Last night we had our very first family-insomnia festival:
Mia has the flu.
I have to admit I'm a little surprised she hadn't caught any virus earlier, Dubai swarms with all sorts of contagious viral infections.
On Saturday we took her to the mall for her very first friend's birthday. She didn't seem to be cold or anything but who knows why, what we had been dreading for months happened.
We came back home that day and she was restless and continuously nagging for no specific reason. We thought it might have been her teeth because lately, she rubs her gum with anything she can get her cutie little hands on. And I didn't really take her sneezing seriously because she usually sneezes a lot (I think she may have inherited her dad's allergies).
But when she looked at me with a congested, running nose, I got the message (duh!): FLU.
Last night was atrocious.
Poor Mia was crying her heart out the same way she did when she got vaccinated! I couldn't believe my ears! I would recognize this screaming anywhere, any time!
Except last night, it didn't end once the needle was away. This time, it seemed like she was in pain for hours!
Nothing could get her to rest which made things worse because she was exhausted. Yet, there was no way she was going to be able to sleep; snot was getting to her throat every time she was lying down even on her inclined mattress (and even when we were holding her up for that matter) and so she kept of coughing and waking up all night.
Of course, paranoid as I am, I couldn't allow myself to sleep because I was so tired, I was afraid if I do nap even for a little while, I could fall asleep so deeply I wouldn't hear her cough.
We finally got some rest at around 8 in the morning when daddy ran to the pharmacy and got us an "Electro Nasal Aspirator".
It turned out to be very effective!
We already own a small manual nasal aspirator as part of her Mothercare grooming kit which turned out to be completely useless! It was "aspirating" absolutely... nothing!
Mia has the flu.
I have to admit I'm a little surprised she hadn't caught any virus earlier, Dubai swarms with all sorts of contagious viral infections.
On Saturday we took her to the mall for her very first friend's birthday. She didn't seem to be cold or anything but who knows why, what we had been dreading for months happened.
We came back home that day and she was restless and continuously nagging for no specific reason. We thought it might have been her teeth because lately, she rubs her gum with anything she can get her cutie little hands on. And I didn't really take her sneezing seriously because she usually sneezes a lot (I think she may have inherited her dad's allergies).
But when she looked at me with a congested, running nose, I got the message (duh!): FLU.
Last night was atrocious.
Poor Mia was crying her heart out the same way she did when she got vaccinated! I couldn't believe my ears! I would recognize this screaming anywhere, any time!
Except last night, it didn't end once the needle was away. This time, it seemed like she was in pain for hours!
Nothing could get her to rest which made things worse because she was exhausted. Yet, there was no way she was going to be able to sleep; snot was getting to her throat every time she was lying down even on her inclined mattress (and even when we were holding her up for that matter) and so she kept of coughing and waking up all night.
Of course, paranoid as I am, I couldn't allow myself to sleep because I was so tired, I was afraid if I do nap even for a little while, I could fall asleep so deeply I wouldn't hear her cough.
We finally got some rest at around 8 in the morning when daddy ran to the pharmacy and got us an "Electro Nasal Aspirator".
It turned out to be very effective!
We already own a small manual nasal aspirator as part of her Mothercare grooming kit which turned out to be completely useless! It was "aspirating" absolutely... nothing!
A friend had previously recommended Chicco's Nasonet which is composed of a tube that goes in the child's nostril and another in the user's mouth to apply suction until the mucous is visible in the tube. I looked everywhere and couldn't find it! (She had purchased it in Lebanon)
Meanwhile, I had already spotted the electric aspirator a few weeks ago at my neighborhood pharmacy, during my "perfect nasal aspirator hunt" but wasn't very excited about using an automatic device because the user cannot control the force at which the mucous is aspirated.
However, following yesterday's nightmare and the painful difficulty Mia encountered to breathe; in addition to the astonishing failure of the manual suction device, we had no choice but to turn electric.
It was actually an excellent choice for that particular emergency situation. We're really happy with the results considering Mia's breathing has dramatically improved. Immediately after we use the aspirator, she can breathe almost normally and it gets her going for a while before we have to repeat the procedure.
I'm very happy mostly because she can finally nap in peace for a good half an hour (her inclined mattress helps tremendously) and eat, which she was not at all keen on doing with a stuffed nose!
I'm still using the electric device quite reluctantly because I don't want to harm her nostrils especially that she wriggles like a little goldfish out of the water so I'll definitely check Chicco's aspirator once in Beirut.
2011
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Meanwhile, I had already spotted the electric aspirator a few weeks ago at my neighborhood pharmacy, during my "perfect nasal aspirator hunt" but wasn't very excited about using an automatic device because the user cannot control the force at which the mucous is aspirated.
However, following yesterday's nightmare and the painful difficulty Mia encountered to breathe; in addition to the astonishing failure of the manual suction device, we had no choice but to turn electric.
It was actually an excellent choice for that particular emergency situation. We're really happy with the results considering Mia's breathing has dramatically improved. Immediately after we use the aspirator, she can breathe almost normally and it gets her going for a while before we have to repeat the procedure.
I'm very happy mostly because she can finally nap in peace for a good half an hour (her inclined mattress helps tremendously) and eat, which she was not at all keen on doing with a stuffed nose!
I'm still using the electric device quite reluctantly because I don't want to harm her nostrils especially that she wriggles like a little goldfish out of the water so I'll definitely check Chicco's aspirator once in Beirut.
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Happy Mother's Day!2011
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