He’s One Sick Puppy

We’ve been really blessed with (mostly) healthy kids. They are pitiful when they are sick, but they also get well really quickly. Usually I just enjoy the extra excuse to cuddle and order out for pizza since I was too busy taking care of a sick baby to cook

I worry most about all the little (and big!) heartbreaks they will go through. We’ve already got Julia crying about the big girls not wanting to play with her and it just makes me so sad. Helping someone grow up is so hard.

Um, yeah. I think I’m going to die a full 10 years before my originally scheduled date because of the worry. There have been a few ER trips that have certainly taken a year or two off of my life.

And yes, it’s absolutely worth it.

coming from the perspective of having a child with something “wrong” with him (i think he’s perfect even with hearing loss), going through the diagnosis of my son’s hearing loss was heartbreaking. i’m not going to lie. it was the hardest thing I have ever done to hear the news, and just try to accept it and move forward with life without constantly worrying about him. (i still worry a lot, but i’ve channeled it into taking action: learning all i can about new things in hearing loss)

It’s not easy being a parent. every single day presents a unique challenge, from a child being sick to figuring out how you are going to manage having a mischevious 2 year old while YOU feel sick, to discovering how to remove magic marker and gum art from the walls (Mr. Clean Magic Eraser…get several! they rule!)

you will always have worry in the back of your head. the key is to take those worries and stick them in a mental place where you can get to them when you seriously believe something is wrong (for us, I KNEW in my heart something was wrong with his hearing, but no one wanted to believe me…I kept pushing, and sure enough, I was right), BUT!!! You also have to keep them locked away so you can let your child experience life’s ups and downs gradually with your love to guide them. Sometimes they have to learn hard lessons too (like the hearing doctor pokes you, or sometimes kids don’t share nicely, etc). Which sucks. a lot. and makes you want to cry. but you can’t let your kid see you do it. You show them with your calmness that everything is going to be ok in the end. and then you cry your eyes out when they go to bed. but you get up, and you start all over again the next day.

the ups and downs, and staying up all night with a sick baby, and surviving things you never in a million years thought you could survive but discovering that you are stronger than you think, they are all part of the joy of parenting. its what makes it totally worth it.

Yes of course it’s all worth it. I’m not sure about the getting better part though. From dealing with surgeries to sicknesses, parenting has been the hardest job I’ve ever had but also the most rewarding.

Right now, my daughter is dealing with threats and bullying. I’d rather die a thousand deaths than for her to have to deal with this. So, it’s always hard, but all the love and joy in between the hard? is AMAZING.

SO happy to hear Oscar has recovered!

Yes, there will be worry – more than you think you can handle and certainly more than you’ll ever want.

But is it worth it? Absolutely! Your child/ren will astound you, excite you and bring much more joy than they ever will bring you worry!

One day, when Brandon was two, I was changing the batteries in my 35mm camera… I placed the two batteries I removed from the camera on the sofa table in front of me as Brandon watched from the other side. I got up to grab the new package of batteries and when I returned, (I moved just a step or two away) Brandon had zipped over to the side of the table where I sat and one of the TWO batteries was missing from the table.

I immediately assumed that Brandon had put the battery into his mouth (these were the small disk-shaped batteries) so I checked his little face. No battery. Knowing a swallowed battery could kill him, I rushed Brandon to CHOMP (Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula) to the ER and demanded they treat him immediately.

Fortunately, CHOMP’s ER staff took my concerns as seriously as I did and Brandon was seen within 10 minutes of me running through the doors with him – despite their FULL waiting room. The doctor took a look at Brandon – that sweet, blond haired, blue-eyed angel that was smiling, laughing, and just doing his own little thing – and listened to my story about the missing battery. Then the doctor sent us down the hall for an x-ray while I contemplated the worst for my precious baby.

The good news… No battery inside Brandon! After the doctor reviewed the x-rays with me he took a deep breath and said, “Did you check on the floor or under the furniture for the battery before you brought Brandon into the ER?” Nope! I had to admit that it never crossed my mind…

When we got home I looked under the chair next to the table where I was working with the camera and guess what I found? Yes, the battery… Along with a bill a month later for $973.00 from CHOMP!

Can’t say honestly that I’d do anything different as a new mom faced with the same situation again.

We’d all like to think we would stay calm and act rationally faced with a crisis involving our child, but most of the time, we just don’t. And, that’s okay. Better than the alternative!!

I don’t have kids yet, but I can tell you that your kids actually will spend most of their time healthy (except for the first 6 mos in daycare or kindergarden- then they will get every germ any other kid in the school has ever had, but that can’t really be prevented). Anyway, for every night you will spend up with your child, you will spend dozens more watching him/her sleep, amazed at how they can sleep so peacefullly. And you will spend many nights going to bed with his/her laughter still ringing in your ears, and that sound of their laughter will become your favorite sound in the world.

That said, I can relate to your worry. I’m a Pediatric ICU nurse, and so I see all of the freak accidents. I’m not sure I will ever allow my children to take a bath unattended (I don’t care how old- they will be taking showers at 2 yrs old or younger if I have my way ), or play football, or go skateboarding, or drive a car for that matter. But really, it’s the germs that worry me, and even though I’m not having kids for several years, I already know that I need to invent some kind of bubble for them to live in, or super-hand-sanitizer, or something.

I can tell you one of my favorite baby inventions ever though: the clip that clips the pacifier to a baby’s shirt. Hospitals are full of the germs people bring there when they are sick, and if babies don’t have these, I usually advise parents to just throw the pacifier out.

Anyway, sorry for my tangent, but as someone who works with kids that almost don’t make it (and yet I’d guess that even 99.9% of the kids that sick DO make it in the end), I can tell you that children are probably the most resilient creatures on earth. Well, when it comes to health that is. Go messing with their schedules or nap time or give them a late bedtime even once, and they will make your day miserable. But remember, after every wave of worry comes a wave of relief.

You’ll cope because you have no choice. And, yes. It is worth it.

As crazy as this is going to sound and NOT that I want my children sick……. I loved every moment when I was up at 2,3, 4am rocking a sick baby. My fondest memories is my son (he was 8-10mths) fast asleep on my chest after many hours of screaming and high fever. To feel his little body against mine, his warmth and to know that he is usually all over the place not wanting to sit with me but at this moment he is cuddled up on me. I hated that he was sick but I loved being there with him and that he wouldn’t always be small enough to lay on my chest or even sit in my lap. So trust me it’s all worth it and whether they are healthy or sick, it’s all treasured time. -kriss

Brings new meaning to how Mary felt kneeling at her Son’s feet as he suffered, doesn’t it?