Influenza A

SUCKS, and I hope I never see it take over my toddler's body again.  It took her down and she didn't get back up for seven days.  We worried each day as she coughed up tons of phlegm, ran a fever for five days, moaned every time she moved, refused food and water, lost over two pounds, and struggled to even lift her head up for four days.  We were vigilant and helped her not end up in the hospital, but she came close.  She is up and running today and all her giggles, "me mad" 's, jumping, running, and bossiness are music to my ears.  The cough is still around, but no worries, I can handle that.   I feel so lucky Ava is generally healthy and we've never had to worry about her so much. 

Waking up at 4am this morning was a joyous event, she said she was hungry!  We sat together in bed, ate buttered toast, giggled at Dejan snoring, eventually fell back asleep, and slept in until 9am for the first time since college.  There is something about that moment, when you don't worry anymore, which allows the sleep to just come.  On top of that, Ava slept in until 10am...I got an entire hour to myself!

There was one moment this week that will forever be etched in my mind.  Day 5, of Ava feeling as bad as she could possibly feel, was laying on the couch and she just started crying. "What's the matter honey?", "Nothing.", "Are you sure?" , "Yeah", "Are you just tired of feeling sick?", "Yeah." (with tears rolling down her cheek). I picked her up and held her as tight as I could and gave her words of encouragement. If my heart could burst, it would have at that moment. We sat and cried quietly together. I took her to bed and as I watched deep sleep take over her body, she suddenly opened her eyes and said, "want SHREK music". I laughed at her and played 'Darlng I do' until she fell fast asleep. I love this girl more than I ever thought possible after first bringing her home. I am so thankful for that and enjoy each day that brings us closer, and yes, even the bad days.

The world continued on as we sat held up in the house.  Sad news around the world makes a person appreciate having clean food and water, plenty of medicine to nurse our children back to health, the ability to make a snack at 4am when our children are hungry, and the only aircraft's flying over head are passenger planes or joy riders.  Sometimes living in the Midwest makes me feel a little out of touch with the real world, but at this moment, I feel lucky to live where I do.