We have nearly made it through February again. And with minimal sickness this year. I attribute it to a combination of Divine Intervention and Thieves. Thieves is an essential oil combination that my friend gave us which studies have proven fights viruses and kills bacteria. I have used it for each family member who's been sick, but especially for Nattie. It may be that the Divine Intervention is a significantly stronger reason for the improvements, but I will continue the Thieves just in case. It doesn't seem to hurt for sure!
So, Nattie has had the "sniffles" (a cold). She has had congestion, but really no other symptoms until last night when the cough hit with a vengeance. Of course, she only coughs if she dances too wildly to her mp3 player, or when we are trying to sleep. There was a 2 hour coughing spell from 1:30-3:30 am which was particularly troublesome. Since I had already administered EVERY possible medical remedy before bed, there was really little else I could do for her, but pray. Which, of course, I was doing. Then I remembered that honey sometimes settles the coughing a bit, so I began wondering if I should give her a spoonful. Then I remembered that our 5# jug of honey has started to crystallize, and that the last time I gave it to her she looked at me funny and said, "Umm, its crunchy." Since she was already gaggy from the coughing spell, I wasn't sure that she could tolerate the crunchy honey. The last thing I wanted was a barfing spell on top of it all! So as I laid there pondering (and sweating-my new nighttime activity), I realized that I would need to heat the honey and get it smooth again before I could give it to her. At 2:50 I decided it was time to act! I got the honey heated and smooth, and then it was a nice, smooth, syrupy liquid-SUPER HOT syrupy liquid. So, now we wait for it to cool to a suitable temperature for her to ingest without scalding her little tongue. By now it is a challenge wondering what the chances are of her actually SLEEPING any more tonight: will giving her the honey treatment wake her up so much that she wants to stay up? Will just leaving her be allow the coughing to continue until she either 1-throws up, or 2-starts to cry out of frustration? I decide to take my chances and continue with the honey. It is finally ready and I take a spoonful along with a sippy cup of water and the Vicks to her room. As I try to quickly open the door and close it again (so the humidity from the humidifier doesn't escape) we both realize that there is a hanger on the back of her door which clatters due to the movement. Well, so much for being stealthy! Her little head pops up, surprised, looking at me. I smile and say, "I am just bringing you some honey." She replies, "Puz I am coughing?" "Yes," I say. Then, none of the things I worried about happened. What did happen is this: she breaks into the goofiest, almost drunken smile, and closes her eyes and continues to smile. I realize that she is most likely drugged from the stuff I gave her before bed. I struggle to give her the honey, because she wants to do a combination of 3 things: take a lick off the spoon, smack her lips and tongue 5-6 times, and then close her eyes smiling over and over again. Finally we get the honey in, a small drink of water, and Vicks and a cloth on her chest, all of which are accompanied with several sighs of contentment, and her googly smile. I cover her again with the blankets, kiss her and say good night, again. She sighs, smiles, snuggles in and replies, "I love you."
I don't think I have ever had quite and experience, and I don't imagine I will ever have one quite like it again! But it was one of those times I felt the true joy---JOY---of my calling as a mother.
Incidentally, it took another 30 min before the coughing settled completely, but they we were all able to get back to sleep.
