What I woke up to over the monitor this morning:

“Daddy, where are you? I’ve been waiting for you all ni-ight!”

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After Baby B’s latest fever won the two of us an extra day at home today, I’m finally rejoining society and returning to work tomorrow. I can say I’m definitely ready. With a few small exceptions (mostly doctor trips), I’ve been stuck at home for a week, so I’m eager to branch out a bit. At least if anyone gets swine flu now, I can confidently say it was not from me.

We never had to make a trip to the ER last night, thank goodness. Baby B pretty much went to bed for the night around 6:30 p.m., and she woke up briefly once at 5:30 because she was thirsty (and drank quite a bit, which I definitely encouraged). Her fever went down signficantly as of when we went to bed, and she woke up this morning with a much lower fever (around 100). She’s acted much more like herself today, which was not the case yesterday. I’m hoping (for the second time now) that we’re all on the mend.

I had a sneaking suspicion that Baby B’s short run with swine flu was too good to be true. She had a bad day on Tuesday but bounced back quickly and was pretty much normal by Thursday and Friday.

Then she woke up this morning with a fever around 101.

And her cough returned.

And by naptime, it had gotten up to 103.5, with Tylenol bringing it down to only 101 by 3 hours later.

Turns out this is a common thing with swine flu, where you think you’re better and then the symptoms come storming back, sometimes worse than before.

Baby B’s temperature at last check? 104.7. Highest ever in her life.

I called the weekend pediatric nurse, who wants to see if we can get it down via Motrin and Tylenol, but if we can’t keep it below 105 with fever reducers, we should call back to go to the ER. We should also go to the ER if she has her breathing distress symptoms or if she’s coughing constantly for 2 hours. I can tell you that we may be taking her to the ER even if her fever doesn’t reach 105. I understand they’re trying to keep unnecessary trips to the ER to a minimum, but not every case can wait until the next morning.

We’re keeping a very close eye on her this evening and overnight, and I will not hesitate to take her in if we can’t get this fever down significantly. This is not something to mess with in a child that has a history of respiratory ailments.

Keep your fingers crossed that we have this under control. It breaks my heart when she says things like, “I’m so sad because I’m so sick right now.”

The Husband returned to work today, and it looks like I will be returning on Sunday (a day late, as I was supposed to work on Saturday because it’s our busiest racing weekend of the year, but my supervisor was able to get my Saturday shift covered so I could rest an additional day).

It will be nice to join the rest of society. I wonder what I missed this week. It’s all been a blur.

I’m feeling a bit better today, though I’m still not close to 100%. Just better compared to the last few days. But I’ll take it. I’ve still got a lot of nasal and chest congestion, coughing, and now I’ve lost my voice since I’ve been coughing so much, but I’ve been upright most of the day, so that’s some improvement.Yesterday was the low point for me, and it was a pretty low one.

And let’s just say that Baby B had a real lunch and dinner today. Go me!

Baby B and I decided to spread our swine flu germs with others and kept our appointment with the ENT (way to go, Mom of the Year!) this morning. The doctor agreed that both with her history of ear infections and with three new ones within the last 3 1/2 months, Baby B is a candidate for repeat tubes. I have no hesitations regarding this decision, and her surgery will be on Monday, December 7. He said she still has a good chance of outgrowing the issue as she gets older; in fact, she has a 90% chance of outgrowing it in the next year alone. He said they can do permanent tubes, but that’s something that’s not something he does in kids this young. He said if she’s a teenager and still has these issues that it’s an option we can explore then. She had a hearing test while we were there, and it didn’t go well. One ear was borderline and one was below that, though both the audiologist and the doctor said it was likely due to the fluid currently in her ear. We’ve never had any concerns about hearing with her, so I suspect they’re right.

I’m just hoping that this illness is on its way out of our house. One good thing? No decisions needed about whether to get the H1N1 vaccine now.  (Though our decision had been to get it; it’s not available for Baby B’s age group at her pediatrician’s office yet, and the first flu clinic we could attend was on November 14. Looks like we’ll be free that morning now.)

Sorry, no Wordless Wednesday post today. And it’ll be a brief one, long enough so I can say I technically posted.

I’ll just get to the bottom line: I was confirmed for swine flu today, so the doctor is reasonably certain that’s what The Husband and Baby B have, too, even though their tests came back negative. (The tests have a very high false negative rate.)

Things are not well in our house. Thank goodness Baby B is self-sufficient in many ways (and can help too), but The Husband and I are incapacitated, and Baby B is eating meals of preztels and applesauce and oyster crackers and peanut butter for dinner the past two nights. She has watched the Pooh Heffalump movie at least 15 billion times each day because it means she’s getting into fewer things around the house. Today during her naptime, The Husband and I slept while she pretty much just roamed the house and brought us various things she found. We just didn’t have the energy to correct her.

Now have to try to get her to bed so we can eat and then get to bed ourselves. I’m not a baby when it comes to being sick, but this is rough.

I think they need to save us our own seat in the pediatrician’s office, as we’ve been making a lot of trips there recently.

The Husband came down with something on Friday night and was not well the whole weekend. He stayed home from work on Monday and still was not well enough to go to work today. He never misses time from work, let alone two days, so you know it’s not good. Baby B had a slight runny nose on Monday morning, but she was completely fine to go to daycare. I started feeling a bit congested during dinner at a friend’s house on Monday night (I’d left The Husband and Baby B at home since I didn’t want them to spread what they had), and by the time I got home that night, I knew things weren’t looking good for me.

It hit the fan overnight last night. The Husband had a rough time with a fever. I was having issues with my nasal congestion and was up for about an hour doing stuff on the computer since I couldn’t sleep. Baby B slept well for most of the night though woke up coughing and with a fever around 5:30 a.m. I felt pretty miserable myself, but when you’re the parent who is the least bad off, then you’re the one in charge of caretaking duty. Not an easy position to be in.

Normally I don’t rush Baby B into the doctor at every sniffle or cough, but with the H1N1 paranoia this year and with her history of respiratory ailments and the fact that this flu is respiratory, I think it’s something we have to do.

Oh, did I forget to mention that on Monday evening we were told at daycare that there were two confirmed cases of H1N1 in Baby B’s classroom? Yeah. Her symptoms? Fever, cough, runny nose, congestion, and respiratory distress. Could be a basic cold or other virus, but also could be swine flu, so I knew I was going to have to take her in.

I showered and went to work around 6:30 a.m. so I could get a few things wrapped up there and I could be available to stay home today and tomorrow. (I’m scheduled to be off Thursday and Friday anyway.) I spent an hour getting work done and also began calling the doctor’s office at 7:30 a.m. when they open. I didn’t get through for 25 minutes, but I was able to secure a 9 a.m. appointment. I headed home and got Baby B dressed and put in the car for yet another trip to the pediatrician.

When we got there, they had masks at the entrance and asked those with flu-like symptoms to wear one. I knew Baby B was not likely to keep one on, but I tried anyway, and I was pleasantly surprised that she kept it on (after I wrapped the long string twice around each ear to keep it in place). We were called back pretty quickly and they immediately did the rapid flu swab to check for that. The doctor came in and talked to us and examined Baby B, agreeing that she did have flu-like symptoms and could see the test going either way. She also discovered yet another double ear infection — her third in almost 4 1/2 months — so I’ve got a consultation scheduled with the ENT on Thursday morning to discuss tubes again. Clearly this is becoming a pattern again, and it’s not even winter yet. I have no hesitations doing the tube surgery again if it’s something they would recommend for her.

Baby B’s rapid flu test came back negative, which is good on the one hand, but part of me was kind of hoping it would be positive and we could just treat it and move on. We left with antibiotics for the ear infection, and she went ahead and prescribed Flovent for Baby B because of her history of wheezing episodes with colds/viruses (and the fact that both of her parents are asthmatic).  We’ll keep her on that until her three-year checkup in January and see how she’s doing on it.

Baby B and I got home and she slept for a couple hours before getting up in time for lunch. I had to run back out to pick up her medicines, and by that time, a fever had me in its grasp and I was not feeling well at all. I came home, somehow managed to eat lunch in between shivers, and laid down with Baby B to try to get some more rest. I think my fever broke recently, but The Husband’s fever has come and gone over the past few days, so I’m not expecting it to be gone forever. I’m going to have to stop in at the office and pick up a few things to do at home, but at least for the actual work days I don’t need to be in the rest of the week, so that’s helpful and hopefully I will avoid contaminating my coworkers. I just hope I’m feeling better so I can take good care of Baby B. Thankfully The Husband seems to be on the mend for the most part, so that should help out quite a bit too.

Every night at bedtime we close Baby B’s door and she cannot get out of her room overnight because we’ve got a door knob cover on the inside of her door. This does make me a little nervous in case an extreme circumstance occurs that would require her to escape her room by herself, but I’m playing the odds and guessing that’s way less likely to happen than what we’re trying to prevent. Mainly we don’t want her to have the freedom to get up when she should be going to sleep (thus getting to sleep much later than intended), and I have no desire to be woken up by a three-foot-tall person sticking her fingers in my nose or staring at me from one inch away while I try to sleep.

Last night Baby B asked us to let her sleep with the door cracked open a little. We fully knew this was not a plan that would work, but we decided to take a chance and see what happened. Having no expectations of success made it much easier to watch the display that followed.

First Baby B would walk to her door and whisper a couple of times, “Is anybody out there?” We wouldn’t answer her, and upon hearing no answer she would proceed to our dining room, which is halfway between her bedroom and the living room where we were. She would sit in the dining room chair, then wiggle off head-first onto the ground. She would stand up and gradually inch closer and closer to the living room, craning her neck expectantly to see if we could see her. We could, of course, but we didn’t let on.

If she made any sort of noise or came into our obvious view, we would say something and make her go back to bed. But a couple times she wasn’t pushing it quite as much, yet she lingered right at the edge of the living room. So one of the times she did this, I thought I’d have a little fun.

To The Husband I said, “Gosh, I sure hope they don’t come and throw Baby B’s books away! I hear all her books are thrown away if she’s not in her bedroom with them.”

Her eyes got big, you could see the panic register on her face, and she bolted back to her room. Okay, maybe a little mean, but it worked (temporarily). We eventually had to lay down the law (as expected) and close the door, which she didn’t take very well. She cried and cried, and my plan was to let her cry however long it took her. The Husband suggested that he go in there, and I’m glad he did because he was able to calm her down and she went to sleep pretty soon after that.

It was just so amusing to witness her antics, as I could see her pushing her boundaries, both literally and figuratively. I remained more as an observer and stayed emotionally unattached to the situation, and I could see exactly what she was doing. It reminded me of all those times when my sister and I were supposed to be in bed but we would sneak to the end of the hallway and eavesdrop on what my parents were saying and doing. We never gained any “secret” information during our escapades, but we were just doing what kids do: testing those boundaries to see how far we could go. The sky is the limit.

Well, at least until you overhear your mom say that someone is going to throw away all of your books if you leave your room!

Today begins NaBloPoMo, the annual challenge to write a post every day in November, and I am ready to begin! This year will be quite a bit more difficult to complete the task as it is looking to be very busy at work during the month, and we’ll be traveling over Thanksgiving weekend with limited access to the computer. So you’ll have to forgive me if some posts are just pictures or just quick stories, but I know I’ll find some way to complete the goal.

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Yesterday morning, The Husband wasn’t feeling very well, so I was on Baby B duty by myself for the morning. She and I were both bored with activities around the house, so I bundled us up and we took a walk around the neighborhood. I love to see the kinds of things she noticed when we’re out, and I thought this was particularly sweet.

A storm the night before had made about half the leaves on the trees fall off, and Baby B noticed the difference in the leaves when we were out. Totally out of the blue, she said, “There’s a mouse that goes up in the trees.” A bit confused, I said, “A mouse? Did you see a mouse climb up the tree? Are you sure it wasn’t a squirrel or a bird?” She said, “No, it was a MOUSE! It climbs up the tree and shakes all the leaves down, and they go to the ground. See there?”

There are many facts of life that I’ll correct Baby B on; I truly believe she should be armed with accurate information that can help her as she learns about the world around her. But I also don’t want to burst her bubble when it comes to some of her magical explanations for things that are mysterious to her right now. She obviously won’t always think that mice are responsible for making the leaves fall to the ground, so I’ll let her have fun with things like this from time to time, interjecting the truth as it becomes more relevant.

There are certainly times that I wish I didn’t know as much about how the world works, and I envy that in Baby B right now. In a world where kids grow up way too fast, sometimes it’s nice to let kids be kids.

The Husband and I ventured for an evening out on Tuesday night, as one of our favorite musical performers was playing at a club in Louisville. We got Baby B tucked into bed and made sure everything was in order at home, then we hit the road to the show. There was quite a downpour for most of the drive there, and it was so bad that we kept losing traction on the interstate. Scary times, to say the least, and it was a relief to be off the interstate and finding our way to the club. Street parking was necessary, then we had to walk a couple blocks to arrive at our final destination.

The rain was still coming down in sheets. There was no doubt we were going to get wet considering the distance we had to walk, so there was no point in making a run for it. We were resigned to becoming soaked.

Just then, a man with an umbrella came from out of nowhere and saw  us walking. He ran over to us and put his umbrella over my head, walking beside me, with The Husband right behind me. He said to The Husband, “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna get fresh with her. I’m just trying to keep you dry.” He jokingly asked,”Why’d you all make it rain so much anyway?”

Now I’ll admit it: I was highly suspicious of the man. He was by himself, we were dressed fairly nicely for a Tuesday night, and we were out at 10:30 p.m. at night in an unfamiliar area of a city in which we do not live. The neighborhood didn’t seem like a bad one, but I know crimes can (and do) happen anywhere. I was totally expecting him to ask me to hand over my purse at any moment, despite the benign chit-chat he was making.

We continued walking down the street, about the length of ten or 12 houses, when the man asked where we were going. I told him the club name (it was around the corner), and he paused for a moment and said, “Look, I trust you. You take the umbrella with you, and bring it back to this house, and just put it on the porch.” And with that, he went inside the house we were standing at, leaving us with his umbrella to borrow.

Instantly I felt bad for thinking that he might mug us. Sure, he only entrusted us with a basic umbrella — something easily replaceable — but that was a step above what was expected of him in the situation. His words kept resonating in my head.

“I trust you.”

I trust you.

A complete stranger, trusting us with something of his.

And it got me thinking about Baby B and the trust between us. She might be at an age where I don’t trust that she’s always going to make the right choices as she’s feeling her way around the world…just as I didn’t trust Umbrella Man initially. But she has complete trust in me — to protect her, to love her, to look after her — and that alone is enough to make me want to be even more trusting of her. Also also trusting of the job we’re doing to prepare her for life.