Elyse- the sickie

Oi. So the last few days have been a wee bit crazy. Wednesday night I skipped church to supervise the installation of my newest appliance.

 

 

Isn't she pretty? I bet you've never said that about a microwave before. And it only took Dad and Jacob two hours to do! (That's not a complaint, I'm VUUUUUUURY thankful that they were able to do it safely and nothing got broken and that it fit. I say safely because after it was all said and done we realized that you are supposed to turn the breaker off first. Whoops!)

 

Thursday night was Luke's Christmas program. I wish I could upload the video of his class singing their song. Luke is the ONLY. ONE. doing hand motions. Very animated hand motions, I might add. I have no idea where he gets his stage presence. Friday night was small group, where we had a pot luck dinner and white elephant gift exchange. Seeing what everyone brought just confirmed the fact (again) that I love my friends. We laughed so hard. And my middle girl kept me on my toes too. I let Evan go in real panties, and she did great on telling me she needed to go potty. (which she may or may not have stopped up at one point.) For whatever reason, there was a time that Mikah didn't have on a shirt and she promptly asked him "Why you have on no shut?" The next thing I knew she was walking out of the room with HER shirt off too. I guess it's never too early to have the "we leave our shirts on when we are in other people's houses/playing with our friends/there are boys around" talk.

 

I also didn't have a very happy camper on my hands.

 

cute baby scowls at you

 



 Thursday Elyse had a slight little cough, and Friday it was more pronounced with a stuffy nose. But she didn't have fever and she was eating/sleeping just fine, so I let it go. I did talk to the pediatrician's nurse Friday morning to confirm there wasn't really anything we could do and to make an appointment for Luke (he's got an ear infection). Friday night she was coughing more heavily, but nothing else had changed. Saturday morning was productive- got my house cleaned- and Saturday afternoon I took the kids over to Mom's so they could spend the night. Why? Because Saturday night was the office Christmas party! As soon as I pulled Elyse out of her car seat at Mom's, she had a coughing fit so hard she threw up everything I'd just fed her, all over Mom's kitchen floor. I felt bad, but I knew it was mostly from all the mucus and she'd be okay. After all, I was picking her back up after the party, and surely in a handful of hours things wouldn't tank.

 

shae and my annual Christmas party photo, this year being photo bombed by her coming-in-April son

 

Jacob didn't come to the party and stayed with Elyse at Mom and Dad's while I was gone. She started coughing more and after he gave her a bottle she threw all of that up too. By the time I got there she had calmed down, so we took her home and around midnight tried to get some sleep.

 

right when we got home from the hospital

 

She woke me up at 2, but wouldn't nurse, then woke me up again at 3:15. She still wouldn't nurse and was feeling warm. I took her temp and it was 101.7- WELL over the 100.4 they say to bring babies in for. We immediately took her to the ER where they tested her for flu, RSV, and took xrays for pneumonia. The RSV was the only thing that came back positive. They gave us the option to have her admitted for observation or take her home and keep a close eye on her at home. I chose to take her home, and by 6:00 AM we were finally able to leave. THANK GOODNESS Mom had kept the big kids over night. They took them to church, to lunch, and then back to their house for the rest of the day so I could rest. I slept from 6:30-10, when Elyse woke up to eat, then held my baby on the couch for most of the rest of the afternoon. She didn't nurse well all day, but did have a wet diaper, so at least she was getting something.

 

sleeping off the sickies 

 

When Mom ran a sandwich by for me for lunch she told me that when Luke found out at breakfast that Elyse was sick he immediately said they needed to pray for her, which was followed by him saying a prayer "for Jesus to heal her".  Oh my heart, I cried. That boys pushes me to the limits sometimes, but his heart is so good.

By the time 10:30 rolled around last night my Lysie Ann decided she'd had enough sleep over the last few days and was ready to party. She partied so hard that at 11:15 she puked all over my bed (mere minutes after this picture was taken), forcing me to do a grand sheet change, all the way down to the mattress cover. Have you ever tried to sleep without a mattress cover? Yuck. I find it gross. Anyway, by midnight I was so tired I fell asleep with her still awake beside me. Thankfully she didn't have any coughing fits through the night and she didn't wake up to nurse until 5:30.

hello!

 

The doctor said we still have a couple of days where the RSV can turn ugly, but she's done remarkable. It's no coincidence either. I put on facebook that my girlie needed prayers, which have come in in droves and are being heard. I've said it before and I'll say it again...I am SO BLESSED to have the support around my little family that I do!