Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

It has been an interesting few days around here.

All last week Little had a kind of random cough. She would have coughing “fits” where she would cough a lot for a few minutes and then would go hours without coughing again. It was a bit strange, but I didn’t really think much of it; I thought it was just allergies or a cold coming on or something. She didn’t show any other symptoms until this weekend when she started running a low-grade fever. Her fever has gotten up to 101.5, but she still doesn’t really have any symptoms other than the cough and fever. She is a little lethargic and whiney, but for the most part she’s just Little.

And speaking of this weekend…my parents (Bebe and Grandad) came to visit. It was Little’s “birthday” weekend (a few weeks past her actual birthday, but more on the birthday in another post) and she had a big day planned to spend with Bebe and Grandad on Friday. Friday morning came, and when my dad woke up his leg was bright red and swollen up really big. Instead of our intended outing he started his day in the minor med clinic getting an antibiotic shot and oral meds for the infection. Over the next couple of days the leg didn’t get any better, and Dad ended up in the hospital on Sunday for IV antibiotics and observation. Fortunately, now his leg seems to be doing better. Hopefully, he’ll be able to head home in the next day or so.

I’ve also been trying to fight the cough thing that Little has going on, but now I seem to have developed an icky sinus-y thing. I’m all congested and coughing and headache-y and such.

We did have a good day on Friday for Little’s big day (minus Grandad); I’ll try to post more on that later. But overall, this weekend and early part of the week certainly hasn’t turned out quite like I thought it would.

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.

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!

Step 1 – wake up to feed baby at 2:00 am Saturday thinking you’re a bit engorged

Step 2 – after 7:00 am feeding realize that it is probably a plugged milk duct, take something for a terrible headache

Step 3 – while running errands develop body aches and flu like symptoms

Step 4 – come home and collapse from exhaustion

Step 5 – wake up approximately one hour later, with chills, take temperature, think “a fever of 102.6 is probably not good.”

Step 6 – contact doctor’s office, get diagnosis that strikes fear in the heart of nursing mothers everywhere – the dreaded “m” word – mastitis

Step 7 – immediately turn all household and child care tasks over to your wonderful husband

Step 8 – spend most of the weekend wrapped in your blanket and lying on the couch as you fight fever and infection

Yeah, that’s how I spent my weekend.  Hope yours was better!

It’s days like these that make one wonder whether you’re cut-out for this motherhood thing…

The days that begin at 2:30 a.m. (thanks, insomnia) with the knowledge that there is a 19 month old to be chased all day; the realization that it is only a few weeks until the newborn will be keeping you up and the 19 month old will still need to be chased. The days when Da-da goes to get the toddler out of bed only to find her throwing up. The days when, based on the state of her bedding, the toddler apparently threw up all night long and you didn’t know because she never cried or called out in the night. The days when you run errands after 6 hours vomit free only to get home and the toddler to throw up again before you can get her jacket off. The days when vomiting ceases only to be followed by a diaper, the likes of which you haven’t seen since breastfed-baby-blowouts. The days of terrible smells lingering in your nose. The days of multiple baths and multiple loads of laundry. The days of cleaning upholstery and floors.

However, it is days like these when the busy toddler stops long enough to snuggle on the couch and read books; when long naps mean Momma gets a nap, too; when you realize that you are the only one who can make it better, ease the fear, and comfort with just the right snuggles.

It is these tough days, interspersed with the “routine” days, that make one recognize what motherhood is. It is days like these that when you appreciate that the positives far outweigh the negatives. It is days like these when you comprehend how deep your love is for that little one. It is days like these when you know you would never give up motherhood just to avoid days like these.

Here we are again in a new week and with a new list of things to be thankful for.

Day 10, Saturday: Not in high school anymore –  Saturday evening I attended my 10 year high school reunion.  It was nice to see some people who I haven’t had the opportunity to see in many years, but I was reminded once again how glad I am that I’m not in high school anymore.  I’m thankful that I don’t have to deal with the popularity stuff, the cliques, and all of the other things that seemed so important when I was walking through that time period.

Day 11, Sunday: Safe travel -  In order to attend my reunion Matt and I travelled to Nashville and back home this weekend.  I am thankful that God watched over us in our travels during this trip and so many others.

Day 12, Monday: My bed –  Yesterday I was thankful for my soft, cozy bed, a clean toilet, and a husband who was willing to stay home from work to tend to Little while I struggled to keep anything in my system.  It was a rough day filled with stomach virus fun, but we made it through to the other side.

Day 13, Tuesday: A good sleeper –  Today (and so many days in her life) I am thankful that Little is a good sleeper.  Her sleeping habits allow Matt and I to sleep through the night (for many months now) and me to take a nap in the afternoon if I need it.  Today I definitely needed the nap as I continue to recover from my bout of yick yesterday.

So, what are you thankful for this week?

Friday evening Matt and I decided that it’s time to make the final push and finish decorating our kitchen. This will involve painting the laundry room (which is open into the kitchen), replacing cabinet hardware, and adding artwork, decorations, etc to the walls in the eating area.

Saturday morning we woke up with some errands to run and headed out early hoping to beat the heat and the crowds. The first stop was Wal-Mart where we pretty quickly picked up the few things we needed. Next up was Lowe’s where our list consisted of blinds, cabinet hardware, and paint. The search for hardware proved futile and we opted to wait until next month to get the blinds. On to the paint area where we quickly (believe it or not) found a color that we liked and got the paint mixed. Although our Lowe’s stop only yielded a one out of three success rate, we were knocking out our errand stops.

We loaded up at Lowe’s and set off for Bed Bath and Beyond – our final errand – before going to Barnes and Noble to have a little fun time. As we pulled out of the Lowe’s parking lot I handed Little her cup of water. This is where things got interesting.

There were a few minutes to kill before BB&B opened so we were cruising around the mall parking lots. All of a sudden there came from the back seat a gagging sound followed closely by the sound of vomit flowing from Little’s mouth. Then it happened again. I turned around to see our poor baby girl covered in puke with more still coming up.

Matt pulled the car into a parking space and we hastily retrieved napkins from the glove box and wipes from the bag. Little started crying, so I pulled her out of the carseat while Matt continued cleaning up with mess. I changed her out of her messy clothes into the only backup outfit we had in the car – a 9 months size onesie.

She really looked pretty pitiful with her red eyes, mussed up hair, and too small outfit but we soldiered on to BB&B – which was a fruitless stop – before we brought the poor girl home.

So, in the end we came home with paint and a stinky car; definitely an inauspicious start to the day.

(Fortunately, Little is not sick; it seems this was an isolated incident.)

I was able to get Little in to see the pediatrician this morning. The good news is that she doesn’t have chicken pox. I was really not looking forward to dealing with chicken pox on top of moving next week!

The less good news is that she has a skin infection called impetigo. It is caused by strep or staph bacteria (I told Matt this weekend that I was afraid it might be a staph infection) and characterized by the small red bumps and honey colored crust that we’ve been seeing. The doctor recognized and named it as soon as she walked in the exam room.

We start a 10 day round of the antibiotic Omnicef today, and hope that the medicine will clear the infection from her system. Very good news overall, but her poor little face still looks terrible!

Little woke up Tuesday morning with a blocked left nostril. This wasn’t run-of-the-mill dried green snot, it was a plug of orange crustiness encompassing her entire nostril and a good bit of her upper lip. She wasn’t running a fever or really acting like she didn’t feel well, so I didn’t bother with calling the doctor’s office.

Over the next couple of days we noticed a lesion forming under her nose that we attributed to irritation from the blockage. When there was no improvement in her situation by Friday, and all was still orange, I contacted the pediatrician for help with the case.

After describing all of the symptoms (or lack thereof) to a baffled nurse I spoke with Little’s doctor. Her pediatrician seemed to think the mucus build up was caused by a cold or virus. She said the orange color was probably caused by some bleeding in the nostril when Little rubbed her nose or picked at it in her sleep (good to know for future orange-snot events). The doctor said that it would probably get worse before it got better and that a cough would likely develop by Saturday. I wasn’t entirely convinced but was willing to give it the weekend and see how things progressed.

Here we are on Sunday. No additional snotty-ness or a cough have befallen us, but Little has been smitten with a pox of some sort.

Toward the end of the week I noticed a couple of small, light-pink bumps developing on Little’s face (one on her forehead and one on her cheek). Now she has lesions on her upper lip and nose and about ten of these red bumps spread around her face. I think one of the bumps is also developing on her abdomen.

I’m not sure if it is related or not, but she has a blister on her lower back/upper bucket (that would be her bottom for the uninitiated). It started as a water blister, but being in her diaper area has now ruptured and become a sore.

At present, we are trying to keep everything coated in neosporin. Looks like tomorrow will bring a trip to the pediatrician.

Little and I have been smitten by a cold bug. It has been a rough few days of sneezing, wheezing, coughing, and running noses. I’m not sure from whence it came, but I’m pretty sure I got it from my girl.

When we went to the pediatrician last Wednesday for Little’s 9 month check-up she was in the early stages of the virus. She refused to nurse for about 36 hours (Monday to Tuesday), so I knew something was going on. I’m just glad it wasn’t an ear infection as I feared. Most of the weekend was spent with Dimetapp, saline, and bulb syringe in hand as we tried to stay ahead of the snot. There were times when I’m pretty certain she had more snot smeared on her face and rubbed in her hair than the amount normally produced by her body over a number of days.

The rest of the weekend I spent blowing my nose, coughing, and generally trying to do as little as possible; although, I did manage to squeak out a few games of Wii bowling with what strength I had left. Matt should be glad I was beset with the plague, otherwise I would have beat him for sure.

I think we are on the upside of it now. Hopefully the cough won’t hang around too long, and I’ve still got my fingers crossed that Little won’t end up with an ear infection.