This last week has been one of the toughest I have had in a long while. It started on Thursday when The Crazy Kid wasn't himself. Usually he has an annoying amount of energy - to the extent that one weekend I let him guide me on a walk. I had nothing else on so thought I'd let him choose his own adventure. Big mistake! Apart from 10 minutes spent train watching, The Crazy Kid walked non stop for 2.5 hours. For an 18 month old that's a lot of walking! So, I knew something wasn't right with him last Thursday when all he wanted to do was sit on the couch and watch TV with me. He never watches TV. He just doesn't have the concentration span for it. I was hoping he was just tired but when I checked on him when I went to bed I found he'd been sick all over his cot. He was fast asleep, so I left him to sleep figuring I'd change him and the sheets when he woke up during the night. Surprisingly, he still slept through though I didn't get a wink of sleep as I was too worried about the little guy.
That night started four days of absolute hell for me. The Crazy Kid just doesn't get sick. He has had three colds since he was born and, apart from the fact that he became a snot faced monster, he showed no signs of being unwell. This time was different. He had a nasty case of gastro and was so listless and miserable it broke my heart. He didn't eat a thing for four days and lost a kilo, which is a lot when you are only 12kgs to start off with.
Over the weekend I did 11 loads of washing (no exaggeration) and changed 300 nappies (slight exaggeration). Just as things were starting look better and The Crazy Kid appeared to be on the mend, his dad caught the bug. We had gone to bed at 10.30 on Sunday night and at midnight The Big Man sat up in bed and announced that he was sick. I listened to him moan for two hours before deciding I'd be better off on the couch so abandoned the poor fella. The Crazy Kid then woke up at 4.00am so I was back up looking after him.
Though The Big Man was really sick I all but ignored him dealing with The Crazy Kid and all the washing he had created. I made sure that I checked on him every couple of hours to replenish his water and jam another Imodium down his throat but that was the extent of my nursing.
Yesterday it all caught up with me and I felt rotten. My bones and joints ached like I had never felt before. I was terrified that it was the start of the bug for me. Add to that, I had not had a chance to shower since Saturday so I really felt disgusting. At 6.15 pm I was virtually dead on my feet so I decided to have a bath. That's right, I was so exhausted that I forgo watching my beloved Neighbours to have a bath.
Earlier in the year I had won a pack of Aromatherapy Associates bath oils in a competition run by My Spa Guide. I have to admit that when they first arrived I was a tiny bit disappointed. As you can see from the pictures below, the bottles are tiny (7.5ml). I had expected them to be at least 50mls each. Turns out that these are not oils diluted in a carrier oil like most bath oils, but pure essential oils. You add just 2 capfuls to your bath. Each bottle contains enough for at least 5 baths.
Last night I added one cap of Relax (that is my favourite one though has now run out) and one cap of Revive and I lay just there for 45 minutes reading my book. I was too drained to do any other beauty treatment so I just read.
When I got out the aches had all but gone though I was still dog tired. The Big Man assured me he was feeling better so I moved back in off the couch and went to bed. I was another person when I woke up today. I was restored. Still tired (The Crazy Kid did start our day at 5.50am!) but a million times better than the day before.
I don't know how I avoided this bug. Not only did it take out the Big Man and The Crazy Kid, it also hit his grandmother (who was the sickest out of the lot of us, poor thing), my cousin, both her kids and her mother in law. The bug really had a field day on our family. Lets hope that we have now seen the end of it!
Has a beauty product ever restored you from near death to human again?