Tuesday, February 16, 2010

3 sickies and 1 very tired dada

Here's what's been going on:

Sunday morning -- Cassie woke up with temperature of 101.8. We started her on Tylenol but could only get it down to 99.5. We added ibuprofen on opposite 2 hours but still couldn't get it below 99.5. Now she's not eating and it's a Sunday. Since Chloe already has a doctor appointment on Monday afternoon, I'll call in the morning about having Cassie seen too. It was a long night, as Cassie was up about every 20 minutes.

Monday morning -- Cassie still has a fever. Now her throat hurts. She tells us this by opening her mouth really wide and pointing inside it while screaming. We get the picture. And when she throws her orange juice across the room as if we gave her gasoline to drink, we now know she's really sick. We called the doctor to let them know we'll be bringing both girls in. Have I mentioned that neither Sonny nor I have had much sleep? Not that it matters. And he was planning of going back to work on Tuesday. The key word here is planning.

Doctors visit:

First up, Cassie. Still has a temp. I have to undress her and fight her to get her weighed -- because this means momma will set her down on the scary scale. She weighs in at 22.5 lbs. Then I have to hold her down on the table for them to do a throat culture. Cassie also has a little fluid in her ears. The doc thinks it's just from the long flight home from China. Cassie is negative for strep but has huge red blisters in the back of her throat. The doc tells us the name of the virus Cassie has -- don't remember what it was now -- not that it matters. Sonny says it's "ouch-o-coccus", but he's not a doctor and didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express, so I don't believe that. :) All I remember hearing is it will take 3 - 5 days to clear up. The Doc writes a prescription for Tylenol with codeine liquid to give to Cassie 30 minutes before she eats. This requires two of us to hold her down to force her to take it -- because it hurts to swallow, and they don't bother to flavor it for the kiddies. And the doc said we could give her Benadryl to help her sleep at night.

Next up, Chloe. She weighs in at 22.5 lbs. 31.5 inches long -- 2 inches longer than at the Guangzhou medical exam. (So was Cassie -- 2 inches longer -- at our doctors office when coming home -- must be the way they measure.) Chloe isn't fat -- per our doctor -- she just appears that way because of her age and lack of tone in her muscles. (Sonny wants to apply this theory to himself) Her little body is proportionally correct. Chloe's legs and feet are fine -- just no muscle tone. Our doc isn't worried at all about them -- she knows it's only a matter of time before she catches up. Chloe is very itchy -- I have always used powered buttermilk and powered dry milk in Cassie's bath water -- she had really bad skin when we came home from China and this has really helped. I took some to China with us for her and Chloe's baths. The doc thinks Chloe might be allergic to lactose and/or casein (both present in milk). We have to put her on a complete dairy free diet and bath -- for now. And she is to stay on the soy formula for now too. Chloe's head is a little mis-shaped. (So was Cassie's and it rounded out after being home about 3 or 4 months). Because Chloe will be 20 months old on Saturday the doc said her head wouldn't change shape. But on further examination it was discovered that Chloe still has a soft spot on her head. The frontal one. Because of this the doc thinks her head still could round out a bit. Normally this soft spot is closed by 18 months old. Still no worries about it not being closed -- our baby girl is just a little behind. Chloe also has a fair amount of fluid in both ears. Her ears were clear at the medical exam in Guangzhou. The doc thought it might be from the flight or the start of an ear infection. We were told just to watch her for now since she didn't have any other symptoms.

Because of the doc being afraid Chloe might catch what Cassie has or be developing an ear infection she didn't want to start her vaccines. We have an appointment for that on the 26th. We did have 4 tubes of blood drawn for blood work and a chest x-ray taken. But for now -- our baby Chloe is healthy.



Tuesday morning. Dada didn't go to work. Like I said -- planning was the key word. He's shooting for tomorrow. But is trying to get some work done from home today.


Cassie was up every few hours during the night. Chloe was up about every 45 minutes and spent half the night sleeping on my chest. Chloe woke up with a fever of 101.3. We called the doctor and got a prescription for Amoxicillin for an ear ache. Between that and Tylenol she should be feeling better soon. I hope.


During all of this I'm sick too. I'm sure it's the same virus as Cassie, because our symptoms are the same: slight fever, a sore throat, and a cough. I can take lots of OTCs for my symptoms. Poor little Cassie has to tough it out.

And just for fun, the dog also threw up Tuesday mid-morning.


Through this all Cassie and Chloe only want momma. Poor dada can't do anything right. He is however a great help to me. It would have been really difficult without him. Or, I should say more difficult.

To paint the picture for you - I started typing up this post at 11am this morning. It's now 6pm, and I'm just now ready to submit. Tomorrow will be a better day. That's the plan, anyway.

11 comments:

Cynthia said...

Yes tomorrow will be a better day. I hope all 3 of you feel better very soon.

Dana said...

Too much! Hope you guys feel better soon and get some sleep. Everything is more manageable with a little bit of sleep.

Susan said...

Hang in there honey! We went through the same thing here, only it was Dada and Maiya who were sick and I was the caretaker.... oh, and add a couple sick dogs to the mix as well. I pray you all get some sleep and are soon on the road to recovery. xxxxoooo

groovy mama said...

Where is your MAGiC WAND????

Did you break it? Anyway Hugs on there way. We were there and we have 3 kiddos....it will get better!

Donna

Our Blue Moon Boy said...

My heart goes out to you, Sherry. Hope everyone is feeling better soon. You must be spent. I'm tired just reading about it!

Melissa said...

So sorry to hear about all the sickness and lack of sleep. Hope things start improving for all of you quickly. It isn't any fun when our sweet little angels are sick and not acting like themselves.

Lesa said...

We have been sick at our house for 3 weeks. It will get better. We had the cough for 3 weeks straight and couldn't get it to stop. I sure hope you guys don't get that part of it.
Sleep is what all of you need. I'll be praying all will be better soon.

Love ya!

Shelley said...

I am so sorry everyone is sick. One of my girls had the same virus that Cassie has. You can mix Maalox and Benedryl and give that to her also. The Maalox will coat the inside of her mouth and her throat. You just have to follow the directions on the bottles of each and then mix. It was miserable but the worst of it lastest only a couple of days. And thankfully, no one else got it. I will be praying Chloe stays healthy.

Pam said...

Uh, welcome home? Seriously...it's no fun being sick, especially for the little ones. Here's hoping everybody is on the mend very soon and that Sonny isn't next. The guy has to get back to work at some point! Thinking of you and sending hugs yoru way.

Amy, Jeff, LM, SC, & Ashton said...

hope today was a better day since today was your tomorrow and now you have another tomorrow coming up! so sorry to hear of all the illins -- if it's coxsachy (or however you spell it) it is supposed to be really uncomfortable & can throw kids off of eating for a while so hang in there and hopefully chloe doesn't get it!! hopefully sleep will come to all of you soon!! in one passed out, happy but exhausted family bed... you are doing great! and, no worries -- when these gals are 16 and both out on dates, then who will not be sleeping? Sonny.

LynnieB said...

Bless your heart! You amaze me, Mama! Everyone sick and still find time to blog. :)

Praying for a quick recovery for all and some SLEEP!!