Tis the Season

It's only fitting that your children get sick during the holidays, and Lily made sure to not let us down.  On Friday, I noticed she was acting a little crabby and told James that she was going to wake up with a fever that night.  (I had a little help with this prediction since Porter had been running a fever for a few days).  Sure enough, Lily was up at 2 AM burning hot.  The cough came on quickly on Saturday and by Saturday night we were having to use the nebulizer because she was retracting.

                   Here she is getting a treatment after church.  Both James and I had to be at church on Sunday, so we didn't have much of a choice but to take the girls.  I obviously didn't put Lily in the nursery with a fever, so she sat in big church with me.  She made it about half way, which is better than I expected.   By the way, Daddy dressed her for church (I had to be there earlier, so James came later with the girls), which explains the Keds.  Is it really that hard to get her blue dress shoes at the top of the stairs?

                    Later that night, we went to James Island County Park to the see the lights (along with the rest of the tri-county area).  It was very crowded, but Lily did love seeing the "Fristmas lights" and it took her mind off of feeling bad for a while.  

                    Lily standing in front of a random picture because we felt obligated to get pictures.

So Monday morning comes and the big debate starts: take her to the doctor or wait it out?  When she still had a  fever and was still retracting, I decided we better get it checked out.   I pack up both of them and head off for a fun adventure.  Both girls actually did really well, but let's face it, is it ever a quick and easy trip to the pediatrician?  I spend the time in the waiting room trying to keep Lily from touching anything.   Why, oh why do they put toys in doctor's office waiting room.  Really, you go in with a cold and leave with a stomach bug.  As soon as we got back to the room, Sarah Ellen threw up everywhere.  So I have to change her (into a Halloween shirt that was in the diaper bag) while still trying to keep Lily from touching anything.  Finally, we see the doctor and are told that Lily's lungs sound pretty bad even after a nebulizer treatment (done in the office with a fussy baby).  Then she said the most dreaded thing:  she wanted to put Lily on PREDNISONE.  We had to do this once before and it made her evil, but as the doctor said, you would rather her be evil and able to breathe ( I suppose so).  Once we got home, I very timidly gave her the first dose (along with an antibiotic, motrin, benedryl, miralax and a breathing treatment - good grief).  It wasn't long after nap time that the monster appeared.   I didn't even bother with reasoning or punishment - there is no point, she would just keep screaming and throwing things.  So instead, I tried to appease how ever I could and we finally made it to bedtime. 

I woke up this morning with a horrible sense of dread and for good reason.  The monster was vicious.  I think James felt very bad for having to leave me and go to work this morning (but secretly relieved to escape).  Just for fun, I caught a little bit on camera.

This afternoon wasn't too bad.  She only threw a few objects around and actually had a few happy moments.  I'm still not making any promises for tomorrow.  Wish us luck!