Contagious

That's what the doc says she is.  Contagious. 

 

 

She wasn't 100% certain, but said that she heard something in Vaiosina's lungs.  Pair that with her nasty cough and voila!  She's getting treated for bronchitis.  There was some redness around her throat, but the strep test came back negative.  The 5-day doses of Zithromax should (hopefully) get rid of the bronchitis!

 

She also can't go back to the daycare center until Friday. That means I'm off from work both days.  Although it's awesome that I get some time off to be with her...I'm missing a lot at work.  It's totally killing the workaholic in me.

 

In any case, the trip to the doc was actually a great one.  Where Vaiosina usually starts whimpering the second Dr. Simpson calls her name, she gladly went in and came out tear free.  Even bear-bear got the full treatment.  What a great pediatrician we have!

 

Well, this picture doesn't show Dr. Simpson, but a nurse who took Vaiosina's vitals.  Poor thing...doesn't she look miserable?  And tired?  After all, she did wake up at 0230 with a 102.9 degree fever.

 

While I'm at it, let me give you her stats (2 years, 1 month):
Weight: 28.5 lbs (75% percentile)
Length: 34 in (86% percentile)
Head: 48 cm
No change from her 2 year appt stats

 

And forget that she's wearing the exact same outfit she wore in the picture I posted of her yesterday.  Hey, I do laundry like a maniac around here!

 

Up until this morning, Malu had spent the last three days training at the top of a mountain in Berchtesgaden with his company and was essentially unreachable.  He didn't find out until this morning that she's been sick.  Stuff like this can be really stressful for a mom flying solo.  I mean, I was practically in tears when he finally called and I broke the news to him.

 

I think what gets me so emotional is the fact that he hasn't officially deployed yet and she's already getting sick.  I have a long way to go, but I've managed to get through unscathed so far.  Tired, but unscathed.  Nope, no panicking from this mama. I'm on a roll!  Let's see how long I can keep this momentum! 

 

Thank goodness for caring friends and an office crew that definitely has my back; not to mention the outpour of encouragement from family and friends through Facebook.  I wouldn't be able to do any of this without you!

 

Anyway, better get to bed.  Got a full day ahead of me and this girl keeps me on my toes even when she's sick!

 

Good night!

My Sick Girl & Weekend Recap {Ramstein & Tubingen}

I spent today nursing my sick baby girl.  I suspected something was coming.  Over the weekend, she'd started coughing and complaining of a sore throat.  I suspect it's the change in weather (gotta love fall!) or maybe she just caught a bug at school.  Who knows?  All I know is that I was happy to be home from work taking care of her.  After work yesterday, I'd dragged her over to the PX to buy a few things (namely a much-needed pair of running shoes).  As soon as we walked through the door, the grabbed her bear-bear and climbed into her bed.  Shoes and all.  I had to pull her out to give her a bath; poor thing.

 

 

She woke up with a 102 degree fever, which broke by early afternoon.  I'd spent the day pushing tons of fluids and by evening, she was her usual springy self.  She is, however, a bit hoarse.  I'm taking her to the doctor in the morning just to see if we can rule out strep throat.  Let's cross our fingers for that!

 

As I sit here making this post, baby girl is sound asleep and I'm semi-watching the Hunger Games.  I figured I'd tell you guys about our weekend since I've seen the movie a few times already. 

 

On Saturday, I drove out to Ramstein Air Base for a bazaar.  It's basically the same bazaar we have here at Patch Barracks every spring.  The bazaar rotates through all the military bases in Europe (or maybe just Germany) and Ramstein is just a two-hour drive away.  A friend and I just figured that we'd head out there and see what we could find, if anything.  The PX at Ramstein is also tons better than ours.  We had to do the token stop at Johnny Rockets before even thinking about doing some shopping.  Nothing like a good American burger and a strawberry milkshake.  Vaiosina loved it!  After a good hour or so of shopping, we stopped to take a break and a pretty decent picture, if I may say so myself.  Love my little girl!

 

 

What's really cool about that day is that I actually drove to Ramstein and back to Stuttgart without any problems. Not sure if you guys remember, but I got into an accident over a year ago.  Since then, I basically have a stroke anytime I'm on the autobahn.  I finally made an entire trip without freaking out.  Go me!

 

On Sunday, Vaiosina and I ventured out to Tubingen, one of our favorite cities in Baden-Wurttemburg (our German state; of which Stuttgart is the capital).  We'd been to town a few other times and just love going back.  It's a sweet college town just 20 miles away from Stuttgart and is situated on a ridge between the Neckar and Ammer rivers.  As such, the town is very picturesque with buildings dating back centuries (like it's town hall, it's castle, and the University of Tubingen), streets lined with canals, cobblestone streets, narrow alleyways and the traditional half-timbered, medieval houses.  Actually, one of the times I was in Tubingen previously was for the same festival we returned to see on Sunday--the Umbrian-Provencal Market. 

Every year, Tubingen's partner cities--Aix en Provence and Perugia--present their regional and home-grown specialties.  I'm talking wines, cheeses, produce, spices--you name it.  Last year, I took some pictures, but never posted them.  This year, I totally forgot to bring my camera and ended up using my iPhone.  Still got some good ones.  It was an utterly perfect day in every way--the weather, the atmosphere, and the company :)

 

 

 

 Too bad all of this goodness turned sour with Vaiosina getting sick.

Let's hope the doctor gives us a thumbs down on strep throat tomorrow morning!

Have a happy hump day tomorrow everyone!

P.S.  Malu's doing well.  We hear from him every now and then when he has a spare moment from his training.  We'll be meeting up with him this weekend in Nurnberg.  We are very excited!