Fall, and the things that come with it
Fall is here. Ok, maybe not officially, but the weather has changed and I am loving it. The oppressive summertime heat disappeared (thank you, God!) on Saturday, and in its place were lovely breezes and cool nights. We opened the windows on Saturday and haven't run the air since then. I love to sit in the living room and listen to the leaves blowing on the trees, and it makes me feel warm inside to know that those leaves will be blowing to the ground in the near future. When the bus comes in the morning, it's still quite cool out and the boys are wanting to wear their sweatjackets while we wait. I love it. I longed for this for 33 years in Florida, and I would be shocked if I were to ever stop appreciating the seasons we get to experience here.
With fall and back to school of course come germs. Logan woke up at 4 AM this morning with a temp of 100. As the day progressed, I finally decided I better take his temperature again. i'm a firm believer in letting a fever do its job and kill whatever it's trying to kill, but I was shocked when the thermometer read 103.8. That's not the type of fever I let go, and he honestly didn't feel that warm to me. He was quickly dosed up with Motrin which dropped his temperature to 101. Unfortunately, it isn't lasting long enough, so with two hours still to go until he could get his next dose of Motrin, he was back up to 102.8. We have about another 20 minutes or so, and the last time I checked it, he was just over 103 again. I called the doctor, and with his temperature and the "thick throat" sound to his voice, I've diagnosed him with strep. It only makes sense - he's never in his 5 years had a temp over 102 (maybe not even that high - he's never been a fever runner, unlike his big brother who was a pro at the 104s), and he's also never had strep. Before he even started to show discomfort while swallowing, I already made the amateur diagnosis. Then a call to the neighbor firmed things up - Logan's bus seatmate is home today with....strep. So we have a morning appointment to be swabbed and hopefully to get an easy diagnosis and get on the path to wellness with antibiotics in hand. Until then, I get to just snuggle him, something I'm thankful for the opportunity to do. And I also get to wonder if James will catch it from him. James typically gets strep once a year, so I'll be watching him.