Feeling Better

Things are finally starting to look up around here.  We had to cancel dance class, a play date, and a dinner celebration for Rypie because of the germs swirling around our home, but the sun was shining and Hannah and Daddy are feeling much better.  

We spent the day inside - playing games, making bracelets, taking naps, and watching TV.  It was good, family fun.  But that's not to say that we're all completely thrilled about being inside for what's likely to be four days straight.  This afternoon, I drove to Firehouse Subs to get lunch, but more importantly, to breathe some fresh air and get out, even if it was just for 30 minutes.  

This evening, Hannah's fever finally broke, and it seems that Daddy's antibiotics have finally kicked in as well.  He was even up for giving Jack a much-needed haircut.  

He always looks so handsome, but he said he misses having his forehead covered.  And he was none-too-thrilled when I tried to spike his hair with some gel ;)

Happy Weekend, Everyone!

Hannah has the flu.

And went to the ER for the first time.

Today was not a good day.

I went to bed last night, knowing that today would be a snow day, and most likely, that tomorrow would be, too.  I slept well and was excited to stay in and play some new games with the littles.  I had ordered a few new board games to help keep us busy on snow days, and Jack and I had said that on our next snow day, we'd teach ourselves to make rainbow loom bracelets.  We had some activities planned, enough to get us through a couple of snow days after a winter with already plenty of time inside.

Early this morning, Hannah came in to snuggle.  This is pretty unusual for her, as now she and Jack are both old enough to go downstairs with each other and put on some cartoons.  I didn't second guess it, though - I love unexpected snuggles with either of my babies.  She fell back asleep, and I snuggled down.  About an hour later, she woke up coughing, and I could tell she was going to be sick based on the way her stomach was lurching.  I rushed her to the bathroom, and sure enough, she spit up.  Just a little, and Brad and I were pretty sure it was due to drainage from her head cold.  No big deal...we got up and went downstairs for breakfast.

We gave Hannah some mango juice and some grapes for breakfast (in hindsight, probably not the best choice), and Brad headed off for a doctor's appointment.  After breakfast, we went back upstairs, and Hannah and I were cuddling in bed, when - out of nowhere - she started to get sick again.  And it felt like she didn't stop for another five minutes.  I didn't even know what to do - she was covered, I was covered, and so was my bed.

I picked her up and carried her to the bathroom and explained that everything was going to be okay and that we were going to take really good care of her.  She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said, "Mommy, I think I need a bath."

Baby Girl was right.  She definitely needed a bath.  And so did I, but I also had to strip the bed and start washing the bedding because I knew it would take all day to wash and then dry all that needed to be cleaned.  I wiped her down, got her out of her clothes, and put her into the tub.  While the tub was filling, I stripped the bed and started the laundry.  I called Kimmee for reinforcements, and then went back upstairs to gather up everything that needed to go down to the laundry room.  I gave Hannah a bath, and while I was drying her off, Brad came home.  He'd gotten half-way to his appointment before they closed the doctor's office due to the snow.  He said the roads were really bad.  He was also completely overwhelmed by the mess in our bedroom/bathroom.  He took Hannah downstairs and gave her some ginger ale (her first soda!), while I continued to clean up and then took a shower.

In the amount of time that I was upstairs, Hannah had gotten sick again.  We waited another hour and then called the pediatrician when she got sick yet again.  The doctor said that there was a virus going around and to slowly try to get Hannah to keep fluids down.  We followed her directions for several hours, but nothing was improving.  Poor Hannah was listless and lethargic.  She couldn't keep anything down, and she was oh-so-pale.  She took two mini-naps, but she'd wake up and get sick all over again.  Lucky for us, during one of her naps on the couch, some neighbor boys came by and offered to shovel our driveway for a small fee.  We happily accepted their offer since it didn't seem like we'd be out shoveling anytime soon.

After her second nap and another attempt to get something to stay down for longer than 15 minutes, Hannah got sick again, and we decided then and there that we had to take her to the Emergency Room.  Because of the roads and the weather, we couldn't all go, so Brad planned to take Hannah while I would stay home with Jack.

I cleaned Hannah up, got her dressed in another pair of clean jammies, gathered blankies and loveys, and put her into the car seat.  And then I watched Daddy and Hannah drive away and felt horrible because I couldn't go with her.

To keep myself busy, I focused on cleaning up the house, continuing the laundry, and playing Monopoly with Jack (who, by the way, beats me every.single.time.  And I'm trying.).

Brad called often to update me, and I kept our family up-to-date.  They gave Hannah some anti-nausea meds which immediately kept her from throwing up.  They gave her an IV with saline because she was pretty dehydrated.  The nurse told Hannah she was going to give her a popsicle, and then she left to get something else.  Hannah looked up at Daddy with her sad, pale, little face, and said, "Daddy, I want a popsicle so badly..."

He said his heart broke because he knew how hungry/thirsty she must have been.  Brad said she was very brave at the hospital and that all of the nurses were very impressed with our strong, little girl.  They ended up testing Hannah for strep and the flu.  And despite having had the flu shot, she did, indeed, test positive for the flu.

They gave her Tamiflu and let her come home.  I was so grateful that they didn't keep her overnight, and that I could help put her to bed here where she belongs.  As I was tucking her in, I gave her kisses from everyone that had been so worried about her all day long.  She must have thought I skipped a few because she added some of her own - it was pretty cute.  Once her head hit the pillow, she went right to sleep.

Poor thing had a really rough day.  I hope she sleeps well tonight and that tomorrow is so much easier.

Under the Weather

For the first time in a really long time, Jack and Hannah are both healthier than me and Brad.  Brad and I seem to have something we can't quite get rid of.  A residual cough, headaches, and for me, ear pain.  Today, while Jack and Hannah spent some time with Grandma and Grandpa, I went back to the doctor to see I was doing okay after a week of antibiotics.

Turns out both of my ears are near infection, so it's another round of antibiotics for me.  Certainly explains why I've been getting dizzy when I stand up or why I feel like I'm still moving when the car comes to stop.  Hopefully, I'll feel better in no time.

The funny thing is, that aside from the occasional dizzy spell, I actually feel quite good.  I haven't lost my appetite, I'm not sneezing or blowing my nose constantly, I'm not exhausted or achy.  Apparently the first antibiotic did a little something, so that's always good.

Brad?  Hasn't been so lucky.  He still feels pretty sick, and only went back to work towards the tail-end of last week.

Thank goodness that the littles are healthy - otherwise, this would be a very unhappy household!

*****

In other news, while mourning the loss of Dexter (worst series finale I can remember, by the way - one blogger likened it to his best friend drop-kicking his puppy after eight years, and I tend to agree) and Breaking Bad (best series finale I can remember - thank you, Vince Gilligan!), Brad introduced me to The Walking Dead, and I'm hooked.  I'm currently watching crazy amounts of The Walking Dead to catch up to the current season.  Once you get past the zombie part, it's actually very good.  I wouldn't advise snacking as you watch:)

*****

Yesterday, I had lunch with my friend Julie, and her newborn baby boy, Thomas.  It was so good to catch up after many, many months (too long, Julie!), and Thomas was just absolutely beautiful.  I got to hold him while Julie went to the bathroom, and for a tiny moment, I wanted one more.  And then it passed.

Today I met up with one of my past co-workers, Jeannette, and we chatted and shared work stories.  Always so nice to catch up - and especially so when I can enjoy an adult lunch with friends while the littles play happily with Daddy or their grandparents.

*****

Also, not sure if I've mentioned this on the blog or not, but I might be addicted to building things with Legos.  Yesterday, Jack and I finished The Daily Bugle:

*****

I'm looking forward to this weekend.  Hoping that everyone is healthy and the sun is shining - I'm dying to take Jack and Hannah on a fall, farm outing.  It's also time to decorate for Halloween - I can't believe it's already right around the corner!

Circus Schmircus

Well, this weekend was a bust.

Late Thursday night, Brad woke me up because Jack was coughing like crazy.  I say coughing, but really it was more like a bark.  We set up the humidifier, and he seemed to settle in.  Friday morning, when I went to wake him up, I could tell right away that he had a fever.  Lucky for me, Brad was able to stay home and telecommute so that Jack could stay home and rest.

I went off to work, but on my way in, I was feeling under the weather myself.  My throat was sore, and as the day progressed, I started to lose my voice.  Friday night, I was feeling so icky that I actually cancelled our house-cleaning plans for Saturday.  You know it's bad when that happens...

Saturday morning was worse - like razorblades across my throat.  Jack still had a fever.  And Hannah?  She was starting to cough, too.  We did not like where this was going.  We were scheduled to attend the circus at 4.  We'd bought tickets months ago.  Jack had been looking forward to it for weeks.  Hannah had never been.  We wanted this so bad, but we needed a miracle.

It didn't come.  We knew we couldn't go.

We called around to see if anyone could go in our place, and no one else was available.  Those poor tickets went to waste.  Jack was a trooper though - when Daddy broke the news to him, he didn't cry.  He is sad he has to wait another year, but he understood, and we were thankful for that.

On top of having to cancel our circus plans, we also had to cancel our Sunday Steak Dinner plans with our neighbors.  They have preemie twins, so there was no way we could expose them to these germs.

So our weekend was a bummer.  But on the other hand?  We had a low-key, nap-a-lot weekend, and after lots of extra sleep on Saturday, I did feel better.  Just not great.

Lucky for us, Jack's and Hannah's fever went away before the weekend was through.  They both have residual coughs and are taking breathing treatments before bed, but at least they feel better.

Me?  I feel okay, except I sound awful, and my throat feels raw.  It's a tricky thing when you're a teacher, and you lose your voice.  Or when you have two, loud little lovelies and you lose your voice, for that matter.  But I'm managing.

The worst part?

It's a tie between having to tell Jack we couldn't go to the circus and not getting to eat circus food.  Because you know I'm all about the circus food.

And Hannah would be, too.

So Much Has Happened

It's been awhile since I've really written anything here...for many reasons.  And I'll be honest that it's an overwhelming task to get back into the habit because, really, where does one begin?

By now, you know that I have a new nephew, Dylan.  He is precious and smooshy, and we are in love!  The kids got to meet their new cousin on the first day of spring break.  Jack was so excited to see how tiny and cute the baby was, but he was a little nervous to hold him.  Lots of kisses on his tiny, baby head though...  Hannah is super-jealous of Dylan with a capital J.  As soon as I'm holding him or looking at him, she is all over me like white-on-rice.  It's pretty adorable and makes me feel loved.  Also affirms our decision that two is plenty:)

{this is as close as Miss Hannah would get}

After I took them to visit Dylan, we had lunch at California Tortilla and then came home to nap before visiting the Easter Bunny at the mall.  I have to say, this year went much better than the year before and definitely better than our Santa experience.  I was pretty happy with our picture!

On Tuesday morning, we met up with our BFFs at our local indoor, inflatable playground, and this was the first time that Hannah could participate.  She was so excited to jump and slide!  We all had a blast and were completely worn out.

{focus on baby girl's face in this picture - is that not pure joy that you're witnessing?}

After that, we went home, had lunch and napped.  My eye wasn't feeling too good that day, so we stayed home that afternoon and just lounged around and enjoyed each other's company.  I got to stare into these baby blues...

and he got to draw Spider-man pictures, so really, it was a win-win situation:)

Tuesday evening, I took the kids to swimming and we had Chik-Fil-A for dinner, but as the night wore on, my eye became increasingly uncomfortable.  Perhaps you remember, but last year at the same time, ironically, I suffered a corneal abrasion.  I haven't blogged much about it since then, if at all, but my abrasion was so bad that it never fully heals.  It gets to about 98-99% better, and that's where it stays.  There's actually a name for it - recurrent erosion.  In the middle of the night, if Hannah or the dogs wake me up, and I open my eyes too quickly, it re-injures itself, and the process begins again.  I've learned to adjust.  I use eye drops all of the time, and I actually have trained myself to open my eyes at different times in the middle of the night, but occasionally, something catches me off guard, and I hurt my eye.  It usually takes about 45 minutes to feel better, and it's usually an instantaneous reaction when I know that it's happened again.

Tuesday was different.  My eye felt swollen, so I tried using my drops more frequently and resting it, but it just didn't feel right.  It was a slow progression, but by Tuesday night after swimming, it was bad, and we called my eye doctor.  He called in prescriptions, and I was to see him the next day (thankfully, I already had an appointment scheduled because my eye has been having spasms...).  

I had planned for the kids to go to school on Wednesday and Thursday so that I could get some things done and and ready for the wedding, but I was sad that it was Spring Break and that they weren't home with me doing tons of fun things.  It all worked out in the end since my eye was such a mess, but still...I was sad.

So Wednesday morning I went to my regular doctor about my wrist (possible carpal tunnel or tendonitis) and then straight to my eye doctor where I learned that I had, indeed, injured the exact same spot on my eye.  Another bandage contact lens and a pair of strong sunglasses later, I was on my way to have my wrist x-rayed.  Still waiting on those results...

After my doctor's appointments, I went to grab something to eat and dropped my car off for its safety inspection - I realized I was running out of March days, and thankfully, the shuttle could drive me home, which was probably safer with my wonky eye anyway.

I slept the rest of that afternoon.  Painkillers work wonders for eye injuries...

On Thursday, Brad and I visited a possible school for the littles next year (such big decisions - I don't feel qualified to make decisions this big!!!), and then I attempted to go over to my sister's for Dylan's newborn photo session.  Dylan wasn't happy that afternoon, so we did our best.  I'll share some images once my sister decides on her announcement - I promise:)  I went tanning in preparation for the wedding on Saturday, and then I jetted off to dinner with Jessica and the other bridesmaids, wonky eye and all!  Dinner was delicious - thanks, Jess!

Friday morning the kids and I went back over to my sister's to get some more newborn shots, and while Dylan was certainly much happier, he was still not sleepy and/or wanting to be smooshed into various positions.  None the less - the pictures, if I do say so myself, are to die for.  We came home for naps, I went tanning one more time, and then we got everyone ready for the rehearsal dinner. 

{three generations}

{ceremony spot and view}

{bride- and groom-to-be}

{the rehearsal dinner crew at the wedding location}

{showing off their best behavior}

{Jack has a little crush - more on that later!}

The rehearsal dinner was so pretty, and it got everyone so excited for the wedding day!  I'll share more pictures of the wedding as I get them!  Jessica looked so beautiful, and I was so proud of Jack and Hannah and how well they did as ring bearer and flower girl.  It was so special for us each to have a role in the wedding...we'll never forget it!

Easter was very laid back at my mom and dad's.  Thank goodness - we needed laid back.  I didn't even take my camera.  That's how exhausted we all were!

So Spring Break went by in a blur, and then I went back to work for a day before coming down with a serious case of something.  Tummy bug I'm guessing, but it wasn't good.  

{What Jack said to me after I told him that I missed him and that I was sorry that I wasn't feeling well.  I asked him to come cuddle with me - this was his response!}

I'm feeling much better now. But please, please...can things just be normal for a few weeks?!

The Things They Say...

We'll come back to the fact that Hannah has croup and is simultaneously cutting four teeth and that we haven't slept in days, but for now, if Brad and I don't write these stories down, we'll forget.  And we can't forget - they are too cute.

*****

While driving Hannah to Grandma and Grandpa's house on Friday, Daddy was explaining that she was going to spend the day with them and that they were waiting to snuggle with her.  Matter of factly, Hannah replied, "Okay," from the back seat.

***

Tonight, Jack and Daddy went on an adventure.  They had a late-night birthday party to attend, and when they came home they were full of stories.  Apparently, while they were driving around, Daddy asked Jack, "Buddy, do you think I'm old?"  {Side bar - Brad saw a picture of himself the other day that he didn't exactly love.  He thinks he looks like an old man...}

Immediately, Jack responded, "No."  {Daddy already felt much better.}

"Well, who's old?" Daddy asked.

Jack, without missing a beat, replies, "Goats."

Daddy busts out laughing, not only because of the ridiculousness of the response, but because he immediately understood Jack's logic.  He thought he'd ask for clarification.  "Why are goats old?"

"Because, they have those manes and {stroking a fake beard on his chin} those long beards."

***

Somehow it came to our attention this evening that Jack calls buffalos, buffalopes.  And he was completely serious.

***

Today, I asked Hannah if she wanted me to put her socks back on cause her feet were chilly.

"Yep," she said.

Everything is "yep" right now:)

***

While playing the animal game before bedtime, my animal was an Emperor Penguin.  Our game went something like this:

Daddy - Do you live in the water, on land, or in the air?

Mommy - On the land and in the water.

Daddy - Mommy doesn't know where the animal lives.

Jack - Do you hatch out of an egg?

Mommy - Yes!

Daddy - Are you like a crocodile or an alligator?  {I think he determined that perhaps I wouldn't know what a reptile is...  Please, does he not know which house I live in?}

Mommy - No.

Jack - Are you a penguin?

Mommy - Yes - what kind of penguin am I?

Jack - One of those penguins with the noodle hair {fluffing the front of his hair up tall}?

Mommy - A Macaroni penguin?  Good guess, but I'm not a Macaroni penguin.

Daddy {incredulously} - Noodle hair?  Did you tell him that's why they're called Macaroni penguins?  Because their hair looks like noodles?  Buddy, that is NOT why they are called Macaroni penguins.

Mommy {laughing} - I did not tell him that.  He came up with that all on his own because they have big yellow hair like noodles.  That's pretty creative.

Jack {smiling} - She didn't tell me.  That's just what I know:)

***

Thank goodness these children make us laugh because otherwise, we may not have survived the last five days.

Now I must sleep.

Yuck.

Well, we can add another word to the list of things that Hannah can say: tissue.

(As well as: wafa (waffle), wawa (water, signs simultaneously), canny (candy), up, and hold.  I forget all the things she says so well until I make the list on the blog, and then I'm super-aware for the next few days, noticing every word I forgot to include.)

Anyway, I digress.  She can now say tissue.  In the saddest, most pathetic, most I'm-going-to-hold-the-top-of-my-lip-up-so-my-snot-doesn't-fall way.

In other words, we've been sick around here.  On Saturday, I noticed during our help-Daddy-at-the- townhouse-day that Hannah felt a little warm.  By the time we got back late Saturday night (after a pizza picnic and a dance party in the empty dining room), she seemed fine, but she didn't sleep well at all.  The next morning, she was definitely warm: fever of 100.4.  Yuck.  Based on that alone, I knew she wouldn't be going to school the next day, and throughout the day she just had a runny nose, watery eyes, and lots of sneezes.  And while Jack didn't have a fever, he definitely had a case of the sniffles.

We snuggled, and I tried to help poor Hannah sleep, but the only way she could nap was out of sheer exhaustion and only if I was holding her.  I felt so bad...

On Monday, I kept the kids home as planned, and we watched TV, played with new toys, napped, took a shower, did several loads of laundry, and cleaned my bedroom.  It was a full day, but the kids seemed to be feeling better.

We even had another dance party...one I couldn't resist getting on video (I may have forgotten to turn my phone sideways.  Again.  I'm working on it, I promise.)  See for yourself...and don't judge - we love a little Nicky Minaj around these parts.  My kids know a good beat when they hear one...

On Tuesday, I went to work, but Brad stayed home with the kids because he wasn't sure they were a hundred percent.  It ended up being a good call because we had to make a last minute appointment for Hannah after I got home for the afternoon.  While she seemed to do well during the day, she was very fussy after I got home, and she kept tugging on her ear.  I knew enough to get her to the doctor's and fast, so off we went.  As we waited to be seen, she became more and more inconsolable.  She has the beginnings of an ear infection and is now on oral antibiotics.

While everyone is still a little snotty, the littles are definitely feeling much better.  They have been back at school for two days and everyone is happier.

Well, everyone except me, that is.

I haven't been able to sleep through the night since last Friday (to be fair, neither has Hannah).

And I now have a serious case of the sneezes and sniffles.  It comes with the territory, I guess.  Let's hope it goes away quickly - I have some serious maternity pictures to take and some showers to plan:)

Couldn't Make It Up If I Tried

I've been missing a lot lately, and I'm sorry.  Believe it or not, the week before and the week of Thanksgiving were pretty crazy around here.  Things are just starting to get back to some sense of normalcy...and even that's a bit of a stretch.

{Hannah, not sleeping in our hotel room}

To be honest, Brad and I have become addicted to Breaking Bad, a show that's been around for awhile, but is brand new to us.  So that's part of it - we've been downloading episodes and watching them at night like they are going out of style.  A need to get caught up with the rest of the world maybe...I don't know.  But seriously?  It's sucked us in - we both wanted to watch it before Dexter on Sunday, but we felt so disloyal, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it.  It's kept us away from Homeland for two weeks straight.  What is wrong with us?!

{At this point, she'd already shed her striped tights and her brown boots}

In addition to our new TV addiction, I came down with strep the night we'd taken my dad out for his birthday dinner.  It came on fast and furious, and I missed two days of work.  I missed appointments with teachers and had to reschedule coaching visits - never a fun task.  I started to feel better by Friday, but just in time to get really, really sick on Sunday night.

{Reading in the hotel room - Jack was so excited to go to a hotel!}

Maybe it was food poisoning.  Maybe it was a stomach bug.  Who knows?  All I know is that it was horrible, and whatever it was, it nearly killed me.  I went six hours, and then I couldn't take it anymore. Brad drove me to the hospital while my dad came over and spent the night on our couch while the babies slept upstairs.  We were at the hospital until four in the morning, and even though they gave me fluids, anti-nausea medication, and painkillers, I was still a mess when we got home.  And so, so sick.  I missed two more days of work.  More appointments with teachers were canceled.

{Down home cookin' at Cracker Barrel}

Tuesday night I felt well enough to begin to pack us up for our trip to North Carolina.  As I was packing and cleaning and getting organized, the littles went around and meticulously reversed all of my hard work:)  Somedays, it seems like that's what they do best.

{Sleepy and warm.}

We left on Wednesday around noon.  Very bad idea.  A trip that should have taken us six hours took nine and a half instead.  On back, country roads.  With two children under five.  I have to say, I was impressed with their car-trip behavior.  They really were troopers that day.  They went four and a half hours without stopping, and then we got out, went potty, played tag as the sun set, had a little snack, and got back in the car.  We stopped a couple of hours later for dinner, and Jack and Hannah chased each other around Subway, laughing and chatting away.  We usually don't let them run amok in restaurants, but they needed some play time, so we just watched.

{Jack and Great-Uncle Danny, playing in a tree that Daddy used to climb.}

We went straight to our hotel upon our arrival in North Carolina because it was too late to visit with family.  We unpacked and attempted to get everyone to bed.  I could tell Brad wasn't sleeping well - he was tossing and turning, and then at four in the morning, I heard him get up, and I could tell he was very sick.

{Aunt Jess, Jack, and Great-Uncle Danny}

He didn't leave our hotel on Thanksgiving Day - he spent the day in bed, mostly by himself as the kids and I spent time with his family.  I went back and forth, bringing medicine and Gatorade.  Poor thing - I felt so bad.

{Reading with Hannah Bear}

Lucky for us, he was well enough to do the Black Friday shopping he loves so much, and we were all able to spend time with family on Friday evening.

{Sleeping on Great-Uncle Danny}

On Saturday, my birthday, we made the car trip back home.  The ride wasn't too bad and only took us the six hours it should have.  But when we got home, we quickly learned that our fridge broke during our absence.  We came home to a fridge-full of warm, spoiled food.  By the time we unloaded the car and emptied the fridge, our clean home looked like a bomb had gone off.  Happy Birthday to me!

{Not even close to all of the stuff we unpacked from the car}

{Fridge disaster...}

We dropped everything.  We left the mess and headed to dinner, just the four of us, for a little birthday celebration.  The food was yummy, but Hannah was fussy.  She'd had enough:(

Thanksgiving certainly did not go as planned, but it's definitely one that won't be forgotten.  We got to spend time with family.  While we might not have been feeling 100%, we are still healthy.  We have everything we need.  And that's what matters.

Now - bring on the normalcy:)  Pretty please.

Corneal Abrasions and Such

Hmm...it would seem that this time, I have a pretty good excuse for being away from the blog for so long.  Last Monday night, after giving our little man a bath, I was helping Jack dry off when his tiny fist full of fingers met my left eye.  At full force.  Did I say anything about multiple fingers?  Because I meant to.

Bless his little heart.  He felt so horrible, but ohmygoodness did it hurt.  Immediately, my eyes welled up with tears, and I was doubled-over with pain.  My eye was watering like crazy, and my nose got so stuffy, but I pulled it together, and I was able to get Jack to bed (although Daddy read Jack's story).  It watered on and off for the rest of that night, but it wasn't too horrible.  I tried to blog that night, but when I turned on my computer, it was way too bright for me to even look at.  I decided to go to sleep, and that it would feel better in the morning.

Not so much.  Something woke me up an hour later and instinctively tried to open my eyes.  I realized that I could not, in fact, open my left eye.  It hurt so bad and felt like tiny pieces of glass were hiding underneath my eyelids.  I learned that when one of your eyes won't open, the other one doesn't open well either.  It's called a sympathetic response, and the brain gets confused and tries to close the other eye.  Makes it rather hard to see...so I felt my way to the basement where Brad was doing some work, and once he saw me, he knew we had to go to the emergency room.  Unfortunately, at that point it was already 11:30, and we didn't want to have to wake the babies up and take them with us, so Brad called his parents and they got up and headed over right away.  {Have I ever mentioned that we have the best family and that we're so lucky both of our families live so close to us?}

Lucky for me, the emergency room wasn't busy, and when they hear that you think you're blind, you get in pretty quickly.  The doctor numbed my eyes with drops that stung, and then put a dye in my eye to see whether or not there was an abrasion.  There was definitely an abrasion, but I could tell by her immediate response that it was pretty bad.  Some eyedrops, antibiotics, and painkillers later, we were headed home.  The eyedrops they gave me at the hospital helped me to be able to open my eyes, but I had to wear my sunglasses out because the lights were causing serious pain.  Unfortunately, once I got home, the numbing eyedrops wore off, and I was in the same amount of pain that I was in before we got to the hospital.  I decided I was probably going to have to take the painkillers after all.

The next morning, I tried to get up with the babies, but I still couldn't open my eyes and was nearly blind, so I had to wake Brad up and he took over with getting everyone to school while I stayed in bed.  I literally slept all day on Tuesday, thanks to the painkillers.  The few hours that I wasn't sleeping, I just stayed in bed with my eyes closed in our very dark room.  Taking my eyedrops was excruciating.  On Tuesday afternoon, when we realized that my eye wasn't getting better, Brad called and made an appointment for me with the ophthalmologist on Wednesday.

Getting ready and to the ophthalmologist on Wednesday wasn't easy.  The painkillers definitely made me a little loopy, and more than a little tired.  I think I fell asleep in the waiting room.  However, I'm now in love with my doctor because he was so calm and gentle, and he quickly determined that every time I was blinking, I was pulling away the cells that were trying to heal.  He put a bandage contact lens on my eye, and the difference was like night and day.  I could blink.  I could see.  It was fantastic.  Blurry, but fantastic.

I returned to work on Thursday, but I had to wear sunglasses all day.  I couldn't drive, so Kimmee was kind enough to pick me up, take me to work, take me to my appointment to have my lens removed, take me back to work, help me pick up Jack, and bring us home.  {Thank you, Kimmee:)}  On Friday, I only wore the sunglasses for a few hours, and this weekend I've been pretty good.  I'm still taking my eyedrops, but the light sensitivity has gone away, and it no longer feels like there are bits of glass in my eye.

I think it's the worst pain I've ever been in.  In fact, I'm pretty sure of that.  So horrible...I wouldn't wish it on anyone.  The only good news is that the cornea heals very quickly, and I was thinking today that it's so weird how out of it I was a few days ago compared to how I felt today - crazy!

So many good things to blog this week - hopefully, I can get caught up since it's spring break:)  Yay for the schedule of a school teacher!!!