Friday, February 23, 2007

The Best Laid Plans

I apologize that I haven’t been a good bloggy friend to many of you recently– i.e. haven’t stopped by to read your posts, left very few comments to let others know I am alive, and ee gads, my own posting has been sparse of late – but we have had a hectic few weeks, and this week has been particularly crazy. I’ve been working a bunch, SRH has been working even more, and Zane has been consistently demanding things like food and water.

Fortunately, Zane seems to be continuing on this track of good health. Well, except at night. For the past 4 nights in a row, Zane has woken up a little after midnight coughing like crazy and really congested. We give him a breathing treatment and some cough syrup (because we can’t really tell if it’s asthma) and then after about an hour, we all get back to sleep.

And in the morning, Zane is JUST FINE. No symptoms, no problems, he feels great.

So last night, SRH and I went to bed really early because we’re both exhausted from the long work hours and interrupted nights, and we figured that even if we had to be up for an hour in the middle of the night, we’d still get in 8 good hours of sleep.

Yeah.

So after midnight, the coughing/snottiness starts and we do the breathing treatment and cough syrup routine. But the cough won’t go away. And then:

Me: Uh-Oh. Did you just hear that?

SRH: (grunt, grunt, groggy, groggy)

Me: SRH, did you hear that?

SRH: Wha-?

Zane: (puke)

Me: That.

We added puking to the coughing-snot mix. The child coughed so hard, he puked. And sure it was gross, but Zane really didn’t seem much bothered by it. We changed his clothes and proceeded to stay up with him for TWO MORE HOURS while he coughed and talked rolled around the bed, generally working hard to make sure neither of us got a full night’s sleep.

And while I was the one who held him throughout the breathing treatment, the cough syrup, the puking, and the incessant gabbing, when he was finally ready to settle down, the Little Judas wanted SRH to cuddle with him. And once he was done giving lovings, he came over to me so that he could fall asleep with his little vomitous breath on my face.

So that was nice.

Then this morning, Zane was just fine. Completely fine. Totally fine. So weird.

And there’s been no change in his bedroom environment. Nothing that would explain that this strange nightly coughing fit. I am left to simply believe that I am in some type of hell reserved for people do not deserve a good night’s sleep. Probably the hell for folks who are not good bloggy friends.

And don’t you go and make this about Zane. I know it’s his coughing, but it’s my lack of sleep, and that’s gotta count for something. Plus, he’s fine the next morning. Totally fine. Whereas, I am a sleep-deprived mad woman who goes to work disheveled and bitter.


(I have noticed that my posts recently have been very Zane-specific. And more particularly, Zane-and-illness-specific. If you’re wondering, I’m kind of sick of it, too. This is how deep winter is for my family, lots of energy and attention given to Zane’s health. Which is completely fine and appropriate, so I’ll blog about it. But I, too, am longing for a future where I blog about Lionel Richie, crazy yoga classes, and anything other than asthma and food allergies. Maybe I’ll tell you about the time I dated a guy who kept a gun in his backseat – and I shot a man for snorin’ too loud.)

9 comments:

Christy said...

It doesn't matter if you blog is Zane specific. What takes up most of your time - Zane. What takes up most of your brainpower - Zane. Us out here in blogland know you have a life outside of that, but its your blog, your little bit of what's worrying you and you can put whatever the hell you want onto it.
I can't imagine what its like to have a kid with allergies and from my perspective on the other side of the world, you are doing a marvellous job!
Congratulations.

Oh and its a great read too.

belsum said...

Yep. Cough so hard they puke. I was not amused when that happened. As if having a snotty cold wasn't enough. Sheesh.

Anonymous said...

O.K. Can I just say that I FINALLY found your blog? And can I also say that I laughed out loud when you called Zane a "Little Judas"? I now have something to mutter under my breath when my (innocent) husband comes home from work and the kids run to him like I haven't spent all day bending to their EVERY WHIM! Sorry. Anyway, I'm so glad I finally found you and I expect you to be equally glad, too!

Sue said...

Oh I feel for your lack of sleep. I'm still not caught up on sleep from Kayla's 5 day stomach virus. But that ended. It's harder when there is no "end in sight". It's so hard to function like that.

I hope his mysterious coughing ends so you can get some rest. Or at the very least, I hope you get some cuddles as well. You might as well get some benefits, right?

I too can't wait until the winter/sick season is over. Spring, I'm waiting!!!
:)

nancy said...

I will try to send non-coughing, non-puking and many-non-interrupted-sleep-hours vibes in your direction.

Hang in there!

Zany Mama said...

christy-
Thanks for the vote of confidence. I try very hard to blog about what's real for me, but sometimes I get tired of hearing myself talk about Zane's health and I figure that others must too. Apparently, I don't give "others" enough credit.

Thanks!

belsum-
So. not. amused.

Of course, my mom sometimes pees herself when she coughs. I'm not sure which is worse.

Well, since I don't have to change her pants, I guess I'm sure which is worse for me.

thea(I totally remember you)
Thanks for stopping by. SRH said, Who's Thea? And I was all, She's one of Ellen's friends that I really like.. And he was all, Cool.

Anyway, I'm glad you finally found me. As I tell many new people, this blog is full of wisdom and wit, but probably not on the days you're going to read it.

Glad you're here.

sue-
Yay, spring! Please come, please come, please come.

Glad to hear that Kayla is feeling better!

Nancy-
The night after you sent this message, we had a glorious, cough-snot-puke free night.

Whatever you did, I need you to do it again.

Right now.

Anonymous said...

I would much rather read about Zane than Lionel Ritchie.

jotcr2 said...

My blog was resolved around Sheena's sickness not very long ago. I thought people probably thought I was obsessed about it - they were probably right. It is hard to have a life otherwise when bubba was sick. Anyway, I got your comment that you didn't know Sheena was sick. Look at Sept/Oct/Nov to see what I am still getting over. Mainly Oct.

Anonymous said...

One of my kids had the cough all night, treat it with xopenex and cough syrup stuff, from Nov until three weeks ago. What changed? We went to the allergist, who diagnosed a case of pertussis.

One week of abx and she was good as new. No more coughing.