Day 10 with sick kiddos!

Whew!  I know you are all waiting for an update on our lives with T.  Well, the truth is, both kiddos have been very sick.  T is still sick.  I decided that T being sick is worse than M because T was very joyful when she was healthy.  M is mostly healthy (besides the cough) and he is not quite so  joyful.  This results in a mama carrying 50 pounds of kids around most of the day. 

I want to write about the illnesses etc, but I write this from my current perspective as a new mother of two.  I am not really writing this for pity or laughter (OK, there are some funny parts so feel free to laugh), but to document our first big bug as parents... this is our scrapbook, remember.  This post is so random and all over the place... I blame a lack of sleep for the last 10 days :)

So here is the story...

Tuesday evening (like a week and two days ago) M feels hot in the evening and has coughed a few times during the day.  I give him some Tylenol and he actually takes it.  He calls me into his room early in the night and he is HOT.  This is when the higher fevers begin.  Since last Tuesday M has been sleeping in bed with me, and by with me, I of course me on me since I guess I am more comfortable than a bed. 

Wednesday his fever seemed to stay under control with meds, but Wednesday night it got very high (I am guessing over 104) and he began to reject all medicine.  He was shaking and totally not himself. 

Thursday he was burning up and I sent Brandon for a thermometer.  His fever was 103.5 and that was with Tylenol.  Yikes.  We got him in to the Dr. but he said it was viral.  I was able to get some cough medicine, but you guessed it, he won't take it.  Yes, we have tried every single trick to get kids to take medicine.  I asked in a FB group and got over 30 different responses.  All have been tested.  Some proved to be effective once or twice, but nothing consistently has worked. 

Friday M seemed better and we all went to Lifegroup, but moved the location to the church.  His fever was down and he was happy to be with the kids.  I was happy to be out too.  Friday night it spiked over 102 again and he was miserable.  I should mention that his coughs woke him up very frequently.  I would say about ever 15 minutes all night long.  Each time he coughed he would also cry and moan and it was just hard.  This was every night and nap for days and days.  This meant that while he slept I really couldn't leave his room.

Funny Friday evening story.  So I took M home early from Lifegroup as he was tired and sad.  He fell right to sleep.  Brandon and a crew of helpers carried all our stuff home after Lifegroup.  He was wearing T so I took her and then he was heading back to church, just simply to let the carrying crew back in and turn off lights.  I decided to change T's diaper.  After it was totally off and wrapped up I saw a little urine start to trickle.  Not a big deal, I went to grab a paper towel and came back to find the entire changing table and most of T soaking wet.  She was cold of course so I peeled off her clothes, wiped her down and stuck her arms through a sleeper as I tried to soothe her tears.  I heard M coughing like crazy upstairs.  I grabbed a diaper and carried T upstairs to M's room.  I noticed something falling as I began to walk.  T was throwing up all over her new jammies and all over me.  I just kept walking and prayed nothing else would come out of her.  M was in a tizzy, but I managed to get him somewhat calmed down so I could get T's diaper on.  At this point Brandon came home and I explained all that went on in the 3 minutes he was gone.  So crazy how things can change so quickly with sick kids in the house. 

Saturday, Sunday, Monday M had no energy and just laid on the floor.  He slept most of the day (off and on with coughing of course).  Knowing what a crazy active little man he is, seeing him sick was just so very very miserable. 

Saturday afternoon T started to sneeze and cough and run a fever.  Not very good timing since Brandon was on T duty and Saturday night is always a short night.  Add daylight savings losing an hour of sleep and it would just an all around rough night.  In an effort to give him some sleep, I tried to trade with him when my assigned child was asleep I switched with him and then switched back when the other woke up.  This left Brandon with about 2 hours of sleep and me with, well, less than that. 

On Monday I got out of the house to run errands and was also able to pick up a Rx for M.  We called our Dr. and he called back and said it was time to put M on something for a sinus infection.  With the help of our dear friend H we were able to get that first double dose in him and I think it was then that he really turned a corner. 

Tuesday M was getting better and T getting worse. T has so much yucky stuff coming from her nose that it is almost humorous.  We can't really figure out where it all come from.  It is intense and never ending.  Obviously, this makes sleeping so hard as nothing really comes out then. I was able to get both kids to sleep while Brandon was at his meeting.  It was Brandon's Birthday so I think the best gift I could give him was not putting either child to sleep.  


15 minute typing delay... T crying and needs to be Ergo'ed back to sleep.

On Wednesday T was pretty miserable, but luckily her fever is very low grade.  We invited friends over after nap so of course that meant M only took a 40 minute nap in anticipation.  This meant that our afternoon and evening were so very hard.  M coughed less at night, but had an AWFUL nightmare right before I fell asleep.  I tried to ask him what it was about and he said something to me in another language of sorts.  It wasn't a language I have ever heard before, and I just prayed and prayed and prayed.  He fell asleep on my chest and slept there until 6:00am.  I mean, he woke during that time, but always wanted to be back on my chest. 

Thursday (today) has been my hardest as a mom.  I think most stems from 10 days of weariness and little sleep.  T being sick is hard because she can't express how she feels and just cries and needs to be held while standing.  It reminds me of my early days with M, except no M is still here and still M.  :) 

Sometimes really smart moms make silly choices.  During this time I made the silly choice to switch to cloth diapers.  I like using cloth, I used them with M, but I think I should have waited to add this task to my plate until after the sickness has left the house. 

We also ran out of drop-is for bottles.  We bought a big box before Ch*na and we ran out two days ago.  I am glad to be using glass bottles, but it means more work cleaning them and again, not the best time. 

So, that is how we have been doing.  I realize that our kids will be sick a lot in the next couple of decades.  I realize that we have two children and my friends with 8 or 11 or more children might enjoy the easy duty of only having two sick kiddos at a time.  However, in the two years that M has been home he has really never been sick, ever.  So we were sort of first time parents to this sickness thing.  I did react in fear, and panic, and in anger.  The continual lack of sleep and not any moment of semi private time (Pre-sickness I was able to pee alone on occasion) just really drains a person. 

The blessings in all of this?!?!?  First of all, I think that caring for them both healthy will feel like a breeze compared to this... maybe not, but in some ways it will be much easier!  Second, I am surviving!  Maybe that should be first!  Third, I continually am talking to God and reminding myself that as a mom we don't have "rights" to things that I took for granted as a mother of one.  Shaving, clipping fingernails, flossing (sorry Tom), and all other things nonessential just take too long right now.  There will be better days, but it is good to remind myself of this.  Fourth, I am managing the cloth diaper transition very easily!  Fifth, Brandon is an incredible help and a calming voice for my spirit and a fun diversion for the children. Sixth, God is here with us.  He doesn't leave us.  He knows every sore muscle, sees the black and blue bags under my eyes, and still wants to meet with me... WOW!  Seventh, M is doing better.  He survived through the worst of it and I am so very thankful to God!  Eighth, I am getting the first chance to blog so that means that my kids have given me a little break.  Ninth, many of you have prayed and cared for our family and we are so very grateful!  Tenth, over and over again I am feeling like a "real" mom to my kids.  I am taking photos and documenting this for those hard days ahead when my role will be challenged.  Sometimes it takes extreme situations like this to remind a person that they are a mom and to remind children that they have a mother and that it is ME! 

Hopefully the next post will be filled with great news of a full recovery, but if not... God is still faithful.  Again, sorry if this makes very little sense and rambles on and on... not as exciting as the Ch*na posts... I know :)

Thank you for your continual prayers for our family.  We have needed and treasured them. I must end this post by claiming VICTORY IS JESUS!!!  We are in a battle, but JESUS is victorious!  Jesus IS victorious!  Jesus is VICTORIOUS!!!!