a rough time

Two days after Heather came into town to meet our little man, he came down with a hacking cough. (That is no reflection on Heath. She was perfectly healthy. I just was sad she didn't get to see him at his happiest.)

Wait, let's go back to the beginning of last week. He learned to cough. Like it was a discovery and he got such a kick out of it every time he did. It was his new trick. He tried it while in his car seat, while getting his diaper changed, and, delightfully, while nursing. He'd cough and then smile really big while milk spilled down his face.

Saturday morning he woke up with a real, hacking cough. He'd cough this awful cough three times and then sigh really big. And it wasn't as entertaining to him anymore. It kind of was, but it made his sweet eyes turn red, and it sounded pretty bad. Since it is RSV season and we're new parents, we made an appointment to visit the pediatrician that afternoon. I wasn't super excited about hanging out on the "sick" side of the pediatrician's office because I didn't want him to pick up something else. But luckily we were the only sickies when we showed up, so there was no one there to share their germs. All three adults and one tiny little man. (In the Yin family we go to doctor's appointments together. No one goes alone. It's a policy we developed after Mr. Yin went to his first MRI alone. That didn't go so well, so never again.)

The (male) nurse said they'd seen a lot of babies with upper respiratory infections lately. That wasn't encouraging. But when the doctor checked him out, she said there was no sign of an infection and that it was just a cold. Just a cold. She recommended elevating his mattress and using a humidifier. And to bring him back if he sustained a temperature of 101 for 24 hours.

So we all schlepped home and cuddled the cute coughing baby. And elevated his mattress. And finally remembered to buy distilled water for the humidifier.

And the next morning? He sounded 85% better. Not so much hacking, mostly just a snotty nose.

And then I started coughing. Hacking coughing. And losing my voice. A developed a headache. And a stuffy nose that dripped. And I learned when you are someone's primary caregiver, it doesn't matter if you don't feel 100%. You still have to take care of your charge. And you don't get to nap.

But we managed. He's feeling so much better. His nose is still a bit stuffy, but he's back to coughing to entertain.

He also sustained his first injury this week. That was the real heart-breaker.

We were bathing the tiny guy in his tub, within the tub. I was in the tub holding him, Mr. Yin was doing the washing. And somehow, something fell and whacked him upside the head. We weren't sure if it was the shower head or the bottle of shampoo. We just know he got whacked. And neither option was something soft. I swooped down and scooped him up before he had a chance to realize what happened and Mr. Yin ran to get ice. And then his scream came, and the goose egg appeared.

I stood there holding his naked little self, crying with him and he peed on me. (The little guy must have a giant bladder because he peed for quite a while.)

It's so sad to see the tiny little person you love like crazy be hurt. But he was fine after a few minutes. I kept testing to see if he'd follow me with his eyes (because I'm slightly paranoid when it comes to him) and he did. He was fine and we, the parents of this little wonder, were pretty shaken up.

I know this is the first of many sicknesses and injuries and that they weren't especially dramatic in the scheme of sickness and injury. But we did not love the experience. And don't look forward to the many more that are sure to come our way over the years.

I just pray none of them will be serious. We've done that in our family, thank you.

***Heather B. that's the cute outfit you sent him in the top pic. Very cute!!