Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Tales From The Couch & other lessons learned from a sick baby

There is nothing worse than a sick baby. And nothing worse for this germ freak OCD mama than having my baby sick. This morning we made our way to the doctors office after two days home with a fever and hours of watching Mickey's Magical Christmas and Curious George it was time for some answers. 

Addyson takes after her mama and is a pitiful puny mess when she isn't feeling good. She usually isn't one for cuddles and snuggling on the couch so when she wants to sit on my lap and hold hands on the couch I usually know some kind of yucky germs are brewing. Even with my best attempts at keeping things germ free around me I can't help but hold and cuddle my Addy when she is sick. I truly believe The Lord helps me to care for her everyday but especially when she is sick. 


Most of my compulsions are triggered by obsessive thoughts. i mean no one likes getting sick but for me the idea of sickness is paralyzing. As with most people living with OCD I know my triggers and usually how to cope with them. So this week i faced my triggers head on and survived. The past two days all I could do was hold my little germ filled girl and cuddle on the couch. Lesson: "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

In her pitiful state we made our way to the pediatrician who confirmed my suspicions ...an ear infection. The hardest part of this stage is that Addyson can't communicate what she is feeling or what hurts so of course I feel like I've reached epic fail mom status today by waiting all week to go to the doc. Lesson learned: listen to your mom-tuition. The Lord gives us an intuitive gift as moms and we should always go with that mom-tuition.

We leave the docs and I call my amazing hubby and we talk through how we are going to juggle work because as a youth pastor Wednesdays are his busiest days. Unfortunately I have to be at work to meet with the fire Marshall. (These are the days when living so far from family is hardest...what I wouldn't do to have her grandparents close enough to come over and cuddle my baby for a couple hours.) Lesson learned: don't work for a boss who doesn't understand and accept that I am a mom first. So grateful for a boss who not only gets my mom priorities but also understands life in ministry.

We go through the pharmacy drive thru to get meds filled and as Addyson is sleeping peacefully in the back seat i go to Starbucks drive thru to treat myself and kill time while we wait for the meds to be ready. I put in my order and pay and as I'm fighting back the mommy guilt I head back to pharmacy. I go to reach for my delicious Carmel brûlée latte and its not in the cup holder. What?!!!? Did i really just paid for my Starbucks and drove off without it? Of course with a sleeping sick baby in the backseat I circle back around to the now 5 car deep line to receive my paid for coffee. Lesson learned: always double check that you actually get the items you paid for in a drive thru, especially expensive Starbucks coffee. Lesson learned #2: sometimes the expensive coffee can be what helps you get thru.

With red cup in hand I head back to pharmacy only to be stumped with "what flavor do you want the meds" question. Huh??? I guess I didn't know there was such an option of flavoring meds and in hopes of avoiding the wrestle of getting Addyson to take the 10 day long prescriptions I pay the extra $2.99 for strawberry flavored amoxicillin.

So now we sit on the couch cuddled up, with Addyson grateful for Netflix and my latte. I look around and I realize my house is a mess and I usually wouldn't care but have house guests coming tonight and must get it house guest ready. And after the struggle to take the "yummy strawberry" medicine I'm pooped. A mom's job is never done, but I'm so grateful for my comfy couch, cuddly baby and Curious George. Lesson learned: things could be a lot worse...count your blessings.

  So today I will be living fully present in the moment watching Curious George with Addyson.


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