Boys and Illness

Ah... it's heartbreaking to see your little one feeling under the weather. Fortunately, most of Chase's 14+ months have been free of any type of cold, flu, illness- with the exception of his surgery and teething issues. However, when the big kid (aka, Dad) got sick last week, the feeling of how many needy children living in the house seemed to jump by a few heads. Somehow I went from enjoying at least 6 hours of sleep a night, and getting in study time or reading time- to being lucky if I can sleep in 2 hour stretches and get anything done at all.

I could write a novel on men and being big babies when they are sick- but... I'll refrain for today.

But the little man? Cousin Nathan apparently ended up with a fever early this week- we hadn't seen him since last Friday, so I didn't think much of it. Then Wednesday I noticed Chase was burning up and just being clingy and needy- so, armed with Tylenol and dropping everything to try to comfort him, the battle began. I was so worried (this is really the first time he's run a fever other than immediately following a vaccination), so I kept checking his temperature- eventually waking him up- big mistake- and therefore he spent the night in our bed. Tossing and turning and insisting on sleeping on me- which made me sleep on my back (I hate sleeping on my back)- he sleeps in the weirdest positions- insisting on laying in the nook of my neck (essentially crushing my throat, making it difficult to breathe), or when I decided to flip over anyway, he laid face down in my hair, until I finally decided that wasn't going to work. He wasn't satisfied with just knowing I was there- it was like every part of him had to be touching me to reassure him that I was there. Sigh...

So two nights in a row of no sleep, adding in a bad cough last night to make me worry, and then I had fasting blood work this morning (when my blood sugar drops, I get mean and cranky)... just no fun! But.... fortunately, after a 3 hour nap this morning, he's been looking much better, and fingers are crossed we're over this hump. This is why daycare terrifies me- the illnesses spread like wildfire, and between worry and lack of sleep- the toll takes the whole family off track.

Happy St. Patty's weekend! Here's to EVERYONE feeling better :)