When you make those marriage vows, you are in the moment and don't always think about what exactly they may entail. The past few months have been an exercise in the "in sickness" part. After a pregnancy of bedrest, stress, and extra doctor appointments, we welcomed Robin into the world. His first morning home, October 4th, Eileen woke up with a cough. Fast forward three months and the sickness has never left.
Eileen had that first cold for about a week, which she then gave to Linus. From there started three weeks of puking and diarrhea by Linus, followed by other random pukings, followed by another cold by Eileen, who gave it to Linus. Just as the kids got over colds, Eileen was felled by a fever and vomiting and Linus followed the next day. This lovely virus is what eventually landed Robin in the hospital for Christmas. During the fever/vomiting illness, Dave managed to contract strep throat. Just as Robin recovered, Eileen came down with a nasty cough, who then gave it to Linus which brings us to last week. Eileen is now over her cough and Linus is almost over his.
On Monday I took Robin to the doctor for another heart follow-up from his trip to the hospital (he was declared recovered). He had a mild cold that had first appeared Saturday. The doctor and I noted it and hoped it passed quickly. On Thursday Robin was a very sad baby (he is normally very very happy). He coughed all day long. By late afternoon, his coughing had gotten worse and he seemed to be struggling to breathe. I googled for some advice and learned that little babies should not get coughs. I called the doctor's office and very quickly the doctor hopped on the phone asking me how quickly I could get there. Of course Eileen was not even wearing pants, only a shirt and Batman cape, but I said 20 minutes. Linus rose to the occasion and got Eileen dressed (pants, socks, and shoes). I got myself and Robin ready and we flew out the door. We were taken to see the doctor right away and he then recommended taking Robin to Children's Hospital. He called ahead so they were ready for us.
Robin did not look good when we got to the hospital, but after having his nose suctioned twice, he improved. The resident doctor was going to admit us, but then the attending decided against it. I was relieved. We were sent home with instructions to regularly suction him using saline drops and a nose frida (these are AMAZING if you don't have one), monitor his breathing rate, and watch for fever and signs of struggling to breath. Robin got to go back to the doctor again Friday morning (it's a good thing they like us there). His breathing rate was down considerably from the previous evening. Robin is doing okay now--still coughing, still congested, still getting lots of suctioning--and it is just a matter of waiting it out. Oh, and Dave has a cold again. Ahhhhh.
I am very ready for my family to be healthy. I NEED my family to get healthy. You will notice I did not include myself among all the sickies. This is because I have avoided illness by sheer will and tremendous amounts of coffee. I spend a lot of time running on adrenaline at this point.
Health is my goal for 2014. I want my family to get our immune systems healthy enough that we stop contracting everything. I want to find time to do some self-care so I can be a better wife and mom. I have lost all my pregnancy weight, but still retain the evidence of giving birth to three babies. I would like to finally develop some core strength. After spending two thirds of my life overweight, I don't have the healthiest of relationships with food. I don't want to lose weight (I think I would look sickly at this point if I did), I just want to maintain. I need to learn how to do this. I need to figure out a workout plan that doesn't involve joining an expensive gym. Aside from improving my physical health, I want to work on growing as a person. I want to find a way to volunteer. That might not sound like a hard thing to do, but having three small children and nursing can be a surprisingly large impediment to doing anything. I am hoping that 2014 is the year that I become the best possible version of myself.
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