It’s been fan-flipping-tastic around here.
Alison called me around 3:30 last Tuesday that Nora wasn’t feeling well and not eating... I left work and got the girls. She had a slight fever before bedtime. She woke twice that night crying, pretty out of it and not making sense.
Wednesday morning was as if nothing had happened with no fever so we sent her to the sitter’s/school. Alison called me again at 12pm said she saw spots in the back of Nora’s throat - Ruh Roh.
Tim’s turn to tag in with the Pediatrician... strep diagnosis for Nora! At least we received antibiotics to get rid of it. I think Nora’s only been on antibiotics once before. Getting her to take it is painful. She’ll drink it, but it takes on average 20 minutes. No lie.
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon after a really full, long, and tiring weekend, Hannah started to act not like herself with a bunch of family/friends over. Laying facedown on the couch, kind of moany... found her temperature was about 101. Got some ibuprofen in the poor thing and we snuggled in a big chair together. If Hannah lies still, you KNOW she doesn’t feel good. That was around 4pm.
After baths and bedtime, Tim and I were getting ready for Monday AM when Hannah was getting unusually fussy upstairs - temp of 103! Crap - slammed some ibuprofen through her tube and tried to put a cool washcloth on her which just pissed her off. It took a good 30 minutes for the fever to come down. I hate that - it’s happened to her a few times. I’m always afraid of a febrile seizure.
We gave her another dose around 2am. She slept until 7:30am and I stayed home with her. Pediatrician confirmed she also has strep - of course. How could she NOT get it from her sister?
Monday night was awful. I fell asleep at 9pm for my own sake. I love when people mean well and tell you to rest. Rest? Would you like to come to my house and take care of my highly energetic children and wake up FIVE TIMES that night to soothe my toddler? Because that’s what happened Monday night on top of not being well myself.
So you can imagine the shell of a person I was on Tuesday. Motherhood is a series of oxymorons; I love my children, but going to work after four days of being pushed hard with Hannah was a touch relaxing.
Today - Wednesday - so far, has been better. Hannah only woke once from bonking her head on the crib, so we all sadly feel “rested.”
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So then there’s Mom who had four days [Fri-Mon] of non-stop appointments, events, and clingy toddler-wrestling. I’ve had a cough for ... oh... I’m on week FOUR now. It’s not as bad, but dwindling. Monday my exhaustion caught up with me in the form of crying at dinner time over simple exhaustion plus a new pain in my chest when I take deep breaths/cough. I’ve never had a cold this long.
Thankfully Tim gently pushed I go back to Little Clinic. My oxygen is at 100% and still nothing in my lungs. This time I got a Z-pack and a steroid - two things I’ve never had in my life!
The NP looked at me after I told her about my running schedule - which isn’t a lot - 3X a week. She asked if I could take it easy, or if I was training... I gave her the “Are-You-Serious-Runner-Look.” I told her I have a half marathon in three weeks and due to run 12 on Saturday. Runners are notoriously stubborn about “taking a break.” *For the record, I did take Tuesday morning off. I feel 85% better than I did Monday, so I do plan on hopefully getting sleep tonight [please Hannah?] and doing my Thursday AM run.
No one needs to lecture me - I KNOW it’s about rest. But I am a Type-A personality with a lot to manage. I will reasonably stay home from work. I will reasonably let the chores sit, but not for long. Lunches still need to be packed. Appointments are regular. I cannot sleep through children waking in the night - which can be constant. Trust me, I’d love to rest. It’s just not currently realistic. The best I can do is attempt to go to sleep earlier which doesn’t mean my kids will let me sleep.
I’ll just repost my favorite meme here:
Whoah! Just reading this is exhausting! Those seizures are no joke but from what I know/experienced they are genetically predisposed so if no one in the family has had them, that might provide a bit of stress relief...
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