Roseola

Is not fun.  Austin had roseola this week.

It's also known as 6th disease as it is the 6th "common" cause of rash in infants/children.  It's also known as the 3-day fever, because well, it's a 3-day fever.  We know 3 other kids who had it sometime between their 7th and 8th month.  I guess we're just par for the course.

And that's what it was.  3 days of fever, ranging from 99 up to 104.  I don't ever recall ever having a fever of 104 as an adult.  It must be pretty horrible.  The last time I had a fever of 101 I wanted to do nothing but snuggle on my couch for the entire day and sleep...and pop Tylenol every 4 hours on the dot.

The worse part was he would NOT take his Tylenol. No way. Nuh uh.  Well, not after the initial dose anyway.  Syringes were not helpful.  Droppers were not helpful.  fingers dipped in medicine? No.  Spoons? yeah right.  The kid knows the stuff is disgusting.  By the end of the night, his jaws were practically wired shut.  Clamped down so tight that you couldn't even give him a binky (that's when you know he means business!) Probably my fault for buying him generic APAP and not shelling out the big bucks for "real" Tylenol.

By  48 hours in, we had to see someone to make sure things were going OK.  I more or less knew that it was a virus of some sort (probably roseola, since it's so common), but the nagging mom gut feeling told me that it'd be important to make sure.  We saw the pediatrician who verified that his symptoms were consistent with some sort of virus.  Phew.  The best part of the visit?  She reminded me (the pharmacist) that they made rectal APAP suppositories for a reason.

HOW COULD I FORGET?

So I practically RAN to the store to get some.  Mind you, I went to 3 pharmacies before I could find these butt gems. At the last place I went to, they were out of the strength that AJ is suitable for, so I went ahead and bought the "baby" dose (intended for infants up to ~18 pounds) anyway.  Under-dosing him was still better than nothing.

Now you're looking at a momma who can (proudly) say she can successfully administer rectal suppositories.  Damn straight I'm proud!

Anyway, fast forward 2 more days.  On Saturday night, I discovered that AJ had broke out in a big red rash.  Not an allergic looking one. He looks sort of like a teenager with a ton of acne.

And there you have it. Roseola.  It's a bitch.