I think I've mentioned on here already that I've had a cough for about the past 6 weeks (or more). I tried taking a few things -- mucinex, benadryl (to sleep), lots of honey, albuterol -- with little change. It's actually gotten a bit better over the past week; doesn't wake me from sleep anymore, I don't have crazy fits of coughing, and no more bruised ribs. Yay.
But then over the past few days, I've felt slightly worse sinus-wise. I took Zyrtec for a few days, hoping that would help. Then ran out of it and didn't get a chance to buy more. Oops.
Today I woke up feeling like crap. Sinus pain, headache, sore throat, eye pain, etc. A full blown cold. It happens -- to most adults, 4-6x/year. To a pediatrician with a built-up strong immune system, typically only 1-2x/year. But it happens.
Here's the problem: You can't take a lot of stuff while pregnant. No Sudafed. No Advil. No "hot toddy," my mom's miraculous cure for all that ails you.
Tylenol and Zyrtec can only do so much for a girl. The fact that I have to work all weekend is not helping -- I think a couple days in bed would probably be beneficial, but nope. Our census in the Well-Baby Nursery has been astronomical post-Sandy -- we took in all the NYU OB patients -- so instead of having 10-15 babies to see tomorrow morning, there will be upwards of 30. Shoot. Me. Now. And calling in sick in my job is next to impossible -- someone would have to cover for me, whether it be today or tomorrow, and it just doesn't happen. I had to lie through my teeth when in the midst of the miscarriage and needing to miss work. It's probably the worst part of my job (and the reason that I have 70 sick days saved up).
I do not mean to complain about how much it sucks to be pregnant and sick at the same time. I know a lot of people would kill to be pregnant, even with the sickies. But the persistent cough has put me in a bad place, and then this is just killer. On top of which I have been hating on my job. So I just needed a moment to complain.
And now I will go blow my nose (again), go to work, and pray for a miracle -- either I feel a lot better, or all the new mommies decide to go home early and no new babies are born all weekend. Ha.
Semi-related...well, work-related, not pregnancy-related...I just missed four days off work because of an appendectomy. I had to cancel all of my clients for the week when I was already behind, which just causes more stress than I need. Sometimes I wish I had a job at a bookstore, where calling in sick didn't mean I have to cancel 16 clients. Yuck! So basically, I feel your pain, AND I think you win the prize. You're pregnant AND helping displaced children. Go you!
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