Nat's Got a Fee-vuh

(and oh how I wish 'more cowbell' was the prescription)

Natalie had her 9 month well-baby appointment yesterday. She weighs 20lbs, 1oz and is 27.5 inches long. I didn't ask where that fell in the 'normal' spectrum, but I assume her stats are average.

She got the Hep B vaccine (her pediatrician gives that shot at the 9 month visit to cut down on the number of shots given at the 12 month visit). And Lee and I decided to go ahead and give Natalie a (thimerosal-free) flu shot. She handled both shots like a champ, only crying for 30 seconds or so.

We figured everything was okay until we heard Natalie whimpering over the baby monitor a few hours after she went to bed. Lee went to go check on her and commented on how warm she felt. I took her temperature and it was 103.4! My poor baby. It was obvious she didn't feel well - she was absolutely pitiful. I knew something was wrong when she didn't resist Lee or me snuggling with her. She didn't look thrilled but she didn't seem to have enough energy to squirm out of our arms.

We called the on-call doctor and he said that both the Hep B shot and the flu shot can cause a fever. And that we shouldn't worry unless her fever gets up to 106. Say WHAT? Wouldn't someone burst into a fireball at 106 degrees? I guess babies can handle a higher temperature than adults (though it seems like it should be the other way around, but whatever).

After a few hours of catnapping-fussing-catnapping-fussing, I finally got Natalie down for the night at midnight and she slept until 6:00am. I fed her again and she slept for another 1.5 hours. Her fever was better this morning but seems to have spiked again this afternoon. She doesn't have any other symptoms so I'm not too terribly concerned, other than the fact that she's 20lb sauna.

Despite her not feeling well, I've l-o-v-e-d all of this cuddle time I've gotten. It's the silver lining in all of this fever drama.