Roseola Blues

Roseola is an acute disease of infants and young children in which a high fever and skin rash occur.

Symptoms
A fever usually occurs before the rash appears. It lasts for 3 (sometimes up to 7) days. The fever may be as high as 105° Fahrenheit, and it generally responds well to acetaminophen (Tylenol).
Between the second and fourth day of the illness, the fever drops and a rash appears (often as the fever falls).
The rash starts on the trunk and spreads to the limbs, neck, and face. The rash is pink or rose-colored, and has fairly small sores that are slightly raised.
The rash lasts from a few hours to 2 - 3 days. It usually does not itch.

Other symptoms include:Irritability; High fever that comes on quickly

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The fever started Thursday. Grandma had picked Connor and I up from home, and as we drove Connor screamed the entire way. We couldn't figure out what was making him so irritable. Once arriving at grandma's house Connor was still not right and that's when we discovered it. He was certainly hot to the touch, now to see what the thermometer would say. The first reading was 99.8, we waited a few minutes, gave him some baby tylenol and tried again. 100.6 came across the little screen. It was climbing even after the medicine. I called the pediatrician, made an appointment and then called daddy. They fit us in late in the day and daddy was able to be there. We did not see Connor's pediatrician, but it didn't matter. The doctor checked him over thoroughly and found nothing else. Dr. Gallego then informed us that Connor may have roseola, but we won't know for a couple of days because it manifests in a rash after the fever goes away. He also told us that there happens to be an outbreak right now in our area of roseola and that there was nothing to worry about.(Nothing to worry about? How did this happen? Where in the world could he have gotten this? We go from our home to grandma's and very few places in between. Then we started the math of figuring out the incubation period and we are pretty sure he got it in the nursery at church.) The doctor said to monitor the fever, continue with the tylenol, and if anything changes to bring him back in.

Connor's fever continued to hover around 100 degrees on Friday, and by Saturday it was a thing of the past. No fever, and no rash. Could the doctor have been wrong? Sunday, still nothing. I was a little confused, but I wasn't asking questions. I would continue to quietly observe. Monday morning came the manifestation. Not bad mind you, but a little speckle of red dots behind his ears and the back of his head. There were a few patches on his neck as well. It almost looked like heat rash, just tiny little dots. He also was very irritable and clingy, each nap time was a nightmare. He wanted to be held all of the time. Playtime held no luster; toys meant nothing. He wanted to be up, and even then he wasn't happy. I called my pediatrician and after speaking with her about all of this, and filling her in on our visit with the other doctor, she confirmed that it was roseola and that it was not anything to worry about. The fevers were over, and she was impressed that they didn't get as high as they typically do. She chalked it up to the fact that I still nurse Connor. She said the rash would spread over the next few days, and then it would all be over. Interestingly enough, the rash never really spread. It is now gone from his head/neck, but never traveled anywhere else. That is fine by me. It was only a very mild case. The irritability and clingy-ness is still there, but daddy seems to think Connor does it because he knows I'll appease him. Sick babies need their mommies, and I'm a sucker for arms up. Praise the Lord Connor is ok, and we came through this without any battle wounds. I know many people were praying for him, and I'm sure that is the main reason he relatively coasted through this. Now for the clingy behavior to cease, and we'll be flying high.

Connor is still trying his best to walk. He took a few steps away from the table and towards daddy last night, but I'm not sure he knew what he was doing. It was adorable though. He stood for a few seconds holding onto nothing, and then step, step, fall into daddy's arms. He's picked up trying to say "bye-bye" now, and all of his words light up my day. So far we are up to Mama, Dada, Rara (Roxy), Ah-ah (grandma), Eh-oh (hello), baaaa (bye). Also another new activity comes in the form of piercing, high-pitched, shrieks to entertain mommy and daddy. He loves to hear how loud he can get. He also loves our reaction to him. He's a performer for sure!

We did family night at the beach this week. It was a farewell of sorts for Uncle Casey who left this week to make his way back up to school via North Carolina. It was a beautiful evening and a great time to reflect on the wonderful memories we made this summer. It is amazing to see how similar Uncle Casey and Connor are. I love the bond that they have, and that was only strengthened by the time they had together the past few months. Good thing we're heading up to NC next week to savor the last little bits of summer there.