Sickies

On the evening of February 1, we noticed that both Michael and Rachel had rotten little coughs. We decided that we should probably keep them home from church. It was more as a precaution for the other kids. Michael handles his illnesses like a champ, rarely letting anything slow him down. Well, the next day (Sunday), we sadly watched our little boy lying around the house, not moving or saying much. Not complaining, but obviously not his typical Michael self. Rachel was a little cranky, but we gave her medicine to help her. At one point, Brian was cuddling with Michael, reading him books. Then, he passed him over to me. Michael was burning up! We checked his temperature and he was at 103 degrees! No wonder he was just laying around. We gave him some medicine, and by the next day, he was doing much better. 

But, Tuesday morning, Rachel was a lot worse. She was miserable--even though she had medicine in her system. She was completely inconsolable, had a horrible cough, and wouldn't sleep. As soon as the doctor's office opened, I called and made an appointment. As soon as the doctor heard her cough, he said, "Oh, I know what that is. Croup." Croup. Flashbacks to Anne of Green Gables and Anne administering Ipecac to Minnie Mae while everyone was at the Rally. Croup. No wonder my baby was miserable! He gave her a shot to help her breath better and said that cold wet air was the best thing for croup.

So, we went home, and invited Sam and her kids to join us on a walk since her kids were sick too. We bundled them up and headed out into the cold, wet weather.

And it started snowing on us while we were out. Thankfully, we had a plastic shield over the babies, so they stayed dry, and the other two just loved the ride. I'm sure anyone driving by must have thought we were terrible parents, but we were just following doctors' orders. And by the time the kids started feeling better, I'm pretty sure I got sick. Oh well, what do you do? It was the first time Rachel had ever been sick enough to go into the doctor, and he was impressed that she made it that long. Still, it was really sad having my babies sick.