Picture taken on Saturday by one of my dear friends who watched Michael while Clark and I had an outing.

Saturday our noses started running. Sunday we were sneezing. By yesterday it was a full-out cold: runny nose, a few scattered sneezes, coughing... everything except fevers.

I think the common-cold is tied with the stomach-flu in my book. There's isn't anything you can really do except wait it out, and it doesn't make for easy days. Never mind that my house has clean piles of laundry everywhere (which will have to be rewashed) or that the sink is almost close to full of dirty dishes, I have no energy. Michael and I are content cozied up watching movies, having picnics in the living room which consist of goldfish and homemade chicken stew, and trying to get rid of this nasty bug.

Does anyone else suddenly realize everything that has to be done when they're sick? I'm that way. As soon as I feel like I have no energy to do anything, I discover that I haven't done anything when I did and get overwhelmed feeling like I need to do everything. The list above is just a taste of the disastrous state our house is in. If I could, I'd hire a maid right now. I'm certain she'd do a better job than me, and I wouldn't have to worry about doing it myself when I'm weighed down with this annoying cold. Still, the dog hair had to be vacuumed and things needed to be dusted. After all, that could be contributing to our sickness... right?

Last time Clark left we got sick, too. I'm thinking this is a sign that he needs to be home more, what do you think?

If nothing else, this gave me an excuse to make my mom's chicken stew recipe, which is definitely my comfort food and, in my opinion, the personal-cure-all-sickness-recipe. Have to admit, I still miss my mommy the most when I'm sick.

Around Michael's first birthday, he started getting fussy. He wouldn't nap, he wouldn't eat as much, he was just rather... well... fussy.

If you know Michael, that's pretty atypical. He is so laid back and happy 90% of the time. Not to mention, he loves just about anything you put in front of him to eat. We related it to stress, though. We were preparing for family to visit, and then family arrived and it was busy. Everything was all over the place for a little while.

Then he started tugging on his ears. This, however, is not just a sign of an infection or something like that. He had been doing this for a while, after all, because he was teething. Sometimes babies can confuse the pain in their mouths and think it's coming from their ears, so we didn't really pay any mind to it. He had teeth coming in on the bottom, so we related it all to teething.

Then, about two weeks ago now, we had two days that contained absolute fits. I mean, he came home from preschool and he cried, and cried, and cried. The Thursday after his birthday he cried for about twenty minutes straight and nothing would comfort him. I was an absolute wreck. He finally calmed down enough to nurse and go to sleep.

The next day, Friday, was different. He was screaming. He wouldn't nurse, he would go outside and be comforted, nothing. Truly nothing would help. I called the doctor, and the nurse who answered the phone told me the next appointment wasn't until 4pm (this was around one). But then she heard him crying, and told me to bring him in as soon as I could.

As soon as we got to the doctor's office, he stopped crying. He walked around, played, acted like nothing was wrong. Then, when we took him in, he started crying again. When the doctor went for his ear, he started screaming.

When we first arrived at the office I was panicked. I didn't want to be one of those moms.

You know, the ones that everyone dreads becoming. A mom who brings her child into the doctor's office for every little thing. So much that when there is something wrong, the doctor is liable to miss it because that baby has been in so many times. Kind of like the boy who cried wolf, but the mom who cried sickness.

Well, lo and behold there was something wrong. To my horror, he had an ear infection. I kept wondering if he had it for a while and I kept missing it, and then it got to the awful point that he couldn't stand the pain anymore. Of course, there's no way to tell now.

The doctor said that after having a cold, babies are more prone to ear infections (see The First Cold to know that story). He was giving us the signs, we just kept relating them to teething. Michael didn't have a fever, so I kept thinking that there weren't any infections or anything.

I had brought him in a few months earlier thinking he had an infection because he kept pulling on his ears, and all it was was him discovering his ears (and some gum pain, most likely).

This was one of the times where I learned better to be safe than sorry. I have to admit I got a little annoyed at the doctor because he kept checking certain things (like when he saw Michael's nose was running check his lungs and was like, "Well, there's no sign of pneumonia, thank goodness," and using this "tone" that meant he was talking down to me. Perhaps it annoyed me more because he isn't an actual doctor, he's a Physician's Assistant. It also annoyed me because he was the one (when I brought Michael in before thinking he had an ear infection) that was talking down to me then. Oh, and the one who also tells me we need to get Michael in a separate room because we could be stunting his development by co-sleeping.

I should not that we only ever see this guy when we have to get last minute appointments for Michael.

The ear drops were a pain to administer, but Michael loves the antibiotic that was prescribed, so at least that part has been easy. After that first weekend, things definitely started to improve. Michael has been nursing and sleeping more, fighting off the horrible infection. I do seem to love this, though. It means more cuddle time for mama and baby.

This past Friday Michael had his one year check up with his actual pediatrician (who I love). He weighs (or weighed) 22 pounds, six ounces (60th percentile) and is 30.75 inches long (75th percentile). She said his ear is on the mend, thanks to the ear drops and "bubble gum medicine", as I called it as a child.

Lesson of the story:
- Don't worry about being a mama that cries sickness.
- Better to be safe than sorry.
- Pay attention to all the signs your baby is giving you.

(Just to leave you with an adorable picture of him, here he is passed out after one of our recent hikes!)

This last week our family has been suffering from colds.

Michael got it first. We're assuming he was overwhelmed from all the different germs from his first week at preschool/daycare. Although last Friday he seemed to have a nose running like a faucet, Clark insisted we send him off to school so he could finish his first whole week.

I personally just wanted my baby home so I could cuddle with him. Five days without Michael in the mornings threw me off completely. You would think I was beyond productive and accomplished this, that, and the other on my list....

Nope. While I was able to shower and get ready uninterrupted, I seemed to be sulking around wishing I had a baby needing my constant attention.

Anyway...

I picked Michael up Friday only to hear he had a somewhat rotten day. Obviously. He was getting sick. I knew this would happen.

While Michael had a tiny cold at Christmas time, and developed allergies at the beginning of spring, he has never truly been sick, sick. I mean, teething made it seem as though he was sick... but he clearly was not.

He could not be consoled Friday. All he wanted was to cuddle. The only time I got him to perk up a bit? Playing outside.

(If you can see it, that's not drool falling to the ground. If you can't... that may be a good thing.)

(See the runny nose?)


Friday night we ran our humidifier, which we don't really do on a regular basis. Our house always feels a little humid as is, but we made a point to run it for Michael.

Saturday was when Michael was the worst and Clark and I started to feel it. We invested in some Baby Saline Spray and Boogie Wipes.
I had never heard of these, but Clark went to the store and returned with them. They smell like grape, in an attempt to get Michael to enjoy getting his nose wiped (he still doesn't), but they help sooth his nose as well as help it run. They have saline in them as well. So, although his nose was still running like a faucet-- those "boogies" weren't running down the back of his throat, which is an excellent thing.

We invested in these and some saline spray because Michael hates having his nose suctioned. Should I repeat that?

Michael hates having his nose suctioned.

I think this is pretty common with babies. And sometimes this "torture" is completely necessary, which I felt like it would be with his cold. BUT, because he was sick and not feeling well at all, when we added on the "torture" of sucking his nose, he would start screaming and become inconsolable. It was breaking my heart, so I opted that we just shouldn't do it anymore. I couldn't handle it, and Michael clearly really couldn't, either.

We also had Baby Vick's. We put a little of this on his chest as well as on his nose. It helps it when it's dry, and Michael really likes the smell of it. It also helps clear up his nose!

Although we drove around Saturday morning in an attempt to get Michael to sleep, it proved useless. When we got home I got out the sling, something I hadn't used in months, and he went right to sleep. Apparently, when you're sick, the best place is as close to mama as possible-- and I didn't mind that one bit.

Sunday proved to be the same as Saturday, only Clark and I were sick as well. We all moped around the house and took full advantage of Michael's naps. While we thought he was on the mend, Monday morning came and all he wanted to do was sleep, sleep, sleep. So, sleep he did. His first missed day of school was a Monday. Classic.

Ultimately, when baby gets a cold, the most important thing to do is love on him/her. I kept trying to find the cure for the common cold this past week, but really the only cure was TLC. I feel blessed that this was nothing more (like the stomach flu or something of that nature), and that I got to spend the last week just cuddling and loving on Michael. Of course, that's what we do everyday anyway, but it warmed my heart that all he wanted to do was sit on my lap sometimes and lean against me.

What happens when he's older????

I don't even want to think about that right now.

So, here's what I hope you learned for a baby-cold:

1. Boogie Wipes are awesome.
2. Baby Vick's can be soothing (I believe only 6 months +, though).
3. Saline can work better than a nasal-sucker-thing.
4. Invest in a humidifier if you don't have one already.
5. TLC is the cure.




(The pictures, besides from outdoor play, are from Instagram. Follow me at: newfangledhousewife!)