They say things happen in threes, but this week it was way more than that. We are all SO glad that it's behind us. It started out innocently the end of the week before, when a few kids started to not feel well. It didn't really keep them down, just slowed them down a little. My parents were still here, so we had extra hands which was nice, and we were handling everything okay.
And then...
Monday hit. The photographer was schedule to come that afternoon to take pictures of the house so we could get it listed. My dad had spent the better part of the weekend painting, and we had matched the paint of the house and purchased it at Home Depot--thinking it would work. Monday morning we discovered that the paint color was a match, but not the sheet, and we could see every single place that had been touched up or painted. I frantically hunted down the manufacturer of the paint, where the builder bought it, and the nearest location, so I could go get some to re-paint...quickly. If not, we would have tape off and paint every single wall we had touched up.
To top it off, Henry was very sick--totally lethargic, and other details I will leave out. Ryan was home sick, throwing up, and we were trying to keep him hydrated and out of the hospital. Caroline was also sick, fussy, and wanted to be held all of the time. The house still had to be cleaned, the walls painted, and all the kids taken care of. In a few hours.
Somehow we pulled it all off, and if my parents hadn't been here, I don't know what I would have done. It was CRAZY, and lots of prayers pulled us through. The house was painted and cleaned, the photographers came...and then I took Henry to the doctor. The poor boy seemed like he was at death's door, and it was actually pretty scary. After some cultures were taken, it was discovered he had salmonella poisoning, and the CDC was monitoring his case, just to make sure it wasn't an outbreak.
My parents left the next morning--Tuesday morning--and then our bad luck continued. In the middle of the night, we woke up to Caroline screaming. We went in to her room to check on her, and it was clear she was very ill. She was struggling to breathe, her little chest was retracting severely, and she was frantic. We gave her several breathing treatments, and after about an hour, she had calmed down enough that we could put her back to bed. In a couple of hours, she was up again, and this time it was worse. At 3am I took her in to the Emergency Room, and we didn't have to wait at all--they took us right back and starting more breathing treatments. After three of them, plus a dose of steroids, she hadn't improved, and they decided to admit her.
She was immediately hooked up to a million things, which meant we had to stay on the bed--and not really move anywhere else. I held her most of the time, and fortunately she slept quite a bit that next morning. When she woke up, it was hard--she didn't feel well, but she didn't want to stay on the bed either. Trying to entertain a sick 14 month old in two feet of space for a couple of days is quite the challenge, and thanks to some really amazing nurses, we made it through. They spoiled her rotten--brought snacks, books, and even figured out a way we could for a walk around the halls. Rick came that night and stayed with Caroline while I showered and changed (I was still wearing my pajamas from the night before), and brought some much needed relief...and chocolate. Fortunately, she began to improve, and we were able to go home the next afternoon. Meanwhile, Henry was still sick, so fortunately, Rick was able to stay home with the boys and take care of him.
I've had some really crazy weeks in my life, but I have to say, this has definitely made the top three. I'm just so grateful that everyone is okay--we made it through with everyone now well, and our house went up on the market as planned.
