Life with 3 sick kids (3/25/06)

Disclaimer: This entry is not about me getting sympathy from anyone or trying to make you feel sorry for me and help me out in some way. This entry is my way of trying to capture how my situation feels. Most of the reason that I even do a blog is so that I can look back on it in several years and be reminded of what life was like when.... when I had 3 girls under the age of 4; when we barely had enough money to buy groceries; when I sometimes felt like a single mom because my husband is working so hard to get his business going; when there were days that when I woke up I couldn't get to 8pm fast enough. etc. etc. My hope is that someday I will be able to read these and not only see how far we've come and the hard work we had to do in order to get there, but mostly I want to be reminded of what life was like now so that I can help other young mothers out when they are in this situation. We all know that in hindsight we forget how miserable some things are - pregnancy/labor/delivery for example.

Okay, so here is a snapshot of life with 3 sick children:

Woke up at 6:50 (on Saturday morning) to Nora coming in our room. She asked if we could turn cartoons on for her to watch. I rolled over and pretended I didn't hear her. Dave obliged and got out of bed to get in the shower. He also went in and got Ryann out of her crib and brought her into our bedroom to join in the cartoon fun. Georgia needs a pacifier. Dave to the rescue. Ugh.

I roll out of bed around 7:15 to take my turn in the shower. Dave is getting ready and tells Nora that he is going to be gone most of the day, but she can come with him to Dunkin Donuts. She is thrilled about the excursion. Dave helps her get dressed. I get out of the shower and tell her to find new pants to wear because the ones she has on are too small (and a bit ugly). She launches into hysterics. HYSTERICS. Uncontrolled screaming and crying. (to be fair she is not normally this way. the dr prescribed some steroids for her lungs on Thursday and ever since she started taking them she has had these amazing and unbearable mood swings - she is NEVER this hysterical, this is really beyond anything we've experienced before). I tell her to put her pants on and get ready to go. She walks away from me mid-sentence. Not a good choice on her part. I say, "Nora" and she keeps walking. So I scream, "NORA" and she turns around to come back. Still hysterical. She "listens" as I tell her that in no way is she to every ignore me when I am speaking to her and she is NOT to walk away from me - PERIOD. I also inform her that the only place that she is allowed to cry and carry on the way she is doing is in her bed with the door closed. She promptly climbs into bed and continues the hysterics - holding onto the pants that she "can't" put on. I tell her that she needs to calm down, but daddy is going when he needs to go - he is not waiting for her to calm down. So if she doesn't calm down he'll leave without her." I close the door and go on with life. SIGH - one down.

Dave is ready to go. Nora runs out of her room to make sure she can go along with him. She has her pants on and the crying has ended. Dave takes Nora and Ryann to Dunkin Donuts to get coffee and donuts (Dave is having friends help him move some furniture so DD is our bribe for the morning).

While talking over coffee and donuts with our friend, Dave pours a small amount of sprite in a cup for Ryann. We talk. We laugh. We remark about how cute Georgia is. We discuss Nora's illness. Blah. Blah. Blah. Dave and M leave. I finish my oatmeal (I was good - no donuts for me). As I'm rinsing my dish I hear an "Uh Oh" from Ryann. I turn around - sprite all over the table and her sippy cup with milk is in her cup of sprite (causing the spill). I take the cup away and put it in the sink. Ryann launches into a melt down. She is screaming. This, too, is unusual for her. The same cry she had when she was a baby - the cry that we really haven't heard in over a year. Its back and has been back with a vengeance for the last couple of days (to be fair, I believe she is getting sick, too. She has a fever of 100 today). Now Georgia is fussing because I'm not holding her. I have no idea where Nora is. I pull Ryann off of her chair and drag her upstairs so she can throw her tantrum in her crib (something I totally disagree with, by the way. And I even thought about that while I was bringing her up there - I just couldn't think clearly enough at the moment to figure out a different place. Note to self - think about this before it happens and determine a better place to put her when she has a melt down).

Ryann in her crib screaming bloody murder. Georgia crying because - well, who knows? She's 4 months old. Nora - ? It is only 9:15am and I have a full day ahead of me. I lay Georgia down on my bed and cuddle up and cry. She's not happy to be laying there next to me - she wants me to hold her, but I can't... I need to cry, so I do. And so does she. Everyone calms down and we have gotten through the rest of the day up until now... Nora is with Dave at his office, Ryann and Georgia are napping. Silence. For now.

I told Dave that I believe I just got a preview of junior high/high school with 3 girls. I'm terrified of our future.