What do you do with two children who have conjunctivitis? Because I have no idea.
Ok, mine don’t have conjunctivitis but rather some other -itis (blepheritis?) which seems to be quite similar. Their eyes are swollen, sticky, itchy and look very uncomfortable indeed. I am dreading Hux’s hourly eye sterile eye wipe; this is the boy who will clock you if you try to wipe a bit of banana from the corner of his mouth. He has an impressive right hook for an 11 month old.
Elfie is over the worst but Hux, oh poor Hux really is suffering. He can’t open his eyes in the morning and for the rest of the day they are red, swollen and itchy. We’ve taken him to the doctors twice since Thursday but they maintain he has a viral infection inherited from the nasty cold he’s rocking so there are no drops or antibiotics that will help. I’m not convinced, I’m no doctor but the bad eyes are accompanied by the third bad chest he’s had in the last three months and the past two have only shifted with antibiotics. I really hope I’m proved wrong but I fully predict we’ll be back at the GPs in two days time.
I also hope that the next time we go to the doctors Elfie doesn’t get her arm stuck in this contraption. It was touch-and-go for a while as I worked out how to remove it but one swift tug and she was home free. There were tears though. Hers, Hux’s and mine, though mine were possibly from laughter. I had to laugh otherwise I would have cried… I don’t know how she gets in these situations but they are bloody funny.
Anyway, for the moment we’re just to ride it out, keeping Hux topped up with fluids and way too many episodes of Balamory (what can I say? He loves it, and at least it’s not Mr Tumble). He’s also back to having 2 x two hour naps a day which must mean he’s feeling pretty rough and I’m trying to use the time to do special things with Elfie. But every single thing I do with her now also has to involve her new friend Doggie, which is interesting because she doesn’t like real dogs (“don’t like him, he’s too friendly Mummy!”). Elfie insisted Doggie have lunch with us today which was one of those moments you imagine your hypothetical child doing when they’re growing in your womb and then forget about until it actually happens. Lovely.
Apparently Doggie loved his toast but not so much the avocado or salmon, which works for me as nobody wants to scrub messy food from a stuffed toy. I do suspect this originated from Elfie’s own taste in food though: she loves avocado and salmon and is pretty ambivalent about toast. Lucky Doggie, lucky Elfie.
We did make it out of the house yesterday to the Garden Centre, my new favourite place. I could have spent hours wandering around if the children weren’t so grumbly (and by children I mean husband). Hux spent a pleasant couple of hours in the Baby Bjorn snuggling into my chest – something I enjoyed hugely – and Elfie was enamoured by the chickens, fish and flowers. I predict we’ll be back regularly, which makes me feel both excited and old. We actually bought compost. COMPOST.
Today begins a week of single parenting for me as Will is off in That Big City working hard on a few shows he has coming up this weekend. I’m feeling slightly hysterical – hats off to anyone who does this on a permanent/regular basis, you’re all warriors – and I predict I will need a Wagamamas by the end of the week to reward myself for surviving. That is, if I survive. If it gets to Friday and you haven’t heard from me, send help (or vodka). I picked the wrong week to pack up my wine habit, that’s for sure.
I just noticed that I put my jumper on the wrong way round this morning. That feels like a fitting metaphor for the day.
I swear most of the CBeeBies producers are on acid when they come up with their shows. Balamory is like one huge hippy village – absolute colour overkill and what is it with the yellow tracksuit woman? Brrr makes me shudder…
You might be already doing it, but when Bug had a similar thing (and the Dr refused to look at it, never mind prescribing anything!) our HV told us to clean his hand every 20 minutes with a wet wipe…and I swear that made a difference as he started getting better the next day. I insisted in a swob which confirmed an eye infection, but we got the results a week later, and by then it had cleared. Grrr!
Good luck solo parenting! The days will be long, but the week will fly by….
xxxx
Yeah, and what about the helmet hair lady?!?!
there is not enough time in the world to list everything wrong with the people on Balamory!
I totally agree with you! I don’t know what the hell goes on in the mind of the CBeebies producers.
Although whoever created Peppa Pig must be ROLLING IN IT so, you know, they must be doing something right!
I’m home alone this week, too. Husband enjoying a sea view in Africa for ‘work’ while I child-tame. Good luck!
Oh, poor Hux. He does look so sad :( Have you tried saline solution? The Pea was practically born with an eye infection – if it’s really bad, I squirt it into her eyes directly. If it’s minor, I regularly clean her eyes with a drenched cotton wool ball. It works within a day for us. You can get in the pharmacy over the counter.
The saline has helped, thank you so much!! xx
Oh poor little Hux, that picture really pulls on your heart strings! I hope his eyes clear up soon. Xo
It is really feeling sorry to watch a baby face which is full of sad. I like to watch a enjoyable baby face. What do you think ?
Oh hope Hux is on the mend now poor thing. Sounds to me like you need a second opinion, blooming surgeries they’re not always right…anyway, I hope both are feeling better now and there have been no more trapping arm situations! x
Boo to poorly eyes :( hope Hux is feeling better soon.
I’ve been pottering in our garden too – it’s so addictive. Having said that I did *accidentally* dig up a huge shrub which looked half dead at the weekend and now have a gaping hole that i need to fill. Must go to the garden centre, what a shame ;)
Been reading your blog for a few months now but first comment ! My two little ones have conjunctivitis too just now, it’s horrible. My pharmacist prescribed me some eye drops but it’s hell getting them into the 2 year olds eye, hope yours feel better soon xx
Gunky eyes are no fun – I hope the kids are feeling better now! F’s gunky eyes lasted a whole week a few months ago and I was TOTALLY over it by the end. Nice one on the gardening though – we can’t get out in ours this summer as we’re moving, so planting stuff seems like a big fat waste of time. I usually get excited at this time of year about growing tomatoes and runner beans and digging out our own compost that we’ve been brewing throughout the year. Nothing wrong with gardening, it’s good for the soul.
Viral conjunctivitis is often associated with an infection of the upper respiratory tract, a common cold, and/or a sore throat. Its symptoms include excessive watering and itching. The infection usually begins with one eye, but may spread easily to the other.:^..*
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