Temperature control!!

By the time En was 8 months, we thought we have pretty much mastered most of the essential skills to deal with a baby - bathing, feeding, diaperng, etc etc.. Imagine the shock we had when En fell seriously ill 3 weeks ago.. it started innocently enough with a swim and some tantrums which we mistook for his fatigue...

But when his temperature shot to 39 degree, he got our full attention.. we found ourselves obsessed with measuring his temperature every other minute, both to reassure ourselves that we had his temperature under control as well as to make sure we did not mis-read the numbers shown..

When en started to lose his appetite, and the fever not going down despite the medicine he took, we were seriously worried.. and whenever the number hits 39, it's red alert and we would start sponging him every opportunity we got..

The poor baby could not really sleep nor eat and we followed him in that as well.. doc said it was viral fever and would take time to go away..and true enuf, he went on to develop cough and running nose.. guess it had to get worst before it got any better.. and he even managed to pass the potent virus to us.. while we still had to spend every night monitoring his temperaure.. and sleep seemed a hazardous activity as we feared his temperature shooting up suddenly esp. in the middle of the night or the wee hours of the morning..

This was by far En's most serious illness to date.. he had always been quite a sturdy baby.. and seeing him so sick was heart-aching and really took a toll on us and the helper..

Still thru it all, i felt it has bonded us closer to the baby.. and it made me realise how close the baby is to our hearts - more than i thought possible, but more on that next time..