With the hollow laughing

[radegund]

So, you remember the bit where niallm and I were sick, yes? But Oisín wasn't?

Ha. Well, on the very last day of our (concurrent) sick leave, a Friday, I went to collect said Oyster from the crèche, and there was a notice up saying "OMG WTF we have a suspected case of STREP THROAT here are the symptoms blah blah". And they said that Oisín had been "a bit out of sorts" that afternoon...

*big drum sounds and 'cellos of DOOOOOOOOM*

Yep. He got it. Sickest he's ever been. Temperature of 39.3°C (which is 102.7°F) at the doctor's appointment - high enough to worry the doctor, because at around 40°C you have to start watching for the febrile convulsions... Didn't sleep for more than about an hour and a half at a time for maybe 48 hours. Was deeply, horribly unhappy most of the time he was awake for about three days. Needed to be in my arms for much of that time. May have been hallucinating, although obviously, it's impossible to tell. A seven-day course of antibiotics, plus rectally administered paracetamol to rein in the fever. Ugh. When the weekend was over we organised grandmothers in shifts (by which I mean they came around to mind him, not that they were dressed in archaic undergarments), and took yet more time off work to cover the gaps, and somehow made it through to the following Thursday, when the boy was deemed fit to go back to the creche.

And all was well.

And there was a weekend that was not entirely unbearable. (At least, I think there must have been. My short-term memory left the building some time ago. But yes! Of course! There was glitzfrau's dinner party! Where I met jane_the_23rd for the first time! That was lovely.)

Swennyway. We all set forth on the Monday morning with hope in our hearts. But those drums and 'cellos weren't finished with us, because when I arrived to collect Oisín on the Monday evening, there he was, "out of sorts" AGAIN. His temperature soared that night to 39.9°C, which was enough to have me tearfully paging through my parenting books at 3:00a.m., wondering whether we needed to go to a hospital. Again, we had the almost hourly waking, again the misery, the restlessness, the burning, burning skin, and in the morning the doctor diagnosed a urinary tract infection. He wrote me a sick note, furthermore, because he recognised that I would not be fit for work while I was getting that little sleep.

(A data point: apparently all of my doctor's other patients who are in paid employment and also have small children have someone to whom they can hand over a sick child at no notice. He wrote me the cert largely because he doesn't consider me to have an adequate support structure to deal with this sort of situation. A comment, I feel, on the nature of Irish working life.)

Different antibiotics. Lots of cuddling. Not as sick as the previous time. Back to normal on the last day covered by my cert, thank goodness. Happy enough to be delivered to the crèche on Friday morning. Deep sighs of relief all round.

I really, really hope that's it for a while. And in conclusion, I wish to state that I will hold a small, private celebration on the day that I deem my youngest child old enough to insert its own anal suppositories. That is all.

Comments

[socmot.livejournal.com]

The joys of parenting that Fiona Looney, Tribune columnist, doesn't write about!

Thank you for the insight, and best wishes to you all.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thanks! All seeeeeems to be well, for now...

[glitzfrau.livejournal.com]

Oooh, honey. The poor, poor wee O., and hooray! for your doctor. (Also hooray! for grandmother coming permanently on-shift in the spring, no?)

Would love to see you today, if at all possible. If not, I'm thinking of you. xxx

[radegund.livejournal.com]

permanently on-shift

I somewhat hate the fact that we'll then slot so fucking neatly into the Standard Model, but on the other hand, AM I COMPLAINING ABOUT THE FREE CHILDCARE? I think not.

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Oh, the poor Oyster, and the poor poor you! I actually find a situation where most parents have adequate short-notice back-up hard to believe - must be my upbringing. In that sort of situation (were I working, and that's a moot point right now), I'd be the same. Ugh.

I have my fingers crossed for you all.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

It's an interesting one, isn't it? I was surprised too. Possibly the doctor was making a wild generalisation.

I can construct a scenario whereby it's plausible, though:

1. This doctor works in a predominantly middle-class area.
2. Middle-class women tend to have their babies later.
3. Therefore, it's more likely that grandparents will have retired (or taken early retirement) when grandchildren arrive.
4. Also, middle-class couples of my parents' generation are reasonably likely to be able to afford to live on a single income, so there may be more than the average number of non-employed (as opposed to unemployed) grandparents in this doctor's catchment community.
5. Also also, presumably in-house child carers / au pairs are presumably hired mainly by middle-class families.

I really want to find statistics now: of the parents of pre-school-age children who are employed outside the home, what proportion have no parents available for short-notice childcare? Of those, what proportion hire a dedicated carer?

Mostly, of course, this is about the fact that the working world IS NOT DESIGNED FOR CHILD CARERS, nohow, no way, no Ma'am. Argh.

[kulfuldi.livejournal.com]

Oh no! That sounds like a very hard time for all concerned. I hope you're all feeling a little better.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

We are, thanks, for now...

[ailbhe]

... and here I was asked why I was worrying when L was 103F. Hmm. I am glad I grew a spine.

I sincerely hope O remains better for a long time. I wonder is the stress wearing him down, or something? What does your / his homeopath say?

[radegund.livejournal.com]

My doctor looks positively on maternal worry. I like this.

I'm planning to ask about the stress thing, certainly. He's way underslept at the moment, which can't be helping.

(But oooh! He has a molar! We found it on Sunday!)

[ailbhe]

a MOLAR?! Woo! That can cause all sorts of sickness, you know, because they come through, and back, and through, and back, and two points come through but the other two don't, and then they go back - it's no wonder he's been prone to catching things if he's had a MOLAR coming through.

Hopefully he'll get a break now.

[jane-the-23rd.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I hope everything is okay now. And that the gorgeous little Oyster is back to his great little self. And the gorgeous radegund and niallm are, too!

Twas great and fantabulous meeting you finally, and we should do something fun again soon. I can't wait to meet the little Oyster, too, and boggle at his chubby cheeks and Frankenstein walk.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

I can't wait to meet...

And so you shall. (The brunch! Otherwise known as the Oyster-Gnome Summit! It will be WALL TO WALL CUTE!)

[jane-the-23rd.livejournal.com]

Dear GOD! I hope there will be paper bags for us to breathe into when we hyperventilate from the OVERDOSE of the CUTES.

[ainetl.livejournal.com]

poor oisín! i hope he's starting to feel better now. (and poor you regarding the suppositories...add one to my list of what kids should be able to do from birth.)

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Yes, that would be a useful survival trait, all right :-)

He seems to be over this one, anyway. We can but hope...

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

Poor Oisin! Poor all of you!

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Things do seem to be looking up :-)

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

Is it possible that all three of you are in a state that could be loosely described as healthy?

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Yes!

Um.

If you don't count my cold...

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

Horay!

Oh...

Ok, make that "very loosely".

[leedy.livejournal.com]

Poor Oyster! Poor you! That all sounds rotten.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was, a bit. Fingers crossed, that's it for a while...