Bugs Bugs go away

When I left town on January 28th, The Younger was throwing up in the car on the way to the airport (at Too Freakin' Early as the Hub so sweetly says).

Enter the bug fest...

It has since then manifested itself into each family member including The AP. The wet/cool/warm/cold/hot but windy weather has been of no help. The allergens in the lovely TN air from the mold make us feel so wonderfully stuffy. And we've been through 10 boxes of tissues Literally, because The Younger grabs a handful but thinks you only use one per wipe. He then stuffs it BACK into the tissue box - all of them - so we end of tossing a few off the top just in case. We don't want to play lottery with the boogies.

Both were well enough to go to church with me on Friday, but not well enough to not get sick again. So Sunday we missed church again because all 3 of my boys were sick. The Hub slept nearly the whole day on Sunday. The Elder didn't go to school yesterday because of yellowy stuff streaming from his nose. The Younger has been a cling-bot. The AP has laryngitis.

This morning The Elder had a fit to not go to school...

"I want circle pancakes!"

We have been making letter pancakes for sometime now (the royal we). This ended up in a naked battle (him not me) and the easy way/hard way conversation (without the third option). He finally gave in and settled for raisins in the car on the way to school and oatmeal at school. I told The Hub that The Teacher would not have approved of how we handled the situation, but heck, he was dressed, eating, and going to school. Mission accomplished.

The Younger was just as happy as a clam, observing the meltdown central that lasted nearly an hour (no joking). Then I went to work (in my office across from the kitchen) in my pjs, excited about getting something productive done since I felt well enough to do it. All of a sudden I hear wailing. Which is not uncommon when I've sneaked away to work and he can't find me. He only accepts that I'm working when I leave the house. But working IN the house means that I'm fair game to him, so I literally have to sneak around him. But this was different wailing, with intermittent "My ear hurts" between sobs.

Great an ear infection I bet. If he's anything like The Elder, by the time he complained about having RSV, the flu, and a double ear infection (all at the same time) he was on the healing side of the illnesses. Both kids have the pain tolerance of linebackers. But since he was wailing so hard (the real cry, not the fake, I want you attention, cry), I thought I better call the nurse. Well their phone line was BUSY!!! for an HOUR!!! Can you believe it? I even called The Hub at work to try to call too. Finally my heart was breaking enough that I just put him in the car and drove him to the pediatrician's office, getting a busy signal the whole way. About a mile away from the office I get a ring!! Hooray!! But then I was put on hold at the nurses station forever and was actually sitting in the parking lot waiting for a nurse to answer the phone. Finally I thought I would try the front desk instead (they only take appointments so I was trying to get in), but as soon as I hung up I was kicking myself because it was busy the next 3 times I called. Finally I just took him in. Because we were walk-ins he has to go through triage first. Well triage my foot. They looked at him from behind the reception desk and said come back at 3pm. I think that triage sign is just for looks so everyone will make an appointment.

Anyhoo, once we got back home, I gave him some tylenol and took a pretty long nap. As a matter of fact I had to wake him to take back at 3pm.

Aside, The Elder said he wanted to go to the doctor because there are toys there. I said, "not on the sick side." "Oh, then I fink I just stay here."

The whole trip back to the doctor he was my normal happy go lucky kid. "Does your ear still hurt?" "No." Great. All that trouble. Well, he's going to the doctor anyway! We are in the sick side of the waiting room and he's bouncing around and chattering away. Then we go to the exam room and he immediately begins to climb chairs and tables and create a hazard zone like only a 2 year old can. As soon as the nurse comes in - the deer in headlights. She leaves and he's tigger. Then the doctor comes in who happens the be the doctor who gave me the TEIS referral. I took the opportunity to talk to her in person about the TEIS meeting and she gave me some great insight on that. Someone remind to make a separate post about that.

She confirmed that he had a mild ear infection (a 2 on a scale from 0-4) and gave him a prescription which we don't plan on filling. She also isn't an advocate of anti-biotics so I was glad we were on the same page there. She said if it gets worse then start the antibiotics.

And me? I'm fine (knock on wood). I can tell the swelling is down in my glands are down so that is a good sign. Keep you fingers crossed that we will all be healthy before our trip to SC this weekend. Plus The AP is going back to Brazil for 2 weeks and I will really need all the health I can get!!