IT'S FINALLY MARCH

I have been looking forward to March since February 1st! February for Greg is midterms and that means that February for me is being a single Mom and having no husband. I think Greg had somewhere around 9 tests this month. Anyway, I knew that this month would be very long and difficult, but little did I know just how difficult is was going to be.
WE made it through the first half pretty well. I had many dates with our local Red box and caught up on a lot of scrap booking. We managed to have a nice dinner at home on Valentines Day and I thought that I would just coast through the second half of the month just fine! WRONG!! On the 16Th Greg and I were woke up at about 4am to Brinley throwing up. We went into her room and both she and her crib were covered! As soon as I got her all cleaned up she, of course, threw up all over again and again and again. We couldn't get her to stop! WE tried giving her something to drink to keep her hydrated but she wouldn't take anything. After calling the Dr. we were told to take her to the nearest ER. Well, it so happened that Greg had a BIG test that day so he couldn't come with, so I ended up calling my friend Miranda, who is a teacher but had the day off for Presidents Day, and she came with me. Thank heaven for good friends that will still love you even after your child throws up on them. We were in the ER for about 6 long hours. After a few rounds of an IV, Brinley started to act like her normal self again and she began to drink. They let us leave and being very tired we both came home and slept.
The next day was pretty normal, Brinley still didn't feel great but at least she was no longer vomiting. I spent most the day trying to get all our throw up clothes and sheets cleaned. I went to bed that night thinking that everything was going up hill. WRONG AGAIN!!
Brinley woke up at about 11:00pm with a very high fever and very congested. I gave her some medicine but it still didn't seem to help. It was a VERY long night for both of us. I think she slept maybe 3 or 4 hours and that was on me. The next morning her fever got up to 104 so the Dr had me bring her in. She told me that there was nothing for us to do but just wait it out and keep giving her Tylenol and Motrin. The next two days were the longest of my LIFE. Brinley would only sleep if I was holding her and during the day all she wanted to do was to be held standing up! I felt like was I pregnant with a 20 baby because she was always attached to me. I was so sore from holding her. The only time she would let me put her down was when she was watching her baby Einstein DVDs!! Those DVDs were a life savor!!! On Friday morning she woke up and seemed to be doing a lot better. Her fever broke and other than her being really tired she was her normal self! I finally felt like there was a light at the end of the tunnel......WRONG!!!!
On Saturday evening just before Greg and I were about to go out for the first time all month, she got another fever and became very lethargic. We cancelled our date and just kept an eye on her for the rest of the day and made sure that she was drinking. On Sunday morning I went to church and Greg stayed with Brinley. When I got home she was laying on his shoulders with this far off look in her eyes. All she wanted to do was sleep and that is NOT like her at all. Greg called the after hours Dr. and they told us to take her to the ER to run some tests! So we got in the car to go to the ER... again. We got there and they took her in to take some X rays of her chest to make sure it wasn't pneumonia. After she got done with the X-rays I was putting back on her shirt and she threw up ALL over me! After doing a few more tests they came back and told us that she had the influenza B virus. So much for getting her a flu shot this year. They told us that as long as she would drink we didn't have to admit her. That night I put her in her crib to sleep and about midnight I went in to check on her and again she had thrown up all over herself and her bed. At that point I had pretty much reached my limit! I had been doing really well dealing with taking care of a sick baby by myself and not getting much sleep, but when I saw the huge mess I was going to have to clean again I just couldn't do it by myself! I woke up Greg and he called his parents and the next day PAPA MIKE was here to save us!!! Thank goodness he can fly for free whenever he wants! He took Brinley from me and slept with her all night! She got up about 3 times or so but he would always get her back to sleep so I could rest. The next morning she was doing much better and she never threw up or got a fever again. That night she slept all the through the night in her own crib, which was a huge milestone!!! Papa was able to leave the next day and now all of us are doing much better. Greg has one more test tomorrow and then he is all done until April!!
So here is to March being a better month than February!!