Finally, An Update!

Sorry I have been so terrible about updating--it has been a crazy few weeks!!

I will try and update over the next few days about all the things we have done, which include a visit to the Tech museum, Maxey park, Health fair, and many more exciting places, not to mention a few more bouts of the nasty-sickies!

So stay tuned =)

Feelin' Fine

The kids and I are healthy again!

Gabe took the longest time to get better, but he seems fine now. Well, he technically has the runny nose, watery eyes, sinus headache and cough attributed to allergies, which isn't surprising this time of year in Lubbock. He'll be better soon, and he seems to prefer this to the pooping.

Emerald is--as ever--sunshine and roses, and I adore her. She is technically being a two-year old toot. She is forever getting into things that she is not allowed to do, like climbing up on the back of the recliners to look at the window or throwing a box full of diapers at Mom because she's angry. She's still super precious though. Good stuff.

I realized when I started feeling better that my husband--while he takes super care of his sickly wifey--kind of let the house fall to the wayside, and my free time was devoted today to homework and housekeeping.

But hoot to good health!

Sick Days

Update to the Sickly Weardy's--

Emerald is no longer sick--she has been fine since Thursday, though we are keeping her away from other people just in case.

Gabriel is the same--diarrhea 8 or more times a day, though antibiotic ointment and fresh air did his rash wonders. He doesn't cry and more when we change him and he is eating much better.

A funny story aside from that thought--this morning, I gave Emerald a banana and cheerios for her breakfast. Now, anyone that knows Gabriel knows that his absolute favorite food is hands down--bananas. Not two minutes after I had handed Emerald the banana, I started hearing her yelling, so I look over to see Gabriel wrestling the fruit from her hands and scarfing down gigantic bites before I could take it away from him. He had taken down a little over half of the entire banana before I stepped in!

Back to the story at hand--other than the poo problem, Gabriel remains the height of health. No fever, no vomitting, no body aches...he has a little bit of a runny nose this morning, but it could just be banana oozing out every pore.

Late late Thursday night (or very early Friday morning), Mama was awoken with severe nausea. Which is weird--neither of the kids were remotely vomitty. I try to ignore it for about an hour, but it is undeniable. Mama is sick.

Michael had to take time off from work, which we wish we didn't have to do, but with me weak stomached and vomiting nearly everything I eat (the chicken noodle soup and wheat thins and ginger ale was not in the slightest offensive to my stomach at lunch), being constantly available to change Gabriel's dozens of runny, rank poops a day was just not feasible.

Michael had to go back to work today, so that situation is exactly what we have on our hands. But tomorrow is Sunday, and the dealership is closed, so I will have help and rest again.

I really hope my Michael doesn't get sick =(

Speaking of--if you need a new car, go see Mike! He'll hook ya up. ; )

__Andie

Update on Day 3 of Sickies

So, I just talked to the children's nurse, Beth, who I have to say--the most reassuring person on the planet. If she is upset by something, you know you need to take it seriously.

That being said, she is not terribly concerned about the babies being sick today.

Apparently, there is a stomach bug going around right now, which is causing the stomach acid in the children's stomach to over-produce. Because of the excess gastric acids, it spills over to their...output, which is causing chemical burns all over their private areas.

If that doesn't sound scary enough, chew this one over--gastric acid's main component is hydrochloric acid.

Ouch.

Anyways, the best thing we can do for the children is give them a really very bland diet that contains no acids that can't possibly hurt their tummies or cause their poop to be more acidic. We can also consistently use barrier creams--like antibiotic ointment or Vaseline or diaper creams--to prevent the acid from setting in--and giving their bottoms time to air dry when we know defecation is not soon.

Taking them into the doctor's office would just put them in proximity to more ill children, which opens up the possibility of disease swapping, and exasperating the situation in order to confirm that there isn't much we can do outside of home remedies seems cruel. I mean, if the little things got the flu on top of this, my little head would *pop*.

We're laying on our pallet now watching Ratatouille, and snacking on bananas dipped in yogurt (mmm!). This could be the light at the end of the tunnel!!

--Andra

Sick Season Has Hit Home

As far as these things go, we are pretty lucky--what with the H1N1 going around, colds, flu, and all sorts of awfulness, Michael and I are very lucky the kids didn't pick up something much more serious than they did.

As it is, they have a doo-doo problem.

It may be rotavirus or gastroenteritis, we aren't really sure. We do know that neither of them have any other obvious symptoms--no fever, no body aches, no fatigue or cough or headaches. They in fact are playing just fine and interacting with me and Michael, but they are having severe diarrhea that is very acidic, burning their little behinds.

Today is the third day in the poo-saga. Our days are filled with watching movies on pallets in the living room, drinking pedialyte and eating marshmallows (which Mike insists every kid deserves when they are sick), and fearing another round of painful defecation from one of our darling children.

Pray for our sanity and our little baby bottoms =)