Tough 3 days

We've had rough 3 days... On Saturday afternoon Gerritt woke up from his nap feeling really hot. His face was flushed & he was very fussy. He didn't sleep well on Saturday night waking up multiple times. He threw up twice that night & early on Sunday morning right after eating. I was exhausted after tending to Gerritt all night, so my husband took him to visit his Korean grandmother while I rested during the day on Sunday. Gerritt was not himself during the day on Sunday, eating very little - some solids & only 5 oz. of formula while at his grandmother's from 8 am till 4:30 pm. He slept ok that night waking up only once to eat (about 1.5-2 oz. of formula) after being given both Tylenol & Ibuprofen. On Monday morning I went to work & Gerritt went to his daycare at Marina's. He wasn't lively & didn't play much during the day. Again he ate only about 5 oz for the whole 9 hours there. This whole time I was assuming Gerritt was teething again since he didn't want to put anything into his mouth & would point his little finger to his lower gum occasionally. When Gerritt was still refusing to eat (no eating or drinking from about 3 pm on Monday until 6 am on Tuesday) & his fever reached 101.7 F on Monday evening I started to suspect something viral going on. According to the sources I've checked it's normal to have a mild fever when teething, however, it usually does not rise above 101 F. Gerritt was definitely sicker than could be attributed to teething alone. Gerritt didn't wake up to eat during the night on Monday & his diapers were barely soaked. I started to really be concerned about dehydration. I woke Gerritt up on Tuesday morning & all he wanted to do was to go back to sleep, so I've made a decision to force-feed him a solution of half apple juice/half water. He didn't like it at all crying & resisting loudly & pushing my hands away. After giving Gerritt about 3 oz of juice & putting him back to sleep without any resistance I called the Microsoft 24-hour Health Line to speak with the Registered Nurse on call. I was so worried about Gerritt I've started to sob. She suggested I have a house visit from a doctor through the program sponsored by Microsoft. When I spoke to the doctor on the phone he suggested I take Gerritt to the Children's Hospital ER for possible IV rehydration. I've decided to try to rehydrate Gerritt at home using a little tube & a syringe left over from my breastfeeding days. I slipped a tube into his mouth & slowly pushed water giving him additional 2 oz. Right after that Gerritt had a large liquid foul-smelling bowel movement. By about 9 am his fever had resolved on its own (no Tylenol or Ibuprofen since 9pm last night) & at 10 am he ate 2.5 oz of formula from a bottle. Once his fever subsided & he started eating again I was so relieved. I knew he was out of the woods. Gerritt & I slept from 10 am until 1 pm & he ate another 1.75 oz of formula upon waking up. He was talking, laughing & wanting to play again. My little boy was coming back! I am so happy we didn't have to go to the ER & have Gerritt pocked & prodded. I am definitely convinced that Gerritt picked up a virus from one of the kids at his new daycare. There are 5-7 kids there at any given day, so he was bound to catch something. This illness wasn't as worrysome as the flu Gerritt had last winter, but it was sure close. I am thankful the virus was short-lived this time.