Tuesday, September 05, 2006

This isn't what I signed up for!

Lucky I waited to write this post until today. Had I written it yesterday, it would have been much more depressing... H and E are sick...again. It's getting ridiculous. I seriously feel like a total fool even telling people. Soon people are going to start thinking I have some serious psychiatric illness like Munchausen Syndrome. How is it possible for two kids to be sick ALL THE TIME???

Poor Eden. Seriously. She hasn't really felt well, or eaten any solid food, for a month now. Occasionally she'll have a slightly better day where we can get her to eat a couple bites of cheese, a few Teddy Grahams, and some mandarin oranges. Other than that, nothing. She is basically on a liquid diet. John and I both feel like banging our heads against a wall. It's SO frustrating!

I took Eden to the pedi last Wednesday for the same sore throat that wasn't getting better. We talked about the possibility that it might still be mono, and maybe we had taken the blood too soon. Apparently mono doesn't show up in the blood until you've been sick for 5 days. There was a remote possibility that Eden was sick with something else first, then caught mono, and maybe it hadn't been long enough when we took the blood. We considered drawing more blood. If you read the blood draw post from the week before, you totally understand why I wasn't entirely happy with that option. The other option was to do nothing, and that didn't sound good either. I decided to give it 2 more days. If she wasn't better by last Fri we were going to take more blood. Thursday and Friday seemed better and I looked at her throat and it seemed to be improving. So we didn't take blood.

On Saturday (the day of my bday party when my mom was keeping the girls overnight) Eden started with a serious runny nose and cough. Completely different symptoms than before, and seemingly a NEW virus! On Sunday Holland caught it. John and I spent Sunday and Monday giving breathing treatments to BOTH girls around the clock. Monday was AWFUL. Like, "what the hell was I thinking when I decided I wanted kids" awful. Adding to the stress was the fact that Tuesday (today) was supposed to be my first day back to work! I had to call into work on my FIRST day back! I felt sick about it. How are we going to last through the winter after having a summer like this???

So I took the girls in to see the doc AGAIN today. Eden does have an ear infection that is actually pretty bad, so it's a good thing we went. We started the antibiotics today. Tonight she was in MUCH better spirits. I actually got her to eat some noodles and mandarin oranges for lunch, and a bit of a burrito, a couple bites of hot dog, and some teddy grahams for dinner. It was by far the best she has eaten in a month. No joke.

Other than the ear infection, the girls checked out okay. Oxygen sats were good, lungs were clear, and we are doing all the right things with the breathing treatments. The pedi was actually very relieved that we were in for something different, and not for the same sore throat. If her throat had still been bad, we would have been talking about lots of testing and blood work. In fact, the word "leukemia" actually came up in a conversation. Talk about totally freaking me out. Even with the disclaimer that the bloodwork we had already done was all normal, and it was a VERY remote possibility, it's just not a word that you ever want to hear in reference to your child. I really can't begin to even imagine it. Of course our pediatrician is very sensitive to this, and only brought it up because I kept asking a gazillion questions about what else it could be.

Thanks to my mom, who agreed to keep my kids on Saturday night, even with Eden sick and needing breathing treatments, I got to go out with my girlfriends to celebrate my birthday. I had a "little black dress" party, complete with a limo and an incredibly fun night of dancing. Thank you so much to all of my girlfriends who were there to celebrate with me, and to those of you who were there in spirit. You gals are the BEST!

14 comments:

Kendra Lynn said...

We are praying for the girls...its hard when they are sick so much.
I am totally familiar with the constant breathing treatments. Oh man...been there, done that.
I'm so glad you had a nice birthday party though. :)
You look so pretty in that picture. :)
Keep smiling.

Kendra

liz.mccarthy said...

Oh Billie, I'm so sorry the girls are sick again, You must be a tired wreck. Please know we are thinking of you guys and sending you are love from California.

liz.mccarthy said...

Oh, and happy belated birthday to my fellow Virgo friend!!

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear that the girls are sick again. Bless your heart, you must be so worn out. Jusy know we are sending healing thoughts your way! Hang in there.

Anonymous said...

oh buddy, i am sorry to hear about the sickness :( hang tough. you all looked so lovely - i wish i could've been there to help celebrate.
love, lisa

Kristin said...

Happy Belated Billie! Hope that Tom Petty was great! Sorry to hear that the girls are still under the weather, fingers crossed that they get better soon.

Billie said...

Tom Petty Tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Our 3 year-old has been sick on and off all summer. It seems that maybe we kept her isolated too much when she was younger and now her immune system is susceptible to EVERYTHING!!! A few weeks ago she got a cold after playing in the play area at the mall. Then she was around a bunch of kids at a get together on Labor Day and now has ANOTHER cold! AHHH! I hate germs.

Maybe it is just one of those summers?

Steven Bee

Kim said...

Aw, man, you and John deserve a break. I am so sorry that they are sick again and that it is causing you so much more worry. Glad to hear you got out for your birthday, though! Happy 25th (again)! I like your use of adjusted age. I think this year I will also turn 25 adjusted rather than *gasp* 30, too.

Kristin said...

I wonder if we can adjust our age for one year for every week we adjust our preemie's ages? Whooohooo, 25 for me too! Have fun tonight!

M said...

I'm sorry the girls are so sick. I can imagine what you must be going through. It sounds like you're doing everything right though. You're a strong girl.

And man do you have a lot of friends! Looks like you managed to have a good time, which you totally deserve. Happy belated birthday!

tinymatters said...

Your girls are miracles, just like my guys. They were born at exactly the same gestational age as yours. You are an incredible mother! I just turned 34 two days ago; when I turned 30 I swore it was going to be my best decade yet. Cheers to you!!!

Anonymous said...

You belong, among the wild flowers...Hope Tom was fabulous!!!!My beauties look gorgeous as usual. Lots of love to you, John and the girls. Love, Jess

Amy said...

Gah...I missed my first two days back to work this school year, too. It sucks. Baylee is getting ready for tubes next week, and as I was discussing this with my ped. today, we realized she's been on one antibiotic after another since June 1st. Everytime we complete a course, she turns around and gets another ear infection, complete with "bulging" ear drums.