Short Version

OK, so here's how our trip went for me. Remember, I got sick a few days before the trip. Thursday the 20th I lost my voice (which is VERY hard on a mom with 3 young boys). Friday the 21st we were supposed to leave around 3:00pm which (counting all bathroom stops and stopping for dinner) would have put us at our hotel somewhere around 7:00ish. We didn't leave our driveway till 4:15ish pm, sigh. Then, I had to stop at Walmart for a few things. I FORGOT that it was Friday night and the Friday before Christmas. double sigh. I got out of there at 5:15pm. We grabbed food at Sonic and ate on the road. We had to go slowly through parts of the national forest because of ice. We finally got there sometime around 8:45pm. We finally got the boys into bed around 11:00pm. I "slept" (and I use that term loosely) on the couch in the living room part of the suite. I am SO thankful that I was in a different room from everyone. That way, every time I woke up to blow my nose or cough (and it was quite frequently) at least I didn't have to worry about bothering anyone. :) The next morning we were going to go to the indoor pool directly after breakfast. The kids were SO excited. As we were getting ready Michael realized that he had forgotten his swimsuit. Oops. Also, he didn't have any shorts with him since it's winter. He and the boys went to breakfast at the hotel while I ate soup and crackers in the room. (I felt very yucky) He brought them back and left with Gideon to go shopping for shorts. The other 2 boys and I went to the pool. I got out after a few minutes because I was shaking. The boys were just a tad chilly but it was really affecting me because #1- I'm a WIMP when it comes to cold. I can go through a 24+ hour labor totally unmedicated (proven 3xs) but DON'T make me go into cold water. I can't stand it. LOL #2- I was sick. Thankfully they had a small 1 ft baby pool and the kids just played in there while I miserably tried to dry off and cover myself with towels till I got warm. I didn't have to worry about them drowning but I was getting frustrated because every time I had to say something I had to clap to get their attention. They had to come to me and put their ears right next to my mouth and I had to "shout" (I really couldn't talk) to be heard over the waterfall in the pool. It was exhausting. Michael found some shorts but before he could get back Thomas had stopped listening to me and when I asked him to sit out he refused so we left the pool and went back to the room. Michael took them all back over (after he corrected Thomas) while I rested for about 1/2 hour (I was exhausted) and then I went back over for a little bit with them.

We got ready to go to lunch but when we arrived at our choice of a restaurant we found it closed. :( It took awhile to find our second choice. By the time we got done eating we decided we didn't want to walk through the exhibit we had planned so that's when the guys played go-carts. After the cars they let me go into a bookstore by myself. I was in HEAVEN until Michael called my cell and told me that Thomas had to use the bathroom. I couldn't talk enough to be heard by the sales associate. (I wanted to leave the books I had picked out at the front while I was in the bathroom with Thomas.) Anyway, I shoved the books behind another one on a shelf and we went into the tiny, disgusting, bathroom. I was short on patience and Thomas was whiny. Not a good combo. I won't go into the whole thing but Thomas is very particular about bathroom things. I wanted things done differently than he did. At one point I was "Yelling" (LOL- not that you could hear me), Thomas was crying and when he finally did poop the smell gagged me so much I wretched and vomited in the sink. (this was of course due to being ill. I don't remember, other than pregnancy a time where that has happened to me.) There were 2 little girls waiting to use the bathroom so I couldn't go out for air. I fumbled for my cell phone and called Michael for help. He came. I was really weak and leaned on him after we paid for the stuff. We went back to our hotel and had a snack. After the snack we walked 4 blocks to the Christmas trolley ticket place to be told they were sold out till the next
Wed. :( :( We walked back to the hotel and the boys watched one of the dvds we had brought with us. Michael made a fire which was nice. I went around the corner to a restaurant to order some soup for me. Michael and I tried to watch a video but we both fell asleep. If it's possible I had a worse night the second night. I was so congested and coughing up so much stuff and I was up so many times. We left early that morning to take me to the walk-in clinic here. The ride through the mountains was torture. I made Michael pull the car over once to throw up. It wasn't even a stomach virus. I think it was just so much pain and pressure from the congestion coupled with nights of little sleep. We got to the clinic here (after a few frustrating stops) to be told that it was at least an hour wait. Fine. No prob. He took the boys home. I finally got seen, got samples and Michael came and picked me up. That's where it should have ended. haha. I researched the side effects of the meds online. (I ALWAYS want to know side effects for 2 reasons. #1- I want to know if the possible side effects are worth taking the meds and #2- I want to know what to watch for. What I found out was that this med was NOT recommended for use during breastfeeding. Sigh. I called the pharmacist to confirm and she confirmed that. So I had to call the dr and try to explain in my mostly non-existent voice that I needed something else. The nurse called back to get my birthday saying they couldn't find my chart (meanwhile my pharmacy closes in 10 minutes and there's NO WAY that we will be there by then). She called me back a few minutes later to tell me the dr said it was fine to take while nursing. I told here that, no, it wasn't fine with me. The DR finally called back a short time later to ask me what was wrong. I explained the whole thing, again, and she waved my concerns away. I finally had to say something like, "no, I REFUSE to take this medicine. I WILL NOT chance it. Please get me another one." She didn't want to change it to the pharmacist's recommendation-RME (rolling my eyes). Finally she called another one into CVS and we went over there. I was exhausted, very sick and ready to be DONE with the day. Everyone else was hungry so we went out to eat. That was OK but I didn't eat much. I started on the antibiotic that night. The next day I still felt pretty bad but I did notice a slight difference. That night however I started side affect #1- nausea and vomiting. heehee. Christmas morning I was nauseated during the opening of gifts and then was in bed later that day. Michael found me some Sprite and that helped.

So, that was our vacation. It's been 8 days since my voice left and it's almost all the way back. I am glad that we got to go because I still would have been sick here and wouldn't have gotten much more rest. At least we had some fun together. I did enjoy most of the time. It was just very difficult. :)



So, that's she wrote. G'day!- Angela :)