Now it runs in the family...

Sickness, that is. I started coughing last Thursday, March 15th. Must have caught it from Barbara at work. Slept most of the weekend away and attributed it to laziness. By Monday morning, March 19th, I had a 102 fever. Had already taken that day off to "relax" so didn't have to call in sick. OB/GYN suggested I go see my physician because of the cough AND fever so I did. She diagnosed BRONCHITIS!!! Started me on Anti-biotics. I could barely drive myself back from her office - I was so drained out. And was kicking myself for refusing my husband's offer of help to drive me to and from the doctor's office. I decided to pick my daughter up from her school on my way and when I did, the first thing she mentioned was her cough. I had surely passed on my ailment to my darling. **SOB** All the moments from the weekend and the week before rushed back - how I had cuddled with her in bed most of saturday and sunday, how I had read to her every night for the past few nights (a BIG accomplishment lately). How I had smothered her with kisses on more than one occasion. Oh well...

Tuesday, we woke up to find her burning with a 102/103 fever. Cancelled school (much to her chagrin because she WANTED TO GO TO SCHOOL), I called in sick because my fever hadn't gone down and the cough was worse and took an appointment from her doctor. Who confirmed what I suspected. Bronchitis. Again, I was so drained coming back from the doctor's office that I couldn't even bear to drop her prescription off at the pharmacy so my husband could pick it up later. Poor hubby had to come all the way from his work to pick up the prescription, get it filled and drop the meds off at home before rushing off to work again.

He thoroughly pampered me. Never once did I miss my mom or dad (who are usually the first ones to be missed whenever I am sick because I remember all those days gone by when they took such good care of me during sickness). In the evening I was feeling strong enough to make Pulao (Rice pilaf) and "Boondi Raita" (kind of yogurt salad - to make a feeble attempt at explaining what it is in brief). Till then we had been eating left overs from the last week. So this little bit of "freshly cooked" food was a welcome change. Again, this was all I could do before collapsing in bed with exhaustion. My husband, from now on J - for convenience, cleaned up the kitchen. I mean he REALLY cleaned it up! Yeah. I know. You fail to find the reason for excitement in this bit of information. But consider this. J HATES CLEANING UP THE KITCHEN. HE HATES COOKING. He does help me a lot around the kitchen despite his strong feelings of hate - without me having to twist his arm. And I appreciate that genuinely. But the fact that he decided to clean the kitchen all on his own AND left it Spic N Span speaks volumes for how pampered I felt just because of this.

Now before anyone starts on how J should help around the house equally, and how kitchen duty shouldn't be mine alone, let me interrupt. I clean the kitchen, I cook. I do some other tasks around the house. J does the laundry, irons almost ALL our clothes, cleans/organizes the house, does grocery for me when i don't feel like stepping out of the house (which is frequently the case these days), shovels the snow, sands-n-salts the driveway before each snow-storm, takes the garbage out, helps our daughter get ready for bed, drops her off at the bus stop every morning, takes her to at least two of her extra curricular activities (I take her to some too), remembers to give me my pre-natal vitamins every night after dinner, fills up the tank in my car, takes my car in for regular servicing..... The list is HUGE. ENDLESS. THAT is how skewed the distribution of tasks in our household currently is. And I shamelessly enjoy it :D But I appreciate all he does sincerely too. So don't anyone start on how J needs to take better care of me! He is doing more than his fair share.

Anyway, coming back to the MAIN story...

Wednesday, my daughter, S from here on, was still burning with fever. 104! Point 3!!! So I spent the day taking her temperature and deciding whether she needed another dose of Motrin or not. Come evening, J came back from work complaining of "burning" eyes, a cough and a general feeling of tiredness. By evening I was feeling better enough to cook another meal so I did. And later J and I cleaned up the kitchen together before both of us fell in bed exhausted - me from the three day old sickness that was taking its toll on me for lack of rest and J from the infection that both of us could feel was descending upon him.

This morning, J woke up with a fever of 102 and I woke up to find that my fever has finally broken (Means I go back to work tomorrow **SOB**). So now the roles are reversed. Though I am still a little shaky and exhausted, I AM THE BOSS NOW as I told J :P Forced him to take a nap. So right now he and S are napping in the guest bedroom while I type this post - before I go take my power nap.

Oh and I am back to the grind on the work front too. Last night one of my co-workers finished a project of his that required some Network down-time. Been fixing phone and fax issues and whatnot since morning. Am doing my bit by helping out remotely. Work, sick child, sick husband, sick self, pregnant self, home - let the juggling resume!!