{Real Mom Life} The Sickies

It's the worst when your kid is sick.

Like, the worst.

We have finally conquered the ever-feared Virus in our home, and hopefully we won't be visited by that fiend for the rest of the winter. Because, sheesh, is he mis.er.a.ble.

I mentioned last week in my post about weaning (and I meant to write more than once last week, but you know, weaning and emotions and Virus) that Maylin was sick with a fever and runny nose. Thankfully it remained "just a Virus" and didn't escalate into an ear infection or the dreaded RSV. 

I have two friends whose babies are currently battling RSV, having to do breathing treatments at every 4 hours or every 2 hours, and my heart goes out to them so much. I'd never even heard of RSV until after I had Maylin, and it's crazy how much three little letters can make your mama-heart squeeze in fear every time they're uttered.

I learned several things while Maylin had the sickies::

1} It's hard being a mama-nurse. I can't attest to the breathing treatments {knock on proverbial wood}, but I do know the achy-breaky-heart feeling that accompanies the endless nose wipes, the glassy fever eyes, and the notion there's nothing really you can do as a parent to make your child better. Maylin got so tired of us having to suck the snot out of her nose with that little blue bulb and I can't say I blame her. Anytime she even saw the thing she started in with the Maylin wail-and-flail {which is starting to accompany a lot these days}. Also, the up-all-night thing with a sick baby is about nearly as fun as the up-all-night thing with a gassy baby. In each case all you really want is for your child to stop being in pain and therefore to stop screaming so they can go to sleep so you can go to sleep. Then the next day, because I didn't get much sleep the night before, the only thing in the world I wanted was a nap, but no, sorry the baby still needs to be rocked and soothed and cuddled {and not in a sweet, newborn way, but rather in a hot sweaty fussy I-don't-feel-good  nine month sort of way}. So yeah, being a mama-nurse is hard.

2} Babies can be as strong as Hercules when they want to be. Take trying to use the blue bulb snot sucker, for instance. Maylin would bury her face into my shoulder {if I was holding her} or into the changing table pad {if she way lying down} and no amount of twisting or prying would make her nose turn toward me again. It usually took Michael and I doing it together to get that nasty snot out.

3} Babies make A LOT of snot. More snot has come out of that baby than I ever thought possible before she got sick. And the snot had to come out, you see, because she couldn't even breathe through her nose while taking her bottle without it draining all down the back of her throat or running in rivulets down into her mouth.

4} Babies with low, scratchy voices from mucus drainage may be the most adorable sound ever.  All that drainage made Maylin hoarse, which was simultaneously the cutest and most pitiful thing I've ever heard. Her little voice deepened by about two octaves and she lost it all together for about 24 hours. I couldn't even hear her crying when she was upstairs in her crib so I would sit outside her closed door after I put her down to make sure she wasn't silently screaming. All is well now, though, because the screaming is back in full force when she is upset about something or when she thinks nap time is over.

The symptoms of our little virus only lasted about 10 days, and though we do still have some snot {how in the world?} Maylin is pretty much on the mend and acting like her usual self.

Looking forward to warmer and less snotty days.