Thursday

It's 46 degrees outside, and it's Thursday.
My girls have been asleep just over 2 hours. Not breaking news on a normal day.
2 hour naps are pretty standard.
Today, this is huge.
Kennedy woke up yesterday afternoon feeling warm. Really warm.
I took her temperature and learned she had a fever of 104.3!
After dosing her with children's tylenol cold (the thick snot has been pouring out all day), getting her a tall glass of cold apple juice, and getting her shirt and snuggle blanket off- I realized she had the shakes. It took a bit of convincing, but she agreed to a bath-only in Mommy and Daddy's giant tub. done. As I put her in the tub, I noticed her lips turning blue and her fingertips looking Smurfy.
She settled into the luke warm tub and started 'swimming'.
Shortly there after, Madison woke up in tears. She sat on my lap and said, 'Mommy, growing up makes me so sad'. Because Little Kennedy woke up fevered, and sickness is on the brain, I thought she said THROWING up makes me so sad. She clarified, 'No, Mommy-growing up makes me so sad, because I will go to heaven soon.'
Let me explain- as the girls laid down for naps, I told them both it makes me so sad they are growing up. My little babies are gone, they are such big girls now.
I told Madison growing up isn't a bad thing, and she doesn't need to be sad. I explained God will take her to heaven, and Mommy to heaven, and Daddy to heaven...etc...when he is ready and we don't need to be sad. Then asked if she wanted a cookie. Perfect distraction-
Back to Kennedy. After several trips back and forth between the bathtub and potty seat for false alarm 'tee tee' and 'poops' trips, her head felt much cooler so we settled into pjs, dried out her ears, and reassessed. Down to 100.1 and more snuggly. In fact, Daddy picked up Thai food for dinner on his way home from work, because Kennedy clung to Mommy like a Koala.
The evening was calm, girls went down for bed with little problem, Mommy braced for the worst. 4am came, and a tiny cry came from their room. Kennedy's little voice was all but gone, the coughing started and the fever was back. In a big way! 105.1! More tylenol, stripping the pjs, skin to skin snuggle with Mommy, more cool water, and a little more sleep- the fever broke again.
A local friend pulled some strings and got us into her pediatrician, a close family friend of theirs, only to learn our little one has croup. As the doctor put it- Kennedy has the best (this was not a compliment) croup cough he's heard in a long time. He said with that strong of a bark in the morning- our night tonight will be rough.
Steroids for the inflammation, tylenol and motrin for the fevers, cool mist humidifiers, steamy bathrooms, night air- all the usual suspects- and pray big sister doesn't catch this highly contagious virus. Doctor says 3-4 nights of this, and we are on the front end- the fevers should stop, but the coughs will continue.
Mommy was hospitalized as a baby with croup. Times have changed since, but it doesn't make the fevers and coughs any less frightening.
Now 2 and 1/2 hours into naps with over an hour since the last coughing fit- this seems promising. The number one side effects in toddlers taking this steroid- mood/behavior swings which lead to decreased sleep. Let's hope tonight is just like this nap!
Pray for our sweet girls.