This is not the Tess we’ve known today. The Tess we’ve been living with is a limp rag doll with the voice of a 67 year old smoker and the bark of a seal. She is a shadow of herself.
It started at midnight with the coughing. We gave her a dose of Ibufrofen and a breathing treatment. She never complained or cried (unlike Philip with the croup) but did jump out of her skin when the nebulizer started. I laughed in spite of myself – and then couldn’t stop. But then she was awake and yelling for me at 3 and again at 6. When I went in to her then, she was flaming hot and breathing hard. In we went to the bathroom for a steam. She layed still on my lap, allowing me to peel jammies from her and sawb her with a wash cloth.
Then, she let me put the wash cloth on her chest. Tess. My daughter who doesn’t let you breathe without her consent.
I heard her growling. I asked her to repeat herself. She took a few breaths to work up to it and then tried again. I attempted to remove her paci and she clenched her teeth over it.
“What, baby?” I said and touched my ear to her nose so I could catch it.
“Cake *wheeze!!* It *wheeze!!* Off.”
She was still there, my Brutess!!!!
Because she got worse throughout the day, she and I went to the Urgent care for a nice 2 hour visit. We came home with antibiotics for an ear infection and steroids for the cough. Tonight she has eaten her weight in parmesan cheese and is rasping out complete sentences, demanding to be “Coot up!” to the table and “sit in yap, you, mommy.” We are praying that the fever breaks and she will sleep (= we will sleep, too.). And that the Tess we know comes back to stay.
In related news, with Tess sick and one of our nieces down with the puking sickness, we are having a take out Thanksgiving tomorrow. We will take our provisions to the in-laws and they will divvy up the goods. Though I hate last minute changes to plans, I can’t say I’m disappointed with the turn of events. Kind of like a snow day!
