Sick

It's been a long month, and the above picture is the only one I took to memorialize it. This is going to be a long post--fair warning. It started off with a two week trip to Ontario for Camilla and me. I'd been feeling homesick and wanting to give Millie a chance to spend time with her grandparents. It was nice to be 'home' and relax with no responsibilities--well, other than single parenthood. We had fun, and Millie loved Meemaw and Poppie, but she clung to Mommy like glue. The longer we were there, the worse it got. We visited a few of my friends and spent time with the two siblings who live in Boise as many times as we could manage. But we sure missed Daddy! Mark spent one of these weeks at a conference in Ohio and the rest of the time cooking as many pasta dishes that he could come up with that I don't particularly care for (which means they involved cream sauces). He claims he ate better during that time than he had for a long time. I could be offended, but it's true. Being pregnant with a clingy toddler does not make me a very regular cook.

Millie started to cough a few days before we left. I knew the best thing for her would be to just get her home, but it was a struggle. She developed a high fever during the flight home and was miserable. (She was wonderful on the flights to Boise.) I did my best to keep her comfortable and entertained while covering her mouth whenever she started hacking on our neighbors. She alternately slept and cried, "No, no, no!" during the last flight into Houston. I thought we were home safe at that point.

The next morning I called the doctor because her cough was keeping her awake at night and her fever was up around 103 at times. I took her in and found out she had an ear infection and something akin to RSV. (She tested negative for the flu and RSV, so we're not sure exactly what kind of virus it was.) We came home with Amoxicillin and a nebulizer. Apparently, some kids HATE nebulizer treatments and have to be held down the whole 5 minutes of the treatment. Not our Millie. She loves the doctor, she loves medicine (especially Amoxicillin), and she loves to be taken care of. The first few times were a little rough, but by the third time, she was holding the mask onto her own face and reminding us that it was time for the 'mask'. Even better was when I let her hold it up to her dolls' faces.

Even though she did well with the treatments, she fell apart for the first week after we got home. I had to sleep on her floor with her for 5 nights because she refused to sleep in her bed. She developed an affinity for the word, "NO!" and used it constantly. She wanted nothing to do with Daddy, and wanted Mommy to hold her all the time--and wouldn't allow me to sit down without adamant protest. She was crankier than we'd ever seen her, and would cry at the drop of a hat. I am grateful that God granted me the patience, energy, and health to endure. Pregnancy didn't give me issues for the first time in a couple of months--no hip pain, no extreme fatigue, nothing.

We were relieved when Millie started returning to her normal self. She had her last doses of medicine on Saturday, and we were excited to take her back to church on Sunday because she adores nursery so much. She woke up with a slight diaper rash, but I put some cream on it and forgot about it. After church, the rash had spread considerably. We put more cream on and put her down for a nap. After her nap, we found it had spread even more, and she had little red dots popping up elsewhere on her body. I thought she'd been attacked by bugs and promptly threw all of her sheets into the washing machine. She doesn't often get diaper rashes, so I turned to my trusty parenting companion--Google. I decided she had a yeast infection because it was localized in her diaper area and armpits, and since she had just been on an antibiotic, she was more susceptible to yeast (according to Google anyways). A soda bath was administered, a diaper was very loosely put on, and more cream was administered (Lotrimin) before putting her down to bed.

MOST AWFUL NIGHT OF MY LIFE.

She woke up around 2:00, itching like crazy. Nothing I did could help her feel better and get back to sleep. If I tried to lay my head down on a pillow, she freaked out and cried, "No pillow! No pillow!" If we sat on the couch she rolled all over me and kicked her legs frequently. We both ended up in tears, and Mark came in and took over. Somehow they managed to fall asleep on a recliner. We were back at the doctor the next morning. Turns out, it was not yeast. The doctor THINKS it was an allergic reaction to penicillin, so we will no longer be able to treat Millie to her beloved pink medicine in case it causes a worse reaction next time. She can have Benadryl and Calamine lotion for now, and last night she slept all night long, bless her heart. Oh, and we had to go to the hospital for bloodwork to make sure that the reaction wasn't severe enough to mess with her blood counts when we left the doctor. Despite the fact that the nurse had trouble finding a vein to draw blood and kept having to move the needle around in her arm, Millie didn't even flinch the whole time. That's how much she loves going to the doctor and having them poke and prod her. She gets upset if they don't listen to her heart before leaving the room. What a funny kid she is! (I won't complain, I'm grateful she makes these things easier for me!)

Anyways, I know this is ridiculously long, but it was hands down my most challenging two weeks of motherhood so far and it seems like it needs documenting. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we're finally and completely over this bout of illness and that we get our sweet, happy Millie back completely in a day or two. And if there is anything I was supposed to do or respond to for the past month, this is why it didn't happen. :)