When you write in your little one's baby book, there is a list of "firsts". First smile, first word, first coo, first food, first time to rollover, etc., etc. "First sickness" is not listed, but I feel it is an important milestone to write about. This week is Will's first time to be sick. He had a bout at Children's Hospital months back due to probable intussusception, and severe constipation...but this is our little man's first real sickness. He had a fever of 101.6, was coughing, and was also vomiting some (due to the coughing we think), was fussier than usual, and wasn't eating very much. We called the doctor's office on-call, as any new parents would; and they told us to watch him, to bring him in if the fever persisted for more than 24 hours, to alternate between motrin and tylenol, and to take him to the ER if the fever got to be over 105. He was up and down all night, but was better the next day-just a little fussier than usual. Then last night, he was up ALL night! As a first-time mom, I must say the hardest part of our "first sickness" is the not knowing. You have nothing to build on, so you have nothing to gauge anything by. Your little one can't communicate, so you have no idea how to help them. It is such a helpless feeling...and one that I know all first-time mommies have gone through. You have no experiences with sickness yet, so you have absolutely nothing to compare it to, to know how bad or good it is. Will's symptoms are common for so many different things, that the internet diagnosed him with everything in the world! Is it teething? Is it a cold? Is it RSV? Is it an ear infection? I had decided not to take him to the doctor, unless symptoms persisted or got worse, but then you suffer from that little voice of doubt in your head-"should we go ahead and go?" "is there something they could do to help him?" "am I doing all that I should be?" And taking him to the doctor had its on set of doubts-will he come home with the flu? Will they think I overreacted? I know this is something that all babies go through, and all parents go through, but that doesn't make it any less crappy!
I wanted to remember this "first" for Will, because I think it is in these moments that we grow the most as parents, and we learn to rely on the Lord more and more for guidance and for comfort. Last night, rocking Will and feeling completely helpless, I had a wonderful talk with the Lord. He reminded me that when I feel helpless, He is not.
It was also one of the moments as a wife, that I realized all the more how important it is that your marriage always be a partnership. Parenting definitely takes teamwork and I am so very grateful for my awesome teammate:) I was exhausted by 2:00 a.m. and that is when Cullen stepped up and took over. He went upstairs for "round 6" and rocked and consoled our little guy. By "round 8", Cullen went back upstairs with his pillow in tow and told me he was just going to crash on the guestroom bed. I heard continuous crying around 3:30, and went up and relieved Cullen. We both took his temperature, made bottles (that got rejected) and resorted to our lovely singing to soothe Will. Will is about the only one that our singing will soothe! I love that we get to do this together and that I woke up this morning feeling a bit of relief that this "first" is almost over (hopefully). I read all of the time on facebook about sick little ones and knew our day was coming, and now it is here. I am so very thankful for the mommies out there that can empathize and I am writing this in hopes that it will give validation to other new mommies out there when they have their "first sickness". I think my best advice is to focus on the positive...and the precious moments with your little one. I feel certain that having Will fall asleep on me multiple times this week, will be some of my most cherished memories.
No comments:
Post a Comment