the sick kid...times two!

Saturday night the kids went down for the night at their usual time.  In typical fashion, I then went to the family room to watch some tv.  Steve got home from a day trip shortly thereafter.  Again, in typical fashion, he went upstairs to put his stuff away and change, and then came back downstairs to join me.

"Steve, I am not feeling really well.  I am nauseous."  The feeling suddenly came over me.

When a woman in her childbearing years mentions nausea, you almost immediately think pregnancy.  When one isn't trying to get pregnant, this news may not be very welcome. Steve looked at me cross.

The evening continued and the nausea didn't go away.  I positioned myself in the corner of our sectional sofa - the place that will put you to sleep in a second, guaranteed! 

see, guaranteed sleep!


At some point Steve woke me and told me to go to bed. 

The next morning I woke up feeling okay, and then it hit me again.  Again, with the whole pilot tik-tock timing thing: Steve was leaving for a 4-day trip around 1p or so, and I kept looking at the clock thinking "gosh, I hope this nausea goes away...I have to care for the kids."  Steve woke me up from my second nap since he had to jump in the shower.  Thankfully that second nap did me good, and I felt much better.

Steve left for his trip...and then IT started on Ben.  If I had a mild stomach bug, he got a medium stomach bug.  I cared for Ben on Sunday, and again on Monday since I had the day off from work.  Ben was getting sick here and there, but it really wasn't too bad on the scale of how bad stomach bugs really can be.  Yes, he had his moments of crying from stomach pains and being so weak that it broke my heart. 



But, he is also a resilient kid.  So, when he was feeling okay you wouldn't be able to tell he was sick.


On Tuesday morning I took the kids to school and I went to work.  After an insanely busy day at work, I picked the kids up from school and Ben was feeling badly again.  Poor fellow.  Finally around 7p that night, Ben got sick again.  What to do, what to do...I have to work on Wednesday and I can't take Ben to school.  Sure Steve could emergency drop the trip, but is this really that urgent?  Decisions, decisions...oh, and the whole time Steve is in the air and unreachable so I have to make this decision on my own. After some planning and phone calls, I had arranged for my retired father to drive up 3 hours to care for Ben. 

*****
These are the moments where it sucks to be a sometimes single-parent pilot wife.  My work is very flexible and I have a fantastic boss, so usually when the kids are sick I am able to stay home.  However, I am a responsible adult and I take pride in my work and my commitment to my office.  This means, I can't always just jump ship and stay home. 

I have said it before, and I will say it again, being a pilot wife means that you have to know what you limits are and when you need help you have to ask for it. Don't be ashamed or feel less because you need help.  You gotta do what you gotta do!  And if that means asking a grandparents to drive 6 hours total to watch a sick kid, then so be it. 
*****

Ok, so here we are now to Wednesday night when Steve was coming home from his 4-day. He was due in around 8:30p and the kids wanted to stay up.  When he came home the kids amped up their hyper level and were happy to see him.  The kids finally went to bed around 9p or so.  All was well...everyone seemed find...peace and quiet...

...until about 2am. 

CC is not one to wake up in the middle of the night.  So, when she started to cry Steve went into her bedroom to find - you guessed it - vomit all over her and the sheets.  SUPER!  To make things even better, Ben got sick again too! 

At 0'dark hundred, Steve and I were busy with two sick kids.  Welcome home Daddy!  I was the one comforting and snuggling and cuddling, while Steve was the one to strip sheets and get ginger ale and run the wash and clean up the puke on the carpet.  Again, welcome home Daddy!

I was just thankful that I didn't have to manage two vomiting kids on my own.  Again, this timing thing sure did work in my favor.  A mother sure does have a way to handle anything that may come her way, but having a husband/father home to help sure does make things a hell of a lot easier!

I thought I asked for a healthy 2012.

Comments