2014 - A Rocky Start

It’s a new year (or actually 21 days into it!).  For many that means resolutions. I’ve never been a New Year’s resolution kind of gal.  I guess mostly because I know that I’m not going to stick to it, so why even bother?  Ha.  How’s that for a positive attitude?  Seriously though, I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, but I do believe in making positive changes any time, not just once a year. 

I realize I’ve gotten really bad at updating the blog.  Truthfully, I’ve missed it.  There have been times where I was brimming over with things to talk about and share, yet I haven’t taken the time to sit down and do it.  I’m sad that I’ve not done better at capturing our lives, documenting our ongoing journey of life after losing our girl, and sharing things that make me smile.  So, what do ya say?  Would you like to hear more from us? 

Back to the New Year.  Wow.  I can’t believe it’s already 2014.  It feels like time is just flying by.  I feel like I completely missed the whole hubbub around New Year’s this time around.  Probably because I actually did.  We did.  Our whole little family.  The flu paid us a visit, and made itself quite a nuisance.  A few days after Christmas, Addalee woke up acting a little off.  She was extra whiney and just all around not herself.  She had coughed just a couple of times, but it caught my attention.  When she woke up from her afternoon nap, she was hot.  Yep. She was running a fever.  I figured she’d just caught some crud from all the gatherings we’d been to up to that point.  I wasn’t really worried, just bummed out that she’d gotten sick.  At that point, everyone else was still well.  She kept getting more pitiful though.  She had absolutely no energy and just laid around, which is the opposite of her personality.  When she’d been fevering and sickly for a couple of days, I started to get scared.  (Of course, she got sick on a Friday evening and over the weekend!)  By Sunday morning, Abigail was following behind Addalee.  She had a low fever and a very runny nose. 

Just not herself.  But still sweet.

In Addalee's new ride.

I still believed it was a cold/virus, but knew we needed to get Addalee checked out by her pediatrician.  We took her in on Monday, 72+ hours after symptom onset.  They tested her for flu and strep.  Initially, we were told her flu test was negative, so that’s why they checked her for strep.  But then they came back and said that she was positive for Flu A.  (Oh crap.  I know that some people wouldn’t really be phased by hearing that their child has the flu, except wishing they weren’t sick.  But I started thinking of the horror stories of children that were otherwise healthy and got the flu, and didn’t make it.  I blame PTSD and an overactive imagination.)  Since she was past the 48 hour symptom onset window, she was not a candidate for Tamiflu.  So all we could do was push fluids (almost impossible), and wait (almost impossible).

Even though Abigail hadn’t been quite as sick as Addalee, we felt like she needed to be seen too, since we now knew we were playing with the flu.  And sure enough; Flu A.  I may have broken down in tears in the pediatrician’s office.  They may have thought I was crazy.  The good news was that she could do the Tamiflu.  And the doctor actually put Arthur and me on it as well, just as a preventative measure.  I was thankful for that.

Pitiful little thing, watery eyes and runny nose with fevery cheeks.

Our arsenal.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that was New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.  I couldn’t even tell you which day was when!  I know for a fact that we were in bed LONG before the ball dropped, and I was super annoyed by the people who shot fireworks and would’ve hunted them down and coughed in their faces if they’d caused the girls to wake up!  Thankfully it didn’t come to that.

Fast forward a bunch of long days and long nights, over 3 weeks later they’re both on the mend.  Addalee still has a cough and Abigail is still battling a runny nose.  3 weeks.  And they’re still not quite 100%.  That’s nuts.  This virus is no joke.  I’m thankful that they’ve come through it as easily as they did.  I hate that they missed out on the end of their Christmas season, but Lord willing, they will always have next year.

Getting back to normal.