(Note to the Reader: The following is an excerpt from a diary discovered recently by historians researching the lives of the famous Harris Quads. It was their mother's diary and details her struggles with one of the Quads' early bouts with illness. Ultimately, the illness was nothing more than the common cold and its inherent side effects, but there is nothing common about it when it must run its course through multiple young children who have not yet developed the ability to verbally express what ails them.)
Day 1--Thomas was cranky all day today and has started running a fever. I hope it's just the aftereffects of the MMR shot he got on Tues.
Day2--Thomas is still running a fever. It's low, which is good, but he's awfully fussy. We didn't go to church today just in case it's not just from his shot.
Day 3--Thomas is still cranky and running a low fever! Can the MMR cause a fever this long?
Day 4--Thomas' low fever refuses to go away! No Ladies Bible Class for us today.
Day 5--More cranky Thomas. Continued fever. And Yea! Now his nose is running too! I'm so happy. On the bright side, I did get to leave the house this afternoon to go scrapbook at Michelle's. Thank you Kim and Carolyn for watching the kids for me!
Day 6--Thomas still has a fever and a runny nose. Jim took him to the dr today, and she discovered he has an ear infection! She prescribed an 10-day antibiotic and a decongestant. This afternoon, Zachary's nose started running too.
Day 7--We didn't go to playgroup today. Thomas still has a fever and a runny nose. Zachary also has a runny nose. And today Reagan's nose started running and she also has a fever. Oh, and she's coughing.
Day 8--Thomas had no fever today, but Reagan still does. All runny noses continue to run. And Jonathan's nose has joined in. That makes one fever and four runny noses, not to mention my own runny nose and sore throat. Grrrrr!
Day 9--No church again this week. This morning Jonathan has a fever, but everyone else is maintaining a normal temperature. All children have runny noses and are coughing. Reagan's cough is the worst of all.
Day 10--Jonathan still has a low fever. Reagan didn't have one this morning, but did by nightfall. Runny noses and coughing abound. Did get to leave the house for 20 minutes to go to Blockbuster tonight.
Day 11--Continued low fevers for Jonathan and Reagan in the morning, but none at night. Continued runny noses and coughing. We did not go to Ladies Bible Class again. Tonight, Reagan started crying after we put her to bed, despite having napped well all day. We got her up and gave her some pain medicine. I rocked her for awhile, then laid her down. After a few minutes, she started crying again. I got her up and held her in my lap in the living room for a long time. She was only content if she was facing away from me so she could see the TV and kept looking at us and grinning. Eventually, we decided the medicine had to have kicked in, so I put her back to bed. She cried off and on until she fell asleep. She slept fine the rest of the night.
Day 12--Jonathan still has a slight fever, but none for Reagan. Thomas' nose has stopped running, but he continues to cough. The other three are still running and coughing. Reagan again napped well, but started crying after going to bed for the night. She eventually went to sleep but kept waking us up with her coughing, although it didn't seem to be bothering her.
Day 13--Jonathan maintains his slight fever, but doesn't seem to feel bad. No change on runny noses and coughing. Reagan went to the dr today because of her excessive coughing, but it turned out she had an ear infection in both ears! She started her 10-day antibiotic today. No crying tonight!
Day 14--Runny noses and coughing continue. No fevers! Did not go to playgroup again this week.
Day 15--Things are starting to improve finally! Thomas is still on his antibiotic, but is no longer coughing and has no runny nose. I have one well child!!! No fevers today! Runny noses and coughing continue on the other three. Got to leave the house today to go to Wal-Mart and buy material for Halloween costumes!
Day 16--Still too runny and coughy for me to feel comfortable about having the kids in the nursery, so no church again. But they do seem to be getting better!
Day 17--Much improvement! Only a little coughing from Reagan. Noses still runny, but clear and lessening. I think we'll be okay to go to Ladies Bible Class tomorrow!
Day18--Hallelujah!!!! No coughing this morning and minimal runniness! We went to Ladies Bible Class! It was SO great to all get out of the house! I hope the whole winter is not like this!
5 comments:
What a sad diary! I wish we could have been there to help rock & cuddle (& wipe noses). I'm glad you are all "on the mend" now.
Love, Kay-Kay
Tis the season! :( We've already fought off 2 ear infections, bronchitis and an upper respiratory infection. I totally understand what you're going through.
I hope all 4 stay well for a long time!!!
Oh my! 18-days of it!...hmm, 4 kids X 4 days...sounds right on track! Poor Mommy! That picture says it all! I hope everyone is certainly on the mend and that the infections stay away.
o tis the season to be snotty! we have 1 ear infectio...both being treated and 2 runny noses that are almost done running! good luck to us this year!!!
Phew, that made me tired just reading it. I'm still waiting on Ethan to come down with his first little sickness, so far we have only had to deal with shot related fevers and such.
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