Oh my sweet, sweet, baby girl. She has given her daddy and I a run for our money lately. She is so curious and adventurous and just wants to be involved in everything. I do love her but I'm really ready for her to feel better soon.
Let me explain.
- Over Labor Day weekend Natalie had the croup and we took her to the Acute Kids Care office by our house and they gave her an oral steroid to knock the crud out of her system. She was coughing for a few days but she got cleared up pretty quickly.
- Two weeks ago she was coughing and gasping for air in the middle of the night and sounded like a seal barking so I took her back into the doctor's office on Thursday (Nov. 3rd if you're keeping track) because I had a sneaking suspicion the croup was back. Again she received the oral steroid with the declaration that croup usually runs its course within 7-10 days.
- Over the past week and a half since taking her into the doctor she has not been sleeping well because she'll wake herself up with coughing fits. At first, Craig and I figured that she was just working on getting all the congestion out of her chest.....but it really hasn't gotten better....and we are ready for a full night of sleep.
- So. Yesterday I took her back to the doctor because her cough hasn't improved and they did a breathing treatment in the office that drastically changed whatever the doctor listens for with the stethoscope. So now we are the proud owners of an at home nebulizer. It was billed to our insurance and I don't even want to know how much it's going to cost us. The medicine for the machine was $140 (and that's WITH our insurance!) but thankfully we had a "coupon" from the doctor's office that knocked off $50.
- Last night was stressful to say the least. Craig was at a far away basketball game with his 7th graders so I had the baby, the dog, dinner, laundry, bottles, medicine, etc. to take care of all by myself. Luckily my parents weren't too far away and they were able to stop by the house and give me an extra pair of hands to help with washing bottles, giving medicine, folding laundry and loving on Angie. Thankfully I have a great dinner planned with one of my very closest friends Kate and I'm looking forward to a few hours with no baby or dog or husband to take care of.....AND....maybe a stout glass of wine to go with dinner.
- Baby girl is on the breathing machine three times a day (morning, noon and evening) and that is combined with a dose of zithromax in the evenings before bedtime. We have a follow up appointment on Friday with the doctor to see if her lungs sound better.
In other news....
- What. A. Year. I love my job don't get me wrong. I love the people I work with and for the most part I really love the kids. But this year? I don't know if something is in the water or what, but it's just been a tough year between parent complaints, kids not taking responsibility for themselves, lots of girl drama and bullying.....it's just been one thing after another. The only good news is that it's not just down in our athletic department - all across campus teachers and staff members have noticed a strange "flow" to the year. Usually things don't get crazy in schools until after Spring Break but this year we've hit the ground running with one thing after another. It's not bad and I wouldn't want to be at any other school....it's just strange because our school has good kids who come from good homes and we rarely have any major problems. So I guess my main point is - I'm ready for a break. I'm looking forward to a week off with Craig, Natalie and Angie where we can relax and enjoy each other and eat good food.
- Our Thanksgiving plans are pretty simple....Monday we're taking Natalie to Ms. Rebecca's house in the morning so that he and I can finish up our Christmas shopping. Thursday we will be eating lunch with his family and then watching the Aggie-Texas football game (Gig 'em Aggies!) and Saturday we'll be celebrating Thanksgiving with my whole family which will now include: two grandparents, three grown children, three grown in-laws, an 8 year old boy, a 4.5 year old boy, an 8.5 month old girl, a 3 month old boy and three rambunctious pups. At some point I'm going to have dinner with my friend Emily and Craig and I are going to try to make it out to my middle brother's new house that he just moved into this weekend! AND...I can't forget - the day after Thanksgiving?! We MUST decorate the house for Christmas. Craig is very excited to get everything out and show it to Natalie. I'm very nervous about this. Very. Very. NERVOUS.
- I know that it's only halfway through November, but I must admit - I'm ready to see 2011 turn into 2012. This year has been tough. Yes, there have been bright spots - the birth of Natalie of course and the births of so many other beautiful babies to my friends and family, but at the same time there have been some really dark moments and trying times in our personal lives and in our marriage. I'm really proud of Craig and I - some things that we've encountered most certainly could be the demise of a relationship and marriage, but we've approached everything as a team and shown each other considerable amounts of respect, dignity, compassion and grace. Well....I'll be honest - it has mostly been HIM showing me those things. But there has been a hidden blessing and a greater message that Craig and I have learned this year - there will be hard times in our lives and in our marriage and hopefully this year we have broached the toughest of them all, but we have maintained a good relationship and become a stronger couple because of it.
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