Blow by Blow

Here's how my day has gone.

Wake up at 4:50 am with Evie coughing up a storm and unable to go back to sleep, as has happened for the last three mornings.

Discover that the Internet connection is still down, even though it was "fixed" yesterday after being down all day.

Start making a shopping list for the baby shower that I'm hosting here tomorrow morning.

Decided that after three days of fever and coughing, and new complaints about painful ears, Evie needs to visit the doctor. Call office and, shock of shocks, get an appointment in just 45 minutes.

Rush around getting the girls ready to go.

Go, leaving Airan here to wait for the cable guy.

Arrive at the doctor's office. Evie is getting worse by the minute. After a thorough examination reveals no ear infection but instead possibly pneumonia, a barrage of tests is ordered.

Sophie jumps and prances and dances around the exam room, begging for attention.

After getting her finger pricked for a blood test, Evie pukes all over herself, me, and Hippo.

Sophie expresses jealousy when Evie gets a pulse oximeter test and she does not. Demands to be tested next. Is disappointed.

X-rays are ordered. Seeing as I can't so much take two almost-three-year-olds to the hospital by myself to get x-rays on one of them, I call Airan, who's stuck at home with the cable guy. A rendezvous is arranged, and the girls and I rush home.

While driving, call a baby-shower-going friend and engage her services to move the venue and inform all guests of the change in plans. (Thanks, Erika!)

The cable guy packs up his gear and leaves. We have Internet service! Hooray! Too bad we have to rush off to the hospital. We pull up, Airan jumps in the van with clean clothes for Evie in hand (all that puke, you know), and we head to the hospital.

Three out of four of us wait patiently in the radiology waiting room for Evie's turn to go in for x-rays. Sophie squirms, dances, yells, and demands a trip to see the hospital lobby's waterfall. She is obliged. The waiting room gets a lot quieter.

X-rays, round one. Evie is a trooper.

More waiting. Sophie and Airan return from their exploration of the hospital. Evie shares her new, hard-won stickers with Sophie. Those girls are so sweet. Evie nods off, and Sophie plays with crayons and runs a non-stop narrative, entertaining the whole room.

X-rays, round two. Evie takes it like a champ.

In the waiting room, Sophie sure is coughing a lot.

The verdict: Pneumonia is confirmed. No hospital stay is deemed necessary at this time, but an antibiotics onslaught is ordered.

Lunch at the hospital cafeteria. Those grilled-cheese sandwiches are like crack.

Off to the pharmacy/grocery store. For the second time since February, I try to fill an antibiotics prescription for Evie, only to discover that the pharmacy is all out. I need a new pharmacy.

Off to pharmacy #2. All prescriptions are secured.

Homeward bound.

Evie's medications are administered. Sophie still has quite a cough going on. Hmm.

Evie throws up again, on herself, me, Hippo, and the couch. Hippo is now in great need of a bath. (Let's face it -- we all are.)

Who'd have thought Evie could do this while battling pneumonia?

Seriously, I'm beginning to worry about Sophie's cough. Evie is holding steady, at least, and I have high hopes that the antibiotics are going to kick in fast. Cross your fingers.

The good news today: We were away from home for hours, and the newly diaperless twins didn't have a single accident, despite trials and tribulations. Huzzah!