2 sick kids, a sick Mommy, and lots of wonderful family!

It all started on Friday, the 9th!  Mom called to tell me that Weston's nose had been running all afternoon and that he was starting to cough.  So, I grab the Claritin on my way to her house after work and hope it will do the trick!  Little did I know what was coming!

Weston hardly ate any of his dinner, and afterwards kept telling me that "it hurts" while holding up his shirt.  I would kiss his belly, not thinking much about it, and he would go on.  Within a couple of hours, all "you know what" broke loose!  The poor thing was so very, very sick.  Unfortunately, Chad was at a coaching clinic in Waco so the kids and I had decided to stay with Grandpa and Grandma.  We are so lucky, because Mom immediately took Halley and stayed quarantined with her in the back bedroom.  Thanks to her, Halley was able to escape the stomach bug outbreak with only minor symptoms.  Weston literally got sick every 30 minutes to an hour.  For those of you who haven't experienced a small child that sick, I can tell you that it is the scariest thing I have ever witnessed.  It terrified Weston to the point that he would scream.  I have never seen him like that.  We survived that first night - thanks to Grandpa's help - but just barely.  On Saturday morning, I held Weston as he lay almost lifeless on the floor, couch, or wherever he happened to be.  He could barely keep 1 teaspoon of liquid down every 10 minutes.  He was severely dehydrated, pale, and limp...but Dad and I were determined that we were not taking him to the ER unless we absolutely had to.  As long as he could keep down 1 teaspoon of gatorade every 10 minutes, we felt okay.

He made some small improvements on Saturday, and Chad came home from his trip as early as he could get away.  It's a good thing, because on Sunday, I came down with the same thing!  I can't imagine why...Weston had only puked on me no less than 20 times!  So, poor Chad comes home and has to take care of two sicklings!  It knocked me out for 3 days straight.  We started to get concerned when I began to recover and Weston was still battling it.  

On Tuesday, we took Wes to the pedi's office.  She walked in the room, took one look at him, and escorted us back to a treatment room.  They started an IV on him right then and there.  That no doubt saved us from having to go to the ER, as Wes continued to be sick for 2 more days.  The nurses were unbelievable, and tried to make it as easy on him as possible.  Keeping a 2 year old still and somewhat happy for 2 hours of IV fluids is not an easy task.  One nurse even went home to get her Cars DVD since we said that was Weston's favorite movie.  So sweet!

While we were there, they tested him for flu and RSV.  The results were not what we had hoped.  He also had RSV!!!!  I had a hunch that something else was wrong, and I immediately thought back to his cough and runny nose on the Friday before.  My next thought was... Halley!  She had been around him before the stomach flu, and was probably already exposed, even though she had stayed at my parents and away from Weston and I this whole time.  Sure enough, Halley started to show symptoms and was diagnosed with RSV on Friday.  So frustrating.  I thought we had done the right thing by staying away from her, as hard as that was, but it was too late.

Now, Halley is one tough little girl!  For those of you who don't know, at 4 months old Halley contracted the MRSA staph infection.  She had a couple of procedures in the doctor's office to try and rid her body of the infection, but they were unsuccessful, and she fought it on her own without being hospitalized.  Amazing!  Especially at 4 months old!  Our pedi couldn't believe it.  So, here we are 4 days after she was diagnosed with RSV - again, a diagnosis that typically lands babies in the hospital, and she has managed to fight it on her own.  She is so tough!!!  I guess it's a good thing, because she has a rough big brother that she will have to defend herself from for a long time!  :)

Weston has started showing signs of improvement.  As of Sunday, he finally started eating again!!!!  That's right, he didn't eat at all for a week, and then only small bites (maybe one or two bites total twice a day) for 2 days.  We estimate that he lost 6 or 7 pounds at least, which translates to about 20% of his body weight.  Scary stuff.  He has bones sticking out everywhere.  I am ready for him to put the weight back on.  Also, since he didn't move for at least a week, when he did try to walk and play, he was so weak that he kept falling down.  That seems to be improving as he walks and plays more.  I think it must have just been from a lack of food, fluids, and how still he has been.

Throughout all of this, as awful as it was, I couldn't help but to think how blessed we are.  Our kids are fighting flu and RSV - both are treatable conditions!  I can't imagine them battling cancer or other very serious conditions.  We are so very blessed.

Ultimately, we have made the decision that Weston will not be going back to his KDO program.  We have noticed a pattern when he goes.  He will attend for 1 or 2 days, then be sick for a couple of weeks.  Go back for 1 or 2 days, and then sick again.  We just can't expose Weston and especially Halley to all of this.  The stomach flu and RSV were the breaking points for us.  I am curious if anyone else has had the same experience with their child's daycare???  Or are we just the unlucky ones???? (By that, I mean that Weston has a weak immune system - I am not knocking our KDO program!)

So, here's hoping that we will have a healthy 2009 from this point on!  I hope that everyone else's kids stay healthy as well!  It's no fun to have sick kids!