Sick baby + sick mommy = no fun for anyone

I thought that having a sick little one couldn’t be less fun, but then I found out how NOT fun it was to have a sick little one paired with being sick myself.

I had Turner out Friday night and early Saturday morning, and while he was bundled up in several layers and then had blankets on blankets, the drastic change in temperatures proved too much for him and he has since gotten a little cold. Nothing major, his mood is still upbeat and he still plays. He is just extremely congested and snotty.

 The worst problem I have encountered is his sleeping ability, or lack thereof (I know hard to believe my sleepless child could have more problems with sleeping) but it is true. Poor baby sounds like a pig try to breath. I give him Little Remedies Saline spritzes, just saline wipes to clean his nose and use the little sucker thing they give you in the hospital to try to clean out his nasal passages, but it is just hopeless. While its manageable during the day when he is up and active, at night, when he tried to lay down it builds up preventing Turner from being able to sleep.

 Poor baby just grunts all night long and wakes up screaming with fear because of what I am sure amounts to being exhausted, hungry because he hasn’t fully mastered eating while breathing with a stuffy nose, and just not feel well in general.

So for the last couple of nights I have sat up with him in the recliner while holding him on my chest. The upright position, I assume, allows his sinus to drain better and lets him sleep a little more. But my desire to do anything everything to make him feel better and be comfortable, had lead me to catch a cold. 

Last night I woke up with what I would have sworn was shards of glass piercing the back of my throat. I searched around the house last night for any sort of medical relief, but unfortunately found that while Andrew and I, former sleep addicts, had three different types/flavors of liquid sleeping aids, none of which would allow me to be medicated and still conscious enough to tend to Turner the rest of the night. In the bottom of our medicine drawer, I found some cough drops that I was too afraid to look at the expiration date for, and although the once hardened candy was a gel-soft consistency, after unsticking it from the wrapper I put it in the roof of my mouth. Despite the unpleasant feel of the what should have been been a solid substance and the thought that like many other things I have found since moving in with Andrew, were here when he bought the house three years ago, I was able to receive temporary relief and get back for a short nap before Turner woke up again.

Shortly after Turner woke again, just by the way, while rocking him, he threw up and drenched my hair. Three a.m. vomit on my clothes as become the norm, with some occasions where I have worn a shirt or sweater sporting his spit-up, but while I was too tired to do anything about it in the middle of the night, baby throw up is not a substitute for conditioner and where I draw the line.

 One frustration I have had with Turner is the lack of medicine for infants. I don’t understand why it doesn’t exist. There are so many inventions and medical advancements, why is it so difficult for someone to create baby safe medicines? I have Little Remedies tylenol, but beyond that, which is just a fever reducer, I got nothing. Everything either says consult a doctor or just do not use if under two. WHY? It is maddening! Babies get sick, why is it so hard to find things to make them better? I do not have time to run to the doctor every time Turner gets a sniffle. Some one needs to make baby safe medicines.

My local walmart has next to nothing in the sense of infant healthcare. What they do have, they are usually out of and none of it is very helpful. But this morning, while stopping at the Dollar General I pass on my way to work, I stopped to get some Mucinex for myself, and luckily I found some baby vicks vapor rub to soothe congestion for babies. I will take it! I do not know if it will work, but it is something, so I will try it for sure!