croup.

so we have had children in our home for 7+ years.
it has been a glorious thing.  they have been healthy.
a random ear infection, once an occurrence of hand foot and mouth that was horrid...but for the most part, our kids are healthy.
a week ago, i could tell anne was not herself.
it was the day for her to visit the sitter.  i would NOT send a sick child to the sitter.  but by the time i got home, and dinner had passed....she had the fever.  which is common, in my years of parenting, it happens at night.  when you are least expecting it.  it stinks.
none the less...she also had a cough.  nothing to raise an eye brow at...until 2am.  it sounded as if i was at the zoo....she was thrashing around complaining of a sore throat.  easy enough, i thought, she had strep.   we rode it out....through the night.  one eye open (as the momma)....morning came, her breathe was weird, i called the doc, we could be seen around 2pm. 
we went.  she had croup.
seriously.  croup. it's august.  and she isn't 3 months old...but yes, that is exactly what she sounded like.  a seal, and she had no voice. 
his final words....'it's quite contagious around kids this age...if you get it, you will simply have laryngitis'. (perfect, the mother is a teacher, and the father, a salesmen...this is great!)
he prescribed a steroid which he said may make her 'hyper.' 
i smiled and said, she is pretty low key so this shouldn't be too big of a deal....
oh dear gawd......poor anne was a mess...not only did the meds taste like whiskey laced with cherry juice, it made her angry....like throw stuff kind of angry.   i tried hard not to react, again, i said, i tried hard.

fast forward to saturday.....
anne was on the upswing.
kate was invited to her first ever birthday party that had her name only (and anne's name in small print) on the invite. 
we went.
kate seemed fine, but a little wonky.  but i can't just keep the whole family locked up for fear of them 'showing up sick.'  there was no fever, there was no cough, there was no nothing....
we went....
by 2am Sunday morning, kate had 104 fever...nice.
by 3am she was barking....
by 4am....she was hurling in the toilet.
even better.
by 6am....momma was teary eyed.
by 7am....daddy went to work and momma fell sound asleep...
9am....doctor was called.
come right in they said.
guess what?
croup.
so just as anne is finishing up her meds.  kate is beginning hers...it has already enhanced her personality so to speak....
i am seeing my hair dresser who has a special bottle of BLEACH with my name on it tomorrow afternoon! :)
i am thankful that this hiccup in our week before we go back to school can quickly be treated with meds and virtually we are all healthy again...i am thankful.
~chat soon!