Ruatfeli is down with fever since Saturday. If she could talk, she'd probably tell me how her head hurts, how bad everything tastes, and how stuffy her nose is. Instead, she expresses her illness by being irritable and fussy.
Since she tends to puke out all medicinal things, giving her even paracetamol is an ordeal. Seeing your little one suffering is the one of the worst things you would ever have to face.
The only silver lining is I'm reminded again of the value of health. What I take for granted everyday, to be alive and healthy, is worth much more than wealth. It is the most precious of God's gift. What good is wealth if you are too sick to enjoy it? The unluckiest people in the world are the diabetics and the hypertensives, especially if they have a sweet tooth to boot.
I remember other times when people would tell me their little one is sick, and after a while, hear that the baby is well again. It seems to us only like a fleeting disruption in their lives. But a sick baby means sleepless nights, struggling with feeds, the smell of medicated syrups, and their vomited versions. Your shiny little bundle of joy becomes an irritable, hot little bundle of unvocalized pain. You're stuck in a helpless abyss, unsure of what to do, wishing you could ease her suffering or bear her pain. You remember the times when your baby gave you the brightest smile in the world, or amazed you with a new trick she learnt. And you also remember with guilt, the times when you would feel bored, or resentful of the restrictions a baby places on you. And you know you would do anything, spend any amount, be bored a thousand times, just to have her well again.
Since she tends to puke out all medicinal things, giving her even paracetamol is an ordeal. Seeing your little one suffering is the one of the worst things you would ever have to face.
The only silver lining is I'm reminded again of the value of health. What I take for granted everyday, to be alive and healthy, is worth much more than wealth. It is the most precious of God's gift. What good is wealth if you are too sick to enjoy it? The unluckiest people in the world are the diabetics and the hypertensives, especially if they have a sweet tooth to boot.
I remember other times when people would tell me their little one is sick, and after a while, hear that the baby is well again. It seems to us only like a fleeting disruption in their lives. But a sick baby means sleepless nights, struggling with feeds, the smell of medicated syrups, and their vomited versions. Your shiny little bundle of joy becomes an irritable, hot little bundle of unvocalized pain. You're stuck in a helpless abyss, unsure of what to do, wishing you could ease her suffering or bear her pain. You remember the times when your baby gave you the brightest smile in the world, or amazed you with a new trick she learnt. And you also remember with guilt, the times when you would feel bored, or resentful of the restrictions a baby places on you. And you know you would do anything, spend any amount, be bored a thousand times, just to have her well again.
8 comments:
Awwww, my sympathies. I don't have a child myself but if you'll forgive the analogy, caring for sick pets is equally rough. A lot of people I know get pretty insulted by a child - pet parallel but pets can't talk either. Like human babies, they just suffer mutely and sometimes go and die on you. Hope Rinfeli gets well soon and continue to amaze you all with happy smiles and clever new tricks.
made me remember those sleepless nights (they seem so long ago now) when sometimes all one could do was pray. and i fully understand J's pet analogy - i once had to 'put down' a beloved pet. (see my blog 'do dogs go to heaven') i sometimes still wonder if there was something more that we could have done.
hope rinfeli gets well soon.
Hope your baby gets well and happy soon. I can imagine the worry it must have caused you.
And I completely agree that health is definitely wealth. I get sick quite often, not major illnesses but headaches and fever and stuff. There's nothing like being healthy and able to do the things you're supposed to do.
Thanks calliopia, Ruatfeli's much better today, no fever. She broke out in a rash today and it looks like measles. She looks disheveled and looks like a thingtlang naute, but is otherwise fine :D I guess the comparison with sick pets is pretty apt. When they cannot express how they feel, child and beast alike draw at the heartstring. Reminds me tho of an elderly relative. She asked me the sex of my baby when I was pregnant, and when I told her I thought it's going to be a girl, She said 'Oh, so are most of my piglets' lol.
@Roulgnulworld, thanks for visiting. And we're hopefully on the road to recovery. I for one don't think I'm going to miss these sleepless nights :)
Aduh, thanks for your kind wishes.
Health is such a blessing, but we do take it so for granted when we are well. Just to have a good appetite is indeed precious.
And how is she now? Hope she is back to being the normal, mischievous, slyly giving the finger, bubbly self again.
@Kima, thanks, she's doing great now. Should have updated. Her fever was the prodrome of 'sentut'. She developed rashes and the fever left :) She's back to her active self, though she learnt to be more 'pangchang'.
Haha. Well thats good to know. And better be pangchang than be sick :)
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