Summer Strep-idemic Stinks

When it rains, it pours. This last week it appears to have been raining Streptococcus bacteria directly over our house. It all started last week when Patrick started coughing. That didn't concern me much because Patrick has allergies and usually has a stretch of time during each season where he coughs and sneezes regularly because of something floating around in our funky Houston air. When he woke up one morning with a high fever and looking sick and puny I knew I had to get him to the Dr. right away. Naturally I had to wait until the next day (Thursday) and by then he was even worse. The verdict? Pneumonia AND Strep. Wow.

I don't know about you other moms out there but whenever my kids get sick, I start questioning my decisions and always manage to find something(s) that I may or may not have done that must make the whole thing ALL MY FAULT. Even though my rational mind knows full well that kids getting sick is a normal part of life and in no way reflects on my abilities nor does it call into question my qualifications as an effective parent for my kids...unfortunately, there is that other voice. The one that says 'you shouldn't have assumed his cough was allergies.' 'You shouldn't have waited to take him to the Dr.' 'You should have found an alternative when you couldn't get him into the Dr. until the next day...'  That other voice can be pretty convincing and is a real pain in the butt. I try my best to ignore that other voice but sometimes it sneaks back in and I get the guilts all over again. Occupational hazard of mommyhood, I guess.

Friday night I had such a sore throat I could barely swallow and body aches were getting pretty noticeable. I had given Patrick a hotel-style 'sick bell' to ring and he was making liberal use of it. I've since decided that though it was a cute idea, we won't be dusting off the sick bell and using it again the next go-round. He was really running me ragged with that thing. On Saturday morning, I woke up feeling terrible and Michael woke up with 101.6 fever. Off we went to the clinic and we both ended up positive for Strep as well. By this time, Patrick, Michael and I were all crowded into my big king-sized bed and Mattie and David were trying their best to avoid us like the plague. We hung out and played video games and watched TV most of the weekend.
Mattie was so excited that she was the only non-sick Kingsbury kid. She was taunting us a bit too much and I think she jinxed herself because this morning (3:30am) she was up with 102.4 fever and was shaking with chills. My poor baby. Then mid-morning David called saying he had a scratchy throat and felt bad so he made a Dr. appointment for himself. Strep got us all. One by one. I hate Strep.

So, let's look on the bright side. Praise God, we have good insurance and health care providers. Thankfully we enjoy each others' company and found a way to enjoy ourselves despite the fact that we all felt crummy. The dog is not sick. (Yet...fingers crossed.) Although the house is a mess, at least we aren't planning to have guests any time soon. We got sick BEFORE we left on our vacation to Maine instead of getting it when we arrive there. Everyone is now on antibiotics and we are all on the mend. We got it out of the way before school starts. One of our neighbors sent over some yummy chicken soup so I wouldn't have to cook. These are all things to be thankful for.

Honestly, I'm exhausted. Being a sick mom with sick kids just stinks. Nobody really cares that Mom is sick. They want what they want when they want it. The other day I was like *sniff, sniff* 'What is that smell?' Then I realized I hadn't even had time to take a shower! They mean well, don't get me wrong....they just wear me out. David was a big help doing laundry, etc so that is a big plus. I'm just tired. Gotta pack for vacation, gotta get the kids ready for school. I've done some figuring and looking at the calendar and the way I see it, after this upcoming vacation, my next opportunity to get any decent rest will be sometime the 2nd week of January 2012. Yikes! That does it...I'm going to go crawl back into bed and pull the covers over my head while there's still time. Take care, ya'll.

Blessings,
Cat