Emerging From the Dark Pit

I have been to the seventh level of hell. And it is run by a sick two-year old.

I have not spent more than one consecutive hour in the last five days without a sick child in my arms. First my five year old was sick. He wasn't too bad. A slight cough and an extra hour of sleep in the morning. Two days and he was well. My kind of sickness! Then the next day his sister was sick. She also had a cough, but accompanied by a low-grade fever. She is a snuggler, so I just held her a little more during the day and she was fine. She took a few naps, ate a little less and sneaked into our bed each night. Not that that is abnormal or anything. She, too, was fine in a few days.

Then baby C got sick. And I discovered what true misery is. He turned two last week, and subsequently discovered the delights of automatically saying "no" to every possible statement.

"Do you want some cereal?" "No"
"What do you want to eat?" "No"
"Where's Daddy?" "No"

Having a two-year old and being pregnant are two simultaneous things I can handle. Having a sick-two year old and being pregnant are not. He has been a nightmare. Granted, he got a much stronger dose of the crap than his siblings did. He has a bad cough, runny nose and a relatively high fever. So he has every right to be miserable. I just wish he could go live somewhere else for a few days. Sorry, but I'm a little sleep-deprived.

During the days, he has been entirely too clingy. Now I love my munchkins, and I don't mind snuggling and kissing and hugging, even though I am completely disgusted by these actions in adults. At least adults in public. But, after ten straight hours of holding a coughing, boogery child, is it horrible to just want a little personal space? I tried laying him down on the couch.

"No, mom, no," arms lifted up in that pitiful you-don't-really-love-me look.
"Up, up, peese."

Even I am not cruel enough to walk away. So, I basically carried him non-stop for the last four days.

The nights have been horrible. Every night he started in his own bed and fell asleep quickly. I am a believer in letting fevers do their job, so I usually don't medicate my kids unless the fever is really high. When they're not sick, I think it's fine to dope them up as much as necessary for a good night's sleep. Anyway, he would fall asleep well and promptly wake up forty-five minutes later. And every forty-five minutes thereafter. The entire night. For five straight nights. He is actually crying right now. And now there goes the middle child. Yeah, no sleep for me again!

So, of course, I just bring them into bed with me because if I'm going to be miserable, so is Dave. T is OK. She just snuggles in and goes right to sleep. She might wake up a few times coughing, but as long as she can feel my neck and massage it for all it's worth, she'll sleep well. Granted, I am ready to chop off her fingers because she sucks them so freakin' loudly (oops, there goes that resolution), but at least she sleeps.

C likes to sleep close to me. Let me rephrase. He likes to try to re-enter the womb when he is sleeping. He climbs on me, then puts his face on mine, then wraps every limb around me. It is really adorable. For the first two minutes. But everyone knows that the core body temperature of a pregnant woman is 125 degrees. When you add a feverish little soul to that temperature, the poor little bun in the oven risks becoming charcoal. So I gently pull him off me just like we used to pull the leeches off after playin' in the crick. And I try to move away just a tad. Like maybe two inches or so. But C always awakens and starts his plaintive little cries.

"Mom, iss (kiss), mom" I kiss him on the forehead, avoiding the booger/germ/virus laden areas.
"No, mom, iss, outh" I say a quick prayer and enter the danger zone.
"More, mom, iss" He obviously won't mind strangers hugging him in church.

Actually, I'm amazed that I haven't gotten sick. C has obviously not learned to cover his mouth when he coughs. So I have had countless coughs directly into my nasal passages, eyes and sometimes open mouth. Real fun, this parenting thing is. But, as of now, I am still healthy, albeit tired, so I can't complain too much.

I'm hoping the next few days will bring healthy kids and warm weather. I'll be glad to have a few extra hours of personal time. And I'll be glad for some time alone with Dave. I have to admit, though, I'm probably going to miss the extra snuggles and "isses."

Update 9/24: I can't believe it. The entire family slept until 8am! Actually, the rest of the family slept. I lay in bed and listened to coughing, booger-induced snoring and finger sucking. But it was rest, nonetheless, and I feel so refreshed. Yeah!