Thursday, August 12, 2010

The cold wave

At dawn, I wake up with a sore throat. Atishu, atishu…Hubby gets up. Atchu…Becky baby gets up. Sniff-sniff…Ann wakes up too. She is the culprit. She brought the cold in, from school perhaps.

A busy day ahead, I thrust the milk bottle into baby’s mouth, get Ann ready for school and after steaming, a dose of Rhus-tox (homeo medicine) and breakfast, hubby drops her off at the bus stop.

Then there is a chorus of Atishu, Atishu – replete with Bass, Tenor, Soprano, Alto…. A bout of common cold strikes our family cold. We rub eucalyptus oil and do the customary steaming. Feels good. Hubby and I head to work. Becky stays put at home with maid.

Cold gets cold-er over the day. Develops into fever for Becky and me. I pop a paracetamol pill to get rid of the gnawing headache, body ache and fever. Becky gets the paediatric syrup. We get the steam ready. All four of us get under the blanket, breathe-in, breathe-out.

Next morning, my legs and hands are aching. And my head throbbing. I feel feverish. Muster the energy to get Ann ready for school after the steam, rhus-tox, breakfast and glass of milk. And hit the bed again. I decide to work from home that day, when baby gets a bit too cranky to handle, because of the annoying cold. She wants me to be around. We both do the steaming therapy religiously, get a 2 hour sleep, and the waking hours I do errands for the baby and actually manage some work in between. Hectic day, but baby and I feel much better by the end of the day. My voice sounds nasal. And my kids’ too.

Next day, cold develops into dry cough. Co-oh, co-oh. It hurts. Voice sound gruff. The gnawing headache remains. But I head to work. By evening, cough and headache increases 2-fold. Get out by 7 pm from work. Hubby has an appointment with the dentist. So we pickup Ann from mom’s place and rush to the dentist. I sink into the cozy couch at the dentist’s place and watch lame programmes on TV, switch channels as I hold my throbbing head in agony. The wait seems endless. Ann already has a clip on to correct her cross-bite condition and the dentist says its working fine. Hubby wants me to get my teeth checked as well. And the dentist discovers 3 cavities, says my wisdom teeth are smiling at him, begging to be removed. Asks me to think about it and get back if I want it temporarily filled or removed. I smile. The lady dentist compliments that I have a pretty smile. I suspect if it’s a marketing gimmick. And we dash home. Co-oh-co-oh, throb-throb…have dinner, pop paracetamol and crash.

Becky wakes up in the wee hours, co-hoh, co-hoh. Dry cough. Family steaming session again in the morning. Today is definitely better than yesterday. Hope the cold storm dies down soon.


“A family that steams together, heals together.”

Ann
Becky






26 comments:

wise donkey said...

ooooooooo its so tough:) i loved the last line. and we get so suspicious of even a simple compliment, but thats the way it is nowadays:)

hope you feel better soon .take care:)

The Holy Lama said...

Q. What did you do in the evening?
RGB Answers: Steam together

That's quality time spent together:)

Insignia said...

Oh!! Oh!! Take care and get well soon.

I was wondering your absence for few days. Now I know.

Cold catches us(oops...let it not be offended)..So we catch cold sooner. Kids are volatile further.

Becky and Ann look so cute even when ill.

Take care

Bikram said...

QUALITY time i see there... maybe carry it on.. have the steam thing converted to a Sauna :) it does wonders

and paracetamol for a child NOT GOOD.. thats what i think anyway

I hope the cold goes away, but i have seen that there are some things like cold, fever etc they take there time.. it usually last 4to 5 days medicine or no medicine :)

but then i got weird thoughts all the times so dont listen to me

Kids are prone to anything.. But god bless I hate it when they catch cause they dont know what to do ..

TAKE CAREEEEEE

Neena Sharma said...

Loved your girls' photographs. They are so sweet.

Destiny's child... said...

Get well soon RGB. Cold is one of the worst things to have happened to humankind.
Steaming good quality time!

Asif said...

ouch ! Thats not good. I'm scared of cold :)
Good to see Becky baby taking steam without giving you any trouble :)

"She is the culprit...She brought the cold in" hehehe isn't it so common in our homes to hear that :)?

Take Care...

walk2write said...

Hope you all feel better soon! Have you tried adding clove and cinnamon oils to the steam solution? They're antiviral and give a boost to the immune system.

A New Beginning said...

Take care!!!I hope you get well soon...that was a very inetresting post...full of togetherness..I wonder how things bring us together...even if its fever and cold!
Get well soon!!!

Balachandran V said...

I never thought a bout of cold is such fun! :D

wise donkey said...

came over to see if you are doing better. take care and have a good weekend.

Latha Nair said...

The flu is surely a nuisance-
we don't take it too seriously
but can't ignore it either
Loved the last line :)

Nona said...

Atishu! Atishu!

Looks like I also got cold reading this. :)

Hope you guys are doing well now. :)

Shilpa Garg said...

Lovely sweet babies!! :)
Ah...it's the same story here...first it was hubby and then me... hopefully the child will be spared.
Take care and get well completely!!
That's a good one... “A family that steams together, heals together.”
Cheers :)

Sandhya said...

Your daughters look cute. It is difficult to handle cold even for us and it must be worse for the kids.

Take care.

Kavi said...

Hope you are much better off now ! Wishing you a speedy recovery to good health and great cheer !

:)

Ellen said...

That's a bad cold alright. But everybody will get better soon. A cold has only a week's life span, so they say. And you've done the best you could do. Warms the heart so to see the family so close and sweet.

Joseph Pulikotil said...

Hello:)

I am sorry to read about the cold in the entire family and how all of you suffered.

It is also amazing to read how a working mother copes with sickness in the family along with a full time job.Taking care of the family and fulfilling the responsibilities of a job could be quite challenging and nerve wracking needing great store of energy and mental strength.Any one in your place would have taken a few days leave and stayed at home.
You are a truly amazing person and I great appreciate your grit and determination to cope with such difficult situations.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery:)
Joseph

Anonymous said...

Owww... Hope you guys are all better now...

Your daughters are so precious.. Loved their snaps. Cute. Cute. :)

RGB said...

Sorry guys. The bout of cold & cough took me out. Still got remnants of it left. And now a bad back to make matters worse.

Thank you all for your concern and warm wishes.

Unknown said...

get well soon dear..am suffering from severe cough too..my grandmom and me sound alike now..*cough*

sujata sengupta said...

Aww I am late! I hope you and your kids and hubby are better now. drink lots of hot rasam!

Novice Writer said...

Hey, why are you not consulting a doctor??? Take care! The types of fever these days are real scary!

RGB said...

Thanks guys. Got rid of the cold, but I have a back-ache now (sprained it perhaps, when I tried lifting stubborn baby off the floor) and a red eye (baby boxed my right eye last night. I thought I went blind but I can see with my left eye closed)!

Sandhya said...

Baby boxer, eh?!

RGB said...

@ Sandhya,
Yup. I'll need to get a helmet and some gear to protect myself!