I have finally succumbed to the germ invasion. My nose is running, I'm sneezing, and I'm starting to feel yucky. Well, perhaps that last part is just a result of being up at least once a night for the last 2 weeks straight. Regardless, I'm definitely sick. It isn't horrible yet, and I'm really hoping that a steady stream of orange juice and zinc will keep this illness mild.
Meanwhile I'm doing laundry like a mad woman and cleaning the house in case I fall seriously ill and other people have to come over and help. I'd hate for the place to actually look like people have been sick for two weeks and I've done little but care for them. Plus I kept tripping on the toys Anna keeps tossing and dragging around. Imagine - a fracture on top of a cold! NOT what I need right now.
Elli had a rough night. In fact, I called Urgent Care, they called the pediatrician on call, and while I waited for a call back, I packed for the hospital. I was that sure that we were going in. But the ped on call is one who knows us and said that he was ok with us staying home as long as things stayed where they were. Not being a big fan of the ER at any time of the day but especially at 1 in the morning, I gladly stayed home. I set my alarm and checked on her twice in the night. Both times she was the same as when I called, so I happily fell back into bed. I'm still packed for an overnight though. I figure as long as I'm prepared to go, I won't have to (see my version of Murphy's Law).
A nurse from our doctor's office actually called us this morning to see how Elli did. I thought that was really nice of them and showed great initiative. She wants me to call in this afternoon with an update. I think the peds want to give the antibiotics some time to work before they decide if Elli needs oxygen and IV antibiotics.
It does seem like the antibiotics might be working. Since this morning, Elli's oxygen saturations have S L O W L Y risen from 90-92 up to 92-94. I did about 15 minutes of chest physiotherapy or CPT -- it's a way to help loosen the mucus in the lungs so the sick person can cough it up. She really seemed to enjoy that. Then she took a 2-hour nap. That's a dead giveaway that she's really sick. Elli only sleeps 20 minutes at a time, at the most, when she's healthy. She never has taken more than a 30-minute nap, even as a baby, unless she was sick.
Hopefully all this sleep is a sign that her body is taking all her energy to fight this infection and, with some help from our good buddy amoxicillin, is winning. And hopefully I'll be able to get enough to rest to fight my own bug. After all, the Olympics starts tomorrow! I would hate to be handicapped by a silly little cold in my quest for the knitting gold medal. OK, so it's a button signifying I completed my event. Same diff!
