This year for Halloween, the kids dressed up as terribly sick little people. Not exactly the butterfly tutu and pirate costumes I had in mind (Note to self: leave the tags ON until you are sure they are going to be worn)
It was a LONG week. Ryan came home from school Monday with a horrible cough and low grade fever, and Quinn quickly followed. Tuesday, they were a coughing, sneezing, feverish mess, but in the past when I've drug them to the doctor for such symptoms, I always would hear "virus. rest. fluids. tylenol." And "I'll take your $50 copay now".
Not that I was trying to avoid the copay but the dreaded word virus gets very annoying after a little while. But by Wednesday morning (Halloween), things had taken a drastic turn. Both were burning up, coughing, wheezing, and then the kicker, "my ear hurts". Off to the doctor we went. With a mommy who had chosen to put off her shower until the kids were supposedly at school. Oops. And a raging migraine.
Anyway, both kids had an ear infection in their right ear (twins, trying to do everything together), but the worst news was bronchial infection - basically RSV. Dreaded RSV. You've got to be kidding me. And the doctor was especially concerned with keeping a close eye on Quinn --- with her heart function and those narrow branch pulmonary arteries, a chest infection severe enough could force too much pressure on her heart and drop her pulse ox levels like a rock. Oh my.
I left with 2 bags full of breathing treatment supplies and stopped by the pharmacy to pick up their littany of prescriptions. $150 later and not one pair of shoes or a bow to show for it, we were home. With strict instructions that there would be no outside play that evening. Ie: no trick or treating. Not that they were in the mood.
They spent the rest of the day laying on the couch, while I alternated meds, wiping noses, changing horrid diapers, and trying to comfort two altogether miserable babies. I did manage to grab one sweet shot of them at least dressed festively for the doctor (this was after a dose of meds and they were feeling better).
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| They had already shared the germs, so no point in not letting them hug it out. |
Thursday was much of the same and started with wheezing like I've never heard in my life. I was rushing around in tears trying to get us all dressed to head to the ER, and finally the breathing treatments kicked in, and then I started breathing again. Crisis averted. They weren't great the rest of the day, but at least the horrible sound of being able to hear them breathe across the room dissipated. And I started to question whether the loony bin would have room by the weekend.
Friday, thank God, Ryan turned a corner and his fever for the most part disappeared but still had a nasty cough. Quinn's fever shot way up, so she was supremely miserable until alternating doses of Tylenol and Ibprofren did the trick. And thankfully, she was mostly happy the rest of the afternoon. By that night, as much as I just wanted to jump in my pj's and watch Triple D on the Food Network, I showered, washed, and dried my hair for the first time in a week (wait, I showered most days, just didn't wash and dry), and Matt and I headed out for an adult date night with our besties --- long planned since like September. Luckily, they were in good hands with "Uncle Jay" and we finally felt safe to leave them for a bit ---- and good lord, did I need it. And the bottle of wine that came with dinner.
I will say, I knew having children being sick would be difficult --- but seeing them both soooo sick at the same time, with no rest for the weary, was excruciating. Yes, it's nothing compared to heart surgeries or anything else like that, but when your child is miserable, nothing makes a parent's heart hurt more. And I was not altogether the most pleasant thing to be around this week. I didn't exactly carry myself with grace. By the time Matt got home from work each night, I would collapse from exhaustion (poor guy, he already is working his tail off at work, covering for his boss and he has to deal with a cranky wife on top of it --- oh and he's been sick too, sick enough to go to the doctor on Monday, which rarely happens) I joked about spending the night at the Holiday Inn to get away from the germs, but pretty sure they are already full ingrained in my body, and unless my superhero immunity kicks in, my guess is I'll be down and out within a week.
How's that for positive thinking?
The good news is that both kids woke up this morning FEVER-FREE for the first time in 5 days. And minus a few coughing spells, they are pretty much back to normal, even finally eating, fighting, laughing, playing, and destroying my living room one toy at a time. And I couldn't be happier. Matt is such a trooper --- he took full control of the kids today so I could lay in my pjs until 11am, watch Game Day, run out for some non-med related errands, and basically just relax. I say it all the time, but DANG, I am a lucky girl. And now I am about to hit the bed for naptime without having to worry about getting up to check on a kiddo. Thank you, Matty. I LOVE YOU. And I love the way you love our family.
So, kids, Halloween next year. I lived vicariously through all of the pictures posted by my friends on facebook and blogs (ADORABLE and by far the highlight of my week), and felt only a small pang of jealousy. There will be other Halloweens. Other costumes. And today I think they are feeling well enough that we may just throw them in their costumes anyway and snap a few pics.
Happy Halloween 2012!!!!
