Crazy afternoon

Well, this afternoon was not what I thought it would be. Erin has been on a napping strike today, so she has not slept more than 30 min at a time. That in itself is super fun. Anyway, I decided to take the girls to the mall so Leah could play in the play place and we could grab some lunch and exchange some Christmas gifts that do not fit the girls.

Now Leah had been coughing all morning and this has been a chronic thing for a while now. She coughs more than any kid I have ever seen. Always has. Finally on the way to the mall, I call the dr's office to talk to a triage nurse about it. But after leaving a message, I decide it's best to just make an appt. They have an opening at 2pm and it is now 12:30. I tell Leah we can't go to the mall and she pitches a fit. I feel bad because I was hyping up how fun the play place was to get her out of the house. So we go to the mall anyway. We play for a bit, eat Chick-Fil-A (Leah eats her entire kids meal of 4 nuggets and a fruit cup). She doesn't like the lemonade she made me order, of course. I change Erin in the changing station and I forget my changing pad on the table.

We head over to the dr. I wait in line to check in while trying to keep an eye on Leah wandering around the room. They call us back quickly, thank goodness. The result of this visit is as follows:

Leah may either have:

A) cough-variant asthma

OR

B) allergies

We were prescribed an oral steroid to try. If it works, most likely she has the asthma. If it doesn't work, we need to try Benadryl. If that works, she most likely has allergies. Either way, we are probably looking at long-term medication. Ugh...

On a better note, Leah has still not had any of her constipation meds and seems fine. The doc said the best "cure" for it is potty training, because BMs on the potty become a routine. They don't have time to get too hard. The problem may resurface when she starts kindergarten because her schedule will be disrupted and she will have to poop at school occasionally. Yay! (said sarcastically)

Anyway, we go to get the prescription filled. I wait at Walgreen's while they fill it. I buy Leah some mini cookies to keep her occupied (meanwhile she is still coughing constantly and it is starting to grate on my last nerve). When we get the meds, I immediately give her one, as per doc instructions. It is in dissolvable pill form. By the time we get to the entrance, it has dissolved. I park the stroller with Erin in it next to the car and start to put things away, when Leah has another coughing fit. This time she throws up all the cookies she just ate. I have to wipe her down and change her shirt (yay for extra clothes in the car!).

Then on the way home I call the dr office back to see if I should give her another one. They call me back when I am pulling into the driveway and the lady has to ask me a million questions like child's name, birthdate, my name, time of appt, etc (seemingly unrelated to DO I GIVE HER ANOTHER DOSE OR WHAT?). I am trying to get the kids into the house while we are talking. Erin is screaming in my ear to get out of her carseat because she is SO. FREAKING. TIRED. The lady tells me we have to calm down her coughing before giving her another one. Um, hello? That's what the pills are for. NO, we have to turn on the hot shower full blast and sit in the bathroom for 20 minutes, then eat a cracker, then the pill, then another cracker (the crackers because apparently the pill is nasty).

We go into the bathroom. I turn on the water. I now have to pee. There is no place to put Erin, so I hold her while I go to the bathroom. As I am sitting there, Leah says "I am pee-peeing!" Mind you, I had just asked her before I sat down, if she needed to go. I wipe, jump off, tear her clothes off with one hand (I am holding Erin, remember?) and sit her on the potty. My pants are around my ankles. So I lay Erin on the rug and fix myself, then clean Leah up while Erin is screaming.

I tell Leah that I need to put Erin to sleep, I will only be a few minutes. Can she please sit in the bathroom and read books while I do this? She agrees and off I go. Just when Erin is falling asleep nursing, Leah bursts out of the bathroom and heads downstairs. I shout her name and startle Erin. Now she is wide awake. I give her another minute and put her in her crib anyway.

I chase Leah down and drag her back into the bathroom, which by now has lost all of the built-up steam because Leah left the door open. I force her to sit in there while I read stories. She gets mad at me and smacks the books out of my hand. I get frustrated and smack her bottom. *Sigh* I am not proud of that. Eventually we come out and I give her another pill. She eats a cracker right after and keeps everything down. The coughing has slowed down, but is not gone. Doc said the steroids will not really take effect until tomorrow afternoon though. She recommended Benadryl tonight before bedtime. I don't know if I can wait that long. She had no nap today, bedtime can be at 5pm, right?

Erin is upstairs screaming in her crib, she was only quiet for like 30 minutes again. Excuse me please, while I tear my hair out...