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Coming down with something like a cold or the flu during pregnancy is probably the last thing you want. Since you are likely already dealing with annoying pregnancy symptoms likes morning sickness, exhaustion, back pain, heartburn, you name it having a cold can just make you feel down right terrible. And, because you are pregnant it isn’t as easy to treat your cold either. You can’t just pick up any old over-the-counter cold medication to help alleviate your symptoms. When you’re pregnant you have to be careful and only take medications that are safe to use during pregnancy.
There are a few things you can do to help get you through bug and feeling better again:
- Get lots of rest. It is something you should be trying to do during your pregnancy anyway, but when you are feeling under the weather it is even more important to get enough rest.
- Drink plenty of fluids. Keeping hydrated will help your body fight the cold virus.
- Eat a healthy balanced diet. Chicken soup can do wonders for a cold since it provides a lot of nutrition and added fluids.
- If congestion is a big problem be sure to sleep propped up at night to help your sinus drain. You could also try using a saline solution to help clear out your sinuses, some people swear by it, but it doesn’t work for everyone (you should not use over-the-counter nasal sprays). You could also try Vick’s Vapor Rub or something similar.
- Stay home from work. If you can, take a few days off to make sure you can get plenty of rest and aren’t over doing it.
- Take a hot shower or a warm bath to help relax your aching muscles and clear out your sinuses.
- If you feel like you need to take over-the-counter medication to help alleviate your symptoms call your doctor to find out which medications are safe to use.
There isn’t a lot you can do other than ride out the bug. It will go away eventually. The most important thing to remember is to rest and drink plenty of fluids, they are the best thing you can do for your body to help it fight the infection.
Miss Maddie was a light in this world (just look at those eyes!). A happy, delightful, bright light. It has been 6 months since Maddie passed away, 6 months. It is hard to believe. Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Miss Maddie. She touched my heart just as she touched the hearts of many.
My heart is with Heather and Mike Spohr today, and everyday. The road they walk today is so different than the one they were walking just 6 months ago. Through their struggles, through their endless ups and downs we are all here to hold them up.
Miss Maddie, you were one amazing little girl and you are missed today and everyday. Let your light shine on in the hearts and minds of those who knew and loved you.
Photo lovingly borrowed by Heather and Mike’s Flickr Album
It is that time of year again, cold and flu season. Everyone with kids knows that the colds will be passed around the house several times before the cold and flu season is over. Parents, unfortunately, aren’t immune. When the kids get sick they get pampered, they get to stay home from school, they get taken care of. When parents get sick things aren’t quite so “nice”. Parents still have to take care of the kids, the house, make the meals and keep things in order. Life doesn’t stop just because you feel achy, stuffy andyou would rather stay in bed all day.
Feeling under the weather certainly doesn’t make all the normal parenting tasks any easier. When your kids are older they will likely understand that you feel bad and won’t mind taking care of themselves a little bit. However, younger kids, particularly babies and toddlers still require the same amount of attention and don’t understand why they can’t go to the park or swim lessons, etc. So, what can you do to make sure life still roles on and you feel better soon?
- Take care of yourself. First and foremost taking care of yourself will mean you feel better sooner. Don’t over do it, get lots of rest and pamper yourself a little if you can.
- Get your spouse and older kids (if you have them) involved. Give others in the family a few extra chores to do until you feel better.
- Come up with a few fun activities for your toddler that they can do without a lot of work from you. Set up a spot for them to read or color or play with blocks.
- Don’t feel bad if all you want to do is lay on the couch and watch movies with your kids. They’ll probably enjoy it. Make them popcorn or another special treat so they feel like it is a fun, special day.
- Don’t feel bad if you have to skip things like swim classes, library reading hour, a promised trip to the park. You can always make it up to them when you feel better.
- Your household chores will wait. If you don’t feel up to it, don’t feel bad putting off the vacuuming or laundry or dusting until you are feeling better.
Feeling under the weather is no fun, especially when you can’t just lay in bed all day until you are feeling better. Our families still need us, even if you we don’t really feel up to doing all the usually daily tasks of raising a family. Don’t worry, you’ll feel better soon and your kids and spouse won’t mind if they don’t get as much out of you in the mean time.
What do you do when you are feeling under the weather? How do you manage your household?
So, as I mentioned a while back, we had never left Maya with a babysitter. All that has changed. Last night we had a dinner and awards banquet to attend so my husband could receive an innovation award he was being honored with. My neighbor across the hall had offered so many times I can’t count to watch Maya for us if we ever wanted to go out. Somehow 22 months flew by and we never ended up taking her up on her offer. Until last night. She and her husband agreed to watch Maya for us while we headed out to our dinner/banquet.
I had spent the whole day preparing Maya for the upcoming evening without Mom and Dad by telling her that Tom and Wendy (our neighbors) were going to come over after she had dinner and play with her while Mommy and Daddy went out for a little while. I could tell by the look on her face that she had no clue what I was talking about. I mean why would she since she had never been left with anyone before. However, when our neighbor knocked on the door at 5:30pm Maya yelled “wenwen” and ran for the door, so apparently she understand at least part of what I had been telling her all day!
We had our neighbor come over about a half hour before we were planning on leaving so I would have time to go over Maya’s bedtime routine with her and for Maya to get comfortable playing with her before we headed out the door. At 6pm we told Maya we were going to be leaving and she was going to stay and play with Wendy. I gave her a big hug and a kiss and told her that I would see her later and that I hoped she had fun. She started crying immediately. It broke my heart and I had a lump in the pit of my stomach, a huge reminder why I had never left her with anyone before. I knew she would be fine so I just picked her up and gave her another big hug and told her everything would be fine and we would be home later. I could hear her crying as I walked down the stairs of our building and out to our car. I wanted to rush back in, I wanted to call a million times but I didn’t. I got in the car and made myself enjoy the evening.
Our evening was great. We enjoyed some wine, good food and my husband got his award. We wondered aloud how Maya’s night had gone and about whether Maya had gone to bed for Wendy or not as we were driving home. I was sure that she had, but my husband wasn’t so sure, he figured she would still be up. I am happy to say that I was right 
When we got home Wendy said that everything had gone great. Maya had only cried for a few minutes when we left and then settled down and was fine after that. They spent the evening playing. They took a walk over to the park and hung out there for a while. Maya had a great time. She said that bedtime was fine. The only meltdown came when she tried to walk into the bedroom to read stories and put Maya to bed without her blankie. Maya freaked out and Wendy couldn’t figure out what the problem was until she walked back out to the living room and Maya was able to get her point across that she wanted her blankie (note to self, remember in the future to tell babysitters that “mmmba” means blankie and she will not go anywhere or do anything without it!!). They read a few stories and Maya went to sleep just fine.
All in all it was a great evening for them and us.
This morning when I went in to get Maya out of her crib she immediately started telling me about playing at the park with Tom and Wendy. I could tell that she really enjoyed herself.