mr. roseola

Our poor little guy, and frankly, poor mama and dada. This has been quite a week. It all started with a little Isaac getting a little fever. It continued to come and go for the next 3 days. We would give him Tylenol, and it would go down. Once it wore off, the fever came back. Every time I called the pediatrician's office, the nurse said "sounds like teething". I continued to watch him, but seeing that he does have tooth #5 and #6 pushing through, I hoped that it was the teething. On Thursday the fever went down, but he still wasn't himself. He was incredibly fussy and just not himself. Friday he woke up at 5am (not our son),and voila, the rash appeared. I freaked out having no idea what it was. I thought chickenpox? measles? what the ****? I called gramma barb, and she immediately said "sounds like roseola".
She was right. As if parenting isn't hard enough, it seems that I continually learn about new stuff AS IT IS HAPPENING. Dr. Shulman promptly yelled at his nurses for suggesting that a fever could be a result of teething. Apparenlty 80% of kids under the age of 3 get roseola at some point, and it is highly contagious. The kicker is that it is most contagious before the rash presents itself, so you really don't know what it is until the end. I am convinced Isaac contracted it from one of his little friends, and returned the favor to several others over the course of the week.
To those babies with high fevers followed by rashes, and to those parents who are pulling their hair out... we're so sorry.
Our little man seems to be on the mend. He had a 3 hour nap in his stroller (yes he is not feeling well) at Topanga Mall. When we got home he was in good spirits, eating well, and (im crossing my fingers) seeming much more like himself.