a really long post about sickness

Wow...it's been quite a week in the Hydeen house. Last week my beautiful niece was born, so on Thursday I headed up to OC with the kiddos and their bags. I had ONE quick day with that new peanut and then left my own kids with Steve's parents, so I could join Steve for his improv shows in Des Moines.

So...in order to beat the snowstorm, I went there and back in one day. And let's just say that leaving three kids who are with thier mom all day every day didn't quite go as planned. Lillian had been menitoning throughout the day that her ear hurt, and all three of them had a little cough, but nothing to make me super worried. After all, who DOESN'T have a cough right now? Isn't it crazy???

But of course when it was time for me to leave, Lillian's earache was added to the emotions being away from Mommy, and the poor thing was just beside herself. I will admit that I have quite the drama queen on my hands at times, but then I should also admit that I get a bit dramatic too, when I'm in pain and emotional on top of it all. So how could I blame her? I think kids just do exactly what we as adults would do if it were socially acceptable.

So there was a part of me that wanted to say, "Lillian-Mommy needs this. You will be fine. You will have fun. I'm leaving." But the part of me that wasn't sure how I was going to handle leaving them took over instead. I put thier pjs on snuggled with them a bit and put them to bed, even though I should have been on the road. Beso and Grandma were going to read books to them, so I did what I could, and the transition went better than we all thought it would.

I got in the car. I called a few people. And then I just sat there, driving. I was all by myself. I am almost NEVER all by myself. It was a rather strange feeling, but I enjoyed the quiet until I was too sleepy. And then I cranked the Wicked soundtrack and sang at the top of my lungs. I had done this before with my sisters and it was so liberating. :) But this time I was doing it BY MYSELF. I felt like I was in high school or something, without a care in the world.

I got home late, went to bed, and didn't move a MUSCLE until sometime after 5 when Steve was getting ready for work. I slept the whole night without moving, or waking, or wondering who was going to cry. I haven't had that since May when I was in Columbus waiting for Isaiah to be born, and before that who knows when! And when I got up, there was the most beautiful layer of snow all over everything. Like, the movie kind of snow. the too perfect, had to be fake kind. But it wasn't. And it continued all day, and roads were less than ideal to travel on, so we decided to not go to Des Moines until Saturday morning.

That meant that Steve and I had a night to ourselves, the night before Valentine's Day, no kids, no obligations, NOTHING....excpet an Olive Garden gift card and a AMC gift card. So we went on an {almost} free date! We had to pay a little extra for our food because we splurged, and movie tickets went up a little from when we got the card. BUT...we didn't even have to pay a babysitter! So it was the cheapest date we've had in a long time! (the ONLY date we've had in a long time, come to think of it.)

So we gather our things on Saturday morning, and head out the door. We get about a mile down 132nd and I realize I forgot my purse. We turn around. I grab my purse, and resist the urge to grab some snacks. Just get the purse. Success.

We head back on the road, get about 20 mintues from home, and realize that neither of us grabbed our suitcase! So we get off on 42nd, check the trunk, and get back on the interstate, heading for home. We totally could not believe it. This is the type of thing that drives my anal husband CRAZY, by the way. I found it rather amusing. :) Oh, and remember how I wanted to grab a snack? If I would have, I would have seen the bag that we didnt' pack, and it would have saved lots and lots of time. oh well. But you better believe I grabbed a snack the second time. :)

We finally made it to DM in time for a nap. :) Then as we were getting ready for supper, Carla called and said that Josiah had a fever of 104. We had been in pretty frequent contact with her, so this seemed a little out of the blue. He just woke up from his nap with it. But Tom and Carla had VDay plans, so my aunt and uncle took the kids. And guess what. Josiah puked all over my uncle and himself. Poor guy. and poor Jim!

Steve's show was fun to watch. I don't get to watch too many these days, so it was fun to see him perform. Not so much a fan of sitting by myself in a crowd of 160 people on Valentine's Day. I felt like people were staring at me with the "poor girl, here by herself on Valentine's Day" look. Like I said before, I"m just not used to being alone, so I probably looked a little uncomfortable in my skin....

After the show, we headed to a martini bar for a bit (after a quick pumping stop at the hotel with no fridge, so I had to DUMP it down the drain! ugh....) and then back to the hotel. We got going around 10ish, and the original plan was to drop Steve off in Omaha, and I'd go stay in OC one night so I could be there for my great uncle's funeral on Monday. But since we heard Josiah was sick, and we knew Lillian probably had an ear infection, we thought we'd just go and get them together and get everyone back home.

We made it just in time for the visitation, grabbed a quick peek at Hazel, stopped to get the kids, and I made a few pinkadink visits to friends. I went back to the house, scarffed down some supper (corndogs, yes!) and we were on our way. At about K Products, or Staples now I guess, Lillian said, "is it bedtime yet?" Before we could even get the word "soon" out of our mouths, she had zonked out in the back seat. Josiah and Brielle soon followed suit.

It was a long but quiet trip back to Omaha. We got home, got everyone in bed (Brielle in her crib, and the other kids on thier cots in our room so we could get to them quicker with the bucket if need be....), and by the time Monday morning came around I decided I needed to take all three kids to the doctor.

and of course the only time available was at 1:50, smack dab in the middle of naptime. I took it.

First he checked Lillian. She had an ear infection; she wasn't over-reacting in OC after all; and she also had a sinus infection. great.

Then he checked Josiah. He had "a whopper of an ear infection" and a sinus infection. great.

Then he checked Brielle, and said she was the sickest one of them all. I vaguely remembered the nurse saying that she had a fever. But she was the only one that I didn't think NEEDED to be seen, but I thought I'd have him check her anyway. I did think it was strange that she'd had a particularly long nap right before the trip, and I had to wake her up to eat so we could go to the doctor. And she felt a little warm, but she just woke up from a three hour nap, so I didnt' think anything of it....

OK, so he says she probably has pneumonia, and she needs a nebulizer treatment, and a chest xray, and an RSV test. pronto.

GREAT! How in the heck was I supposed to do that exactly? With two other sickos in tote? So I called back up, and told steve I could use a little help. It took everything I had to not break down a cry right there in the doctor's office. I think Steve heard that in my voice. You pick up on those things when you're together for 11 years. :)

So Steve got there just in time for the xray. And the lady asked that awkward question about if I could be pregnant or not, and prefaces it with "Okay, you're going to think I'm crazy, but I have to ask you...." And I say, "um...well...I guess there's a CHANCE." what in the heck are you supposed to say? awkward.

i decided to have Steve stay in there, because the last time I was in an xray room, for Lillian's potty thing, they asked me that, and I said NO, and it turned out I WAS, and for 8 months I worried that I hurt my baby by being in that room. That was a run-on sentence. :)

anway....in the end, she didn't have pneumonia, just RSV. but jeepers, that was a little more than I could handle. So we all went home and thus started the week of trying to remember who got what medicine and when and how much, and the passing of the nebulizer mask. It's been quite the albuterol party here. If you have kids who've been on that stuff, you know what I mean by "party." and if not, then be very very grateful. :)

Okay, to make a really long story short (ok, well, shorter than it could be), we ended up back in the dr.'s office on Wed with Josiah after kind of a freaky reaction to his medicine. He was ticking and doing some other weird things that we didn't quite feel comfortable with. BUT...now he's on the one that gives him diarreah instead, and we'll definitely take that. :)

And I think it's safe to say that we're on the mend. Josiah FINALLY responded to the medicine, and although if you heard him cough (or any of them cough I guess), you'd think otherwise....we have come a long way.

Lillian was even good enough to go on a "girls night out date" with me last night. But that's another post for another day. soon, though, before I forget it.

They are all three sleeping right now, and instead of doing the millions of daily chores that have gone undone for a week now, I sat here writing this. It'll get done. And some day, when I have a sick child, and I wonder if it could get any worse, I'll sit down at the computer and find this post, and remember what it was like when all three were sick.

and hopefully it will be a very, very distant memory....