Sunday, July 26, 2009

Our First As Parents

My in-laws went on a short holiday a couple of weeks ago, so I took leave to help Jas with the kids and engage in some family bonding activities. Boy...we had a bonding experience alright but just not the way we would have planned.

I'll save the details for some other time but in a nutshell, here's what happened:

Mummy got the flu...

...followed by David....

...David's fever got really high and Mommy got worried...

...We had problems administering parecetamol to David and fever went up even more, Daddy also got worried...

...Admitted David into the hospital to get the experts to help bring his fever down, now less worried...

...Daddy also go the flu, nobody seems worried....

...Nai Nai took leave to help look after Cherise, one thing less to worry...

...David got better and got discharged, Daddy got worse and Mummy took charge...

...David started having stuffy nose that affected his nursing, Mummy started to worry again...

...Cherise started having slight fever, everyone begining to worry...

...Used 3 different thermometers on Cherise and all showed very different readings, not helping with the worrying bit...

...Cherise still very active, so nothing to worry...

...Start of new week, Daddy needs to go to work, Mummy really needs to rest, kids need attention...

That's the gist of it.

Some may consider such events a rite of passage for any parent, but that does not mean that it is an easy thing to watch one baby getting poked by needles while worrying about who is going to look after the other one. And having both parents ill at the same time is not helping the situation at all. However, there were a few things that made the whole ordeal a lot manageable:

1) Grand-parents - whom without their help (physically and financially) we would have been a lot more stressed out.
2) Friends - who offered to do our household marketing for us while we rested at home...for the record, they did it in the midst of their family retreat!! Thanks Des and XL!
3) Carecell Members - for covering us in prayer and offering to help us tangibly.
4) Family - concerned uncles and aunts who covered us in prayer.

Thank God the bug has run its course and we've recovered from it.

And just as we thought things were back to normal (it's an oxymoron actually cos' nothing is ever normal with 2 kids!!!) we had a new battle to fight....Cherise came down with fever and diarrhea caused by enterovirus. Imagine our relief when the doctor told us it was not HFMD. However, it was still contagious - transmitted through contact, so we had to disinfect the entire house especially the kids' play area so that it does not spread to David. We also had to stop Cherise from getting near to her brother - not easy because she is really affectionate towards him. Well, thank God the fever and diarrhea has stopped, now we have to start stuffing her with food again to help her gain back the weight lost when she was sick.

It's the start of a new week tomorrow, I wonder what surprises we're gonna get this time....