Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Well, that was a (Tues)day.

Hey guys,

Today started off okay, Benjamin still had a fever of about 100, but seemed in good spirits.  He didn't eat much and drank a lot of milk, which has been the pattern the past couple days.  However after lunch he felt much warmer, I took his temp and it was 103.  That made my heart stop and I quickly called the pediatrician, made an appointment, called Thomas to let him know we were going, and we rushed out of the house.  I had to walk up to Jounia Pharmacy, at the traffic circle near us, to catch a cab.  And it seemed like 20 went by who didn't stop, but finally one did.  The nurse had given me directions, so I told the cab driver to go to 5th circle, by the Sheraton.  After talking to a guard near the Sheraton we figured out where the doctors office was, and I paid and hopped out.  Poor Benjamin was just sweating and miserable.  We waited for about a half hour, they squeezed us in at the end of the day.  The doctor was very nice, he had lived in Maryland for a long time and taught at Johns Hopkins.  He determined that Ben had the beginnings of an ear infection and also a virus in his throat (maybe just a cold?).  Poor baby.

He wrote a prescription and told me to give him pain reliever, we've been doing Motrin so I'm continuing that.  And the doctor was very kind, he called the building guard to hail me a cab, there are lots in front of the hotel.  I was able to direct the driver to the American embassy, then from there to the pharmacy, where I got Ben's medicine.  He'll be on antibiotics for a week, and then we'll go back for a follow-up in late August, since the doctor is going on extended vacation to drop his son off at college in the US.  What I thought would be the worst thing ever, hailing a cab on my own, turned out to be the least stressful part of my day.  After we got home Benjamin went down for a good nap, over two hours.  He seemed cooler when he woke up and was pretty playful with Thomas when he got home.

Needless to say, we were all exhausted with the drama of the day, so Thomas kindly ordered delivery from Faroujna, a Middle Eastern place he'd heard about.  It took a while for the guy to show up, I'm guessing they were pretty busy with Iftar.  I put Ben to bed right when the guy arrived with the food, he was so tired.  The food was delicious, but the hummus was weird.  It was very lemony, which is not a flavor I typically associate with hummus.  But the meat (I got chicken, Thomas got a mixed grill with lamb) was great, and came wrapped in this large, very thin pita-type bread thing.  I thought it was awesome.  So, the meal was a great capper to the awfulness of the rest of the day.  On the happier side I got to watch "Bunheads" while Ben napped, it was great to watch something silly and light for a few minutes.  And we finished up "Breaking Bad" season 4.  Whoa.  Crazy.

We got word that our HHE, large shipment by boat, has left the US and is en route.  Supposedly the UAB (unaccompanied air baggage) is at the airport in Amman, but has to go through customs.  We won't get it for a little while longer.  I'm looking forward to getting our stuff, but I'll also miss the spare, uncluttered look around the apartment.  Well, in some rooms anyway.  And I still want to rearrange the setup a bit, I'm thinking of moving the desk/office stuff into the guest room and making the office a playroom for Ben.  We don't really need a dedicated office, and it would be great to shove all his toys in one room at night.  Anyway, I'm not a good home decorator, I'll have to get your opinions on things!

I hope y'all have a calmer day tomorrow that I did today.  I think a lot of emotions had bottled up, just from the move and everything, and I really had to hold back from crying as I walked up to the pharmacy, holding Benjamin and praying that God would heal him and bring us safely to the doctor.  I know kids get sick, and ear infections are common.  But he'd never had one before, and that's the highest his temperature has ever been.  I'm so grateful that things worked smoothly, we got there fine and got home, no issues getting the medicine.  I just pray that he'll sleep well tonight and start feeling better soon.  At the doctor his temp was 40C, which is like 104F.  Ack.  Praise Jesus that he felt so much better this evening.  My mind and body are so tired, I think I'll crawl into bed a little early tonight.  (Before 11pm counts as early, right?)

-Rachel

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