So this has been a week. We had a Halloween party at Karina's preschool on Wednesday, with a costume parade and little party. It was fun, and the kids are so cute. The next day, Karina was so excited about trick or treating for Halloween that she dressed Elena in her costume early in the morning and I had to leave her in it because she's so fussy about getting dressed. Luckily, she didn't mess it up! We went out as a family and saw lots of our neighbors and had a wonderful night. Karina said, "Mommy, Daddy, trick or treating is just like going for a walk in your neighborhood in the dark and getting candy."
The next day was Friday, and that morning, Karina was really tired seeming, but I figured it was all the excitement from the day before. I am so dumb. On the way home from preschool, she suddenly started crying and said her neck (meaning her throat) hurt. As soon as she said it, I thought, Strep Throat.
We got home, I called our pediatrician and got an appointment for later that afternoon, and they confirmed that she did indeed have strep. Great. So, we got some antibiotics, I dropped the prescription off on our way home, Bill went and picked it up and we gave her her first dose Friday night. She threw it up 30 minutes later. And then spent the entire night throwing up every hour. EVERY HOUR. ALL NIGHT. It was one of the worst nights ever. Finally she got another dose of medicine into her in the morning and we both slept til after 10. I think she stayed in bed til 11. Elena was great and really well-behaved.
We spent the weekend battling strep. It knocked my little girl slam out. She had no appetite, no energy, and continued to have episodes of throwing up here and there most of the weekend. Since the doc had cleared her for school Monday, and she was in no shape to go back, and Elena was beginning a really nasty sounding cough, I brought them both into the doctor's on Monday. I was told that Karina was doing much better, and her throat was looking much less red, but Elena had croup. So more meds, but at least Elena has not felt bad, she just sounds horrific. But she's on the mend, too. Karina stayed sick until this morning. Tuesday we went to my mom's for dinner and she was fine until we were sitting at the table to eat. And she threw up. I wanted to cry. But this morning she woke up like a new kid, ate her whole breakfast, and ate a normal lunch, too. Dinner she wasn't interested in, but I didn't push it at all.
So this has been a mess of a week. I'm exhausted, drained, and stressed. We're going to visit Bill's family soon, and I'm trying to prepare for that, plan ahead for Karina's birthday party in early December, consider Thanksgiving plans, and make sure I'm getting my Christmas shopping done. I am making a quilt for a friend as a retirement gift, I don't have all the stuff I need for it and haven't really been able to go out to get the stuff due to sick children, haven't been grocery shopping in a serious manner in a week, and oh, our fridge is messing up. It keeps freezing up. Bill thinks it's because the vent is messed up but I think it's because he keeps setting both freezer and fridge to the max cold setting. I keep telling him the refrigerator is not meant to freeze your food and keep it indefinitely. That's what the freezer is for. Sometimes that man has no common sense. Anyway, he's dealing with that and I may still get a new fridge out of it.
My car still needs an alignment. It's ridiculous how long that's been put off.
And now I think I might have caught Elena's cold. So not what I need. My pediatrician said croup is one of the hundred or so strains of the cold virus, and that there are a couple of strains that cause kids' voiceboxes to swell up. He said that's why they sound funny, and he said adults can get it too but our windpipes are bigger and can deal with the swelling better. Never knew that. I love that he explains stuff to me when I ask, and sometimes when I don't, it's so awesome. I learn a lot. We are lucky to have a really great pediatrician.
I hope everyone reading this is doing well and NOT sick. And sorry for all the vomit talk. I'm too tired to care about it too much. I'm not even sure why I'm awake right now. So I should go sleep. Good night!
