Over the weekend Thomas got his first fever.
It wasn’t a horrible.
It was just a 24-hour thing, flanked on both sides by fussiness and hold-me-all-day-ness. After two doses of acetaminophen and 72 straight hours of snuggling, he was back to his normal self.
People often make comments about Thomas, that because he’s my third baby he surely sleeps whenever, wherever, and goes with the flow. For the third baby, my mom-standards must be so much lower, and I probably don’t worry about this one at all — they say.
Some of it’s true. For a baby, Thomas is pretty flexible and laid back. But that’s where it ends. Maybe because when you’re the kind of mom who lets your firstborn paint his arms with mud, you can only lower your standards so much.
I still worry. Sure, I don’t have the same new-mom anxiety I had when David was an infant, but in some ways I worry more about Thomas. When I noticed he was acting a little off, and his forehead was a little warm, my stomach sank. How can I completely take care of a sick baby when I have two other kids to take care of?
When David got his first fever, I sat on the couch, held him all day, and watched funny cat videos on YouTube. That’s what I did. Tom got home from work and I was sitting in the dark because I didn’t want to disturb him by getting up to turn on a light. But how can I do that and also make snacks and take little ones to the potty and find the purple crayon that Mary Virginia seems to have misplaced?
I can’t.
Then, just as I was longing to be able to snuggle on the couch with my sick baby, I remembered that my big kids love funny cat videos.
Since that’s the biggest mom-epiphany I’ve had in a while, you probably should steer clear of asking me for parenting advice.
[Think my boys look alike? When they have their first fevers and are snuggling on Mommy and coincidentally wearing the same outfit, they look exactly alike.]
Babies with fevers deserve cuddles regardless of birth order. I know just how you feel. And those first fevers are always hard too because you know you can’t protect them from everything.
Hope everyone is on the mend! (And the other kids don’t catch it!)
thank you! i’m just glad he lasted almost 7 months before his first sickness. and so far everyone else is well…except mama with a scratchy throat. of course 😉
Are you sure that’s not just the same picture?! WOW what a resemblance!!!
You are so right! By the time you get to the third, sickness setting in, even for just one child, brings a whole new level of complication. And with it comes the dreaded realization that it will likely spread to the others. We were there a few weeks ago and seem to be headed back down that path again. If you need some fun to occupy your snuggle time, come check out my corner of the blogosphere at http://fearfultofearlessblog.com