A rough trip

We have been very excited for the last semester to end because we all needed a bit of a break. We were planning to get a project done and take a trip. We weren't sure where we would go, we thought about heading South a bit. But Chris' sister Kami provided us with a great trip idea. She decided to get married in DC that week.

Friday morning Anna had tubes put in her ears. We had gone in Wed for the evaluation and they happened to have an opening on Friday. It was all very quick. Of course everyone at the hospital enjoyed having a little baby to dote over.

Friday morning Chris' final finished up, so we decided to take the opportunity to get new phones. We were due for new phones and I needed something to keep my life straight. I did fine remembering all the appt for 2 kids, but the third child, forget it! We got the EnV Touches. LOVE them!

As we were leaving Verizon, I began to really not feel well. So we went home and I sank into an abyss of awfulness. It really reminded me of being a child. It never failed as I grew-up, as soon as school was over and we were getting ready for a vacation I would get sick. I spent the entire weekend in bed. I felt terrible. I had a fever and cough. I felt even worse knowing that this is what Eli must have felt like a week or so earlier.

By Monday I felt better, but Eli sounded worse. So I took him to the doctor. He had pneumonia and a sinus infection. We had to get some x-rays done. It took up my entire Monday. Luckily Chris was out of school so he could pick Kiah up from school. She was complaining about her ear, so we had her check-out. The starts of an ear infection. It was beginning to sound like the plane trip on Wed would be really enjoyable. luckily both Eli and Anna have tubes in their ears.

We ended-up not doing any projects. Tuesday was spent packing and we left Wednesday. amazingly the trip went really well. Eli does hate large crowds so he likes to be carried through the airport, but not a big deal.

The big problem came on Wed night when we got to our room. I got really sick again. I got the chills and hardly slept at all. Thursday we had plans to meet-up with a former roommate of mine. It was great seeing Sarah again. I only wish I had been more coherent. we walked to the Metro and rode it downtown. We went to the building museum. It was kinda a waste, in my opinion. The kids had fun, but nothing special. Though it was kinda funny. They require kids to keep their shoes on and since Anna wasn't wearing shoes they made her put on some socks. We didn't have any so they gave us a pair. They probably would have fit Kiah. It kinda made us all laugh.

After lunch we decided to head to the Museum of Natural History to see the Dinosaurs. It was a long walk and it ended-up being about 10 degrees warmer than weather.com had predicted. It absolutely exhausted me. As soon as we got there I sat on a bench and didn't move. Luckily, Chris' parents were downtown and they gave me a ride back in the car. Somehow Chris and Sarah wrangled the 5 kids into submission on the Metro.

The trip to the Mall toasted me for the night. I was VERY sick all night long. Friday i took it easy. Kami was going to the temple for the first time and I had made arraignments with Sarah to watch all the kids so the adults could go to the Temple with Kami. Since my cough was so bad I decided to stay home so I wasn't disruptive. It is a good thing I stayed behind. I didn't know what it meant to be sick until Friday night. I checked my temp at one point and it was up to 103*. I was delirious.

Saturday I felt much better and was able to go to the Temple for the Sealing. We then went to the reception at John's mother's house. Eli fell asleep there and when he woke-up the house was packed. Not the ideal situation for Eli. He didn't feel well, was tired, and was overwhelmed. He is a small intimate gathering sorta person. So we ended-up leaving early because Eli REALLY wanted too. I wasn't completely opposed since it was a lot of people and still didn't feel perfect.

We also had to pack since we were leaving VERY early Sunday morning. I was pretty sad I didn't get to see much in DC. Luckily the route we took to the airport took us past a few things. I got to see the back side of the Lincoln Memorial. (I did see a smaller replica in the O'Hare airport) And we were able to drive past the National Cemetery.

Overall the plane ride home was even better than the trip out. Eli does not like all the noise of take-off. It scared him a bit. Loud noises tend to scare him a bit. I think it goes back to the reason he needed tubes... he just never heard that well. So he would ask to be covered up. So Eli would sit in his seat like a red ghost. It was cute. He would usually fall asleep that way too.

The hardest part of the trip was my breathing. I was diagnosed with mild asthma as a child. (but who isn't from central California, seriously!) As I got older it really wasn't a problem. Doctors would always tell me "it will come back." I never believed them. UNTIL I was pregnant for the first time. I think it was the first symptom I got. I ended-up in the ER because I had nothing to treat it. I hadn't used asthma meds in years. I was able, pretty much, to keep things at bay with a fast acting inhaler. Sometimes iw ould have to use it a lot, but most of the time I didn't need it at all. UNTIL now.

This illness has been terrible. I was breathing so shallowly on Monday when we got back I went ot my doctor's office. They almost sent me to the ER... but they let me take a breathing treatment there and gave me a shot of steroids. They also put me on a round of steroids at home and increased my inhalers, both daily and PRN. It is much better now than it was on Monday, but seriously, I have a ways to go. I hate it. I still can't breathe too deeply without tightness, chocking and coughing. I am giving it another week before I go back. I think it may still be whatever I had working its way out.

I am not sure if I had swine flu or not. We really didn't take the time to get tested in DC. There isn't too much they can do anyway, other than add to the statistics. My symptoms did fit very well, though.

Sorry there aren't any pictures, I wans't up to it.