Tuesday, February 2, 2010

One sick baby

So, a couple days before we left on this trip,Lisel I met some friends of mine and their kids at the park. At one point, my friend Joyce and I had a conversation that went a little something like this.

Joyce ,"So, how do you deal with Lisel getting sick on the road. I mean, you guys must be really used to that by now."

Me, "Actually, we've been lucky. She's never been really sick during a trip."

Of course, I immediately regretted those words. Not because they weren't true -- our first year was wonderfully free of infant illness. But you don't say stuff like that right before a trip, because Fate is always listening and lying in wait, ready to pounce at the slightest temptation.

And of course, on the second day of our trip Lisel got sick.

Now, this wasn't runny nose and kind of crabby cold stuff. This was blazing fever, extremely upset, waking up ever hour or so during the night, sleeping all day sick.

Such a poor baby!

Like I said, none of us had experienced sickness on the road before. I was ill prepared (pardon my pun, but we've been watching a lot of Sesame Street aka the Street, where puns reign supreme!) I has actually been looking forward to the nights on this trip, because over the break Dave and I finally got Lisel to sleep through the night. Uninterrupted sleep on the road seemed within reach.

But I tempted fate and we all paid the price.

The road is a different experience when one is sleep deprived, surounded by similarly sleep deprived people who are all trying to get to the next destination while caring for a poor little feverish baby. And by different, I mean I may not have had some of my finest moments. There was much snappery and bitchiness of my part. And complaining. And did I mention bitchiness.

I was not at my best.

Mostly though, I felt sorry for Lisel who was not only having to suffer through the sicky, but who had to suffer while traveling from hotel room to gig to hotel room. It was times like these that make me rethink this whole baby on the road business. It seems like this will be a more common scenario as she gets bigger and starts hanging out with more kids. They say It's part of the natural process of her building her immune system.

But this was a relatively mild case of the icks. What about when she picks up something really nasty?

She's quite the trooper. And I guess we'll be doing what we've always done, and play it all by ear.

In Phoenix, we took her to an urgent care facility, where the doctor confirmed that she was sick with a throat infection that was (fortunately) not strep. So we knew it was a virus that just had to run it's course. And for 3 days we kept her hydrated, kept her fever down with Tylenol, and tried to keep her as comfortable as possible.

While we were at the Grammys, she and Claire hung in the hotel all day playing and eating and sleeping. It was a blessed day without travel or gigs for the bean. And last night her fever finally broke. She woke up being her normal, hilarious, Lisel Blossom self. So life is pretty much back to normal.

But I have seen the future. And I'm a little afraid.

The era of sicky is upon us.

-- Post From My iPhone

4 comments:

Gtwodagee said...

Well EMQ, I feel your pain. My guys both had ear infections from 22 December(you know, 3 days before Xmas) and after they beat those back, Taylor got a 2nd one!! And 3 days ago Evan got a cold laced with an eye infection(NOTE: If your child has a runny nose and wipes with his/her hand, there's a good chance of the ole eye infection coming your way). Hyland's makes very good remedies for these maladies(probably at your nearest Whole Foods) if you're interested. And MOM'S is a block from the 'Smere when you visit here next month and we can tour and stock up!!!

ALBraziel said...

Ugh- soooo sorry to hear that, but glad she's feeling well again!

Anonymous said...

ugh. so sorry to hear. sorry to make the query that tempted fate. next time I see you I am going to ask "so what's it like being on the road with the happiest, healthiest, cutest baby there ever was?"
joyce

EMQ said...

Hmmmm, what are these Hyland's you speak of? I'm always up for a good remedy. And I think there's really no way to avoid the sickys from now on.