Fevers

Cupcake has a fever or 101.5 today, and she feels very warm.  So far she's still eating like a champ and cruising the furniture like no one's business.  Then again, she's also been clingier, and looks under the weather.

Thank God it's a weekend and Nate is here.  We can trade holding her, and bounce our worries off each other.  But because it's Sunday, the doctor's offices are closed, so we'd have to wait until tomorrow to have her checked.

I've called our metabolic center (they have a 24 hour line), and they told us to follow her illness, and keep feeding her every 2 hours (breast milk or solid food), and call them back if she starts vomiting or refusing food.  But otherwise, give her L-carnitine, fever reducing agents, and lots of TLC (that's Tender Loving Care).  Not much more we can do.  MCAD doesn't make Cupcake more susceptible to illnesses, nor does it make her body deal with the virus/bacteria any different.  It's not her immune system that malfunctions.  Rather, when she gets sick, we need to watch that she doesn't go into fasting, which could cause a metabolic crisis.

So it seems that everything is "under control", but man, it's hard seeing a 9 month old miserable with a fever.  She's alternating between happily energetic and whiny sleepy, depending on how much we sing to her.  We'll just take it easy today, play in the house, and make sure she's getting plenty of rest and food.

And here comes the mom-guilt.  I fear she has the coxsackievirus that's going around.  Why, oh why did I take her to that play-date on Wednesday?  Is that when she caught it?  Should I have protected her more from infections?  Last Wednesday, I made the conscious decision to take her to the picnic in the park, even though some babies had come down with coxsackievirus.  Since the infected kids wouldn't be there, I figured it was okay, and I just make sure she didn't share toys with any of the other babies.  Maybe that wasn't enough.  We also went out to the playground every day this week, even though we're having a crazy heat wave and this virus is making the rounds.  Could it be the extreme temperatures that affected her ability to fight off infection?  And if this illness gets worse and she ends up in the ER, I'm gonna have a hard time not blaming myself.  I've always believed that we can't keep children in a bubble, that it's our duty to expose them to the world.  Illnesses at a young age result in antibodies and healthier adults, right?

I just feel so bad for her right now.  She seems physically uncomfortable, and there's only so much Tylenol or ibuprofen can do.  Any other tips for a feverish baby?