Outnumbered 3 to 1

Several of us were a little under the weather last week. Everyone except for me in fact. Last weekend Chris was feeling tired and run down. His allergies were bothering him and Tuesday he ended up leaving work early. By Tuesday night he was running a fever.

Clara was having allergy problems as well. She has been for some time and she started coughing during the night while we were in Pecos, which didn't surprise me at all. She was still coughing last week, but only at night. Last Sunday morning, she woke from a coughing fit and then threw up mucus. Not a huge deal though; she's done that plenty of times. She then proceeded to cough to the point of throwing up mucus another 10 times that day.

Her coughing mostly subsided the next couple of days and then as I was putting her to bed Tuesday night, she complained that her ear hurt. As I was giving her some Tylenol, I felt her and she was warm. Sure enough, she had a fever as well. The next day, I made her a dr. appointment because I was sure it had turned into an infection at this point. I also needed to get her earwax unclogged because I had been unsuccessful at unclogging it myself. They weren't able to get her in until Friday.

Robert had had a runny nose and an occasional cough for a week or so and then Thursday he started coughing more. Thursday night when he woke around midnight, he was completely congested, coughing like crazy and his eyes were just about glued shut with green goop. He was a mess! I pulled out the swing, saline, bulb syringe, and humidifier. He couldn't even nurse he was so congested. He was also having terrible coughing fits. It was a long night for me trying to figure out the best way to help him breathe and sleep.

Since Chris wasn't better on Thursday, he called to make an appointment too and they got him in close to Clara's appointment. (We've switched the kids to his family doctor, fyi.) When we got there, I asked if they could squeeze Robert in since he had such a bad night. They were pretty swamped, but thankfully he saw him.

So, Chris had bronchitis. Because of his asthma, they treat him very aggressively anytime his lungs are involved. He got steroid and antibiotic injections and also oral steroids and antibiotics. Clara's one clear ear was infected. He couldn't see in the other one and just told me I could keep trying to get it unclogged at home. Robert also had bronchitis and pink eye. His lungs must not have sounded too worrisome because he didn't order a chest x-ray this time. He did say to use the breathing treatments if he gets wheezy. We've given him a couple of them, but I can't tell if they've helped him or not.

So, I played caregiver to 3 sickies for the better part of last week. Chris couldn't even help out with Robert because he was running a fever for three days. I didn't realize that Robert was as sick as he was until Saturday morning when he woke up smiling and happy for the first time in days and actually played quietly on the floor for a few minutes. He wouldn't let me put him down all week. He wasn't acting sick all that time, but he was incredibly clingy and I just hadn't noticed it.

Thankfully everyone woke feeling better on Saturday. We took it easy all day and Chris was able to help me out some around the house. This would be the house that was pretty much destroyed because I did nothing but take care of sick family members and hold Robert for 3 days straight.

We all made it to church on Sunday. Robert puked up his antibiotic all over himself while we were eating breakfast at kolache factory. That was my fault. He's supposed to take it with food and I kinda rushed him to get out the door on time. Poor guy. I've made sure he's gotten an extra full belly with his medicine since then.

I lied down with Robert for a nap after church and the previous days' excitement must have caught up with me. While I couldn't get Robert to go to sleep, I actually dozed off while he played quietly in bed next to me. When I woke, he was wearing a bib I didn't put on him and was playing with toys that I didn't give him. I woke highly confused since I didn't think I'd even fallen asleep. Clara came in and got him all set up without me even waking.

Chris went to work today and is feeling tired, but good. Clara's feeling just fine and isn't coughing at night anymore. Robert is still coughing up junk, but his eyes are all cleared up, his runny nose is gone and he isn't as congested. Every night he seems to sleep better than the night before.