Sick Mama + Sick Child + Flooded Basement + No Sleep + Hormones = Good Times, Good Times

Yep, that little equation above just about sums up the past two weeks here.

Sick Mama

First I started feeling notgreat, developed a fever I couldn't shake; the evil thing moved into my ears and my throat and my lungs, spreading its nasty fingers. I was put on Zithromax and an inhaler, since I was having trouble finding comfortable ways to breathe. I googled the inhaler and decided, because I apparently am a doctor and can therefore self-prescribe, not to take it since there's a chance it could cause birth defects. I figured I'd go without comfy breathing in favor of a healthy child. Two weeks later, my right ear is still clogged up and my lungs still make independent noises on their own like little growling, feral creatures.

Sick Child

In the midst of my pitiful week, I gave whatever evil I had to MP, and she began with a bang: a fever topping 104.3. I freaked out, sped to the doctor's, and was told it was a virus. I stayed home two days from work and we both moped and splayed around the house, watching endless shows on Noggin (that Ruby and Max sure are somethin', although MP is at the point that when she sees them, she starts crying "NO RUBY AND MAX! I DON'T WANT RUBY AND MAX!). Poor Random came home to a House of Sick. Hoping MP would recover over the weekend, we soldiered through to Sunday, when

My Basement Flooded

which would have been nearly comical, wading and slopping through the three or so inches of dirty water, woohooooo, donning little yellow rainhats and rainboots in the guise of ladybugs, watching all our firewood float by, except for the fact that all of MP's 12 month to 24 month clothes were packed away, waiting for her sister. And the other smallish fact that all of my non maternity clothes, which includes about ten huge boxes, had just been arranged neatly. And that everything was wet and soggy and mildewy and smelly. My downstairs is, four days later, still a laundromat--clothing stacked high to the bathroom ceiling (piled in the tub), clothing on every chair on the sunporch, clothing hanging from my dining room chairs. Guess when we bought the place we should've noted that the washer and dryer were a foot off the floor on a wooden platform. Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm.

No Sleep

I had just started sleeping again--the first week of being sick I didn't sleep at all, in part because I couldn't breathe and I was coughing non-stop. But by the weekend I was sleeping better. Then the croup started. MP developed a barking, wheezing, terrifying cough that left her breathless, gasping, and crying. It went on all night long. Every hour she'd wake herself up with it, start to cry, the crying would make it worse, and she'd sound like she was hacking up every small internal organ. Her fever began to spike again in the 103 degree territory and Random stayed home with her (we were now at day 5 of her being sick) to take her to the doctor. The doctor once again said virus. Then yesterday the coughing got so bad that MP threw up the contents of her lungs all over me and then, for one horrifyingly frightening second, seemed to not be able to breathe. I flipped out and ran her to the bathroom, where I ran the hot water until our clothes were plastered to us with the steam. That seemed to break the cough, but I still took her to the doctor's again--who this time prescribed steroids should the coughing get worse.

We continued the hot steam treatments and today, thank goodness, she is better. Still coughing, still cranky and irritable, but better. Which brings me to

Hormones

All I'm going to say about this is that when you are sick, your child has been sick for seven days, you have had to miss three days of work (thus making more work for yourself), the house is flooded and a mess, and you are six months pregnant, you are not the nicest or most pleasantest person to be around.

And the Good News Is

I have been excused from jury duty by the nicest commissioner ever, who feels that having young children and being seven months pregnant during jury duty are grounds to be exempt. I found a pair of red peep toe wedges that are going to draw a lot of attention away from the rest of my swelling girth very nicely. Baby is kicking like a champ, we have decided on a name and it is beautiful, and my last cervical check is tomorrow. I have gained 26 pounds at 26 weeks and don't really care anymore. Welch's fruit snacks make your child's poop the most incredible shade of St. Patty's green, and might make you take a full diaper to your pediatrician in a panic, opening the bag no less than four times to show anyone who shows the slightest interest in why, dear lord, you are toting around a poo bag filled with a very dirty diaper. But when you figure out that it's indeed Welch's fruit snacks (the green tongue will give you a clue about this) and not some strange virus, you will sigh with relief and realize that once you experience poop that green, nothing much can surprise you anymore.

Comments

[Sarah]

Sorry to hear about the sickness on top of being prego and chasing another little one around. NO FUN! Man, you've had it rough. Sounds like you need to be pampered a bit. :-) Hope you were able to get things cleaned up in the basement.

Funny about the Welch's snacks... never thought about that one. Glad to hear someone else's baby is kickin like a champ. Maybe our babies should have a dance party. :-D

[Erin]

I once ran to the pediatrician's office with a dirty diaper in a plastic bag filled with the nastiest, brightest red poop you've ever seen. I thought my son was surely bleeding quite visciously somewhere internally. I was horrified. The doc asked me if he had had spaghetti sauce the previous night and I said, "Why yes. How did you know?"

He said, "Here's your sauce." I was so embarrassed but we laugh and laugh about it today.

Hope the sickness leaves your house soon. We were down and out for nearly two weeks--each child taking turn with the 104 degree fevers. Of course, it was just a virus ;-)

[Carol]

That virus? It's a scary strain of Influenza A. There are A, B, and C, and the A ones are the ones that cause pandemics and stuff. Bs are not so bad, and Influenza Cs are just like a cold mostly.

I know it's A because we all had the exact same symptoms and my DH had it tested and it came back as a strain of Influenza A which was making its way up the East Coast. My DH had it for a month, a MONTH, and missed 2 whole weeks of work. He coughed so violently for so long that he could barely stand up from his sore chest muscles. My DS got it and spiked a 103 fever, then had to get an inhaler to breathe at night. My DD had it and coughed so violently for so long that I finally took her to the pediatrician and begged for codiene. Stingy ped gave us prescription for exactly one inch of codiene, which lasted 3 nights. Her cough lasted 3 weeks. Nasty, nasty flu. It's so hard having it while taking care of a sick child too. Oh, and the basement flooding too. That's such a suckfest in and of itself, but on top of everything else, wow. Things can only get better from here?

[Orodemniades]

Hey, I got that chesty thing too!!! I have a prescription for Zithromax, and although I haven't Googled it, have no intention of filling it as the last med I was on gave The Chieftain bad mojo in his wee intestines. And stinky, bright orange poop. I am, however, grateful for the inhaler (My Very First).

The basement flooding...that's bad. The sick kiddo, even worse. I keep telling myself that when The Chieftain gets really sick I am Not Going To Freak Out if I can help it.

But I know I'm doomed.

[SarcastiCarrie]

You know, I think if your basement floods and the people knew it and didn't discolse it, you can actually recoup something from them (perhaps professional cleaning costs or waterproofing services or somesuch). You might want to contact your realtor (if you used one) or your home inspector to find out whether you can get some $$$ from the previous owners.

[Kristy]

Wow! You've got a lot going on!

[Katherine]

Other interesting poop-color-changers: those colored slice-and-bake type cookies. IIRC, the orange Halloween ones made my kids poop turn neon green. Freaked me out!

Sorry to hear about the flood and the crud - hope all is better and drier soon.

[lisak]

Oh dear. So sorry to hear of all of the sucki-ness. Blueberries=black poop when eaten in excess. We learned that when we rushed our young son to pediatric urgent care one weekend. Who knew? Hope all are on the mend soon and the basement behaves itself.

[JuliaKB]

Oh man, rough couple of weeks. Green poop, though, is pretty funny. In retrospect, of course.
Wishing you plenty of very easy days with enough time to leisurely restore order to all your clothing while also having time to recline on a couch with a good book. Yeah, I bet you'd like whatever it is I am smoking thinking this is possible. Some relief then, ok?

[Jessica]

I once took a poo filled diapy into the doctor because it was black and filled with these little things that looked JUST like coffee grounds. You know, you always hear that black poop and coffee ground poop are the two WORST and most dangerous things ever, so naturally I panicked....and naturally I had forgotten that Liam had consumed two entire pints of fresh blueberries the day before...haha!

[Jennifer]

Ok, my one piece of assvice is Breathe Right strips. Sucks being pregnant, not being able to breathe, and not being able to take anything. Breathe Right strips saved my sanity.

[Stefanie]

Your ped stinks - MP should have had steriods from 1st bark! My son gets croup a million times a year (ok maybe just 10 or so but it seems like a million) and his dr always does 3 days of Orapred and he's good as new.

[Jo]

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. On all of that, I commend you for even getting out of bed today. Here's to a healthy, dry house starting, oh, right now. I would send you vibes of health and wellness but I've had the flu all week myself, so you don't want anything I've got to offer. ;) Hugs girl.

[kristylynne]

Generic Fruit Loops do the same thing to poop.

Sorry about the onslaught of negative news. Here's hoping for a better week!

[Christy]

Hey lady - definitely do what you feel is best for you - I offer this only as a dilemma I went through when I was preggo with my daughter. I have asthma that is mostly under control and I wanted to not take inhalers at all while pregnant because of various risks (small, but not nonexistent). What my doc told me at the time was to do what I felt I needed to, but to remember that my baby needed air as much as anything else - she needed me to be able to breathe well enough to get my blood oxygenated properly.

I'm sure you are way better now anyway (I hope I hope! Because not breathing really really sucks) but I wanted to mention it because it was sort of a "Oh..duh!" moment for me when my doc said it. I'm also sure if you really weren't getting enough oxygen your doctors would have been all "Hey sister, TAKE THIS NOW."

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for everyone and...uh...a drier basement :0).

[Jessica (aka Rose)]

As I once told a friend struggling with breathing issues during pregnancy... no inhaler can cause worse damage than a fetus deprived of oxygen... That said, glad you are feeling better!

When my daughter had her first asthma attack I thought she had croup and we spent countless hours in the bathroom steam. Ah... the steam... does wonders for your hair. We still spend many a night there, now with the second child who also has asthma. Good times, good times indeed.

Hope you're all on the mend now!

[Geohde]

You make it all sound like SUCH fun. Right down to the green poo.

J

[mom2one]

Hope you and MP are feeling better.

[J]

Oy, that sucks. You poor woman. I had that plague from hell too, for two months. It got out of control when we were in China last month, and when I ran out of cold medicine I had to try the medicine the monolingual pharmacist gave me after I mimed my symptoms. It made me high as a kite, and I still didn't get better. Even the Zithromax didn't do it. Time was the only cure for me. Eight weeks. Lord, it was hell, and I'm not even pregnant!

[FDChief]

Whatever else this thing is, it is a hell of a cold. We've had it off and on for a month now. Ugh. Hope you are on the downside now and both your sinus and the basement dry up...

[Faith]

Hi! I just came upon your blog through a totally unrelated Google search: the word "cheek" brought me here. I have to say, you are quite a strong woman to handle a kid and a pregnancy. Keep it up! Hope all goes well till your birth (well actually your child's) - and way beyond that. :D

[Kim]

I'm a new reader. Thank you for your wonderful posts. I appreciate your honesty, and your perspective on the question of whether you consider yourself to be infertile, now that you are also part of the pregnancy club.

I think I understand some of those painful feelings about infertility, and that being/having been infertile will remain part of your identity. I am thirty-six. I have never been married, although I have had several significant relationships. I have always wanted to be married and to have children, to belong to a large extended family and to make my contributions to it. Reality is turning out differently, though.

Somehow, in my mind, I have passed the stage or age when I expected this would happen...and this has been quite a blow for me. Last year, shortly before I turned 35, I broke up with a man I had been seeing for six years and really thought I would marry and, around that same time, my mother died after a long struggle with cancer. So now, instead of finding myself a wife and mother ensconced in multiple families, I look around and see...only my dad and myself.

It feels like a wilderness. It feels like I can never be a member of all of those clubs I had wanted to belong to...it's already too late. Although I have never tried and failed to become pregnant, I have tried and failed to become a wife and, consequently, a mother...and I feel like this is something I'll never be able to fully recover from. I know that anything may be possible in the future, so I am not exactly sure why I feel so utterly devastated.

[Serina]

Hope you are feeling better!
I love your support for Alexa, and I'm so glad you are back with us after your own experience with people like that.

[Lawmommy]

First, I just want to say that I'm glad you are writing again (I just found the link to your new blog today). I used to read you all the time when I was waiting to bring my daughter home from Vietnam.

Second...green poop...back in 95-96, I was living in Japan, and one day at the bank, my husband started giggling and discreetly pointed at the teenage boy behind us. (It was very chic in Japan at that time to wear t-shirts with nonsense English printed on them.) His t-shirt was black, and it said, in huge letters "GREEN SHIT IS REAL." It wasn't until we had a toddler that we realized how right that t-shirt was...