Puke-apalooza!

My entire existence has been defined by puke for the last few days. Grace has either had a relapse of what she had when we picked her up in Ethiopia, or she has a nasty new bug. Officially, her stomach is not the problem. She has an extraordinary amount of congestion, and a pretty gnarly cough to go with it. Her nose runs until it crusts over with dried boogers, and then she starts coughing and gagging. The puke comes into the picture when we try to feed her, and the gagging phase kicks in. Our couch, floor, bed, clothes, towels, carseat and sink have been christened. Not to mention Will, Kayla and myself! Laundry is now my life!!!

On the more serious side, Grace seemed to be doing better when we got home from Ethiopia. We even took her to the doctor the Monday after we got back. The doctor said her ears and chest were clear. This past Wednesday the cough started up again. We called the pediatrician. The doctor called us back (after normal business hours I might add), and said that we should probably give it another 24-48 hours since she wasn't running a fever. The next morning is when the puking started. Yuck!! Her cough got worse throughout the day, and the fever started right before bed time. Friday morning was the last straw. The PUKE EXTRAVAGANZA!! I decided that the wait was over.

Daniel, Justin, Grace and I went to see the doctor. After listening for about 1.2 seconds, the doctor said, "There is definitely something going on in her chest that wasn't there before." Duh!! Like I was going to drag three kids to the doctor's office to hear him tell me it was just a virus! He put her back on Zithromax and said that we should talk again on Monday.

We have spent the weekend forcing down Tylenol and antibiotocs. Apparently, Grace is not impressed by the efforts to make medicine taste good for babies. We have learned to cover all surrounding surfaces with beach towels when her feeding times come around. We have also learned that taking two hours to complete a four ounce bottle is preferable to being puked on. Will even resorted to feeding her next to the bathroom sink last night, with the hopes of being able to adjust her aim in time for the inevitable fountain to come. Believe it or not, his effort was successful. Go Dad!!