So, you would think we would have gotten all the misery out of the way in January, when we all came down with a horrible cold and Devin and I were flattened for about a week. You would think that, but you would be wrong.
The past two weeks have been astonishingly germ-ridden. Laurel came down with a persistent cough, but didn’t seem bothered by it. Then, one night last week, Devin said he was having “cold symptoms.” The next day, he was so sick — fever, aches, coughing — that he could hardly get out of bed. And that night, Laurel woke up at about 5 a.m. with the classic barky cough that signals croup.(As soon as her coughing and breathing calmed down and she went to sleep, I got up and searched the Internet to make sure I knew what to do. Fortunately, she only had mild trouble breathing, and nursing seemed to help her calm down. But I spent several nights awake, listening to her breath catch, worrying.)
After four or five days, Laurel was able to sleep through the night without coughing. Great, I thought, we’re in the clear. The next morning, we went out and had fun riding the cable cars, though she did mention at one point that her eyes hurt. At midday, Devin texted me to say he thought he had pinkeye. He’d also developed a persistent sore throat. Laurel wasn’t showing any signs of pinkeye, but by evening was getting chills. Her fever spiked above 103, and she started throwing up.
The next day, she slept and/or nursed pretty much the entire day. With each day she seemed to improve a little, except that the fever and lethargy were replaced with some kind of meltdown-inducing malaise. It was like the stories you hear of some of the worst toddler tantrums. Everything set her off. “No” was the word she used most, usually screaming and gasping through angry sobs. To say it was fun to be her caretaker this week would be almost a total lie.
Fortunately, everyone (sort of) seems to be on the mend. I just hope we’ve banked enough severe-illness karma to last us for a long while.
— Beth
The Carraway Seed 
Leave a comment