Last Sunday Will woke up w a fever. It didn't come as a surprise as my mom, Bill and David (who lives w my mom), all got sick w sinus/URI's at the same time. Will had a mild cough and his fever broke w Tylenol and actually didn't come back. But the cough got worse so we took him to the pedi last week who confirmed he had a virus w asthmatic onset. He's on two separate inhalers and took Prednisolone for 3 days. It's common for babies to develop asthma when they get URI's and doesn't necessarily mean he'll have chronic asthma, (although he's got a higher propensity; my mom has it). But with inhaler use this early there's a better chance of warding asthma off in the future or at least making it more manageable and less severe. It's funny b/c I remember one of my Oh Shit moments while pregnant was after I read an article online about peanut consumption while pregnant being linked to childhood asthma. By the time I'd read that it was too late - I'd been eating peanuts for months daily. And I've since read reports that said there's no merit to that study b/c it hasn't been duplicated, but still makes me wonder...
To my sister and friends who've had seriously ill babies: my hat's off to you. Having a sick baby is very stressful. You're usually sleep deprived yourself, you don't know what to do, if you work you juggle your workday with taking care of baby; it's reminded me a lot of the newborn days - doing whatever you gotta do to survive! The helplessness I felt also reminded me of those days in the trenches, trying any and everything at the hopes it would help Will. I've prayed a lot this past week for parents of seriously, chronically sick kids. Parenting is hard. A week with a sick baby was exhausting. God bless those families who weather that storm every day.
What I've learned since experiencing my first truly sick kid:
1. Don't wait to call the pedi. Will didn't have a fever and his energy level was normal and he was still eating so I thought we'd be ok to "wait and see." All the websites' guidelines about when to call the pedi didn't seem to warrant it but I should've gotten him started on meds sooner b/c he really did need them.
2. Don't assume the worst. Let the pedi do the diagnosing.
3. Don't be afraid to try something, even if you think it won't work. I am happy to say Will is sleeping in the Pack n Play at home now! My mom suggested we try it b/c he slept so great in hers. I was skeptical we'd have the same luck but voila! He's been a lot more comfortable in it than the swing and thanks to Bill's great camera rigging I don't worry about him in it all night.
4. Be nice to your husband. Bill and I bickered for days b/c we were stressed and sleep deprived, much like when Will was a newborn. I've got the best husband in the world b/c he shares literally half the workload w me - he's gotten up at 12 and 6 am every day to give Will his inhaler. He took care of him all w/e so I could sleep (I got my own head cold). When you're stressed you take it out on your partner, we all do it. But say you're sorry, hug them and kiss them; show them how much you appreciate them.
5. Take care of you too. If your kid gets sick chances are you will too. Or you'll at least be really tired. Let your husband or someone take over for you for a while so you can sleep or exercise or go out of the house for a minute. It makes dealing w what's going on at home that much more manageable.
This won't be the last time Will gets sick but hopefully the first time, like most things, is the hardest/scariest. We learn as we go!
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