Sick Babies

There is nothing worse than feeling so helpless because you have a sick baby.  I remember the first time Liliana got sick when she was a little baby.  It didn't happen very often so it was actually shocking and so sad.  The feelings I had were overwhelming with helplessness and frustration.  I had no idea what to do.  What I have learned since then is that most of the time there isn't much you can do except love and hug on them and I have to admit that when they are sick it's even more enjoyable to do.

For those of you that don't know me very well, I am pretty much anti-doctor and anti-pharmaceutical medications.  You won't find me running to the drug store or making an appointment with our pediatrician when Liliana gets sick.  Instead you will find me calling my mom, giving Liliana homeopathics and looking for answers in our children's health book The A, B, C Herbal.  Sometimes I find what I am looking for and most of the time it helps, but then there are the times that nothing I do seems to help.   That's when I have to sit back and ride out the storm.

I know that when Liliana gets sick, it means that her body is fighting off something that isn't good for it, so I don't usually see at as a bad thing.  Especially when it comes to having a fever.  But, that being said, since we have lived in El Salvador Liliana has been sick more than I think she would if we had stayed in the States and that fact makes me feel so bad, so responsible for her sickness.  I know there are many things that contribute to her being sick more often.  The water, certain foods, her eating more junk than I would normally ever allow and her having parasites from the water.  But knowing all those things only makes it harder, not easier to accept.  

This afternoon Liliana started throwing up and continued to 6 times throughout the evening.  I was home alone and it was really sad for my baby girl.  She wasn't able to keep anything down.  Even her chi chi that she wanted so bad made her sick.  Then everyone came home and she was feeling a little better, happy to see everybody.  Later in the evening the kids went out and came back with ice cream for her.  She had just thrown up from having chi chi and my MIL wanted her to eat ice cream?!  It may sound harmless, but these are the things I just don't understand about people here.  I will most likely being doing a rant on the food habits of Salvadorans tomorrow.

Whether you are in the States or in El Salvador, I suppose there will always be people with differences in opinion on how you should deal with illness.  As moms we all just want to do what it is we think is best.  Problem is there are a lot of moms and a lot of opinions out there.  There are also a lot of uneducated moms in my opinion that are quick to call the pediatrician instead of investigating for themselves what could be the cause of an illness.  After 3 days of Liliana having a fever last week I finally caved in and gave her a tiny bit of some kind of Children's Tylenol or something along those lines.  It instantly broke her fever and though I know a fever is a good thing, I couldn't stand to see my baby suffering anymore.  So I know there is a place for medicine in society, I just wish people could see there are different approaches to medical care and it has to do more with overall health, about food and lifestyle.  But we all do what we can given our individual situations and those things don't mean that we are bad mothers, it means that we are the BEST mothers!

Side Note:  I have a plan to create a go-to list.  When I'm under pressure and in the midst of Liliana being sick or even myself, I tend to go blank about what to do.  Under normal circumstances I could rattle off all my suggestions, but I guess I'm just not good in the midst of the chaos.  So what I want do is make a list for common ailments and then put next to them the things to do.  It will include topical and internal supplements including the Bach Flower Remedies.  It's just all in my head right now, but I'm excited to do all my research and put it all together and post in on the fridge!