A VIRUS AND BEING GRUMPY

Our seven-month old baby boy appears to have the virus. Yep. The one that goes away during the day, so you think that it is gone, and then reappears later in the evening. It's the bad virus that causes high fevers, and takes days to get rid of.

It is incredible to me how powerful viruses are; they are so, so microscopically small.

Throw-up and viruses are about equal in horridness in my book. Well, actually, I take that back. Throw-up is super gross, but it is not nearly as stressful as fevers are. I was up with my baby last night worrying and constantly touching his forehead - all night. I alternated giving him Ibuprofen and Tylenol every two hours, and he finally broke the fever at 4:00 a.m. I actually woke my husband up - twice because I was so worried, (this is a major no-no at our house, especially during internal medicine rotations because he is so tired).

So, it was a long and painful night.

And, the day was painful also. I felt like my left arm was going to fall off because I had been holding him all day - he now weighs over 20 pounds! I felt wasted after dealing with his fussiness and clinginess all day long. I was very excited for my husband to get home.

BUT, my husband had also had a "stressful day." After dinner, I asked him if he could hold the baby while he checked his e-mail and I got the other kids to bed. He said, "No, I had a really stressful day." He was grumpy (so rare!). I was a bit put out. I really needed some help. And then, I was grumpy too. (I am too reactive - something I work on.)

Then he apologized. I still felt a little grumpy.

But then, as I thought about whether I wanted to remain grumpy, I realized something:

He doesn't come home and immediately give me work to do. He doesn't start giving me jobs, ask me to provide a diagnosis, write a paper, or study for boards.

Usually, as soon as he walks in the door, my husband scoops the baby up, (who I am inevitably holding on my left hip while attempting to cut things and stir fry things), or he offers to help with dinner or to keep our two-year old distracted so that I can finish preparing dinner. It is always c-r-a-z-y and there are so many things he can jump in and do to help. Even after a stressful day at work, he comes home, stressed and tired, and I provide him with many more opportunities to work even more.

Whew! Hopefully he won't read this post because I am feeling really lucky and not put out at all.

(Hopefully tonight the baby will sleep better. I need to go to sleep!)