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The bug bit back

Jaia made it 11 months without even a sniffle.  I was sure she had inherited my super ability to never get sick (an ability I’ve totally imagined up – see the Christmas post), but since the middle of December, my little bean has had 4 separate bouts with sickness.  Or maybe they are all connected through a weakened immune system from the first cold, but every time we think we are all healed up, we are wrong.

The first one was a cold – what I thought was a bad cold – that seemed to go away within a couple of days.  Then, the now infamous Christmas pukefest.  Immediately following Jaia’s birthday party we went to the doctor for her 12 month immunizations.  After her check-up, the doctor decided to postpone the shots because it turned out that the bean was starting an ear infection.  Thankfully, that one was super short lived and after a day she was back to her ‘old’ self.

That brings us to yesterday.  Dan had been sniffling and sore throated for a few days, but I thought Jaia and I had let this one pass us by.  And then her nose started to run…constantly.  But it wasn’t until last night that we realized how bad it actually was.  After 5 hours of trying to put her to bed unsuccessfully, the super congested breathing started.  Each breath sounded like a deep, laboured, phlegmy, painful wheeze.

She’d finally fall asleep for a few minutes at a time, only to wake screaming from…nothing she could explain to us.  Our night did not improve.  The waking continued until the sun came up when Dan got up with her.  She was far better in an upright position, but she has gone from her usual 11 hour sleep at night to a 4-5 hour one, if that.  Then I was finally able to get her to fall asleep at 11:30 this morning – only to wake up 20 minutes later and then not nap again all day.  This is going to be fun.

In our short experience as parents, this has been the hardest thing we’ve ever had to go through.  To know she’s in such pain and that there is nothing we can do about it beyond comforting her is heartbreaking.  I’ve never heard her cry the way she did last night and early this morning.  It was awful.  And we were helpless.  And completely exhausted.

I’m hoping that the cold peaked last night and that she’s on the road to recovery.  She might not have her mom’s super immunity, but she may still have inherited her dad’s speedy healing ability.  While all of us suffered from the evil Christmas flu for 5-7 days, Dan was all healed up and back on the food and drink wagon within 24 hours.  It was very impressive. 

A quick end to this most recent bug saga would be very welcome here.  Then again, so would a nap.

January 11, 2008 - 12:54 pm

Dan - In the last few weeks, Jaia has learned to fear the kleenex. As soon as she sees you reaching for the box, she starts her squirm to escape.

Looking forward to a daughter who doesn’t ooze green 🙂

January 12, 2008 - 11:23 pm

Auntie Kris - Bummer! That doesn’t sound like any fun at all. I hope she’s feeling better and is now snot-free. Poor little munchkin.

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