Wha Wha

Each week I have been posting about my trail running adventures, the new trails I have explored and evidence of last week’s post new embarrassments that I have encountered. But what really matters is what I have pictured on my right hand side bar titled: “Why I Run.” That is my little peanut and she has my heart and soul wrapped around her little tiny finger.

Well this week, my peanut fell ill. She is just 15 months old and when an infant becomes sick, it can break anyone’s heart. She developed a very high fever. So high in fact, that we considered bringing her to the emergency room one night. She has stopped eating and barely drinks any milk. Water however, is the one thing she will consume. For that I feel lucky. She will wake up from a fever induced sleep, hot as log on a fire and cry “wha wha” which in toddler talk is code for “water.”

Nothing we have been doing for her is working. Her fevers are resisting the Tylenol and Motrin we’ve been administering around the clock. She’s lethargic and clingy. This little being that used to never be able to sit still has slept the past two nights on my lap or clinging to my chest with her hot little body. I even attempted to give her a bath to bring her core temperature down but was scolded by the advice nurse on the phone telling me that method was “old school.” Hello?! Old school!!? Since when and why haven’t they told us parents this information? I don’t believe that is labeled as “old school” in any of my baby books! And you know I have 100s of those! Ugh. I could go on and on about the discrepancies in the medical field especially when it comes to infants and children. But I will spare you from my rant.

However, I do know that the human body is an amazing thing. I remember (very clearly actually) the sleep deprived newborn days and even most recently the battles we’ve been having with the peanut at bedtime. But when a child falls ill, the parent morphs into a super being that can go without sleep and without food for as long as necessary in order to make their child feel comfortable. That has been my life this week. Sleepless nights ensuring that medicine is administered, “wha wha” is nearby and that the numbers on the digital thermometer don’t exceed a number I have concocted in my head that I consider “dangerous” and “extreme” despite what the pediatrician tells me.

So my life wandering in the woods and following trails came back to reality this week. When one of my own falls ill, life out in the woods is not as much fun. I am truly hoping my little peanut gets better and soon. Vans will not let me miss out on Sunday’s prepaid trail run but if my heart is with my peanut, I am not sure how much strength I will have to get up those hills. I will be sure to have my “wha wha” with me though. I love you little peanut.