We Got A New Household Member....

That's right! You will officially hear it here first, we got a new household member! Fresh and new at the Burr home, the nastiest cold virus in Roseau County has moved in! (Ha ha! Gotcha!)

It all started at Melissa's house two weeks ago. She had a couple of household members have it, and as soon as I had heard what was happening, my heart sank. I tried to remain positive, but we just do not have a good track record when it comes to "the sickies". Sure enough, last week Bo started to get sick. He got a fever, runny nose and the fussies. Next came Cote with the exact same symptoms, but I was relieved that no one got as sick as I had dreaded that the would.

Until Gage.

Oh boy is this child sick. I don't think I have ever seen him this sick. He will not eat, he will not drink, he will not even play the PS3. All he does is sleep and cough and run a fever.

I will be bringing him into the clinic in the morning.

I can count on one hand how many times since Gage was born the amount of times we have had to go to the ER with any of the kids being sick. With how many appointments and therapies that they all deal with, one thing I have really strove to do for them, is not rush into the ER for every sniffle or cough. I have worked extremely hard to not turn into a bumbling fool every time a fever hits. Half of the reason why is because I feel like they spend enough time in the clinic the way it is. The other half of the reason is that ER's make me crazy.

For example, one time when Bo had just turned one, he got this awful awful awful cold. My already food-fighting baby decided that he was not going to eat or drink, and I hit a point of desperation and brought him in. This was his first time in an ER for an illness, so I was a bit nervous as to what they would do. At that point I was hoping they would admit him into the hospital and hook him up to the IV fluids. I hadn't gotten him to drink anything at all for two days. We got all checked in and we sat in the little ER room just waiting for the doctor. He was physically not at a point where he could even sit at this time and the illness had made him so fatigued he just laid on my lap and stared at me. The Doctor walked in and I explained his medical history, filled her in on what was happening with his current illness, and then voiced my concerns. She followed all of the up by talking for the next 30 minutes about how Bo needed to be tested for Autism. She made sure to drill it into my head that she felt like he had Autism and that she could refer me to a Doctor that could help me get that diagnosis. Every time I attempted to talk about Bo being sick, she corralled the conversation back to Bo possibly having Autism. Now mind you, I explained to her at the beginning of the appointment that Bo has Hypotonia and Global Developmental Delays. She did end up ending the appointment by telling me she did not feel comfortable treating Bo. She told me it would be best if I headed to Fargo, which was three hours away. I was crushed when I left the hospital after that visit. I headed back home and sat in the recliner for 2 days straight feeding Bo fluids by a medicine dropper. I now carry a note from the kids Pediatrician giving ER Doctors permission to medically treat my kids like they would any other children.

Bo has not been to an ER since. Cote has been to an emergency appointment once and that was when her RSV flared up last year. Gage has been to an ER one time for an illness.

Gage is mad about tomorrow. I have spoiled my kids with quiet time at home and chicken soup when they are sick. They are not used to being drug out in the cold when they feel like a Germ-Wasteland.

I am proud of that. I am proud that with everything that they all have going on, I am able to reel in my fears of them getting sick. I am a firm believer that their little bodies need to learn to fight these sicknesses off. I do not medicate often, and I don't go crazy with the sanitizers. Most of all I am teaching myself that they are little kids, and little kids get sick.

I hope everyone wishes for the best for us. Mommy's sanity is definitely going to need it!