When will you leave, RSV(P)??

Things have not been going well in the B household as of late.  It all started sometime last week, as far as I can remember, when a naive little mommy thought her baby's sudden fussiness must be the emergence of separation anxiety.  After all, he had just turned 6 months old, and that was the official starting date for "separation anxiety," according to "The Books."  Said books suggested playing peek-a-boo was the perfect cure for this new affliction.  If only a simple game could have improved my week!

The first sign that Alistair's fussiness had a deeper cause emerged along with two new pointy teeth.  He had cut his first two bottom teeth at four and a half months of age, so I had been expected more teeth before too long.  I had assumed the top two would be the next to follow (or maybe, even crazier, the two teeth on either side of his new bottoms ones).  Nope, as a nurse at our pediatrician's office informed me "children establish their own teething patterns," and it seems like mine is going for the fangy/vampiric look.  I'm not sure if they're the top lateral incisors or the cuspids, but they strike fear into me as a nursing mother.

Last time Alistair cut teeth, he was very, very upset!  The only thing that brought him comfort was being carried around for hours on end while I sang the Elephant Song again and again.  So I assumed I now had an explanation for my son's cranky fussiness.

But then, he started coughing and got a runny nose.  Again, I made an assumption based upon "The Books."  Maybe it was just caused by his new teeth!  Or maybe... it was too dry, or maybe he had a squash allergy...  But the coughing became too strong and was followed by wheezing, and we hauled him off to the pediatrician's office.  Our diagnosis was RSV, or, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, which we were told, he must have picked up at his last wellness visit, exactly a week before. 

So for the last week, I've been trying to take care of a sick fussy baby, while my hubby tries to slog through the most difficult week of the semester (other than finals), writing a memo.  Neither of us have been getting enough sleep or time to unwind.  This would be *the* worst baby week I've had for a long time, except-!

I have an awesome, awesome family.  Before Alistair came down with all his sickies, I realized that I was never going to keep the house clean unless I could do housework while carrying him around with me.  I had a couple of carriers, but I could only use them to strap him to the front of my body, and my little 18 pound chunk of happiness is just too large and in my way for me to even get my hands into the sink anymore when I carry him like that.  So I asked my sisters/other mommy about any back carriers they would recommend, and not only were they all super helpful, but one of my sisters mailed me an ErgoBaby!!  

Since the Ergo my entered my house on Tuesday, my kitchen has magically been scrubbed from top to bottom (even the red stains on my kitchenaid from a certain red velvet cake are finally gone), the bathrooms cleaned, the baby's room meticulously organized, and the piles of laundry almost completely sorted and washed.  To sum it up, hubby declared yesterday in awe "The Ergo was invented by God."