Late Nights and Runny Noses

I know I have been a little behind in keeping up with the blog this month. Some of it has been laziness, but this week, at least, I do have a good excuse!  For the 2 of you that actually read this, let me catch you up on all that has been going on…

Monday…well, it actually turned out to be a very productive day, thankfully.  Things didn’t get crazy until Tuesday.

On Tuesday of last week, Hannah woke up at 4:30 a.m.  And, she decided that she was up for the day, and of course, so was I.  On the bright side, we were ready to leave for church on time!  They said she seemed “kind of out of it” when I picked her up from the nursery, but at that point she had been up 6 hours, so that was to be expected.  I thought she would take a great nap when we got home, and was hoping I could sneak one in too.  Nope.  She seemed tired, but refused to sleep.  She wasn’t grumpy, just very, very mellow…strange for a girl who always has a ton of energy.  I did wonder if she was coming down with something, but, since everything else seemed fine, I chalked it up to sleep deprivation, and tucked her into bed.Thankfully she slept well…so well, in fact, that I had to wake her up on Wednesday morning.  Her nose was a little runny when she woke up, but it was clear, so I assumed it probably had something to do with the strong winds from the day before.  (Maybe she did inherit Daddy’s allergies after all.)  One good blow, and she was all better, so I had a clear conscience about leaving her in the nursery.  (If it’s green, or any variation, they are not allowed into the nursery.)  She was fine until we got there, when we she quickly figured out that I wasn’t staying…then the crying began (and the runny nose kicked in again)…and lasted for about an hour.  (I know, bad mommy.)  The 2 ladies taking care of her did everything they could to distract her with puzzles, songs, videos – anything.  But, nothing worked, and she finally exhausted herself, and fell asleep for about 30 minutes.  They said that she was a different person when she woke up, happy, and ready to play…  Once again, I naively attributed this episode to sleep deprivation, and we went on with our day.  We had lunch when we got home, and then it was naptime.  At least, according to the schedule it was naptime.  According to Hannah, her little “power nap” earlier in the day was more than enough.  So, she played in her crib while I cleaned up the kitchen, folded laundry (leftover from the day before!), and read some of Mere Christianity for my girls’ accountability group that night.  She was still talking and playing after an hour and a half, so I decided to go ahead and get her up.  I figured that if she fell asleep at this point, she would never go to bed!  Grandma and Niecie came over to baby-sit while I went to my girls’ group, and Hannah fell asleep, on Grandma’s lap, at 7:30!  This is unheard of for my little night owl.  I was anticipating another early morning, but, she stayed sound asleep for a full 12 hours!On Thursday we had the day off from nursery duty – and it was a good thing too.  The clear, supposedly allergy-related runny nose had turned into a nasty green mess, complete with coughing and sneezing by the time she woke up on Thursday.  It was fairly obvious that she had her first cold…and it was a doozy!  She threw a fit about getting dressed, so I let her stay in her pajamas all day!  We didn’t have to be anywhere, and I just didn’t think it was worth the battle.  Sometimes, when you feel lousy, it helps to stay in your jammies.  After a decent nap (finally!), Hannah was ready to play.  But, she did not want to be more than 2 feet away from me for the rest of the afternoon!  Since she’s not usually the cuddly type, I have to admit that I enjoyed this!  We read books, played with puzzles, colored, and watched Winnie the Pooh (who has usurped Elmo’s title as “favorite” for the time being).Friday was a little better, since she was willing to get out of her pajamas at a reasonable hour, and she seemed to be back to her normal sleeping routine, which I’m sure helped tremendously with her attitude.  Aside from the perpetually runny nose, and her congested little voice, you would never know she wasn’t feeling well!

However, at 2:30 a.m. she woke up with a rather nasty sounding cough, and a very stuffy nose.  We went a few rounds with, what Daddy calls, “the Green Boogie Machine” (also known as a nasal aspirator).  Until this week, I’ve probably used it all of 3 times in the last year and a half!  She wasn’t too thrilled with it, at first, but she eventually gave in as she began to realize that she could once again breathe through her nose.  It took a while to get her settled down, and it was 4:00 a.m. before we were both back in bed.

Saturday was a much-needed break.  This was the first weekend in a long time that we have not had anything going on…no weddings, baby showers, or other “events”.  We just enjoyed relaxing…and I even got in a little nap!  Unfortunately, Saturday night was a repeat of Friday night, and Hannah and I were once again up for several hours at “zero-dark-thirty.”  But, this time she was quite compliant when I brought out the nasal aspirator.  After that, she was able to fall asleep on the couch for a little while.  I think it was easier for her to breathe when she was upright.  We finally got the coughing under control, and got her back to bed around 5:00a.m.

This morning, since she still had the green stuff coming out of her nose, I wasn’t about to put her in the nursery.  I know many parents who say “it’s just a little cough.”  Maybe I am being overly cautious.  But, there is no such thing as “a little cough.”  I know, everyone says that I will change my tune 3 or 4 kids down the road, but for now, this is how I feel.  Besides, I get extremely frustrated with parents who put sick kids in the nursery, so I was not about to do the same!  But, I was torn, since Jason was teaching our Sunday school class this morning. 

“Auntie Jo” came to the rescue, since she had decided to go to the evening service at her church, she came over and played with Hannah while Jason and I went to church.  Hannah had a great time with her Auntie, but it was nice to know that she missed me…I loved hearing her come running to the door exclaiming “Mama! Mama! Mama home!”  (That makes those late nights so worth it!)

So, that is what we have been up to this week…runny noses, late nights, and lots and lots of Kleenex…