Things That Go Bark in the Night

This post is brought to you live from the rocker in Kinley's room, sponsored by croup and the common cold.
Ah, yes, despite being a hermit this winter in a vain attempt to keep our family healthy, we seem to be having a rash of sickness at our house this week. I started it last week with a good old fashioned case of the twenty four hour stomach flu. Add that to the fact that we had no water for about 9 hours and it's a recipe for a wonderful weekend. Earl persevered, lugging water from my parents house so that we could at least flush when needed. And he took the kids for a yummy breakfast at Country Cupboard. I heard yesterday that tey also watched a movie and as some of upu know, I made a little movie of my dear hubbie and his dance moves!
By Monday morning I was feeling half human again and we were back in the swing of our busy week. It took me until about Thursday morning to get my energy back, which is good because that's when Kinley decided to get sick. As soon as I heard the tell tale barky cough over the monitor I knew we were in for a long night.
Croup Is never fun and the way it sneaks up Is just plain rude. After sitting in this very chair for over an hour it became apparent that things were not getting better. Kinley's breathing was becoming more labored and the coughing jags were increasing in frequency. This is probably the point at which a "normal mother", also read "good mother", most likely would have packed up and headed to the nearest emergency room. But the. Nurse in me really didn't want to do that. So, I decided to try the old steamy shower trick. I headed to the smallest bathroom in the house, turned the hot water all the way up and blasted the shower. For the next 25 minutes I sat on the edge of the bathtub, holding a sleeping Kinley while simultaneously trying to gauge what would cost me more - an ER copay or my next water and electric bill. Soon though, Kinley was barking a little less, breathing a little easier, and so was I. Our good fortune lasted an hour or so before she was up whimpering again and needing some more tylenol and TL. In recent nights the coughing has lessened but the sleeping continues I be an issue. There's a shock. I fear we have taken two steps back in the slumber department and I am certainly starting to feel the effects. But we trudge on and hope for more time in our beds and less time in the chair each night. Although, I just might be able to catch up on my blogging if this keeps up. That is, if I can stay off of Pinterest!