Coughing up a post

The boys are on the mend – Matt faster than Preston. Of course, he had the “benefit” of being in daycare for over a year, so his immune system is probably a little stronger than P’s. Still coughing, but more productive, less seal-like.

P on the other hand had a horrific night on Sunday – coughing then crying because the pain of coughing hurt so bad, then coughing, then crying…well, you get the picture. A circle of pain for my baby. His fever gained strength as the night progressed; he lost strength. By 4 am, his fever was over 103 and his little body radiating heat (too bad no one knows how to harness that as an alternative energy supply!). By 5:30 we were concerned about his breathing. I’ve seriously never heard my kids wheeze before – they always ask if they are wheezing – but he sure seemed to be working pretty damn hard. All told, I’m guessing he (we) got about 4 hours of decent sleep (not in a row). By 6:30, I was headed to the ER with him.

All was well, at first. We were taken to a room right away, and the doctor came in immediately, checked him out and recommended a dose of steroids and some motrin. Ok, just fix my boy!! Another doctor comes in, goes over it all again, concurs with the diagnosis of croup and is gone. This all happens within the 1st 1/2 hour we’re there. Preston started screaming and crying right before 2nd doc came in and didn’t stop for like 15 minutes. 15 more minutes and someone stops in to ask if we’d been released. I said we were waiting for meds; she went to check. 10 more minutes pass before he gets meds – he did amazing taking them from her.

A few minutes later, P starts crying to go home. That heartbreaking, wrenching “Mama, go home now, please!” “Please mama? Go home now, please?” “Pweeeeeeeassssseeeee?” So I start pacing, making sure they all know my son is ready to go. No one looks at us from the nurses station (shocker). A few minutes later, I walk into the hall and ask if we can leave…. what I wanted to do was SCREAM at all of the people pretending not to hear him or see us in the hallway.

10 minutes after that, the nurse returns, as if she walked out 30 seconds prior and looks at us like we’re strange and can’t figure out why he’s crying!  We finally got out of there and Preston asked for food, so a quick stop at Timmy Ho’s for an egg & cheese and we were home.  By about 8 last night, after 3 little naps (two on me), P was back to his usual silly self.  He slept great last night, but woke up hard this morning.  A couple hours of crankiness, but he seems better now – just scratchy voice and the cough sometimes.  Oh and the whining. Still the whining.

I, on the other hand, feel like crap.  Icky head, sore throat, slightly stuffed, slightly coughing.  Can barely keep my eyes open, even after a decent night of sleep (finally).

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Tonight we are carving pumpkins, whether the kids are with us or not!! ;)  I’ve never waited so long to carve pumpkins, but things just have not worked out for us these last few days.  I’m excited for tomorrow night – Matt is on the brink of really getting Halloween this year – he came home from school with a stash of candy and seems to finally get that Halloween + Costume = CANDY!  :)  P is just going to be flippin adorable in his monkey costume.

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 A decision has been made about the basement…instead of waiting for it to get all the way finished, we’re going to set up a little play area for the boys in the back corner – some modular type carpet on the floor and some fabric over the walls – so that we can get some of the stuff out of the playroom in prep for the holidays.  That way, they’ll have a specific, clean, safe, sort-of organized area to play in while we’re exercising.  I’ve been waiting for the basement to get finished, but the fabric covering the unfinished drywall and some carpet on the floor will make it much more cozy and comfortable for them and just might inspire me to stay get down there a little more often.

Unless anyone wants to volunteer to come finish for us….. we pay in pizza and beer (or chocolate and margaritas if that’s more your speed!).  Not to mention you get to hang out with my adorable little dudes here in the house Phenominal Goodness.  🙂