It's been one of those days. Last week, about this time, Abby spiked a fever and a cold. She also woke up late at night and would cough and then cry, as if her throat hurt. I took her to the doctor last Friday because I was afraid she could have strep. (W - the little boy I watch had it earlier in the week.)
Turned out she was fine - just something viral she would get over. Which she did in a few days - at least her fever went away. Of course, the runny nose takes longer. But, since Abby didn't have anything big, I didn't think much of it when Natalie started getting sick on Sunday. She was out of sorts until Monday afternoon and then seemed better. Yesterday, however, she started spiking a fever again and woke up this morning about 4am with a horrible cough. We were up about 2 hours.
Today, I had to pick W and B up early - at 9am (no school). Ben stayed with the girls but when I got back, I discovered Natalie still had her little cough and had a fever. So, I decided to take her in for a quick visit. Here's where the day goes all wrong.
Keep in mind that sick visits are usually about 30 minutes. I'm usually in and out. No big deal. We had big plans today to go to "Jumping Beans", a nearby inflatable play place. I was doubting whether we'd make that, but I figured we could at least take in some parks and Natalie could swing. Well. So much for all that.
Here are the days events:
9:45ish - arrive back at my house with W and B
call dr. dress girls, leave
10:40 arrive at dr.
one med student, one resident, one attending, one nurse with pulse ox reading (sating at only 93%), one x-ray, more waiting for x-ray to be read and a total of 2 hours later, we leave with our prescription and a diagnosis of probably pneumonia - unless it's just left over from a month ago, but we should treat it anyway.
The kids were spent - all of them. Me too. I have to say that W (almost 8) and B(almost 6) were absolutely amazing. They truly are the best kids ever. They never whined or cried or threw a fit. A few times they asked if we would be done soon and said they wanted to go home (I replied, I did too!). This was NOT how they had planned to spend a fun-packed day with JoJo. I felt SO bad for them.
By this point, I was not above bribing/rewarding/compensating their incredible behavior with promises of lunch and toys from Target.
By 1:00pm, we were at a favorite spot - Mellow Mushroom - for pizza. By 2ish, we were hitting Target for well-earned toys. At 3pm, we were rescued by their dear aunt who agreed to watch the kids while they played with their cousins.
By the time I dropped them off with full-bellies and new toys, I don't think they hated me too much. Then I took poor little Natalie and Abby home for naps and relief. Abby didn't really sleep much, so we played a little.
All in all, it was a pretty awful day. I felt bad on every account: as a mommy because my babies were sick; as a nanny for dragging the kids through all that and ruining their day; as a mommy for trying to balance my kids needs and my charges needs to try to make everyone happy; as a babysitter for failing to provide an enjoyable day. As far as I'm concerned I failed on both accounts: mommy and babysitter.
Oh, did I mention I have a horrible cold and can't breathe when I lay down?
*big sigh*
To top it all off, my sister is coming tomorrow and we were supposed to go to my mom and mema's for the weekend. Needless to say, we won't be doing that. The babies need to rest, recuperate and not infect anyone.
I really hope tomorrow is a better day. It has to be, right?
edited at 10:30pm to add: Abby just spiked another 102 temp and threw up. Ahh, the glamor of spit-up on your face and down your shirt....
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