Happy Ending to a Long Week

Regretfully, there are some weeks that I really wish I could erase from my memory. Until 8:00 tonight, this was one of those weeks. It has been such a long week that I may have some details wrong, but you'll get the gist. Beware this blog - lots of gross details included!

Tuesday morning, Zachary woke up with lots of eye goop and a super high fever. Since we've had yucky allergies around here, I figured his tear duct had clogged again. I cleaned him up, the fever disappeared, and he was just fine. After naptime, he had some more eye goop and a low grade fever so I figured it was one of those mysterious illnesses that come and go so frequently with kids. All appeared normal . . . except for the poop incident. I was downstairs talking on the phone and looked up to see Zach at the top of the steps frantically calling for Daddy (yes, that's me right now). As I ascend the steps, Zach paces back and forth and I see that he is leaving little brown footprints all over the lovely cream carpet. Much to my chagrin, I discover that it is poop which has escaped his diaper and run down his left leg. So he gets a quick bath and I frantically called for Daddy (the real one this time) who swoops in with the Bissel to spiffy up the place. Have I mentioned how awesome it is to have him working from home four days a week now?

By the time Wednesday arrived, I pretty much figured that Zach was going with me and Rebecca while Hannah went to Mothers Day Out on Thursday. He just seemed a little puny and now his eyes were puffy. He looked like he needed a major dose of Benedryl. I was stumped on what was happening. And I was very distracted by Hannah's goopy eyes. I had a nagging fear that my MDO was slipping away from me. Hannah went to Awana and all seemed just fine. She had not been my favorite person all day, so I must admit that I did not take note of the condition of her eyes or she never would have left the house. Around bedtime, Chad said something about her eyes being bloodshot. A bell went off in my head and I immediately inspected her. My fears were confirmed. Pink eye. This is her third case. I suspected Zach also had pink eye, though his symptoms were different and this would be his first case.

So Thursday dawned and I cancelled my hair appointment and set an appointment with the pediatrician. As we drove past MDO at 10:30, I longingly looked at all the happy children on the playground. Did they have to be out there just as I was driving by?? So after sitting in a room with the kids for 30 minutes telling them not to touch everything or destroy the blinds or leave the room or fight over the doctor's cool swivel chair or remove anything from the drawers or lick the furniture or lay on the floor . . . the doctor arrived. He confirmed that both of them had pink eye plus Zach had an ear infection. He also checked me and Rebecca and we were fine.

So off we went to McDonald's for the kids and Taco Bell for me. Then we went by the pharmacy only to learn that they had not yet received the fax from the doctor. Later in the afternoon, I learned that the doctor faxed to the wrong pharmacy. So we got it all worked out and Chad picked it up on his way home from work. But about 10 minutes after he left Brookshire's, the pharmicist called to apologize profusely because he chatted with Chad about Zach's ear medication and left the eye drops out of the bag. We had a mechanic at the house peeking at Lacey's Doodle Bug and he needed to talk with Chad, so I had to go back out and pick up the medication. Did you know that the nearest grocery store is 15 minutes away? And woe to the drivers who were on the road while I was out there because my night vision is just about gone.

After I returned from the pharmacy, I had horrible chills. To better explain, let me say that I have had massive chill attacks, if you will, after the birth of all my babies plus major surgeries. I also have them when I have super high fevers. Since the first two are a big giant "NO" then it must be a fever. Chad checked me and sure enough it was 101.1. I was so cold that I got in bed with my PJ's, robe and socks, then covered up with a sheet, quilt, blanket, AND my heating blanket. As the night progressed, I removed layers. The fever finally broke around 4:00 AM.

So Friday arrives and I am finally feeling better though a little tired. Somehow I have managed to keep diapers changed and feed everyone. We did have a challenging time at lunch. Rebecca had another blow out in the bouncy seat. She is five for five this week. I took her upstairs to clean her up and she puked all over herself. So I gave her a quick bath. In the 15 minutes that I was gone, the kids managed to get their candy basket down and eat every last piece of candy in it. I know because I found all the wrappers in the trash can. Sweet of them to clean up their mess. I wouldn't have noticed right away except Zach proudly handed me the empty basket and I looked over at Hannah to see her tipping an M&M container back like she was downing a shot of chocolate. There are no words to describe how I felt at that moment. Suffice it to say that naptime was not long after the incident.

Sadly, Chad announced this afternoon that he was not feeling well and it looks like he has the virus now. But there was one bright spot in the week. I started potty training with Hannah again on Tuesday. Tonight at 8:00 she finally peed in the potty. A real pee. Not just some tinkles. I was positively giddy. I can only shake my head in amazement as I think about how different my life is now that I have kids. Five years ago, I never would have thought I would be doing a potty dance with my daughter. But now I say, bring it on!