Sickness

Oi!  It has been one heck of a week!  I went back to work on Monday.  It feels good to get back into the routine of things. . . I'm not use to being up and on my feet all day long, so when 4 o'clock rolled around I was ready to go home!  When I walked in the house, Jaxen was screaming!!  I just picked him up and he instantly stopped crying and stared at me.  His face said it all!! "Where were you?!?!"  Lol, I let him know that this was going to be the new normal. . . and he was going to have to get use to it!

Tuesday evening we had a Birthday Party for Chloe at the bowling alley.  It was so much fun and Chloe had a blast!  We had 2 lanes, 10 kids and 2 hours of bowling.  After the bowling alley we went to dinner at Pizza Hut with Joylynn and 4 of her kids.  It was a very fun evening and we didn't get home until 830-9pm.  The evening didn't end too well for Jerry and I - We made someone mad at us because we didn't want to be part of their drama anymore, and he gave us notice - starting in April, he was raising our rent $100.  I'm still furious at him, but I can't do anything about it.  When we questioned him about it, (heck we use to call him family!) he said it was just business and we don't have a contract with him.  So, I think Jerry and I are looking for another place to live.  I can't imagine paying as much as we do and not own the house.  And we know that we can get a loan from the bank (we asked about it when we got the new car), just have to find a place we like.  The only other option we have is to buy this house from him and I know he only bought this place for $39,000 and he said he'll let us buy it for $75,000 and we've done all the work on his house, he hasn't done anything!  Plus buying this place means I'm stuck her for a while, and I really want a yard.  We really want to stay in the area and keep Chloe in the same school district. . . and maybe get a couple acres of land with a house.  It's a big decision and it's really scary to make.  But I don't feel like we can afford to stay here with the rent going higher.  I know we can for a while but I think we would slowly sink and I can't afford to do that with three kids.  I can't see staying here and living in fear that if we tick him off, he can kick us out just because.  I need something stable for my family.  He will be the one screwed over when we move out.  All it takes is a single decision at a specific moment to change your world forever. . .  just know that we are thinking about everything!  We will make a decision that we feel is best for us and our family.

Sorry about the ranting there. . . I always have a way of keeping quite when it comes to these kinds of things because I don't want anyone to worry.  But there it is, the latest drama in our lives and probably the biggest reason we need to move and get him out of our lives altogether.  Anyways, Tuesday night was a long night for me, I was stressing and I think Jaxen knew it.  I was up with him until 3am and my alarm went off at 545am!  Then after work I had Girl Scouts!!  So you can imagine how tired I was. . . LOL!

Thursday I had to leave work around 2:30pm because the school called and Chloe was running a fever and needed to be picked up.  The school had given her Tylenol and she was acting fine when I got her home.  But just before dinner she feel asleep on living room floor and was running a high fever when we woke her up.  She didn't eat that night she got medicine and layed in my bed.  When I went to work Friday morning, she was still there. . . sleeping!

Chloe stayed home from school Friday, because of her fever.  She basically slept Friday and Saturday away!!  Saturday night Jacob fell asleep on my living room floor and he too was running a high fever when I woke him up.  Medicine and to bed he went - only to end up in my bed a few hours later because he got sick in his bed.  Today, Chloe's been fever free - just giving her cough medicine to help with her runny nose and horrible cough.  However, Jacob has been on Motrin and Tylenol all day!!  I can't seem to get his fever to break. . . he runs a 100.8 fever with Motrin. 

***Since writing the above, I have called our 24-hour Nurse Line (offered by our insurance).  Poor Jacob had 103.2 fever again and I was starting really worry.  I have never not had Motrin and Tylenol work after 24 hours.  Plus in talking to my mom, I realized that Jacob had been in a diaper since 830 last night and I changed a wet diaper after he got sick in his bed and moved him to my bed at 1130 last night. . . but he had not peed since.  Worrying about dehydration, I got him in the bath to cool him down and called the Nurse Line.  She walked me through everything, gave me confidence in the things I was doing correctly and gave me ideas to get Jacob back to normal.  She informed me that a temperature of 103.2 under his arm is equivalent to a temperature of 104 by mouth.  But after assessing Jacob on the phone, she didn't feel it was necessary for me to run out in the middle of the night and take him to the ER.  Not yet anyways.  The nurse gave me a list of things to watch for and recommended that Jacob see his doctor within 24 hours.  So waiting until morning and not creating a ER bill seemed the most logical.  Jacob's fever has since gone down and he sat up and was talking with me for a little while, I think he's drank more in the last couple hours than he has all day!  Nurse wants me to watch him closely tonight (set the alarm for every 3 hours), monitor his temperature and his mood.  She also told me to trust my instincts, Mommy knows best - so if any time I feel he needs to go, I am to take him immediately to the doctor.  She said not to second guess myself. 

I really felt better after talking to the Nurse.  This was the first time I called the Nurse Line and I like that they are there to help you make an educated decision on whether or not to go to the ER.  They say a fever is nothing to mess with so as a parent you automatically think the worse, but she gave me my confidence and let me know that a high fever wasn't horrible as long as Jacob was responding to me and aware of his surroundings.  So it looks like another long Sunday night for Mommy!  Daddy is on stand by at work and I've kept him informed.  We think it's best to let him rest him and home and if he shows any signs of dehydration or his fever gets any higher, Jerry will be on his way home so I can get Jacob to the hospital and on an IV.  So as of now, Jacob and I are bunking together in my bed and I will call his pediatrician in the morning to see what he wants to do.  Hopefully, by morning the fever will be gone.  Fingers crossed!

If anything changes, I will let you all know.