The Illness that Will Not Die

Okay, the title is slightly hyperbolic.  But I've been sick for 9 days.  First it was a bad cold.  Bad enough that if I'd been expected to be places (like class) I would have canceled.  By Thursday I thought I'd turned a corner.  Then on Friday I went to campus for a full day of things (candidate interview, special collections, lunch w/chair, podcast for journal) and ended up feeling worse.  And then yesterday I decided it actually warranted a trip to urgent care as it's becoming sinus infection-y, and I'm tired of not catching that until there is goo coming out of my eyes.  Turns out I also have a double ear infection.  I was prescribed Augmentin and told not to take it for another few days, you know, because these things are often viral.  I know antibiotics are overprescribed and all.  But I also know me, and I rarely feel this horrible.  Like, I think the last time I felt this horrible was maybe when Tiny Boy was one and everyone in my household ended up diagnosed with some form of bronchitis.  So hopefully it will go away.  So far my ears still hurt, my face hurts, I've gone through I can't tell you how many tissue boxes, woe is me.

But, also, the weekend was pretty good.  Saturday involved gymnastics class (Tiny Boy) while I finished reading a novel, a trip to the art museum and crafts, ice cream, haircuts all around; after Tiny Boy went to bed, LG and I watched Gilmore Girls because apparently she's into that now.  Sunday was our usual Whole Foods shopping trip, and the all afternoon Urgent Care Extravaganza, followed by Tiny Boy playing legos/Playmobil/Batman while I cooked root vegetables and chicken soup and LG went to play practice (a friend is putting on a production of Annie, like, with actual scripts; they have been doing some version of Annie since they were maybe 7).

Today I did manage to cross the big ticket items off my to do list, and some smaller ones, but, man, I feel horrible and really do not want to be back on campus for yet another interview tomorrow morning.  We'll see what the night brings...

The Law of Sick Children

Tiny Boy was home on Monday with a glorified cold with fever.

On Tuesday I took him to school.  Went about my business.  Picked him up 'early' at 4:15.  Ditched the kids at 6:30 for a campus event which, thankfully, was totally awesome.

Yesterday he was still coughing--we cracked out the nebulizer--and I should have figured out something was up when he was INSANELY CRABBY despite the promise of pepperoni pizza for dinner.  More nebulizer.  Color me less than surprised when he woke me at 2:30 or so because his ears hurt.  

In the meantime, of course, he's shared his germs with me, and I have (again) one of those slammedin-the-chest-feels-like-death colds.

I started making mental plans.  Cancel office hrs.  Cancel class.  Send apologetic note to committee chair saying I can't make it.  Send note to my cranky colleagues to see if they can cover for me at tonight's event.

Tiny Boy was still awake at 5:00.  Despite motrin and a dose of melatonin for good measure.  At some point he fell back to sleep but was awake before 7:00.  Spent the better portion of the morning crying, including the trip to the pediatrician, where he was diagnosed with a double ear infection.

He's asleep now, going on an hour.  I never did fall back to sleep, and it's unlikely to happen.  Thankfully, despite being INSANE my colleagues seem to be willing to step up.  And everything else has been rescheduled.

As soon as he wakes up we're going to the pharmacy for amoxicillin, because I HAVE to be back at school tomorrow, as we're bringing in a poet who blurbed my new book.  And is just an absolute pal. And this is pretty much the biggest deal part of my year.  So Tiny Boy, back to Penguin Room you go...

It's Feeling a Bit 2012

Tiny Boy is home sick.

I benadryled him.  He's now napping next to me.

I tried napping.  No dice.

I also googled some stuff which led me to discover an article about sleep of children who were growth restricted in utero.

Neurological delays and all that.  Yeah.

And then one about maternal sleep deprivation and IUGR.

A vicious circle of bad sleep.

But at least the NP at his visit today said she'd fix the referral because, well, duh, he doesn't need to see a psychologist.

Ugh

This week I was FINALLY going to get some real writing done on my book manuscript.

And I woke up Tuesday morning vomiting.  Went to class because I thought I was feeling better and walked out of class (at the end, thankfully) and threw up next to the river.  Picked up LG and told her she was watching her brother, I didn't care what they did as long as they ate dinner and were safe.  She actually did it.  She gave him a bowl of noodles and some "ice" (sorbet) and they took out every single toy in the house and watched the farm movie (Baby Einstein) over and over and over while she gave him a ride on his bike in the living room.  While I crashed in bed and listened.  I could not have been more impressed.

Of course she started throwing up around 3:00 am.  Stayed home from school on Wed.  I got a friend/colleague to cover my class, brought Tiny Boy to daycare, and puttered around the house with LG.  I actually TOOK A NAP.

Everyone was back to their respective educational institutions yesterday but I still feel like I was hit by a truck.    Dropped kids off Thursday morning and came home and went back to sleep before heading to campus.  In a t-shirt.  (With a skirt and kicky sandals, but still.)  But if you can't wear a t-shirt with a pun as a tenured director of a writing program, well, where can you?

Thanks to a combo of Benadryl (for the runny nosed Boy) and half an ambien (for the mama) we slept pretty well last night.  8:00-6:30 for him (he woke and nursed only twice), 9:30-6:30 for me (minus the boobing).

But not feeling much better today.  Grading papers and doing some reading in bed this morning, before LG comes home (last day, half day).  Decided it was worth skipping usual Friday yoga to rest and catch up.

Next week has to be better, right?

Boo-Hoo Baby

When Tiny Boy woke me at 5:00 I didn't feel quite right.  And indeed, upon sitting down with him in the rocking chair, I promptly deposited him back in his crib and ran to the bathroom to hurl.

Huh.

You know how much fun it is having a baby suck on you when all you want to do is throw up?  So from 5:00 until LG woke at 7:00 he was in and out of the crib, I was in and out of the bathroom, and bodily fluids abound.  Cancelled an appointment I had at 8:30, made LG get ready for school, and went downstairs to get ready to leave.

Only to have the ROOFERS knock on my door.  It's hard to have a sick day when there's constant pounding in your skull, and I don't mean the metaphorical sort.

So because I haven't puked since around 8:00 I think I'm going to put on actual human clothes--as opposed to my yoga pants and a t-shirt I've had longer than I've had LG--and go to my office.

Argh.

A Quandary

So Tiny Boy has the eye goo, which tends to happen when he has a cold.  His eyes have not (yet) crusted over.  I do not want to spend this afternoon at the urgent care.  I do not want to receive a phone call tomorrow that says he needs to be picked up because he has the eye goo.  And on Tuesday I have a meeting I shouldn't miss and, you know, like, a job.  You see the problem, right?  

*

I am tired and stressed and all sorts of things.  Damn.

Update:  Well we went to urgent care.  And stayed for two hours and had a breathing treatment after pulse ox came back at 94, after the fiftieth time they tried to take it.  So I might not be going to work tomorrow.  We'll see.

Sick Day

It seems I picked up some version of the stomach bug that's doing the rounds.  Knock wood, the worst of it lasted an hour last night.  But since then I've been queasy, and the thought of going to yoga, much less going to assorted things on campus, well, not so pleasant.

Right now I'm in bed with the laptop, a bag of pretzels, and a can of sprite (yay for actually buying cans after the latest illness, so there is a supply in the basement of that sweet carbonated stuff we only use during sick times).  Some things must get done:  the grading, the pumping, the reading.  But the part of the day when I see people...well, we'll see what happens by 1:00 or so.

Being really sick is horrible.  Being just sick enough to coddle oneself isn't so bad.

This Baby is Breaking My Heart

Tiny Boy has just been so sick.  And losing weight (as if a not-yet-18-lb 14 month old can afford to lose weight) and not eating anything other than mama-ba.

Last night, he woke up around the time I was going to sleep and he didn't stand up and cry like he usually does.  He just sat there and said mama in the tiniest, most pathetic little voice.

Oh, little boy, what are we going to do?

Sick Day

Well, Tiny Boy stayed home from daycare today, as he had the eye gunk and a fever.  Eye gunk turned out to be an infection of the eyelids, and he would appear to have some kind of virus to boot.  Which, of course, he has shared with me, along with some gnawed-on teething biscuits.

He's been in daycare I think a month now and has had two colds, a bout of diarrhea, eye gunk, and this new virus.  In his previous ten months he had two colds, despite having a school-aged sibling and being a teeny-tiny winter baby.  I am not looking forward to this winter.

He's been fever-free today, so my current plan is to take him to daycare and then have a sick day of my own  It might not be room service at a swanky hotel, but some goodies from the bakery, lots of hot drinks, my laptop and a not-really-for-work book sounds mighty nice.

But the best news?  He SLEPT last night.  Not sure if it's the new white noise machine or the illness or what, but he only woke three times (12:30, 3:30, 5:30) and didn't get up for the day until 6:45.  I'm desperately hoping for a repeat...

This Is When I Need Another Grown-up Around

LG has a school carnival tonight, which is the sort of thing I detest under the best of circumstances.

And both Tiny Boy and I have nasty colds.  But not quite so nasty that I think we need to stay home, just that it would be preferable to throngs of screaming elementary-schoolers, junk food, and plastic prizes strewn over the backseat of the car.

Am I actually complaining on National Infertility Awareness Week?

Just until I remember that at last year's carnival I thought I was losing a baby.  Who needs NIAW?  Every week is NIAW around these parts. 

But as soon as we get home, it is bedtime for all parties Chez Gwinne.

Well this week sucked

So that illness that LG picked up?  Naturally she shared it with me.  I knew it was coming when everything smelled horrible--like, first trimester horrible.  Within a few hours of The Smell, I was puking while LG lay in her bed watching movies and Tiny Boy cried in the never-used crib.  What's worse than a puking virus?  Having to nurse nonstop while you have a puking virus.  Not sure if Tiny Boy had his own tiny version of the illness, or he was growing, or my milk supply had already dropped, but seriously...every hour or more.  Thankfully I only puked for a few hours or I think both of us would have been hospitalized for dehydration. 

Wednesday I sent LG to school, though in retrospect she should have stayed home.  Tiny Boy and I spent all day in bed; I drank gingerale that a friend brought by and he continued to nurse nonstop.  I felt like I'd been hit by a truck; there were a couple points I actually thought I might drop him.  The first half of Thursday wasn't much better but by last night I'd managed to do a load of laundry (diapers) and dishes.

Today I'm in actual clothes (not mismatched pajamas).  (And the result of The Illness seems to be that I can now fit [very uncomfortably] in my pre-pregnancy jeans.  Uncomfortably enough that I'm not actually wearing them, but it does suggest that if I ever get back to doing yoga/pilates/something on a regular basis, I should be able to wear my old wardrobe.)  Tiny Boy just nursed (again).  In the interests of getting out of the house, I think I'm going to dump his tiny sleeping body in the carseat, go pick up some cat food from the vet (Big Cat is now going to be on a liver formula), and perhaps see if I can't find a 2012 calendar at the bookstore, as amazon has yet to send me the one I ordered when it was still 2011.  And then I think we'll come home and watch more TV.  And do about 5 more loads of laundry and wipe down every surface in my house.  Be gone ick.