That Time We Got the Plague

This has been the craziest, most exhausting week. We were looking forward to a long, relaxing Labor Day weekend, but our immune systems had other plans.

It all started on Sunday morning when Sophia woke up in the middle of the night, crying. This rarely happens, but we chalked it up to teeth, calmed her down, and put her back to sleep. She woke up early the next morning and cried that her tummy hurt.  Again, I didn't think too much of it because she tells me that when she has to...you know.

We were sitting on the couch watching a cartoon when she screamed bloody murder and made me jump out of my skin.  I barely had to time to ask what was wrong when she threw up. Everywhere. I grabbed her and ran for the bathroom, but she made sure to...ahem...make her mark twice more on the way.  I yelled for Andy and we calmed her down and cleaned her up.  We hoped it wasn't anything serious, but it was.

We fed her a very bland breakfast and she wasn't able to keep that down either. We kept the girls separated for the rest of the day and Sophia didn't get sick for the rest of the day. We were hopeful that it was a quick bug and that it would pass quickly.

Our hopes were dashed on Monday evening, when both Andy and I felt unsettled and didn't eat much for dinner.  Emma complained that her stomach felt "full" and I just knew what was coming.

I went to bed early, but couldn't sleep and around midnight, it hit. Both Andy and I were battling for spots in the bathroom. I'll spare you the gross details, but let's just say it was horrific. Literally horrific. Emma woke up crying and I had to dash from comforting her to the bathroom. I was dizzy, nauseous, and achy all over.  I couldn't take care of Emma and I had to completely leave it to Andy, who, thankfully, was able to function.  On top of the illness, we had a major thunderstorm that kept Emma up instead of allowing her to sleep for a few precious minutes.

The morning was a blur. Andy and I tried to sleep when we could, alternating sleep and bathroom trips with caring for the girls.

Since then, we've slowly, slowly been trying to recover.  We thought we were in the clear with both girls on Tuesday night, but both girls had a relapse. Wednesday was sickness free, but everyone is still so weak and not ready to go back to real life. We are surviving on chicken noodle soup, toast, and crackers, but just barely.

We've received lots of well wishes and they've been such bright spots in our gloomy days. We've had two "porch" visits that we were so thankful for. Andy's parents dropped off some supplies and my sister and Kimi dropped off a care package. The girls were thrilled with both deliveries and each was like a visit from the Red Cross. 

Even though the girls appear to be feeling better, I've decided to take another day off tomorrow to give them more time to recover, rest, and make sure this illness has passed. They're having a tough time doing anything active for very long.  Truthfully, I need the extra day too.

I have the utmost respect and awe for families that deal with illness every day. I'm thankful to have two healthy girls that will recover and be back to their old selves soon. This week has been very tough but our family has become even closer as we work through this together. I couldn't ask for three other people to be stuck in a house with for four days.  Next time though, I'd like to stick with other methods of bonding. ;)  Continue to pray for our family as we heal and recover!