Being sick sucks. Totally, utterly sucks. The sick bug started here with me. On Christmas Eve. I am still not even sure what I had. My stomach hurt. A lot. I was nauseous. Way too much to put on my snazzy new Christmas Eve sweater and go on over to my Aunt and Uncle's house. So, I sat at home. Staring at the Christmas tree and feeling completely sorry for myself.
By Christmas morning, I was better. Not completely. But enough to join in our normal Christmas day celebrations. It took me a few days to get back to "normal". By New Year's Eve, I was good. And looking forward to all that 2013 would bring. Be careful what you wish for......
Paige was next. Tummy ache as well. She was fine. She wasn't. She was fine again. She ate dinner. She slept. I exhaled. The next day, I took them out to Build-A-Bear to spend their Christmas money.
That night, it was Emily's turn. Stomach ache again. But for Emily, it didn't go away. And I got about 20 minutes of sleep that night. Lots of sanitizing. Lots of ice chips. Lots of Dr. Mom. And one very sad 10 year old who missed TWO sleepovers.
I didn't even have time to exhale. Paige woke me up one night later at 2am with a mess in the bedroom and bathroom. After one of the worst scenes I had to clean up ever, I sat with her in the bathroom, waiting for the storm that I just knew would come. I had just experienced it with her sister two nights before. But the storm never came. She told me knock-knock jokes and practiced tying the string on the clothes hamper. At 6am, she slept on the floor of my bedroom - her bedding was still drying - and I slept/watched her from the warmth of my bed. She felt fine, she didn't, she ate, she drank, she seemed to be over it. And then she wasn't. The stress of all of it was starting to really get to me. Another night of sick? I made her sleep on my floor that night. She was not happy about it. She protested. And I made a decision. I knew that there was no way I would sleep with her all the way in her room. And there was NO WAY I was sleeping on her floor. My almost-40 year old body wouldn't bounce back like her 5 year old one would. I put my foot down. Made her as comfortable as possible. And we slept.
She missed her first day back to school after the Holiday break. I wanted to make sure she was completely fine. She was. It was a nice day. No one got sick. She was sweet and full of smiles. My stress fell mostly away. I made appointments for flu shots. NO MORE SICK.
Two a.m. Tuesday morning. Paige in the bathroom again. This time, not because she had tummy issues. She looked fine, but the minute I took her hand to take her back to bed - I knew it. Fever. 103 to be exact. All that cleaning, airing out of the house during last weekend's 60 degree weather, constant reminders to wash hands.....it didn't matter. More lost sleep. More hand wringing. Did my baby have the flu? The dreaded deathly flu??
I want to say right here, right now, that St. Johns Pediatric Partners - nurse Cindy particularly - awesome. Talked me off the ledge. Gave me lots of great advice. Eased my fears. By the second day, the fever was still around, but Paige was doing well. Most likely, it was a cold virus, not the flu. We did visit the doctors office on day three, but a check from the doctor told us she was on the mend with no additional issues.
And now, Eric is sick. Woke me up Thursday morning looking for the thermometer. He tried to go to work today, got dressed and everything, but decided to stay home and heal. His birthday is tomorrow. Can we please be done now?
Being sick sucks.
Being not sick is AWESOME.
Let's hope we are heading there soon.
Have a HEALTHY week.
BTW - the reason that all of these pictures are of Paige is because Emily was either sick or at school or hanging out with her friends. Not around for my camera. Not uncommon for kids approaching those teenage years......You can see her above. She is around......kindof.....
