Last night, well actually in the wee hours of this morning if you want to get specific, I found myself curled up with Maya in her toddler bed.  I quickly discovered that although they may be perfectly comfortable if you are a mere 3 feet tall and weigh only 25lbs or so, for a 5’7″ 125lb adult they are definitely not comfortable, far from it in fact.

So, just how did I find myself in this most uncomfortable position at 2:30am this morning?  Well let me tell you…

Tuesday Maya started coming down with a bit of a cold.  She was getting sniffly and was a bit irritable.  Then yesterday she woke up with a raging fever, her body was definitely in full battle mode.  We spent the day quietly at home, resting.  It seemed to do the trick and by the time she got up from her nap her fever seemed to be gone and she was in a much better mood.  I thought we were out of the woods.  That was until the fever kicked back in just before bed.

When I put Maya to bed last night I knew there was a possibility that the night would be a rough one since she was going to sleep with a fever and really stuffy.  Sure enough at 2:00am I woke to the sounds of her crying.  I went to her room and she told me she had to pee.  As I reached down to help her out of bed I could feel the heat radiating from her.  I knew before I touched her that her fever had kicked into high gear.  When I touched her skin the heat was unbelievable.  I took her to the bathroom so she could pee and I could take her temperature.  I gasped when I saw the number flash up on the screen, 104.2, holy cow.  That is by far the highest fever she has ever had, EVER.  I was scared, and worried and just wanted to make her feel better.  After rubbing her down with a cool wet cloth and dosing her with Tylenol again we headed back to her bedroom.

I tucked her in, kissed her and started to leave the room when I heard a tiny little whisper “Mommy sleep with me little bit”.  It broke my heart and I couldn’t say no.  I mean who could resist such a request in the middle of the night, not to mention my fried nerves and worried heart needed the reassurance of laying there next to her.  So, I crawled into her bed, one leg still on the floor and rubbed her arm as she fell asleep.  I listened to her sniffle and whimper and just wished her temperature would go down and she could get some rest.  Slowly the sniffles turned into the soft rhythmic breathing of sleep.

I stayed with her for about half an hour, curled up in that way too small bed in the most uncomfortable position possible because I knew she needed me there, and because I needed to be there.  I needed to feel the temperature of her body begin to cool, I need to hear her soft breathing to reassure myself that everything was okay.

Toddler beds may not be comfortable but sometimes the comfort of our heart is more important than the comfort of our body.