Lisa Bonnema

Mom. Writer. Speaker.

Whirlwind

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The last few days have been a bit of a blur, so I’ll keep this short. First, no baby. And thank goodness for that! I’ve never appreciated God’s timing more than I have the last few days.

Emma’s suspected UTI turned into days of high fevers, a bad case of croup, and borderline dehydration. She wouldn’t eat or drink, and sleep has been the last thing thing on our minds. Between lukewarm baths, cold rags, scary coughing fits and vomiting, and 2 days of feeding her liquids through a syringe to avoid IVs, I am pooped.

Her temps reached 104, and on Sunday, we had to WORK to keep it at 102. We’ve been to the doctor twice and the hospital twice, but thankfully, blood work revealed no underlying infections and adequate hydration. Thanks to Jeff literally forcing liquid into her body, we’ve managed to keep her out of the hospital for an extended period of time. (By the way, she doesn’t have a UTI either!)

Needless to say, I am so happy Baby #2 has decided to stay put. Funny how your priorities quickly change! It is exhausting having my first baby attached to me EVERY second and wanting to be held and carried EVERYWHERE, but I am so happy I have been able to take care of her and focus on getting her well.

What’s even better is that after a wonderful 2-hour nap yesterday, Emma turned a corner, and it looks like we are on the way to recovery. She is starting to pee more often and even drink on her own (a little). She even ate a fruit cup and a few handfuls of scrambled egg last night.

And she slept great last night. She only woke up about 4 times, which is MUCH better than every 45 minutes to an hour. Plus, one time was to go pee! That means I also got some sleep, which has made such a difference. I feel pretty darn good for 6:30am.

Well, that’s the scoop, and that’s why there was no Model Monday. Thank you all for checking in, and I’m sorry if I kept you hanging for a few days. I am convinced more than ever now that God’s timing is perfect…always.

Why do we even question?!

Yep, I peed my pants…

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And I have the emergency room receipt to prove it.

Let me explain:

*Note: This may be TMI for most of you, but I haven’t posted a juicy preggers story yet, so I feel I’m due!*

Last week started out to be a good week. Emma’s meltdowns had slowed down, and we had a great Father’s Day. Then Tuesday hit. I felt like total crap. Flu-like symptoms all day and totally exhausted. And I felt like I was peeing EVERY.TWO.SECONDS. I felt like I was newly pregnant again, but yuckier. I even asked Jeff to come home early from work (read: on time for once). He didn’t, but that’s another post…

Anyway, Jeff comes home, lets me take an hour nap, and then is off to job #2. I start to feel better, put Emma to bed, and get a little work done. Around 10pm, I headed upstairs to go to bed, but stopped on our main floor to pee for the millionth time. Then I made my way upstairs, and by the time I reached our room, I noticed my underwear was soaked. Not just a little wet, but soaked. I had felt nothing come out, and what was there didn’t smell like urine. I couldn’t get a hold of Jeff, so I called the doctor.

Now let me preface this by saying that I normally would have written this off as a weird pregnancy thing, but because I felt so yucky all day, I got a little nervous. I had flu-like symptoms a few days before Emma was born, and my water broke before I went into labor. Now with Emma, it was the stereotypical gushing tidal wave they tell you will never happen. But, as most of you know, “they” say it is USUALLY more like a constant trickle of water. So, the wet undies and flu symptoms made me extra cautious. Our baby wasn’t even 1 pound yet!

Long story short, the doctor told me to go to the emergency room, but said it was probably urine. Jeff got home, my mom came over to sit with Emma, and a long night of waiting, tests, and an ultrasound (bonus!) told us Baby B was just fine. The diagnosis was a urinary tract infection, and antibiotics were prescribed.

Four days later I find out none of it was necessary. Apparently my bladder has a mind of its own (even when I don’t sneeze!)

So that’s the good news. But then Emma got sick. And not sick with a mild summer cold. Nope. Weeeeee got another one of those good ole viruses!

As you saw from Friday’s post, we were getting temps in the 102-103 range for a few days. That, I could handle. The next few days, however, have totally sucked.

Zero sleep Friday night brought us to the doctor on Saturday, who informed me that Miss Emma had stomatitis, which is basically the mouth version of hand, foot and mouth disease. Our poor baby had sores all throughout her mouth. She was miserable, wouldn’t eat, and wouldn’t drink anything other than cold milk. We even tried rice ice cream and milk shakes for the first time, but she was too afraid to try anything new.

Yesterday was the first day she was able to have a full meal without wincing in pain. That has been the hardest part, watching her be soooo very hungry, try to take a bite of something soft, and then make this horrible face and spit it all out. We have honestly been living on scrambled eggs, oatmeal, and milk.

The nights have also been pretty bad. Most of the time, there was nothing I could do to comfort her. Motrin wouldn’t even help. I’ve never felt so helpless or heartbroken in my life. And this was just a stupid virus!

Anyway, we are on the road to recovery, and Little Miss is already back to her old opinionated ways. I think we both have been cooped up for too long and are way overtired. A few nights of good rest and a fun morning at Grandma’s today should hopefully get us over this hump for good.

So there you have it. For now, I’ll leave you with the little bit of fun we managed to have during our 6-day house arrest.

As any good mom will tell you: When in doubt, make cookies!

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Scratch That

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Doesn’t look like Roseola anymore. Temp. came back yesterday around 3pm, went back to the doctor, and went home with the earlier “mystery virus” diagnosis. No major temp. yet today, but this rash is growing like wildfire. Our poor baby. She’s so tired and cranky. Hoping this ends soon! Say a prayer for us!!!!!

Virus Revealed

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So Emma has officially finished up her first (and hopefully only) case of Roseola. Temps of 102-104 for 4 days have NOT been fun. And neither is the rash that broke out this morning. The good news is that the rash means the fever is gone and she’s not contagious anymore. Good thing, considering we didn’t even know what she had until today!

It’s funny how I always question whether or not I’m too overprotective of Emma. My family and friends will tell you I’m ultra-protective of Emma’s sleep schedule, and I tend to keep her home if she even shows a slight sign of a cold. It makes life more difficult, yes, but I kinda feel like that’s what you do when you decide to have children. It’s not about you anymore. It’s about the kids and the sacrifices that come along with that. In other words, that trip to Target will just have to wait. Plus, it’s not fair to other children or parents. No one wants a sick kid, and I certainly don’t want to be the cause of some child’s misery.

When Emma’s low-grade temp started to rise on Friday, I wondered if I was being silly when I decided to skip our morning play date and small group that night. I wondered if we were being lazy and making excuses when we stayed home from church on Sunday morning. Were we overreacting? In this case, I think we made the right choices. Otherwise there would be a lot of sick kids, and it would be our fault.

Granted, we did take a trip to Sam’s Club on Saturday when her temp seemed to be stable. But wouldn’t you know it—the second we got home; it shot up. Lesson learned. We shouldn’t have gone.

So what’s my point? Not really sure, but I guess all of this has reaffirmed that being a good parent comes first, even if it means putting a few things off. Even if it means having people think you are a little nutty or (gasp!) that you put your child first.

I know so many people that run their kids around, even if they are tired, sick, etc. I don’t think I’ll ever be that kind of parent. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do, but most of the time, it can wait.