Whoop! Whoop!

"The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management." --Thomas Jefferson to Samuel Kercheval, 1816. ME 15:36

"The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence." - John Adams, Defense of the Constitutions of Governments of the United States, 1787

"If the United States mean to obtain or deserve the full praise due to wise and just governments, they will equally respect the rights of property, and the property in rights..." - James Madison, The Papers of James Madison

OK, OK. I won't go on anymore about property rights. But seriously, folks - this is important stuff.


And now for something completely different:


You may recall me mentioning my three kids cough, cough, coughing about three weeks ago? Well, guess what. I'm pretty darn sure they've had Pertussis. Whooping Cough!

One day a few weeks ago a friend called and asked me,

FRIEND: "Have your kids been coughing?"
ME: "Yes"
FRIEND: "Coughing a lot?"
ME: "Yes"
FRIEND: "Coughing so much they gag and almost throw up?
ME: pause..."Yeeeeessss"
FRIEND: "Well, I just wanted you to know that FriendsofyourKids have Whooping Cough, and you guys might have it."

Super!

Fantastic!

And I agonized over the immunization decision for what exactly? I finally gave in to my fear of pertussis and got the darn shots for all my kiddos, why?

The one thing they got shots for (aside from Tetanus) and they STILL get it.

Hmph!

At first the coughs didn't seem that severe. And actually Mini-Me is just clearing her throat in a lovely way every thirty seconds now, but not coughing. Rosie only coughed for a week.

But yesterday I heard it for the first time. The whoop. ARG has had it the worst - coughing to the point of gagging several times a day. He feels fine otherwise, which is strange. But yesterday he whooped. It's on the breath intake (or non-intake) after coughing.

ARG: Cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, yech, aulg, WHOOP!

You can hear a baby whoop if you want. That's just what ARG sounds like except he's got a great, deep man's cough and whoop. It's less scary, but grosser. Poor guy. We're in our fourth week of coughing.

Now I'm really bummin', cause Rosie just came down with a fever and headache. She's not showing signs of a cold, which is the usual symptoms at the onset of Pertussis. So, I have no idea if she's got a run of the mill flu, or is just starting with the Dreaded Cough of Death.

What to do?

Go to the pediatrician? Get her tested? Give her antibiotics before test results come back (that's what they'll want us to do)? Wait for more symptoms?

***Heavy sigh***

This mothering business gets more and more complicated all the time.