After employing every possible method (strict routines, bribery, sticker charts, crying it out), we had finally started to get the children's sleep problems under control. And then the winter illnesses hit. First Nate was sick with one of his odd symptomless fevers that he gets from time to time and then Willa.
She went to bed happy with no noticeable symptoms on Sunday night. Then shortly after we went to sleep, we heard that tell tale barking cough: croup. It was familiar to me, but not from our kids. Neither one of them had ever experienced croup before, but I had. Like my eczema and potentially my nut allergy, Willa seems to have inherited yet another physical ailment from me. Poor Willa was just coughing and wheezing and crying, without the ability to talk or barely to breathe. I tried to swallow my rising feelings of panic and guilt to help her. Memories of coughing in an unpleasantly hot and steamy bathroom reminded me what needed to be done. While we waited for a call back from the doctor, we brought her into the bathroom and let hot water run through the faucets until the room resembled a rainforest. She cried and sweated, but eventually her coughing stopped and she fell asleep.
I took her to the doctor the next day who prescribed steroids and warned us that she could develop other symptoms such as an ear infection. He also told me she would be contagious for a few days. So we skipped the open art play we normally do on Mondays, the dance class and playgroup she does on Tuesdays, and the playgroup she attends Thursdays. We got into the habit of watching Frozen in the morning at her request (not something I would normally allow, but she is sick and it is a favorite of mine!). Although she was still stuffy and coughing, I had hopes that we might still be able to keep our two playdates on Friday which included my friends, as much as my kids' friends. But then we had another traumatic night. She woke up last night with a non-barky cough begging to nurse. We brought her into our bed. She complained of ear pain, but resisted attempts to dose her with acetaminophen - spitting out on our bed. Instead, she wanted nurse intermittently all night long. Her (and my) brief periods of sleep were broken with frequent coughing. Consequently, I got virtually no sleep.
So today we paid the doctor yet another visit. He said we'd hit the trifecta - croup, cold, and ear infection. Finished with the steroids, she is now on a decongestant, an anti-biotic, and the nebulizer. Fun times. Trekking her around in the snow today on almost no sleep did not help matters.
I am so over the constant sickness of this season. In addition to hating seeing my children uncomfortable, I hate the isolation these illnesses cause. A self-admitted extrovert, I look forward to our playdates and classes as much as Willa. I crave the social interaction and adult conversation. Without it, I feel a little crazy. So for all our sakes, I hope they both get better and stay better soon. In the meantime, we're watching Let it Go one more time.
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