Sickness stinks!

The month of January has not been kind to our family. Micah has pretty much run the gamut in terms of all the illnesses he's been fighting, and as my full-time job is caring for him during the day, I've had my fair share of his bugs too. Thankfully, Aaron has managed to stay pretty healthy, though he's now fighting a nasty cold too. (hopefully he'll keep this one to himself!)

It all started with a double ear infection and pneumonia-sounding lungs in Micah. The amazing thing is that even though he was clearly sick, and in need of some medical attention, he was as happy a kid as ever! He didn't have a high fever, and wasn't acting too much different than usual, but we decided to take him to the doctor anyway just to be on the safe side. (that, and Grannie Jannie mentioned his breathing sounded shallow and she'd feel better if we took him in) :) Then, after about 9 days of amoxicillin, Micah developed a rash that looked very similar to one my sister had as a baby, when the family learned she was allergic to amoxicillin. So... back to the doctor we went. It was diagnosed as an amoxicillin allergy, so we stopped the medicine and started giving Micah Benadryl to help with the itching. 24 hours later, the rash had spread and looked worse than it had the day before, so once again, I was on the phone to the doctor's office. Thankfully, we were able to avoid a trip in to the office, thanks to the wonders of cell phones and technology. The nurse had me send her some pictures so she could show the doctor, and then the doctor called with her diagnosis... which turned out to be a virus (which I can't remember the name of) that starts out as a cold or ear infection, and culminates in this rash that can take up to 2 weeks to completely go away. It's not contagious, but it doesn't look pretty, and poor little Micah was quite itchy. We could tell when the Benadryl was wearing off because he would start scratching at the back of his neck and head like crazy! Thankfully, the Benadryl helped and we managed to survive yet another round of sickness... or so we thought!

Last week, we got the runs. I had been feeling pretty nauseous in the mornings again... it sort of felt like this pregnancy was going backwards and I was back in the 1st trimester with all the joys of morning sickness, because I would feel sick from about 6-10 a.m. and be fine after that. It doesn't seem to bother me on the weekends, which is nice, but makes me think maybe this "sickness" has more to do with my job than an actual bug I'm fighting. :) But since Micah doesn't work at UPS and has had diarrhea and basically no appetite for almost a week, I guess there is some bug being passed around. We're praying whatever we've been fighting is on its way out, never to return, but I'm not that naive. :) Right now, I'd just settle for being able to go a week without making a phone call to the doctor's office!

I didn't take any pictures of the latest round of sickness going around, but I did get a few of Micah covered in hives from that virus. I know he'll probably hate me for these later in life, but since he's not old enough to read this or protest to my sharing them, I'll deal with the consequences later. :) We appreciate your prayers for our family as we try to get (and stay) healthy! We hope everyone in your life is healthy and that these bugs bypass your family as we try to survive the rest of the winter months. Take care of yourselves! :)

Our splotchy little boy ~