Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!

We had a lot happen since my last post. I'll try to catch up...

We are still recovering from our illnesses around the holidays...everyone is getting better. I still have a cold with a mean cough!

Emma had a fever that started on the night of the 18th. The next morning she was a little warm and I gave her some Tylenol. Then, on Saturday, she got worse. She was really hot, 101 degree temp. It was almost 1:00 when Emma got up from the couch and came into the kitchen where I was loading the dishwasher. She started shivering really hard and chattering her teeth. I picked her up to help warm her and noticed her fingers were turning blue and her nail beds were purple. It was moving up her little arms that were covered in goosebumps. I called her pediatrician and the message said their Urgent Care was opened until 2:30. Mom wrapped her in a blanket and we headed out the door to the Urgent Care. Aric and Joey were visiting with his Dad. I called him to let him know. When we got to the Urgent Care, one of their doors was locked. The sign said they closed at 12:30. The other door was opened so I went in with Emma in my arms wrapped in the blanket shivering. They said, "We closed at 12:30." I told them the message says 2:30. They just looked at me and said sorry we closed at 12:30. I was pretty upset, but what could I do? So we decided to go to the kids ER. I called Aric and they met us there. She felt really bad, poor girl. Her eyes said it all. Her fever got up to 103.3! I was more worried now. We had a scare when Joey was a little younger than Emma. He had a febrile seizure. It was scary to experience and we didn't want Emma to go through that! They ran all kinds of tests on Emma. They wanted to rule out RSV and other things. They shoved a catheter tube up her nostrils to collect a mucus sample. They did a full exam of her ears and throat and listened to her lungs. Then, they collected a urine sample via another catheter! This was followed by a rectal temp. She was not a happy girl! She kept saying "All Done!" and "bye, bye" then "come on" while grabbing our hands. Every time someone came in the room, she would start crying. She knew something bad was about to happen to her. One of the nurses brought her a purple teddy bear to hug on. She held him the rest of the day! He is Boo Boo Bear! Aric took her down the hall for a chest xray. He said the room was painted like space with stars all over the walls and ceiling and a big moon. Emma was calm during the xray, looking at Daddy and Boo Boo Bear. She fell asleep on Aric for about 30 minutes and a nurse came in to check on her and get another temp reading. She tried to get an armpit reading, but it wasn't working. So she needed to get a rectal reading again. Well, Emma woke up with a shock! More screaming and crying of course and more "Bye bye". Her temp was down to 101. So she could go home. All of the tests came back normal. It was just a bad virus that had to run its course. We had to alternate Tylenol and Motrin every 4 hours for the next few days. She wasn't happy about this either! I think it reminded her of the ER and we had to hold her down almost every time and pour it in. Not fun!

We were able to spend time with Aric's brothers and their families the next day. Emma was a little better, but I didn't want her in Nursery at church. I was worried she would pass it on. We kept her meds in her to keep the fever down. She tried to play a little. Her Aunt Cindy took good care of her and she got her to take a nap!

Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt's house for lunch and exchanged gifts. It is Madeline's birthday too, so we did the birthday thing as well.

Christmas day, we had another famous grilled Turkey and a Turducken with a table full of other foods. Mom cooked all kinds of desserts and kept the kitchen in order. My grandma, Dad, Quinn, and Zofi came over. Kathleen and Madeline stopped by for a little visit too. The children had a blast with all of their toys! We had fun exchanging gifts and just spending time together. Emma was feeling much better by this day.

For several weeks now, Emma has had a weird sleep cycle! She will go to bed at bedtime and then wake up in about 2-3 hours and stay awake for 4-6 hours. This is not a good combo with tired pregger Mommy and a Daddy that has to work long hours. If we keep her up late she will go to sleep and stay that way through the night. This is still not our desired outcome, but it beats sitting downstairs in the middle of the night with a grumpy whining toddler. She actually let me rock her to sleep a few nights ago! We are just hoping this gets back to normal before little sister arrives! Please pray for us!