A Plague Upon My House

Good Lord, I made it through this last week and I must be all the stronger for it!!  Last Wednesday, February 10th, Ryann felt hot to me.  I took her temperature and it was 99 degrees.  Then she began to cough a very productive sounding cough and said she did not feel well enough to go to preschool.  She was sick enough on Thursday that I kept her home from daycare and Stu and I split the day since he was leaving that afternoon to travel to Tennessee for a football clinic.  The days are all blurring together so I know I stayed home from work on Friday, too, with Ryann...I think...and maybe also Max.  I can't remember anymore when Max fell ill but he developed the same terrible cough that Ryann had and then Saturday night (I remember that for certain because my cousin, Brittany, came over to hang out and we were watching "My Sister's Keeper" when Adam woke up coughing at about 10:30 p.m.), Adam also succumbed.  I was supposed to volunteer in Ryann's Sunday School classroom on Sunday but by then, all three kids were miserably ill.  The day was so stressful for me that I called my mom several times and cried a couple times as well.  Finally, Stu arrived home on Monday morning at 1:00 a.m.  The kids stayed home with him on Monday while I telecommuted in the bedroom and they seemed to be improving somewhat.  But then, Tuesday morning dawned and Adam looked much worse.  Ryann was much better and Max seemed a little improved so I sent the two of them to daycare and kept Adam home with me and telecommuted again.  Unfortunately, when the older two were picked up from daycare it seemed Max had taken a turn for the worse.  Both boys were miserably ill on Wednesday (at one point, Adam's fever spiked to 104 degrees!) and Stu stayed home from work on Thursday with them.  Finally, this evening, it appears everyone is returning to normal.  Ryann is still coughing a bit and the boys still have runny noses and coughs but no one has a fever.  Writing this all out makes it sound a lot more tame than it was.  This was a house, for the past week, filled with coughing, snot, tears, sweat, a lack of eating, a plethora of flaming red cheeks and hot skin, and very little sleep.

I am so ready to get back to a healthy household and I am yearning with every fiber of my body for spring and summer to hurry and arrive.