Monday, May 19, 2014

Let Us Drink and Be Merry for Tomorrow My SHs Will Catch Pneumonia

GIRL'S TRIP!

Yes that is right I went on a girls only trip with five of my best friends who are also busy working moms to Napa Valley, CA for four days and it was magical.  
My beautiful crew of sanity keepers
The week before I left 13 of 25 of the students in SH1's kindergarten class came down with high fevers, congestion, muscle aches and a good case of the grumps missing almost all of the last super fun party week of school.  SH1's symptoms lasted five days and capped off with an ear infection at the tail end.  I prayed earnestly that God would spare SH2 and SH3 of this same fate, but when they both woke up at 1:00 am a few days later with fevers to 103F I went on-line and purchased stock in ibuprofen and thieves oil.

It started out insidiously enough…
           Fever to 102/103F
+         Look like hell                 
Ibuprofen administration

Then the math got a little more interesting…
            Refusing to eat anything
+          Belly full of ibuprofen
Complaining of belly pain all day BUT fever is gone 

Now we are into multiple digit addition…
Eating like birds
Leg pains causing inconsolable tears and limping (myositis)
Fever
Congestion and cough
Missing SH1's Kindergarten Graduation
+          Adult medicine doctor for a mom
Assume all children are dying and girl’s trip (a year in the making) will now be cancelled as my SH2 and SH3 will be hospitalized, but on the bright side I will likely now be able to attend SH1's kinder graduation.

Now for the best equation of all…
SH2 and SH3 are sick as stink
Prayers of friends, family, and myself
Elaborate (aka: crazy) medication schedule typed up
My amazing husband telling me to go and that he and the kids will be good
+          Making peace with not being able to go if I am not supposed to
GIRL’S TRIP 2014!


My husband shielded me from a lot of the dark details of those four days.  I was able to glean that he had to cancel all of the brother-in-law (BIL) kid co-op shared play dates and mealtimes that they had planned (my BIL was home with his and my sister's kids as she was on the trip too).
My sister and I at the beautiful Schweiger winery
(Note to self: I need to learn how to pose my legs a little better)

My sick kids and husband were locked up in our house together the entire.four.days.

I walked in the door anxious for what I would find.  SH2 was on her sixth day of fevers and her cough had just gotten a whole lot worse in the last 24 hours.  I kissed everyone hello, grabbed my keys, and off to urgent care we went.  I knew that nighttime was coming and this was going to get a whole lot worse before it got better.   We saw a physician who I can only describe as an idiot with worst bedside manner and education of any pediatrician I have ever met.  I left in tears with a negative strep throat test and looming dread for the hours ahead.  

I called one of my pediatrician besties (who had also just been on GIRL'S TRIP 2014 with me) and she calmed me down, gave me a list of if this happens then you need to do this and told me to give SH2 antibiotics for what is most likely Influenza B now turned bacterial pneumonia.  (We all had our flu vaccines, so I can only imagine how much worse it would have been.)  I did as instructed and was able to confirm the diagnosis the next day with our regular pediatrician.

SH2 is on the mend and the fevers are gone, cough still sucks but I am surprisingly at peace about it.  Why?  Because of I have a fresh memory of moments like this...
Ohhhh so this is why we were shushed on the plane

ridiculousness like this...
Beauty and laughter captured perfectly at Ledson winery
and because I just got back from GIRL'S TRIP 2014 where I laughed until my sides hurt, got shushed on an airplane when I was not traveling with children, cried—at dinner twice, took advice, expanded my wine tasting vocabulary (turns out I like a more European style Chardonnay in a neutral oak barrel), commiserated, and sang pop songs at the top of my lungs in a Suburban with five of my favorite ladies in the world. 

Renewed

Restored

Ready for the year ahead

GIRL'S TRIP 2015 Chicago and I already can’t wait.  


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