Monday, February 23, 2015

I heart Tamiflu


The second half of January was plagued by sickness for us. And then the majority of February as well.
It has sucked.
Poor David had it the worst of us, he was sick for nearly two weeks straight.
The rest of us got small reprieves in between viruses.

The last Thursday in January, David was home from work with what we thought was a nasty stomach bug (and learned later was Influenza A), and I had a cold, but the kids were healthy and we were pretty sure the end of illness was near, and the kids had managed to escape it all.
(what fools we were...)

Then I went to pick the kids of up from preschool Friday morning, and was in my van in the pick-up line (early) (which is rare), and the teacher brought my babies out to me, before school was even over. Turns out Abbey had just thrown up in class! Poor thing!! She felt miserable, and was so embarrassed she'd thrown up in front of her friends. My heart just broke for her. We quickly headed home, where she proceeded to spend the rest of the afternoon throwing up, coupled with a 103 temp. My poor baby.
 I finally drug myself to an Urgent Care that afternoon, and was diagnosed with bronchitis and an ear infection. I had 100.8 fever there. I may or may not have begged politely requested the Urgent Care doctor just admit me to the hospital, put me in a delightful little medicated coma, and just wake me when I and everyone in my family was healthy again.
She said no, but she would give me lots of cough syrup with codeine, which is a cheap but close second.
That same evening Luke was light-sabering around our living room with his usual fervor, and then randomly decided to lay down on the couch.
And promptly fell asleep.
Which has happened exactly never in that boy's lifetime.
I took his temp and was not surprised when it read 103.2. Bless his little heart, he had it too.
So. We've been hanging out around the house a lot lately. Recovering.
Luckily, these adorable kiddos have a vivid imagination...







Lots of jammies. Unlimited screen time. No regular meal times. Lots of toast.

 Because the twins got on Tamiflu the very day they started showing symptoms of the flu, they were feeling much, much better within 48 hours. *miracle drug*


But I was still down from the bronchitis, and Dave was still down from the flu, so we had to call in some reinforcements, AKA:Grandma.
David's mom came up on Saturday and spent the entire day caring for our kids so we could rest.
And rest we did!
Dave ended up taking a long nap, and I slept the entire day. Like ALL DAY LONG. I didn't even see my Mother-In-Law! I didn't wake up once in the entire 8 hours she was here. The night before I'd slept on the kids' bedroom floor (very loose use of the word "slept" just there) and with bronchitis as well, I was just exhausted.


The kids were grateful to have Gaga here to care for them, as were David and I =)








Whenever our entire family gets sick, the kids rebounded the quickest, which is always a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand you're so grateful your babies aren't miserable anymore...and on the other you're like "SHHHHHHH!!!" because you still feel like death.


Luckily, between a house full of dress-up clothes and toys, and Netflix streaming instantly, they managed to stay entertained...
 














The next Monday evening I went to work, only to throw up 1 hour into my shift...which meant facing the sad reality that I was not going to escape the flu like I'd thought.
Curse words flew out of my mouth as I asked one of the pediatricians I work for to write me an rx for Tamiflu. I started the med that night, and although I was positively miserable the next day, by Wednesday I was feeling much, much better. (Seriously what is in that stuff? Is it meth?!?)


I kicked the flu just in time for my bronchitis to come back in full force. I'm finishing off round two of antibiotics tomorrow, and David just finished his for pneumonia, (which his flu ended up turning into).
OH! And. AND!! Abbey got croup in there somewhere as well.
It's been a helluva month at our house.



It's nearly 60 degrees outside today (huge for Feb in Oregon!) so we've got all the windows open and are determined to get the germs outta this house FOR GOOD.
Grateful for Netflix, grateful for friends who will run to the pharmacy for you, grateful for apple juice, grateful for warm baths, grateful for grandmas, grateful for health insurance, good doctors, and good meds.

And grateful for the ability to keep twin 4 year olds entertained during so much illness...
we even pulled some old tricks out of our book, like glow-stick bath! (AKA: Baby Rave)



Here's to a Healthy Spring!



Thursday, February 5, 2015

Tae Kwon Do!

Last month the kids have been taking Tae Kwon Do class at a local community center.
If you haven't picked up on it yet, I'm in love with these little classes! This particular one was $15 (per kid) for six classes. They're really well taught, and our kids get a taste of some activity to gauge their interest without breaking the bank.
 
I'll be honest: I'm really hoping Martial Arts is something they want to do for a long time. I love how it teaches self control, discipline, and strength.
All good things =).
 
The instructor for these classes was so great. Each class he would talk about how even the best students make mistakes, and how and when are appropriate times to use their Tae Kwon Do moves. He held their attention well, and was very firm but still incredibly positive.
 
(Luke on the right end of the back row, yellow shirt. Abbey on the right end of the front row, pink sweatshirt)










At the end of each class, the lead instructor would pick two or three kids as "Star Students", he was clear to explain (each and every week...which this over-sensitive soul appreciated ;) ) that each student did really well and he was proud of them, and that all he expected was that they try their best. He explained that this award was just for who he noticed did a particularly fantastic job keeping their eye on the teacher.
He also said that before the six classes were over, each student would receive one.
 
 
Well...Abbey was recognized her first week!! We were so proud of her!!


She got to select which color headband she wanted, and received a paper award ;)
 
Luke was a little down that he didn't get an award that first week, but to his credit, he really tried to be happy for his sister.
(it just came out later that evening when he puddled over something silly...it was one of those "there is wayyyy more to this story" kind of meltdowns)
 
But, such is life. You can't win all the time, and you have to *try* and be happy for those who do.
 
Abbey was positively beaming as the other kids in the class came up to check out her headband and congratulate her! And good for her. She earned it She was a model student.
 

Looking pretty proud in our kitchen after class...


 
The next week,  Abbey got another award. I'm telling you, that girl obeyed when she heard the instructor say the best students have their eyes on the teacher. BabyGirl was not distracted even once.
 
Luke didn't seem to mind at all that time, thank God, and seemed genuinely happy for his twin.
Bless his little heart.
 
Finally, at week three, Luke got his award! 
 

Abbey was positively thrilled for her brother.
I love love love how she is waving to him here...


We took this class with some of our twin friends, and it was particularly fun week three because one of our buddies was awarded at the same time!
 



Luke picked a green headband.

 He was so happy.
 
And both my kids finally had their headbands, and were therefor (self-declared, mind you) "Real Ninjas now", so my life was pretty complete.
 
I mean, check out these fierce moves...


Proud boy showing off his award and headband...
 

 
 
And show us how you bow...