The Flu

So, despite giving my daughter the flu shot, she got the flu anyway. I've been extremely busy doing nothing but holding a miserable little girl all week and haven't had a chance to post. Eva has had a high fever (over 100 degree), has been vomiting and has a runny nose, a sore throat and chest congestion. As a result, she has gotten very little sleep, is irrational and CRABBY. I literally have spent every night this week sitting up and holding her while she sleeps. She will cry for hours at a time, and she doesn't want anyone but me. Everytime she sees my mom, she starts exclaimng "no" at her and she gets upset if Granny looks at her or speaks to her. I think she is afraid that I'll let Granny watch her (I did last Friday when Daycare was closed because of the flu) and she wants to make sure we all know that Mommy is suppose to be the only one to watch her. Although, I had to come into work on Wednesday, so David stayed home with her that day. That was okay, except she was really bad Wed. evening.

I took her to the Doctor on Monday and she was very upset about that. She hates the nurse. There is no way around coming to that conclusion, and I feel very sorry for the nurse because she is a nice young woman who obviously loves children. When the nurse asked Eva how she was, she told her "Bye bye." She asked Eva if she felt all right, and Eva responding by picking up her coat, handing it to me and saying, "On Mommy. Go home." She screams as soon as she sees the nurse and stops immediately after the nurse leaves. She does seem to like her Doctor--it helps that he's a male and that he's never jabbed her with a needle. The nurse thinks that she will forget. I don't know, Granny accidently hit Eva in the head with the door to her room two weeks ago, and Eva still reminds her of it every day... that is when she is talking to Granny. She tells her "Granny, door hit, owey." Eva has a good memory.

In any case, the Doctor said there wasn't much we could do for the flu, just to give her tylanol or motrin. Only, I can't get her to take her medicine. If it put it (liquid suspension) in her mouth, she spits it out. If I force her to swallow it, she becomes upset and throws it up (every time!). We even tried getting her the chewable tablets and telling her that it was candy. She wasn't fooled. We tried other flavors, it didn't matter. We tried putting it in her juice. That worked, once, before she figured it out and insisted on drinking only "un-tainted" water. I could have refused her the water, I suppose, but that sort of defeats the purpose of keeping her hydrated. I've had even less sleep than she has this week and now I think I have her flu... today has been a hard day. Okay, this has been a hard week. Albeit, Eva is doing much better. She slept good last night and she is letting Granny watch her today for the first time since getting sick.

As bad as this has been on the two of us, I can't help but realize how great it has been for attachment and bonding on both our sides. It's another experience that has been intense and that has been shared between us, another link in the chain that binds us together as mother and daughter. I feel even closer to her, and even more protective and even more in love with my crabby little girl.