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We're finally feeling better around here! Before when I have tried to get videos of Bethie babbling, she would see the camera and then stop talking, but it must have been my lucky day!

Sickness, Part Two

Although the whiny part of me wants to say that no one is getting any better, the truth is that we are. It has just been a very long and very slow road. Bethie still wakes up twice a night from the coughing, although the duration and violence of the spells have been greatly reduced. Her fever has finally gone away entirely (we hope), and she doesn't cough much during the day. She has discovered an affinity for Popsicles which help soothe her throat, and every now and then I hear a fake cough, followed by a pointed glance at the freezer. Little imp!

I had another setback over the weekend. Although I was finally, finally able to keep small amounts of food down, I started having terrible coughing spells that nearly always ended in vomiting. So, even though the gastroenteritis had nearly gone, I was still vomiting. All the coughing triggered my asthma, and by midnight on Monday morning, I was in the ER. I had to have two breathing treatments (even though I had already had two at home) and a shot before I could breathe easily again. After several tests and a chest x-ray it was determined that my upper respiratory infection had turned to bronchitis and the doctor was very concerned that I might have pertussis (whooping cough) as well. He looked in my throat and found the beginnings of strep, too. I didn't even think that was possible, to have so many things wrong at once! He gave me a Zpack which he said would knock out all three things, some prednisone (steroids) for the wheezing, and told me to take my home breathing treatments every 4 hours til I can breathe normally again.

We're on day three of that regimen, and although there are some definite improvements - I haven't thrown up in 24 hours and I slept on one pillow last night instead of being propped up - it is a slow process. I can't keep Bethie home with me because I get so shaky and dizzy after the treatments that I don't feel like she is safe, and then after that passes, I fall asleep pretty hard. So, poor Jeff has dealt with all this for weeks and is acclimating to a new office, and he has to go 20 minutes out of his way each way to take Bethie to the sitter so that I can rest and heal. I think that after this weekend, though, I will see major improvements. All this from 3 days in a daycare!!

Poor Baby . . .

It has been a very rough couple of weeks here, and it's a bit of a long story, so bear with me. We were very excited to find that I got a job at a daycare center, and that I would be able to take Bethie with me. She would be right down the hall, and since the center has one-way glass in all the rooms, I'd be able to check on her throughout the day without disturbing her. The teachers in the 12 - 18 month room were incredible, and I was going to teach pre-K. It seemed to good to be true, and it was. I knew going in that Bethie would get sick being around other kids, but I really was not prepared for how quickly, or how sick she got.

We started on Monday, March 22, and on Wednesday the 24, we were sent home because she had a fever. It shot up to 102.6 that night, and over the next 4 days, wouldn't stay below 101. We went to the doctor on Friday the 26 and got some amoxil for her, but then she started vomiting and having diarrhea. She had an upper respiratory infection and an ear infection, and they were just wreaking havoc on her system. She is better now, but even today, she still has a terrible cough. The doctor says it just has to work itself out at this point, and Bethie is up and running around again, but she wakes up at least twice every night with a terrible coughing fit that can last up to 5 minutes or more. We are all exhausted. We're giving her Benadryl for the congestion and Delsym for the cough, and we tried a humidifier last night. Nothing seems to work. It is heartbreaking!

In the meantime, that Friday that we went to the doctor, I started to get sick, and couldn't keep anything down for 4 days. I went to Urgent Care that Sunday night to find that I had an upper respiratory infection and gastroenteritis. In our not-quite-three days at the daycare, Bethie and I both got two different infections. I am just now starting to be able to eat, and I am very weak from all we've been through. The fact that no one can sleep through the night is not helping, either.

With everything that happened, and the fact that I absolutely could not return to work, it really seemed like God was trying to tell us something. After a long talk, some long prayers, and a list of pros and cons, Jeff and I decided that going back to the daycare would only result in more illnesses for Bethie and I, and that it was not worth the risk. I resigned last Friday - after having missed several more days than I worked - and even though I feel guilty for letting them down, it just wasn't working for us.

Today, Bethie went to her former sitter so that I can rest and sleep, and starting tomorrow, I will be a stay-home Mom until a teaching job comes along. The money will be tight, but we will be healthy, and I will have lots of time with my Bethie.

Easter was very low-key since no one had any energy, but Bethie did play with her new toys, and I managed to keep down dinner. All in all, a success!