From the Trenches

..Or since I seem to be the only one left, maybe the foxhole.

These past few weeks have been horrible. First the morning sickness, which pretty much encompassed my entire days, and nights, has been the worst of all my pregnancies. It started earlier than the others and nothing would assuage its nastiness. Several week-ends I just stayed in bed hoping to sleep most of it off. But then I'd get hungry and have to get up and throw some food at the kids, who are actually pretty good at throwing their own food so sometimes I just left them to their own devices.

Then 'the cold from hell' hit. All of us. It was complete with high fevers, extreme malaise, and a general "I wish I could die" feeling. Shane actually took off a whole week of work- which is more sick days than he took together last year. And Shane is a trooper so you know if he is down, it's pretty serious. Thankfully my mother-in-law would come by and do provision and medication drops and even some toys to entertain the kids. We'd thank her and shoe her out the door, not wanting to let the little devils out into the world. Shane's birthday fell on one of our sick days, which we will have to re-celebrate once we are all better, and she brought a pizza and his present. I don't know how we would have gotten through those two weeks without her extra tissue, cough syrup, snacks for the kids, and lots of apple juice deliveries. Maybe we'll have a thank you party along with the birthday party.

I can say for sure it was the worst cold I've ever had. Ditto for Shane. We could nothing but lie in bed watching Netflix on the laptop. We went through both seasons of Downton Abbey, all of 'The Event' and we'd get excited if it happened to be a day where a fresh Big Bang or 30 Rock would be available. I will never take Amazon for granted. Ever.

The kids picked their own movies and holed  up in the bonus room, coming out to get extra gummisnacks or juice or cracker now and then. And int he evening I'd line them up for their nightly cocktails and send them to bed with a box of Kleenex. Actually, I ended up sleeping in Kateri's room so I could administer extras, check temperatures, or get up to vomit without  disturbing Shane's restorative slumber. I figured one of us needed to be sane the next day.

Well, you'd think having us all laid up at once would be enough, and my pregnancy gag reflex coupled with extreme coughing fits would appease the sick gods. But no. My second week in I developed a UTI, which I am prone to, especially during pregnancy. So I got myself up to the clinic, then picked up some meds, some acidophilus, and a pizza from the new Whole Foods. Anything to add a festive air to the atmoshpere and give us a break from not-home-made-meals and not Froot Loops. Which pretty much kept us all going for the first week or so.

Oh, and did I mention that the vomiting started for me as well? I only ever threw up with the first pregnancy, and that was maybe two times. But this time, like clockwork, eight pm would roll around and I'd be on the lookout for the nearest toilet or sink or whatever else seemed like a good receptacle. Sometimes it would wait until I was in bed. Then I knew I'd have to wait until it had its way to really try falling asleep.  Now it is not too picky and is testing  to see if mornings are more its style. Or maybe my stomach is just trying to tell me to lay off the Froot Loops. Second breakfasts are a must now.

By Monday Shane was feeling up to going to work but opted to work from home as I was still very much under the weather. The kids were all well by now and wanting to venture out into the great big world oustide our door. Kateri, especially had a hard time understanding it would not be nice to go play with her friends yet. After she'd been well for a week we let her play outside with them, but never in confined spaces or in our house. That gave her a little outlet for her social energies and gave us a break from her complaining she was bored.

So Tuesday Shane started back. I kept waiting and waiting to finally turn that corner where I knew I was on the rebound and would someday be able to leave my bedroom. Unfortunately, I got worse. And then I knew I needed to leave my room and haul myself to the clinic again.

"Hi, remember me? I was here last week. And a couple weeks before that. Did you miss me?Is this mask for me? Why thank you."

They did a big nasal swab- I didn't know q-tips came that long- and some blood work. I sat in the chair trying to breathe slowly so as not to set off a coughing fit and praying they would just decide to knock me out for a couple weeks and I could wake up all better. Instead, he said it had settled into pneumonia and gave me a prescription for more antibiotics. I was really glad I had asked the first dr to prescribe Monural for the UTI, as it is a one dose very targeted treatment option. You mix it with water, it tastes fine, and then you feel better. My midwife is the one who told me about it way back when. Most drs don't suggest it right away, but are amenable to it if I ask for it. I think it is more expensive than the other drugs but I like to take as little as I have to and it has no side effects.

But, for the pneumonia the dr said a round of azythromicin, which is only 5 days, but can can have some rather unpleasant side effects. I definitely did  three hours after the  first dose, but by the second the probiotics had kicked in and I seem to be tolerating it just fine. I still feel like death warmed over and spend most of a 24hr period in bed, but at least I don't have horrid stomach cramps to go with it.

Also today, I was able to eat the most I've eaten in weeks. After doing the requisite morning ritual, of course. So I am hoping the more nutrients will give me some energy and I'll be able to stand long enough for a shower. And maybe make some Easter plans? I've made none and my in-laws, who we usually celebrate it with, are going to Shane's sister's in Idaho so we'll be left to make out own party.
The neighborhood is planning  big egg hunt and brunch on Holy Saturday, which is not my liturgical preference, but given what they've been through what they've been through, I think starting festivities a few hours earlier is just fine. We are planning on going to the vigil liturgy if we are all fit to be in public by then.

As another bonus I've develped an earache and it hurts to  lie down and sometimes swallow. Given that I am already on antibiocs I am not going to the clinic again to get it checked out. I just want to tell you about it since Shane is asleep. I am hoping by the time I finish this I will be so exhausted that nothing will keep me from falling asleep. I did take some Tylenol for it earlier.

So this was not quite the Lent we were aiming for, but life offered us opportunities to practice fortitude, patience, long suffering, bonding through mutual suffering, some forms of fasting and abstinence, and eternal gratefulness for all the things life was not asking us to do. Like get on a wagon train. Shane says I'd have been a bad pioneer and probably would have been content to stay on the east coast. I think I might have been content to stay in Europe.

Happy Holy Week to everyone.

Also, spell check is not cooperating and wants to delete the entire post when I try to fix a word, so rather than fix it I am posting as is.