Mercy me!

Mercy me, mercy me. The past few weeks have been a constant struggle for everyone in our household because of ongoing illness. After having a really bad sinus infection that lasted weeks, Mark has finally started to overcome a persistent cough that has hung on since Thanksgiving - yes, November!

The month of January has been one full of sickness. If January brings sickness, does February bring amazing health?? I hope so.

Just when we think one of the kids is over his or her illness, a new symptom pops up. Or one child gets well just in time for the other to come down with something. I feel like we live at Mercy medical doctor's office these days.



Anna resting on the couch
with Baby this morning.


Anna has been prone to ear infections since she was a baby. It seems as though each time she has any cold or illness that involves drainage, she will invariably get a single or double ear infection. She seemed to be doing well despite having a cold, until the middle of the night Saturday when we heard her through the monitor. She started coughing so hard she gagged and then threw up - everywhere! She soaked her bed, her clothes, her lovies, blankets, carpet...everything. We got her bathed and dressed, got new bedding on her bed and got her back to sleep. We thought it was a fluke. Not so lucky. Sunday night just before 9pm it started again. But that night she threw up nearly every hour and a half throughout the night and into the early morning. I think I did three loads of laundry overnight - thank goodness for the eight or so crib sheets and water pads we own because we went through every single one. Mark and I were wiped out by Monday morning but poor Anna was just spent. She wouldn't eat, didn't want her milk (and I know why after cleaning up countless messes full of stinky spoiled milk), and was just so lethargic. I got her into the pediatrician on Monday and was told she had an ear infection in the left ear. So she's on a combination of Amoxicillin for the infection, a super strong anti-nausea med, and a cough suppressant. Poor little girl just squirms when she sees those medicine droppers coming her way. She was doing pretty good - eating bland foods and keeping them down - until today. She had another round of coughing, phlegm and gagging so hard that she threw up again just after 8am - all over her bed, of course.

Mark took Ian to Mercy's after-hours office on Tuesday night after he kept complaining of pain within his right ear. It wasn't an ear infection and he was tested for flu and strep B - both tests were negative, thankfully. He was diagnosed with a sinus infection so he's on an antibiotic and cough medicine but his dry cough progressed to a very rough "barking" cough as of tonight. He had such a strong cough attack that he threw up twice in his car seat this evening.  So we're headed back to the Mercy pediatric office tomorrow in hopes to hear this not a sign of something more severe.

I never fully realized getting thrown up on repeatedly was in the "mom" job description. Ack! I think that was hidden way down at the bottom with items like "you won't get a shower until the kids are either napping, at school or in bed for the night" and "the mints in your car door pocket aren't for date nights - they're in case you are so preoccupied with getting the kids ready for school that you forget to brush your own teeth" and "you'll never need an alarm clock again because your four year old will come into your room at 6:01am to tell you that his clock says it's okay to get up...and can he go get his sister up, too?"

All that being said, as tough as most days are - mentally, emotionally and physically - I can't imagine my life without these two little blessings. I can't imagine not being "mom" to Ian and Anna and all that comes with that title - the good, the bad AND the ugly alike. These kids make me beam with pride, melt with pure love, and laugh until it hurts. And because they bless Mark and me so deeply, we will do whatever we need to do (day or night) to take care of them. We're praying for healing and complete family health in our house soon. Or I might just have to get my pediatricians' personal cell phone number on speed dial!