About last night…

I was going to write an entirely different post this week, until last night happened. Yes…last night was truly special. One of a kind I’d say…I was up all night holding a special someone….my unwell baby. (What were you thinking? Hmmmm)

That I can smile about it now is in itself a wonder. Last night, I promise you, I was a walking zombie! My Nyakio had a fever, and boy, did she keep me on my toes! If I were a first time mum, I’d probably have dashed her to hospital in the middle of the night. But with experience, I’ve learnt to check for emergency action signs.No diarrhoea. Check. No vomiting. Check. No body rash. Check. No persistent crying. Check.

What she had was high temperature and a running nose. So despite the rain and cool temperatures, I literally stripped her down to her diaper, and from time to time, dabbed her down with a damp cloth. I also gave her some paracetamol and anti histamine (5ml of each) and began the wait-and-watch routine. The thing about it though, was the only way she could any decent sleep is if I held her.

Ordinarily, I’d wake my hubby up and we’d tag team on something like this, (memories of our colic nights!!) but after taking one look at him sprawled across the bed, I knew hapa, niko peke yangu!! In his defense, he’d been up for 24 hours straight working on his soon-to-be-released music video, and with that kind of exhaustion, he was not going to be of any help to the situation.

When the fever began to recur in the morning, I knew it was time to do a hospital run. With my red eyes and all, I showered, changed and we were off to hosi. Thankfully, it was nothing but the common homa. Lots of kids are getting sick around now, with the onset of the rainy season. The doctor prescribed an antihistamine, an antibiotic and paracetamol. She also advised I observe the running nose and temperature, and if symptoms did not cease within three days, we go back for a review. The antibiotic however is to be taken for 7 days, regardless of whether the symptoms disappear or not.Its 10:22pm right now, and she’s snoring away, but I’m not. I’m waiting to give her her midnight dose, then maybe I can get a bit of shut eye.

In closing, I’d like to propose a toast. Here’s to the working mum who stays up all night with her unwell child, yet somehow manages to be coherent the following day; Here’s to the stay-at-home mum, whose true value is only appreciated in her absence; And here’s to our wonderful babies for whom we’d do pretty much anything, whether they keep us up all night or not.

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