Through Sickness

A true test of love comes in how you treat them when they are ill. Ellie, my daughter, has been sick since Monday, February 9th with the Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). She is 9 months old, and until recently she had never been sick. I honestly believe that she was so health, because I made sure breast milk was her primary food source until she was 9 months old. However, she also started day care on January 9th, so I guess I cannot properly hypothesize that breast milk was the only reason she was so healthy. Ellie is now on her third illness, and Scott and I are getting our education on how to care for a sick child.

Ellie is a champion sleeper, and has been sleeping through the night for so long that I cannot remember what it was like to get up every night. Uninterrupted sleep is one of the first things to go when Ellie is sick. She wakes up, and then realizes how miserable she feels. Then we are all up. I would like to say that we handled this all in stride, but I can admit that on more than one occasion I was visibly annoyed. However, once we realized that waking up was going to be a common occurrence we started planning for it. We went to bed earlier each evening, and had everything standing by for when she awoke. Scott and I would tag team the various tasks that needed to be completed, and then after some rocking Ellie would be back to sleep.

Over the past two nights we have continued our preparations for a middle of the night waking, but so far she has continued to sleep. I am about to prepare everything for tonight, and hopefully we are in for a restful night's sleep.

Ellie's daycare was closed for professional development today, but after a full day at home I can honestly say that I have been occasionally annoyed. However, I am impressed with how much love I have shown my child while she has been sick. Ellie is on the road to recovery, and hopefully we will all be healthy for a little while.