Shoo, bugs!

After Jeremy got out of the hospital on May 4th, he was healthy for exactly eight days. He had been back to daycare twice, and then all of a sudden that dreaded mucus began dripping down his upper lip. Then came the cough. Then the lack of appetite. Then the fever. Then the poor sleeping. Then the sores all over inside his mouth and throat and tongue ("viral stomatitis"). Then the pain when he drinks anything. He has been back to the docs twice, and to the vampires for more blood tests. This week, it has been a 24/7 job to keep him from becoming dehydrated. (We are succeeding, one painful sip of water at a time.) The good news is that, with our new found education and tools, Jeremy's asthma has not flared up through all of this! We started prophylactic breathing treatments at the first sign of a cough, and we have kept him in the green zone with 100% oxygen saturation! Yay!

This is the fourth serious bug Jeremy has had since February. It's not fair. Jeremy's job at this age is to be running and learning and laughing. Being sick so much keeps from doing any of that. So, we are pulling him out of daycare. Not forever, but just for a month to let him get strong again. He hasn't been well for more than three weeks at a time since January. It is so hard, because we love his current (now ex) daycare provider and the fun he has with his playmates and what he has learned there. Since going there he has learned to eat with a fork and spoon, even if it is messy, he has learned a handful of signs, he understands sharing, he draws with crayons. Unfortunately, his provider's one weakness is that she is a wuss when it comes to telling other parents that their kids are too sick to be there. Since Jeremy is the only under-2-year-old, he gets hit the hardest. He started this particular daycare in February and that is when all the trouble began.

So I am going on a reduced schedule until the end of June. (My incredible employer is letting me work just one day a week and check in via email from home, with no hit in pay.) Hopefully then we will find another daycare that is healthier.

Right now, I just am cuddling Jeremy until he recovers.