Maintaining Sanity With a Sick Baby

So, we rang in the New Year with the Icky Yucky Croupy Crud and I ended up with a sick baby. I really dislike having sick kiddos… Respiratory gunk really stresses me in my RSV, pneumonia prone kiddos, and in babies… Sick babies scare me… It used to be no big deal, then… a baby died that I knew, I had held, and then another, and another… Now a sick baby scares me… I struggle to keep my sanity.

The Moment I Went Into Panic with a Sick Baby

The three sickest kiddos I have had this week are, 1 who had RSV 2 times and pneumonia 3 times (7 yrs old), our NICU girl who has had pneumonia 6 times, RSV once and was born WITH pneumonia (not quite 6 years old), and Simon, our 7 month old… he just pretty much went from holding his own pretty good, to extremely bad, had me racing around the house to pack bags for the hospital while talking to an on call nurse on the phone, staying on with her while I gave a breathing treatment… All during a snow storm causing conditions that would make it nearly impossible to get to the hospital. During Simon’s worst, I couldn’t see the horse pen, that I can throw rocks to from the house!! My hubby was out feeding cows as we had a nasty storm moving in and it could become a big challenge to even get to them in the snow. See, during all that, Simon was showing many of the signs that alerted NICU Girl’s nurse that she was in trouble and led to her NICU stay six years ago…

Yes, I was panicky…

However, as we all know, things still must be done… Laundry, dishes, meals, animals fed and more…

So, I Regain My Sanity?

• First, I lower my expectations of what will get done. I don’t go into survival mode, but I do cut out extras and many dailies. Dishes, laundry, meals, and general straightening tops!!
• Then, I assign chores out to those well enough to accomplish the minimal tasks.
• Our meals become easier… crock pot starting the night before, freezer meals, and so forth.
• Laundry is kept a little better under control by just wearing jammies all day and changing in the evening before bed.
• We Pray, Pray and Pray some more.
• Get to know your medical providers before you get sick.
• Keep in touch with those providers.
• I have a few 911 friends… those friends you can call to unload on in those horribly stressful times that can help talk me down and will pray with me. During this time, I texted two and they were able to send me some verses of scripture to focus on.

We make time for rest… now, when I have sick babies, I rarely rest, but I will try to make time after they are well. When you have livestock, and lots of kiddos and all kiddos get sick at the same time… chores all seem to fall on you. So, rest for the kiddos, you can catch up a bit later. If the cows don’t get out…