When MOM is sick

((((((((HUGS)))))))))))

When the babies were 3 weeks old, my dd #1 woke me up to show me an "itchy spot". Turned out to be chicken pox. I thought I'd had it as a child but it turned out I was wrong. 2 weeks after that dd #2 and I got it, 2 weeks after that, dd#3, and 2 weeks after that, ds.

I was really, really sick. I don't remember ever being that sick before. Luckily I had a "heads up" as was able to call my Dr. as soon as I knew I was getting it. She Rx'ed me some Valtrex and I was cleared up in about 3-4 days. But they were pretty bad. By a stroke of luck, my ILS were in town that weekend and helped DH with the kids. I really didn't want the babies to get it, they were still too tiny, but there wasn't really anything I could do. They had to nurse and dh couldn't handle all of us sickies and the two newborns.

So... I don't know. Your choices I guess are to quarantine yourself, and let you dh handle everyone or hire someone to help him, or do it yourself and expose the kids and dose them up on Airborne and echinacea I guess.

Sorry to tell you that your kids have probably already been exposed . . . so as attractive as quarantine sounds from the mom's point of view (there's no other way to get a break, right?), it probably wouldn't prevent the kids from getting sick.

I don't know if you're nursing your little ones, but that could help them fend it off, or get a much milder case (that's what usually happens in our house, anyway), since you will be producing the antibodies even before you showed signs of illness.

This sort of thing has happened twice since we had our kids - where I was totally flat out sick and couldn't even stand up without throwing up. I'm lucky to live near my mom and called and begged her to come take them for the morning. (She doesn't usually watch them by herself.) Could dh take a sick day (for you?)

Hang in there !

The good news is that those antibiotics should kick in for you soon and you'll be feeling much better . . . make sure everyone's getting plenty of vitamin c, healthy foods, rest, etc. too to help them fight it.