All in a Week

I should have put up posts from Kate's first birthday this week, but no such luck. Add that to the ever growing list of things to be done around here, namely finding insurance and mopping my floors. Oh, and sleep. That would be good.

Saturday was Kate's party. She had some sniffles, but was otherwise fine. When we got home from the party, we received some mail informing us that the health insurance we had spent the last 2 months applying for was denied. Her current coverage ends on Thursday. Sunday we went to church and then stopped for a quick lunch. At lunch we noticed the dreaded, green goop in her eyes. By the time nap was over, it was obvious she had a sinus infection and pink eye. Leah also had a pink spot on her eye lid from last week, but it was just a stye. We headed to the doctor Monday morning and found out Kate had a sinus infection, pink eye and an ear infection. We got our prescriptions and headed out, almost 3 hours later. I did double check with the doctor to see if there were any other tests she wanted run before her insurance ran out. Her immune panel came back totally normal, so she didn't see the need for further testing.

Tuesday we went to work, where Kate slept most of the day. I called and tried to sort through some insurance stuff. During one phone call, I had been transferred no less than 4 times and had just finished relaying my story to the agent on the other end. Just as she began explaining things to me, Kate dropped the remote off of my parents bed, hitting the phone base that I had put "out of reach" on the ground and disconnecting my call. THIS IS HOW THE WHOLE WEEK HAS BEEN. By Tuesday night I was so stressed out and tired of it all, I called Daddy-O and told him we were taking the girls to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. We needed some "family therapy" time. We wound up being the only ones there for most of the time and had a GREAT time. All of the "house arrest" and doctor's office visits have really caused Leah to start acting out. I think she is tired of getting little attention and no outlet. It is SO hard to balance trying to keep Kate healthy and Leah entertained. I need to do better at this!

Wednesday we went back to the doctor for Kate's 1 year old "well" check. The doctor was impressed with how well Kate's infections were all clearing up and she was able to get all four of her shots. By the time we left the office, almost 3 hours later, Kate passed out and stayed asleep when we got home. Unfortunately she woke up very cranky. At first I thought she was just hungry, since she had slept through lunch. She was cranky and cried most of the evening. I finally put her in the bath, thinking the warm water would help her legs. She did okay until she looked down at her bandaids and then she would cover her eyes and sob. It was pretty pathetic. At some point during the day I also noticed that Leah had another yeast infection (she is really prone to these). Kate had a hard time nursing, didn't want to be held and would go from being okay to crying in 0.3 seconds. By 10 o'clock she was acting flat out drunk. It was then that I remembered she had a weird reaction to her shots once before. From 10 until midnight, she entertained (daddy laughed, mommy was a little nervous) us with her drunken stupor. She finally fell asleep at midnight and slept the rest of the night.

Thursday the girls and I went to look at sewing patterns with Mammy. We also went to lunch and had a good visit. Leah was thrilled to get out and Kate was still very fussy. She went down for a late nap and woke up still cranky. It is weird. She has ALWAYS been such a tough, happy baby. She is definitely not herself. She didn't even play well with Isaiah yesterday and wound up scaring him with her temper several times. She has been biting toys and books during fits. I am not sure if it is the Augmentin she is on or if it is all from the shots or if we are starting a new "virus" and she just feels lousy. Either way, I hope it passes soon and that this is NOT the new norm. Thursday night during dinner, Leah cratered and had an earache, cough and stuffy nose. Luckily it is still being held at bay with over-the-counter meds.

Today I planned to spend with my sister, Tiffany, who is bored and on bed rest. We were headed out the door to pick her up when my mom called. My dad left for Honduras yesterday morning. My brother Andrew had a really bad seizure last night and wound up at the hospital. She and Andrew didn't get into a room until 3 am. She came home this morning, leaving Andrew to fend for himself, so that she could embroider some shirts that had to be done today, only to find her keys locked in the shop from last night during all of the commotion. She found my dad's keys, which didn't work for some reason. The girls and I (Kate fussing the whole way) swung by and picked up Tiffany and headed out to the shop. We picked up lunch on the way and stayed until the shirts were done (after SEVERAL issues with the machine, etc.). THIS IS HOW HER WHOLE WEEK HAS BEEN. I then came home, fixed dinner and almost crashed.

Kate was fussing and screaming and wanted to be held and then not and was thirsty and fussy and....... Leah wanted attention. Just attention. That's all. Well, and to be held. My phone was ringing off the hook. And all I wanted was to crawl under the covers (not the first time this week). I finally decided that my thoughts were not good thoughts and I needed to put Kate to bed. Daddy-O was getting her diaper changed and she was SCREAMING. Her poor little hiney is lit up like the fourth of July. Poor girl was trying to tell us all along. She has been SO fussy though, we didn't know. I felt SO bad for her and just wanted to cry with her. I gave her antibiotics, eye drops, tylenol and diaper rash cream. Got Leah cough medicine, cream for her yeast infection and a warm compress for her eye. Kate finally settled down to nurse and Daddy-O read with Leah for a while. They are now all asleep....hopefully for a while.

I know that this is going to sound bad, but I think I am getting burned out on "needy-ness". With Kate being sick for as long as it seems like she has been and Leah needing extra attention because Kate has been sick and needing to find insurance and needing to go to the doctors and needing to have this and that test done and needing to do laundry and needing to clean and needing to get groceries and medicines and need, need, need. I feel like I don't want to be needed for a while. Not even by my own kids. I don't like being here, in this state. I think I am just worn down, worn out, exhausted. I think I NEED a break.

I hope that by Monday I am back in the saddle and feeling rested. I've got a lot to do!

The count for this week - Two pink eyes, Two ear infections, One sinus infection, One stye, One yeast infection, One head/chest cold = One warn out mama