State of the Blog: Our First Cold
Jun 22, 2023
After nine-months, it finally happened. Sloane is sick. And so are we all.
When people asked if there was anything that I wasn’t looking forward to about having a child, there was only one answer: Being sick all the time.
For years, I watched friends with young children catch everything from a cold to chicken pox, documenting their forays through the “disease years” on Instagram. It is the number one reason that I pay for a nanny instead of sending Sloane to daycare. And yet, here we are.
10-days ago, Sloane came down with a cold. Three days later, Kyle caught it. I lingered on the edge of illness until for several days until it hit me harder than anyone. So here we are, all sick, all tired, all wondering how a cold can be this bad (all tests for other things are negative).
Blogging will be light until this passes. Please, Lord, let it be soon.
xo, Abra
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Everything in parenting is a phase! Unfortunately even the good things are phases, but luckily, the bad things are too.
You have my sympathy! My son has Down syndrome and all respiratory infections take longer to clear because his nasal and other passageways are much narrower. Colds go on for weeks. One good thing about these colds is building resilience when kindergarten starts and your daughter already has exposure to lots of germs. Also, if you suspect RSV get that baby to the hospital. It is so hard on infants.
Ugh, yes! I was the mom disinfecting everything in sight again and again when anyone got sick, hoping to end the spread, but it is so hard, especially when they are tiny! Hope you all rebound very soon.
It will pass. You will get through this. I will never forget the time my son got a sinus infection, ear infection, and viral pink eye all at the same time. And then we all had sinus infections, ear infections, and pink eye. I thought we weren’t going to survive being in the same house with each other. But we look back now and laugh (shudder). Once they hit 5th grade or so, the colds slow down.
Sending solidarity. My daughter starts daycare in August (I’m fortunate to have a long maternity leave here in Canada) and I’m really not looking forward to the constant illnesses. Hope you all get better soon!
Those colds and illnesses have a purpose: stimulating the crucial development of your immune system. It’s as true for you and Kyle now, unfolding in your adult years, as well as for Sloane’s beginnings. As unfun as illnesses are, a constant over-disinfecting of the environment ultimately defeats this worthy purpose. As the Bible said, “This, too, shall pass.”
Unfortunately for you, the more rundown and stressed your system currently is, the harder the viruses hit. Take the special care that you need–rest, fluids, good food, vitamins, OTC meds for relief, etc. and no apologies or guilt for caring for yourself. The dad can care for his baby, too. All best thoughts & wishes to you all for quick recoveries.
My dude got sick literally after the first time we took him out in public at just over a month. Two weeks later, he had COVID (and so did we all). All we had done is go out to eat. Strangers weren’t close, no other germy kids, he was either in his carrier or in the carseat covered. I think by now, at 8 months, we’re on cold/illness number 6 or 7, including croup and some nasty mucusy cold that had him literally gagging on boogers. We do a nannyshare (and two colds have come from the other baby), so I can’t imagine what daycare would be like. Thankfully, all of his illensses have been fairly mild and only slightly disrupted sleep.
Oh and I should add, prior to having a baby, it had been YEARS since I’d gotten anything more than a tickle in my throat. Now, every time he gets sick, so do I. I EBF, so I’m telling myself it’s just my body getting those antibodies going for him…though it’s more likely that it’s just my body being tired af.