Can't Catch a Break

So this was my first week of school with the kids around.  Even though classes haven't started up, I am a freshman advisor with 6 advisees.  Milton takes the advising program VERY seriously.  This whole week is filled with class-specific activities that I have to be at.  I can't miss work this week!

I knew, just knew, that the boys would be sick my first week at the new job.  I was trying not to turn it into a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I just knew.  And sure enough, Sebastian got sick.  He started with some diarrhea on Saturday, but it didn't seem all that bad.  Sunday he woke up and had explosive, foul-smelling diarrhea all day--CONSTANTLY.  I couldn't change his diapers fast enough.  I easily went through 20 diapers on Sunday.  We took the boys to Methuen to my Auntie Mimi's house.  It was great to get out of the house and see my Aunt and my Nana, but it was hard because of the poop issue!  Monday was horrible.  Sebastian continued to have the runs pretty bad, and I wasn't sure he was taking in enough liquid.  I'd been in touch with the pediatrician all along, and they told me to watch out for signs of dehydration: no tear production, dry mouth, lethargy, no wet diapers.  By Monday afternoon I was worried enough about Sebastian to take him to the ER at Newton-Wellesley.  He was crying in the morning and not producing tears, and even though he had wet diapers, I was pretty sure all the liquid was coming from the diarrhea, not pee.

So off Sebastian and I went to the hospital.  Carlos stayed at home with Adrian.  Newton-Wellesley is a pretty nice hospital.  They were nice to Sebastian and took good care of him.  After he napped about a half hour, they had me feed him a bottle.  When he took 5 ounces (not bad!) they were pretty confident he was ok and wasn't dehydrated.  They didn't even need/want to hook him up to an IV to re-hydrate him.  So that was good.  It cost $100, but it was worth the peace of mind.

My Sebastian in his hospital bed at Newton-Wellesley

Sebastian and Adrian both are old souls.  Don't you think?

By Tuesday, he still wasn't ok.  Carlos took a sick day to look after Sebastian and Adrian went to daycare.  They called me at 4pm to say Adrian had thrown up and we had to go get him.  They also said he had a temperature and that he couldn't go to the daycare on Wednesday.  My mom came up to help Carlos with bath and bedtime because I was supposed to work late.  Adrian seemed FINE.

So, Wednesday, we kept both boys home.  Carlos worked from home and my mom came up to watch the boys so I could be at work.  They both were fine all day.

Tonight, Adrian had a low-grade fever....he's tired and he pooped a bit looser than usual.  But not the same foul stuff Sebastian had.  I'm crossing all my fingers and toes that Adrian does not get Sebastian's virus.  We've been disinfecting everything and cleaning toys with a bleach solution.  I can't stand the constant sickness!  We have to have a back up plan for when the boys can't go to daycare.  I can use Parents in a Pinch, but it's prohibitively expensive.  But we might have to suck it up.  It's still cheaper than hiring a full-time nanny.  But I also hate the idea of letting a stranger who is only a temporary caregiver into my home to take care of my kids.  I HATE the idea.

Anyway, it's been a terribly stressful start to to my new job and to the school year.  But it is what it is.  Can't they be illness-free for more than a few days at a time?