We are nearly there...

"Please, please don't get sick. The beach holiday is around the corner!"

(We are going to sidestep winter for a bit.)

Dad went to pick her up at school, and off to the doctor....

Please, please! *Holding thumbs!*



Update from yesterday:

The doctor reckons it's the start of an upper respiratory infection, and only a viral infection at this stage. I even asked that if it is possible, that we can sidestep the antibiotics...

Guess what she did? She prescribed those antibiotics! (Even though she told me it is a viral infection.)

It feels more and more that I can't trust a doctor to make decisions for my family's health!

We are treating the fever with a bit of Panado, and did not send her to school today...


I am not going to give her the antibiotics! 
I Googled again today about antibiotics and viral infections, and the conviction is anonymous.
It does not work! It even worsens the situation!

Anybody knows of a good doctor who are more concerned about our health than just prescribing medicines?
I feels like I have wasted our time and money going to the doctor yesterday....

Sick with a sick toddler

Being sick, with a sick toddler, is not a recipe for bed rest when staying at home. 

No, it makes you wish that you have gone to work very early in the morning already!

But the thought of another night of both of us taking turns to cough, and Hubby having to run around between two beds is not something you are looking forward to in a great way! 

Getting the Toddler dressed, trying to get her to eat something before we go, and finally giving up with a banana packed in the bag... Just to get out of the door!

And all you wanted to do was stay in bed in a foetal position for the rest of the day...

Forget it when you have a toddler!

Taking us both to the doctor, getting the medicines at the pharmacy, and coming back home takes a huge chunk out of the morning...

Then it is trying to get her to eat something again, before trying to get her to drink the medicines...

And using the nebuliser on both of us...

And coping with a toddler-in-potty-training as well! She wants to wear panties (or nothing), and we are running to the toilet constantly!

And getting her to stop washing her hands are also something of an exercise in extreme patience!

Exhaustion!

On another note: The Toddler behaved very well at the doctor, and did not cry once. It was a first!

She sat on the bed while the doctor checked her over and the doctor even got a smile and a chuckle!

This little girl has passed another milestone!

Fingers crossed for a better night tonight! We had two terrible nights of coughing in a row now!

What colour is Tuesday? Deep purple for sick

Blogland is full of it. Complaints of feeling overwhelmed, and feeling under the weather! It is this time of the year! It is between seasons; not yet spring, and we are “sick” (literally and figuratively) of IT.


I dragged myself to the doctor today. Why is it that we have no problem taking our kids to the doctor, but we neglect ourselves? If I don’t feel that I can’t get up, I don’t feel I am “worthy” to take myself to the doctor! But Dries has been nagging me for a couple of days. I think it is this cough that sounds like a fake cough. You can’t help to cough the irritating cough every couple of minutes! You are an even bigger irritation to yourself!

I got my antibiotics, and was planning to go to the office from there. The doctor stopped me. She says we have something – she thinks it is a South African thing – that thinks we can’t be sick. She sees it when people come back with more severe strains. One of the main reasons is that people do not get enough bed rest when sick.

She booked me off for two days! Now I just have to get over my guilty self...

Self-talk: I have not been sick for nearly two years. The work does not revolve around me. Luckily! I need to get better for the sake of Mieka who is still breastfeeding. She is also not yet 100% after I took her to the doctor on Friday.

Now off to bed! SLEEP! (Yay, that neglected thing!) Sometimes there are some blessings, even in being sick! I get permission to sleep!

What colour is your Tuesday? Mine is purple, for being under the weather, but getting to stay in bed.

When all else fails...

It has been a rainy LOOONG weekend! Wonderful weather and wonderful to have had a long weekend! (Sigh!)


It is very strange for this time of the year to have this kind of weather. Overcast drizzling weather. It feels like we are living somewhere near the coast.

This weather is not doing any good with regards sickness! The toddler is still struggling with her upper respiratory tract infection, but it seems we are beginning to beat it. She is not getting fever anymore! We are lending a nebulizer, and it seems to help a little. The first time that we are trying it! Dries put out his back picking her up, and sleeping next to her in our bed. Because she is not feeling well, she wants to be in our arms the whole time!

I was struggling to put her to bed, again, tonight! My parents are always very successful pushing a pram to get her to sleep. I tried it, and it took me less than five minutes and she was snoring! When all else fails, do the tried and tested! (I have learnt my lesson!)

(Photo: Mieka at Founder’s Grill yesterday where we met my brother for his birthday! Great place!)

The pout

Lately the toddler has been walking around with a pouty mouth. She pulls her mouth into pout while she is busy playing or calling the dog, or mermaid-speaking... Luckily it is not an expression of unhappiness! (I hope!) Maybe it is the teeth; that same teeth that get blamed for everything when our Precious One is feeling out of zinc.


Like now! She’s sick again. Only three weeks after the last bout of upper respiratory infection. It is the same slimy stories again... We are getting sick and tired of it! She is coughing with a runny nose, wheezy chest, and vomiting because of all the phlegm. We are exhausted already, because the fever rears its ugly head during the night!

I am beginning to think that the day care plays a big role with Mieka getting sick on a regular basis. Woking mother complaint, again! But we will just have to deal with it. I remember that the teen also got sick quite a lot, but when she started with school, she had built up an immense immunity. She did not get sick during the important school years.

Powerwoman, and Hubby, will just have to deal with it in the meantime. Luckily we share in the sickness duties as well. (Thank you, thank you, thank you, Hubby!!)

We went on a real date today. We dropped Mieka off with my parents, and the teen went to see the boyfriend playing rugby. We went to see the popular Avatar. It has been showing for ages (and ages), but we eventually got there. In 3D! It was a blast. The last time I saw something in 3D, we got the paper goggles. Today we got real plastic goggles! (Pandora makes earth look bleak in comparison. We GOT the environmental lessons as well! Amen!)

Afterwards we said to each other: We loved going to the movies on our own, but maybe we should have gone home to sleep... that elusive sleep!
Thumbs for sleeping tonight! (Wishful smile!)

Medicine and the toddler = mission

It is a mission to give the toddler any medicine. When she sees the medicine or the medicine “injection-type” of feeder (forget about using a spoon), she starts to complain. When I pick her up, she starts kicking, throwing back the head and shutting her mouth with a mean conviction.
It feels/looks like we are doing something incredible horrible to our loved one. I have her in a vice grip, with a cotton nappy draped over my shoulder and near her chin, with dad or sister holding her head. I then have to force the medicine into the side of her mouth, sometimes blowing on her face to get her to swallow. She tries to get it out of her mouth again by trying to spit it out again. Very traumatic – for her and for us! There must be a better way?
Luckily the toddler is much better. She had the last antibiotics last night. (Phew – sigh of relief!)
My parents looked after her on Tuesday. My child illness leave for the year has been used up – we get five days (which is a big bonus already). At one stage when I phoned them my father was sitting with her sleeping in his arms. They were getting worried because she was sleeping for quite a long time... worried about not getting enough hydration or food. She kept them busy with her demanding pointy finger for the whole day! Thanks Mom and Dad for looking after her and being there when needed!
Now, we must try to find a way of giving medicine without having to feel like the meanest parents every time!