Sick

We have spent the last week being sick around here.  I captured a little of it with the iPod so I could keep Jaron updated.  I figured I'd do a post just, you know, so I can always remember how tough life gets sometimes. :) 

I was actually the first to get sick.  It started with a tickle in my chest but after a few days where I particularly spread myself thin, I was suffering a raspy cough, sinus congestion, and a headache.  A couple of days later, Eli started with a fever, a headache, and throwing up.  Eli definitely got it the worst of all  of us.  He spent a couple of days not getting up from the couch.

 It can be tough to care for Eli when he's sick.  He's clingy normally but when he doesn't feel good, he wants to be always touching his Momma.  It was a good chance to snuggle a lot but...sometimes a mom's got to do other things. :(

 Two days into it, Eli really wasn't doing well.  His little heart felt like it was racing in his chest and he was so lethargic that he couldn't lift a cup to his lips.  The skin on his lips was so dry it was chapped and peeling.  He was eating and drinking almost nothing and throwing up the few bits of fruit he did manage to swallow.  I texted Jaron to see what he thought and Jaron got pretty concerned, telling me I probably needed to take him to the ER.  I know how expensive ER visits are so I called the doctor's office.  The nurse's line told me that since he hadn't urinated in 12 hours (it'd actually been 36!), he needed to go to the ER right away. 

 I don't know about you, but when people start telling me I need to rush my child to the ER, I start to panic a little and feel like said child just might be dying.  Haha.  At this point, I may have gotten a little emotional for a minute. :)

I didn't know what to do with my other kids so I quickly gathered a backpack full of activities and snacks and called the school to tell them I'd be coming to get Alden early.  I knew that we wouldn't be back by the end of school and also that none of my neighbors wanted to be watching my kids when someone in our house was so sick.  We got Eli to the ER and they gave him some Zofran intravenously to settle his nausea.   Then they gave him an hour's worth of IV fluids.  The doctor said that he "looks like flu" but swabbed his throat just in case.  The strep test came back positive so she determined he probably had both the flu and strep and gave us a prescription for Amoxicillan.  Poor kid!  By the end of the night, I was exhausted.  It's amazing how hard an ER run and a pharmacy stop are when you have sick kids and no spouse to back you up.

The next day, Eli was doing considerably better but was still on the couch for most of the day.  Gracen started a fever by mid-afternoon and spent the next twelve hours being miserable.  Alden got the headache/fever thing the next day and the pattern continued for a few days.  Each kid got feverish at least twice and each kid spent at least one rough night crying/sleeping in my bed.

By Sunday, seven days after it all started, I took this picture for Jaron and told him I felt the same way. :) I felt like Bilbo Baggins in Lord of the Rings:

"I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread."

Fortunately, today we seem to be coming out of the fog.  Nobody has run a fever in over 24 hours and nobody has been stuck to the couch.  We managed to hit the grocery store and re-stock our sparsely outfitted fridge.  Everyone's still snotty and running on little energy, but we're almost back!  All I can keep thinking is, man, you can accomplish so much with a healthy body!  I am thoroughly renewed in gratitude that my kids and I have healthy bodies!!

I am also filled with gratitude for good friends who watch over us.  Although I have a hard time taking people's help, we had a few offers to have dinner brought over.  My sweet friend, Billie, also kept calling to check and see if there was anything we needed from the store.  I am so amazed by how in tune with other peoples' needs some people are!  Friends are awesome.