I’m not quite sure why Chad continues to live in this house.
The last two weeks have been nothing more than one big Germ Fest and Incubation Experiment at our house. And quite honestly, I’m tired of it. And tired in general.
It started with sniffles (Remember how cute it was when L. was “‘niffin his ‘niffles”? If only that would have been the end of it.), which progressed to croup in L. and a cold in C. The croup was dealt with, but both boys were left with hacking, wracking coughs. And yes , they’re both still coughing, two weeks later.
Not wanting to be left out, I decided to get sick last week. I’m now 8 days into a cold that does not even respond to my faithful sidekick, Green Nyquil. I keep taking the Nyquil every night, however, because even if it can’t do a thing to my symptoms, it can at least make me delirious enough to not notice as much for six hours or so.
In the most recent turn of events, C. appears to have caught a stomach bug, complete with high fever and puking, on top of his continuing coughing and sneezing. I will not recount for you the mess I was cleaning up at 1:00 a.m., because you might be eating your lunch right now, and that wouldn’t be very nice of me. Suffice it to say…yuck.
The thing is, I don’t handle my kids’ illnesses very well. Oh, I’m fine if one catches a cold, or even if there’s a quickly-diagnosed episode of strep throat. But when the sickness drags on and on, when it produces high fevers, when it leaves my kids looking at me with big, sad, helpless eyes… I tend to fall apart a little.
I’m sure part of it is that I’m exhausted. Between my own inability to breathe through my nose, and listening for a needy child, my nights are not exactly restful.
But another part of it is that I should have become a pediatrician before I became a parent. As it is — with my complete lack of pediatrician credentials — when we get to this point, I spend my days wondering if we should head to the doctor’s or tough it out at home because it’s probably just a virus anyway. And to pass the time and distract myself, I decide to write a blog post and complain to the world at large.
The good news is, Chad has been healthy this whole time. Which has been good, because he’s had to make tissue runs and pick up pizza and keep us all from going over the emotional edge.
And I’m down to one more dose of Nyquil, so if tomorrow doesn’t bring some improvement, he might be making a Nyquil run, too.
For now, I’m going to check on the kids and then go sit by a sunny window, dreaming of the day we’re all healthy again and enjoying the sunshine. That day has to be coming soon, right?
oo we just had a stomach bug and I thought it was terrible.. but we didnt have the nasty cough.. just a little runny nose.. I so feel for you! I hope you all feel better soon!
I hope you all start feeling better very soon.
I’ll tell you my rule of thumb – if someone has a fever for three days, it’s off to the doctor we go. As a general rule, if a fever sticks around that long (especially if it’s a high one), there’s usually a bacterial infection going on, which you need the antibiotics for. But if it’s a mild fever that comes and goes, it’s likely just viral and they can’t do anything for you other than tell you to get lots of rest and drink plenty of fluids.
I got to learn this through the great ear infection saga of my oldest daughter’s first 4 years of life. And my own fun experiences of pneumonia and various lung infections for good measure. I feel for you and I will be praying you all get over this soon!
I hope C., L., and you get better soon.
Jessica
I love sitting by sunny windows! I hope that it improved your spirits. It’s actually warm enough today (finally) that I sat outside on the deck, but I fully believe in the restorative powers of sunshine.
Hang in there. I’m praying for you all, my friend.
I am so sorry for you. I have been there, done that. When I had all 4 kids at home and a stomach bug would hit, all of us, I would just sit on the floor in the bathroom and cry. You didn’t need to describe the mess you cleaned up, I knew exactly what you were talking about.
My husband and 2 left-at-home boys had a rough month and a half recently. Colds, high fevers, chills, the nose thing and terrible, terrible coughing. They all ended up needing 2 rounds of antibiotics each for sinus infections and bronchitis. Whatever bugs entered our home were N.A.S.T.Y.
I succumbed with a bout of Bronchitis which I was battling during the Read a-thon. It was no fun.
I agree with Andrea’s rule of thumb. I would say, otherwise, fall back on Nyquil, but obviously THAT isn’t working and THAT is a big big bummer!
My hope is that you get to enjoy a sunny window and soak up some vitamin D!
*smiles and hugs*
Kim
Hoo boy. Hope your feeling better soon. There should be a law against Mom’s getting sick, that’s for sure.
Sorry to hear this…gotta tell you though having Marie as a Dr. is the best perk ever…..I totally take advantage of my sister being a dr who is able to dispense drugs!=)
I have never come across a woman who has said, “Oh yeah, I have the patience of a saint when my kids are sick.” I remember my son would kind of cry all night whenever he’d get a bronchial/asthma thing when he was younger. I’d get to the point, about three a.m. usually, when I’d say, “Would you stop whining?” He was usually crying in his sleep, so he doesn’t remember, but it made me feel at once better AND like the meanest mom in the world.
My mom would have never bragged, but she DID have the patience of a saint when we were sick. She was a trained nurse, and when we got sick, she was in her element. It was extremely comforting, and there were four of us. I obviously got my patience, or lack thereof, from my daddio.
Hang in there, and don’t be hard on yourself. Colds are worse than strep in that you just have to let them run their course. Ugh.