A Nightout

It feels like it was years back when we stayed up all night tending to Lil' General. That was when he was barely 8 weeks old. I can't recollect a single night after that when I've woken up so many times because he was sick. Viral is in the air - the kids downstairs had a nasty infection that went around in round-robin fashion in their family relapsing time and again for over 2 weeks. Then, The Seniol caught it Saturday.; he was down and out with a running nose, temperature and called in sick at work Monday. Just when he was back on his feet, his mother caught the bug. I was crossing my fingers that LG has been fine and should just come out unscathed.

By evening, he was coughing and had vomited once. I gave him tulsi water soon after, took him for his evening walk and played with him a bit, fed him dinner, played a bit more and tucked him in bed with a dose of cough syrup. Within an hour he was wide awake finding it difficult to breathe and congestion in the nose. It just got worse by the hour. The neighbours came calling when he didn't stop S.C.R.E.A.M.I.N.G even after an hour. Nothing worked and he threw up more. Amidst all the screaming and suggestions from everyone, it totally skipped my mind that I had a decongestant handy all the time - Nasivion nasal drops (basically a sline solution) works wonders for a baby. I'm ultracool in such situations and never get hassled how much ever he cries. I know I can handle him come what may. My family on the contrary just go over the top - it's a cold and we all go through it. Sure, there will be a little discomfort if you've got one. And, LG still can't talk yet. The only way he knows to express his discomfort is by crying and screaming. He is surprisingly very sportive and doesn't let out so much as a cry for any of his vaccinations. He doesn't out cry uncontrollably unless something's bothering him truly. Last night was one such case when he was NOT Ok. So, The Seniol called up The Paed and he prescribed a decongestant.

LG exchanged hands, went on a walk downstairs, met his buddies, saw some stray dogs on the road, got some fresh air but nothing worked until I pulled up the sofa under the fan and switched on the TV. Some crappy song starring Aamir Khan and Rani Mukherjee with crazy lyrics was playing on E!. This of all things worked. He found comfort in my arms and I found comfort in the silence. Lying still watching more crappy songs play, I held him in my arms walking down the hallway that never seemed to end to the bedroom and put him to sleep. He woke up many times intermittently through the night. After one more dose of Nasivion early morning followed by formula an hour later, we slept in till 8:00 a.m. He's still running temperature but the day hasn't been as crazy as last night.

As I think back at the past seven months, I think the flu vaccine did help a lot. He has not been under the weather all these months even when someone in the family had a viral infection.