Sick

 We have been SICK!

We have vomiting, fevers, and coughs all happening with members of our family.

Hopefully we're on the up-swing, but this has been the kind of illness that knocks down someone else as soon as I think someone is getting better.

Here has been out last four days:

Crafts and A Tummy Bug

 While our two youngest spent a day vomiting, our older four got crafty with my hot glue gun.  The results were a partially built airplane, and a fairy house.

The Lion

 Hunter was sick a few days ago, so Lee Lee drew him a lion to take to bed with him.  He slept with the lion all day.

Unusual Few Days

 We've had a very unusual few days... it involves elk, illness, stomach bugs...

In my opinion, we've had enough illness to last for the entire year.

Here's one of the bright points:

A Doozy

 The past two weeks have been quite a doozy.

Hubby tested positive for COVID about two weeks ago, which led to his being sick and exhausted for about a week, and my watching the kids like a hawk.

We had to keep the little ones home for about two weeks because of the policy of their preschool, and then Hunter, Brady, and I all came down with a severe season virus -- not COVID.

I rebounded quickly, but we ended up making two trips to the ER last week, one with each of our little ones -- Hunter due to a VERY high fever, and Brady due to concerns with his breathing.

FINALLY, I believe everyone has turned the corner and we all seem to be on the road to recovery.

And, miraculously, our 4 big kids were never impacted by either virus -- COVID or illness the little boys had.

So, hopefully I will be back to writing more regularly if we can get back into our normal routine moving forward.

Feeling Better

 Hunter was sick yesterday but I went to snap a picture of him because he looked so adorable, and he flashed me a big grin.  Must be feeling better!

Update on the Crazy Life

 So... I haven't covered all of Hubby's surprises, but I will in the next few days.

I had been planning this surprise party for YEARS!  I literally told the family to mark their calendars on Hubby's 38th birthday giving them two years to make travel plans to come to our house for his 40th, and they totally came through.

It felt like planning a wedding to arrange all the moving parts, coordinate so many out of town guests, plan activities while they were in town and more.

Here is what life has been like since...

Labor Day weekend -- Chris gets surprised by LOTS of family.

Labor Day Monday -- Chris gets surprised by some friends, and then we take family pictures.

Monday evening a visiting family member vomits (at the hotel) and spikes a fever

Tuesday, our kids play at our house with their cousins, and the ill family member hangs out on our couch, resting and playing with the kids when feeling up to it.

Wednesday, our ill family member gets a rapid test for COVID which comes back positive.

Wednesday I spend the afternoon and evening on the phone with the rest of the family who attend our party, and our close friends who attended the Monday surprise to explain the situation.  The health department calls me to ask for the details of the birthday gathering that we had and to find out if our children had been back to school since their exposure.  THANK GOODNESS, our kids had NOT been back to school.  We deliberately made the decision to keep our children home to spend the week with family because we had not seen our family since Christmas.  Had our children returned to school, Tracey's entire class and the twins' preschool class would have gone under quarantine.  That was not the case.  But our children were put on a 14-day quarantine and asked to not return to school until Sept 22.

Thursday morning all the kiddos and I get tested for COVID.  By the way, we still have family in town at this point in the week -- after all, they were planning to stay until Saturday, and now the only thing that has changed with the COVID diagnosis is that they are going to drive back instead of fly.

By Friday we bid farewell to the last of the cousins.  We also get our COVID results all of which were NEGATIVE!  Praise God!  After days of back and forth with the Health Department, they have made the recommendation that ALL adults who attended the birthday festivities quarantine for 14-days, and make the recommendation that we can return to work and our children return to school on September 22.

On Saturday we say goodbye to Memaw and Pepaw and begin our remaining 9 days of quarantine just the seven of us.

Sunday (Sept 13) was Hubby's actual 40th birthday...

Then Monday-Friday began the week of Hubby and me BOTH teaching virtually from home, with all our children at home with us.  We have all been completely healthy without even a hint of COVID... which is wonderful.  It also means that our children have been bouncing off the walls wanting to go back to school.

This past weekend, Hubby went bear hunting and the kiddos and I were home -- of course... waiting out the clock of quarantine.

Yesterday was our LAST day of all of us home, and Hubby and Tracey, Howard, and Caroline are SOOOOO ready to return to school.  They also understand with a completely new appreciation why we wear our masks because if we get sick or even around someone who was sick, we have to stay home again for awhile.

I will still be teaching from home, but I will be doing so with less children each day and hopefully getting back to our normal routine -- or at least the routine we had for one week before Labor Day weekend.

So, if you've hung with the post this far, I will end with a picture that I saw a few days ago that left me laughing out loud.

That's Rough

When the ice cream truck drives by and your mom won't let you get any ice cream (amidst a pandemic)... but other kids run down the street and catch up the ice cream truck RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU HOUSE.

That is rough.

This Covers It

These two pictures were posted on Instagram by the same person within 48 hours of each other.  The first was was optimistic... the second was after two days at home, and more realistic.

Either way, I feel this covers it... and I find it hilarious!

 

Faves

Schools closed for the next few weeks, and much uncertainty about the days to come... but so far, here are my favorite Corona virus memes:

 

Yup...

So, I wrote this blog post on Wednesday night... but I still think its worth posting a few days late... just keep in mind this happened a few days ago.

Yeah... this is really accurate.

 As I type this blog, I am sitting next to Lee Lee who has vomited three times.  I have buckets on the other kids beds just waiting to find out if this is an isolated issue... or if we're about to have a domino illness effect.  And, wondering if I should eat my own dinner sitting next to me, or if I should hold off lest I might be sick tonight too...

Oh, motherhood.

Oh Yeah

Oh Yeah...

And we are feeling this very keenly at the moment --

I head back to work this week, which means more exposure to tons of germs.

Tracey is currently on antibiotics for strep throat.

We are currently monitioring Lee Lee for an ear infection (not on medicine yet, but just pain management hoping that it clears up on its own).

Everyone is fighting coughs and runny noses

...

and our poor Hunter was in the ER yesterday for treatment for some respiratory viruses and an ear infection.  He was in so much pain (inconsolable crying for hours) that we had no choice but to take him in to try to learn what was wrong -- answer, two respiratory viruses, and an ear infection.  Now being treated with antibiotics.

So... yeah...

WASH YOUR HANDS!

Just FYI

Just FYI... here is what our week has been.

Friday 11/15: Take the kids to school, spend the day out and about, working, chiropractor appointment, taking a walk, all while timing intermittent contractions.  Pick the kids up from school, had a baby at 5:15pm.  Have kids come to the hospital around 7:30 for gender reveal and to meet their new sibling. (Full birth story coming later.)

Saturday 11/16: Day spent in the hospital, watched the Michigan v. Michigan State game.  Kids came to the hospital in the afternoon and Hubby left with them to help at home and sleep at home so only one of us would have a lousy hospital night's sleep.

Sunday 11/17: Came home from the hospital, within an hour or so started to realize that I was very tired and probably over-doing it a little.  Tried to take it easy.  Called my doc's office with some concerns and questions about if a few things were normal.  Spent Sunday night very chilled and awake a lot with Hunter but awoke sweaty Monday morning.

Monday 11/18: Took Hunter and Lee Lee to early doc appointments and started to get chilled as we headed home.  Called my doc's office mid-morning to report the chills and sweats and find out if these temperature swings were normal for two days postpartum.  Four hours later called the doctor's back because no one had returned my call.  Reported to them that my temperature was 101.7* and the nurse made me an appointment to see a midwife the following afternoon.

Tuesday 11/19: Spent the morning with Hunter, feeling achy and lousy resting and nursing Hunter.  Hubby took me to my doctor's appointment where the midwife examined me and with consultation from an OB decided that I was suffering from a uterine infection and needed to be re-admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics.  Tuesday afternoon spent packing a bag for Hunter and myself and being re-admitted to the hospital.  Tuesday evening spent getting IV fluids, antibiotics, an ultrasound, blood draws, and vitals taken every two hours.  Tuesday night spent in the hospital.

Wednesday 11/20: Spent at the hospital with Hunter.  Initially I was told they would hope to send me home when I was 24 hours fever free -- Wednesday I was told that my blood samples were showing signs of a bacterial infection and I would not be going home Wednesday.  Throughout Wednesday I began to feel SO much better.  I have had three previous natural childbirths and I know how quickly I bounce back when there are no complications -- I kept waiting to bounce back, but I kept feeling worse every day instead of better.  Finally Wednesday I started to feel better and feel like I was bouncing back.  Wednesday spent getting more antibiotics, and Wednesday night spent at the hospital.

Thursday 11/21: The docs still had a few questions regarding my blood work, but were very encouraged by how well I was doing, my energy level, and how long I was fever free and so they allowed me to go home on oral antibiotics.  Thursday afternoon spent riding along with my parents while we all got the kids from school and watch the twins' Thanksgiving concert at pickup time.  Thursday evening feeling great and finally back at home.

So... as I'm looking through pictures to post or thinking about posting details of our being sent home from the hospital or about how the big kids are adjusting... it feels very incomplete to leave out this huge part of the story, which was how long I have been out-of-commission following Hunter's birth and how our kids (and Hubby and my parents) have had to cope not just with my recuperation, but my prolonged absence.

We are praising God that I am home now and feeling so well, and that Hunter was able to be with me and continue nursing the whole time I was gone.

Just FYI...

 

Easy Illness

So, yesterday I posted about our rough weekend.  But I really would be remiss if I didn't include how much easier our kids are now that they are older.

Really, for as much as it is not fun to have every family member sick the same day... this was the first time EVER that we've had multiple children sick the same day, and we had very little crying.

In the past, when Tracey, Howard, and Caroline were sick with a stomach bug -- first of all, it would usually hit in the middle of the night.  So, it would begin with a messy bed, and a crying messy child.  Actually, it might even begin with three messy beds, and three crying messy children.  Then, these three were at such an age, that they would cry every time they threw up.  So, bouts of vomiting were not just messy and tiring... they were also loud and miserable with a bawling child.  Plus, crying while vomiting does not make vomiting any easier for the sick child.

Now, Lee Lee is still at an age where she definitely still cried when she threw up.  She would actually cry when we brought the bucket close to her.  She would push it away, and cry, "No! No! No!"  Then, when the vomiting spell was over, she would look at us and proudly say, "I threw up in bucket!"

But the three older kids -- this was the first time, there were NO VOMITING MESSES!  First of all, the illness hit everyone in the daytime, which helped and was a blessing.

But every single big kid either made it to a bucket or the toilet every time he or she needed to vomit.  Then, without crying, the child would wipe his or her mouth with a kleenex and hand the bucket over to an adult.

It really was a very new level of easy illness for us.

The fact that both Hubby and I were sick the same day, it was so wonderful that our big kids needed so little from us, and Addallee spent a large part of the day sleeping.

Again, having the entire family sick in one day is not pleasant... but to me, in the midst of motherhood with a fifth baby due soon, it was so nice to see how grown up my older kids are becoming, and to know that my children are not always going to be as much work as they were when they were younger.

Motherhood is always a lot of work, but the more independent the children become, the more my work load changes.  And in this case, I could even be sick at the same time and we all survived.

 

Our Weekend

So... our weekend was none like any other full of highs and lows, but ultimately coming out with the family unscathed and for that we are grateful.

Friday afternoon, when I picked up Lee Lee from school, her teacher said they had noticed she had "zoned out" a few times that day.  Her eyes were still open, but she was unresponsive to anything they asked of her, and then she seemed to snap out of it very quickly.  One spell lasted about 90 seconds, and another nearly 3 minutes.  They were able to get one on video.

So I headed home with the video, and concern, but a plan to watch her over the weekend, talk to our physicians in the family, and call her pediatrician on Monday.

Then, about an hour after we arrived home, she began vomiting, and kept vomiting every 10-20 minutes for hours into the night.  After her second bought of vomiting, I was on the phone with the on-call physician in her pediatrician's office who recommended I take her in to the emergency room.  With the hope that she just had a stomach bug, but with the knowledge of the potential zoning-out seizures from earlier that day being serious enough that we wanted to make sure she was going to be okay.

Hubby was working a high school football game an hour away, so thankfully, the next-door neighbors that I called were happy to head on over and watch the three healthy kiddos who had been bouncing off the walls as they knew they did not have my undivided attention as I was dealing with Lee Lee's situation.

Addallee and I took off for the ER around 7:30, and Hubby met us there by 8:15.

Hours later, they had contacted a pediatric neurologist out of Denver who felt that the zoning out, which we had now learned were probably "absence seizures" (pronounced ob-sonce) and the vomiting was probably connected and potentially a presentation of childhood epilepsy.  We were told to go home with medicine and call our pediatrician on Monday to start a work up for an MRI and EEG to start the diagnostic process.

The problem was, the couldn't get her vomiting under control even with multiple attempts at oral and iv medicine. 

I finally left the ER around 10:30pm to go home for food and sleep, knowing that I would be the early shift up in the morning for the three other kids leaving Hubby with Lee Lee in the ER.  They would arrive home around 2:00am where Addallee would sleep in our bed and continue to vomit several more times throughout the night.

Saturday was spent in a haze as we kept a very close eye on Addallee, tried to entertain the other kids, and encouraged EVERYONE to catch up on sleep given our abnormal Friday night.  Addallee had a pretty good day, but began vomiting again Saturday night and spent another night in our bed vomiting and crying.

By Sunday morning, with our three big kids ready to climb the walls, my plan was to take them to church and leave Hubby and Lee Lee to sleep.  Addallee got up and vomited in the morning before fall back to sleep with Hubby.

Howard, Caroline, and Tracey were all getting their shoes on about 10:00am when Caroline began vomiting.  She would go on to vomit every 20-40 minutes for the next six hours.

We did not go to church, and I immediately instructed Caroline to get back in pajamas and keep a bucket close by.  The tv went on, and we waited to see what would happen next.  Whenever multiple kids are sick, I have a system -- we unfold the couch hide-a-bed.  This creates a nice cozy place for the kids to lay and sleep where I can still keep in eye on them while I'm doing my usual routine on the main floor.  It also gives them a chance to watch tv while their sick while being in a bed.

This was the last picture I took from the weekend when just two little girls were sick... four more victims would be taken out by these virus before sunrise the next morning.

Well, by afternoon Tracey, Howard, and myself would all succumb to the stomach bug, each vomiting between one and four times a piece.  So, not a horrible presentation, but enough to knock everyone out in the course of one day.

Hubby, who was battling aches and a sore throat all weekend would finally get hit with the bug in the wee hours of Monday morning, and so that stomach virus took no prisoners.

While our whole family has been taken out by viruses before, we have NEVER ALL been sick in the same 24 hours period.  That. Was. Rough.

Monday everyone stayed home, and everyone seemed pretty well recovered.  Lots of toast, ice, applesauce and rice.

And did I mention that while some kids were taking a bath Monday morning, water started dripping from our kitchen ceiling just below the bath tub?!?!  Can't wait to hear what that damage and repair bill will be.

Also, Lee Lee's pediatrician's office called me first thing to set up an appointment to see her.  They had a note regarding her ER visit and wanted to see her as soon as possible.  That was very nice to get a call from them ready to schedule instead of my having to do that in my Monday-morning, I-have-been-sick fog. 

I took her in at noon, and the BEST NEWS regarding Addallee was that our whole family came down with the stomach bug!  Crazy, I know.

But, on Friday night, the main was concern was these potential absence seizures and vomiting as a neurological symptom.  We had no reason on Friday night to think she had a stomach bug (although, to give credit where credit is due... that is exactly what my dad, the pediatrician, said.  As soon as she began vomiting, he said that she had a stomach virus).  It just seemed like too big a coincidence that she was having possible seizures at school and then happened to catch a stomach bug and start vomiting within hours of each other.

What we probably saw last week was, yes, some absence seizures brought on by the fact she was in the process of catching this bug.  Her exposure to this virus, and being tired as it was starting to impact her system probably made her more susceptible to these absence seizures. 

So, she is still regaining her strength and staying home from school again Tuesday, and we get to start the non-emergent out-patient process of MRI imaging locally and EEG scanning in either Denver or Grand Junction.

We are not looking forward to this new world of pediatric neurology, but we do consider ourselves so fortunate, that first of all, her school noticed what was going on, and we did just have a stomach virus... and we are now in a position to get some answers and make a plan for our sweet little Lee Lee.

And, if in fact these are absence seizures, from what we have read and been told, this would not be a major thing.  Sure, something we watch and our aware of, but nothing compared to the medical news other parents receive regarding their sick children.

So... quite the weekend... but really, a weekend where the entire family getting a stomach virus is the best news you could get, that's not a bad weekend of keeping things in perspective.

Thank you so much for the prayers you offered as we navigated this past weekend, and please keep us and especially Addallee in your prayers as we move forward.

 

Prayers for Lee Lee

I don't want to go into details right now, but please join us in prayer for our Addallee Marigold.  We're trying to figure out a medical situation regarding her, and we would appreciate your prayers for her health and healing.

 

Preggers V: 24 Weeks

24 weeks, Baby Number 5

in Badlands National Park, South Dakota

24 Weeks with Tracey 

24 Weeks with the twins- first update in our own home!

No documentation of 24 weeks with Addallee, but here's 21 weeks.

How far along?  24 weeks, 2 days

How I am feeling? Well, still sick, unfortunately.  I have this lingering cough and it is just doing a number on me.  I'm not sure how much the pregnancy is impacting my recovery, but I feel worse now than I did last week -- although that could be because last week I was in Michigan, with my parents' help and now I'm back in Colorado with less help.

How big is the baby?  The size of an ear of corn or as big as a cantaloupe... 11.8 inches long, 1 1/4 pounds

Sleep: Sleep is amazing.  I love sleep.

Boy/Girl Predictions:  Yes, I predict the baby is a boy or a girl.  Although, I don't think I mentioned in my last post that when we were in Michigan, I had a very vivid dream that the baby was a girl, but now one would tell me she was a girl.  The nurses went ahead and dressed her in pink with frills and put her hair in pigtails.  So I'm looking at this frilly, very girly baby, and I look at Hubby (in my dream), and I say, "Just tell me," to which Hubby replied (in my dream), "I just can't say it."

That was a funny dream.

Baby Nicknames: Baby.

 

  Best moment this week:  The four day road trip cross country with our little crew.  We had so much fun trekking from Michigan, across Lake Michigan, through Wisconsin and Minnesota and exploring some fun national parks, monuments and tourist traps in South Dakota and Colorado on our way home.  This really was a wonderful summer.

Food cravings:  Yes.  I crave food.

Movements:  Yes, and I love them.  The twins are still trying to feel them, but I'm noticing them more and more throughout the day, not just at night.

Labor Signs:  Not yet, thankfully.

 

Missing:  Lungs that don't cough.  Coughing fits are awful and even worse when pregnant.

 

General Attitude: Trying to focus on getting better because I'm definitely operating at half speed or less... which is hard for my family.  Things really run most smoothly when I am top of my game.  So trying to do what I can this week to keep our trains moving while prioritizing rest and health.

 What I am looking forward to this week:  The Garfield County Fair is going on this week, which our children always enjoy, and I'm just trying to savor these final weeks before the kids are back in school and I'm back to work full time.  I have projects I want to get done, and I want to enjoy the time with the kids while its still summer.

Milestones: I've officially reached the stage where I have to ask people to slow down a little bit when we're walking together.  Usually I set a very brisk pace... but now I can tell I'm slowing down because I feel like other people are rushing ahead.

 

Sights of Pure Michigan

We've been in Michigan since Sunday night, but I've been fighting a cold/cough, and our Sweet Caroline got her first ever ear infection requiring a trip to the local Pediatrician's office and ear drops and antibiotics... so we're not off to the best start, but still having fun.

Here are just a few pictures from our first few days here.

 

Hit Hard

We have not been hit this hard by an illness in over two years...

This has hit us high and low and multiple times -- the only soldier still standing is Hubby.  He's either really strong or a dead man walking.

I'm smirking in this picture because I thought Lee Lee was sleeping and I held up my camera to take a selfie of her and she said, "Cheese" through her passie in her mouth.

 

The Plans

I make a lot of plans for our family.  I make plans for the season, for the month, for the week, and for the day.  Sometimes our plan is to stay home and relax... but there is still a plan for the day.  I know what time I'm expecting the kids to wake up -- I plan what time I'm awakening so I can plan what I want to get done before they wake.  I like to think our house runs as smoothly as it does because of my plans.

Well, we had a plan for this weekend.  We had a great plan.

I was supposed to go to Denver for a two-day professional development workshop Friday and Saturday.  I was supposed to leave Thursday afternoon and get back Satuday evening.

The kids didn't have school on Friday due to conferences, but we had a baby-sitter booked and Hubby planned to come back mid-day and take everyone to Carbondale for soccer practice, lunch, and to play in the park with the sitter while he attended conferences.

He was excited to take everyone to breakfast Saturday and then come home for a lazy day at home with Daddy until Mama got home around bedtime.

Oh the beautiful plans.

I should have known that the plans were in trouble when we kept all four kids home on Thursday due to vomiting.  Lee Lee had thrown up Wednesday evening, and Caroline woke us up during the night on Thursday.  Tracey was over the stomach bug she had over Easter... but was coughing to beat the band.  So we made the call to keep everyone home on Thursday.

By the time I was supposed to leave for Denver Thursday afternoon, both twins were vomiting every 30 minutes or so and Lee Lee was having an upset tummy with some very messy diapers.  I just thought if the twins could get over the actual vomiting, they would be exhausted and wanting to sleep and cuddle, and Chris could handle everything while I was gone.  This is an annual conference and some years I cannot attend -- this year I could.

I left our house around 7pm and arrived at my hotel around 10:00pm.

Up at 5:00am, I checked on the cameras to see how everyone's night went... and it was awful.  Both twins were up multiple times the entire night vomit.  And, I could see on the nursery camera that Lee Lee was awake and crying (probably from a messy diaper) and Hubby wasn't waking up to check on her.   I had to call our house phone to wake up Chris.

That's when I made the call... I needed to be home.

I like to think I keep a pretty good finger on the pulse of how our home is running, and I think I know what Hubby is capable of handling in my absence.

This was a two-parent situation.

I emailed the event organizer, took a shower, grabbed continental breakfast with a few colleagues also staying at the same hotel for the conference, checked out and headed home.

I walked through the door at 11:00am with jello, applesauce, bananas, ginger ale, and bread and Hubby was shocked... and then incredibly grateful.

I was gone a total of sixteen hours, six of which were spent on the road.

He was even more grateful when both twins and Lee Lee were vomiting again within 30 minutes of my getting home.

So... new plans for the weekend, which include lots of baths, lots of cuddles, lots of laundry. 

I felt so guilty for taking a spot in the conference registration... but this is the reality of being a working mother, and living away from family.  The truth is our family comes first, especially with our children as young as they are, and I needed to be at home.

Plans change.