i could cry. (update #16)

[♥ms.pacman♥]

yesterday i FINALLY feel like things are starting to feel normal (i've been sick on and off since the New Year..sinus infection, nasty cold...DH was sick too..both kiddos have been sick with colds, then HFM, then DS got something else that made him feverish and lose his appetite). finally DS nose clearing up and i start to feel somewhat better..even went to the gym yesterday.

then, DD wakes up this morning with cough and runny nose. and i wake up feeling like CRAP (sore throat, runny nose, etc) my sinuses feel like they're on fire and my head feels like it's about to explode.

i could cry. i am so, so f**king over being sick and on top of that, having sick kids. this has been over a month i am so over staying inside the house. the only places i've been to are the grocery store, Target, etc and yesterday we went out to dinner for the first time in over a week. what else am i supposed to do???? i am beyond exhausted. i want to run away. i am so sick of making so much an effort to try to feel better physically, trying to do things to improve my life (joining the gym or eating better), only to feel like i'm being repeatedly kicked when i'm down.

right now DD is screaming in her crib after only napping 20 minutes the entire day. now that i finally got DS to go back to napping, it's DD's turn. :banghead:

oh, and were are supposed to be going on a 6+hour road trip to see the ILs on Friday and spend the weekend there. i almost want to tell DH to take the kids and go with out me. I'm so tired (and i know he is too, he's been helping out a ton).

i know none of this is a big deal at all. and i'm lucky that i have a DH who helps out so much. but i'm just sad that despite all this help, i cannot seem to handle it all, and i'm constantly feeling overwhelmed, like there's no end in sight. i feel like no matter what I do, I will never get better. :(

[Melaine]

So sorry! In the same boat! DDs finished up antibiotics last week and JUST yesterday I said on the phone to my parents that we were ALL finally healthy after over a month of coughing and colds. Then this morning DDs both woke up all stuffed up and sneezy and I'm SUPER ANNOYED.

[twowhat?]

Having kids and the sickness that comes along with it is a rough adjustment. Even though you're a SAHM, you're still taking them out places, playdates, etc and they're going to pick up things and get sick. It totally sucks, and is totally rotten. The first year the girls were in daycare I was sick more days than my kids. In fact, I think I might have even used more PTO for myself than for them! It really gets better. Winters are tough. And more than one kid means things get passed around (and around and around).

Hang in there!

Oh - and be sure you're getting enough vit C and D or that you're taking a multivit - last year I realized that I tended to get sick more easily when I wasn't good about taking my vitamins! Cuz having kids also kind of makes your diet go to crap too, which is where the vitamins help...

[crl]

I am so sorry. I NEVER feel like I can handle it when I am sick. Sending you best wishes for everyone to be healthy soon and for a looooong time!

Catherine

[BDKmom]

So sorry to hear this. I was just wondering if your DS was doing any better, I hate to hear that you and DD are under the weather now. Being sick stinks, but most especially when you can't take time to recover yourself because you are having to take care of others. And when it's back to back like you have had...I'm sorry, it just sucks.

Sending lots of mojo your way for speedy recoveries for the whole family.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks everyone. physically i am feeling a lot worse now (so congested it's hard to swallow, my ears popping on and off, my nose feels like it's throbbing) and i think i'm going to go to the dr tomorrow and see what is going on. i know it's winter, but it just doesn't seem normal for me to be so sick so often..i've feel like for the past six weeks, i have not had a single day where i've felt 100% ok (not congested at all, not coughing at all, not having sinus pain in my face etc). i did get abx once in Jan, and that seemed to help, but not sure if i have some sort of chronic or recurring condition. I got allergy tested in Jan and they didn't really find anything, and the Dr said if i was still having problems they would do a CT scan to see what was going on.

and i'm taking a multivitamin every day (flintstones complete with chewable vit C&D)..have been ever since i got preggo with DS. i agree that it's like a vicious cycle..when my kids get sick, i eat badly/barely eat at all, then that probably makes it easier for me to get sick too...

ugh. i just cannot wait until this is all over. of course tonight my DS's beloved Thomas humidifer suddenly broke (it made an awful noise when we tried to turn it on, freaking the hell out of DS), of course after which he was devastated and cried himself to sleep. and now my poor DD is coughing and crying her head off for the 2nd time tonight, and it's not even 10pm. :( I am just glad my DH is in town this week to help.

[Beth24]

I am so so so sorry. I really hope you feel better soon. Please try to get yourself some extra help if you can.

[arivecchi]

OP, are you really exhausted? I was sick much of last winter and I think it was due to high stress and exhaustion. This winter, I have done much better since I am sleeping more, exercising and feeling less stressed. Maybe you need more time to yourself? Something to think about. Hope you all feel better soon!

[artvandalay]

:hug: I hope you are feeling better today

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks everyone. i'm feeling a little better.

about exercise/sleep...i joined a gym this year (with DH) because i know exercise helps relieve stress for me. however, since the new year (6 weeks ago?) i've only been able to go maybe 5 times. Because 50% of the time, i was too sick to go (completely congested, coughing my head off, sinus headache), and the other 50% of the time, i usually had a sick kid, DH working and/or out of town (so i couldn't use the gym daycare). I do have a nanny that comes 2 mornings a week to watch the kids, and i try to go to the gym when she's here. I went once last week (before my DS got sick again), and was planning to go today, but now i'm so congested i can feel my nose pulsating. So yeah, I do understand that exercise relieves stress, helps sleep better, combats depression, and it's probably the best thing for me, but it just has not been physically possible these past few months, which is what is making things so frustrating.

On a lesser level, getting together and socializing with other moms helps me relieve lots of stress too, but yeah, i haven't been to a single playdate in 2 weeks bc of sick kiddos. Almost everyone else in the group has had sick kids too lately, so i know it's not just us. I do think that part of it is that the kids pick up something from other kids or wherever, and then I eventually catch it from them, and the other sibling gets it, etc. I do try to avoid this type of thing, but when i am with them all day, and the kiddos grab whatever i am eating or what the other is eating it's just not possible or practical. Already this year DD and I are our 3rd virus now...DS has already had 3...so hopefully this means we are DONE!

[liz]

I hope you all feel better soon :hug:

[arivecchi]

It is so hard ms. pacman! As your LOs get older it will be easier for you to get some time for yourself, but I can just imagine you are worn out! Feel better soon!

[TwoBees]

HUGS.

I hope you all feel better soon.

[new_mom_mry]

Do you give your kids probiotics?? We've started giving DS Florastor based on advice from these boards, and his colds have been much, much milder since (no fever, runny nose goes away in 1-2 days, etc.) I give Florastor all credit for this difference. He attends a daycare full-time, so he is exposed to sick kids all the time. Could be worth a try!

[lmh2402]

i'm so sorry...it's awful to feel run down to the point of just...nothing left

i only have one kiddo (at this point) and feel that way too...we've literally been sick almost non-stop since dec.

so i can only imagine how exhausted you must be :hug: :hug:

i hope you can get some rest this weekend and feel better

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks everyone. haven't given probiotics, but they do eat lots of yogurt (at least one serving every day)...is probiotics much different from the stuff in yogurt?

anyway, i am finally starting to feel better today..still a headache and sinus pressure, but i don't feel like my head is going to explode like it was yesterday. And last night, BOTH kids slept through the night for the first time in a while...which was AMAZING...DD had been waking up coughing/gagging, and DS was still getting over the cold.

only thing now is DH is now getting sick. !#%$(*! We canceled our plans for this weekend and are staying in town, which i'm so thankful for..dont really feel like spending hours on the road and then staying at ILs house with a recovering sick kiddo plus being sick myself, and then only to (likely) get sick again from there (bday party, lots of kids, 30+ people & kids at one small house, etc). So at least we will be able to have a relaxing (Long) weekend at home.

hopefully this is the last of it. DS, DD, and I have gotten 3 nasty viruses back-to-back... hopefully DH is just now geting his turn and then it will be over. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, crossing fingers. I can't imagine doing this for much longer..i feel like i'm in survival mode.

[new_mom_mry]

thanks everyone. haven't given probiotics, but they do eat lots of yogurt (at least one serving every day)...is probiotics much different from the stuff in yogurt?

I am not a nutrition expert, unfortunately, and there are probably folks on these boards who could answer this question much better, but I do know that not all probiotics are created equal. For example, we used to give DS Baby Jarrow and it didn't seem to make much of a difference, but Florastor seems to help much more. Also, something really interesting that I noticed is that even brick and mortar pharmacies (Walgreens!!) don't always use correct practices for storing their probiotics. I've bought Culturelle from them before (another very popular probiotic brand) and they always put it out on the shelves while it should be kept in a refrigerator according to the manufacturer (there are also many comments about this on Amazon from customers pissed off that their probiotics were shipped to them without any special packaging, while the accompanying instructions clearly said that they should be refrigerated, else they lose their potency). Florastor doesn't need to be refrigerated and in fact, should not be refrigerated, so I suppose I have more confidence in it, because I know that, at least in theory, it shouldn't have lost its potency due to being stored improperly.

[chottumommy]

DS1 goes to daycare and the first year he was sick straight for a month. I started doing neti for him and adding elderberry syrup to his juice and his colds have been very very mild since then (no fever just stuffy nose for a day). Last year he didn't miss a single day or daycare due to viruses or colds when all his friends had double ear infections.

I think the neti is what helps the most. I do neti for DS2 too (started when he was a month old) and this is daily ritual before bath. I use a 10ml syringe and followed the video I saw on youtube (this is a new one there was another older one)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhxk_midxFg

[Ladybug47]

I just wanted to say that I hope you all feel better soon!

[Uno-Mom]

I loooooove that feeling when everybody sleeps through the night after a long illness! (And that's with just my one child!). I hope the miracle has continued for you all.