Down for the count

When you have kids in daycare, illness is an endless circle.

On March 12, Madison and I each came down with a cold. On March 14, Madison was diagnosed with a bladder infection. The cold lasted for about four days - the bladder infection cleared up quickly with meds. We all felt well for about 3 days and then on March 20, we started with the colds again. Madison and I both had it - it included a terrible cough that keeps you up at night and lots of congestion. Add to that lots of aches and pains!

I visited the doctor for the cold because my cough was so bad - but my lungs were clear. Before I was even feeling better - Cameron came down with it over the weekend. He started with this adorable little cough that on three occasions caused him to have trouble breathing. SCARY. It only lasted a day and then seemed to clear up for him.

Meanwhile - I'm still feeling crummy, in fact, I'm feeling worse.

Then at 4am this morning I could hear Madison coughing. Then she was screaming for me. She had thrown up on the carpet. It wasn't much and I thought she had just coughed so hard that she made herself throw up. I cleaned the carpet and went back to bed still planning to send her to daycare. While I was getting ready for work a few hours later, she threw up again.

So, Mike stayed home with her today.

By 9:30 am, Mike was throwing up too.

By noon I was headed back to Express Care because I was certain my cold was now a sinus infection. It was and I finally have drugs to hopefully clear it up.

I got home from work at 5pm. Cameron was fussy and had a low grade fever. Hmmm...I was concerned enough to keep the thermometer handy.

While I was changing clothes Madison showed me a little red bump on her tummy. It looked like a bug bite. I was slightly concerned and said we would watch it, meaning to check it out again in 10-15 minutes. Five minutes later Mike asks me to look at Madison's hands. They were covered in HIVES! I took off her clothes and we watched the hives spread up her arms, across her trunk and down her legs in a matter of minutes.

I called the nurse line and they recommended an oatmeal bath and benadryl. They said no need to come in unless she had trouble breathing - and they said if that happened to just call an ambulance. THANKFULLY, that didn't happen! After a dose of benadryl and an oatmeal bath, the hives were looking better.

This Thursday will mark three full weeks that we have been battling illnesses. I hope this is the end. I really really want to get off this ride!

Also - if you're wondering about the "praying for Stellan" button on the sidebar, I'll give you a brief background. Stellan is the 5 month old son of a woman from Minneapolis. She is a blogger and an amazing photographer. While Stellan was in the womb, his heart went into SVT, its a rapid heartbeat originating from the wrong part of the heart. The University Dr's told her that her son would not be carried to term and would die. She and her husband decided to accept whatever was God's will and prayed for the best. Stellan was miraculously carried to term and born healthy. However, last Sunday his heart went into SVT again - and has been in SVT almost continuously ever since. He is in Children's Hospital and the Dr's are frantically trying to find the right combination of Meds to get his heart back to a normal sinus rhythm before it is too damaged. They are running out of time and having little success. So - please pray for little Stellan. After reading this - I realize our little cycle of late winter illness is nothing compared to this. Give me a few colds and vomit any day!