Stillllllll Sick!

Ugh...I keep saying to myself that 'tomorrow' will be easier and I'll get more done.  But then tomorrow comes and I get even less done than I planned - which means I'm not getting anything done from the day before.   I'm blogging this now with Hailey sitting next to me. 

She's better - but now she's coughing up so much mucus that she made herself throw up.  Since the other 2 slept through it - I'm opting to keep her with me and clean her bed at some point when the other 2 wake up...which will happen.  For now - it's some one on one with Hailstorm. 

Let me back up to yesterday (which seems forever ago).  The girls and I had a bridal shower to go to.  Yes - they were sick with croup.  But they are IN the wedding.  And - I thought it was important to be at the shower even for a short period of time.  Maybe not the best choice but hey - it's what I chose.  The shower was from 12 - 3...prime nap time.  So at 11:30 - off I went with 3 sick, non napping toddlers to a place full of people they didn't know.  I was just asking for trouble.  BUT they did great.  They sat in their chairs or on my lap for 2 hours.  Hannah even participated in a game by letting everyone at our table wrap her up in toilet paper as a 'toilet paper bride'.  Team player all the way!  The other 2 were so supportive of her too.  Hailey held Hannah's hand while we walked around and showed off our 'gown' and Emily stayed close as well.  We did leave around 2:15 because they were starting to get comfortable and after having to say 'please use your inside voice' twice...I decided we better split before we have a triple melt down. 

On the way home - they fell asleep.  So I drove home, picked up Pete and we drove around for an hour to let the girls nap.  If I had woken them up at home - they wouldn't have gone back to sleep.  Once we did get home - while getting Emily out of the car I felt her head and she was on fire!  Hmmm...maybe it's just me because it's hot and we were in the car for so long.  But Rosemary was here waiting for us - and she said the same thing.  I took Emily's temp and it was 104.5.  SHIT! 

I have options.  Tylenol (no question there).  Then it was either find a way to get her temp down or bring her to the ER.  I hate the ER.  It was still only around 4:00 so I figured we'll go out in the pool.  I convince them all to come outside and hang out and play in the pool for a bit. 

A neighbor of ours came by and we got to chatting.  Here I am - standing in the middle of a kiddie pool, covered in water, watching the girls play, making sure Emily is keeping cool when all of a sudden one of our elderly neighbors comes out onto her front steps and says "I think he's dead."  WHAAAAAT???  I say 'Excuse me?'  And she repeats herself.  "I think he's dead!"  Holy shit what do you mean you think he's dead?!?!  My lovely neighbor that I was chatting with says 'OMG you have to go - I can't go in there.  You HAVE to go check on him!"  Now...I'm all about helping out...don't get me wrong.  BUT with all due fairness to me, myself and I - I have 3 kids in a POOL.  I don't care WHO you are...I'm not leaving my kids unattended.  Friendly neighbor or not.  Just my luck that Pete pops his head out of the door right then and the neighbor says 'OMG you have to come out here!'  So Pete comes outside.  I say to watch the girls (about 3 or 4 times...because I know that in mass confusion - it only takes a MINUTE for something to happen).  Again...I'm walking up the porch to this neighbors house and I yell back "I'm leaving and the kids are in the pool - WATCH THEM'  I'm freaking out inside at what I'm about to see and also that my kids are in a pool (I know...it's just a kiddie pool but that's me). 

Now as we're walking up the stairs to the bedroom - the lady says 'He's cold and not moving and he's not breathing and I never should have left him alone.'  I'm ASSUMING that he's in bed and passed away in his sleep in the middle of the night.  I walk in the room and *GASP* he's on the floor, face down, head against a nightstand and in an almost fetal position.  He's ice cold, no pulse, and stiff as a board.  He's indeed dead.  I get his (at the time I thought they were married but later found out that they were just friends) friend downstairs and outside.  Pete was kind enough to say 'Is he dead?!?!'  Ahhh the sensitive part of men is amazing.  I say yes - and get our phone to call 911. 

The 911 call was jaw dropping.  1st someone answers and I explain that my elderly neighbor came home and found her husband and he's probably dead.  (I mean...what do you say?).  I'm transferred to someone else.  The someone else I spoke to was a woman and after quizzing me where I was calling from and why I was reporting something at a different location than where I lived she put me on hold.  She did take down the information and after SEVEN MINUTES on hold she came back on the line and said that emergency personnel had been dispatched to our location.  I say thank you and get ready to hang up the phone.  BUT she says "Ok - now I'm going to give you instructions on how to perform CPR."  In the span of about 3 seconds - a million and ten things ran through my head.  One of which was 'F*ck you lady!  I am NOT doing CPR on an 86 year old guy that's been dead for probably 24 hours now!'  But what came out of my mouth was 'ummm...I don't think that's necessary.'  She says "ummmm, well.....uh - lemme see..........uhhhhhhhh......well it says I have to instruct you how to do CPR so can you get to the patient?'  Right now I'm pissed.  She put me on HOLD for over SEVEN MINUTES and NOW she wants to tell me how to do CPR?!?!  WTF is wrong with our system?! 

Just so you know...I declined (which I can do).  If there was a chance I could have saved this guy...I never would have been the one to call 911 and I would have been pumping the shit out of his chest long before paramedics got there.  But dead is dead...and I'm not God and I'm in no position to bring someone back to life. 

And just so you also know - it only took about 5 minutes for a cop to come down and explain to this lady that "I'm sorry ma'am - he didn't make it" 

By this point - Pete had brought the kids inside - they certainly didn't need to see/hear all the sirens and emergency personnel.  I start to leave and a cop says he needs me to 'stick around for a bit'.  Every neighbor around here was out and buzzing - I was not only NOT needed there but I WAS needed at home.  I kindly explained that I had my own situation at home and said if he needed me he was more than welcome to knock on my door.  No knock came.  End of situation. 

I feel bad for his friend.  She never should have had to find him like that.  And I feel awful for him.  I hope to God he had a heart attack or stroke and died before hitting the floor.  I was infuriated with the 911 operator...but I'm also in no position to be complaining about the very people I just may need one day.  :) 

Emily's fever was down to 102 by bedtime.  Yay!  No need to go to the ER.  But bedtime was a nightmare.  I did call the doctor at some point during this mess and she called in some steroids for Hannah & Emily.  (Hailey was already on them from when she visited the doc on Thursday).  Pete went and got their meds - we knew we would have to wake them up to take them but so be it.  There was no way they would be able to stay awake until he got home. 

We wake up Emily & Hannah, give them their meds and all chaos breaks loose.  Emily was pissed off about having to take some meds and being woken up.  Hailey just woke up screaming.  And Hannah was so worked up that she threw up all over the place.  This was a F*CK IT moment.  I was tired.  Pete was tired.  I had nothing left.  I had 3 screaming kids, one huge mess of throw up to clean, and no patience.  So I simply said "Who wants to sleep in Mommas bed?"  SILENCE!  Followed by 3 'meeeeeeee's.   Great - let's go. 

3 kids plus Pete and myself...thank God for king sized beds.  Emily is a bed hog.  Add to that - her and Hannah couldn't stop coughing.  It was a miserable night.  Emily was wheezing, everyone was all over the place and finally Pete was like 'I can't take this...I'm putting them all back in their own beds.'  And we did.  But then I couldn't sleep because I was worried about Emily.  What a cycle huh? 

5:30 they wake up - and I get up with them.  Emily is still wheezing so I end up calling the doc and getting her in to be seen at 11:30.  Luckily my mom stopped over today - she was kind enough to watch the girls so I could shower...and then she said she'd come with us for a quick trip to the doctor.  LOL (quick...hahahahahaha).  We get there - and the doc wants an x-ray.  We get to x-ray and we have to wait for it to be read in case the radiologist wants more views.  3 hours later we're back home. 

X-ray was negative for pneumonia, doc called in some meds for the nebulizer and said to give her a treatment tonight if she starts wheezing again.  I'm hoping the steroids kick in and take over though. 

My mom left, the girls and I hung out, lounged, played in the pool, kept away from the neighbors, made a mess in the house, cleaned the mess in the house and then Pete came home.  Yay for Pete coming home!  (Sometimes I wonder why he doesn't keep driving and never look back!). 

He watched the girls while I made dinner and then it was quick to bed for the girls.  They didn't have good naps (napped in the car again) and didn't sleep well last night.

Then Hailey was coughing so bad she threw up.  Ugh...I'm NOT repeating last night.  So - back to the top of the post and you'll see where we are. 

Welcome to our life!!!!!!!!!!