she’s asleep, in her own bed. ahhh. my arms are so much happier. it seems i’ve been holding her in some way or another for a day and a half.
far be it from me to assume that z would be anything more than an overachiever – today’s doctor visit proved it so. cuz on wednesday at 5:30 the flu hit, and then starting last night, it was 16 hours straight of the tinny-whining-crying that she only does when miserable. all she wanted was to sleep, even when daddy was here and even when dora was on tv. that’s some serious sickness.
so i had another sleepless night, this one sitting upright, propped with five pillows and a duvet, so that she could sleep in the most ventilated position possible. she still woke the usual every 20 mins, however a quick application of proven mommy back rubbing and she’d drift right back off. until 4am, that is.
then, i knew there was trouble because she’d become too hot to touch, virtually, in a five minute period and woke, screeching and crying and shaking and sobbing. so i brought her out to the lit living room and gave her some more advil to bring down the obvious temperature and figured, wtf, why not check it again. she’d been hovering around 101 for a day, this was hotter, how much hotter was possible?!
103.5. holy fucking jesus.
so we got out of bed this morning, her having slept, me needing caffeine but in the midst of my own sickness wherein coffee and food are not really options unless i want to throw up directly on her. and we went to the doctor. keep in mind, only what…36 hours has passed since the first onset. drumroll?
she has two massively infected ears and what sounds like the beginnings of bronchitis. and the flu. where 38 hours before, she was completely fine.
she was a sniffling, oozing mess today, going through three shirts just from soaking them with tears and snot and drool. she managed a mommy-assisted nap of a few hours this afternoon – also vertical – and i have been administering antibiotics and double doses of pain relievers. every eight hours is advil and at the half way point, tylenol. the doctor suggested it, until her fever comes down and stays down.
while we were out and waiting for the prescription to be filled, some crazy amount of people took note of her droning from the stroller. this is a pitiful, high-pitched squeak that continues far longer than breath should support. it’s heartbreaking, really, cuz if zoë doesn’t have the strength to scream, it’s seriousville. so anyways, every single person was like, “oh someone’s tired, must be nap time.”
oh, the frustration of explaining that she was sick and with what and why did people keep asking more and more questions when her mom is frantically rolling the stroller back and forth, trying to soothe her, with gigantic dark circles, greasy hair and saturday’s makeup still on? i should have just said, “um no. she has the avian flu, back away slowly and no one needs to get baby boogers on them.”
