SERIOUSLY?

I was supposed to take my final exam at 10AM today.  Joe helped me do some last minute studying last night and I felt pretty confident going to bed. 

Unfortunately, at around 10:30 my two year old woke up crying.  Within a minute she was quiet and went back to sleep.  About an hour later she woke up crying again.  I got her out of bed and she sat with us for a few minutes.  I asked her if she wanted to go back to bed and she said yes. 

Elia woke up at least four more times.  I went into her room twice and rubbed her back and both times she calmed down and went right back to sleep.  I figured she had a dream or maybe a belly ache.  It's not the first time one of the girls had woken up throughout the night, so we didn't think much of it.

All I was thinking about was my test and how tired I was going to be.  Of course she picks this night to be a stinker.

Elia woke up crying at 7:30 this morning.  Joe went into their room to get her and Gracie up.  A minute later Joe walks in with holding Elia and says, "What's wrong with her fingers?"

He shows me and this is what I see...

Her middle finger was the worst.  Her whole hand was swollen and blistered.

I freak out and start crying.  My freak out causes Elia to begin freaking out.  I have no idea what is wrong with my poor baby.  How did I not notice this awful sight during the night?  I feel like a terrible mom.  My sweet girl is in pain and now has a fever and I didn't even know how it happened.  We think through yesterday and try to figure out what could have happened but we're clueless.  She didn't get burned.  Could she have stuck her finger in an outlet?  All of our outlets are covered.  Did something happen while she was at Sunday school?  We call the doctor and they tell us to bring her in.  My biggest fear was having to take her back to Children's Hospital again.  I swore we would never go back there with her.

The doctor was unable to tell us what happened.  It's possible she had a cut and touched something that an infected person left bacteria on.  They popped the finger bubbles with a needle and drained the fluid.  I did not watch for fear I would pass out.  Elia took it all like a champ.  The doctor kept telling her how good she was doing and she'd say, "Yeah, I know" while fighting back tears.  They took cultures of the fluid to run tests.

The good news is an antibiotic cream and oral medicine should clear her infection.  Her fever is now gone and her hand is bandaged up.  We have a follow-up appointment tomorrow. 

I did not make it to my exam appointment.  Now I was having anxiety about waiting another whole day to take the test.  I called the proctor and she said I could come in at 1:30.  I rushed to get ready and make it to Williamsville.

I opted to not wear the diaper to the test.  The thought of sitting on it for an hour made me uncomfortable.  I did remember to use the bathroom before I got there.  An hour later and I heard the magic words, "You passed." 

Hallelujah!

Why do horrible things tend to happen on such important days?  I am thankful that my girl is sitting next to me sniffing her blanket and sucking her nuk.  Watching the Wonderpets is a perfectly wonderful way to end this day.  Passing my exam was just an added bonus.

My bandaged beauty.