I will attempt to update all the events of the last two weeks. We had some sick boys with a cough since about Dec 18th. So, the Friday before Christmas, I took them both the doctor to check what the deal was. She said it was just a little cold and that we should be fine traveling. That may not have been the best advice. Sunday we drove to Albany, and the trip was fine, but we noticed that MJ wasn't eating or drinking much (even when we offered him his favorite foods) and then was pretty dopey the whole ride. He was excited to get to Albany and we saw all of the Suarezes except Tabitha and Christian's families. That night, MJ didn't sleep well, had a high fever, coughed a lot and he had a nose bleed. Mario did some middle of the night internet searching and we thought MJ might have pnuemonia. Monday morning he seemed a little better, but then during his nap spiked a 103.7 fever. I called our doctor and she said we should try to see someone. So, we took our sick MJ (they watched Joey for us back at the house) to an Urgent Care nearby. His fever got worse, 104.3, he was so lethargic and drifting in and out of sleep, his oxygen was low and his heartrate was high. It was really scarry. They said we needed to go to the ER, but we could drive if we didn't want to call an ambulance. Well, we got to the ER, they gave him some Motrin and 2 hours later (we were still waiting to be seen) he seemed a little better. By they time they finally saw us, 6pm at night, the Suarezes were ready to go to church (so I bounced back and forth feeding Joey), and MJ looked like a normal sick kid who just didn't want to eat. But they ran blood tests, took a check x-ray, and gave him an IV (he needed lots of fluids). They found nothing was wrong and sent us home. I'm glad he had the IV, b/c I think he was really low on fluid. We got home around 9ish and had to hurry to bed b/c Santa was coming.
Merry Christmas! MJ had to be pried out of bed on Christmas morning (not usual huh?) but then was happy to open presents. Joey was excited for his first Christmas too. He was sick this whole time with a cough, but no terribly high fever and he kept nursing just fine. MJ and Joey just didn't seem to have a lot of energy and napped a LOT on Christmas. Joey had 4 naps, and MJ took one long 5 1/2 hour nap. The kid just didn't look normal. The same was true for Wednesday the 26th and at night, poor Joey was just not comfortable. So, Mario and I decided we needed to pack our sick troop up and go home. Thursday morning we awoke in a flurry (after not much sleep b/c Joey was wheezing and couldn't settle down). We were lucky to get an appointment that night with our doctor at 5:50pm. She saw both of them even though we only had one appointment. MJ had fluid in his lungs and Joey had brochiolitis. So, they are both on an antibiotic and have nebulizer treatments. Since we've been home, they have begun recovering nicely. It must have been hard to be so sick when you were around such fun people and wanted to play. In fact, I'd say they are doing just splendid.
Some downsides to this, we never took a family Christmas picture. We had to cut our trip short. And those days before and after Christmas are in a foggy tired haze that I can't seem to remember. I'm not sure what energy we were running on. But I was so thankful our family was so helpful and understanding. Other consequences of the illness are since MJ was napping so much and had bathroom issues, we kept him in a diaper. We had to re-potty train him, which has been a bit tricky since we also have to force him to drink the most disgusting pink medicing ever created two times a day. (You can only give so much candy and stickers for good behavior). We are impressed with MJs ability to finally drink this stuff, I guess he has learned he's just going to have to do it. This was much better than pinning him down to try take medicine. (He only really likes Cherry Tylenol).
I also learned that the ER really isn't a fun place to be on Christmas Eve (especially with all of the Suarez traditions we were missing). But when it was all said and done, we had a family that was together (and not dying). So we were able to put things in perspective. Here are a few pictures from Christmas morning.
Joey and his cousin Maria
MJ opening his first gift.
MJ lined up all his new construction equiptment (notice the cup of water in the brown box). We had to try to keep him hydrated.
This Little People Nativity was a hit!
