Sleepless in Cincinnati

Both of my daughters have been sick all week with a slight fever and a terrible cough. Their tolerance of the illnesses have confirmed what I’ve already known about my daughters: that they could not be more different.

They both began to get sick on Saturday night with just a minor cough. By Sunday night, they had a fever and sounded like little Kathleen Turners. I knew all of us were in for a long, sleepless week.

Their coughs have been particularly rough at night. On Monday night, I put them in bed with me and tried to keep them elevated, but they hacked away for hours. In the middle of the night, my four-year-old began having a particularly terrible coughing spell, which ultimately caused her to gag and throw up. She was wearing a two-piece pajama set (pants and top), and the top got covered in nastiness when she got sick. She started crying hysterically. My husband came in and started to take her pajama top off and told her that he would get her a new shirt. What were the very first words out of my daughter’s mouth? Make sure it matches! You would think she would be so out of it, being sick, awakened at 2am, covered in vomit, that her mind would be concerned with other things. But not my daughter. Coordinated clothing was still important.

After getting the bedding exchanged and my daughter cleaned up and in agreeable nighttime attire, both girls fell back to sleep in bed with me. I couldn’t get to sleep, so I started watching TV. Then suddenly I felt warmth. A wet warmth. Yep -my toddler peed the bed and now I was laying in it. She has been potty-trained for a good three months now, two of which she has been accident-free at night as well. She hasn’t worn a pull-up at night for a good month. I’m guessing she was so exhausted from being sick that the urge didn’t wake her. Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep that night, and my washing machine was working on overtime.

Coincidentally, my close friend who was pregnant called me in the middle of that very night to tell me that her water had just broken! Hmm, maybe my toddler has some psychokinetic connection with her baby since they both ruptured at nearly the same time!

I worked from home for a day and a half to be with my girls while they were sick and spare my parents from all of the unwanted erupting fluids. On my way to drop them off at my parents’ house yesterday, however, my two-year-old started into a coughing fit and up came the grape juice all over my car. Do you know how long it takes to get the smell of toddler puke out of a car?? It still smells like the Grape Ape exploded in my van. I guess it’s better than milk. The funny thing is my toddler barely seemed to notice. Not a cry, not a peep. She didn’t complain once that she had to sit in it for a 20-minute drive. In fact, I caught her licking her fingers. Gross, I know.

That’s my girls. One, a high-maintenance girly-girl. The other, the tough as nails boy I will never have. And in my eyes they couldn’t be more perfect.