Pneumonia: An Update

As I sit in the house I have not left in 91 hours, 30 minutes, and 12 seconds, I realize that I sort of left you all hanging with the "Maddie Has Pneumonia" poem. (Spend that much time in the house by yourself, and you get a little slap-happy. I'm beginning to see why all grade-school teachers talk in high, sing-song voices and look so creepily happy all the time. It's not the kids; it's the crazy.) So, anyway, for a quick update:

As of yesterday, she's doing a lot better. Her fever seems to be gone, or mostly gone, her breathing is better, her appetite is somewhat larger, and her energy level is up. Unfortunately, for me, her energy level is up, did I mention that? See, she's better, but she's still feeling pretty awful, I would imagine. Her throat still hurts, she still has coughing fits, and now, because all she'll drink is juice, she's got diarrhea to top it all off. So, mostly this new energy burst has been used to fuel a new level of crankiness. This level includes crying whenever you don't get what you want (even though what you wanted was "dat" pointed in a random direction at a shelf full of "dats"), crying when you spill your milk and it (gasp!) touches you, and crying for no reason whatsoever, simply because it pleases you to do so. It also includes throwing food when you don't want to eat it and hitting and pinching Mommy when she tries to change your diaper, wipe your nose, or any other undignified thing that awful woman might think of. Oh, and there's definitely guilt-inducing crying after being reprimanded for either of the latter. Yeah, because nothing makes you feel good like raising your voice to a sick kid...

To top if all off, the inevitable has occurred. I'm sick. I have some kind of nasty sinus infection/cold that means I'm dead to the world on the couch by 8 p.m. most nights. (Jon may be sort of loving this since it means he can play his PS3 in peace, without feeling guilty that we're not spending time together.) I knew it would happen. It always does when I stay home with her for more than a couple days. Plus, this week, I've been working from home with her home, and while it's been a light week, between that, taking care of Grumpypants McFussyshorts, and trying to keep on top of the household stuff, I've been attempting super-human feats, and not being a super-hero myself, the germs have gotten the upper hand, and I've been foiled by those dastardly villains again. (Editor's Note: Even through my exhausted haze, I'm pretty excited that I just managed to use the word dastardly. It's okay to be jealous.)

My whining aside, Maddie's doctor said it would be about three full days on the antibiotic before we'd notice a change, and he was right. We're hoping that the weekend will be the recovery time she needs, and she'll be back to her normal, cheerful self come Monday. And now, I hear her on the monitor, which means, she's up for the day, and me time is over. Keep your fingers crossed for another fever-free day and some blessed relief for me when Jon gets home this afternoon.