Feverish Hallucinations

Soren is sick a lot, but luckily never with anything too serious.  He can spike some pretty high fevers, but even those don't make me panic like they used to.  When I put him to bed Sunday night, I was hoping he would get a good night's sleep after not napping that day and having a croup-like cough that had kept lingering. 

He fell asleep quickly, but peaceful sleeping didn't last long.  He woke up repeatedly and had difficulty falling back asleep.  He woke us up yet again in the middle of the night and when I checked on him, he clearly wanted to sleep, but couldn't.  He looked miserable. I bent down to kiss him and his feverish body stung my lips.  His temperature was 104.  Much to his dismay, I forced a dose of Ibuprofen into him, and then tried comforting him until the medicine could kick in and hopefully relieve him enough so he could sleep.

I tucked Soren back into bed and snuggled with him.  One of his soothing techniques is to grab the front of my shirt and pull me closer to him and I thought for sure he would settle down.  That's when he lost it.  He shrieked a horrible scream and shoved me away from him.  His eyes darted around the room in a panic and he recoiled in terror from I don't know what.  I simultaneously tried comforting him and figuring out what he just spooked him so badly.  How could he be so calm one moment and fly into a terrified rage in the blink of an eye?

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only a few seconds, he calmed down and let me comfort him again.  The quiet didn't last long and he started shrieking again.  I was terrified as I watched him.  It was honestly like he was possessed. 

I carted him into our bedroom where the cycle continued of being uncomfortably sick, but still relatively calm, and morphing into a child who looked like the devil had taken him over.  Chris and I had no idea what to do and I was crying with fear and helplessness.  Finally accepting that something was really wrong, Chris and I started getting ready to go to the hospital.  And then Soren vomited on our bedroom floor.  I've never been so happy to see my child throw up.  It was like whatever had possessed him had left him and I had my Soren back.  His whole demeanor instantly changed.  He was still feverish, but not burning hot, and he was sick and tired, but calm as Chris and I cleaned him up.  He happily sipped on some juice and requested a snack, which I took as a good sign, even if he didn't eat it. 

I took both kids into the pediatrician the next day where Oliver was diagnosed with an ear infection and Soren with a double ear infection and croup.  I recounted the events of the night before and the pediatrician explained Soren's episodes were just fever-induced hallucinations.  It was a relief to learn that this is "normal," however terrifying for a parent.