Izzie's First Illness

Dear Boo Boo,

You are having a rough couple of days. It all started when Mommy started feeling feverish on Wednesday night. She felt okay on Thursday morning, so she went to work, but the fever came back on Thursday night - 104!!! Mommy battled it out all through Thursday and Friday, and when the fog cleared up a bit, she noticed that her throat was extremely store. Well, unfortunately, you started being feverish on Friday night, and on Saturday morning, you reached a peak fever of 103.8 - the highest you've ever been. You threw up your morning feed (something you've never really done before), and we tried to get you comfortable while we called the doctor to set up an appointment.

Off to the doctor we went, and after a quick examination, the doctor diagnosed you with herpangina. Mommy has the same thing too. Its apparently common in the summer and fall, it comes with a high fever, and then you get these painful sores in the back of your throat, making it hard to swallow.

Anyhow, your fever started to slowly break, but I guess the sore throat started at that point, because you refused to nurse or take a bottle. Mommy and daddy started to get a little bit scared, when we realized that you weren't eating or drinking anything. After trying many many things, we figured that you would tolerate taking really cold milk from a medical syringe. But it wasn't easy. You must've been in a lot of pain, because you cried a lot. Mommy explained to daddy, how her throat her a lot, so it must've been ten times worse for you. It was truly heartbreaking to watch you in so much pain. We were thisclose to leaving for the ER, when you pulled through and you took in a couple of ounces for us - you were incredibly brave and such a trooper.

Right now, you're doing a little better, but you're still not out of the woods yet. We're going to go see the doctor to make sure you're okay, and we'll continue to try and feed you. It might be super painful as you try to swallow, but we'll be there for you.

Mommy and Daddy talked about how this reminded us of the newborn days. Back then, we woke up a lot, didn't get a lot of sleep, and spent a lot of effort trying to get you to eat. It was definitely hard and trying (I'm sure, on your part too), but we always talk about how that time made us stronger as parents, and how we can look back and see this as a blessing. We decided to think that this situation is exactly the same.

Boo boo, feel better soon, okay?

Love, Mommy & Daddy