The House of Germs goes on a “holiday”

I struggled a little with what to call this post.  Runners up in the title stakes were “The House of no sleep goes on a holiday” and “The house of cruddy lungs goes on holiday”.  Ultimately though the “House of germs goes on holiday” seemed most apt.  Because that is what our family is, a house of never-ending, sleep stealing, cruddy lung irritating germs.

It is no secret among friends and family that I find motherhood tough.  I breed bright, attractive, somewhat eccentric kids who are not physically resilient.  Since May our home has been a hotbed of vomiting, snotty, wheezy kids and as I tend to get vomited snotted on frequently I have also been persistently under the weather.  Two weeks ago our germy family was summoned to Sydney for a family wedding (Bub 1 was a pageboy).  I was pretty happy about this – Sydney is absolutely, positively my favourite city in the world, and snotty, wheezy kids or not I was determined to have a good time.  During the lead up to our trip things were pretty rough though.  The trip countdown went like this:

Two nights before departure:  Bub 1 develops a cold and fever.  Becomes delirious and spends all night roaming around my bedroom confused and pushing imaginary “pause buttons” on furniture because “Mum – you have to pause it”.  I never really figured out what he wanted me to pause, an imaginary DVD in his confused little head I guess.

One night before departure:  Bub 2 develops a cold and fever.  Becomes delirious and spends all night roaming around my bedroom in fear of “angry birds”.  Never did figure out whether he meant the game or just birds that were angry.

Morning of departure:  Still trying to fend off sinusitis I also develop mastitis.

At this stage if we were travelling for any other reason than a family wedding, or even if Bub One was not in the wedding I would have called off the trip.  Instead I bundled my germy family on a plane and we headed to Sydney.  What followed though surprised me – we all improved and although I still had to contend with profound sleep deprivation due to minimally sleeping baby syndrome we had an amazing time exploring the Rocks district (my new favourite part of my favourite city).

The view from Observatory Hill in the Rocks.  My Mum went to school right where this photo was taken.

The view from Observatory Hill in the Rocks. My Mum went to school right where this photo was taken.

Lulled into a false sense of security I dressed my (I thought) now non-germy family in their glad-rags and we headed to the wedding.

Alas on the walk to the wedding Bub 2 seemed unusually tired and spent the entire service crashed out asleep in the stroller.

Little Lady Bub who was frocked out in the most flamboyant baby finery I could find was unusually grisly and started to look like this.  It soon became apparent that she was developing a rip-roaring fever.

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At this stage Bub 1 was still happy looking like this but all that would change in a few hours when he developed yet another fever and had to leave the reception three hours early and went on to be delirious again.

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What followed was decent into the twilight zone of zero sleep for me, for days on end as Little Lady Bub deteriorated, developed bronchiolitis and ended up requiring hospital admission and feeding via a nasogastric tube.  Let me just say there is nothing worse as a mother than seeing your child really unwell.  The good news – Little Lady Bub improved quickly in hospital (there was another mum-travel blogger in our ward)  and we all made it back to Melbourne rid of our germs.

So why am I sharing this story?  I guess as a travel blogger it is easy to gloss over the bad bits, to share pretty photos, and rave about fabulous destinations.  The reality for me though is that daily life with my kids is challenging, due in large part to persistent illness and sleep deprivation.  When we travel I take those challenges with me and sometimes the challenges become significant enough to totally derail a trip.  What traveling does, (when the trips aren’t totally derailed) is funnel a wealth of positive experiences into a difficult phase in my life.  And that is why now, only one week after the trip from hell I am on another trip.   In the midst of our winter of germs I made a flash decision that we needed to get, at least for a week back to warm weather, and booked a trip to beautiful Cairns (my second most favourite city in the world).  Somewhat traumatised by the illness and disarray of our Sydney trip I thought long and hard about cancelling this one.  I didn’t though, and as I write this I am on a high after my first flight on my own with my three kids.  The sweet little things (even though one has a new germ) were amazing, strangers were kind and helped me along the way, and I just experienced an amazing sunset drive past rainforest covered mountains.  Better still I will be spending time with beloved friends.  I am, right now, hopeful this trip will be a good one.  I may, or it may not, but right now, I am glad I am here.

 

© Copyright 2014 Danielle, All rights Reserved. Written For: Bubs on the Move

12 thoughts on “The House of Germs goes on a “holiday”

  1. Pingback: We found a great place for families to stay in Sydney | Bubs on the Move

  2. As I read your post, I felt every bit of your pain. Our kiddos have also been continuous germ bags since May.

    I’m so sorry to hear about the not so great trip away. Sickness and travelling do not go together very well.

    If it’s any consolation, your kids looked super cute in their wedding clothes. Little boys should wear 3 piece suits much more often 😉

    Thank you for your honesty, travelling with kids is tough. There have been moments where we want to pack it all in and never travel again. But it’s a passing thought as the positives do outweigh the negatives (just!).

    Glad that Cairns is turning out much better how great is this weather?

    xo

    • Our two trips this month are like chalk and cheese. Cairns is glorious. Even though I am not sleeping due to my youngest causing all kinds of grief at night. Somehow sleep deprivation is not as bad when it is warm and sunny. The boys have gone from three piece suits to bathers/no shoes. I know what they prefer!

  3. I’m so sorry they were sick during your travels. (Really cute baby hat and wedding suit, though.) We once got on a flight in Hong Kong with my son having a fever and cough. I actually made him wear a face mask, as is quite popular in Hong Kong, so that the passenger seated next to him wouldn’t freak out.

  4. I’m so sorry they were sick during your travels. (Really cute baby hat and wedding suit, though.) We once got on a flight in Hong Kong with my son having a fever and cough. I actually made him wear a face mask, as is quite popular in Hong Kong, so that the passenger seated next to him wouldn’t freak out.

    • You did well getting him to wear a face mask! No hope of getting my kids to do that I am sure. I did love the wedding outfits. Thinking of dressing them like that to go shopping just for fun once in a while 🙂

  5. Ugh! Wow. Hospitals and naso-gastric tubes. I’m so glad she’s recovered!

    You’re right, though – the challenges come along, but at least the travel makes them seem a bit more worthwhile sometimes. Although like you, I’m all for staying home those other times when they don’t seem worthwhile! Enjoy Cairns. 🙂

    • Thanks Bronwyn. We’re in Cairns right now and even with typical challenges (3 hours sleep a night due to separation anxiety from baby) it is bliss to be here. So glad I got on the plane after our recent dreadful trip.

  6. You are officially my hero. I quake at the the thought of travel as one parent and three kids. Add sickness and gastric tube feeding-la-la-la (fingers in ears) I can’t bear the thought. On a happier subject the Rocks area is fantastic and I love walking around it.

  7. Jan, thankfully my husband was on this trip with us to Sydney – but I did just jet off with the kids without him to Cairns. Don’t think I could have handled the Sydney fiasco on my lonesome. I guess I do take a punt every time I travel on my own with the kids but if it works well it is worth it.

  8. Hello Danielle, well that does sound like a rough trip to Sydney. We’ve also had holiday disasters and I think it’s really good to write about them too. I was so thrilled to read that you’d been to Cairns with the kids on your own. I often think I am the only mum mad enough to solo parent travel with my four. It’s thrilling to know I am not alone. Hope to read about your trip north soon.

    • I felt the same seeing that you had headed to Cairns with your mob. Thankfully our own Cairns trip was a resounding success. Hoping to get a post up about it next week. Am already thinking of my next solo with kids trip…

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