Letters from Pemberley

Monday was one of those days that I’d like to forget, except that if I record it here, it might help me have perspective next time I think I’m having a Jonah day.

Shortly after completing Tommy’s birthday post Sunday night, I checked on the kids (all sleeping peacefully), took an Ambien (because I hadn’t been sleeping peacefully while Derek was gone), and went to bed.  Really painful contractions kept me awake for awhile, but as I finally drifted off at 11:45, I heard Tommy start crying out for me.  When I dragged myself out of bed to check on him, he was thrashing around and crying deliriously that his throat hurt.  I tried to give him tylenol, but he just spit it out.  I woke up Derek and had him help me force something down Tommy, but by this point, Elizabeth was wide awake and Tommy was more vocal than ever–and had wet the bed.  (I was feeling the full effects of my sleeping pill and literally stumbled around like a drunk, toppling into things.)  Derek and I took turns trying to calm him down until 3 am or so.  At 7 am, Elizabeth (who had been moved into Susie’s room in the midst of the chaos) cheerily informed me that Susie was awake and poopy and wanted to get out of bed.  I tried to keep my chipper girls quiet until Tommy woke up at 9, feeling just as bad and having wet the bed again.  I was pretty sure he had an ear infection after talking to the night nurse in the 2-3 am hour, but our pediatrician’s office couldn’t get him in until 4:15 pm.

In the afternoon, I anticipated a quick trip to the doctor and piled all the kids in the car without drinks or snacks, intending to come home and make dinner.  We waited over 20 minutes past our appointment time in the barren exam room, then the doctor came in and diagnosed Tommy with an ear infection, sinus infection, and borderline bronchitis.  Definitely not just a cold.  She prescribed antibiotics and ear numbing drops, and I asked her to send the order over to the nearby Walgreens because they had a drivethrough.  She agreed that with three kids and constant Braxton-Hicks contractions, I didn’t need to get out and go into a drugstore!  In drivethrough line, I got stuck behind two slow cars with two cars behind me so I couldn’t just pull out and go in.  When we finally got up to the window 20 minutes later, they had no record of Tommy’s prescription.  I tried to call the doctor’s office, but it was after 5, so they were no longer answering the phones.  I pulled out of line, drove back over to the doctor, piled the kids out, came in and waited behind two other sick families, and asked about the prescription.  The receptionist said that it had all gone through–to the CVS by our house.  I told her that I’d asked for it to be sent to Walgreens, but before I could say that I’d just go to CVS, she was gone (for 10 minutes!) to ask the doctor to switch it.  I tried my best to keep the kids away from the other sick kids in the waiting room, then I piled them back into the car, drove back to Walgreens, and went inside this time.

When I said Tommy’s name, the Walgreens pharmacist said, “Oh yeah, we were just looking for that one.  It’s not here.”  I explained that it had been sent to the wrong place and should be in the system now.  When she looked it up, she announced that they were out of stock on the antibiotic.  But she knew that the Ralphs pharmacy across the street had it.  I just looked at her, pictured taking the kids back over to the pediatricians’ to get the doctor to call it to a THIRD pharmacy, and burst into tears.  I felt so stupid and told the pharmacist, “I’m so sorry–this is totally not your fault, I just didn’t sleep last night, my husband is working late, I just want to get my son his medicine and get home!”  She was really sweet and told me not to stress or my new baby would come too soon (!).  She said she could transfer the prescription over for me, but she’d fill the one they had in stock.  After taking my insurance card, though, she came back and told me insurance had rejected it because they said I’d already had it filled somewhere else.  I said I’d just pay for it out of pocket, but she said that a) the ear drops cost $110 before insurance and b) Ralphs was going to have the same problem with my other prescription.  I think she could tell I was going to lose it at that point, so she said she’d call my insurance and find out for sure which pharmacy had filled the prescription.  I bought the kids a bag of pretzels, since it was past the dinner hour by now, and waited for her to find out that it was indeed at the CVS by our house.

By now we were in the midst of rush hour traffic as we drove home, and we pulled into CVS just after 6.  Everyone must have been just off work, because there were five people in line ahead of us at the pharmacy counter.  As I stood there and tried to keep the kids away from the candy displays, I wished at least one person had looked at this bedraggled pregnant woman with three small children and offered to let me go ahead of them…why does that only happen when we’re not running behind and missing a meal?  Anyway, after repeated delays, we finally got up to the counter–and the guy could only find one of our prescriptions.  He had me pay and told me the pharmacist would fill my other one if I’d just step to the side and wait.  Why would they both be ready?  The pharmacist finally came out and delivered the precious antibiotics.  Did I have any questions?  No.  I just wanted to get the heck home.

We walked next door to pick up Subway for dinner and finally made it home at 6:45–three hours for a “quick trip out.”  As Tommy commented, “Mommy, this wasn’t our best day.”

On the plus side (proof that God exists and cares about me), the kids did really well, considering.  No one had a screaming temper tantrum (they’d gotten that out of their systems earlier in the day), and I stayed on my feet without passing out.  Susie did not poop in her cloth diaper, and remarkably, neither of the big kids had to go potty the whole time.

You know what?  Crying in public is exhausting as well as embarassing.  And I’m not going to take another sleeping pill until I’m fairly sure I won’t be up through the night with a sick child…