Mom Down

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I have had a cold so bad that I haven't been able to smell or taste anything for a full week. When I eat all I can distinguish is if the food is salty, sweet, sour or bitter, but that's it. I haven't been able to enjoy wafts of something yummy cooking on the stove or delicious bites of my favourite foods, it is a really bizarre sensation.

This head cold really knocked the wind out of me which is something that doesn't happen very often. It came crashing in, left me in bed for an entire weekend and housebound for all of last week. I haven't been able to sleep and my sinuses have been so congested that I am starting to wonder if I will ever fully recover.

My mom has had the same cold but somehow, thankfully, no one else has come down with it. My mind immediately goes to that NyQuil commercial where a man is in bed, tissues everywhere and he calls desperately to his wife, "Pam, can you call my mom?" Please, heavens above, do not let Chris or my Dad come down with this

I'm so over being sick, fingers crossed that I will wake up one morning soon and the cold will be gone.

Stomach Bug

Tonight is the first time since Saturday afternoon that I have really been able to eat anything of substance. Up until now I've been alternating between water, ginger ale and applesauce as I willed my stomach to stop churning at the thought of anything more than liquids. 

I had an intense stomach bug this weekend which is no good at any time, but particularly horrid when you're pregnant. (Though I'm beginning to think everything is just that much worse when you're pregnant). Any energy I had saved up in my body went right to the baby, which made me feel a lot less worse for not being able to eat anything, and then just a lot worse. Chris was amazing and gave me lots of time to sleep and tonight I am finally feeling a more like myself. The nausea has been replaced by super gross heartburn but you know what, I'll take it.

The one thing I noticed about being sick this weekend is how attentive Granby was; he never left my side. Every time I woke up in the middle of the night he was right there, otherwise he stayed in his bed until I came out of mine. When I woke at 4am this morning for ginger ale he followed me out of the bedroom and watched tv with me until I finished. He hasn't been more than six feet away from me for three days, and as I write this he's sitting at my feet. For all of his annoying neediness, Granby was here for me whether I thought I needed it or not. This dog is something else.

Good Mom, Bad Mom

Sometimes I feel like a pretty excellent mom. Eloise is happy, well behaved, our fridge is full of homemade goodies, she eats well, sleeps well and we spend the days reading, colouring and playing outside. Other times I guiltily put on the tv to distract her while I work, make her Annie's for dinner since it's the only thing I can ever guarantee she'll eat and sleep in her bed all night long.

Last week was quite possibly one of the most harried I have had in a very long time. Mornings were spent rallying between Eloise and my makeshift office (aka my computer on the desk in our living room), rushing off to pick up Molly, then heading straight to events in the evenings. Eloise's crankiness and demands from being sick and my exhaustion were not compatible.

Last week was definitely not one of my shining moments as a mom week but I feel like I am slowly redeeming myself. We had a tv free day at home yesterday, I made the most perfect Julia Child-esque omelette for lunch, and even restocked the fridge. Today went to gymnastics and music, came home for a two and a half hour sleep, had lunch at the table and I made a pot of chicken and rice stew for dinner. Eloise said, "Mama cut a leek," unprompted while watching me prepare dinner from her favourite vantage spot on the counter. Not bad for a child who's just come off a few-day stint of Mary Poppins and Eloise at the Plaza on repeat.

But want to take a guess what she ate for dinner? It wasn't the stew I prepared with organic veggies and chicken. It was yogurt. At least it was Greek.

It Just Gets Worse

Have you ever been vomited on, right in the face? I hadn't until tonight.

We've reached a new code red with bedtime. If we try anything new and Eloise doesn't get her way - which means me lying down with until she is dead asleep - she flips out and barfs. Tonight Chris and I tried something new. After bath she and I got into bed with her milk to read a story and then Chris took over, sitting next to her bed. The plan was for him to sit with her rather than lying down but after only ten minutes she was screaming for me. I took over, taking my turn sitting and left when she rolled over and said, "Night night mama. See ya." This was new (and odd) but I figured it was worth a shot. I left her semi awake and she seemed totally happy, then moments later I was grabbing her screaming and gagging out of bed and rushing to the bathroom. We made it to the sink in time but the vomit just kept coming and unfortunately, my face and I were in the line of fire.

I was mad, I am mad. Mad that Eloise owns us at bedtime and mad that we can't seem to do anything about it. I'm now back in her bed, turned away and ignoring her, and she is finally asleep clutching Piggy & Pengin. Recent sickness aside I think I've managed one night in my own bed in the past 10 because every night she wakes up crying for me. Never mind that she can get in and out of bed all on her own, it has become a production that I just can't muster the energy to deal with at one o'clock in the morning night after night.

Right now I really need some help and some sleep. And a shower.

My Bed at Last

Last night was the first in a week that I slept in my bed the whole night through. I got home from an event around 9:30 and after a brief scream-a-thon and some vomiting (Eloise sure knows how to welcome me home), she slept soundly until 6:30am. At which time she padded into our room exclaiming, "I did it!" Yes, you did it sweetie, you finally figured out how to get out of bed on your own. And open your fully closed bedroom door. Crap.

Since coming down with this bug Eloise has been waking up calling for me more than usual and crawling into bed with her seemed to be the easiest solution. But in the course of this week I have learned a few things about sleeping with my toddler, sick or not:

1. A toddler rail is constrictive and quite uncomfortable to be pushed up against.
2. For someone so small - seriously, Eloise weighs around 23 pounds - she sure takes up a lot of room.
3. There is such a thing as too many pillows. Placed to keep Eloise in they sure do a great job of pushing me out.
4. Her bed is just too hard.

On Friday I will finally be purchasing Eloise proper linens and a nice, soft mattress cover since I'm certain this week's events are only the beginning of nights spent sleeping in her bed. Keeping her from crawling out and coming into our room though, I'm not so sure there's a solution to that.

Breathe Easy

{aleva naturals}

I went to the drugstore to pick up some Vicks BabyRub to calm Eloise's nighttime coughing since it was the only product I thought of when it came to drug-free cough relief. But when I picked up the package I was shocked to see that the first ingredient was petrolatum. I had read about petrolatum but couldn't remember the exact dangers so I looked it up when I came home and it turns out this petrochemical is listed as one of The David Suzuki Foundation's 'dirty dozen' and its use in cosmetics is restricted in the European Union for being carcinogenic. 

Obviously a chemical carcinogenic is not something I would be using on my young child, but I did discover a similar, natural option in aleva Naturals' Breathe Easy Chest Rub. This eucalyptus and lavender-oil scented lotion is petrolatum-, paraben- and perfume-free, so I thought it was worth a shot. And it works! I've been rubbing the Breathe Easy on Eloise's chest and neck before bed and she definitely seems to sleep more soundly. I also picked up aleva Naturals' Bamboo Breathe Easy Wipes as an alternative to a cold washcloth or dry tissue. These wipes seem more appealing to me and I'm sure Eloise would agree that they are a much less abrasive way to clean her very stuffy nose.

So Sick, So Sleepy

As I write this it is creeping closer to two AM and we are watching Eloise at the Plaza for the fourth time in four days. Eloise had been hit really hard with the flu and as a result I'm on night four without sleep.

The poor thing just coughs and coughs and cries and cries when we're in bed so what's the point of us both pretending to sleep? My Eloise takes great pleasure in watching the fictitious Eloise get into all sorts of trouble at the Plaza really gets a kick out of hearing her name said over and over by someone other than me. She also exclaims, "A Prince!" several times a day just like Eloise in the movie. It's quite endearing.

Eloise caught this terrible bug (which we've now all had) and is cranky, whiny, coughing, sneezing and previously, feverish. Her fever started on Thursday and though her energy yesterday told me she was on the mend, today she threw up her lunch and then dinner. All over the cafe at Whole Foods. Sorry fellow diners!

Apart from a full blast humidifier, constant cuddles and Advil, there is not much I can do for my poor girl. So we watch Eloise and I bide the time hoping that she will get tired and we can get a few hours of rest. We both really need it.