Tonsilitis, tubes and RSV....without the P.

Greetings. Life takes some pretty crazy bends, doesn't it?

Last week, I took Toby and Promise for a routine check at their ear, nose and throat doctor to check on their tubes because Toby was getting ear infections again and- BEHOLD!- Promise has tonsilitis and Toby's tubes have fallen out requiring him to have to go in for surgery to get another set....this time it'll be bigger ones.

That was Tuesday.

Tuesday night, Promise and Zanna began coughing....a lot. Phlegm was the topic of the night and by Wednesday morning, it was clear that Promise and Zanna were NOT well. Figuring the antibiotics Promise was on would knock out the cough, too, I wasn't concerned. But Zanna was in pretty rough shape.

By Friday morning, Zanna was having such a hard time breathing, she couldn't nurse well, and then about every cough led to a vomit of the last feed. Her fever was steady and she looked very very sad....and she was very very fussy.

My general practitioner was gone, so I quickly called my nurse-practitioner friend, Heidi and had her listen to Zanna's cough....she thought it might be Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)
and recommended I take her to the ER. I called our babysitter, Teagan, and she was available to come right away. :)

The nurse in the paediatric ER was our dear friend, Danielle (MAJOR BONUS!) and she reassured me that Zanna would be fine, but she just needed some help breathing. The Doc in the ER admitted her....it was RSV....with nebulizer and steroids, they got her coughing up lots of phlegm the first day. She looked so sad. They said we'd probably be able to go home the next day provided her fever didn't spike and her lungs cleared. They didn't.

So they said she'd have to stay another day....but Tim had to work, so we called 3 dear friends to babysit. From 6:30 am to 9:30 am, Nancy came, then from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, Auntie Holly came and then from 12:30 pm to 4:30pm, Aunt Anita came until Tim arrived home. What a GONG show, but with their help, Toby and Promise did great and a dear friend's mommy, Barb, went to my house, picked up a whole bunch of clothes and supplies and met me in the hospital! We were taken care of.

Hosanna had a few hours of good sleep on Saturday, which gave me some peace.....

 Then her lungs became more wheezy and crackly as the evening came....so they made us stay another night....

 But by Sunday afternoon, Zanna was getting some color back and even began to smile.

Tim managed to hold down the fort on Sunday and armed with a nebulizer and meds, we've been treating Zanna from home....and now Toby and I have RSV. Sigh.

Poor Toby...his ears are hurting and now his phlegmy cough keeps him gagging most of the day. He's been waking several times a night with fever. However, the hospital told me that this year has been the worst year yet for RSV and that we were lucky to have only a moderate case of it with Zanna. Some of the babies in the ward were only one month old and were constantly on IV and nebulizer therapy. The little baby we shared a room with was only one month old and so very sick. His mom had been with him in the hospital for over a week and while we were there, they told her he would most likely have to stay another week. We prayed for her.

What a journey this year has been and we've only reached March!
Thankful to Jesus today for keeping Zanna far from death. Her lungs are still pretty crackly, but she is smiling more again and has been 24 hours without a fever. That makes her mommy VERY happy.

Little Miracles....

 Hosanna at 3 months and Promise at 4 1/2....my little miracle girls.....

 And Toby....my 2 1/2 miracle boy...I often gaze at him in wonder....here, he had just taken his medicine for his ear infection....

  Hosanna is now eating her hands and talking almost as much as Promise (though not near as articulate). She is 15 lbs. and just the perfect blend of joy, peace and opinion. :) What a gift.

Promise is quite the artist....she is SO imaginative and creative, I sometimes forget that she is only 4! Her life is filled with stories and dreams that she often asks ME to keep track of them all so she won't forget. Her latest words have been "MOM....You're 'appost' to remember my songs!" ('Appost' is 'supposed to'). She memorized her first entire Scripture verse, Ephesians 4:32 and we're very proud of the progress she is making in caring for her siblings with KINDNESS. Despite our recent discovery of her having Sensory Processing Disorder (look it up on Google), she is learning and growing like a weed. For that, I am grateful.

Tobias is his sister's antagonist...yes, he knows button-pushing better than Bill Gates. He is my monkey-boy who loves to paint (except on paper), loves to bathe in water (except in the bath), loves to play trucks (except when they are rolling on all four wheels), loves to play ball (as long as he can throw it in your face), and wants to be like daddy when he grows up...aka: Be Fireman Sam changing tires...on firetrucks. His ear tubes recently fell out so he just got over a MASSIVE ear infection and pink eye, so he is set to get more tubes later this Spring. Sigh. What a HAM.

The kids are just starting to tolerate small amounts of gluten and wheat, though when we OD, there's BAD constipation, rashes and just ill tempers....dairy is still a no-go, as are all refined sugars. This is probably a good thing....
Each day is a new adventure....today, Toby accidentally tipped over the grocery cart Zanna was in...thankfully Zanna was in the car seat...well, the car seat went flying and rolling away as Toby sat on the ground dumbfounded...let's just say, he learned his lesson and I am still recovering from the rush of Mama Bear Adrenaline. Zanna just looked like a deer in headlights but never cried. Thank you, Jesus!

I love my kids.
I wish I were a better parent. I am sure every parent feels that way.
Thankful to the Lord for them. Crayons, paper, toys, laundry, tissues (Toby likes to call it snow and use it accordingly) all over the floor.....haven't seen a clean bathroom or floor in about two weeks. Sigh.
Be blessed.