Sick

It's been a rough couple of days for me. I have a stomach virus of some sort and you know what that means... I don't think I need to go into the details so use your imagination. Don't worry, thankfully, Ashlyn's fine so far. This seems to be a special illness that's decided to target only me. 

I used to pride myself on being a pretty healthy person. I got lots of sleep. I exercised regularly. I ate well. I rarely got sick and when I did, I recovered quickly. All of this changed after I had a baby. I don’t sleep well or very often. I never have time to exercise. I eat whatever I can, whenever I get a chance. I get sick a lot and it completely wipes me out for days. It's not pretty. Since Ashlyn’s been born, I’m been sick several times. Everything from a cold, cough, sore throat, and now... this stomach thing.

It's definitely not a surprise that parents with kids get sick a lot. Kids are germy. Especially kids in day care and schools. It's inevitable - Ashlyn grabs everything and puts it in her mouth and she's surrounded by other kids that put things in their mouth and touch God only knows what. She brings all those germs home. Home to house filled with tired, run down parents whose immune systems can't keep up. And then I smother her with kisses and hugs and that's pretty much how it all starts.

The good news is that all these germs and illnesses are good for Ashlyn. Babies average about seven colds in their first year alone. The exposure to general viruses and germs that kids encounter at school, in daycare, at the playground, and in their everyday life helps build and stimulate the immune system. The exposure year after year helps kids fight other infections and stay healthier later on.

So what about me? I've had 30 years of exposure to germs - shouldn't my immune system be able to handle a few pesky germs? Why do I get so sick these days? It really is because I'm run down. Lack of sleep and stress hamper immune response. In addition to resting when sick, you have to take care of yourself. And those with kids know that when you have a kid, the last person you take care of in your household tends to be yourself. So, it's no wonder that I can't seem to get well.

But other than being an immune-building environment for Ashlyn, daycare also provides another benefit - it allows me a chance to take a break from caring for someone else and take care of me. So I've learned that when I'm sick, I need to let daycare take care of Ashlyn, take the day off from work and sleep. Like really, really sleep. Before kids, I never would've taken off a day from work to just sleep. But these days, I know how rare of an opportunity it is. So I've been taking it easy the past few days and trying to rest, drink lots of fluids, and try to take care of myself for a change. I can't be the best mom when I'm not feeling well so here's to hoping this illness runs its course quickly.

Maybe one day soon I'll get back to being a more healthy me.