Life with Chickenpox

First off, I am not writing this to Mom shame because I honestly believe we are all doing the best we can. With that said, my adventure begins... So, this past Friday I thought I was a horrible mom who let her infant get her face bit up by mosquitoes. As luck would have it, I did not let my daughter get bitten by mosquitoes. It turns out my pretty little princess has chickenpox. What how does this happen? Who actually gets chickenpox nowadays? The answer—my daughter, that is who. I wish I could say this has been a relatively easy thing to go through, but I would lying.

No Sleep Allowed

We started out with a runny nose last week. I thought is was allergies due to it being harvest season here. So I break out the cold air Vick’s humidifiers, plug-in, and dry vapor. I get eucalyptus defusing in my defuser. All in all, my house could clear the noses on a New York subway. Friday morning, I wake up to my daughter’s face completely covered in what I thought were bites. I automatically start feeling like the worst mom in the world. Note, I have never before seen chickenpox. So Friday evening, I host a Birthday party at the park for my 6-year-old son (All the kids at the party were vaccinated. I called all the parents). When we got home, I was undressing my daughter for a bath and noticed these same bumps on her legs. She was in a sleeper so I know those on her legs are not bites. So I call my mom, who agrees it’s chickenpox. Come Monday morning, I called her doctor who agrees that is what it is but doesn’t want to see her unless complications arise or she stops nursing. Let me tell you how much sleep I have gotten since I am lucky if I am getting to sleep an hour at a time.

My Saving Grayse

As a single mom, I am on my own. Nobody to tag in except for the rare moments my oldest feels sorry for me and plays with her, but he is at his dad’s. So, it is just me and Grayse grumpy pants. The first night it actually seemed to itch was Sunday night. She kicked me all night long, scratching her legs. Now I am in quarantine to avoid exposing anyone else and my daughter is miserable. So I start looking up what to do to make her feel better and some of the things I found were a little scary. That’s when my mom comes riding in like a knight on her white horse to save the day. She brings me oatmeal bath and calamine lotion. So I draw a bath for Grayse and put the oatmeal in the bath and let her play. Once out, I put the calamine lotion on her and nurse her. She goes right to sleep. A nice restful peaceful sleep. And so the adventure continues....