Fever

Posted by spots (Singapore, Singapore) on 5 August 2006 in People & Portrait and Portfolio.

So exactly one week ago we had a gathering with my two girlfriends and their husbands. The restaurant had a delightful playroom replete with colourful balls, slides, plastic crocodiles, and castles. Bemused, we plonked Daniel down in the balls and took some pictures. Then, Girlfriend Number 1 Who Is A Doctor's Wife appears and screams, "A! Get Daniel out of there! These playrooms are a cess pool of virus and disease!" Of course, being Wise Parents Who Know Better Than Others, we laughed off her seemingly unsubtantiated and over-hyped remarks. Daniel sat in the playroom for a good 15 minutes and then for another bout after we started dinner.

Fast forward to today: It's been a hellish week. Daniel contracted a 39.4 degree fever the day after our visit to the Lovely Restaurant With A Playroom Replete With Balls. Since it was a Sunday, and all regular paediatricians were closed, we had to go to Thomson Medical Centre's 24-hour Family Clinic where poor Dan was subject to blood and urine tests. The fever remained in the mid 38-39 degree region for 4 days before stabilising around mid 37 degree since Thursday. Then, he broke out into a rash which covered his entire face, head, and body with an "angry" red colour. My poor son is bespeckled!

Daniel has been the fussiest he's ever been in his life. It's to be expected I suppose, but it has taken its toil on us. The amazing thing about this kid is that despite having temperatures of up to 39.4 degrees in the middle of the night, he managed to sleep through the night every single night - we'd just lift him out of the cot to feed him ibuprofen and then he'd go back to sleep. Of course, we can never be sure if he caught the virus from the playroom, or whether it was a latent virus festering from our trip to Thailand - but one thing's for sure, to be on the safe side, no more plonking our son in playrooms from now on!