Friday, February 7, 2014

My Nostradamus

Many individuals know of Nostradamus and if you don't then you need to start reading a little more than just my blog.  He is associated with predictions and that is what most people think of when his name pops up.  However, did you know he was a plague doctor?  During the time, I was past 40 weeks with my now toddler and I was desperate to have that baby.  I researched EVERYTHING and I came across rose hips as a way to help the body go into labor.  The rose hips did not help me and I finally had my little girl at 42.4 weeks.  Well during my research, I came across Nostradamus as using rose hips during the plague.  He was lancing the boils and helping the victims overcome this wretched disease with the use of rose hips.  Sadly, he lost his family while he was away trying to save others and they say he lost credibility for not being able to save his own family.  It is actually a really interesting read if you want to delve into it sometime.  Honestly, I haven't paid much heed to his predictions so I am rather out of touch of what has come true and what hasn't.

Well my husband was away for work and both girls and I came down with the flu.  It was pretty miserable.  I was dealing with a baby throwing up all over and that one morning, I woke up throwing up myself into a small hand towel and not being very successful in missing the carpet.  It was an absolute nightmare for me.  I felt so bad that the one day all I could do was give my toddler crackers for lunch.  I felt like the worse parent on the planet since I couldn't even get off of the couch.  Luckily, I only gave her crackers since she had horrible diarrhea when I did give her real food that evening.  That was definitely an eye opener.  Anyway, I Skyped with my parents and I asked my mom to come.  I was pretty desperate for any help whatsoever and I would have understood if she had said no, but she didn't.  I felt as if I was the luckiest daughter ever to have a mom willing to travel a few hundred miles just to come help.

My mom showed up and we quickly started to sanitize everything in the house and to work on the piles of laundry.  I had not eaten or drank much in about two days because I just could not stomach it and I didn't have the time to sit in the bathroom tending to myself when I had two babies who were sick too.  Although I am surprised at how energetic sick kids can be.  The moment when I almost fell over because I was so weak and my mom caught me sticks in my head.  She was there for me and I thought to myself that I hope someday I am willing to go into the lion's den to help my children.  My mom knew what she was getting into when she came, but it did not stop me from feeling guilty when she came down with it too.  It is a bit amusing that out of it all, my mom told me she did enjoy her visit with her grandkids.  I guess I never expected that to be the tone of her visit, but they truly enjoyed seeing my mom again.  My little girl actually came running into the living room looking for her Grandma and when she couldn't find her, came back, and gave me this confused look.  It was a bit heartbreaking to tell her that Grandma had to go back home.

So my mom was my Nostradamus last week.  She didn't come bearing rose hips with her, but she did come prepared to help us get out of our misery and to make our lives organized once again.  I hope I'm never that ill ever again and I think the last time I recall being so sick was when I was in high school.  Yep, those moments kind of stay with you and I hope I can look back at this time knowing I had the best mom I could have ever asked for.  It is a wicked flu season and I know people across the country who have come down with it.  There are the lucky few who seem to be immune to it.  My one girlfriend who got thrown up on by my daughter didn't get it nor did her children.  I've had friends here get it without even seeing me so I know its making its way across the USA.  Just be prepared if you do succumb to it and if you lose a few pounds like I did then be happy about one small positive outcome of it.  However, I definitely wouldn't recommend it as your weight loss regime though.  Not one single bit….