On Wednesday night, Picklepot
came into our room crying. He said he had tummy ache, and didn’t feel well, and
he ended up sleeping in our bed. It was our first clue he was unwell.
On Thursday morning, he was slow
to get ready for school – he kept saying he had tummy ache but he said it was
because he was hungry, so we hurried him along to get dressed and go downstairs
for breakfast. Despite him repeatedly saying he was hungry, he didn’t eat much
breakfast, and then it was another battle getting him to brush teeth / brush
hair and get out of the door to go to school. He was very moany and complaining
a lot, but he can be like that in the morning anyway so we kind of didn’t take
much notice of it!
At quarter to ten the school
phoned me to say that Picklepot was really feeling under the weather, he was
complaining of aches and pains and had a bit of a fever. I went to school with
some kids Ibruprofen and we made the decision that a member of staff would give
him the medicine and he would continue at school to see how he felt once the
medicine kicked in. I knew he had cooking planned for yesterday and I knew he’d
be upset to miss it, even if he was unwell, so I didn’t want to take him home
early unless I had to. After being given his medicine I went home again, and I
didn’t hear anything from school so I figured he had perked up a bit.
At the end of the school day
Picklepot was escorted over the playground to me by the teaching assistant Mrs
G, he was crying and she said he had been like it all afternoon. She said he’d
been complaining of feeling poorly, he was quiet and crying and not like his
usual self at all, and she said maybe he was coming down with something. I took
him home and he cried the whole way home. At home he got into a onesie and
snuggled on the sofa under a duvet. He asked for a chopped up apple, but he
didn’t eat it. He didn’t want any dinner and he fell asleep on the sofa after
another dose of Ibruprofen.
While he slept he was pale, with
flushed cheeks, and he was restless while he slept and moaning / crying in his
sleep. Just before 8 I had to take Sunshineface upstairs for a nappy change,
and while I was there I thought since it was almost bedtime I’d get him in his
PJs and get him ready for bed. While I was sorting him out, Picklepot woke up
on the sofa and came upstairs. He said hello to me as he walked past, and he
went straight into his bedroom and climbed into bed. I went in there a couple
of minutes later and turned off the light since he was cuddled up under the
duvet and he didn’t say anything. I checked on him 20 minutes later, after
Daddy P got home and took over putting Sunshineface to bed, and he was snoring.
Overnight, Picklepot was up quite
a few times. He was crying, saying he was in pain, he was aching, he needed a
wee, he needed another drink, he had two more doses of Ibruprofen to try and
get his temperature down and get him back to sleep again. When I woke up with
Sunshineface at 8am I knew that Picklepot wouldn’t be going to school, so I
rang them to register him absent at 8.30 and after that I called the doctors
surgery to get an appointment for him today. Since it’s Friday I didn’t want to
leave it and have him get much worse over the weekend.
We got to the doctors in good
time for our appointment, and unsurprisingly after a quick exam and taking his
temperature (39.5) the nurse confirmed that Picklepot has definitely got
tonsillitis again. She got a prescription from the doctor for some penicillin,
which I picked up from the pharmacy in the same building before we left. I also
got some more Calpol since we’d run out, and the nurse said I can double-dose
Calpol and kids Ibruprofen to keep his temperature down. When he has a fever he
is much more prone to more violent night terrors, so we’re working to avoid
that!
We came straight home afterward
and he took his first dose of medicine, he’s been cuddled up on the sofa all
day watching YouTube videos and while he looks a better colour he is still very
quiet and clearly not feeling right. Fortunately Daddy P is off work today so
he was able to stay home with Sunshineface while I took Picklepot to the
doctors, and he has been able to watch both kids while I got on with work.
We have plans all weekend, so I’m
not sure whether we’re going to have to cancel them yet or not – I’m going to
see how he feels and take it as it comes. It would be nice to get out and do
stuff / see people as planned, but if he’s not well enough there’s no point
trying to force the issue, it will just end badly.
