All better-for real this time!

Ok, we're all better now! I had a false alarm the last time. This has been a 2 1/2 week ordeal. It began when Ashley started throwing up on Tuesday 2/5. She threw up for about 12 straight hours and then she stopped. I thought she had just caught a 12-hour stomach virus-WRONG! She was ok on Wednesday, though she didn't eat much and definitely had no milk. Thursday, she went back to the sitter and was doing ok, except that she was sleeping A LOT. I called the sitter around lunch to check on her and she said that she had been asleep most of the morning, but had started having diarrhea. I called her pediatrician and they wanted me to bring her in immediately. I went and picked her up from the sitter and went to Dr. Sabens' office where she continued with the diarrhea. She wound up having 8 diarrhea diapers in 2 hours. She tested positive for strains A and B of flu, even though she had the flu shot! Her dr. said that this was rare and said that he "couldn't let me take her home in this condition." I said that I wasn't going to put up a fight; if she is sick, let's get her better. It scared me half to death-the thought that I might have waited too long to take her and the fact that she was dehydrated was my fault. We went straight from his office to the hospital for admission. It was a horrible experience-IVs, needles, blood, poop samples, etc. I guess everyone can imagine. She only wanted me and just wanted me to hold her. When I would have to use the restroom, I'd have to put her in the "jail baby bed" and let her scream. It was absolutely HORRIBLE! We were released the next night to go home with strict orders to take in Pedialyte constantly. I started feeling bad while we were in the hospital, so I went to the dr. early Saturday morning. I had the flu and was prescribed Tamiflu. I started taking that and continued to get worse. I have never had the flu and have no idea what it feels like, but I don't believe that I've ever been so sick, respiratory-wise. I felt like I was coughing up razor blades every time I coughed, which was ALL THE TIME! I finally went back to a different doctor on Tuesday of the next week because I felt like I was going to die. Apparently, the flu had caused secondary bacterial infections; i.e., Bronchitis, sinus infection and ear infections in both ears. He also told me that I had started busting blood vessels in my trachea from coughing so much. He gave me injections and a bunch of prescriptions. I'm finally better for the most part, still coughing and runny nose, but he says that it will probably be months before I'm completely over everything. In the mean time, Ashley started with the respiratory symptoms. Just as I thought everything was getting better, she started the next Saturday, 2/16 with diarrhea again. It got so bad that the diaper rash started bleeding. If I put her in one, I put her in ten baking soda baths over that weekend. Over the past week, it seems as though she is completely over everything and is back drinking milk. I'm so glad, she's putting on some weight!

As you can see from the second pic below, she is sportin' her one-year molars. They are so cute. With her being so sick, she started eating a lot of crackers. Now, that is all she studies! She says, "ca-cah!" It sounds a lot like "poo poo" in Spanish. It really is cute though. She is also jabbering a bunch and I have no idea what all she is saying. She does say, "love the baby" as she hugs and kisses her baby dolls. It comes out like "ba ba bebeee," and she also points to her pictures on the wall and says, "Ashley," which comes out like "Daddy."

Anyway, just wanted to update everyone on the recent stuff. Hope everyone has a great end of February!