Is This Normal?
The chaos that is the KerbersArchive for illnesses
Cookies for Santa
I stayed home from work today with Ben. Emma was finally well enough to go back to Danielle’s, but Ben was still pretty droopy, so we thought one more day home would be good for him. And to be honest, having absolutely no voice made me more than willing to stay home instead of talking to kids all day.
We decided this would be the perfect time to make our cut-out cookies
(better known in our house as the Santa cookies because we always leave cut-outs for Santa). Disclaimer: we both washed our hands very well and were careful not to cough around the dough. I was diligent in having Ben cover his mouth and wash his hands several times throughout this process, so if anyone gets a cold after eating our cut-outs, it’s not my fault!
We had a great time, and even though I felt a little guilty doing this when Emma wasn’t home, I knew that I had made things much easier on myself! She will definitely get in on the decorating part, anyway.
We’re hauling them to Florida with us in hopes that Santa (and our family) loves them!
My turn
I knew I should say that we were hoping this sickness didn’t catch the whole family! Now I also have a miserable cold, and I can certainly understand why the kids have been so crabby the last few days. I had been a little bit stuffy earlier in the week, but yesterday afternoon my voice started to get all raspy, and by the end of the day today I could barely make a sound. Today was day 2 of Grandma Kerber daycare at our house, because both kids are still battling fevers and full of congestion. It’s not pretty.
Please, oh please, let this mean that we’ll be healthy for our trip to Florida. We really don’t want to spend that drive down being all coughy, sneezy, and sniffly. Really.
Not just Ems anymore
Unfortunately, Ben is now hacking, too. I had really hoped that maybe we could avoid the whole family getting sick before vacation, but it doesn’t seem like that’s going to happen. Emma did go back to daycare today, and she wasn’t feverish or feeling too badly, but she’s definitely not healthy by any stretch. Her cough is just so bad. And, as I type, I hear Ben coughing as much or more as his sister. 
I’m really hoping that the fever won’t come back for Ems and Ben will avoid getting it at all. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Poor Ems
Emma barfed again this morning, so she was home from Danielle’s today. The poor little girl had 103° temperature at one point, and she was just so droopy that it really broke my heart. Dave stayed home in the morning, and I came home from work in the afternoon to stay with her. We pumped her full of Motrin and Tylenol trying to keep that stinkin’ fever down. Luckily, she had a really good nap and seemed to be a bit perkier after that. I don’t think it’s anything more than a bad cold, so we’re not planning to go to the doctor anytime soon. Hopefully it will run its course, quickly, though, because she was pretty miserable today.
Our daredevil
Well, Emma did it again…we have another facial contusion to add to the list. Last night the kids were downstairs by themselves when we heard loud crying. I ran down and Emma was standing behind the couch crying hard. She ran over to me and I was thrilled that there wasn’t any blood. Shew. But there was a big red blotch near her eye and a scrape and bump on her forhead. I asked her, “Emma, did you fall off the back of the couch?”
“Yes,” she sobbed.
“Now do you understand why Mommy tells you not to climb on the couch?” I asked.
“Whyyyyyyy”, she cried harder. *Sigh* The little girl just doesn’t understand that her daredevil ways lead to injuries. Thankfully, this time, it just looked like she’d just have a shiner and a bump on the head. Yes, I said looked that way. That was last night. Today, however, when I picked them up at Danielle’s, she came running up to me with a big, fat, split lip. Danielle said, “Well, Emma took a little spill. She was trying to climb on the couch.” *Sigh*
I know it could be worse. She’s very lucky that she hasn’t hurt herself too seriously. Knock wood, because I don’t think the message is sinking in.
It got me, too!
Ugh…there is nothing worse than Mommy getting sick! But I couldn’t avoid it, and yesterday and today I have felt miserable. I haven’t been nausious, or had a fever, but I literally feel like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck. I have had no energy at all, and even when I am out of bed, I end up laying on the couch and falling asleep. I have slept more in the last two days than I have in the last two weeks, I think! It sucks.
I hope that I can go to work tomorrow, because Emma is still full of fever, and she’ll be staying home with Grandma. They certainly don’t need me home sick, too! I just hope that this will be our entire round of sickness for the winter. Wouldn’t we be lucky to have that happen…
Here we go…
Ben just threw up for the first time since he’s been a “big boy”. Dave and I were sitting downstairs watching TV when we heard him yelling for us. Dave quickly went upstairs and then shortly after I heard, “Honey, we need you up here!” Always a bad sign. I won’t go into details, but it wasn’t pretty. We both think that he threw up not because he has the flu, but because he’s so conjested that he gagged himself while coughing. He was also burning up with fever…it was up to 103.5°! That’s just so scary when you see a number like that on the thermometer.
Dave and I both felt so badly, but when he went to bed he was perfectly fine, so there was really no way we could predict this. He’s been stuffed up the last couple of days, but this fever just came from nowhere. Obviously, this means that Ben will be staying home tomorrow. Thankfully Grandma Kerber can come in and stay with him so that neither of us will have to take time off. I’m sure that he’ll get a lot of attention and cuddles from Grandma, too, which is always nice when you’re sick.
And so it begins…the cold and flu season is upon us, whether we’re ready for it or not. I have a feeling it’s going to be a long one this year, but hopefully I’m just being pessimistic!
It’s gone
As quickly as Ben’s fever popped up on Monday afternoon, it disappeared this morning! Yay! I was so worried that we’d be dealing with this all weekend, but he seems to be fine today. He slept really well and he woke up at 99°…close enough to normal for me! We even went to the library this morning with Ben’s friend Ali, and he played and played and never seemed the least bit droopy or even tired. I’m so thrilled…bring on the weekend of fun!!!
The mystery fever returns
Yesterday afternoon, Ben’s mystery fever came back. It’s been a long time since he’s had one, but he’s following his same old pattern. He was completely fine…had a short rest at Danielle’s…was suddenly burning up with fever…then was completely lethargic and wiped out. We started his Motrin/Tylenol revolving cocktail treatment, and every time it kicked in he seemed to be fine. As usual, he has no other symptoms at all, but when this fever spikes (it’s typically somewhere between 100.5° and 101.7°) it completely takes over his entire body. He doesn’t want to eat, he doesn’t want to play, he only wants to whine and snuggle. I can’t complain about the snuggling, but the whining leaves a bit to be desired.
I was so sad that it happened now. He missed another day of preschool and it also meant we were all trapped at home for an entire day. That is rough for a two year old who feels fine! Not to mention that sometimes these episodes with Ben last almost a week, and of course we have all kinds of plans this weekend for our anniversary on Friday, the fourth on Saturday, and for his birthday on Sunday & Monday. He just can’t be sick!
Hopefully tomorrow will bring good health and he’ll be fever free. Keep your fingers crossed!
Mmm…medicine
Now that our clan is finally getting healthy, we have a new worry. What are we going to do when Emma’s off the antibiotic and she doesn’t get to take her medicine each morning and night? She absolutely loves her medicine. I’m not sure if it’s the flavor (it’s bright pink) or if it’s the act of drinking from the spoon-like dispenser that she loves, but she’s totally into it. In fact, most every day this week when we’ve gotten home from school she walks over to the counter, points up (we usually sit her on the counter when she’s taking it), and says, “Med-sin?” with this hopeful look on her face. She gives her obligatory grunt of defiance every time I say, “No, we’ll take your medicine later.” The poor thing is going to be devastated on Saturday when suddenly there is no more medicine.
