Wow, over a month without a blog, am I ever behind.
So much has happened in that month, I had better segment it off so that I can make sure to get it all in.
First and foremost, out location: We are now in Melbourne, Australia, without any air travel in the near future.
Second Lily: She is currently in the childrens hospital here, we are happy to say that she has a diagnosis and is on medications to help her get better. She started all this on friday with a red rash under her armpits, around her genital area, and under her neck. On Saturday the redness had spread to around her mouth, and her torso. We thought at first it was eczema, she didn't want to be touched, and she didn't want to touch it herself. On Sunday we came into the ER and were seen by a General Practitioner, the rash had started to blister and pop open, leaving the raw and tender skin underneath exposed. This was extremely uncomfortable for Lily, and hard for us to see her in such pain. He thought it may be either a viral or a bacterial infection without a fever, gave us some cream, antibiotics, and painstop, and made an appointment for the dermatologist on Monday. Monday came around with Lily not sleeping very well, and feeling a lot worse. We came back to the ER, and were admitted into the hospital. When the Dermatologist came she said that it was Staphylococcal Scalded Skin Syndrom (SSSS), which she most likely picked up from her brother when he had Impetigo a few weeks ago. Thank goodness we had an answer, as it had been puzzling the other doctors. She is now on stronger pain meds, just to try and keep her as comfortable as possible. She is also on an IV drip with fluids and an antibiotic. This morning she didn't look any worse than yesterday, so that is a good sign. Hopefully we can go home tomorrow, but it all depends on how well her little body is doing. It is very important for her to get enough fluids at this time, and although she is drinking a little juice that isn't enough. She is definitely off her food, and we try to encourage her to sleep as much as possible. With Luck she will be all better in a week.
Next is Oliver: He is such a good boy, and a trooper through all of this. Thank goodness my Mum is here, and is staying at the house with Oliver while Greg and I are taking turns at the hospital with Lily. You may have caught that he had Impetigo a few weeks ago. It started as a bight that somehow got infected with the staphylococcal bacteria, he had a few open sores on his skin, we took him to the doctor in New Hampshire, and she gave him some antibacterial cream and oral medicine. Turns out that he was allergic to the oral medicine, this we found out after his whole body broke out into heat rash, and he vomited every time we tried to give him the medicine. We stopped giving him that, and continued with the topical cream which cleared his skin up, and also gave him Benadryl which helped move the sulfa (the antibiotic) out of his system. We went to a doctor here in Australia and he had some oral medicine to help move all the bad stuff out. His skin is still a bit dry, but so much better.
Now on with travel: The kids did as good as can be expected when we drove from Mn to NH. We did it in two days (Jordyn was with us to help us drive). We were all more than happy to reach our destination. Overall Lily and Oliver were really good.
Our plane ride from Boston to Melbourne went extremely well, we got really lucky there I feel and had two great kids for the trip. Greg had upgraded us from LA to Melbourne to Premium Economy, which gives you more room and comfort, at the airport in LA two of the four seats were upgraded to Business, so Greg let my Mum, Oliver and I sit up there, and he and Lily sat in PE. Oliver had a bassinet which was excellent because he slept in it very well, and Mum and I had chairs that went into beds as well! That is the way to travel! Lily and Greg had more leg room, and seat room, and had a pretty good time in PE, also the way to travel over economy. We were all glad to get to Melbourne, we landed in the morning here, so the hard part was to keep the kids and ourselves awake until evening time. We went to our new house to drop off the suitcases, and then drove into the city to a little apartment where we would stay a few nights until our stuff arrived and the kids had cribs. On Sunday we walked to the Victoria Market and had a good time walking around and seeing all the stuff they sell there, it is a bit overwhelming. On Monday our shipment arrived, with a bit of damage, no good, but most of it isn't precious, so I suppose that is the good part. Greg and I have been shopping a bit, thank you IKEA for my couch and chair, very comfy, and the bookshelves to out all my stuff on. We are also the proud owners of two bedroom sets, a guest room and a master bedroom. Pretty soon we will be all set up and ready for company! (Just as soon as Lily is well)
I know there is much that I am missing, such as our great visit with Becky and Grampa, Betsy and Dave, Greg and Dads time at the cabin, camping in Maine... Maybe I can catch up on these things latter, but I make no promises...
