NEW STYLE FOR 2010

Having been sick for over a month and having a sick baby has not been fun. It's made me reevaluate my life and what I can handle for 2010. So Hip Teacher Mama will still be here for product reviews, personal experiences, and educational tidbits, but not on a Monday-Friday way. Simply put? I'm exhausted. My Grade One's are a handful, Hannah is starting to become more of a handful, and there's other handfuls of stuff on my plate. So HTM will be around, but in a much more sporadic way. Hopefully those generous companies out there will be understanding and continue to support my love of reviewing their amazing products even if not on a weekly basis.

Let's go back a few weeks to Hannah's illness. It started on November 25, with her one-year shots. We expected a bit of fever, but after four days, ranging from 99C-104C, where Tempra/Motrin didn't help, we rushed her to the ER one early Sunday morning. We were told that it was "just a bad cold" and we were probably over-reacting. After my own optometrist's appointment that afternoon, we came home and found Hannah waking up from her nap. This time she was shivering and her lips turned blue. Back to the ER again, where we were told that it was just an upper respiratory infection, just a cold. There was nothing to be done and to wait it out.

The next day was more of the same, high fevers that would come and go, and none of us got any sleep. My husband and I would wake up every 1-2 hours in the night to take Hannah's temperature to make sure it wasn't going any higher. During the day, the ear thermometer was our bible and truly, we used it at least twenty times a day. I was diagnosed with bronchitis by then (I became sick a few days after Hannah did) so I wasn't feeling the most motherly, but as everyone says, motherly instincts take over and your own illness takes a backseat (maybe that's why I'm STILL fighting a bit of a cough). We went back to the ER late that afternoon and after another few hours of waiting, they said she had pneumonia. We were given some antibiotics, which she had difficulty swallowing even when we mixed it with apple juice. Long story short, we were back to the ER the next night when the temperature went past 105F.

The thing I remember most about that last visit was the really rude triage nurse named Trish at Markham-Stouffville. First she told us that we were hysterical and then she said we weren't listening to her. I was quick to point out that yes, we were listening and she was the one in fact tuning us out. I said that Hannah was having a hard time with the anti-biotics and was immediately told, "Who's the mother here?" Excuse me!?!?! We are bringing our daughter to the ER for the fourth time in 3 days and I'm being insulted. If I wasn't so weak from my illness, I swear I would've knocked her silly. Keeping my composure, I explained we did give her anti-biotics mixed with juice, but her fever has been higher than ever.

A few days later, we ended up at Sick Kids because even after the anti-biotics ran out, her fever persisted. The after-hours clinic in North York said she had a pneumonia has well. Turns out she had Kawasaki's Disease and then had IVIG for treatment. We stayed at Sick Kids for a week and Hannah came home on December 11. She has to have her upcoming shots delayed so we have to try and prevent (laugh) her from getting sick. Happy to report though, she's her chatty, happy self and this Christmas holiday has been a gift simply because she's home.