My friend the Lysol can!

This is the story of why I haven't blogged in quite a while. It won't hurt my feelings if you decide to skim or speed read because when I tell a story I usually include all the details...even the boring, unnecessary ones.
Okay, I'm not complaining because things could've been a whole lot worse but my kids have literally been sick since Christmas. We were all sick. Tim and I had a box of Kleenex sitting next to us Christmas morning while the kids opened their presents. It started with just colds and coughs...that never went away! So, we took them both into the doctor at the end of December and got some antibiotics, certain that that would take care of whatever sinus infection they both had. 10 days of medicine went by and they were still sick. We went BACK to the doctor and got MORE medicine. By January 23rd I was able to go a whole day without wiping a nose! However, the day of our last dose of cefdinir was the same day of our very first play group...that I was hosting. There were about 15 kids at our house and Reagan decided to get a fever. Not just a mild fever...it kept going up the longer the day went by. I had her quarantined in my bedroom watching TV until everyone went home. We took her to the doctor a 3rd time the next morning and she tested positive for flu type A. Yes, we all had our flu shots but for apparently the wrong strand. We started giving her Tamiflu and she got better 24 hours later...still runny nose and coughing...but didn't even act sick.
2 days later Bennett started running a fever, coughing, runny nose. So we started giving him the Tamiflu that the doc had prescribed for him in case he got the flu. Poor baby threw up for more than 2 days straight! He was miserable. Meanwhile, I start feeling like I'm getting a fever. So, I'm taking Tylenol and cleaning up puke and trying to sleep with a sick baby sleeping in between us. We were scared to death that he was going to end up in the hospital because of dehydration and I'm feeling like I got hit by a truck. The next morning Tim took Bennett into the doctor the 3rd day after he started feeling bad and my mom took me to my doctor. The roads were super icey but we all made it. Bennett tested negative for the flu and positive for...wait for it...RSV!!! The doctor was sure that he wasn't dehydrated yet and pretty sure that the Tamiflu was causing the puking. But you can't treat RSV with anything and the breathing treatments they did in the dr office didn't help. So, she just sent us on our way with nothing but the classic dr advice: "lots of liquids and rest". We stocked up on Pedialyte and nursed Bennett back to health.

I tested negative for strep and the flu so they gave me 2 shots. One in each hip. A steroid and an antibiotic. And 10 days of Cefdinir for me too...our family is very familiar with that drug now. I thought I would feel like super mommy after all of that but I still felt like poo. Bennett was feeling much better but the next night my fever got up to 102 point something and I won't embarrass myself by telling much about the crazy painful night I had (I almost had Tim take me to the ER. I couldn't breathe and my stomach hurt worse than labor pains...that I later found out was my colon freaking out). So, the next day Tim took Bennett in for a follow up and my mom took me back to the doctor. I tested postive for...wait for it...THE FLU! Too late to take Tamiflu but I got lots of goodies...an inhaler, some tiny pills for my cough, and stocked up on Musinex. Our kitchen sink seriously looked like a drug store. Well, I started feeling better and Reagan started coughing again. She was wheezing and couldn't finish a sentence without stopping to take a breath. We did a couple of breathing treatments at home but they didn't help. She coughed ALL NIGHT LONG. So, we took her into the doctor for the 3rd time. The pulse ox was reading 94 so the dr told us to go home and do breathing treatments every 2 hours and he put her on a Zpack. Let me just mention that Albuterol makes my daughter a nutty emotional basketcase. One minute she was running laps around the couch and the next minute she's bursting into tears about something as trivial as her poptart breaking in half...isn't it supposed to break the minute you take a bite? It was bedtime and she kept saying "I need to play! I need to play!" 2 days later we took her back to the dr and the pulse ox was reading even lower...low 90s. We were at the pediatrician's office for 2 and half hours that day trying to help her breathe and stop coughing. They eventually sent us to Children's hospital in Plano. They did tests and we found out she had pneumonia. They admitted her and put her on oxygen. Since this story is already way too long I won't go into as much detail. But I'll give you some...SHE HATED THE CANULA. They put it in that first evening. The poor girl did not stop crying until 12:30am. And even after that she woke up every half hour crying for me take it out. I just slept in the hospital bed with her and hugged her and told her I loved her. It was one of the worst nights of our lives. The next couple of days got better. She was exhausted from not getting any sleep at home from the coughing and then not getting any sleep at the hospital cause they came in and bugged her with vital checks, breathing treatments, or medicine every 20 minutes. After everything, we ended up staying in the hospital 3 nights and were kissing the carpet when we walked in our house. And Tim NEVER GOT SICK! Praise God for giving me a husband that took such good care of us. And My mom was such a blessing to have. She took care of Bennett when Tim and I were both at the hospital with Reagan. We are so thankful for all our friends and family praying for us and were very encouraged by all the phonecalls and emails and facebook posts. WE ARE SO THANKFUL FOR HEALTHY CHILDREN. And I'm ready for flu season to be over and spring to get here quick. I have lysoled every inch of my house and washed rugs and sheets and blankets and stuffed animals and anything else I thought I could stick in the washer. I think we can finally get back to normal and enjoy life!