3 Weeks of the Sickies

Yes, it is week 3 of somebody in this house being ill...mostly me and the baby. DH has gotten lucky so far, the cheeky bastard (knock wood).

I havent updated in forever. Lets just say I had a full week of my parents and brother visiting us which was awesome and tiring and busy all at once. Then December hit us full on so it was getting ready for the holidays.

Then two weeks before Christmas, Maxim go sick. Then the week after, just before Christmas, I got hit with the worst damn stomach flu I've had in years. I honestly can't remember the last time I was so sick. I was out of work for 2 days (3 days really with the forced day off due to Occupational Health's requirements) followed by one good day, followed by the worst gas and gut pain over the holidays I've ever had in my life. Last week, I still wasnt 100% until about Wednesday...and now I have a nasty chest cold with a terrible cough.

Seriously. Seriously the worst Christmas ever when it comes to this. I so didnt enjoy myself like I normally do.

Upside that isnt really a positive thing: I've lost 10 lbs in 3 weeks due to sickness and lack of appetite.

Home remedies are the best. When Maxim threw up his 5th damn DAY in a ROW (it ended up being 9 days if you are really curious) due to coughing, I called my grandma. I had it up to HERE with cleaning up puke. Seriously, I know I gotta lot of years ahead of me cleaning up barf, but enough was enough after 9 days in a row. Poor baby was so sick, he wanted nothing to do but sit and lay on us. The extra cuddles were awesome but I felt so badly for him.

Anyway so I called my grandma and she gave me my great-grandma's home remedy for chest congestion. Long ago, I learned that grandma's remedies are just awesome. When I was in high school, I was a band trip on a bus. I ate Subway then sat on the floor of the bus with my friends...huge mistake, huge nauseous headache ensued. I threw up on the bus in a bucket next to my band director. At the time I didnt make the association between car sickness and the episode, I thought I was coming down with a bug. We were like 20 minutes from my great-grandma's teeny little town and I asked my band director to drop me off for the night. So this big coach bus pulls up in front of my great-grandma's and out she comes with welcoming arms. She nursed me back to health with a teaspoon of creme de menthe and sugar. Yep, thats it. It sounds really foul but trust me, it soothes an upset tummy very fast. I didnt have real creme de menthe during my latest bout with stomach flu, though I was praying it would magically show up in my cupboard at any time. After some great-grandma love, I was good to go the next day and my great-uncle drove me to my band's destination so I could finish my trip. Ever since I do get headaches in the car from nausea unless I'm driving or in the front seat (even the front seat isnt a guarentee) so I'm usually driving.

So grandma's remedies rock. The remedy we used this time was the mustard pack. The recipe is as follows:

3 tbsp of dried mustard
2 tbsp of white vinegar
2 tbsp of white flour
2 egg whites

Mix it up into a paste and spread on a a piece of old thin cotton fabric (old torn bedsheet or t-shirt for example). It will feel cold to the touch. Place on bare chest and keep there for 10-20 minutes (for a child 5 minutes). Be sure to watch so the skin doesnt burn as the circulation in the chest and the mustard interact to heat it up very quickly. If you are doing this to a child, half the recipe down for a smaller pack and remember it will feel cold to you so you have to watch the chest so it doesnt blister. Remove from the chest when it starts to turn pinkish red.

We did this to Maxim twice and it really helped clear it up.

I'm so hoping we all get well really soon. I'm so tired of having low energy and no motivation and feeling like crap. I'll try to post more frequently and hopefully will get some pics up from our Christmas soon!