A Long Three Weeks, but Spring is Here!

Between Olivia's cough virus, mom catching it, then Olivia getting the runs and Kevin being gone for almost all of it, this has been a long three weeks.  Thank goodness Olivia is *almost* healthy and I'm back to normal!  On top of all that, my daffodils, mini hyacinth and crocuses are blooming or coming up and the cherry trees are all in bloom!  How pretty! :)  Sure makes me want to go hiking or camping.

After our fun at the emergency room, Kevin was here the night for the second fever spike and that was helpful.  Then he left and she continued to have a fever for the next several days, but fortunately not as high.  Shortly thereafter, Olivia developed a bad case of the runs, which led to very uncomfortable (and red) diaper rash!  We visited the doctor a few times and never determined the cause of it.  The main fall out is that we've totally stalled on introducing solids and working on sitting up.  But now that Olivia can have a diaper on for at least half the day, it's time to start working on that again.

 This past week, lots of folks pitched in to help.  Olivia had spent most of Sunday bare-bottomed in the family room and having the runs.  Kevin had an evening flight back to LA and I had forgotten to pick up Pedialyte.  Home alone with Olivia, I started getting nervous, she was crying and I figured I needed the Pedialyte.  Charlie came to help out and babysat while I ran to the store at 8:45pm.  Awesome!

Monday, Karen babysat all day and Olivia was a fussy girlie.  Again, bare-bottomed most of the day, the diaper rash was not getting worse, but not getting better either because her tummy was still upset.

Tuesday through Thursday, Patti babysat at the house and had an OK day, a Fussy day, and a Fun day!  I'm so relieved Olivia recovered a bit for Patti to have at least one fun day with Olivia.  Even Uncle Steven pitched in for a bit and covered a few hours when Patti had an errand to run!  After taking Olivia to the doctor on Tuesday for another appointment to be checked out, we started giving her some probiotics in her milk and attempting to feed solids again - all with the objective to give her something to make more substantial poo!  I guess the probiotics are helping because Olivia refuses to eat any food.  We're trying a modified BRAT diet (Banana, Rice cereal, Apple sauce, and Toast - but no toast for Olivia).  Oh, but on Thursday she did eat some cereal-milk-applesauce mixture for Patti and apparently they had fun!


Kevin returned Thursday and rode home with me - to find a happy baby at home.  What a relief!  Wednesday evening had been pretty tough with a really fussy baby, but Thursday she was all smiles!  Perfect timing!  Suzanne even came over that night for our last hangout before she departs for Dubai to start the next chapter of her life.  Very exciting!



Today, Kevin babysat all day - the first time he's been alone with Olivia for more than about 3 hours.  They had a lovely day - jumperoo, only a few diarrheas, smiles. :)  I got some work done, but man is my work life suffering big time.  It's tough to be worried about a little baby at home and feeling like I should be there taking care of her, but having to be at work.  I think things will get much better now that she's almost healthy again!

OK, momma's tired.  It's been a long day and a long week.  I'm looking forward to music class with Olivia tomorrow - it's always entertaining. :)