| When Mom Gets Sick | | Print | |
| Written by Heather Cabot | |
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It is one thing to care for a sick baby. Even two babies, plus a husband I can handle. But when I found myself suddenly dashing for the ladies' room as I tried to conceal my distress from my twin two-year-olds, I was facing an all together new kind of challenge. What happens when the caregiver is so sick she can't care for anyone else, let alone herself? Of course, I am speaking about temporary incapacitation. I would never compare a 24-hour bug to something terminal or truly debilitating. Yet the experience did raise some very practical concerns for me. How could I possibly cradle both my son and daughter who were also nauseous and feverish while I could barely stand up myself? First, I did what any sane person would do. I called for back-up. This was one of those bugs that struck without warning. It was 5pm and all of the sudden, my stomach was churning and I was sweating and trying to keep my cool while Ian and Sam begged to be held (at the same time). I phoned my husband and said I needed him NOW. He could tell from my tone that this was no joke and thankfully, he works close enough to home that he was able to make it in time to help me get the kids bathed and into bed. He spent the night alternately cleaning up and comforting all three of us. Once I knew he was on the way, I called my mom. Yeah, this was one of those times that I needed MY mom. In two minutes flat, she talked me down and made me feel like I wasn't a horrible mother for resorting to Elmo time while I counted the minutes to my husband's arrival. This virus flattened me. The next day, as I lay in bed with daughter Samantha who still had a fever and was in no mood to do anything but sleep, I thought about how fortunate I am to have someone to watch Ian. And then I kept remembering that line from the movie, "The Devils Wears Prada" - "I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight." With the way I was feeling, I was like, forget the last two pounds, I just want the room to stop spinning. At this point, our nanny was still healthy. And how she took care of all of us that day proved prescient (and how wonderful she is). While we napped, she quietly stocked the house with Gatorade, Jell-O and chicken broth. Somehow, I think she knew we'd be homebound the next day. I, of course, was clueless or maybe just too delirious to think about what would happen if she fell victim to this horrible sickness.
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Along this new motherhood journey, I have often heard whispers of a mythic plague that spreads like wildfire throughout the house, leaving no tummy untouched. With spring in the air, I was just about rejoicing that we had made it through another cold and flu season mostly unscathed. But then, the dreaded illness struck my family, and suddenly, I was facing yet another rite of passage.
