The Plague

Before you do anything, watch this video of Lierre with your sound up. You won't regret it. If you do not laugh, something is probably wrong with you.... :)

Hello everyone. It feels like it has been forever. I feel like our family has traveled a very long, hard journey this week and back again. Let me begin in the beginning...

The Plague
Thanksgiving. A day to give thanks. Our whole family (I'd say around 20 people) got together at my brother and sister-in-law's house. It went well, everyone ate and was happy, except little Lierre who decided she could not nap there and thus went without a nap from about 1:00 until she finally caved and went to bed about 8:30 (an hour or so later than normal), exhausted and burnt out. She fussed a little bit on and off through the night. Our dog, who sleeps in our room, also had nightmares (how silly, right?) and proceeded to yelp throughout the night to the point Tim and I had to wake him up. I finally fell asleep around 5:00, only to be awoken about an hour later to the sounds of Tim violently throwing up. And then again. And then Lierre crying.

The delicious turkey Tim made for our family earlier in the week.

This, my friends, was the beginning of "the end." I texted my mom to complain a little bit about my lack of sleep and Tim being sick and her response was "Dad, too." Weird... my dad rarely gets that kind of sick. Over the course of the next 24 hours I learned that the following people were sick: my dad, Tim, my grandmother, my aunt, my cousin, my great aunt, and two of my nephews.

It was my brother, Evan's, birthday. His sad little birthday party got reduced to his wife, Ashley, my mom, and me (lugging around a fussy Lierre). Everyone else was sick. We congratulated ourselves for "making it out" without getting sick and kind of uncomfortably shifting since we did not know the reason why. Fast forward to the next day... Tim went back to work and Lierre proceeded to cry for two hours that afternoon. I got more and more achey. That night (Sunday) I ended up getting a 102.5 fever and felt like death. I also felt nauseous. I had to end up missing work. Which really doesn't look good in your first month.

Long story short.... my mom also started feeling bad, my brother Evan and his wife both got sick. Literally everyone, with the exception of about 5 people, got sick in my family. I had to go back to work and so did Tim. Both of us were sick. It is Friday and today is the first day I have not felt absolutely terrible. On top of that, work was the hardest it has been so far... with deadlines, and changes of schedules, and cranky full-moon students.

Lierre
I still am not sure what is going on with Lierre--whether she has a touch of this same bug or what. She spit up so much on Thanksgiving and the days surrounding it that I asked Tim to take her to the doctor on Monday. It turns out she is now 12 pounds 7.5 ounces (what a chunk) and so her Zantac dose was no longer working with her reflux (I'm still not sure it is working as it should...). I had noticed she had pulled her ears once or twice the day before so I asked if Tim would mention it to the doctor. I was worried she had an ear infection. To my dreaded dismay, she said that she was running a low-grade temperature but no ear infection--it was probably just the beginning of teething. Uh-oh. However, since Monday I have noticed her having a low fever in the 99-99.6 range every single day at some point. I have looked at her gums and do not see any swelling or redness...she does not seem any more "mouthy" (chewing on her hands or toys). Her cries have been off and she has not been "talking" as much as normal to me. Has anyone else experienced this with teething or should I march her back to the doctor and demand a second look?

Grumpy Gills on a walk to get out of the house.

Also... her sleep at night has still been pretty good, but her naps during the day have been pretty awful for the past week. She might take a morning nap from 1-3 hours, but then that might be it for the day. Sometimes we might squeeze in another hour nap with a (great day) 30 minute "snooze" late afternoon. However, where she WAS just laying down and going to sleep, now all she wants to do is lift her head and look around. She has also almost 100% mastered rolling from tummy to back so she will spend a good portion of her normal "winding down" time winding back up because she just wants to roll over again and again. Any help with this one?? I'm SO proud of her for rolling over and doing well.... but, seriously, she needs to SLEEP more during the day and we need a second to breath.

One night while we were both sick....She fell asleep with her nighttime feeding and wouldn't wake up.

Anywho...that is all for now. If you can't tell from this choppy writing and the events listed here.... I am exhausted.

Even Jack is exhausted.