Breathing a Sigh of Relief

We're finally back to our normal routine. After a very stressful Friday last week spent mostly in the doctor's office getting Will's blood drawn and running lots of tests, plus the added bonus of getting to head to the local imaging clinic to get a chest x-ray done, we spent last weekend exhausted and scared to death. Will was just so tired and hadn't eaten in a week and Brian and I both were so emotionally and physically exhausted that we both ended up crying ourselves to sleep on Saturday. And then the first miracle happened - Mina showed up! She came to save the day! My very sweet mom made the six hour trip to watch our son so that Brian and I both could spend the week working. Having a sick child is hard on all families but when both parents are working and having to take so many days off to care for the sick little one, you're doubly stressed out. You know your first priority is to care for your child but you also are very aware of the fact that your job is still waiting out there and coworkers are having to take up the slack. It may not matter so much in a larger company but since we both work for a small business, it becomes a very big deal. So Mina came riding in on her white horse (or, I guess, little blue car) and saved the day!

The funny thing is that, Monday morning, Will woke up with a smile and ready to play. He still didn't eat much but at least he had more energy (even refusing to take a nap for Mina - he spent the time either crying because he didn't want to sleep or giggling at Mina because she was fake-sleeping and hoping he'd wear out and fall asleep!). And later that afternoon, we got a call from the doctor's office saying that the test results came back negative - it wasn't mono after all and he really did just have four illnesses on top of each other in a three week span.

Tuesday morning, Will woke up with a smile and wanting to eat. We decided that we'd play it safe one more day and let Mina play with him on Tuesday as well before allowing him to return to daycare on Wednesday. He ran his Mina ragged as he ran around the playground at Mickey D's and around the house before giving her hugs as she returned home that afternoon. His Pappy took over that afternoon (giving Mom a chance to beat rush hour on her drive home) and he spent the rest of the day riding his little John Deere tractor around Pappy's yard and helping Pappy "mow" his yard on his big riding lawn mower.

Wednesday he returned to daycare and spent the rest of the week there playing, running off his newfound energy and enjoying his returning appetite.

To say that we're relieved is an understatement. We spent the week with smiles and enjoying our chance to catch up on the sleep we hadn't had in three weeks. And now I sit here and type as my son is walking around the house wearing our computer bag (which is holding his blankey and "cell phone") and announcing that he's going to school as he's waving goodbye. And my smile matches his own as I enjoy watching my baby play once again.