The Petri Dish

This has not exactly been one of our better weeks with Anna. Up until about about Saturday night the whole Daycare thing had been of the Gods. Anna was eating better, talking more, putting up less of a fight at bedtime, and just overall seemed to be happier. She had a constant clear runny nose since about the 2nd day but I was not worried. I really expected her to have a runny nose for about the first 6 months or so. I actually would rather get it over with now than waiting until she gets into public school and is penalized for absences. But realize, I do know that I am daily dropping her off into a life size petri dish. So last Saturday night I noticed she coughed a few times after I put her to bed but I was not worried. It was worse Sunday night and has continued to get worse each night since. She is on antibiotics now because at some point the virus turned into an infection. Anyway, this is a cough like I have not ever heard before. She coughs and chokes and spits and sputters and eventually sometimes even vomits. We have tried cough meds, breathing treatments, nebulized saline, steamy showers, cold weather...you name it and we have tried it and nothing really seems to be helping. Her fever is finally gone and for that I am grateful but seriously, I never knew a 24 (now 23) lb kid was capable of producing this much snot. If you are in the Gainesville area and going to buy Kleenex don't waste your time. I am pretty sure we have bought everyone out. Carly had lots of colds and ailments but nothing like this. Anna is having to sleep with us because she is getting choked at night and can't breathe so this old mama is not getting much sleep either and it is showing! She is choking on foods and liquids too and then puking her feeds during the night. Needless to say, tube feeds have taken a hiatus because I am not a fan of the 2am vomit. She was doing so good too! She had gone over 2 weeks without a middle of the night puke thanks to the erythromycin. I know she needs the nutrition but if she is going to puke it up anyway then really, what good am I doing? The worst part of the whole thing is that she is already down over a lb. We have worked so hard to gain that lb and within a week it is gone. I am frustrated but I know she will eventually get better and we will put the weight back on her. I am still researching ways to withdraw my excess fat (rest assured, there is plenty) and transplant it to her. I mean, really, we can transplant organs so fat should be much easier right? In other news, Kenneth turned the big 4-0 this week. Although he is MUCH older than me ( I am still only 21 last time I checked) I still love him anyway. We were going to have a big shindig but postponed it since we ended up with snow and ice again this weekend. I found the most perfect card for him, for us, and for our situation...

Any idea where the year went?
I think I missed it.
Running around in circles,
Taking care of stuff...
And I wonder...
Did I love you enough?
Did I look at you and really see
The remarkable man you are-
And tell you how lucky I am
To be married to you?
Well, it's about time I did
Because I am, you know...
I am and I do and I will-
And I hope you know it.

I spend so much time going and doing that I forget sometimes to just stop and really show and tell my awesome husband just how much I love him and how much he means to me and how I really do not think I could ever survive a day without him. Life in general changes things but throwing a special needs kid into it really changes things and I am so proud to say we have made it this far and I am so proud that we celebrated his birthday together, again, and I pray there will be so many more. Kenneth, if you are reading this, I love you so much and thank you for being who you are, everyday, and for loving me, everyday, for who I am!