Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Tying in to my previous post, let’s talk a little about antibiotics…

As a child I loved amoxicillan. No, really, I loved it. I referred to it as the “pink bubble gum” medicine, and I probably would have drank it straight from the bottle had I been allowed.

I was pretty upset the first time they told me I was big enough to take pills instead of getting that yummy pink elixir.

In college I worked as a pharmacy tech and always liked filling amoxicillan scripts because, invariably, some would slosh out of the bottle as I mixed and I could lick it off my fingers.

So, when Little was prescribed amoxicillan to treat her ear/sinus infection I was glad we would have a medicine that would taste good and it wouldn’t be a fight to get her to take. I wasn’t disappointed; she was quite willing to take her medicine and asked for it several times between doses. The issue arose about four doses into her ten day course.

About 12:15 the Sunday morning after Christmas Little woke up whining and pulling at her pajamas. Matt went into her room to see what was wrong and thought she was complaining about the zipper on her footed sleeper, so he changed her pajamas and she laid back down.

About 20 minutes later she was calling for us again and Matt went to see what she needed. I heard her say something about her tummy hurting so I followed him in thinking, “oh no, not a stomach bug.” When I got in there she was scratching at her back. Again, we got her settled down and back to bed.

Another 15 minutes or so passed, and we heard her calling one more time. This time she was really scratching at her back, so I pulled up her shirt to see what she was scratching at. All over her back were red whelps about the size of the palm of my hand and each whelp had white hives on it.

I immediately called the after hours nurse and explained what was going on. She said, “Poor thing. You know it’s bad when you have hives on your hives!” I was told to give her some benadryl and watch to make sure she didn’t have any additional symptoms.

Fortunately, the benadryl cleared up the issue and the next day we were able to get a different antibiotic prescribed.

In talking to people about what occurred, a couple of people told me that penicillin allergies don’t usually show up the first time the person takes a penicillin drug. I don’t know if that means that she is more sensitive to it or not, but we’re not going to find out if we can help it.

And as warped as this sounds, I’m kind of disappointed that she won’t get to enjoy pink bubble gum medicine throughout her childhood.

My mother-in-law says that every family has a winter that they’ll always remember because of illness, hardship, whatever. I sure hope this is ours!

Both kids are on antibiotics as we continue to try to kick this nasty sinus infection to the curb. This is Little’s third round of antibiotics since Christmas. And, although this is Baby Buddy’s first round of antibiotics, he’s been fighting this thing off and on since Christmas as well. The doctor assures me that the antibiotics are working; I hope we see the results soon.

Matt and I are finally finished with the sinus stuff (for now at least), but last week I was diagnosed with an eye infection that I’ve apparently been fostering since October.

And now we’ve been struck with a stomach virus.

It’s just been one thing after another for the last 6+ weeks. Nothing has been serious or life-threatening or resulted in hospitalization; it’s just the cumulative effect of illness in the house for an extended time.

If you can’t find us next week we’ve left home to fumigate.

Today I had a meltdown.  One of those ugly cry, snot dripping down face, curl up in the fetal position kind of meltdowns.  Fortunately, my best friend lives two doors down and came running to my rescue as soon as she answered my tear muffled call; otherwise, I might still be laying in the floor in a puddle of tears as the children screamed around me.  

It wasn’t pretty, but it was very, very real.  This is how life feels right now.  We’ve all been sick for a month.  The baby is teething.  I can’t stay on top of the chores like I feel I should.  Life has caught up to me and is dragging me down.  I am weary, to the bone and deep into my soul.

I’m praying for reprieve.  I’m praying for strength.  This seems to be one of those times when God is forcing me to my knees and yet I’ve continued to fight it for too long now.  I don’t know what I’m “chasing”, but it is running faster than I can and is obviously not the right thing.

Please forgive me if you don’t see me here often.  Please forgive me if I don’t make it by your place as often as I would like.  It’s rough times and I’m trying to muster through.

My light at the end of the tunnel right now is a scheduled retreat this weekend with several women I love and am honored to call my friends.  The baby will come with me (Daddy would not be too happy if I left him at home since he won’t take a bottle!), but I’m hopeful that a change of scenery and a change of routine will do my mind, my heart, and my body good.

Until then, I will meditate on these verses:

“He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.”  Isaiah 40:11

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:30-31

When we found out that Baby Buddy was joining our family I began researching double strollers. I went back and forth about what to get, how much we could spend, what features I wanted, etc. It finally came down to two strollers: the BabyTrend Sit and Stand Deluxe and the Graco Quattro Tour Duo.  We went with the Sit and Stand because it was $150 compared to the $250 price tag on the Quattro.

I really wanted the Quattro, though.  I tried and tried to justify the additional $100 but just couldn’t.  I convinced myself that it would be better to have the “stand” part of the Sit and Stand for Little and that for the price difference that this was the best option.  I’ve used the Sit and Stand almost daily for the last 7 or 8 months, and while it a perfectly good and acceptable stroller, it’s just not exactly what I wanted.

So imagine my surprise today when I saw on Baby Cheapskate that Angie had found the Quattro on Amazon for $99.99.  I was so excited!  I called Matt and asked if I could order one and then sell the Sit and Stand when the new stroller arrives; after a little pleading he agreed.  I placed the order and now anxiously await my new stroller’s delivery on Tuesday.

I hope it lives up to all of my stroller dreams and lasts us a good long time!

As I mentioned in my last post, our Christmas wasn’t all joy and festivities, but it was still a Merry Christmas.

There was no traveling this year (which was wonderful since we all ended up sick), so everyone came to see us.  My parents came in on Christmas day and spent a few days.  The kids enjoyed having Bebe and Grandrad around, and it sure helped me out since Matt was out of commission.  The Friday after Christmas my brother and his family drove down for the day.  And then, the Sunday after Christmas, Matt’s parents came and stayed for a couple of days.

Little was all about the presents this year.  It was the first year she’s really been old enough to understand what was going on, and, boy, did she understand the presents.  We opened a few gifts from friends here and there in the days prior to Christmas, but having several gifts to open on Christmas morning made her day (even though at one point she told me to take her presents back to the store.  whaa??).  Every time someone new came into the house she asked about presents.  She was thrilled when my parents came and brought gifts from them and from my extended family, and again when Matt’s parents showed up bearing gifts.

Baby Buddy was fairly oblivious to the whole thing.  The longer the Christmas tree was up the more interested he became, and he enjoyed the paper and boxes, but Little actually played with his new toys much more than he did.

We (or I, at least) enjoyed spending the holiday with my family.  Since we don’t see my brother and his family very often it was fun to hang out with them for the day, and I’m very thankful that they made the effort to come see us.

By the time Matt’s parents arrived on Sunday he was feeling better and was more able to enjoy the company.  We had a wonderful visit with them and were sad to see them go when they left on Tuesday.  The kids loved seeing Nana and Pops and we’re looking forward to the next time we can get together (whenever that might be).

We had lots of gifts, lots of food, lots of company, and lots of fun during the holidays, but we were, as always, glad to get back into a bit of a “normal” groove afterwards.  I love Christmas, so it’s always a little sad to see it pass, but now we can start the countdown to Christmas 2009, right?

So Christmas around here this year was a little different.  We knew it was going to be different in that we weren’t going to be traveling at all (before, during, or after), and in that we have two kids now, not one, but this was one for the books.

It all started the week before Christmas when we were stricken with something akin to the pneumonic plague.  Matt and I both fought it all week alternating nights spent on the couch coughing.  Finally, on Friday I gave in and went to the doctor.  He diagnosed me with bronchitis and put me on a ten day course of antibiotics and an albuterol inhaler.  With the antibiotics I was feeling better within a couple of days and knew that I would be okay for Christmas.

We thought Matt was getting better as well until he started running a fever late on Tuesday, Christmas Eve eve.  Of course, it wasn’t until late enough in the day that he couldn’t be seen that day, and the offices were closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas day.  I made him an appointment for the day after Christmas and hoped that he would start feeling better and not need it.  Boy was I wrong!  The poor guy spent all day Wednesday and Thursday in bed feeling just terrible.  He had aches and chills and fever and sinus pressure that made his head feel like it would explode.  His doctor’s appointment on Friday resulted in a diagnosis of sinus infection and a treatment of antibiotics and cough medicine.

And on Christmas day, Little started having “goopy” eyes and telling me off and on that her face hurt.  It wasn’t bad enough to take her to minor med, so I called her doc on Friday morning and made an appointment.  She ended up having a sinus and ear infection and was put on antibiotics as well.

So here’s what our Christmas looked like:

Christmas Eve – Jana cooks, Matt lays in bed sick, the kids run wild, we miss Christmas Eve service, Jana eats Christmas Eve dinner (chips, salsa, and cheese dip) alone in the bedroom floor (since Matt was asleep on the couch) and folds laundry

Christmas Day – Matt gets out of bed long enough to watch the kids open their gifts and take a few pictures, Bebe and Grandrad (my parents) arrive and come to my rescue, Jana cooks, the kids run wild, we have a lovely Christmas lunch without Matt

The Day After Christmas – Jana’s brother and his family arrive to do family Christmas, Matt gets out of bed long enough to go to the doctor, Matt gets a shot (a “sinus cocktail” which I hear is a local thing) and begins to feel better later in the day, we open gifts, the kids run wild, Little goes to the doctor in the afternoon, everyone collapses after the kids go to bed

It was a good Christmas even with it’s challenges.  I can’t say that I’d like to have a Christmas exactly like this again, but at least we didn’t have the stomach bug that my best friend and her family had on Christmas day!

Boo was given his bloggy name before we knew whether he would be a “he” or a “she”.  Since his birth he has acquired many nicknames, none of which are “Boo”.  Therefore, just to keep everyone on your toes, I’m going to make an official change to his online persona; he will henceforth, at least until I decide to change it again, be known as “Baby Buddy”.  Little gave him this nickname and I think it’s hilarious.