3 Sick Kids + 8 Molars on the Way….

….means Mama needs a drink and a nap. Pronto!

Oh man, its been a rough week! All three kiddies caught some kind of virus (Emma first, then Elsie and Delia two days later) and by Sunday night all were feverish and miserable. So sad! And suddenly I was transported back to those crazy days a year ago with little babies and wakeups every HOUR all night long. One night I was dealing with one burning up kid after another in succession for 3 hours, it was insane. And for days on end! They were pretty clingy during the day too which, ooh boy, gets exhausting. These girls are not lightweights anymore!

It was some kind of weird virus Emma caught at daycare, that started with fevers that came and went and were as high as 103 when the meds wore off. After 3-4 days of this they all got a weird rash on their faces and trunks for a day or two, and then it was gone and by Thursday or so they were fine. Whew! I am thanking my lucky stars because other kids at Emma’s daycare had puking along with the fever and HOLY MOLY the thought of three puking kids is a horrible, miserable thought. Please let that be a milestone we never, ever hit!

Unfortunately, while the illness seems to be gone, the babies, especially Elsie, are not sleeping much better. Waaaah! Elsie is so fussy and restless, waking and crying a ton, and pretty much not sleeping in her crib for more than a few hours at bedtime (luckily I can get her to sleep a little better either in my bed or the pack and play in our room). And just when I finally get her to sleep Delia wakes up again. I think teething is also to blame, since both babies are working on molars and Elsie has one in particular that is getting close. I cannot WAIT until these teeth make an appearance! Teething times two is not very pleasant.

So I am feeling TIRED. But also incredibly thankful that this is no longer the norm. How the heck did I slog through the disjointed sleep for so long anyway? Not that we are getting any magical "sleeping through the night" quite yet (ha! Except for a couple teaser weeks earlier this summer…), but I can usually count on at least two 3 hour chunks of sleep now (well, prior to this week, knock on wood it returns!) which at this point feels like heaven and is all I need. I actually cannot fathom the energy I will have when I actually get 6-8 hours of uninterrupted sleep! That will be crazy (and hopefully sometime in the next 6 months or so!). With either pregnancy or kid-induced wake-ups (or both for awhile there!), it has literally been more than 3.5 years since I have slept 8 hours in a row. Geesh!

I’ll leave you with two pictures of the rashy faces — Delia is top, Elsie bottom. They were in pretty good spirits by then, at least!