Things that go bump

I've compared trying to change Rebecca's nappy with trying to wrestle a squid with one hand (my use of one hand, not the squid). She is full of energy, and want to grab, chew, feel, get to everything she can see. This is fantastic to watch but hard to handle - especially with a nappy overflowing with runny poo.

Today that urge to get to whatever she sees took her over the edge, literally. She was just after being washed by her Mummy and was sitting well in on the bed in her bedroom (no, she does not use the bed yet) and must have caught sight of some toys in a basket on the floor beside her chest of drawers. I am thinking she could be a contender for gold medals in either or both long and high jumps in the future as she really had to lunge to get off the edge of the bed. Head first. No fear.

The thud as she hit was something else, and thank the Lord she hit off the basket and not directly onto our hardwood floors. The scream was horrible and sent a shiver down both Mummy's and my own spine. I know from the pediatric first aid course I did a few months ago that it is a good thing she started to scream and cry, but it is still horrible to see our little baby in pain.

Needless to say, cuddles cold cloth and frozen peas (to cool the cloth) were all in use for the following half hour. I think she will have a bruise later today but she is back in flying form and I know it is the first of many falls. I just hope not too many.

A conversation about replacing the floors with carpet is going to be had this week.

Another first

I feel very guilty. I've made my baby sick.

I had a flu, which became a cold after a few days, and is currently just a cough. I was pretty sure it was all passed but it mustn't have been as our lovely Rebecca had a runny nose last night and a little bit of a temperature. It is the first time she has been sick.

She is such a little trooper though - still full of smiles and laughter, but she did wake her Mummy every hour during the night with crying. I got the easy side of the scale - I'd work today, and also didn't want to pass anything else on to her.

We used a few things which I am noting because they may help other parents -

First off, the obvious one: calpol. That was before I got to the chemist and just worked with the temperature.

There was also from the same crew, calpol nasal spray, which has done wonders but I have to say I am a chicken when ti comes to sticking things up a babes nose so have had to bow to my stronger willed wife.

Next is karvol capsules. This is a decongestant vapour which I got in capsules. You break one over a muslin square -well, actually it was one of my old socks (clean!) in our case - and leave it somewhere near enough to where the baby will be sleeping.

The last one is as important, but very hard to find in the shops: stick a couple of books under the mattress so that she is slightly raised, allowing her sinuses to drain more easily.

So far so good - about 22 hours in and she is in good form, coughing a little but other than that no running nose and eating her food.

Have you got time to be ill darling?

We are truly blessed. Our little lady hasn't been sick at all.

The only time so far we've had even a smidgen of health trouble was after some of her shots. She got a fever for a few hours which went down with some calpol (Gods gift to parents of sick kids!).

I think a lot of it is down to lack of contact with too many other people. We're not hermits but I work from home and my wife is a SAHM so we don't bring home a workplace full of germs and illnesses every day.

The problem which I am just realising now (as I have the flu and a sore throat) is what do we do if we are both sick? I suffered through my days work and am off to bed with some medication and water. My wife told me as I headed up that she is feeling a little worse for wear too.

So the race is on for me to get well before she gets sick. And both of us praying we don't pass it on to the little lady. How are you meant to handle two sick parents and a sick child? And how on earth do single parents cope with more than one sick child when sick themselves?

I know we will cope, and really hope our little lady doesn't catch it too. I know she has lots of sicknesses to get through in life, and that they will all build up her defences. I just don't know how I'll cope with seeing her unwell and not being able to stop it for her.