March Came in Like a Lion

And I do not mean the weather. Today it is a mild day here in the Midwest and the weather is supposed to be quite pleasant this weekend.

But inside Twinland, a storm started brewing last weekend and it came down upon us with all its fury and no remorse.

First Peanut's nose started running. No big deal, all I had to do was chase her around with tissues and wrestle her to the ground. Wash my hands like crazy, wash her hands like crazy and spray things down with disinfectant. All in a day's work. Then, by Sunday, she started going quite hoarse and my once, high pitched squeaky voiced Peanut (it's really a sweet little voice, if you ask me) was now ready to belt out some Nat King Cole number. Though it wasn't "A Wonderful World" when...

Monday, Jelly Bean's nose started running. Okay, now I have two little princesses to chase around with a box of royal tissues. I am at your beck and call, your highnesses. No sweat, we just went through this a couple of months ago and survived. It will be okay. But, wait! There is a twist this time...

Tuesday morning, I wake up and feel like I was hit by a car. I spent several hours in the wee hours coughing and congested. By the morning alarm, my throat was sore and swollen, coughing, congested and had a headache that made me want to pull my eyeballs out of their sockets. (Okay, I know you didn't need that visualization, but we try to be quite real here at Bringing Up Twins.) I could barely stand up from all the congestion and so I stumbled upstairs to twindada's office and said, "I am very sick. You have to watch the girls so I can go to bed."

I haven't laid in bed since I was on bedrest over two years ago. It was a very strange feeling.

Twindada did not grumble or try to argue with me which was awesome. He immediately filled in and took care of the girls the entire day so that I could rest. Peanut was doing better, but we decided to be on stand by as to whether she could go to the doctor to have her ears checked. Jelly Bean seemed to be doing fine with just a minor runny nose. I just thought that tomorrow would be a better day, but...

Wednesday came and I felt even worse. Peanut was doing okay, but had a meltdown in the afternoon. She is usually a very happy-go-lucky little girl, so for her to be so moody, made us concerned that she could have infected ears. We made an appointment for her to go the doctor the next day. Things would be definitely better tomorrow for all of us...right?

Thursday came and twindada took Peanut to her appointment. He came home saying that she was fine and just needed to ride out her cold. I continued to feel bad, but decided to ride this virus out, too. Okay, we would just have to suck it up and everyone would be better in a week or so. Just when I thought that all of our questions were answered, Jelly Bean woke up from her nap with watery, gooky green eyes and a dark welt under one of them.

I decided to call the phone nurse instead of making an appointment. After all, we had just been there that morning with Peanut. Here is the jist of the conversation...

"My daughter has green, gooky stuff on and around her eyes and was wondering at what point should we bring her in?" (twinmama)

"Is her eyes red?" (phone nurse)

"They are a little bloodshot, but not too bad. However, if looks like she was punched in one of her eyes. There is a dark spot under the eye." (twinmama)

"There's your answer, then. That sounds like conjunctivitis. We need to see her." (phone nurse)

Jelly Bean has pink eye in both eyes. The phone nurse connected me with the appointment desk and within twenty minutes twindada had Jelly Bean at the pediatrician's office and they saw the same doctor as him and Peanut. She was prescribed an antibiotic - they are eye drops that we have to put in her eyes three times a day for seven days. Ever put eye drops in a two year old? It is kind of like putting eye drops in an octopus. As I am holding her arms down at her sides and holding her head still, twindada has to pry open her tightly squeezed eye while quickly putting a tiny drop into the eye without missing all while trying to dodge the feet that are trying to kick him. It's a lot of fun. Really.

Now, a tired twindada came home and got the girls settled while I helped the little I could and then he made dinner. I managed to get the dishes washed while he took care of the girls and then I crashed and he put the girls to bed. I was exhausted and I could only imagine how exhausted he was. Friday we will all be on the mend, we just have to be...

Well, I am happy to report that the girls seem to be doing great today. Both of them have been running around playing like crazy on their toy cars, coloring and running around the house being active toddlers. Twindada has continued to do everything for them and they have learned to really rely on him like they do with me.

As for me? I woke up with a fever and have been dealing with a cold "breaking up" all day. It isn't pretty, but I hope it means I am on the mend, too, as I am tired of being away from my girls and my husband. I really miss them and I don't like lying in bed while my family is bustling around the house.

March has definitely come in like a lion here in Twinland! It has been a crazy week of illness, doctors appointments and hand washing, but there my hero came through for me and my creator made it all possible. Twindada has been an absolute rock this week and he is SuperMan & Mr. Mom all wrapped into one awesome package. The Lord sustained him and kept him healthy through all of this and we are so grateful! Twindada has never complained once about all the work he has been doing and he has been doing everything! I sent him an email from my bed thanking him for all of his hard work and he wrote back while the girls were napping. Here is a snippet...

"Thanks for being such a rock this week. I seriously don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been home. It was really a blessing." (twinmama)

"You're welcome. That's what I'm here for. A husband and a father. Signed up for the good and bad ;)" (twindada)

I think I married pretty well...