Were Sick, Are Sick, Going to be Sick

At first I thought it was me.  I blamed it on the baby, passing illnesses on to us.  But every day I look at Facebook and it's all people are talking about.  Every morning I come into work and there's yet another email announcing that someone it out sick.

This winter has been the WORST when it comes to cold and flu symptoms.  I think it's pretty safe to say that if you are reading this you either:
1. Were sick,
2. Are currently sick, or
3. Are going to go be sick by the time you finish reading this

I'm on my third illness now since November 1st.  First was a sinus infection, followed by the flu (and I even got a flu shot!), and now I just have a nasty cold, and probably another sinus infection given the greenish/yellowish/brownish color of the nasty stuff coming out of my nose and throat.  I wake up in the middle of the night gasping for breath, with my throat so parched I can barely swallow to even moisture it bit.  My sinuses are so clogged that my face is swollen around my nose and if you push on the swollen areas you can hear a really intriguing and also nasty "squish squish squish" sound.

Pseudoephedrine only sorts of works.  Hot showers don't work at all.  Sneezing - if I can make myself to do it - has actually been the most effective method of clearing my nasal passages, and for that reason if you were with me in my kitchen last night you might have seen me sprinkling cayenne pepper powder over the sink and trying to sniff it into my nose in an effort to try to make myself sneeze.  The only problem with that was that my nose was so clogged on both sides I couldn't even "sniff" to get anything up there.

When we tell people we're (still) sick, most of them say things like, "oh yeah, I remember the time that I had newborn in daycare....". But I honestly don't think it's just EH.  I think that sickness is just in the air.  And even one of EH's pediatricians - during one of our nearly dozen visits in the past two and a half months - said there were some "really nasty viruses" going around this year. 

So if you're sick, consider yourself to be one of the lucky few.  But don't go around bragging yet - Winter has just begun and there's a lot of cold and flu season left to get through.