Lily does not get sick very often but when she does it hits her very hard. When she was 5 months old and had a urinary track infection (leading to the discovery of her urinary reflux) she was very cranky and sick for over a month. When she had croup around her 2ed birthday it seemed like she was coughing for 2 months. She feels illness worse then any kid I know and it really turns her into another child, a crazy, clingy, whinny, crying child and my laughing happy funny little girl goes to sleep until she feels a 100% better. She is only two and this trait concerns me a lot, like some very serious condition could be hiding in her. I take her to the dr often and so far she usually gets better as we are arriving so I feel like a crazy person sitting in the waiting room with healthy child. But I am her Mommy and I am allowed to be crazy for her sometimes.
This go round of illness appears to have been the stomach flu. She had all day diarrhea starting the morning after this picture. She started to feel worn down and I knew something was about to happen. The next day was rough and she was in a pull up (despite being fully potty trained) by mid day. She cried alot.
The next day we were cleaning up and getting ready for her 2 year well baby check up. She wondered behind me around the house moaning and crying and laying down randomly, including half way up the steps and on the bathroom floor. The next thing I hear is her throwing up all over the carpet. From that moment on she would not let me put her down. The doctor cleared her, saying it was just a virus that was going around, no big deal. She had no fever and every thing else looked great. But that she was probably aching and drained and not to push anything on her until she recovered her strength.
She did not show improvement till the next day and it was only a little more energy. We went to my cousins wedding (what a blast, I will do a post on that later) and she was great, but started to drag and need to be held and cuddled the morning of the wedding.....then she threw up, but as Grams says, at least she waiting until the ceremony was over, just. During the reception she was a mess and cried and cuddled and generally seemed uncomfortable and out of sorts. She perked up a little and danced in between sitting on my lap.
The wedding was Saturday and she seemed sick until Thursday. She spend FOUR days crying and NEEDING to be carried and cuddled. She slept with me every night because she would cry out in the middle of the night. (Bless my Mom for getting up with her in the middle of the night and bringing her too me when she would not go back to sleep.) She seemed to be in pain and listless. She would stop where ever she was a lay on the floor, just to rest for a few minutes. She wanted to eat, play and drink, but she just did not have the energy...but she never got a fever.
She did not care what you did or what you were watching on TV, she just wanted to be wrapped in your arms! Papa got some very special time.
I carried Lily so much that my arms started to hurt and I think Johnny started to get jealous. This was Tuesday, when he decided he was sick too and did not have the energy to even color in his books....until his cousin came over to play, then he found the energy. It is a long lasting struggle of all parents....how do you know when your kid is faking being sick to get attention or is really sick and needs that attention.
By Tuesday I was scared and so was our family. I took Lily back to the doctor. This is not my child and something is wrong...fix her! Make her feel better!! Of course for the couple hours we were there she was FINE, running around playing and talking. It was not until after naps that she feel back to listlessness. The staff at the clinic listened to me though and took some urine to test for a UTI (since Lily has a history of them and urinary refux) They discovered that her white blood cell count was 22, it should have been 5. So they sent it off for more test and told me to keep a close eye on her. I was scared, and me and my mother took pictures and videos to show the doctor her unusual behavior. My child does not lay on the floor and moan.
You can see in these two pictures she is wearing the same jammies! Yes Wednesday evening she needed to be held close and was very uncomfortable. The next morning she woke up and as soon as her feet hit the ground she was running and laughing and playing "make Mommy breakfast" with her brother. No trace of sickness at all!
Two of her cousins got the stomach flu from her. With in hours of throwing up they both were running around and playing again. It took Lily literary a week to recover. The doctor says her urine culture was clear. No UTI or bacteria, she is not sick. So why did she really spend a week listless and cranky and uncomfortable curled in my arms and her grandparents arms? I still do not know and it worries me a lot. I am praying for it and hoping I am over thinking it all as usual.
John Robert....well he is a different story. He starts Pre-K in less then 2 weeks! But he is still only 4. He fell asleep on the floor of the basement this evening when he was suppose to be cleaning. As soon as his eyes open in the morning his feet hit the ground and he is ready to go. He also spent two hours making his room a disaster (with the help of his cousin) instead of taking a nap. He has never done this before, but i it was going to happen it was going to happen today.