Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
This last week behind the scenes 25 February 2022 has been really tough. I’ve been down with the worst tummy bug of my life and not able to get any work (or anything else for that matter) done. Thankfully I am now on the mend but it is going to take a while for me bounce back from this.
Self-care And The Importance Of A Good Morning Routine
It was fantastic to have Shelley Smith, from The Playful Mompreneur Podcast, and Lauren Kinghorn join me live to talk about self-care and the importance of a good morning routine. Self-care is something that I have been putting a lot of effort into the last few years and it has made such a positive impact on my life.
As mothers we spend a lot of our time and energy looking after our families. It is so easy to lose touch with who we are and our own goals, needs and aspirations. Having a good morning routine that not only gets those important things done, but also includes self-care, can make such a difference to our day.
Working moms, and mothers of babies and young children, will find it especially hard to incorporate self-care on those busy mornings. If you find yourself in that situation take note that it is not about finding an hour each morning to do self-care, it is about finding a moment to yourself and building on that as time goes by.
If your mornings are busy and you are not able to find that moment, try waking up early to have some peace and quiet on your own before the madness of the day begins.
Self-care is not the same as self-improvement. Self-care is about doing something that fills you up and creates joy in your life. It is about picking up a hobby that you let go of when you became a mother.
Here are the important things in my morning routine that help me start the day on a full tank:
- A quiet cup of coffee on my own before anyone wakes up in the morning.
- Journaling – a morning and evening gratitude list. This helps me stay out of the “I’ll be happy when” attitude and keeps me in the “I am happy because” attitude.
- Morning beach walk.
- Gardening – I love growing things I can eat such as salads and herbs. Every morning I water my garden and pick things that are ready to eat.
Take some time to think about the things that light you up and start coming up with some ways to incorporate it into your day. Starts small and build on it. There are certain things I do in the morning and other things that I do in the evening each day.
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Brutal Tummy Bug
On Saturday afternoon I started getting sick and it was a week long battle with the most brutal tummy bug I have ever had. Every other time I have had a tummy bug it has run itself out within 24 hours without me having to take any meds. This tummy bug has been something else entirely. There has been no control and I was not able to eat a thing until Wednesday. I lost 5kgs in just a few days. On Monday I started taking Pectrolyte which helped a lot.
I was up all night every night from Saturday until Wednesday, with numerous accidents. I could not sneeze, cough, hiccup, or make any sudden movements without pooping. It took me a few days to feel safe enough to have a bath, but clearly I got too relaxed and pooped in the bath which was no fun.
On Wednesday I was able to leave the house briefly to fetch my kids from school and on Thursday I left the house to fetch my kids and go to the shop – this time without fear of an accident.
I’m still pooping water and taking in as much fluid as I can. I am still struggling to eat and my strength and energy levels are at an all time low.
I’ve heard loads of other people have had this same bug and a number of people have been hospitalized with it, including kids and women that are pregnant.
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My advice to moms is to make sure you are well prepared if this bug hits your home. Here are some survival tips:
- Stock up on plenty of toilet paper and wet wipes. I could have done with some wet wipes for wiping my bum, seriously it feels I was wiping my bum with sandpaper after two days with this bug.
- Stock up on Rehidrate, Lucozade, Energade and Coke – it is so important to keep drinking fluids a little bit at a time to ensure you don’t get dehydrated. Make sure the Coke is flat. You can also make your own electrolyte replenishing drink at home – boil and cool 1lt of water, then mix in ½ teaspoon of salt and 6 teaspoons of sugar until fully dissolved.
- Stock up on some meds – I chose Pectrolyte since it is suitable for kids too and I wanted to make sure that I had something on hand everyone in the family could use.
- Try and isolate the person that is sick and make sure everything is clean and sanitized. Thankfully it was easy for me to isolate since my office is upstairs and doubles as a guest bedroom with its own bathroom. The rest of the family stayed downstairs and used the other bathroom until I was feeling better.
- Ask for help and get as much rest as possible. On Sunday the family ate takeaways, on Monday and Tuesday my husband braaied for the family and on Wednesday I bought ready cooked stew from Spar. I also made use of the Checkers Sixty60 app since I could not leave the house.
- Try to eat even if you don’t feel like it. Follow the BRAT rule for eating when you have a tummy bug – Bananas, Rice, Apples and Toast. These foods help to bind the stomach.
Now that the non-stop pooping has stopped and I am finally able to eat my focus is on eating lots of small meals, drinking plenty of fluids and resting. It is going to take a while to get my full strength back.
It was such a disappointment having to cancel going to Cape Town to watch the screening of Connecting The Dots, I was so looking forward to it.
I hope your week was better than mine, and I am looking forward to a much better week next week. On the bright side it can’t get much lower than it did this week, so it can only go up from here!
