Wednesday, April 13, 2011

GERMAGEDDON 2011

We have experienced nothing less than Germageddon this month.

First, Layla got a nasty cold that lasted something like 3 weeks (I got it too). During the cold, about 3 weeks ago, she got a horrible diaper rash, like nothing we'd ever seen before (she doesn't usually get rashes) - it turned out to be a yeast infection and cleared up quickly once we used the right treatment. Before that was over, she popped out another molar (#2) and started working on #3 and #4. Then she rolled right into the nasty horrible stomach bug (see below), which we all got. There was lots of puking, and way too much pooping, and the Studly Hubby missed the entire week of work (I fared better, but just barely). There was one day, a Saturday, when everybody felt ok and we went to the park.


Then, before the end of the day, the next thing - pinkeye (see below) - hit us like a ton of bricks and we were up all night with a screaming baby again. We went to the doctor Monday, she got booted out of daycare for another week, but by Tuesday she seemed to be doing better. Then out of nowhere, on Wednesday and Thursday she screamed all night again (Wednesday night, and all day Thursday, she only slept about 6 hours total). We were about to head back to the doctor, or import a relative to help out, or pay a stranger just to give us both two hours to sleep (seriously, I was on the phone trying to find someone), when suddenly she slept all night on Thursday night.

We were flabbergasted. Especially when she slept all night Friday, and Saturday, and Sunday too (and even Monday and Tuesday!). This is the longest run she has had since sometime in October.

Then I got hit. But not with pinkeye - our sneaky little girl went and caught another cold WHILE SHE HAD PINKEYE (probably at the doctor's, since we hadn't been out much other than that) - and as I went through two nights of the aches and the chills and a horrible sore throat and an extremely short lived but very high fever (on my birthday!) I realized our little girl was actually enduring it all quite well.

Thankfully when the week ended Layla hadn't had a chance to catch anything new and we were finally germ-free for the first time in probably five months... hence the amazing run of all-night sleeping.

So now, time for a recount (the old numbers are here):

Layla -
Total: 22, 1 rash, 1 pinkeye, 1 stomach bug, 19 colds
Fevers: 3
Days home from daycare: 12

Me:
Total: 17, 1 sinus infection, 1 stomach bug, 15 colds
Fevers: 4
Days home from work: 11.5 (including 7 half-days)

Derek:
Total: 10, 1 stomach bug, 9 colds
Fevers: 0
Days home work: 9.5 (including 7 half-days)

The whole year has been hard, but the last week surpassed my Worst Parental Experience So Far (sleep training, last July) by about two-fold. But, alas, most parents I have talked to (in Seattle) have had similar experiences - one other father said his kid was sick 24 times the first year, and he was sick 22 (amazingly, his wife was sick only a mere 7 times - likely a testament to how genetics might influence your chances of getting sick - although he's biased, since that's what he studies for his career).

Ugh, what a nightmare. Hopefully spring will bring a new beginning and lots of health to our household! We really need it.

3 comments:

Uncle KT said...

I'm glad that you survived!! As for your coworker (last bit of the post) and his wife...studies also show women are better about washing their hands frequently than are men. I'm all about genetics, but only after all other confounding factors have been controlled. LOL.

Mandy said...

Yikes! That sounds awful. I hope you guys have a nice long stretch of health before the next one hits!

J-Funk said...

Uncle KT - I am convinced that Derek is winning in health because of his strict handwashing code (I'm not so great at it). Also I haven't ask but if this guy's wife is a doctor or in some other profession that results in tons of previous exposure that could contribute as well.

Time to take a break

 What do you do to relax? These past two years I feel like I have forgotten how to relax. It reminds me a little of grad school and how afte...