Update on JuggerBaby and our health
December 14, 2016
JuggerBaby has been transformed partly into the Unstoppable JuggerBaby with the addition of a cast. It’s a club that’s bashed about with great vigor, never mind who gets in the way. It’s made zir approximately 15% more reckless. It’d be worse but ze hasn’t discovered the extent to which ze can take advantage yet. Cross your fingers that ze doesn’t catch on before it comes off.
We just hope that amid all zir fun, ze is also healing up well.
The really annoying thing is that ze has been congested for about two months now, and so have I, and I don’t know what it’ll take to kick this dratted thing. Ze is taking Zarbee’s for the resulting cough because there’s nothing you can really safely give a kid zir age, but it’s not that effective. We still have reports from daycare that ze is coughing a lot during zir naps, and every night, it wrenches my heart to hear the hacking cough issuing from zir crib.
Since the cold set in, I’ve been doing remarkably well. I was pretty sure I’d adjusted to San Francisco type weather. Then I wasn’t. This Sunday’s temps were exactly the same as they had been for the last two weeks but this chill went straight to my bones, then from there zapped my muscles so that nothing from neck to toe didn’t ache. Literally down to my very toes and the tiny bones in there – ache ache ache ACHE.
It was a point of pride that I’d only had to bundle up to endure the ever-so-frigid days and nights that drop as low as (horror! gasp!) the 40s and 50s. I know, I know. But look, I’m from the tropics, genetically, this is unnatural for my people. I’d adjusted mostly but my fibro gets eccentric at times. All this wind-up means we had to run the heater for more than ten minutes. We had taken to running it for a little while to take the chill off since JuggerBaby can’t wear sleeves, and then leaving it off for the night, and it makes me grumpy to know that we had to run it longer just so that I could feel mostly human again. I know it’s not a big deal really in the grand scheme of things but there’s that knee-jerk frugal reaction of no! don’t waste money like that!
Meanwhile, PiC’s got a thing going on with his back, and his vision (unrelated). I’m hoping that it’s nothing serious, although I think it’s safer to say I hope it’s something that will resolve itself and go far far away soon, because we have trouble enough on our hands. Also he’s not used to being in pain for prolonged periods of time and it makes him grumpy.
Under the mental health column, I hit a glacier of Zen this month. Lots of things could irritate me but with the exception of one Friday, it hasn’t bothered me enough to even shout at the computer. That’s new. Also it’s appreciated by Seamus who is not at all convinced by my “it’s not you” reassurances. He’s a smart dog but I don’t think he quite grasps how the box I stare at all day could be getting itself in trouble.
I don’t know if the weird calm comes from having maxed out my stress receptors after November, or maybe I have gone numb from the three month long series of working more than twice my usual hours, but it’s kind of nice. Bizarre, but nice.
:: How long can you go before you have to run the heater when winter sets in? How’s everyone doing at home?
State of Zen? Man, I could totally use that! My health has sucked the past few months. I finally got in with a specialist, but not until end of Jan, then they’ll prob. refer me to tests that I have to schedule and wait for… health sucks. Good luck not breaking anything yourself in the line of JuggerBaby’s cast! š
I’m sorry to hear about your health troubles, my fingers are crossed that they get you checked over soon and expeditiously.
I have no idea where it came from but if I do, I’ll send some Zen your way!
Poor JuggerBaby! We went through a similar coughing issue with our oldest years ago. It was so bad, she was almost hospitalized because her oxygen levels were so low. We were prescribed a nebulizer, originally with some heavy medications (usually for people with asthma) by the urgent care doctor, but when we saw our regular pediatrician, she recommended using the nebulizer with a plain saline solution since our daughter doesn’t have asthma. It helps break up the mucous in the chest and makes breathing easier and yet is totally safe since it’s just sterilized water & salt (we use Simply Saline). We recently pulled it out for our younger daughter and she’s used the nebulizer for a week, morning & night, with the awful cold/cough going that’s been going around. Usually, we’ve only had to use it for 2-3 days for bad congestion, but this year’s cold/cough is brutal. I did a quick google check and they aren’t horribly expensive anymore, so you may want to look into it. I’ve used it myself on occasion, and it’s a tremendous help!
Ouch, agreed, this year’s cold and cough is absolutely brutal. I can deal with mine so far but we’ll see if ze can be convinced to try anything other than the Zarbee’s. Thanks for visiting and commenting!
The current temperature where I live is 18 degrees F. I kept the thermostat set frugally at 60 for my first couple of years here, and was basically miserable all day and all night, despite wearing a crazy number of layers.
And then I decided: you know what? This is why I earn money. So that I can choose when to spend it, and I’m choosing to spend it on keeping my place at a temperature that’s comfortable for me with a reasonable number of layers. Being too cold was just such a negative. It was physically uncomfortable, it made it harder to fall asleep, and I think it even made me unhappier. Bumping up the thermostat was worth the expense because I decided that it was worth it to be nice to myself. To have a better experience of being alive in the world, at a very basic level.
Which I guess is a very long way of saying that if you’re still cold, a random blog reader thinks it’s really okay to run the heater or even turn up the temperature in the house as a whole. Or buy a warm sweater or whatever it takes to be physically comfortable. You will still be a frugal person– it isn’t the first step into wild spending. You’ll just be more comfortable. That matters, too.
Oh my heavens, 18 degrees??? Going up to 60 when it’s that bone cold outside simply can’t be enough to banish the chill.
Thanks for reading and for the support! š
Ha ha! It’s so true the dogs hunker down, look guilty, and slink out of the room when you start to cuss at the computer! š And the “It’s okayyy it’s not you” reassurance only serves to elicit a look that says “we know you’re an unpredictable lunatic.”
It’s amazing how fast a little kid can spring back…much faster, for example, than…oh…say…a parent!
Augh, you remind me of how cold San Francisco can get in the wintertime. There are a few days (weeks?) when it’s just biting…especially if the wind manages to blow up your jacket sleeves. A damp 40 or 50 degrees is one heckuva lot colder than 40 degrees! Turn on the heat, and wear long-sleeve knits under the coat.
So glad you feel some Zen! I hope that there is renewed and continued health for everyone in your home. The Seamus and the box bit is my favorite part of this š
And you know, I can’t be toooooo sympathetic about the cold. I guess this is just proof that if we shall ever meet in real life, I’ll be visiting you. Or you’ll have to come out here in the summer. <3
I’m running behind in my blog reading and I bet you’re putting the heat on more frequently these days. Brrr! It’s been a cold winter here, and it sounds it will be even colder next week.
Like Sally, I like to be warm and will spend money doing so. I program the thermostat on the central heat to be 68F during the day, but more and more find myself bumping it up to 70F at some point. If I can get outside in the sun for a bit I usually can chase the chill away and don’t end up changing the thermostat, though.
P.S. I have some wool socks for you that will help with the cold. Some day we will get a chance to connect so you can give them a try.