Stretched too thin

This morning as I was scrambling to get Olivia's breathing treatment finished and get everything packed up to head to Duke and the doorbell rang. It wasn't even 8am yet and I had no idea who it could be. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it was the babysitter. Last week I could tell that I was being stretched too thin so I emailed our babysitter a tentative schedule for the month of April. I promised that I could guarantee her 20 hours a month. In addition to the occasional evening function for Mike's work or the even more occasional date night I asked if she was available on Wednesday mornings. My plan was for her to watch both kids on days when we do not have to go to Duke for clinic so I could get some errands done. And then for long clinic days I wanted her to watch Peter here at home so that I didn't have to drag him to Duke and make him endure Olivia's doctors appointments. I hadn't heard back from her for sure (at least I don't think I had, my email inbox is out of control) so I was shocked to see her this morning. I hesitated for a split second and then decided to take my blessings as they come. I asked how long she could stay and then decided to leave Peter here with her while Olivia and I headed to her appointment at Duke.

Olivia and I were able to get on the road even earlier than usual and Peter was still sleeping when we left. We got to Duke in record time. They did a "snot test" (aka RVB) to determine if Olivia has RSV, influenza, or parainfluenza. They quickly and efficiently accessed her port and ran her labs. The nurse practitioner and doctor came in and were concerned with some of Olivia's breathing sounds so they sent her down for a chest x-ray and then we headed back up to the clinic for a breathing treatment. By this point I was mildly concerned about Peter and the babysitter because I'd called her cell and the house phone to update her and hadn't heard anything. Just as Olivia's breathing treatment finished my phone rang....the babysitter had taken Peter outside to play as I'd suggested but she didn't realize that the door would lock behind her and she had locked herself and Peter out of the house. She had gone over to a neighbor's house to borrow their phone to call her husband so he could get my number from her email account and call me. We had one of those hidden rock-key things in the yard but during Sunday's Easter egg hunt Olivia found it and opened it and was trying to eat the key so I took it away from her and put it inside the house on the fireplace mantel. GO FIGURE! I frantically called Mike who dropped everything to run home and let them back into the house. Olivia's lab results were back and her white blood count was back down within normal range at 9.6. Her chest x-ray didn't look too bad but there did seem to be a little mucus so they decided to prescribe an antibiotic just in case. The tests for RSV, parainfluenza and influenza were all negative. Since Mike, Peter and I are also sick then it is most likely that this is something viral. Since Olivia seems to be doing better then the treatment plan is to up her breathing treatments to at least 3 times a day, continue the antibiotic for 7 days, and return to clinic next Wednesday.

I arrived home around 2pm to finally relieve the poor babysitter. She felt terrible but I couldn't possibly be mad at her! I locked Olivia inside the house once by herself when were were living in Washington. Accidents happen and she did the best she could. Peter was fine and loved his time outside! He normally wouldn't get so much time outdoors since we have to be careful about Olivia in the sun.

I'm relieved to know that Olivia seems to be on the mend but I'm exhausted. Mike has a challenging work week and I'm feeling terrible so I have no patience. We're not sleeping well so that just adds to the frustration. I really hope that we just get through this week and all start feeling better soon!