Maddie’s head is hot. 102.8 degrees, to be exact. I’m typing this on my blackberry from the Emergency Room. Maddie is whimpering with occasional bouts of hysterical crying.

So far she’s had a sterile urine draw (a catheter was involved – it wasn’t well-received) and a chest x-ray. Now we’re just waiting for the results. In the meantime, I’m just trying to keep Maddie calm because she’s scared and you all know how smelly it can get when she’s frightened. Right now? I’m breathing through my mouth.

Let’s hope by the time you all read this, we’re at home and NOT in a hospital room. I’ll update later.

updated 2:30 pm

We made it home in one piece. All of her cultures came back negative, her ears, nose, and throat looked fine, and her x-ray didn’t indicate pneumonia. Her fever is much lower now, around 99 degrees. The ER doctors and her pediatrician think that she is either at the beginning of something or at the end. What that “something” is, they have no idea. But as long as it’s not pneumonia, bronchiolitis, or RSV, we can deal.

Maddie and I have slept most of the day, since we didn’t get in bed until 4 am and she slept terribly. But since she’s been awake, she’s played with her toys, pulled Rigby’s tail, and watched Matt Lauer on a recorded episode of the Today Show. I’m really hoping the high fever was just a fluke, or an extreme reaction to teething – I can see that more of her top teeth are juuuuuust about to break through.

One year ago on the third Friday of January, Maddie was discharged from the NICU. I’m glad we’re celebrating this milestone at home and not inside the cold walls of another hospital.