Down Under

Under the weather, that is. A couple of weeks ago we went to my parents' house for a few days. You may remember my sisters were visiting and our zoo trip was cancelled because several people were sick. Well, we brought their "crud" back with us. Olivia got sick the following Saturday. She had fever for a few days. She's still coughing but seems to be mostly over it (so she's wrapping up her second week of the crud). Jesse got sick at the beginning of this week. He started off with a terribly snotty nose and now he's got a little fever and is coughing. Probably due to the drainage and his inability to blow his nose. Anybody know how to get a 2-year-old to blow his nose?? Hubby's been straddling the fence between "well" and "sick" for a couple of weeks. I woke up with a sore and swollen throat Tuesday. It's still pretty sore, but not too sore to enjoy my ribeye for supper.

In the past two weeks we've bought 48 lbs of oranges, 12 lbs of apples, blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, mangoes, pineapples, and watermelon. We've been eating some and juicing some. We've had chicken noodle soup. Actually it had rice instead of noodles, so I guess we had chicken rice soup. We've also been drinking lots of water and tea. You'd think we'd be done with the crud by now. Alas, that is not the case. It looks like this would be a good time to buy stock in "Throat Coat" tea.

Dr. Mom

As a mother, I'm on call 24 hours a day. Olivia, 5, usually doesn't need me during the night. Jesse, 20 months, is not quite weaned. Occasionally he'll sleep through the night, but more often than not he'll get up once for a snack.

It looks like I'll really be on duty tonight. Olivia is sick. She was fine this morning. It was nice outside, so the kids went out and played. They had a great time running around and playing in the sand pile. They came in and had baths. Jesse had lunch but Olivia wasn't too interested. At the time I thought she just wasn't interested in what we were having. This afternoon we ALL took naps. That RARELY happens. Then Olivia vomited. My poor baby! I hate when my chidren are sick.

We visited my parents this weekend and my sister and niece came over. My niece had a cold so I was prepared for the possibility that my kids would catch it. I started listening for sniffles right away. I was not expecting puke. I got Olivia cleaned up, changed the bed clothes, put her back to bed, and washed all the dirty stuff. That's where she's been ever since. I've checked on her several times and she's had some water. I don't think she feels like trying anything else just yet.

Hubby's going by the grocery store and he'll be picking up some fruit and other things for her. I'll be giving her lots of fluids, Vitamin C, echinacea, and TLC. Hopefully she'll get over this quickly. And hopefully Jesse won't catch it.

Natural Remedies

Sick germs love my family. We seem to be constantly being hit with colds this winter. I am nursing and refuse to take medication for my illnesses (plus decongestants can dry up my milk). My children are too young for most over the counter medications so we have turned to alternative methods of treating our sniffles and coughs.

My favorite is a cup of hot tea and honey. Sometimes, I just warm a cup of plain water with lemon and honey and that does wonders for soothing a sore throat. Gargling with salt water is icky but effective as well. I have recently started using a saline solution that I run through my sinuses. I use a gigantic syringe, but I've heard of Netti pots that do the same thing. The saline up the nose is amazing! I couldn't believe how much it helped and how much better I felt. I also overdose on vitamin C and echinacea when I feel a cold coming on. Today I had over 2000% of the daily recommended value of vitamin C and it's the first time in a week that I've felt like a living person. Thank you Odwalla!

My kids have started using a product called Sinupret for kids and I've found that while it doesn't prevent a cold, it does shorten the length of the cold and the severity of it. When combined with Emergen-C, we can knock out a cold fairly quickly with no significant interruption of our normal daily activities. They also like warm water and snuggles on the couch.

I love water. Water in all forms. Especially in steam while I'm sick. I've been known to lay on the floor of the shower and let the water fill the bathroom with steam and just marinate there. The steam helps loosen the congestion and relax my achy muscles when I have a fever. Drinking plain water is the easiest natural remedy for a lot of ailments. It helps flush toxins from your body and keeping hydrated is so important for everyone at all ages.

Chamomile is a wonderful tea for soothing nausea and upset stomachs. Lavender is relaxing for the mind and body. Ginger is great in several forms for soothing nausea. You can find it in sucker form, tea, candied, etc. Zinc helps reduce the length of colds as well. Zinc is found naturally in pumpkin seeds, beef, salmon, and potatoes. Mint teas are great for helping a cold or viral infection flush out of your system. Keeping things moving is key.

I hope everyone is keeping cozy warm and hopefully haven't been suffering from too many colds or the flu.