The One About Having a Baby Again

The last week (well, make that two) have been hurting my brain just a tad bit. Along with starting a new job (WHICH I LOVE, by the way), our house has been through quite a bit of heartache, hard times, battling the baby - as you can see, I just can't find the correct words with which might fit below.

I've been sick for the last week. Olivia was sick prior to that (I'm quite certain she got me sick), and has picked up another round of cold, part 2 (just how MANY strings of the common cold can there be, I ask???). Josh was sick this last week, but it appeared to be more like a sinus infection/fluey-type of thing. Bea had it bad. And when I say bad, it was almost downright unbearable at times.

She started to come down with something right after we hit up Monterey a couple of weeks back. Then she got a fever and had the worst breath I had ever smelled. I instantly thought "Yeah! Here we go with another sinus infection! My ever so lucky child with her never-ending sinus infections! WHOOPEE!" NOT. As all this was beginning to happen, I was starting at my new job and feeling completely stressed about the situation at home. A doctor visit capped it off as being no, not a sinus infection, but a tonsil infection. Tonsillitus, to be exact. Oh, lord, is that contagious?? Sometimes and sometimes not. We start her on the bubble gum medicine which seems to be the cure for pretty much everything.

Four days pass. She's not getting better. She's completely stopped eating. She's stopped talking. She's not herself. She's taking two naps a day and sleeping a VERY long time at night. She'll only drink milk. She'll grunt and hum instead of using words, and cry on a dime. She's a baby again. I can't figure out what she wants and what she needs or how she's feeling and what exactly hurts. She just won't tell me. It was like having a baby all over again, but a much larger one that was harder to deal with. Where did my little girl go? I missed her, and her voice.

So now the doctor puts her on some stronger medication, in which Josh had to force down her the first night. She's on that medication for two doses. Her face and lips swell up and her eyes look puffy and she seems worse. Oh dear god, is she allergic to the medication? We end up at urgent care last Saturday to try to find out. Nope, she's just in the worst of it, they say. Keep giving her tylenol (fever-all, in our case, since nothing will go in the mouth we have to go in with something the other way...the joys of having a child in times like these).

So, seriously, the kid is just not doing well and on Monday goes back to the doctor. She's got some kind of mouth infection. Her tongue is completely white, she has sores all over her mouth, and it looks like her gums are taking over her teeth they are so swelled up. Guess this is why she's not talking, huh? It hurts TOO DARN MUCH. So, I don't blame her. She's a cranky mess. She'll wake up from a brief nap and scream her ear off for an hour. I was beginning to lose my patience. Fortunately, this story does have a happy ending, at least.

Grandpa watched her for three days. On day three, when she was just missing her normal routine and seemed bored, he decided to take her to the zoo. She snapped out of it and started talking, and has been on the mend since. Gradually getting better, and now eating. She is again amongst the land of talkers. And has continued to talk my ear off ever since. Thank goodness. I was beginning to think we would have to teach her to talk all over again, but no.

Gosh, how I missed that lovely little voice....