My week from hell:

Friday: Emma had been teething for the previous two days. This means that she was incredibly clingy and in lots of pain. I woke up with a headache and felt very weak. I was also chilled and couldn’t seem to get warm - even though our thermometer read 76 degrees. I decided to nap when Emma did so that I would have enough energy to host my book club that evening. However, Emma couldn’t stay asleep for longer than 30 – 40 minutes because she was in so much pain. So I finally called my sister who suggested some different medicines (orajel just wasn’t cutting it) and let me vent to her for over an hour! All week, everything I cooked seemed to turn out off – just not very good or flavorful. For some silly reason, I continued with my plans to make a light dessert for the book group. Even sillier was the fact that it was something I had never made before – cream puffs. The pastry shells went together nicely and I got them into the oven. However, when the timer went off, I pulled out very burnt shells. I was pretty beat because the guests were arriving in about 15 - 20 minutes. So I just scraped of the burnt bottom, filled them with filling and lit a blueberry muffin scented candle to disguise the smell of burnt food. Somehow I made it through the evening without dozing off! We gave Emma some Ibuprofin and hoped it would help her sleep. Tuan tucked me in with two blankets as I had gotten chilled again. Unfortunately, the night took an unexpected cold turn and Emma, who was only in a onesie got cold. Unfortunately, Emma also hates to have blankets over her. So the night was spent with Tuan and I taking turns getting her to sleep cuddled with us for extra warmth (not easy when your baby doesn’t like to sleep cuddled!) It was exhausting especially because Tuan had to work overtime the next morning.
Saturday: I was still very weak, and the long night had not helped anything. Tuan picked up another kind of medicine on his way home from work and we were able to help Emma feel better. It was a long day, but I thought if I could just get some sleep, I would be better.
Sunday: Diarrhea! Yep, I’ve never had it quite so bad before, but on Sunday I had diarrhea with some pretty unpleasant gas pains. As the day progressed, I started to spot and realized that I was beginning to cycle again. I called another sister and she told me I could get some over-the-counter diarrhea medicine. I figured I would wait until morning.
Monday: Day 4 of feeling like crap! Tuan had been pulling double duty around the house for four days now. I went into town and got some medicine. I took it, and felt better for about two hours. Then things started to get worse. About halfway through the day I was seriously contemplating calling Tuan and asking him to come home from work! I finally realized that I was experiencing extreme cramping and decided to see my gynecologist first thing in the morning. I started taking 3 ibuprofen every 4 hours. I really didn’t know how I was going to make it through the night – it was that bad.
Tuesday: I dropped Tuan off at work and went straight to the doctor’s office. A nurse saw me right away and her diagnosis was: really bad cramps from my first cycle in over a year. And let me tell you that made me feel like a wimp. But she got an appointment with a doctor and I went back in the afternoon. I was still taking medicine every four hours even though it felt like it had worn off after three hours. Let me tell you, I felt like I should have had another baby by now – it felt almost exactly like being in labor. The doctor told me the same thing but let me know that I could take medicine about every 2 hrs by alternating tylenol with ibuprofen. So I upped my medicine intake – sorry liver!
Wednesday: I was much better than Monday and Tuesday, but still not up to 100%. I think what made the day hardest was seeing how far I had let the house go in a week. I really wanted to clean it up, but didn’t have any energy to even do much with Emma. It was a very long day.
Thursday: I lost a whole week due to exhaustion, diarrhea and simply being a woman. How bizarre was it that all three things hit me at once? After re-reading this, it sounds like one big complaint. But being in the thick of it was really awful. I’ve never experienced anything as bad. I mostly wanted to put this together so that people who knew I wasn’t feeling well would know that I’m better now! Thanks for reading and sticking around for the end of the story! I guess it is a happy ending after all - Emma got a new tooth out of it! :o}