Brian Sick Again and Travels (19 months and 3 weeks)

The weekend before Brian was to travel for work, he got sick again!  On Friday night, we went to a children's consignment sale.  That is when Brian started to feel funny.  Once we got home, he noticed he had a fever and went to bed early.  We were hoping he would be better in the morning.  On Saturday morning, he was worse.  In the morning, he decided to go to Minute Clinic to be checked out.  He had white spots on his throat.  We thought he had strep throat.  That morning we decided to take Austin back to the doctors too.

Austin has been sick for over a month.  He has a terrible cough.  The cough is so bad that he vomits.  Since we were convinced Brian had strep throat we thought we needed to get Austin checked out too. Brian got sick from Austin.  I ended up taking Austin to the doctors while Brian was at the Minute Clinic.  It was crazy because I had vomit all over me so I needed to shower and get both kids ready within a half hour for the doctors appointment.  I was not thrilled about going by myself but that is what needed to be done.  Luckily Austin was really good and the trip was uneventful.  The doctor checked Austin out and said that he was completely fine.  He does not sound fine but that is what he said.  Brian's strep test was negative so they said he had a virus and he was fine.

Brian was so sick he basically stayed in bed all weekend (he slept 18 hours in a 22 hour span Friday into Saturday).  When he was up, he stayed quarantined in our room to avoid getting the kids sick.  That made me like a single mom sooner than I was expecting.  Saturday night Austin went and spent the night at Grandma and Papa's.  It was a lot of work for me to get him packed up but I thought it would be better for him to have some more special attention.  It worked out because they had a great time and I got a little more sleep than usual.  Sydney and I hung out for the evening and night.

Sunday Brian went grocery shopping for me so I did not have to with the kids.  It was very nice of him.  I really did not know how I was going to do that.  I went and picked Austin up on Sunday morning.   Brian was still sick with a fever of 102.  Brian even went back to Minute Clinic for another strep test, but it was again negative.  This was a mess!  Sunday night we packed Brian for his trip.  We did not know if he should still go but we got everything ready.

Brian was still pretty sick overnight, but his fever peaked around 5am.  Around 8am he got up to go to the airport.  His fever was gone however he still did not feel well.  I was busy with the kids because they were also a little sick.  Austin was still coughing and vomiting.  Sydney has a little cough and stuffy nose.  Plus she is so little she needs a lot of attention.  She still needs to eat every 2-3 hours.  So I felt bad for Brian but I was not much help to him.  I needed to take care of Austin and Sydney.  Luckily Melissa came over in the morning.  She just got in town for the week.  Brian decided he would just go to California.  Melissa took Brian to the airport.  I was sad that he was leaving.

When Melissa got back from the airport, she cleaned and sanitized our house.  It was very nice of her.  She told me I don't look as bad as I did after Austin.  That was comforting.  I think that I am doing much better now than I did after Austin.  I basically have things figured out.  I still have my challenges but at least we are not completely clueless.  Melissa spent the afternoon with us.  She left before dinner.

Monday evening I was on my own.  The evenings have always been the busiest and hardest part of the day.  Now I am alone.  Plus Brian always puts Austin to bed.  I have put him to bed on occasion but usually Brian handles it.  Melissa got us soup for lunch so Austin and I just ate that for dinner too.  I was not eager to cook a meal.  After dinner, I fed Sydney.  Then we went for our nightly walk.  The double stroller is harder to push than our Jeep stroller but I made it.  After our walk I put Austin to bed.  Of course during the bedtime routine, Sydney needed to eat too.  I breastfed her while reading books to Austin.  I am learning to multitask as a mom of two.  When Austin was brushing his teeth and I was putting him to bed Sydney was crying.  I felt bad.  I don't like it when they cry but I knew once I got Austin to bed, Sydney would have all my attention.  Austin went to sleep without any difficulty.

The nights are long.  I fed Sydney and got her to sleep.  Then I had to clean up the house.  It was only me here so if I did not do it, it would not get done.  Finally around 10pm, I could try and get some sleep.  Of course soon after I went to sleep, Sydney got up.  I was not going to get much sleep so I learned to accept that.

On Tuesday Austin went to daycare.  I had to get him ready for school.  Plus I had to get Sydney ready to leave the house.  It took me about an hour and half but we finally made it to school.  I was proud that I was handling everything pretty well.  Then I went to my breast feeding support group.  I found out Sydney weights 8lb 12 oz.  She is growing so fast already.  Tuesday night was yet another night of craziness.  During our walk on Tuesday, we got rained on.  It was not bad but I don't like having Sydney out in the rain.  Then Tuesday night I decided to give both kids a bath.  I was not sure if I should have Austin help give Sydney a bath but I was exhausted and wanted to go to bed too.  So Sydney got a bath first and Austin was very helpful in the process.  Austin did not care the Sydney was in his bathtub.  Then after she was done (less than 5 minutes), I  gave Austin a bath.  He loves baths and his are usually at least a half hour.  I cut it a little short.  He still enjoyed it.  Again I had to feed Sydney while reading to Austin but I got them both to bed before 9pm.

On Wednesday, my parents came over to help.  Also since Austin vomited all over the living room carpet they brought their carpet cleaner.  I was glad to have my carpet cleaned.  Austin has so much fun with Grandma and Papa.  It is great.  I was able to get some things done.  It seems like my chores are never done.  I do laundry everyday.  Plus there are dishes and cooking to do.  Then the weekly stuff like cleaning the bathroom, sweeping, and dusting.  It is never ending.  I am better at not going crazy if things don't get done but I still don't let it go too long.  Wednesday night was busy again but I knew it was my last night alone. Brian would be home tomorrow.  Yay!!!!

On Thursday, Melissa picked Brian up at the airport.  I was so glad he was home.  The best part was he was basically all better.  Yay!  Dean came into town on Thursday too for Sydney's Baptism.  I was so happy he came up.  We had dinner at our house on Thursday night.  It was weird because Austin and I had dinner alone all week and now there were 6 of us.  It was great.

This weekend is going to be busy because Sydney is getting baptized.