Double Whammies

Despite my attempts to chant "No whammies, no whammies, no whammies, STOP!" we've seemed to have landed on the little grim monsters that wear Zoro masks and push a lawn mower over the dollar signs. Actually, none of the following really cost us that much, but don't worry, the extra special chip in the windshield I managed to receive from oncoming traffic on a divided 4-lane highway will take care of the rest of that metaphor.


Double Whammie #1:
About 2 weeks ago I came down with a horrible illness that I'm pretty sure I got from my visiting sister (who I hadn't seen in 3 days but I'm convinced this thing had an incubation period of "wait until the work week so you have to use a vacation day"). After experiencing pseudo labor pain in my stomach and ribs for about 7 hours (longer than I was ever in actual labor) and puking every 20 minutes,  I finally crawled into my real bed, abandoning my imprompto bed o' towels on the bathroom floor and slept for 2 hours. I was awakened at 5:30am to Ryan's cries and Adam saying, "Honey, are you feeling any better because I am sick!" Ugh. Double Whammie.  Actually, if I care about any of the people related to me, it was actually an Octo-Whammie since not only did Adam and I get sick from my sister, but both my parents, my other sister, and my in-laws all got the same thing within the next week. We think Ryan was the flu mule but it's hard to be mad at our little germ carrier.

Double Whammie #2:
We seem to live in the tornado magnet of NW Iowa. Friday night, after a spectacular lightning show, we ended up hitting the basement with a sleepy baby in tow while we rode out the thunderstorm/ multiple tornadoes. I finally went to bed after midnight after my adrenaline had a chance to return to my semi-sedentary lifestyle. (Seriously, the most exciting thing that happens during my days to get my blood pumping is when someone stops by my office to announce there is fresh coffee cake in the break room instead of the normal huge tray of candy). Anyway, Saturday night we had some friends over for supper and being spectacular hosts, we kindly offered them a spot on the floor in our cement basement when the sirens went off again. Zoinks! Double whammie. This time, we could hear the wind blowing and we lost power for about 20 minutes. We started thinking about all the things that could go wrong without power like (gasp!) no air conditioning and (oh no!) what about everything in our fridge and freezer! Adam thought it was time to take control of the situation, so he and Scott ventured upstairs in the dark to serve up the strawberry pie and whipped cream.  It's good to know dessert ranks slightly higher than safety.  There were several homes, cars and a farm that were destroyed nearby, so we feel very fortunate to have no damage.

Double Whammie #3:
Ryan's had a cold for several days and started getting gunk in his eyes on Saturday night and one was matted shut on Sunday. I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry when I saw his smiling face in the morning with one eye completely stuck closed and the other with triangle lashes. He handled it all pretty well and was acting relatively normal but I took him in to the clinic this morning since he'd developed a cough and his eyes weren't cleared up. First of all, it's not a good idea to forget both your insurance card and your son's S.S. number when you are going to a clinic for the first time (in the town where I work) but thank goodness for small towns and people who know me and trust that I'll bring in the info tomorrow. Ryan got so worked up over getting his temperature that he ended up screaming through the whole appointment. One look in his ear told us why he was so upset and a look in the other ear confirmed it. Double ear infection. Double whammie.  After a nice rocking from grandma, he took a good nap and seemed to feel a little better in the afternoon and seemed back to his old self tonight, playing, laughing, and babbling through a stroller ride. I'm hopeful the medicine will work quickly and he'll be over his first "illness" in no time!

Just so we don't end this post on a totally negative note, I really do realize how fortunate we are.
1. We all got over our illnesses in a few days, never required medical attention (mostly because I forced myself to drink Powerade to avoid a $600 bag of IV fluids), and Ryan never really got what we all had.
2. We didn't have any damage from the tornadoes, there were no major injuries to people who lost buildings and homes, and the worst that happened in town were downed trees. It could have been a lot worse.
3. This is the first time Ryan has been to the doctor besides his scheduled checkups and he slept fine, ate fine, and was generally happy throughout this infection with the exception of this morning. He's a tough little guy and we think he'll be all better real soon!