Of course, my kids are all sick, again.
I kind of expect that at this time of the year so it’s not the frequency of illness that I want to whinge about, it’s the kind of illness. Can I just say how much I hate ‘breathing sickness’…. give me a good ‘spewing sickness’ over ‘breathing sickness’ any day.
With spewing sickness it is pretty obvious what they have, what you need to do and it is easy to tell whether they are getting better or worse and when you might need medical assistance…. it is all kind of on the outside (in little puddles) and I find that so much easier to deal with.
We don’t get spewing sickness very often, but we get breathing sickness all the damn time. The Twinadoes get a bit of a runny nose and a cold at the drop of the hat and it can so quickly escalate into something much more. I am so over lying next to them at night listening to them breathe, trying to decide if that is just a little wheeze or a big wheeze. Trying to look at their chests to see how hard they are working to get breath in. Trying to figure out if what we are already doing is working or not working. Trying to figure out if we need help now, or if we can wait a bit longer… at least until it is light outside.
Breathing sickness is so ambiguous. It’s all internal, I can’t see it happening. All the external signs are so subjective. How am I supposed to know if they are getting enough oxygen or not?
We’ve done our fair share of midnight dashes to hospital – and let me say it is not a short trip from our house to any kind of after hours medical help. We’ve had our fair share of the patient being not so bad by the time we get there and really we’d have been better off not dragging all three kids out in the middle of the night. But we’ve also had one or two ‘OMG you should have called an ambulance!!’ which tends to freak me out just a little and shake my confidence when it comes to deciding how sick is really sick.
Why aren’t children made with a little gauge on the side of their necks that reads ‘I’m fine – I am miserable but ok – I need to see a Dr – OMG call an ambulance now!’. That would make my life so much easier (not to mention the lives of a few other people I know who have it so much worse than us! Thinking of you Tiff).. that or if they’d kindly stick to getting the right kind of sick.
Sorry your little people are the wrong sick :(
I get what you’re saying, although I haven’t really experienced it. The only thing I can liken it to is my girls being allergic to peanuts.. Watching them struggle to breathe is one of the most frightening things I remember. I can’t imagine having to decide how sick is too sick, though.
You may be onto something with the neck gauge – Maybe you could get it patented and then sell the idea for millions! At least then you would have turned it into a ‘wealthy sick’.
Hope you are all breathing easier very soon :)
I am always very grateful that I don’t have these issues with y kids sickness. Growing up my younger sister did and spent decent time in and out of hospital when she got colds etc because her breathing was so bad. It is very stressful.
it can be a tricky call sometimes. hugs
Ah crap! hugs and breathimg vibes-let me know if I can help….
We haven’t had but one or two breathing funny sicknesses and they were the scariest by far, even though she didn’t need help at all, it’s just you know, oxygen is a moment to moment need eh? :) Not something you can muck around with!! So I agree, give me a temperature or puddles of puke to deal with anytime!!
((hugs)). All sick is bad, but I agree breathing sick is scary and frustrating. I hope everyone is better very very soon…
hugs, Kate.
I hope they don’t get to that omg call an ambulance state.
I like your idea of a sick o meter though. You could buy a fleet of ambulances with the money you made!
Seriously though. I hope the twincherubs come good for you and your stress levels can go down again soon.
Or, if you need to seek out the hospital that you are treated with the kindness and grace you deserve. It’s always scary making the call but if there is an understanding person there, it makes everything so much more bearable.
Love your idea – also the “this will turn into an ear infection” indicator so that when you see the doctor they can give you the whole “we don’t do antibiotics for viruses” spiel and still give you the a/b for the infection that WILL follow.
oh wow, i want one of those neck guagues!
Bear gets fevers with his teething, and sometimes he’s so hot…and sometimes he wakes in the night and just bawls for an hour no matter what i do…but is it just teeth, do i give him something? do i let him sweat it out? do i take him in?
this mommy thing is hard!
Oh you sound miserable! And yes it would be nice if they had a dial…. oh you do make me giggle with these posts and then I feel guilty because I know I shouldn’t laugh! It’s all your fault! You’re just so damn funny!
hope things improve soon…. :-)