Min temp: 38.1C, max temp: 39.8C

Rob is about to leave to collect some paracetemol suppositories from the hospital. Oral medications just make poor Emer gag and spit up copiously. She appears well enough apart from the mucus making her gag and the intermittently soaring temperature (last measured at 38.8C). Rob, Mum, Emer and I all got to sleep about 3 am; Linnea woke shortly before 5; just after 5 I sent Rob to deal with Linnea while I took Emer's temperature and fed her etc. Linnea stayed awake until 12:30; Rob napped in a chair. I got up at 10 am and sent Rob to bed at 11 am. He got up again at about 2 pm. Linnea got up again about 3.30 pm.

We're sleeping in shifts. Mum and I didn't manage to get time to eat anything until after noon. No-one is entirely well; I have earache, congestion and a sore throat, Mum and Linnea have racking coughs, Rob has congestion and a milder cough, and Emer has the nose from hell and a fever.

Rob went out for food, since he'd managed 8-9 hours' sleep, and no doubt we'll be better once we've eaten.

Emer really needs to sleep.

Up yours, as it were...

I inserted a suppository and was treated to a violent fountain of green poo with the suppository surfing the crest of the wave. So I inserted another one, pinched the buttocks together, and got the fountain without the surfer. The victim was heartbreakingly tolerant of it all, and I will recover someday.

I can't believe I did that to my daughter. To anyone's daughter. To anyone at all, in fact.

The good news is, Emer is now sleeping sweetly with a temperature of about 37.5C, and I have had a bath which relieved my congestion and earache. We have all eaten (sausages, eggs, beans, rashers of bacon, toast, orange juice, and tea - quick and nourishing) and Emer has started keeping down more feeds than not.

I've done a load of coloured laundry, a load of whites, and a load of nappies, and folded all the clean, dry nappies ready for use. Rob has set another load of nappies to soak, and emptied all the landfill and recycling bins in the house. He's also sent his mother a message not to phone at midnight and reassembled the floor-covering foam alphabet jigsaw. Next up is undecorating the tree, which was pulled down by Linnea in the night, and dumping it outside the door; we can take it to be mulched on Tuesday.

I wish you all a restful 2007 with as much excitement as you will enjoy and as much sleep as you need. And I strongly recommend that those of you with babies beg, borrow or steal an ear thermometer.