Murphy's Law Strikes Again

Man, oh man. Sometimes, I question whether or not Jay and I really should get married. Not for reasons you might think but because I'm scared if I change my last name, I'll be even more doomed.

I love these three dudes more than anything but they seem to come up with some really extraordinary ways to hurt or maim themselves. In the last 15 days, I have been to the doctor's office, urgent care and the emergency room, TWICE. I've bandaged up my six year old's gnarled hand after he stuck it in an industrial fan. I've caught puke with my bare hands, cleaned it off the couch and scrubbed it out of the carpets. I've sat with my two year old, in a cool tub, while he shook uncontrollably from a 103 fever. I've spent a combined total of about 24 hours in some sort of waiting room or medical office.

This Monday was Phoenix's last day of Kindergarten. He woke up saying his right ear hurt but he decided he wanted to go to school anyway.

I really did give him the choice to stay home. He was not interested.

When I picked him up at 12:30, he looked horrible. Jay spent most of the morning with him at school & told me he thought Phoenix really was sick but I was still surprised to see how bad he looked.

One thing about both my kids: they are little balls of unlimited energy. The Energizer Bunny comes to them when he needs a recharge. I swear it. So when I see Phoenix listless, dull-eyed and utterly lacking any sort of excitement or enthusiasm, I know something is wrong.

So sick but still toughing it out <3

His temperature when we got home was 101. I called the doctor. No appointments, of course, it's like 1:30 & Tuesday, the clinic was "short-staffed". I haul him into urgent care that night and found out he has a double ear infection. Good job, kid. I was impressed, really. He's tough when he wants to be, like any kid, I guess and I was truly surprised by how much he could tolerate without complaining.

We got antibiotics & some ear drops. I let him get pretty much anything he wanted at the store: mint Oreos, mint chocolate chip ice cream, SpongeBob Pirate Booty, Fruit Loops...you know, the essentials. I let him stay up till 9, munching on Pirate Booty & watching t.v.; I put drops in his ear & laid with him when he woke up at 4 in the morning. When he woke up yesterday morning, he said he felt better & wanted to go swimming.

Ha. You must feel better. No. No swimming. How about Harry Potter?

A little while later, Paxton threw up. I didn't think much of it; it wasn't a lot. Just a little puke. No big deal. Then I notice he's doing the whole I-want-to-cuddle thing he's been doing lately. Oh wait. I haven't told you about that yet...Two weeks ago, I took him in for a cough. Doctor said it was most likely the flu, keep him hydrated, blah blah blah, and sent us home. Since then, he's been waffling back and forth between Paxton the Cuddle Bug and regular ol' bundle-of-energy Paxton.

I'll admit, it's been nice cuddling with him, even if he is sick but it wasn't something so obvious that I was worried. Some days he was just more tired than others. So fast forward to yesterday when Phoenix seems to be on the mend after a couple doses of ear drops & antibiotics. Paxton's thrown up once, now, and is starting to get fussy. He's hiding behind the couch when Jay gets home and as soon as Jay is through the door, Paxton pukes all over the back of the couch, all over the floor, EVERYWHERE.

It's about 4 PM, he feels hot, he's now puked up everything he's eaten, all day, so I give him some ibuprofen and wait for it to kick in. Dinner time comes around & my little garbage disposal wants nothing to do with his plate. I check his temp: 101. Jay runs him a cool bath & I head to Dollar Tree with Phoenix, still not really worried about things.

I get home to Paxton curled up on the floor, burning up. I toss him back into the bath but it's no help. He's on fire, he's shaking uncontrollably and I can see his little heart just racing in his chest. Hi-ho, hi-ho it's off to the E.R. we go, where we find out his temp is now 103. Five hours of waiting with a shoe-less baby who just wants to go home, a couple chest x-rays and another round of puking later, the paperwork they hand me says "influenza".

What. The. Fuck. Are you serious?? Two weeks later, he still has the flu?? Are you & your brother, like, recycling germs or something?

It's 1 in the morning when we pull up to the house. Jay waited up for us & helped me get the little guy put into bed before going to bed himself. I followed shortly after, knowing I'd probably be waking up before too long. And I was right. 4:30-something, a little voice whispers, "Mama" while a little hand shakes my arm. A sippy cup solves the problem and we're both back in bed. For a whopping two hours. He wakes up again, this time he wants to actually get up. I oblige because what else can I do? I lay on the couch while he watches t.v. but he eventually wandered back upstairs. I assume he's going to wake up Jay or get into something so I follow him.

He put himself back to bed.

Awesome. I went back to bed too & slept until Jay had to get up for work. Phoenix didn't get up till almost 9 and Paxton never got up. Phoenix woke him up when he stripped all the blankets off Paxton's bed & stole the pillow out from under his head but he was so worn out, he just wanted to go back to sleep. I dosed him, filled a sippy and covered him back up. Out he went.

It's after noon and he's still sleeping. I know he's sleeping & not dead because I keep checking on him, every hour or so. Is he still breathing? Yes? Ok. Does he still feel like he's on fire? No? Ok.

He's just sleeping and that's probably best.

Knowing how things have been going, knowing how things usually progress with these kids, this won't be the end; just another piece of the story. Things may seem calm now but I can never be sure what's going to happen next so I'm going to take advantage and relax for a bit. And by 'relax', I mean do laundry, dishes and the rest of the crap I've been forced to put on the back burner.

Well, maybe after I read a chapter or two, first...I think I've earned them.