Today did not go – in any way shape or form – the way I had planned.

At precisely 2:00 this morning Regan woke us up coughing. And coughing. And coughing. And coughing some more. After two inhaler treatments and no relief I just couldn’t take it anymore. I picked her up and carried her into the living room to see if sleeping in the recliner would make a difference. This has worked in the past, but…

NOT THIS TIME!

So we tried getting her to drink more fluids. No help.

We tried putting vicks on her chest. No help.

We put vicks on the bottoms of her feet and then socks on over that. No help.

She coughed while she slept.She cried, while she coughed, while she slept. I cried, while she cried, while she coughed, while she slept. Jason paced, while I cried, while she cried, while she coughed, while she slept.

It was your basic 2:00 in the morning nightmare. Only we were awake.

ALL OF US.

Except Linsey who of course was crashed out in her room completely oblivious to what was taking place under our roof.

We finally moved into our bedroom where she (wide awake at this point) acted like everything was perfectly normal and it wasn’t 3:00 in the morning at that point. She and Jason played the counting game. She begged for us to turn on cartoons and we did everything we could think of to get her to go back to sleep.

Somewhere around 4:00 I ended up falling asleep while listening to her and Jason talking about who her friends are at school and what she had for lunch and how high she can count in Spanish.

Then shortly after I was awakened by a very loud, very ear piercing, very “I’m in trouble” sort of scream. When I shot up from my half in – half out sleep I realized Jason had sprayed saline up Regan’s nose and she DID NOT like it one bit.

After that I’m not really sure what happened or why, but Regan feel asleep with her head by my feet, her feet kicking my head and Jason out on the couch. This is how we slept for – well – another hour or so when my alarm blasted me awake at 5:30. I promptly reset it for 7:00 and turned right over to go back to sleep.

That hour and a half went by very fast and Regan was once again up and begging for cartoons. At that point I caved and figured “what the hell” the kid has been up coughing, half sleeping half struggling to breathe and kicking me in the head since 2:00.

GIVE HER THE DAMN CARTOONS.

And in comes Linsey asking, “Mommy. What’s for breakfast?”

Oh yeah – now I have to drag my ass out of bed and feed them. No f-ing wonder I’m tired all the time!

So breakfast was served…

I tried the new gluten free bagels we bought from TJ’s topped with hazelnut cream cheese and a small banana. These bagels were crunchy on the outside and very chewy on the inside. They were kind of small, but once I was finished they were exactly the amount I needed.

I also chugged two huge glasses of water.

Linsey asked for Panda Puffs again and apparently was super excited about it!

Regan liked the cereal too, but she had more fun talking on her “banana phone” than eating.

The rest of the morning was very rough. We were all tired. We were all cranky. We were all not very nice to each other. I made sure to give Regan a ton of extra kisses when I dropped her off at school, but I still felt terrible leaving her there today.

She didn’t seem to give a rat’s ass that I was leaving. She had her friends.

Linsey and I made a trip to Starbucks on the way to the deli. I needed a caffeine boost ASAP! A quad venti skinny hazelnut latte was just what the “god’s of open eyes” ordered…

To be completely honest – it didn’t really help.

I had the exact same thing for lunch again today.

But I won’t be having it anymore. I have felt very sick, very bloated, very yucky and very… ummm …not so great in my stomach after eating this lunch. I don’t know if reading about gluten free diets (in hopes to figure out Regan’s asthma problem) has been playing tricks with my head or if I’m having gluten issues or if I’m getting sick or if I’m just going crazy.

I’m still reading The G-Free Diet by Elizabeth Hasselbeck and learning a ton of new information. I can actually relate to a lot of the things she talks about and the symptoms she had. I’m going to keep reading before I self diagnose myself or Regan, but I will be having Regan tested when we go back to the doctor on Tuesday.

And I’m still journaling to keep record of what I’m eating, how much and how I feel afterwards. I hope this helps…

Now to figure out what we should all have for dinner that won’t make anyone angry. Won’t upset someones stomach. Won’t cause fights. And keeps our tummies full until tomorrow.

We’re also going to watch The Sorcerer’s Apprentice tonight and absolutely nothing else. Hopefully it will be early to bed.

God watch over me…

What are you doing for New Year’s Eve?? What are you making to dine on??

You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. ~ Christopher Robin