Sick!!!

It started Wednesday. Ethan had the sniffles. I was hoping it was nothing more, but a night of practically no sleep proved that not to be the case. He was up nearly every hour until the two of us slept on the couch just so we could manage some sleep. By the next night, he had a runny nose and a soaring temperature. Like every time he gets sick, I bathed him in lukewarm water and gave him Tylenol, again “sleeping” on the couch until about two in the morning when it finally broke. From that moment, he was more-or-less fine as long as I followed him around with a tissue for his nose and tried to get him to walk so he wouldn’t break into a hacking cough. But do little boys walk anywhere? Of course not.

Emry does not always catch what Ethan gets, but she did this time. She got the sniffles followed by her usual hacking cough. Which she still has because her coughs always linger. She’s been a bit lethargic and sleeps very well. Which is amazing because her cough sends shivers up and down my back. She’s quite pale and not eating a lot. Both of them have lost weight they don’t have to loose, but Ethan is quite better now. I’m hoping Emry will be in a day or so.

The last time I remember being this sick was in Minnesota, one Saturday after a good run in cold weather. I came home, had a little something to eat, walked over to the library and then sat down to read. And promptly fell asleep. When I woke up, I realized I had a fever. So, I didn’t do anything the rest of the day. I can’t remember if I went to church the next day or not, but regardless I had nothing to do but rest and was more than fine arriving at work on Monday. But now? Hah!

I don’t usually catch anything the kids have, but regardless of the cleaning I attempted I still got it. Sunday morning rolled around, and it started okay but by 9:30 I was nodding off in my chair. We had already decided not to go to church, but their lingering illness didn’t slow the kids down. I finally got them settled on the couch with me and a book. Which I barely made it through. They were off to find Ed as soon as it was over, and I was out cold. I slept until the kids wandered in hungry for lunch. I managed to get off the couch and find them something to eat. By then it was naptime so I got them down and crashed once again on the couch. I was hot one moment, cold the next. Congested. Not hungry but had to eat because not eating made me sick. Even the baby needed to be cared for! By the end of the day, I felt nearly as sick as I had started the day. And some of the symptoms I was no longer sure if it was this cold or being pregnant. Not that it really mattered. I got the kids to bed and went to bed myself. 

Yesterday, after eleven hours of sleep and coffee, I felt better. I even got a full workday in. Ethan was doing better, and Emry was doing well enough to do her school, play and do all the things we usually do on a Monday. But last night equaled something like three broken hours of sleep so even when my mom came over today, she took one look at me and said, “Melissa, you look…sick.” Yeah, and I felt it, too. Still congested, sick to my stomach, and I couldn’t work a full day. The RFP (Request for Proposal) was swimming in front of my face, making very little sense even though it was a pretty straight-forward updated master plan. It’s not due until February 19 anyhow, so I gave it a rest and took a nap. And as soon as I get Emry home from dance and the kids in bed, I am off to bed myself. And praying tomorrow I feel ten times better!