Friday, June 29, 2012

Hot June nights

I didn't sleep well last night.

Bug had a fever (not of the disco variety, unfortunately) and decided the only acceptable solution was to bring her hot self into bed with Mummy.

Bugger.

I tried to harden my heart and steel my resolve. I wanted her to sleep in her own bed, for purely selfish reasons - Mr A was away and I had the hankering to build myself a gigantic pillow fort and sleep sprawled inside it. But my willpower was melted in seconds, when she tucked her chin into my neck and whimpered "oh Mumma no! Sheep you!" I truly am a sucker.

For the first few minutes it was wonderful. She was tucked in the crook of my arm, sleepy face smooshed against me, fingers twirling my hair while she drifted off. A feverish toddler on a frosty night makes an excellent hot water bottle. (Note - do not use on your feet. Oxygen required for successful ongoing operation.)

However, I soon realised that even after the liberal application of panadol, Bug was hot. REALLY hot. Burning with the heat of one thousand exploding suns hot. And the hair twirling soon turned to full on fast-asleep hair yanking. And the adorable smooshed face started expelling itchy drool down my tender white under-bicep.

By this time I was only half awake, trapped in semi-lucidity. Too afraid to move and risk breaking her hard won sleep. Far too uncomfortable to maintain the status quo, yet not sufficiently alert to devise a reasonable solution.

It went on for hours. Or maybe minutes. (Seconds?) I'm not sure. That fierce half-land between waking and sleep runs to a different clock.

Eventually my tiny tyrant rolled off me, sprawling herself across the majority of our bed, living out my solo-sleeping dream. I spent the remainder of the night alternating between concerned temperature taking, head stroking, muttered lullabies and catatonically clinging to what was left of the mattress.

I've just tucked Bug back into bed for tonight's retest. Wish her luck!

11 comments:

  1. fevers scare me....but I do like them to be near me , so I can 'feel' how hot during the night they are getting....often it is a 24 hour thing, these fevers...my children have had them and I think they get over them quick if they are healthy munchkins...I hope you get a good nights sleep tonight and Bug as well....did you tuck her in like a 'Bug' in a rug...... x

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  2. Awww..i hope bug is feeling better, i always get a little paranoid about fevers and like to be where i can see them...but i really hate sleeping with little people...probably incorrect to say so these days but i have just never been able to master the art of it much as i love em!
    Hope you both get some sleep tonight and it was nothing serious xx

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  3. Poor wee lassie[s]. Hope her temperature is down and you both had a restful night. It's no fun having an off-colour toddler, especially when you're the only parent available.

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  4. Oh. The nights, wiping brows, cool wet cloths on the neck.
    (I had one with a broken arm taken in for an emergency op, with a little one waiting at home, thinking I'll be back from school in 15 min, and a husband 400 km away, en route home, on a bad bad road. Thank God for great friends who can help out!
    Hope she's better in the morning.

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  5. Oh, yes, the agony of lying awkwardly in one spot while as my limbs slowly cut off blood supply to the rest of my body and the fear that if I move the baby will be awake... forever. I know it so well. I remember lying in bed one night wondering if I might be the person to get deep vein thrombosis from lying next to a sleeping child and trying not to move.

    I hope Bug had a good sleep and is feeling much better.

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  6. Oh the poor darling! Is she any better today? I remember very uncomfortable nights after my caesarean with baby Joe nestled in the crook of my arm sucking my finger. So-so-so painful on the shoulder and arm but I was so tired and in so much pain it was the least-bad option. Good times.

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  7. I think fevers are the worst. I always need my kids close to me when they run hot. My little boy had the worst fevers as a baby and they magically stopped when he turned two. My little girl is nearly one and barely had a high temperature. Fingers crossed!

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  8. I hate the kids being sick - I worry...all night...even when they sleep I keep myself only half sleeping so I can listen to their breathing and feel their temps. I always let them sleep in our bed when they are ill so they are close :( Hope she's lots better.

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  9. It occurred to me a paragraph into the post that "Hot June Nights" was supposed to sound a little funny, like "Hot Decembet Nights" would to me. Being a North American, I was just assuming the post was going to be about the sleeplessness of summer nights. But this story was much more interesting. :) Hope shes feeling better!!

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  10. My boy had a fever like that when he was about 3 or 4... We pinned him down and kept him covered with cold damp towels cause nothing else worked. Of course he was so hot we had to change them every two or three minutes cause he was heating them up... It was very uncomfortable holding him, just so hot. Hope Bug feels better soon :(

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  11. I remember those fevers. The last time I had one was with glandular fever. It was special. And by special I mean the hallucinating kind of special.
    I'm glad it doesn't happen often.
    Best wishes to you and Bug for a good night's sleep!
    ~S.

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