If it's Roseola, you've got a fussy baby

We went to Putrajaya last Wednesday to process hubby's I-card. On the way back home, I noticed EJ looked a little tired. I thought he was just sleepy because he kept on waking up the night before. It was his first night without a pacifier.

When we reached home, I put him to bed immediately and read his current favorite book. He was sleepy but couldn't sleep. After a few more minutes of reading, he closed his eyes. But when I kissed his forehead, it was burning hot. We lost the thermometer so I had no way of checking his temperature. I put my palm on his forehead and I know that his fever is quite high.

I wanted to wake him up to give some medicine but he looked so tired earlier, I hated to wake him up. So I decided to wait until he wakes up before I give him some paracetamol.

He had the fever until Friday evening. We didn't bring him to the hospital because he didn't look sick for two days that he had the fever. He was his normal self. I just continued to give him paracetamol for his fever, and it seemed to work.

On Saturday he had no more fever. But he was a bit fussy. Still, we went ahead with the plan to visit KLCC Aquaria. We were there before it opened at 11AM. Talk about starting the weekend early!

Inside the aquaria he has transformed into an eager beaver. He was so happy to see the turtles. At one point when he couldn't see the turtles he uttered "Tuh-tle, whereareyou?" Hehehe.

When we got home, it was another story. He was fussy again. But he wasn't hot anymore. So we thought he was just being a toddler :)

Yesterday, we got alarmed when we saw some rashes on his face. I immediately googled what it could have been. EJ's symptoms closely resembled that of Roseola. I know we should have brought him to the doctor instead of self-diagnosing ourselves. Sometimes, we're really dumb.

This is what I found on babycenter.com:

"It's possible to have the virus without having noticeable symptoms. But roseola usually starts out with a sudden, relatively high fever, often above 103 degrees Fahrenheit.

The fever typically lasts three to five days and may end abruptly, followed by the telltale rash. The rash may last for days or only hours.

The rash is pink and may have small flat spots or raised bumps. These spots may have a lighter "halo" around them and may turn white if you press on them.

The rash isn't itchy or uncomfortable, and contact with the rash itself doesn't spread the illness. It's usually seen on the trunk and neck, but it can extend to the arms, legs, and face.

If your preschooler has roseola, he may also be irritable and tired and have mild diarrhea, a decreased appetite, and swollen eyelids. The lymph nodes in his neck and at the base of his skull may also be a bit enlarged. In general, children with roseola don't appear especially ill, considering how high their fevers get."

As if on cue, EJ started getting irritable and fussy. Example 1: He said "mommy, bed!" So I carried him to the bed, but when he was there, he started crying. Example 2: He was playing with his toys and suddenly for no reason at all he cried. He was like this all day yesterday. It was so frustrating! If we didn't know any better, we would have thought he was being a royal pain in the a**.

Hopefully, no more fussiness today. I can only handle too much =)