It's been a hell of a few weeks at the Harbison house. This post was written on two days.
November 9
We've been worried for a few days that RB has RSV. A few kids at his daycare were diagnosed with over the weekend, and then he started showing some signs that line up with the symptoms, like no appetite (which is pretty unlike our guy), a little bit of snot, and just total exhaustion. We started the day today going to the pediatrician, which I keep calling the vet, to get him tested for RSV and just to figure out what was going on.
We saw an ENT on October 31st and he hasn't been on medicine for an ear infection since then, so we suspected that if it wasn't RSV, he had another ear infection. As it turns out, he does not have RSV ( thankfully! ) but he does have another double ear infection, and he's cutting his top molars. In short, RB is really just going through it. We decided to go ahead and keep him home today because we weren't through at the pediatrician's office until like 10:30 anyways and he's just been totally exhausted and we thought a day at home would be good for him. Now, a day at home is restful and relaxing for RB, but it's not that way for pretty much anyone else in the house. Babies are hard fucking work, and we are learning they only get harder as they grow older.
Keep in mind that we also have Finley and her 11 puppies. We love Finley, and we're really proud of how well she's taking care of her puppies. Unfortunately, she is still going potty in the house. We were told when we adopted her was that she was fully potty trained. It was actually a really big selling point for us because we didn't want to have to deal with potty training a dog while we've got a toddler running around. This is just apparently not the case with her. We'll get into that later though, as to how it is relevant in today's story. I'm really just trying to make it clear that we've got 13 total dogs in the house and a sick toddler. Oh and, in case you didn't know, I'm pregnant! I am as of right now 14 weeks? 15 weeks? I really don't keep up with it as tightly as I did the first time around. I guess that's second child syndrome. And I can say that, because I am a second child.
Like I said, today we kept him home, and when we do that he mostly just hangs out with me in my office which always proves to be hectic, but very entertaining. Today was no different. He destroyed my office. It literally looked like a tornado went through. He loves to get a hold of my to-do list, it seems to bring him a really specific type of joy. He hasn't wanted to eat at all, but I did manage to convince him to have a couple clementines, which we had up in my office. He thought that it was appropriate to share them with Happy who willingly takes anything from the baby but does not care for clementines. By the end of the day, there were a number of squished clementines in my office carpet, partially gnawed by a dog, partially gnawed on by a toddler. RB also seem to be very personally offended every single time I had to get on the phone today, which is normally quite a few times a day on average. He was pretty chill in between calls, but on calls he was really, como se dice, a shit show.
Then dinner time was upon us. As mentioned, RB hasn't been eating anything in the last few days really, other than a few bites of the aforementioned clementines. I offered him some chicken and noodles today which he turned his cute little nose up at - and when I say he turned his nose up at it, he threw an absolute shit fit until the offense was removed from his presence.
Following dinner is bath time. If you know anything about me as a mom, you probably know that I do keep my child on something of a military schedule. I personally feel it's good for all of us to know what time things need to happen and in what order. Though, this is definitely getting a little more hectic since he's really a toddler now.
We do bath time and he gets a little ahold of the bath pitcher which holds maybe a quart of water at a time. He has figured out that he can fill it, lift it up above his head, and it will splash down behind him. That makes him smile, and who doesn't relish an RB smile? On this day, I was at an unlucky angle and he poured an entire quart of water on me. But it brought him joy and he really hasn't felt a lot of joy in the past few days so I didn't complain. At least not that loudly. Moments after, he was standing and facing me in the bath. Yes, I said standing in the bath - it's all about picking and choosing your battles and I really don't care to choose that one. He's always supervised and, yeah, he's had a couple shitty face smacking moments, but we have to start learning consequences at some point. Anyway, as he's standing, he starts peeing. He hasn't really figured out what that whole situation is yet so anytime he actually witnesses the act he is fascinated. He tried to catch the stream of pee, but God blessed me and he was too slow, so he just dipped his hand in the water right after he peed. The point is it wasn't like direct contact to pee but, I mean, he definitely, undeniably had pee on his hand. I looked down and leaned my head on the side of the tub to laugh. He must've thought I was asking for him to rub his newly peed on hand all over my hair, because that's exactly what he did. Mr Piss Hands in Mama's Hair. I looked up at him to ask him to stop, at which point he laughed and rubbed his pee hand on my face. In this moment, all I could really do is laugh, because I don't have the energy to cry, so that's exactly what I did.
We got out of the bath, we did spicy PJ time, which I call spicy because he is actually a little psychopath when we do PJ time. For a guy who loves to sleep, he hates the build up to it. He had the majority of a bottle, which is great news because I was very worried about his hydration and such, and then he went to bed a few minutes ago.
I just finished cleaning up the tornado that is my office. And now I'm about to go give the carpets in our bedroom a second wash. Oh! Right. I forgot to mention, earlier when I brought up Finley's potty training issues, what happened today. Finley is a very smart girl, despite her crimes, and often reminds us of a velociraptor. She has learned how to get out of our bathroom where she's staying with her puppies. Today, she did just that and decided to empty her fucking bowels all over our room. Seems very personal to me, to be honest. Apparently it was a visceral situation. Now, I didn't get to see the direct aftermath because Beau took care of it and cleaned it up. He's already washed the carpets but I'm going to wash them again now, because I bought some hydrogen peroxide at the store, and my mom told me that that will take out smells and stains in this particular situation. I'm just going to hit it again for good measure.
Then I'm going to put on my comfy after work pants and sit my happy ass on a couch somewhere and soak up a few minutes of silence before I have to go to bed because the child in my uterus syphons all of my energy that is left by the end of the day. So, that's my story. Not really sure it's worth sharing but fuck it my blog, my life, my prerogative. Hope your day involved less bodily fluids than ours.
November 17
Hello from the other side.
Sweet, naive me. A week ago, I cutely thought RB didn't have RSV. What a fucking boob.
Last week, we kept RB home from daycare Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and sent him back for Thursday and Friday. He was doing okay and didn't seem sick when we sent him back - he really just seemed like he was teething and fussy from his ears. Albeit there was an active RSV outbreak at daycare but my man had to go back, because we needed to work and we needed a damn break. I love RB. So, so, so much. I would do unspeakable things for him, and I'd never miss a fucking beat. I would punch a bear straight in the damn jaw for him should the situation arise. I would literally Atomic Blonde some shit for him. Unapologetically. But there is a reason I am not a stay at home mom. I am not built for it. I'm just not. I honest to God admire those that are stay at home parents. I have no fucking clue how you make it day to day. To those that are, you have one of the hardest jobs in the world. If we compare what you do and what I do, my shit is a mere hobby when juxtaposed against the trenches you climb in and out of on a daily basis.
We got a call late Friday afternoon that RB hadn't inbeen his normal self, so they'd decided to take his temperature, and guess what? He was 101 point something. Beau went to get him and we both emotionally and mentally tried to prepare ourselves for what was to come.
We didn't go back to the pediatrician. There was no use. We knew our guy had RSV, which is a respiratory virus, and per 8th grade science, viruses can't be treated with medication. Only symptoms can. Unless he had breathing issues or his fever became unmanageable, we were on our own.
The next few days were a blurry tornado swirling with alternating Tylenol and Motrin, Mom and Dad cuddles, playing upstairs in his room and downstairs in his playpen. He refused to actually consume any solid food. Thankfully he was very accepting of bottles, so he stayed pretty hydrated and drank his calories. I tricked him into drinking some Pedialyte here and there. He took abnormally long naps. I don't think he laughed for a solid 72 hours, which is very unlike him. To remind you, he was teething molars, battling a double ear infection, and then RSV was just the icing on the shit cake.
It was a hard few days but he did eventually start to get less snotty and the fever fully subsided. When RB finally started to take a turn for the better, my body decided it would step into the sickbay. You see, when a baby has RSV, medical advice is mostly the following things: control the fever, focus on hydration, and try to remove as much mucus as possible. From what I researched, many babies who end up in the hospital from this likely needed better aspiration. The virus is in the mucus so if you can get it out, it helps the body flush it.
We have an electric nasal aspirator and then a manual one called a Nose Frida. The Nose Frida was great when he was a newborn and had a stuffy nose. It was quick, easy, and effective. It's basically a plastic tube with a small foam filter at the opposite end that touches the nose, then it's closed at the top with an attached tube and a mouthpiece a parent can use to manually remove what needs to be removed. You never make contact with anything. It's a Swedish thing from what I understand, at least that's the branding behind it. I had a friend tell me once to be sure to consistently replace the filter or else you will absolutely, positively get whatever your kid has. Did I listen? Of fucking course not. I just rolled the dice each time I used it. I want to note that Beau has used it dozens of times and he's never been negatively affected.
Regardless of the mechanism used, RB absolutely hates this experience and having his face cleaned in general. It was fucking war for three days wiping snot from that face. He fought me every time. He definitely does not back down, and I can appreciate that. One night, I decided that before he went to bed, we'd take the Nose Frida route instead of the electric aspirator. I did not change the filter. This was the moment I took a big ol' hit of RSV straight to the fucking dome. I likened it to that scene in World War Z when Brad Pitt purposely infects himself with a disease to camouflage himself from the zombies. I just straight up infected myself.
Did you know when you're pregnant that your immune system is weakened? This is so your body doesn't attack your growing fetus.
One child has poisoned me, and the other weakened me.
I have been sick as a dog for the past four days, at least I think that's the timeframe. I have been so sick I've been unable to work. That's very rare for me. Fever, cough, head congestion. There's so much fucking pressure in my face that I was legitimately swollen earlier today. I have spent the majority of the days asleep. I can't take as much medicine as I'd really like because of my wombmate - the kid doesn't need to be inundated with medication. The worst part is my ears. I woke up two days ago and, damn, did my ears fucking hurt. They are so stopped up that it sounds like I'm underwater. I can't really lean my head below my waist to pick anything up because the pressure, at times, has been breathtaking.
I finally broke down and made a doctor's appointment for this afternoon at 1:45. My main concern was the possibility of an ear infection. With all my luck, I got a call from the family medical practice that the doctor was suddenly called out of the office for the day, my appointment cancelled, and no other appointments were available today. Thankfully my ears are feeling a bit better than they were so I think I can kick this without medical intervention. If I need to, I'll find another doctor.
Today is the best I've felt in days. I've found myself laying in bed lately, trying to remember when my body didn't feel like hammered shit. It's funny, isn't it - when you're sick, feeling good is like a ghost of a memory. You know it's there but you can't really embody it.
I am hoping I wake up tomorrow feeling even better. Even if I don't, I plan to behave as it I do. Both RB's first birthday and Thanksgiving are this coming week, and we've got family coming to town. This house desperately needs to be cleaned and prepped for guests. We need groceries for hosting. This is the longest I've laid around like a sack of potatoes, and that includes when I birthed a whole-ass human. I came home from the hospital and cleaned the house. I don't do sick and I don't do downtime. These are things I am not good at and things I don't have patience for. I am over it, spiritually speaking, so let's hope my body gets the memo.
As for RB, he is back to his normal, jolly self. He was standing and laughing when I walked in to get him this morning. He actually ate dinner tonight, and last night, and he's pretty much snotless. A little bit of a cough lingers but it lessens by the day. I'm grateful he's better and that I got the worst of it.
The Harbison household fought the good fight and we have come out on top.
This is a picture of RB cuddling with his favorite guy in the entire universe when he was really in the thick of it.
This is RB as of November 17, good as new!
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