A Rough Night and Rough Morning

As I went to bed last night, my throat was hurting much more than it had been. I just hoped a good night's sleep would help it. At 11:30 pm, Sarah started fussing. I checked on her, zipped her jammies back up, got her a binky (actually 2 binkies), turned her music back on and covered her up with the blanket. She seemed to settle down. Over the next 3 hours, she continued to fuss periodically and was given decongestant, tylenol, teething tablets and gas drops all to try and help. Finally, about 2:30 am, I put some bedtime lotion on her hands and face and she seemed to settle down for the night. Ok, so that meant I could get 4 or 4 and a half hours of sleep.

Then again, maybe not... Rebekah woke up about 4:45 rather upset. She wanted her tummy drinks stopped, a new diaper and just to scream... I gave her some tylenol and spent the next hour and a half changing her diaper a few more times, getting her cold water and trying to get her back to sleep. By then Sarah was starting to make noise again, so I got her binkies back and layed her back down. It didn't last long and she was fussing again and it didn't sound like she would go back to sleep on her own. I went in to check on her and she was telling me she needed a diaper change, so I figured I would change the diaper and then lay her back down. No such luck, she wanted to eat. By now, it was 7 am and her normal waking hour, so time to get up.

After breakfast, I layed her back down (Mom can always hope, right?). She was making noises now and then, but not screaming. Rebekah woke up, Daddy got her up and she wanted to check on Sarah. Sarah only had one of the two binkies, so Rebekah got her the second one and then Rebekah came and crawled into bed with Mommy and Daddy. She doesn't lay still for long and she wanted up and wanted her tummy drinks, so we headed out to the living room to get her hooked up and watch some TV. Sarah wasn't happy, so I got her up and into the playroom. By then Rebekah was ready to be done with her tummy drinks, so we stopped them and sent her into the playroom. By now, both girls are screaming. It is clear that they are not feeling well. I'm not exactly sure what each of them is fighting, but they are definitely not feeling well.

About 9:30, Rebekah wants to lay down on the couch with a blanket, so I help her with that. Then Sarah tells me she wants to go night night, so I take her into her room and lay her down. Rebekah is feeling pretty warm, so I get the thermometer - 100.6. By the time I get her some Tylenol and some Benadryl (to help with the runny nose and the crabbies), she feels even warmer, so I check it again 101.4. I give her the Tylenol and Benadryl (which she wants in her tubes and not in her mouth, which is unusual) and then she proceeds to throw them up. Ugh! I get my shirt changed and her clothes off and she refuses to have any more clothes put on. She is sitting in her bed shivering and won't let me put any clothes on... I finally talk her into a shirt and then she wants a blanket on her lap and one over her shoulders. I check her temperature again and it is 101.7.

So I figure it is time to call the doctor. I call the answering service and have the oncologist on call paged. I don't really know that the oncologist will be overly concerned, since she no longer has her central line (and the big risk for infection), but figure I'll start there. She calls me back and explains that her biggest concerns would be ear infection or sinusitis and that we might want to have her seen, but she didn't think it warranted an ER trip (at least not yet). If her temperature got above 102 or 103, she wanted another call. Otherwise we could treat her like a typical pediatric cold patient - she could have tylenol, motrin, cold medicine, etc... And if we need to, we can use suppositories for nausea or for fever. It might make some sense to call her pediatrician's office and see if they can look at her ears.

So I called the pediatrician's office and we have an appointment scheduled for 4 this afternoon. They were being slammed with patients and that was the earliest appointment they had available. I was able to get Rebekah to rest for a little while and afterwards, I was able to get some Tylenol, Septra (her antibiotic) and Benadryl into her.

Now, Rebekah is laying on the couch in the playroom and Sarah is playing. They seem to be leaving each other alone right now, which is good. Sarah, however, took her jammies off (but kept the diaper on), so I got her dressed for the day.

Grandma M will come over in a little while with some lunch and help with the girls. Maybe I can get a little rest and a nice long shower to help me feel better...

Now we are back to two girls screaming and unhappy. Ugh! Mommy just doesn't have much patience for that today, but I guess I have to buck up and deal (just like any other day).