Winter Flu

When my kids fevers broke last week, I thought this flu stuff was over.  Of course, it was too good to be true.  It turned out my son also had strep throat.  Oops.  Then the flu started kicking my butt...

All weekend I was feeling pretty shitty, but Monday it was starting to hit me pretty hard.  Like every mom out there, I work through whatever hits me because there is just too much to do.  So while I was sneezing, coughing, snotting into tissues and gasping for breath, I kept on chugging.  Fever up and down? Psshh, whatever.  Night sweats?  That's what showers are for. 

By Thursday, I felt like I was dying.  Every breath I took was leading to a coughing fit.  I just could not breathe.  When I did breathe, it just hurt.  I finally admitted defeat and headed to the doctor. 

If you have asthma, you know my pain.  Apparently, my bronchial tubes were inflamed and not letting air in.  I was breathing heavy and not getting enough oxygen in.  I got to breathe misty stuff out of a little tube and got pumped full of antibacterial meds, steroids and some cough medicine with codeine. 

Yes, I feel a thousand times better.  I'm normal-coughing now and that is A-OK with me.  As long as I can breathe and coughing doesn't hurt, well, I can hang with that.  Back to work tomorrow!

Sick Days

Yesterday I had one of those days when I had a taste of my past life.  Not when I was a caterpillar or anything, but the one where both my kids were babies.  They both have upper respiratory infections and their fevers were pretty high yesterday.  Waiting for them to break was worrisome.  The amount of work that went into making sure they were okay reminded me of their baby days.  I would never wish that insanity on anyone.

Don't get me wrong.  I love my babies and enjoy all the love they have given me, but their baby days were very stressful.  My kids were both surprises.  My daughter was conceived on a cot in Sarajevo (can't wait to tell her THAT) while I was deployed, and my son was made four weeks after my daughter was born.  Yes, I didn't wait: my kids are almost 10 months apart. 

Let me tell you, when your first born is 9 months old and another baby comes about, that is a tough job.  It didn't help that my husband was deployed at the time either.  So you can imagine the sleepless nights and zombie-like days I had keeping us three alive.

That's what the last two days were like.  Hour upon hour I was on the move getting them this and that, giving baths, making sure they were eating, drinking, ALIVE - and taking their temperatures.  I had a chart with their temperatures and what medications were taken when.  I was doping them with the occasional Mucinex for their coughs plus Tylenol and Motrin, since the fevers were so high.  Anything above 103 scares me.

Perhaps I overreacted, but I think not.  After all, they are my only children.  So with my 2:00 AM bedtime, I'm happy their fevers finally broke.  Thank goodness I have tomorrow off to recuperate!