I'm back BABY!!

OMG -- in a word, last week SUCKED -- BIG TIME!! Sorry to just lay it out there like that, but I've got to tell you... I really can't say it any other way.... It was just terrible.

We had planned on going down to Kansas City to spend the weekend with Brian and Val. We were all set for a super fun weekend, hanging out with good friends, swimming in their pool, celebrating Matt's 35th birthday. I hear Brian's mom even made Matt a big birthday cookie, which Val decorated. No such luck. Any and all fun eluded us. Here's how the week went:

Saturday night Katherine came down with pink eye, so I called my sister who now works at an eye clinic, and she gave me drops that would clear up the pink eye. No big deal I think..... shouldn't interfere with our plans an entire week away...

Then remember this when Caleb came down with strep throat and I had to haul him into an incompetent doctor? I thought that since it was Tuesday, it shouldn't interfere with our weekend plans as Caleb would have been on antibiotics for 4 days before we saw little Will.

In a nutshell what happened later in the week just about made me pull my hair out.... I had to take Katherine back to Dr. Jon the next day for strep throat. I'm not going to rant on and on and on about how the doctor that treated Caleb works so differently than Jon, but let's just say that if they practiced medicine ON THE SAME PLANET I wouldn't have to go in two days in a row, and Katherine could have been on meds earlier. Since her strep throat was allowed to progress another day, she got so much sicker that Caleb.

Oh, it was great. She woke up at 4 am and started throwing up (which surprisingly is a common 'side effect' of strep throat. Who knew???) everywhere... and it was every 20 minutes or so. Good times. I loved every moment. Trying to keep Katherine and Caleb on separate floors was soooo hard! I should have lost 20 pounds just from running up and down the stairs 1,000 times that day. It was insane.

Well, since Katherine was really sick, and I had no soda in the house I was without caffeine. Not a big deal to most -- but I'm addicted -- Lindsey Lohan type addiction. It's horrible. I drink waaaay to much. Now I had EVERY intention of giving up caffeine before I got pregnant again, but had no intention of doing so for several months. Anyway, since Katherine was so sick I couldn't leave the house and get my fix, so I was without my much needed pick me up!

As expected, later that night I came down with a headache and was chilled. I couldn't wait to get into bed. I assumed it was lack of caffeine and didn't give it much of a thought. However, Friday morning I woke up in a terrible state. The headache behind my eyes was insane! I couldn't move my eyes from side to side without screaming in pain. Any kind of bright light about brought me to tears. My temples were throbbing. I was nauseous. I was chilled. I ached all over. I literally couldn't care for Katherine and Caleb. I took them to the dark, cool basement and put in a movie and laid on the couch in tears. Oh, and we were scheduled to leave for Kansas City in a few hours.

At about noon, I crawled into the shower and could barely stand up... I had to be in there for 30 minutes or better, praying the whole time I wouldn't fall over and blackout. When I got out, I had tons of red spots all over my stomach and chest. REALITY CHECK -- We are not going to KC, and I need to go to the doctor.

Oh, and yea, it's Matt's 35th birthday.

So after he gets home I head to the walk-in clinic. Fun times let me tell ya. It was scary!! Good thing I was so sick, or I probably wouldn't have stayed... I finally get to the see the doctor (which was a DO I might add), and my fever is 101.3. My strep test came back positive... (Funny, as my throat didn't hurt at all!!) And a headache is also one of the most common symptoms of strep. Again, who knew??? Not me! So I'm sure part of the headache was from lack of caffeine, and part of it was from strep, but never in my life have I had a headache like this... It was horrible. Seriously debilitating.

So after Matt took me to the pharmacist, we headed home and I went straight to bed. Matt and the kids played outside with the neighbors until 10:30 or so, and then after they went to bed, he went back over to Rick and Danyel's house. Thankfully, they were nice enough to entertain him on his birthday!

Since we were packed to go to KC, Matt and the kids went up to LeMars to spend the weekend with his parents and just got home this afternoon. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday on the couch. Literally, I barely moved. The long leather sofa in the basement probably has my body imprinted on it.

I haven't been this sick in ages... Actually I don't remember ever feeling this way. BUT... if there's a silver lining in all this... I've given up caffeine. I'm on day 5 and it's actually a wonderful feeling. For some strange reason, I actually feel stronger ... healthier.

Don't push the panic button -- I'm not giving up my Starbuck's, but in the near future, I won't be visiting. I need to detox for a while. I don't want to "need" anything as badly as I "needed" caffeine in the recent past. I knew it had to be bad, when every time we passed a Casey's Katherine asked me if I was going to get my soda... Don't you need your caffeine, Mommy, she'd ask....

So starting tomorrow, we're back!! We barely left the house last week, and we are sooooo not a sitting around the house, doing nothing type of crowd. We were all going nuts. Tomorrow, we're off to the Science Center with Michelle, Nicholas and Caden. We're soooo excited.

Oh, and we're banning public places the week before Disney!