Sick days indeed

Last week, Zoe and I had a cold. It was our first one in a while, though, so I felt like it wasn't so bad. Neither of us missed school or work, and by Wednesday, we were fine.

Then, Friday came. I had a friend coming to dinner with her husband and 16-month-old son. This was a college friend who I hadn't seen in years and years, and I was SO EXCITED about it! They came, and Zoe was having a great time running around, showing off in that way she does...hopping, spinning, dancing and singing.

We were all hanging out while I cooked some shrimp and grits, when suddenly Charles came into the kitchen. "Um, Zoe has a fever of 101."

Denial set in. Immediately.

"No she doesn't," I said, so sure I was right. "No way. She's just overheated. It's hot in here and she's running around."

(In my defense, it was in the 80s that day, and our house was rather warm since I was cooking like a madwoman.)

Two of ours dinner guests were pediatricians, and both shot me funny looks. "No, kids don't run fevers from running around."

D'oh!

They were cool and relaxed about it, though, which made me feel better. But, that afternoon, before the fever came on, Zoe had hung around with a nine-month-old who lives on our street, and we saw a one-month-old baby as well (she didn't get close to that baby, though). And then my friend's son, too.

I felt like she was Typhoid Zoe, spreading her evil germs across the land.

Sigh.

That night, we had our first ever middle of the night fever spike - it was up to 104 by morning, even with Advil. It was awful.

The whole weekend was spent in the house, dealing with poor Zoe's fever. The doctor thought it was viral, but on Sunday we started her on an antibiotic, thinking it was a sinus infection. Sure enough her fever dropped, and yesterday she was fever-free.

But today? Yeah, fever again. I have no idea what's going on, but we'll be home again today, and I'm apparently on a mini-vacation from work. I love all the cuddles (she's a cuddly-sick-girl), but I think we're all ready to return to normal.