Last Sunday (Feb 24) I started to feel a little under the weather. It wasn't any better when I woke up Monday morning, but I thought I would shake it. So my husband left for work and I took my oldest to preschool. Little did I know that by the afternoon I would have a fever of 102 and would be on the couch wrapped in blankets trying to get rid of a horrible case of chills. Thankfully my mom was able to come and get my oldest, but my youngest ended up spending about four hours in her crib until her dad came home and rescued her. Yes, I did change her diaper and give her books to look at, but I was in no shape to chase her throughout the house. She survived (no worse for the wear) and I sprawled on the couch. I knew that I wouldn't be sleeping with my husband that night (to keep him from getting sick) so I tried to get comfortable on the couch. After a horrible nearly sleepless night moving from the couch to the futon to the floor and back again, I went to the bed at about 3am and told my poor sleeping husband that I was desperate for some sleep and laid down. I couldn't sleep there either and went back out to the couch until morning. Finally, the next morning I went into the bedroom and feel asleep on our queen size bed. I ended up staying there until Saturday, getting up only to make myself food (when I could eat) and to go to the bathroom. I also took a brief trip to the Dr on Wednesday where I was told (big surprise) that I had the flu. I must have looked awful because a lady in the hallway actually offered to get me a wheelchair. It was an awful week as I had every symptom that can accompany the flu at one point or another. On Saturday James had a meeting in the morning so I told him that I felt well enough to take care of the kids for a few hours. I got up and saw the state of my house for the first time - I don't mean to insult James; he did a wonderful job taking care of the house and the kids, but I could tell that a lot had piled up in my absence - and did WAY too much. I did three loads of laundry, changed the sheets and towels, cleaned up the living room, and who knows what else. By Saturday afternoon I was having trouble breathing and called the Dr. Well, if you've ever called the nurse on call and told them you are having trouble breathing, you know that they tell you to hang up and call 911. I didn't feel that it was that urgent so James took me into the ER. The checked my vitals and gave me some Tylenol and Motion (I could have done THAT at home). They really didn't do any other tests (except to make sure I wasn't dehydrated), but the Dr said that my symptoms didn't really fit the flu exactly any more. He believed that I had developed an infection secondary to the flu. This one was likely a bacterial infection so this time I got broad spectrum antibiotics. So back to bed I went...
I'm sure that it is horrible when any mom gets sick, but I think it is especially problematic for stay-at-home moms. If I had a job outside the home, I would already have childcare arranged for my children and would just continue to take them to daycare while I recuperated. As a SAHM I don't have that option. There is no one else to take care of my children. Therefore my poor husband was left trying to come up with childcare options at the last minute. Thank you so much Mom, Heidi, Carol, Marghie, and Rachel for taking one or both of my kids while I recovered. James only ended up having to take one full day of work off. PTL!
Now it is Tuesday and I am still sick. However I am well enough to take care of the kids. I had them by myself for the first time yesterday. It went pretty well. James had gone grocery shopping (for the first time in years) and gotten some convenience-type foods for me to feed the kids so I wouldn't have to cook too much. I took it easy and spent much of the afternoon in bed. Raquel actually took a nap so I am so thankful for that. Today is another day trying to get well and get some stuff done around the house without doing so much that I relapse. We'll see how it goes. As for now my voice is still weird and when I cough it still sounds like I am going to hack up a lung, but at least I can move. Thank God for small miracles.
