Jake Visits the Emergency Room

Our family had an eventful afternoon today. After a trip to the mall where Jillian acted brattier than ever, we went home and the kids took long naps. Jillian woke up in a much better mood, so we took them to the toddler water park. We hadn't been there more than 10 or 15 minutes when I noticed that Jake was very lethargic. I felt him, and he was burning up, so I got him out of the stroller and took him to the very edge of the water (its a zero entry pool) and sat him down. His body got really ridgid, and he became somewhat unresponsive. Rick snapped his fingers in front of Jake's face, and Jake had no reaction at all. It was like he was staring off into space, and he wasn't making a sound.

So we quickly packed the kids up (much to Jillian's disappointment) and headed toward the urgent care. We decided to drop Rick and Jillian off at home because it was on the way, and I was going to go on to the urgent care with Jake. But when Rick took Jake's temperature, it was 106, so we decided that the ER was a better option. Almost as soon as we got there, the nurse gave him a dose of Tylenol and a dose of Motrin, and within 45 minutes or so, his temperature was down to 102.8. The doctor did a chest x-ray to make sure that it wasn't pneumonia (it wasn't), and when the doctor put his tongue depressor in Jake's mouth, Jake's gag reflex kicked in overdrive, and the kid projectile vomited, over and over, all over himself, me, the floor. Yick.

By the time we left, his temperature was down to 100.4, and the doctor gave us instructions to continue with the Tylenol/Motrin regimine. He also instructed us to come back tomorrow if Jake seems unusual or his fever won't stay down. He figured it was an infection of some sort, but since Jake just finished a 21-day round of antibiotics, its likely not bacterial. He said Jake's throat was really red, and he could see a slight infection in his ears (as well as the retracted eardrum - guess the antibiotic didn't fix that).

So we'll continue to watch him tonight and tomorrow, and hopefully he'll be back to normal in no time!

(When Jillian and Rick got to the hospital, the first thing Jillian said when she walked in the door was, "where's Jake? What's wrong with Jake?"