Les Invalides

I need to vent. This winter -- the last week in particular -- has been so hard. So I'm going to have a little pity party, then put this behind me and move forward.

I feel like this winter has been even more difficult than last winter with a newborn. We've had at least one person sick in our household since Thanksgiving. The illnesses began with pink eye, fever, coughs, colds, more fever, throwing up, diarrhea, and more throwing up. Did I mention throwing up? I think my favorite phrases have been "Oh, let's take your temperature" and "Let mama hold you." 

Here is a typical day in January:

We had about five days of everyone feeling well at the same time. Then last week we came to what I hope is the grand finale.

Jack Buddy kicked things off. Brandon and I had noticed that he was reluctant to put weight on his left leg. So we took him into our doctor, then were sent to a specialist in St. Paul, where we discovered that he has a fractured tibia (shinbone). The little bruiser was patched up with a big blue cast that he'll wear for three weeks. 

Apparently this type of injury in toddlers isn't all that uncommon. Their bones are still fusing, and often just twisting a leg the wrong way while learning to walk can cause a fracture. Also rough-housing with a certain big sister could have caused some damage. Unfortunately our little dude has been living with this pain for at least a couple weeks, which certainly explains some of his behavior. He should be as good as new once the cast comes off, and the doctor said his tibia will actually be stronger than it would have been without the cast. Still, I wish he didn't have to go through this ordeal.

In typical Jack fashion, he kicked back and relaxed while getting the cast put on, and loved chewing on the roll of cotton. (By the way, cotton in any variety is one of his favorite snacks. We really have to keep him away from the toilet paper.)

So that was Friday. Then on Saturday, it was Lucy's turn. 

She has been battling a cough and cold on and off this fall, just as we all have. Both kids have had occasional fevers, but nothing too high, and they always came down quickly with a dose of ibuprofen. But on Saturday afternoon, Lucy woke up with an alarmingly high fever of 103.8. Brandon took her to Children's, and after a wait of 4 hours, the doctor ruled out the flu and RSV and determined she has pneumonia. So now she is on antibiotics, and she was already doing better by Sunday. 

It killed me to be at home while Lucy was in the ER, even though I knew she was in Brandon's very capable hands. But when he sent this photo, it just did me in:

Today I'm delighted to report that we're on the mend, but I'm left wondering if it's ever possible to mother without guilt? I'm trying to cut myself some slack but it's certainly not easy, as I know every parent would agree. 

For now, I'm grateful that our nuggets are improving every day.