Rounding the Cape

We are getting over the cold from hell around here. It started Friday night with an extremely congested baby who couldn't sleep through the night. R and I had rented a movie, and it took us about 3.5 hours to watch it. It felt like punishment for daring to get back to some semblance of LBS--Life Before Sam. On Monday the drippy snotty nose started, and that continued into yesterday. Today there is a little bit of snot-nose, but also a hacking cough, which I'm pretty sure signals the end of the cold proper. Just in time--the day after tomorrow I board a plane for a three-week trip to California.*

TIPS FOR BABY COLD

• Vick's Baby Rub--we put this on at night and it definitely seems to soothe him
• Plug-in menthol vapor Thorny--this really makes a difference in sleeping through the night 
• LOTS and LOTS of saline spray in the snout--he screams when we do this, but it loosens the congestion and helps the swelling 
• Hose the nose with the bulb suction--again, he screams like we're torturing him, and it breaks my heart, but the difference in his breathing is major. We do this in the morning when he wakes up and before bed, and if he's having a lot of trouble breathing in the day. 
• Cool-mist humidifier. We're keeping this on all night in addition to the plug-in thingy.  
• Breastfeeding like a mofo. I breastfeed on demand anyways, but I'm very conscious about doing it every couple hours when he's sick to keep him hydrated. 

We're rounding the corner--Sam slept 12 hours last night, and is on his third (third!) nap of the day--although the first one was only about 10 minutes before the cat woke him with her loud meowsing and attempt to fit into a cardboard box next to his head, so I guess we're really on his second (second!) nap of the day. 

*What's this? A three-week trip? Yes indeedy--a three-week, two-sets-of-grandparents trip. Saturday Sam and I (and R, since he's dropping us off and helping with the luggage) will be getting up at the ungodly hour of 4:15 to get to the airport to catch a flight for San Francisco, where my parents will be picking the two of us up and making the 5-hour drive up north to Arcata. The two of us will hang out there for 10 days, then we're flying down to LA, where Rick will meet us at the airport--his plane gets in about 45 minutes before ours. We'll be with Rick's parents for another ten days. 

I'm both looking forward to and dreading this trip. Obviously it will be nice to see family, and I am definitely looking forward to spending some quality time in California (hello, good produce). But it is three weeks! That's a very long time to be away from home with such a little man. We'll be totally out of our routine

 Boy waking up--draw your own conclusions about reasons for dread....

Comments

[yvonne]

Have a safe and fun trip.

[Alisha]

12 HOURS!? Your kid slept for 12 hours? Can I come over and rub your stomach because that is some kind of greatness right there. (Sorry he's sick though. That bulb up the nose thing... Oy.)

Thanks for your abundant niceness on Moxie's page. I DO have blog that I am not too proud to shamelessly self-promote: www.flabbypants.blogspot.com.

Let us know how the trip goes. We'll be reading!