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.