I’m a little exhausted. We are now on day three of watching Owen fight a little cold with all his feverish might. Will picked up the cold and has been barely bothered by it, and passed it on to me and Owen, whose actual cold symptoms are mild but whose body yesterday turned up to about 103.5 degrees come mid-afternoon after the last round of Tylenol had worn off.
One of the disadvantages for the poor second kid is that he gets to inherit all the illnesses from big brother’s preschool that Will never got exposed to. We stayed almost completely healthy with Will for the first year of his life.
Owen’s trying to be a trooper, but he’s really only content when he’s sleeping or being held. And all weekend – whether it was daytime or night – he could only seem to catch 20-minute stretches of sleep before waking up with some form of discomfort (he also cut his top two teeth yesterday when his fever was at its peak). And I can't help but worry a bit, even over a little cold, when a baby gets feverish. At one point Saturday night I was so miserably tired that I started crying onto Owen as I sat up nursing him in bed (he wasn’t willing to lie down). I try not to complain too much when I’m sick, but when my kids get sick I become such a weepy whiner. (My dad asked me about Owen over the phone yesterday and I told him about our sleepless night. “It was AWFUL,” I said. So melodramatic.)
Rob, who spent a good bit of time rocking Owen back to sleep in the rocking chair, said it reminded him of those first few months with Will when we were pulling our hair out trying to figure out how to get him to sleep, rocking him, dancing him, patting him, lying with him.
So in the end, this little bout of illness is a reminder to me that I’m incredibly lucky that healthy Owen is such a laid-back, easy guy. If I’d had another stretch of sleepless months with infant Owen while trying to keep up with Will too, I’d probably be in therapy right now.
Last night Owen got some much more solid sleep and he’s cooled off a bit today so I’m wishing him back to health as he takes a nap that’s already stretched over half an hour.
Sweet restorative sleep.
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3 comments:
It may sound melodramatic, but I'm with you on sleepless nights, whether due to a sickness, teething, or who knows what. Both my girls have been restless sleepers their first year of life, so we are familiar with short nights. Not getting enough sleep makes you feel so desperate, doesn't it? Especially in the middle of the night when the baby won't settle. I'm glad Owen is better and hope he continues to improve. In a strange way, it's always comforting to be reminded that so many moms are going through similar tests of endurance!
--Kelley
We're all with ya, Annie. It can be so hard, especially when they are sick. Thanks for admiting to the fears and the hardships, as well as the joys. Oh how important sleep is for our and the children's mental well-being! Wishing you and Owen more of it. . . and health, too.
Thanks for commiserating. It's Wednesday now and Owen is well on the road to recovery and took a two-and-a-half hour heavenly nap this morning. So I'm done whining. For now...
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