Down with the Sickness

Everyday I check my facebook page and scan over the postings. I am always taken a back by the number of parents who have sick children. "Sucks for them!" I thought, all the while a little nervous that the big green cold and flu monster might come a knockin'. My nervousness was subsiding ever so slightly as I thought we might just make it out of cold and flu season unscathed. That stupid monster had other plans.

We hid from that monster. When he knocked we closed the blinds, tried not to make a peep and yelled, "NO ONE IS HOME! GO AWAY!"

But he knew we were here because he could hear us laughing and carrying on as if we had nothing to worry about. He burst through the door and got my two youngest kidlets.

(That bastard.)

And now they are down with the sickness.

And this ain't just any sickness. It's vomit and fevers and other unmentionable things I dare not speak about. Just know that it's bad.

I noticed last week Christian wasn't quite himself. Then the other night he woke up crying. It was the sickie cry and he was really warm so I brought him into bed with us. That was two nights ago and he's had a fever off and on ever since.

Last night was a little more concerning because Christian's fever would not come down. It was hovering at about 102 degrees and he developed a nice and juicy cough.

Coughs make me nervous. In fact, Christian hasn't had a cough yet - and I mean in his entire life. I was dreading this day because, although I knew he could cough and had a strong cough, I didn't know how he would fare when faced with a living and breathing flu monster type cough.

Turns out, he's got a pretty good cough so far and he's holding his own. He's coughing good and strong enough to clear his airway, which isn't really blocked, just juicy sounding. (Remember when they said he absolutely needed a trache because he had no cough and gag and might never have one???)

Back to last night...Christian was burning up. His breathing was quick, which is common for Christian when he gets fevers. His heart, though, felt like it was beating so fast it would burst. So I dusted off the old pulse ox that sits quietly in the closet, just to ease my mommy mind. It seems Christian's heart rate wasn't as fast as I thought and his oxygen levels were just fine. He ended up in bed with Daddy.

Not with Mommy, too? Oh, no. That didn't happen because I was on the couch all night with a sick Lola. She got what seems to be a 36 hour stomach bug that didn't allow her to eat anything without it ending up on the floor in liquid form. It was not pretty. And she was up every hour last night with stomach cramps, poor baby.

Good news today! Lola stopped throwing up and started eating and Christian's fever finally broke. We're not out of the woods yet, but things are look better and there might be a little more sleep in my future.

I hate sickness. And if you see that cold and flu monster tell him I hate him, too.