26 months 9 days

Day 801. Last night I headed to bed at 11:30 pm. Emmy had had another restless evening, and so it wasn't long before he joined me in bed. The girl came as well in the early morning hours.

I had set my alarm for 6:30 am, but it only vibrated, so I didn't hear it. Don't know why it wasn't making a sound. And so it was our usual 7 am, when we got up. I was actually pulling away from a sleeping Emmy, who woke up in the process and stayed upset for a while. We had one hour to get everything done.

I made breakfast, but they don't eat much in the morning. Then we still had to find their "I'm 2" T-shirts and add them to the bag with Christmas clothes. We dressed them, grabbed some snacks and drinks for them, and left the house just after 8 am. We had a long ride ahead, the subway to another subway, then one stop on the tram and a walk. We got to the photo studio just after 9 am. Sonja had met us at the subway there, and she was a great help at the photo shoot. The photographer, a friend from church, even arrived after us.

We took the little elevator up to the studio, where the owner greeted us. And the photographer met us there too. We got them out of the strollers and put the clothes for the neutral pictures on. And then we had just under 2 hours to be photographed. I wanted nice, neutral pictures, especially one of the triplets to add to our wall, as well as Christmas pictures. The studio was already decorated for Christmas, so that was not an issue. I had bought identical pj's for the five of us that we all put on. Emmy was the one that was most difficult. He didn't want to be told where to be and what to do and was cranky. It was also difficult to get them all to smile. My throat not yet been restored, I had no voice left at the end of the photo shoot, as we were trying so hard to get them to look the right direction and smile.

After a while we changed back into the neutral clothes, as we still had some time, but Emmy was not cooperating at all any more, and so we simply stopped. We put their clothes back on and said our good-byes. We left just after 11 am.

Emmy did not want to go into the stroller, and as he was allowed to walk, Tammy wanted to walk as well. So we were walking back to the tram stop, where they then went into the strollers. At the subway we said good-bye to Sonja, who had an errand to run. We had two long subway rides ahead of us, and especially Emmy was tired and eventually fell asleep. I myself was very tired and could barely keep my eyes open.

We got home just after noon, and I immediately warmed up some leftover soup, while leaving Emmy in the stroller sleeping. Tammy and Sammy ate some soup and some pudding, and then we put them to bed. But they were having fun again instead of sleeping. And then Emmy woke up. I offered him food, but he didn't want any. Then I lay down with him, while Randy sat down by the other two's beds. I hadn't expected it, but Emmy fell asleep again. And as tired as I was, I also fell asleep. Before that I noticed that Tammy and Sammy also got quiet rather quickly.

Emmy and I woke up at 2 pm. I had noticed that his body was hot again and measured a fever of 38.2 degrees. He had barely been hot for 3 days, but here it was again. Had I not slept a little, I wouldn't have been able to do this, but I decided to take him back to the pediatrician right there and then. By 2:30 pm we left the house - just after Sammy and Tammy had woken up.

Just before we reached the subway, we ran into Sonja who was on her way to our house, having taken care of her errand. We took the subway to the end and got on the tram. It was a long ride, just under an hour, to get to the pediatrician in our old neighborhood, and Emmy got antsy, wanting us to get off the tram. We still had to walk a bit to get to the doctor's office, where we arrived just before 3:30.

I was surprised to see so few children in there; they do close at 4 pm. After registering I had to put a urine bag on Emmy which he did not like, and then we went into the lab, where they did a Corona test and then they pricked his finger and pressed blood out of it for a blood test. Emmy was crying. He was not at all happy. Then we went to the waiting room where we were the only ones waiting, and so it was only a few minutes before we were called in. We were waiting inside for a while too before a young doctor came. She asked questions, then an older doctor came who listened to his lungs and looked into his ears and throat, which he did not like at all. She could see how red his throat was and so they did an angina swab again to make sure the antibiotics had done their job. Then they sent us outside to wait for the result. The test was negative, and so they asked whether Emmy had peed so they could do a urine test. They could see from the blood test that he was battling a virus, but could not tell what the origin of the fever was. Emmy hadn't wanted to drink every time I offered him some, but now I told him he needed to drink as we could not leave until he had peed. And with most kids gone they were getting ready to close up for the day. I kept checking his urine bag, but it was still dry. They talked about us coming back the next day, but then the doctor said instead that she was sending Emmy to get a lung x-ray done. They simply had no clue what caused the fever, and she said that sometimes you can see things on x-rays they can't hear. Sounds like a fishing expedition to me.

And so we packed up and left an hour after having arrived, not knowing any more than when we had arrived. I had a splitting headache at that point. We walked back on the tram, rode what seemed a long time to the subway, and then got on the subway home, where we arrived at 5:10 pm. Emmy went downstairs to go play and spend time with Sonja, while I immediately started making their dinner, even though I felt terrible. At 5:45 they all came upstairs to eat. They ate some at the table, and then Sonja fed Tammy and Emmy in the bathtub, and thank God, tonight they ate so much better than they have been. I was holding Sammy up and fed him, and he emptied his plate. And they were all having fun playing with the faucet.

Then it was time to come out and get ready for bed. I sat down by their beds, but Tammy and Sammy were having fun again, and then Tammy and Emmy kept leaving their beds. They did seem a little tired, though. Randy sat down with them and held Emmy, and it didn't take too long for them to fall asleep. Emmy had a good evening tonight, as he slept all the way until just after midnight before he got up and wanted me to hold him. I had already started writing my report and had him on my lap while continuing to write. Now Randy is sitting in the chair holding him until he's fast asleep and can be put back to bed.

When Randy sat down by their beds, I got myself something to eat, and then started working on today's pictures. Somehow I felt some energy return, and not having cleaned the dining room floor in days, I felt like I was up to doing it tonight. And so I started cleaning, dishes, floor and the kitchen. It felt good to have it all clean again. Only then did I sit down to start writing my update.

Now it's after 12:30 am, and I sure need some sleep.