At Last

I come bearing good news! We are on the mend. Friday night was very scary here. Emmelia was having a terrible time breathing Friday afternoon between the croup and respiratory flu. She was just gasping for air and could barely breathe and her lips were turning blue. So when Josh left for Children's, I was worried sicker than I already was. I turned to everyone I knew for prayer, and man, did we get it!! Shortly after Josh got to Children's with her, I got a text from him that read like this, "They took her back immediately. She is NOT doing well. She can't breathe, I can't stop crying. My phone is dead. I will call later." Uuuuummmmmmmmmmmm, me = cardiac arrest. Who takes a sick kid to Children's, leaves a sick wife at home, sends that text message, and has a DEAD PHONE?! My hubby. So, a big shout out to the Blosser family for helping us out on Friday night. Mike came and picked up the freshly sanitized phone charger that I laid out on the sidewalk and took it into Josh. And Alisha sent in a stuffed dog for Emmelia that reminds us of Jerry because it doesn't have eyes ;) and Emmelia has fondly named that stuffed animal "Lisha Dog" (we don't give extra credit for creativity in the Eldridge household). Emmelia got steroids at Children's, which has immensely increased her breathing capacity. We also found out Friday night that she also has pink eye. What?! Whoever was stirrin' the germ pot just threw that one in there for fun, I think. Emmelia is still raspy and has a cough, but isn't gasping for air like she was on Friday. She broke her fever yesterday afternoon and has been fever free for 24 hours! Woohoo! Me = jealous.

I am doing better as well. For the majority of the week, I have gotten v.e.r.y. little sleep. I have actually been too miserable to sleep. I was unaware that was actually possible, until this week. However, when I saw the doctor on Friday, he prescribed codeine for me. And that folks, is what we like to call a Christmas miracle ;) So, for all of Christmas day, I was probably only awake for about 3 hours....and it was awesome. When I woke up this morning, my fever was down to 100 (also a Christmas miracle). My fever continued to go down during the day and Josh and I started Operation Sanitization (nope, no extra credit). I must say that this operation involved alot more of Josh and alot less of me because my input involved about 2 minutes of energy followed by 2 hours of laying down. But I still claim credit for the name. Anywho, I ate my first meal tonight for the first time in 5 days. I am proud to report that I did not overeat during the Christmas holiday! I am still coughing up both my lungs and sound like I have been taking testosterone pills, but I am on the mend!!!!

And one last news bulletin - Lily came home tonight in time for bed. She has been on the same medication that Emmelia has been on (while still not showing any signs of sickness) and we did everything we could to sanitize the house, so we felt comfortable with her coming back home. And, Josh has been in the war zone with us the entire time and never got it. So, that is my overall good report. Thank you everyone for keeping us in your prayers during this busy, fun, family-filled weekend of yours. We utterly appreciate your concern, your support, your prayers, your texts, and every single minute of this weekend that you took to pray for us that you could have been spending with your new Christmas toy. We are humbled by your love.