You know, when Gary and I decided to have our family I know we were unbelievably excited. When I held Leia in my arms for the first time my head was filled with pretty pink things and giggles and smiles and beautiful experiences and feelings. And then you suddenly have three of these little ones and the experience of being a parent is so serious and encompasses so much more. There is nothing in my life that has caused me to experience such a wide range of emotions from elation to sheer desperation. The job of taking care of them is so fulfilling yet so exhausting and taxing. How can something so wonderful also make you feel like running back to your parents house and hiding under the covers of your childhood bed? And somehow, when things aren't right with your children, everything else seems so wrong as well.
This morning I looked at Nathan's face and arms and there was a pit in my stomach. It looked like he had a million insect bites with hives and sunburn all rolled into one. To top it off, Leia had a fresh batch of rash on her stomach. Everything in my world was topsy turvy. Granted, I have some stress in my life at the moment but I thought I had it handled fairly well. However, this morning I felt like nothing would ever be the same again. We'd be sure to never sell the house, EVER. Gary would disappear off to Colorado and we'd never see him again. There was no chance we'd get the house ready for viewings, and as for the kids, well they were just going to be covered in the rash thing forever.
In the end I knew we should just go to Childrens and see if we could get a second opinion on what was going on with the kids. We've had so many opinions and so much speculation over what's been going on that I was concerned that it would be hard to trust another doctor. The kid's regular doctor obviously was stumped and vaguely decided on poison ivy or something but I knew that wasn't what it was. When you're a parent you just know sometimes and this was one of those times. And then there was my theory, the only one that made a tiny bit of sense, that it was all a bad reaction to mosquito bites.
Well the doctor at Children's after asking many questions said she was confident in a diagnosis of scabies. Now for all of you that haven't heard of this before, like myself as of this morning, scabies is the name of a condition caused by tiny mites that burrow into the skin. It's very contagious in family groups and can also live on fabrics for a small period of time. It's extremely itchy and can become infected. The treatment is a cream that is worn on the skin for 8-14 hours to kill the mites and then all the lines, towels and clothes that have come into contact with the skin have to be washed in hot water and dried in a drier.
At this point I'm sure no one is imagining that I would be singing Hallelujah but in fact I was. I'd been feeling so utterly helpless and now there was something I could do. You can be sure I have been doing laundry like a mad woman and throwing out pillows and such and getting an immense sense of satisfaction from the whole process. The kids are now covered in cream, laying on squeaky clean bedsheets (now I don't want anyone to think I don't normally clean my bedsheets because I do), and brand new pillows. I have thrown out several things which may have been harboring little guests and the cushion covers have been treated as well as all my afghans (of which I have several). Later on we are vacuuming this place to within an inch of it's life. Thankfully that will achieve more than one end.
So here I am at 8pm having been constantly on the go all day and I'm a bit tired. But I feel good. Nothing like the feeling that I was at the mercy of this morning. I just feel that this time we've got it right and that all will be well. Perhaps we will sell the house eventually. Gary might not actually go off to Colorado never to be seen again, and maybe, just maybe, the kids will get better!
Leia just thinks he's wonderful.
