A Week of Fever

Well, I have successfully survived 7 days with a sick toddler! And can I just say that I'm exhausted! Ainsley has been waking up so much at night, each time her fever spikes, and I have to put her in bed with me (to watch for seizures) and start trying to get her fever back down. I am so tired and my heart breaks that I can't do anything to help her!

Needless to say, we've become a little stir-crazy cooped up in the house like this. Aside from her cough and some whining here and there, Ainsley has been acting pretty good. So, Wednesday morning we met a couple of friends at the pool. Ainsley woke up that morning with a fever, but it broke without medication and she ate good, so I thought we were over the worst part. The cold water really helped to control her fever, but as soon as we got out for a snack, it started to spike again. So, we went straight home and she slept all afternoon. I thought this was a cute one of Ainsley and Will....

That night our home group had volunteered to work in the childcare area, but since Ainsley was still running a fever I stayed home with her. She had gone down for her nap before lunch and slept until about 4:00pm so I knew she'd be hungry. Sure enough! Right away she started asking for pizza. I had some coupons for Jim's Razorback in Centerton, so we ordered us a pizza and watched 101 Dalmations. (The real one, not the animated one) I had promised Ainsley we'd have a picnic in the living room while we watched our movie, but she didn't understand why we couldn't use her tea set to eat on. The truth is, the pizza was just too big for those little, bitty plates! :)

After pizza, we laid in the floor for about an hour coloring until the movie was over. I was already running out of things to do with a sick toddler! (I had no idea I'd have 4 more days of this!)

Thanks for Daddies! Clint decided to get the Game Cube out and let Ainsley play "against" him. She really likes to watch and hold the controller, but didn't have much interest in actually playing. It did give her something to do for a while, though!

We had planned to take a little family trip (just for the weekend) somewhere for Labor Day, but with Ainsley being sick we decided to just play it by ear. Friday night I kept hearing Ainsley coughing....every 30 minutes or so. Then she woke up for about an hour at some point and just sang her "ABC's" in her bed the entire time! Finally at 7:00am she woke up screaming "Momma!" Her fever was at 103.2. We decided it had been long enough and her cough was getting scary, so we packed her up and headed to the WellQuest clinic at 8:00am. The doctor said her ear infection was cleared up, her throat was a little pink, but he really could see no reason for the fever. On the way home, Ainsley fell asleep in the car - 9:00am. I put her in her bed and she slept until noon. Her fever broke right after she woke up, so we decided to take her to the Promenade. It was the only thing we could think of to get her out of the house, stay comfy in her stroller, and not be too terribly hot. She played with this Thomas track at the toy store for probably 20 minutes. Then the kitchen set for several minutes, shopping basket, baby doll highchair, etc. She had a blast! Clint bought her a harmonica and a Thomas "Choo-choo" whistle. We were SO surprised at how good she is on the harmonica! Anyway, I got some really good deals at Gymboree with 20% off everything in the store and my coupon for an additional 20% off! Children's Place was also having a 20% off sale so I racked up there too! Now we have at least a few outfits for Fall. Ainsley sat in the kids section at Gymboree watching Thomas while I shopped and then we all got ice cream and headed home. On the way home (little before 6:00pm) she fell asleep in the car again! 2 naps in one day? When was the last time that happened? I assumed she was probably out for the night, so I gave her all of her medicine when we got home (she stayed asleep) and put her to bed in her dress and ponytail! She ended up waking up about 7:00pm but only for dinner and went back to sleep at little over an hour later. Look at the next picture. This is what I mean...just heartbreaking! Her poor little body has been through so much this week.

She woke up with a fever in the middle of the night last night so I put her in bed with me (Clint was already prepared to move to the guest room) and we started the routine. By the way, the only reason Clint goes to the guest room instead of me is because the bed is just a full and I'm afraid Ainsley would fall out! So, she woke up about 8am and cried until 11 when I put her back down for her nap. We were thinking about taking her to Eureka Springs to ride the train, but she didn't wake up until 3 (the last train leaves at 4) and I wasn't about to wake her up! So, we went to see "Underdog" instead.

Ainsley was the loudest kid in the theatre! During the previews there was a countdown and Ainsley started yelling, "5, 4, 3,...." Then there was a trailer for "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and she started yelling, "Mouse, Momma! A mouse!" During the Disney Productions piece it has the Magic Kingdom with the fireworks going off in the background so Ainsley was doing her firework imitations. She makes her fist go up real slow then opens it and says, "BOOM!" And when the feature presentation started, she was dancing and clapping and singing, even though I don't think she knew the song. Everyone around us was laughing, but she could care less! She wouldn't sit in the seat with us. Instead she wanted to sit in the floor in front of us and peak between the seats! Yuck! When we left she didn't let us forget that we had promised to let her play on the playground. So, after a hard afternoon, she collapsed. Her fever has been lower today than all week, so I am really thinking that it's almost over. Thanks to everyone for all your prayers. They have been much needed this week! I've told Clint to go do something fun tomorrow. I just hate it that he's been cooped up on his long weekend off work. So, I'm praying for no fever tomorrow so we all enjoy our last day off work!