Struggling...!

[ParisJeTadore]

I'm hoping some of you ladies can offer advice or suggestions.

I am a sahm to an 8 month old, 2 and 4 year old. My DH works full time and can rarely take time off. Since ds started nursery we have had viruses come home every month or more. Usually I catch a mild version of it and manage to get on with my day. This time totally not! My son brought home adenovirus and it is awful. To top it off, my baby is waking every hour or two in the night and I just can't catch a break. I am on Day 5 of being sick and I almost feel worse today!

I have no family who can watch my kids (my dad is retired but a germaphobe who refuses to come over when I'm sick) so I can catch up on rest and I seriously want to cry. I am finding this so overwhelmingly hard and I don't know what to do! What do you do??

 

[Rachel320]

I don't know what advice I can offer you but I just wanted to say that you WILL get through this difficult period of time and everything will get a lot better with time. Your sons immune system will strengthen and he won't catch everything going around, so his constant illness will actually pay off in the long run! Stay strong, I think you're doing amazingly well. Perhaps you've got friends who could help you a day through the week? Personally, I would also have a chat with your dad and let him know that you're not coping and feel like you're in a crisis. That might force him to overcome his fear of germs (which I also have so I do understand it)!

 

[xdxxtx]

I homeschool/don't use daycare, so I have all of my kids (ages 5, 3 - almost 4, 3, 1) at home with me, and I'm 30w pregnant. That being said, I also help raise my 4-year-old nephew. My 5-year-old is in baseball and has brought home two stomach bugs from that so far. Ha! We also go out a lot, and my nephew brings over viruses and colds ALL THE TIME! It's ridiculous!!!

So, we have a SUPER SAFE baby/kid-proof play room with a video monitor. If I need to rest that badly, I will have the kids spend much of the day in there so I can sleep next door. I keep the volume up and instruct that my kids be "pretty quiet". I also have locks up high on all of our doors leading to outside and a gate at the top of the staircase that makes a lot of noise when opened, and I won't sleep through that. So, I can be positive that all of my kids will stay upstairs while I rest. I HIGHLY recommend finding a similar system that works for you.

I will come downstairs with the kids a few times a day, for meals. I make my own instant oatmeal packets, which everyone eats. 1/2c 1-minute oats, a tiny bit of brown sugar, some dried fruit and 2 tsp powdered (whole goat's) milk. I add 3/4 water, stir, and heat each bowlful for a minute and a half. My 5- and 3-year-olds like make their own, which makes it an extra special treat for them. Bananas for snack. I keep frozen precooked homemade meals in the freezer for their lunches and dinners when I'm sick. That way, I can do the BARE MINIMUM - heat up meals and feed the kids - and they're all fed. If I'm so terribly sick that I just need them to be quiet, I will put on a movie. I don't allow TV in my house t all unless someone is sick, so this WILL keep them quiet for the 90 minutes. My younger three take naps, so that gives me 2 hours to relax. We also have a really tight schedule, so the kids know exactly what's expected of them and when.

Also, start taking probiotics. It really helps the immune system. I give them to my kids, even if I'm not going to take them myself, and it keeps them from getting sick as often.

Good luck! I know how tough this is. In the beginning of this pregnancy, I was sick non-stop with a head cold, which turned into a sinus infection, which turned into bronchitis, which turned back into a sinus infection... I was sick from before I got my BFP until I was 16 weeks along! RIDICULOUS! So, clearly, I couldn't keep my kids in the playroom or let them watch movies every day. Instead, I had 3 "sick days" during the whole time and really toughed it out (and also wanted to cry) the rest of the time. I should have remembered my probiotics, too.

 

[ParisJeTadore]

Thank you for your replies ladies! I feel so alone but your words made me feel a lot better.

I spoke with my dad and, despite much hesitation, is willing to take my boys for part of the day so I will just have baby. Ideally I'd have someone watch her too but breastfeeding gets in the way. Last night was another horrible night with insomnia until 1230 then baby and 2 year old taking turns crying until 130am. Craziness! I want this all to be over so badly!

Xdxxt, what kind of probiotics do you use? I've heard lots of good things about it supporting immune health.

 

[lau86]

it's really rough looking after little ones when you're poorly!