Illness

The boys have had a runny/stuffy nose for about 10 days now. LJ could be coughing up a lung and he'd never admit he is sick. PJ, on the other hand, is the one who brings most of this stuff home to us. If there is a germ within a 5-mile radius, he will succumb to it. Last Tuesday, during one of my forays into the land of night nursing, I discovered I had a sore throat. This cold has been lingering, RJ has it too, but none of us can really stop pushing forward. REJ seems to have the cold as well - although she has not had a runny nose. She has sounded congested and every-so-often will piston the evidence of said congestion out of one of her nostrils.

Last night, REJ had a terrific night of sleeping. Went 6 hours and 20 minutes without waking to nurse. This was from 7:30 pm - 1:50 am. Then she went from 1:50 - 5:30. Not too shabby. It would have been a TERRIFIC night had PJ not woken up crying at 12:30 am. I went in and he was sitting up in bed and, when I asked him why he was crying, he insisted he was NOT CRYING. OoooKaaaay. I laid him down and all was well (although I was wide awake...convinced REJ would wake at any moment) until 1:00 am when PJ was, once again, crying. This time, RJ went in and worked with him.

As noted, REJ did wake up at 1:50 and I took her into the living room to nurse and started The Next Iron Chef. A few minutes later, I hear the bathroom door close, RJ and PJ come to the kitchen to get some Tylenol and RJ informs me that the whole family is up. At 2:00 in the morning. OY. Eventually, everything settled back down.

This morning, LJ went off to school and PJ, REJ and I went to the grocery store. REJ was a little fussier than normal, but we made it through. PJ was not happy and I could tell he didn't feel well. Once home, I put away the cold stuff and took PJ's temp - 100.7. Terrific. Sooo...the million dollar question - is this a continuation of the previous illness or a whole new illness? Clearly, I'd prefer the continuation because that would mean we have all already been exposed. If it is new - well, here we go again.

But, Jambalaya is in the crock pot and I have the last load of laundry in the wash. So, besides folding clean laundry, nursing and tending to REJ and playing nurse to sick PJ, the afternoon is looking clear. I seriously have no idea how I'd manage to have dinner made, clean laundry, the house relatively clean and the kids taken care of if I were also going to work. Not possible. I deem it not possible.