but I called the nurse, and basically heard exactly what I did with Naomi. Well, her fever was mostly gone by Friday night, maybe a slight one Saturday morning, then at church Sunday I was holding a sleeping Ruth (which was a rare treat) and spotted the rash on her back. It is now all over her torso, and even a little on her sweet little face. I am so thankful this rash does not bother them!