In Like A Lion

March comes in like a lion, like a lion, like a lion.
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

March comes in with a great big wind, Great big wind, great big wind.
March comes in with a great big wind, And goes out with a breeze.


Everybody is sick. Well, I'm not convinced that I actually caught it. My crud could simply be seasonal allergies, but the rest of them... they're sick! Etta had it first, she caught a new cold on the tail of her Valentine's cold. She was out of school most of last week. This one was worse than the last and it involved sporadic low grade fevers, a cough, and an awful lot of snot. One by one, they fell. Keith was next with his "man cold", though he seems to be on the mend already. Then, today, my worst fear... four-month-old snot bubbles. Daniel had a cough for a couple days, but I believe that was the tail end of the first small cold Etta gave him. No fever yet, but he can't sleep because he can't breathe (through his nose) and he just cries and cries because he's sick and sleepy. He falls asleep in my arms for 5 to 15 minute intervals, only to wake up crying again... Poor guy! I'm hoping my "teacher immunities" keep it to the minimum sniffles for me cause there is nothing worse than sick kids AND a sick mom!

My mom and Bill came up on Thursday for a long weekend. They were given fair warning about the sickies, but they chose to come anyway. They hadn't seen the baby since Christmas two months ago and he seems to have doubled in size since then.

 

Friday was a STORMY day! Well, I take it back. It didn't storm the WHOLE day. A storm rolled in and out first thing that morning. Our power flickered, but nothing serious. The day actually turned nice after this. partly cloudy skies with a high of 81! But the air was really unstable. You could feel it. We had been hearing in the news about the possibility for tornadic storms in the afternoon. They said Nashville would be in the "bulls eye". They closed schools early and many businesses sent their employees home early in anticipation of the severe weather.

That morning, my mom and I took Etta to the pediatrician because her cough sounded deep (Bill stayed home with Daniel). I'm not one of those people who rushes their kid to the pediatrician every time they're sick. I know with most colds, "you just have to ride it out". So, I use my best judgement, or I call and ask the Phone Nurse at the pediatrician's office. I really didn't think E needed to even go this time, but it was Friday and that cough didn't sound good and I didn't want to have to take her to a walk-in clinic if it got worse (even though our awesome pedi practice holds limited weekend appointments for sick kids). So, we went. And............ it's a cold! And........... we just have to "ride it out". The doctor went ahead and wrote a prescription to hold on to. She told me that if the snotty nose was still there IN A WEEK, then I am to fill the Rx to treat a sinus infection. E's actually feeling much better today. Still a bit of a runny nose, but I'll send her back to school tomorrow.

So, after we stopped to get Etta her french fries for "French Fry Friday" (and as a post doctor treat), the girls headed back home to hunker down with the rest of the family for the afternoon storms. We had the news channel on all afternoon/ evening and I had our bathroom set up so we could dive in there if a twister decided to blow us away. The tornado sirens went off a couple of times, but the suspected tornado was up on the north side of the county (turns out it was a small EF1 tornado that did some damage, but thankfully did not cause injuries/death). So, while we did get some stormy weather, the scary stuff went to the north and to the south of us. Whew! (Thoughts and Prayers to those who were not so lucky in Kentuky and Inidana)

That evening, Etta helped her Nana V and Grandfather chop ingredients for dinner.

There was also some dancing involved.

Oh, and this was when Keith started to feel sick. :(

We spent the morning Saturday just hanging around the house. Etta was still so amped about helping cook the night before that she wanted "help" "please" with the step stool that was "stuck" next to the fridge. I got it for her and set it up at the counter, even though there was not any cooking going on. The pre-k teacher in me grabbed some bowls and measuring spoons and measuring cups and a wooden mixing spoon and a little dry rice and let her go to town scooping and pouring and stirring and generally making a mess. She was a good helper with the sweeping up afterwards.

That afternoon, after the kids went down for a nap, my mom and I got out for some one-on-one time. We went shopping, of course! We went up to the TJ Maxx HomeGoods store in Brentwood and seriously lost track of time. It was fun.

When we got home, we sat down to a home made chicken noodle soup that Bill whipped up to help Keith feel better. It was really good. Reminded me of Panamanian Sancocho.

They left this morning to head back home. We miss them already, but I'm sure they'll have a little something to remember us by when it's done incubating in a couple of days...

***It generally takes a GOOD part of a day to write and put together one of these posts. It's worse now, with two. I started writing this post at about 1:00 this afternoon. It is now 6:56. I said earlier that he had not run a fever yet. The update is that around 3:45, he had a little fever. :( It was 101.4. I dosed him with Tylenol and was pretty liberal with the nasal sailene spray. Poor kid thought he was drowning. He's asleep now, but I fear we're in for a long night...

Strep

Well, we *almost* made it three years without ever needing an antibiotic (unless you count that antibiotic Vandy Children's gave her when they admitted her after birth that caused kidney failure).

Tuesday morning, Etta was a little "off", but I didn't think too much of it. I took her to school and picked her up three hours later. Her teachers didn't indicate anything was wrong with her, but I noted a single BIG cough as we were leaving (allergies, I thought). She fell asleep on the ride home and actually transferred from the car seat to her bed! When she woke up a couple hours later, she was crying and she had a fever. She was generally fussy and continued to cry most of the evening. Around 6:00, she threw up all over the couch. Keith gave her a bath, and she went to bed. Tylenol wasn't doing much for that fever.

Wednesday morning, Etta woke up around 6:00 and threw up again. I changed her bedding and she went back to sleep until about 8:30. Still had a moderate fever. I had to call and cancel some therapy evaluations with the school system. I also had to let my mom know that we would not be travelling home to Alabama that day as we had planned to do. Etta didn't feel well all day and the fever continued, but she never threw up again. She took long naps and we wiped her snotty nose. She didn't want to eat much, but I was managing to get fluids in her. When I gave her a lukewarm bath that night, I noticed that the trunk of her body was splotchy red and her normally light pink birthmarks were bright red. I wondered to myself if this was "scarlet fever", which is usually associated with Strep Throat.

So, I called first thing Thursday morning and got in to see her pediatrician. She confirmed strep and prescribed some amoxicillin- Etta's very first antibiotic! We've been pretty lucky that she is a generally healthy kid. I think many parents go into the pediatrician's office HOPING for strep because it's something that can be treated with an antibiotic (as opposed to "it's a virus, you'll just have to let it run its course"). So, we left and had her prescription filled and came home. I dosed her right away and she HATES the stuff! She takes most medicines without a problem and even this stuff I can usually get the first teaspoon down her throat, but it calls for two teaspoons twice a day for 10 days. YIKES! I should have asked them to flavor it! So, she went down for a nap around noon and slept until nearly 5:00! Then she was up for about 3 and a half hours and put herself to bed at 8:30.

She still looks pretty pitiful today. She's got this awful dry cough and her nose is raw from all the snot wiping and she's got these awful dark circles under her eyes and her lips are a little chapped. She still has a fever, though it feels more "low grade" and her skin doesn't seem as red. Keith and I are both terribly paranoid that we've caught this from her. We keep thinking we might have sore throats and Keith keeps insisting that he's running a fever (though the thermometer says his temp is exactly 98.5 degrees- lol). I really don't see how I haven't caught it, but we'll know in a few days... In the meantime, I'm Cloroxing amd Lysoling...