Since Kyle came into this world, a short year ago, we've dealt with:
- two months of colic
- possible reflux
- a half dozen ear infections (we find out TODAY if we get a golden ticket to the ear, nose and throat doctor; whoo!)
- a week-long stomach virus that made him lose nearly two pounds and made us do an extra 300 loads of laundry
- Bronchialitis that sent a nebulizer home with us on Christmas Eve
- pink eye
- swine flu (albeit a mild version, since he already had one round of the vaccine)
- enough congestion to get him recommended to an allergist, a full year before most kids get recommended
- more than two fevers that reached 105
- at least a dozen fevers that were between 101-104 degrees
- a mystery choking episode that resulted in a limited diet until he hit a year old
- two ER trips
- one weekend urgent care trip
You see where I'm going with all this, don't you? He's sick again.
Whoever's fashioning the medal for The Sickest Baby on the Block award, Kyle's favorite color is red, fyi. I can make jokes because, come on, it's comical! So many co-pays! So many doses of Motrin! So many nights when we pause the TV because is that noise he's making a 1) hacking cough 2) barfing over the side of the crib 3) fever-induced crying or 4) ALL OF THE ABOVE!
I mean, it's funny because it's so not funny. It's terrible. The kid deserves a break. The kid's parents deserve a break. I've heard a lot of people say, "the sicker the baby, the healthier the child" and if that's not the case, I'm finding all those people and kicking them. Perhaps watch your tongue when you make promises to overtired mothers, OK?
I have to think this is all an exercise in patience and zen mastering (or karma's funny way of telling me all those times I lied to my mother in high school did not go unnoticed). I mean, eventually you get better at handling a sick baby. If you do anything as many times as we've handled a sick baby, you get good at it. I no longer get sick to my own stomach when he's sick to his. And that's probably a parenting skill I needed to master, a parenting skill that comes easy to many of you in a way it never came easy to me. I have enough perspective now to know there's even a silver lining to a sick baby although I'm looking at it through bleary, exhausted eyes.
*****
In better, more worthy-of-celebrating news, I'm now contributing to CafeMom's blog The Stir. You can follow my posts here (and add my posts to your feed reader here). Please say hi over there. No one likes to hear crickets chirping!