Last week was probably the week from hell for our little girl. Tuesday we received a call from daycare notifying us that OP had a rash. It didn’t sound like a major rash; all over her body, yes, but just an allergy. We decided to wait and see what she actually looked like in a few hours when we picked her up.

Our daycare is awesome and we are very happy with it, but occasionally we get a call that, “OMG come quick get the child! She’s diseased!” and we dutifully leave work and she’s 100% fine. Since the rash started in early afternoon and didn’t seem to be bothering her, we decided to wait. Of course, we called the doctor’s office first to make sure she was okay to stay but that we should get her in to see someone that night or the next day.

And here’s the fun part that you must remember for later in our story. Our doctor’s office was closed on Tuesday and Wednesday because there was something wrong with the building. No doctor was physically available.

The Husband and I walked into daycare to get OP. Our plan was to take her to dinner and the store before bed. That plan was derailed when we saw how bad the rash was. It had been getting worse with raised red bumps over a good portion of her body. Much screaming from the Daughter because THE NURSE LOOKED AT ME! and THE DOCTOR USED A STETHOSCOPE! and THEY! LOOKED! IN! MY! EAR! and we find out that our poor little girl had an allergic reaction to the antibiotics for an ear infection. Poor thing went into this appointment hating all things medical and that did not ease up after Tuesday.

We were sent home with a new antibiotic script and ben@dryl. Shortly after we got home, OP looked like this:

You have to love her attempt at a smile.

This was much better than when we saw her at daycare. You can imagine we were extremely relieved. That is, until found her in the morning looking like this:

Needless to say, we were worried, but we figured the ben@dryl just wore off and the rash came back like the doctor warned. Unfortunately, ben@dryl makes OP’s heart pound, teeth chatter, and body shake. Yup, some kids become hyper from the drug and ours was one of them. To be fair, she really enjoyed having teeth that chattered.

As the day wore on, she developed a temperature and her red spots started looking like bruises. Call the emergency line for the doctor’s office that is currently closed and get sent to their partner doctor 30 minutes away. Fever of 103, negative for flu, and the bruising spots are normal. OP screamed throughout BUT got her very first ice pop and that seemed to be almost worth the torment. I bet if they had given her a good flavor and not orange, she would have learned to love the doctor’s office.

Unfortunately as we were leaving, we were told to go the next day to our regular doctor to check on the fever. Our poor little girl who has been tortured by stethoscopes, suffered a fever, looked like she had the plague, and to top it all off had ears that hurt, had to go back to the doctor for the third time.

In three days.

At least she got a script for something to help with the rash.

Thursday OP still had a fever and the rash. Her fingers and toes had turned blue, but her oxygen levels were fine she just had to suffer the injustice of the oxygen clip on her finger a couple times which of course she did not like.

By Friday, she looked like this:

Much better, no? Her fever was gone and she was a happy little camper. Until Monday when she had a follow-up appointment. If I had my way, she’d be away from doctors for a while because it is so traumatic, but she needs to do it and eventually it will get better. We are thinking of buying her a stethoscope to play with so maybe that part will be a little more fun.

I don’t answer the phone if I don’t recognize the number. Occasionally, I think the call could be important and decide to break that rule. I always regret that decision. Carrying a happy little girl on my hip, I picked up the phone.

“Is this Mrs. the Husband MyLastname? This is Sergent Something or other”

Oh crap. It’s the cops asking for money. Okay. Do I say no now, or wait until they ask for the money. I don’t want to be overzealous.

“This is.”

“Your husband had an accident on his bike. He’s fine.”

That’s never a good start to your night.

Every Tuesday, the Husband has his triathlon group. They all get together and do a sprint tri for practice. (Yeah, I don’t get it either.) On that night, as the Husband was going down a hill at about 35 mph, an orange cat darted into his path. The Husband swerved. The next thing he remembers, he was on the ground with people standing over him. The ambulance came shortly after.

The phrase is Road Pizza or Road Rash. It depends on who you ask and when. The Husband’s left knee, part of his side, elbows, and back from shoulder to shoulder is covered in it. Those look worse than they are. They hurt like hell, but they aren’t horrible. The gash in his head looks nasty and required 12 stitches. I can’t imagine how many stitches would have made it onto his head were he not wearing a helmet.

The walking is the issue. After a few hours of bloody sheets and gravel, the resident who looked nothing like JD came in to clean the road rash. He sat him up only for the Husband to have a lot of pain in his left hip. So much that he couldn’t sit up. X-rays showed no break. We all said, it was probably how he fell, maybe on his keys or a rock or something. Nothing to worry about.  After a couple hours, the pain was worse. He couldn’t sit or stand and they took him back for a Cat Scan. They said he had a subdural hematoma in the area the pain. They said subdural hematoma but after looking it up, that relates to the brain so who knows what it really is. I think by that point it was 12 am? Or was it 10? No, maybe it was 2. Who knows. Anyway, he had a lot of nasty internal bruising which probably explained his issues with walking. There was also some minor bruising on his liver and he had to stay for observation.

Today, he wasn’t much better. The walker was exhausting, pain-filled, and not at all successful. At around 4pm they decided to give him a stronger medication and see what happened. He walked, with a walker and extremely slowly and laboriously, but it was a huge improvement. He’s staying one more night and will be having physical therapy tomorrow. If all goes well, he will be home tomorrow night–bruised, battered and sore, but home.

I guess in the battle of Man v. Cat, cat won.

Well, we almost had a baby today. Maybe I should back up.

At my week 37 appointment (Dec 4) the nurse did all the 37 week tests. The baby’s head was down but not engaged, and while I was closed like Fort Knox, I was pretty well effaced. Have I grossed you out yet? At week 38  (Dec 11), the Doctor said the effacement number was an over-estimation in her opinion and the baby was breech. When did we want to schedule the C-Section? She wanted it this past week. I said no. I wanted to wait until 40 weeks to give OP time to turn. The doctor agreed that we would schedule the C-Section for my due date or after and wait until today’s appointment to see if she turned.

I was close to tears hearing all this. I’m not against a C-section if it’s necessary, but having it done this way, knowing it was coming was not what I ever wanted for a lot of reasons that I’m not going to go into here. We told a couple people but didn’t want to say too much until we knew more.

Anyway, today we went to my week 39 appointment to see if my C-section was on or if this kid finally developed a sense of direction. The Dr. came in, a different doctor from last week which is not unusual. We told the Dr. all about last week’s breech scare and that we needed to check her direction. She felt all around for OP and couldn’t find a head. The baby was decapitated! The heartbeat was in a lower position than last week so that was a very good sign. I got my full check (still not dilated) and off we went to the ultrasound machine where we learned that the doctors need a class on how to work the darn thing.

Anyway, the baby is, unfortunately, still breech with a head in pretty much in  the same place right next to my stomach. I’m not happy, but there’s not much we can do. The problem? The Dr. didn’t see enough amniotic fluid and wanted a second look. If the second look was bad, the baby as coming today. We were shipped to Labor and Delivery for a second look and possible delivery (with a stop at home for hospital gear just in case). We were admitted, given a room, and told to wait. A wheelchair-trip down to the ultrasound machine and a non-stress test later, and everything is fine and we were sent home.

A very crazy morning. On the plus side, the ultrasound tech confirmed a girl AND she’s a petite little thing according the the machine at 7lbs 3oz. The C-section is scheduled for my due date–Dec 21 at 10:30. We will be having a solstice baby.