Sick kids weekend

Blah.. it was a sleepless weekend. Counting last night I haven't slept properly in 3 nights.

Well.. Annika turned out to have croup. Of course the characteristic cough and respiratory troubles ALWAYS start AT NIGHT. I don't think any of us slept Friday or Saturday night. She was miserable with high fevers, barking cough and inspiratory stridor. We sponged her like twice that night, because the paracetamol and ibuprofen weren't doing anything to her temps. Poor baby, shivering through the tepid bath.

Then finally it struck me. I was thinking of taking her to the ED at KKH, then I thought.. what would they do? Then it struck me that she probably had croup, and MIGHT need a shot of dexamethasone.. I wasn't entirely sure. Looked it up and seems like it was the best treatment for mild to moderate croup. Apparently oral or injectable worked fine.

Chris happened to have gone to work to do his round so I called him to find some dexamethasone for me. When he finally got home he produced a vial of dexa! Initially I was hoping for oral stuff but in retrospect the injectable is better.. the kid CAN'T SPIT IT OUT!

Anyway.. I am sold. It is a magic drug. In around 6 hours the improvement was obvious. The fever went away, her cough was still there but the stridor was almost all gone.

But of course, just as Annika was improving, guess who started being ill... argh... Madison. She stayed overnight at Novena as usual on Saturday night, and Sunday was supposed to be a treat for her.. the grandparents took her and Elizabeth to Sentosa via cable car, then lunch at Rasa Sentosa. She was so excited about the trip that she kept insisting that she didn't have a cough ( which I suspected Saturday evening! )

BUT.. I already anticipated that Madison would come down with the same thing too, so Sunday afternoon we drove back down to the hospital to get more dexa. Good move too. Before bed last night I dosed her with a cocktail of paracet, brufen, and durotuss. But by 5 am she had a raging fever and a similar cough.

So, Madison too received her dexa shot. And was I ever so proud of her. She coped with the shot all by herself in bed. I got her to hold the ice pack on her thigh and she cried out when I stabbed her with the needle, but that was about it all! Then I got her a Pedialyte ice pop to suck while I read her a book and she was already able to crack jokes with me! Then she went back to sleep after that. So it does get easier as they get older. Sigh.

Today, I really needed to rest. So I dropped the kids off at Novena bright and early and I CAME TO WORK! Much easier to sit and work than to deal with sick, teary and whiny kids! No wonder my mom worked FULL TIME when we were growing up. And we didn't do too badly. 2 doctors and 1 accountant/manager. All happily married/attached with grandchildren to boot. She must have done something right.

Honestly, I think the kids are in better hands if the caregivers are happy and cheerful doing their thing ( ie school etc ) than if I had to do it with a bad, tired mood. I know because on weekends I sometimes get impatient and cranky with them after a bad night. This way they get lots of enthusiasm from all their caregivers and we all get a break in between.

I hope they stay well for awhile after this... Annika's first is coming up and she HAS TO BE WELL!