The past two days have been a whirlwind of activity.
Apparently, Alyssa had been incubating the flu germ and last night it was born! The poor girl threw up all night long. Her temperature was over 102° and that brought on a headache and body aches. She finally fell asleep at 3:00 p.m. this afternoon and woke up at 9:00 p.m.
I washed and dried the laundry continuously throughout the day, but was too tired to fold the mountain that now sits in the rocking chair. I did, however, get paid a handful of lint and a quarter for all my efforts.
Homemade soup was also on the agenda in hopes that tomorrow she will be able to eat solids. Mom doesn’t like my chicken soup and prefers the red label Campbell’s Chicken Noodle. Yeah, we all think her tastebuds are crazy. Alyssa loves it though and I have a HUGE container just waiting for her to get better.
Right now Alyssa is living on crushed ice with 7-Up and occasionally she eats a Popsicle. Ibuprofin has helped with the temperature too. We all hate the body aches most of all. Alyssa has had ice packs on her head, neck and back and I’ve rubbed and rubbed her aching muscles. Actually I rubbed her until I fell asleep and while I slept I bet the flu germs crawled all over me!
Now that we have her temperature under control with the medication and the ice products, she is feeling “better” which means Alyssa wants soup. Having lived through this whole sick thing so many times with Brittany (my neice), I know that if I feed the flu she will be throwing up again tonight.
As the night progressed, the hungrier Alyssa felt and the more she whined for soup. It isn’t funny, but it is funny because it reminds me of Brittany whining when she was young. Brittany and my sister lived with me from the age of two and up until she was twelve. During that time I think she caught every possible flu and cold germ. She also had a problem with her temperature rising too fast and going too high. It took a while and many visits to the doctor, but I eventually was able to help her without panic. Confidence when treating your child’s illness goes a long way in their attitude and belief in your ability to help them when they are hurting and scared.
When Brittany got sick I would turn the air condition down to 60°. She would be burning hot in a thin little nightie and I would wear sweats, a jacket and wrap in blankets. We watched the “Wee Sing” and “Sing-A-Long” videos over and over again for hours on end. The dark circles under her eyes looked even darker against her translucent pale skin and shocking orange-red, long curly hair. Day would turn to night and night to day in a hazy blur of medication, thermometers, Popsicles, videos, and personally freezing to death, but I would have stood on my head if it would have helped her to get well faster. Brittany was really a great patient and only got cranky when she was “almost” well, but not well enough to eat solid food and that’s when she whined just like Alyssa is doing now. I hear her calling me from her room now, “Mom, I’m hungry.” It is going to be another long night.
Homemade soup was also on the agenda in hopes that tomorrow she will be able to eat solids. Mom doesn’t like my chicken soup and prefers the red label Campbell’s Chicken Noodle. Yeah, we all think her tastebuds are crazy. Alyssa loves it though and I have a HUGE container just waiting for her to get better.
Right now Alyssa is living on crushed ice with 7-Up and occasionally she eats a Popsicle. Ibuprofin has helped with the temperature too. We all hate the body aches most of all. Alyssa has had ice packs on her head, neck and back and I’ve rubbed and rubbed her aching muscles. Actually I rubbed her until I fell asleep and while I slept I bet the flu germs crawled all over me!
Now that we have her temperature under control with the medication and the ice products, she is feeling “better” which means Alyssa wants soup. Having lived through this whole sick thing so many times with Brittany (my neice), I know that if I feed the flu she will be throwing up again tonight.
As the night progressed, the hungrier Alyssa felt and the more she whined for soup. It isn’t funny, but it is funny because it reminds me of Brittany whining when she was young. Brittany and my sister lived with me from the age of two and up until she was twelve. During that time I think she caught every possible flu and cold germ. She also had a problem with her temperature rising too fast and going too high. It took a while and many visits to the doctor, but I eventually was able to help her without panic. Confidence when treating your child’s illness goes a long way in their attitude and belief in your ability to help them when they are hurting and scared.
When Brittany got sick I would turn the air condition down to 60°. She would be burning hot in a thin little nightie and I would wear sweats, a jacket and wrap in blankets. We watched the “Wee Sing” and “Sing-A-Long” videos over and over again for hours on end. The dark circles under her eyes looked even darker against her translucent pale skin and shocking orange-red, long curly hair. Day would turn to night and night to day in a hazy blur of medication, thermometers, Popsicles, videos, and personally freezing to death, but I would have stood on my head if it would have helped her to get well faster. Brittany was really a great patient and only got cranky when she was “almost” well, but not well enough to eat solid food and that’s when she whined just like Alyssa is doing now. I hear her calling me from her room now, “Mom, I’m hungry.” It is going to be another long night.
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