Sick, sick, sick

For a little pre-Valentine's treat, Nick brought us both the flu. Apparently Texas is one of six states with a raging flu epidemic, and it certainly smacked down both of us. I was very worried about having a fever while pregnant but Nick dug through the medical research (once he was well enough to hold his head up again) and there isn't any proven relationship between maternal fever and fetal problems, especially since I'm late in the second trimester. Research or no, I was very thankful that my fever was fairly low and short-lived.

Still, the flu is miserable...we had the respiratory variety, as opposed to the stomach flu, but I hit a new personal low when the combination of a completely stuffed nose and violent coughing activated my pregnancy-sensitive gag reflex, causing massive vomit. Luckily (?) I was in the shower at the time...hey, it makes clean-up easier. I guess it's a relief to know that my body won't stand by and let me helplessly suffocate, but now I get a little nervous every time I start coughing.

So you're probably too grossed-out to still be reading... but just in case, this episode made us realize that being sick is really unpleasant, but we don't really know what we would have done if our little one was an external person requiring active care and attention. Yikes. I was under the mistaken impression that moms simply don't get sick, based on the fact that my mom never seemed to succumb to any of the cornucopia of viruses that my brother and I dragged home. Nick pointed out that her years of work as a pediatric nurse might have more to do with it than some God-given maternal immunity. Damn.