The life and times of a two-timing mommy
This last Thursday morning when I went to get Benjamin out of his crib, I knew right away something was wrong. He was sort of laying and moaning in his crib with big rosy cheeks.
He had a high fever. Higher than he has ever had-- 102.5 under the arm. So we put him in the bath to cool him down and scrambled around to make plans to keep him home with us for the day. I took the morning shift so that I could make it to an important awards luncheon that my office project had been nominated for. I was nervous to miss the morning portion, but also didn't want John to have to miss a full day at his job either.
Once it was 8 am, I called the clinic. I got an appointment for the afternoon and also talked to the nurse on the nurse line. She assured me that even though B's fever was high, that by not giving him Tylenol it would give it a chance to really work to fight off the sickness. It made sense. So we spent the morning lying low and snuggling on the couch.
I made it to the luncheon alright. I was glad to have been home with Benji but also felt torn about missing the morning sessions of the conference. This event is a once a year event where many of the practitioners in my field come together to learn and network. There are a lot of people that I have relationships with that I knew would be there and would be great to catch up with. I was glad to have made it there for the second half of the day.
After the luncheon, I ran into one my friends who was there and who also recently became a mother. She rushed up to me to say that she had been hoping to see me, but had to run because she had just gotten a call that her son had had a really bad allergic reaction and she had to go get him. I shared that I had been gone all morning because of Benji's illness. It was funny to walk away from that interaction and realize that although I was concerned for her son and family that I was in a small way relieved that other people also deal with with the same pulls of being a working mom. It is tough just for the challenge of balancing your time, your priorities, and of course, never feeling like you can give your all to anything. Most of all it is a bit isolating and it is hard to remember that beneath the surface lots of us are struggling to do both. Ironically, we just don't have time to give it much lip service... so we continue to feel alternatively guilty and okay about it all.
An hour or so later, I got a call that scared me to death and something I never want to hear again. Jff called from the ambulance- he and Benji were on their way to the Children's Hospital ER. At his doctor's appointment, B's fever had spiked and he had had was is called a fibrile seizure or a fever seizure. He had seized right in John's arms.
I raced out of work and made it to the hospital just a few minutes after they were admitted. Although I knew that John had had fever seizures several times when he was a toddler, it was very scary. While I was frantically driving to the hospital, I reflected that even though I feel a very strong tug from work, when things really get serious, there is nothing so important as my son's health and well-being.
Benji was released after some pretty traumatic experiences with a cathader and an IV. I left the hospital with my boys and a powerful reminder that work is work. And that it is never really as important as it seems.
He had a high fever. Higher than he has ever had-- 102.5 under the arm. So we put him in the bath to cool him down and scrambled around to make plans to keep him home with us for the day. I took the morning shift so that I could make it to an important awards luncheon that my office project had been nominated for. I was nervous to miss the morning portion, but also didn't want John to have to miss a full day at his job either.
Once it was 8 am, I called the clinic. I got an appointment for the afternoon and also talked to the nurse on the nurse line. She assured me that even though B's fever was high, that by not giving him Tylenol it would give it a chance to really work to fight off the sickness. It made sense. So we spent the morning lying low and snuggling on the couch.
I made it to the luncheon alright. I was glad to have been home with Benji but also felt torn about missing the morning sessions of the conference. This event is a once a year event where many of the practitioners in my field come together to learn and network. There are a lot of people that I have relationships with that I knew would be there and would be great to catch up with. I was glad to have made it there for the second half of the day.
After the luncheon, I ran into one my friends who was there and who also recently became a mother. She rushed up to me to say that she had been hoping to see me, but had to run because she had just gotten a call that her son had had a really bad allergic reaction and she had to go get him. I shared that I had been gone all morning because of Benji's illness. It was funny to walk away from that interaction and realize that although I was concerned for her son and family that I was in a small way relieved that other people also deal with with the same pulls of being a working mom. It is tough just for the challenge of balancing your time, your priorities, and of course, never feeling like you can give your all to anything. Most of all it is a bit isolating and it is hard to remember that beneath the surface lots of us are struggling to do both. Ironically, we just don't have time to give it much lip service... so we continue to feel alternatively guilty and okay about it all.
An hour or so later, I got a call that scared me to death and something I never want to hear again. Jff called from the ambulance- he and Benji were on their way to the Children's Hospital ER. At his doctor's appointment, B's fever had spiked and he had had was is called a fibrile seizure or a fever seizure. He had seized right in John's arms.
I raced out of work and made it to the hospital just a few minutes after they were admitted. Although I knew that John had had fever seizures several times when he was a toddler, it was very scary. While I was frantically driving to the hospital, I reflected that even though I feel a very strong tug from work, when things really get serious, there is nothing so important as my son's health and well-being.
Benji was released after some pretty traumatic experiences with a cathader and an IV. I left the hospital with my boys and a powerful reminder that work is work. And that it is never really as important as it seems.
posted by KLOU | 7:48 PM
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