Life unexpected

I have drafts of blog posts written in my head, like when Em met Mimi, my must-haves when we first brought Mimi home, pics from Mimi's newborn photo session, not to mention pics from our family maternity session that we did while we were still in Portland, among other ideas.

In the few short weeks of Mimi's life, however, things have been out of whack. Em picked up a bad cold/fever Mimi's second week. We did our best to sequester the girls, with Brent taking on as much of Em and her needs while I focused on Mimi because, well, I'm her 100% food source. I've always prided -- or maybe in hindsight, bragged? -- myself on Em's immune system. She's been in some sort of daycare/preschool for 90% of her life and she's rarely picked up bugs there, at least in comparison to other kids I know.

So when Em got this sick for this long, and most of all wasn't her spunky, sweet self (she's an angry sicko. Angry, y'all!), it was hard to watch. She was on a constant rotation of Tylenol & Advil. And despite our best efforts, Brent and I caught this cold/fever that her pediatrician said was going around with kids who've had the flu shot, like Em. (I can't imagine how awful the actual flu must be in comparison -- this cold was awful.)

We thought we spared Mimi from the worst of it. She was a little stuffy, but no fever or cough. But then last week, coincidentally on the way back from her 3-week well-baby visit where she was given a clean bill of health, she started acting off. She started coughing and then in the evening she spiked a fever of 100.6. Per the pediatrician, I called them for her high temp. And then we were instructed to head to the ER for testing and evaluation.

I'll spare you the details, but the short story is that isn't not RSV nor the flu like they were worried about, but just a version of what Em (and Brent and I) had. Mimi is still working her way through the cold and its congestion, which has included some scary coughing episodes where she can't seem to catch her breath -- all very normal for an infant getting over a cold, per a few pediatricians we've spoken to. We're keeping a very close eye on her, dousing ourselves in hand sanitizer, and I'm sure our water bill will be extra high this month with all the extra hand-washing and steamy showers we've been running to help clear the congestion.

I was feeling very zen and relaxed after the first week of life with two kids. I told anyone who asked that Brent and I were less stressed with this second newborn. However, now that we've been through a house full of four germy folks, I'm understandably a bit more on edge.

I'm very much looking forward to all of us feeling 100% again and sharing the posts I've been brewing in my head. In the meantime, here are a couple sneak peeks.

Maternity pic

Sweet sisters meeting

Tiny Mimi