July 2024 - Nursery Illness

Well, what a month...possibly one of the hardest of my mum life. Jamie has been incredibly ill this month with a horrible virus. He's nose didn't stop running for 2 weeks straight. We're not talking a drip here and there, he drew blood from his nose on more than one occasion from the constant wiping. It started with a rash, looking deceptively similar to chicken pox. After speaking to a pharmacist, she assured me this wasn't chicken pox but another viral infection. I was hoping the rash would be the only side effect. Little did I know, Jamie was about to enter the worst illness I can remember.

Since starting nursery in April 2024 - so only 4 months - Jamie has had 2 colds, 2 viruses, 2 cases of nits, conjunctivitis and a rash. We'd expected some illness. Obviously, large groups of small children will spread all sorts like the plague, however I'd be lying if the struggle my poor son has had to endure didn't deter me from sending him. I'm holding on to the hope he's immune system will be so highly boosted that he'll rarely get ill in the years to come. If not now, then when?, you could ask.

After the rash had settled, I believed Jamie was on the mend, until he's Dad unsuccessfully took him Geocaching. Jamie usually loves going on walks, looking for treasure and taking a digger or picking up large sticks to drag around but he'd cried from the moment they left the car. Jamie doesn't know how to explain being ill yet. At 3 years old, he tends to cry and moan to show he's not quite right. This is something we're going to work on as his language gets better.

The day after was the beginning of a 2 week intense virus whereby Mike and I were the most stressed, tired, overwhelmed parents to a new born and an incredibly angry and sick child. Jamie could only express his pain through shouting, hitting, crying and whinging....ALL day. I tried with all my might to be the best possible parent, to help my child whilst he was so ill but I'd be lying if I said I kept my cool the whole time. My son can't comprehend that his illness will dissipate over a short time, yet I couldn't truly comprehend how sore a throat he had, headaches, cold shivers and then soaking the bed through hot sweats. He was Ill and I needed to be there for him, yet he's fighting against everything I said drove me to despair. He had a 40 degree temperature for 5 days in a row and hated us approaching him with any form of tissue for he's shattered nose. He also refused to eat and lost so much weight he looked frail.

Each day Mike and I would pray for a better day for our son. It took 2 torturous weeks to see the glimmer of our happy little boy with good health. It's now the summer holidays so Jamie isn't attending nursery. I'm in equal measure excited to see him back there, learning and playing with friends but I'm also terrified that he's going to catch another hideous virus. I will be praying for a good start in September and dosing my boy up on vitamins and probiotics!

Zoe x