sick

I'm struggling. Steven is out of town on a church men's retreat for a little over 24 hours. I am SO glad that he got to do this...he rarely gets the chance to get away, especially with other guys. It is so good for him! On the other hand, this has been one of the hardest 24 hours I've ever had...not just because Steven is gone, but Ben is sick and NOT SLEEPING. (I'm typing this with one finger as my son clings to me and nurses).
It all began Thursday night when I walked in the door at 12:30am from my crazy job. As I walked in the door, Ben began screaming. I went in to nurse him and he fell back asleep, for about 1/2 hour. Steven and I alternated going to him and comforting him all night until 4:30am when he came into bed with us (out of our desperation). He seemed fine all day Friday, but wasn't napping well. We were with several other children throughout the day.
Last night, alone, I put him down early to bed at about 6:30pm thinking surely he would sleep well since he was so tired. I also gave him pain relievers as I thought he might be teething. I started a painting project in our basement in attempts to spruce it for my Creative Memories events which I hold regularly. At about 9:15pm, Ben began crying and waking up. This continued all night long, just like the night before, when I finally brought him into bed with me again at around 4:30am. This time, he seemed warm. When we got up for the day at 6:15am his fever was 102.5. He has no other symptoms. I knew his symptoms were consistent with having a virus, but took him into the doctor to be checked for sure. So far, he has no symptoms (no runny nose or ear infection), so we're just treating his discomfort. He's clingy and pretty miserable, the Motrin is only minimally working. He's already had a warm bath, which didn't really help either......
I'm such a zombie...during Ben's two short naps today, I slept a total of 1hour and 15 minutes combined. After two nights of 3-4 hours of fragmented sleep (and a crazy day on Thursday at work), this is barely surviving. WHAT IS WITH THE SLEEP???? DON'T MOST PEOPlE SLEEP MORE WHEN THEY'RE SICK???? I can see why they use sleep deprivation to torture prisoners, it is tough! I am reminded again at how blessed I am to have such a wonderful and caring husband...and I have the utmost respect for single parents. I'm not sure how they do it without going insane.