Speeding Downhill

11/5/2009

Wow, is life speeding along! If you can picture sitting in a vehicle with no brakes, and coasting at break-neck speed down a hill full of pot holes and cliffs to avoid… that’s how I feel. Lol. I have a tiny little bit of control in that I can steer, but there’s nothing I can do about the speed. All I can do is hang on for the ride, trying to avoid the pot-holes and trying not to drive off a cliff. Lol. ☺

I think I shared a couple entries ago that Nathan had had a low-grade fever. Well, after Nathan was sick, Jonathan came down with something... I am wondering if Jonathan’s illness is stress related. Jonathan has had stomach issues off and on over the past week and a half. He was out of school last Friday, but was better by Monday. He seems to be doing better, but he never had a fever, and he seemed to acting just fine. I know that one way that culture shock can show itself is through stomach aches, and I do believe Jonathan has been experiencing culture shock here at FPO. Poor thing. He talks a ton, but I don’t think he can quite understand what’s going inside of him enough to be able to communicate it. But, the stomach issues have passed, and he’s been at school this week. I’m thinking we’ll be just about finished here by the time he adjusts to being here!! ☺

Of course, once Jonathan got better, it was Carolina’s turn. Yes, I guess that’s just the way it goes. I picked her up from school this past Monday, and she seemed to have a fever. It was low-grade, so I thought it might be teething. She didn’t have a cold or anything, so I was HOPING it was teething. No such luck. When Wes checked her just before we went to bed, he told me that her eyes were open, and she was just looking at him when he tucked her in. There was something in my spirit that told me that something wasn’t quite right. Carolina is such a people person, and so expressive that it just didn’t sound right. I went in, and she was just staring. I could tell she had a high fever, so I scooped her up and brought her into our bedroom. It scared me once we turned our light on, b/c her lips were bright redish/purple… almost looked like they were about to blister. It was really odd. She was also wheezing. I took her temp, and it registered at 102.5 under the arm… so it was pretty high. Her wheezing also made me a little nervous. I began to think that maybe her lips were purple b/c she wasn’t getting enough oxygen.

Normally, we would’ve jumped on the internet to see symptoms and to check if it were serious. Since we have no internet, I called my mom. ☺ She googled it for us, and it basically said that taking 60 or more breaths per minute was working too hard for a 1 year old. She was taking 60 (or just under) when we counted, so we knew it was somewhat serious. We took her clothes off, gave her Tylenol and started her on fluids to try to get her fever down. Then, we wrapped her loosely in a blanket and when outside to get her to breathe in the cold air. We’ve been through croup enough with Nathan to know the steps we needed to take from home.

Her breathing improved a little bit with the cold, so then we took her into the bathroom and ran the shower to get her to breathe in the steam. She seemed to improve quite a bit, and the purple color seemed to be gone from her lips. I told Wes we were probably crazy not to have rushed her to the ER at the first sign of purple lips, but I just wasn’t sure. B/c her breathing had improved so much, we decided to see if we could make it through the night. We pulled her crib into our room, and we put her back to sleep. She was really ready to go down, so that was comforting to me. She seemed to drift off to sleep pretty quickly. Her fever had come down a little bit, but I just didn’t sleep much that night. I was up every half hour or so checking her fever and her breathing.

We made it through the night! So, as soon as the Pediatrician opened, I called and asked if she could be seen. (There is a local pediatrician that works with all the kids here at FPO if there is anything needed. We had already found them with Nathan, so we were familiar with how they worked and they had us on file!) They said to bring Carolina in ASAP, b/c of her breathing and fever. I know they were concerned about H1N1, but she tested negative for it!... I was grateful. She has croup, which we knew. The dr. said 60 breaths per minute is high for her age, so she prescribed some steroids for Carolina. She said the steroids should keep us out of the ER. ☺

We just have lovely timing when it comes to children being sick. This same day was the first “shot clinic” here on campus. (They have found that they save thousands by doing vaccinations “in-house” rather than contracting out.) They have an entire system down, and they can do over 90 shots per hour… kinda crazy. Anyway it has to run like a well-oiled machine in order for everyone to get his or her vaccinations. We are encouraged to ask the questions we need to before hand… find out the vaccinations our family is scheduled for and talk to the nurse BEFORE hand so we don’t slow down the process. I had done all of that, and we were fine until Carolina came down with a 102.5 fever. I was so nervous all day that they were going to make her get her vaccinations anyway. I had called and spoken to the receptionist and she had implied that Carolina would still get them. I wasn’t comfortable with that, but she said I could talk to the nurse once I got in there… since we were the last ones on the list. What a blessing to be a WHITE on this particular day!! ☺

It was quite an interesting undertaking. Wes and I both needed shots, as well as ALL the kids. Wes did speak to the nurse as soon as we got in there, and they did let Carolina sit this one out until she gets better. I was thankful for that. The boys all did pretty well. I don’t think either of the older boys even cried (which is a HUGE improvement over the past several, where Wes literally had to hold them down!) These nurses were so great at putting the kids at ease. Jonathan was crying at the end still, and one of the “Children’s ministry” volunteers came over and started juggling for him! It was the perfect distraction… then, the boys went outside for face-painting and fishing for candy. ☺ I think they’re looking forward to the NEXT clinic!! ☺

As I mentioned previously with Nathan, we have a ‘quarantine’ rule here on campus, so Carolina and I have been stuck inside for three days now. ☺ She seemed much better this morning. Yesterday, she was still struggling with her breathing a little bit. Today, her fever is gone and her breathing is much better. In fact, she has seemed restless to get out and see people. As her brothers left for school this morning, she lunged out of my arms, crying to go with them. She is such a people person! Thankfully, our quad is situated so that our front bay window looks out onto the most traveled part of the campus. She got to stand at the window and wave as her Daddy and brothers walked to school… as well as to everyone else who went by. She was all smiles and waving, saying “Bye! Bye!” It was too cute. Needless to say, I think she is doing much better. I’m convinced she will be back in school tomorrow!