“Call your Aunt C.; the doctor said to take him to the E.R.,” I told my husband as I held our son close.

This was following 3 sleepless nights.  The first 2 nights I thought were linked to thunderstorms that had passed through the area.  But that night?  It was like watching a caged animal fight to get out.  He would sleep for a short time and then wake, crying, quickly turning to screaming, as he tossed, turned and kicked.

The only thing I could get out of him was, “Head!  Head hurt!”

We were ready to go in record time, and when Aunt C. got here to stay with our oldest child, we headed off to the hospital.

I could write a post on how helpless I felt watching my little one suffer.  Or I could write about the questions and fears that go through your mind as you drive towards the E.R. with your little one in the back seat.

Those are topics so many of you could probably relate to.

But what really sticks in my mind is my son.

The child who freaked out when we had a different nurse one time at the doctor’s office and I hadn’t known to prep him in time.

The little boy who has run away crying when other kids sat down at the table he had been sitting alone at.

The one who doesn’t want to sit on the rug with the other kids at library story time, who refuses to sing or do the dancing/hand motions if other kids are there.

He sat on the hospital bed, cuddling what he calls his “snuggie,” and he didn’t cry.  He didn’t beg me to hold him.

He watched the nurses with his big blue eyes, and he answered their questions, quietly at first, but he answered.  Before I knew it, he was even making conversation with them!  They asked about his head, and he started talking about how you have to be careful eating ice cream because you can get “freeze brain”.   (That’s what he calls it.)

At hospitals, you have different people coming in to your room, checking temperatures, asking insurance information…

My child who hates change, he sat there and took it all in without complaint.

Not only that, but he answered the questions so well that the doctor commented on how verbal he is.

We left the hospital with a prescription for what turned out to be a pretty good ear infection.  (One reason we headed to the E.R. instead of waiting for the doctor’s office to open is because he kept saying his ear didn’t hurt, and he didn’t have any other typical ear infection symptoms.)

But, really, I left with much more than just a prescription in my hand.  I left with some hope for my little guy.  What ever keeps him from interacting with his peers, what ever struggles there have been when he’s met change, today I saw a brave little boy and a part of my son I didn’t know existed.

The post How a Trip to the E.R. Let Me See My Son in a New Light first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

When mom is sick, it seems everyone suffers.  (Yes, even the dog.)

Fever, chills, headache…

Tempers are short when you aren’t feeling well.  And no matter how much my kids love books, story time is miserable with a sore throat.  And craft time?  Let’s just say this momma doesn’t feel so creative then.

But, even with plenty of hand washing, at some point every mommy gets hit with a bad cold or the flu.  After all, ’tis the season!

Since there aren’t any sick days for moms, I sometimes have to rely on something other than just hot tea to help deal with the sore throat or headache that just won’t go away…

And, like any good mom, I’m already prepared.  There’s a box of Contac Cold & Flu ready and waiting in the medicine cabinet.

I’m happy to say that the makers of Contac Cold & Flu want to help you to be prepared, too.  You can find a $2 coupon on their site.  Better yet, one of my lucky readers can win a box (complete with both daytime and nighttime caplets to help you rest) to help you keep being the super-mommy you need to be for your kids, even when you’re sick.

Just enter the drawing below.  Giveaway ends Monday,  December 10, 2012.  Good luck!

 
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The post Because Moms Don’t Get Sick Days… first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

A few minutes later I see the bathroom light flick on, and I stumble out of bed to investigate.

“You didn’t poop your pants,” I hear the husband tell him quietly.  He fills me in that little guy keeps saying he pooped his bed.

I take another step to help calm him down, and then I smell it.

“I smell puke,” I say.

The husband goes back to the little guy’s bedroom and turns on the light.  “Oh…”  (Turns out little Monkey was trying to tell Daddy he puked in his bed, not pooped…”

The next few hours were a blur of trying to calm him down about his beloved stuffed Lightning McQueen that was in need of a good washing, singing to him, and trying to get him comfy on the reclining loveseat so that he might fall back asleep.  (He would not sleep in his bed without his stuffed buddy, and I just wanted him to get some rest.)

A short time before 5 a.m. he was finally asleep, with his head hanging off the edge of the couch and me too afraid I might wake him to move him.

5 a.m. big sister wakes up to use the bathroom.  I wait, hoping husband will hear her and help her back to bed.  No such luck.  I weigh the consequences:  leave her alone and hope she doesn’t start crying or yelling for someone, which will no doubt wake her brother, or try to slide off the loveseat without waking him so I can help her.  I go for the latter, and thankfully he stays asleep.

Of course the upside to this is that I can also pee, which I’d been needing to do for an hour or so.

I finally start to doze when the husband wakes to go to work.  I rouse myself to give him the low-down, spray out the puke bowl with some Lysol (that HAS to improve the smell of the room), and head back to the loveseat, an expert now at sliding in and out without waking my poor Monkey.

I shut my eyes for a blessed 30 minutes before the preschooler re-awakens, this time for the day.  I slip out to greet her, let her know she needs to be quiet, and fix her her favorite peach oats.

***

Somehow I have survived the day without being too cranky with the little ones.  I am crossing my fingers that Monkey’s tummy troubles stem from his drinking water from the water table last night, which he had been adding potting soil to, trying to create mud.  If not, then hopefully this stomach bug will leave our household quickly, without too much drama.

Here’s hoping your weekend is off to a better start!

P.S.  Here is real joy:

The post Going on One Hour of Sleep… first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

1. I am thankful our living room couch pulls out into a bed., pokey little springs and all; at least I’ve had somewhere to sleep in my attempt to not get as sick as my husband.
2. I am thankful for gigantic cans of Lysol.  I’ve done my share of green cleaning products, but when it comes to stomach viruses, I’m a Lysol girl!  I can’t even count how many times the bathrooms have been cleaned and all the toys sprayed this week.
3. I’m thankful that the stomach bug that has stopped here has been one that has the kids rushing to the bathroom, with the occasionally dirty undies and not the other kind.  Mommy doesn’t deal well with the other kind.
4. I’m thankful for that brief trip to the grocery store the other day – the only time I’ve been anywhere in almost 2 weeks right now…  I made it not only b/c we were low on Gatorade, bananas, and other good for sick tummy items, but I was desperately hoping the kids would nap on the way home.  And they did! (And I’m so glad there were no tummy issues while we were out and about.)
5. I’m thankful for the laughs my kids have given me this week.  Just a moment ago as we were reading Hop on Pop I asked my daughter if she could say “Timbuktu.”  Her answer?  “Timbukone!”  Love it!

Now for my  favorite part of Thankful Thursday… It’s your turn!  What are you thankful for this week?

The post Thankful in Sickness… first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Your honeymoon should be something you treasure and look back on fondly.  A time where you get to spend time alone with the one you love and celebrate your new life together.  Something you remember forever.

I will always remember our honeymoon, but not because of all those reasons.

Half way to our destination we stopped to eat a hearty breakfast at a restaurant that I shall keep nameless.  Our problems started an hour or so before we got to our hotel room.  We had chosen to go to the Smokey Mountains for our romantic getaway, and like we had done when visiting the area with our families, we stopped at a few of the shops in Pigeon Forge before continuing up the mountain.  That’s when I first realized my new husband wasn’t feeling so hot.

I offered him some anti-acid medicine I had packed, figuring everything would be fine in an hour or so.

If only that were the case.

We checked into our suite, admired the hot tub and sat our bags down.  The next few hours were spent with the man of my dreams in the bathroom and me running back and forth to the hotel office to ask for spare towels, extra soap, and tea bags to make hot tea (with the futile hope it would settle his stomach).

That night I slept on the floor in the suite’s other room, covered by a bath towel and listening for signs that my new husband was again visiting the porcelain god.  We had vowed to love and honor one another “For better or worse, in sickness and health…”, and those vows were being tested that first night of our honeymoon.  I said a silent prayer that he would feel better in the morning and prepared myself to drive us home should I need to come dawn.

And THAT is what I remember about our honeymoon.  Food poisoning, you are a wicked creature.

This post was written in response to the prompt

“Yuck.  Food Poisoning” on Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop.

The post In Sickness and in Health first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Last night he got so upset and drank it so fast that he got sick all over the just cleaned kitchen floor (see, that’s why parents shouldn’t clean).  Since I figure it’s either teething or a virus I didn’t take him to the doctor, but my husband called him.  Yep, he said what I knew he’s say, there isn’t much we can do… except then he said not to give Monkey any more milk for a couple days, just Pedialyte, flat ginger ale, water, or Gatorade and only in one ounce doses so he doesn’t drink it too fast and get sick again.

That did NOT go over well with little guy last night.  Thankfully, after I got him calmed down by telling him a story about Thomas the Train and the Little Engine that Could (Did you know they were friends?), he fell asleep, and he stayed asleep all night.

So here’s what I’m thankful for this Thursday:

1. Washing machines (I’ve done a lot of sheets, pajamas, and little boy pants lately due to the diaper leaks.)
2. The fact that both kids slept soundly last night so I could sleep, too.
3. Monkey seemed content with Pedialyte this morning and only asked for milk once; then he just wanted more Pedialyte after having some.  He even isn’t freaking out when he only gets an ounce at a time.
4. I’m thankful that my husband called in last night and said he wasn’t going to work (since we didn’t know how the night would go), and that he then got up this morning to run to the store to get more Pedialyte (since I only had a couple packets in the pantry and we didn’t have Gatorade, etc.
5. Oh!  Monkey actually ate a waffle cut into strips this morning, too.  I’m hoping that means he’s on the mend.

Now, hopefully the rest of us don’t get this… (Another reason I hope it’s teething…)

What are you thankful for today?

The post Virus or Teething? first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.