Doing My Best To Be Thankful

I'll be honest and say that lately it's been very hard to get in a state of thankfulness. We had been so lucky at avoiding sickness until... now. And it hit us hard. Two Fridays ago, I started getting the sniffles and it took a day before it came in full force. I was down on the couch for at least two days. My throat hurt and I had a fever causing my body to be warm one moment and then cold the next. I was so thankful that Sunday rolled around so my hubby could stay home with me. He helped tremendously with our daughter; playing with her and feeding her all sorts of yummy food! He also stayed home from work on Monday and towards the end of the day I started feeling better. 

I was hoping that my daughter wouldn't catch the nasty bug but low and behold - she did. This is the worst kind of sick that she's ever had. I've had two straight days of crying. All I've been doing is trying to keep her hydrated {she's drinking lots of milk because she still won't drink water but I'll take it}, spending an immense amount of time rocking her and administrating lots and lots of Advil. 

It's been so emotionally hard on me to see my little angel suffer so much. As a mom and caregiver, all I want to do is protect her. It's hard to just have to stand by and know that there is very little that I can do. I try to do the best I can but it doesn't seem like she's improving a lot. I'll give it a day or so and then I'll take her to the doctor. She's pulling at her ears a lot and I wonder if she might have ear infection. She's never had one before so I'm not quite sure what to look for. I would appreciate any advice! 

On Saturday, we went to my aunt and uncle to celebrate a birthday. She seemed to feel a little better but in hindsight I don't think we should have gone. She was extremely grumpy and tired and everyone was trying to be *helpful* by offering unsolicited advice. I'm strong headed and immediately I felt like a horrible mom because they all felt the need to tell me what I should do. I took everything with a grain of salt but all the advice still rubbed me the wrong way a little bit. I know they have the best of intentions but I just was not in the mood to be told what to do. 

My hubby is leaving to go work out of town this Monday and this will be the first time we'll be apart at night since we got married (2 1/2 years ago). Needless to say, with everything going on, I'm not looking forward to this. I know my daughter will miss her daddy and I'll miss him too. I'm trying to go into next week with the best of intentions, so I hope it'll be better than last week. 

Wish me luck! Also, I'd love to know what worked for you when your child(ren) is sick. I'm literally at my wits end. 

Update: I'm still surviving without my hubby ;). B is starting to feel better. I went as a walk-in to the clinic yesterday and was given two types of antibiotics. They are a pain to give because she struggles with me every time, but I can already see that she's improving. Yahoo! :)