Journal of a stay-at-home expat Mom of 3 kids and a cat in Switzerland
Category: Journey Journal
Here you will find posts about the highlights of each month. It is my way of keeping myself accountable to the 1000 Hours or Outside Challenge that we track with the kids.
January is a month filled with short days. Our January – if I would need to chose a theme – would be noise. Yes, NOISE. Now, put your hands up if you are not great with noise. That’s me. My soul rests when there is no noise around. Does it happen often? Nope. My poor chimming heart gets heavy and sweaty trying to race with the loudness. My breaths get shorter and rapider. When I bare no more, I remove myself from this atmosphere and spend some time cooling down.
Bandi Gianee
New experience alert. This month we got to know the story behind Bandi Gianee. A custom typical to the Italian part of Switzerland. In particular to Locarno and its close vicinity.
What do you need? Some empty cans on a long string that can be tragged around town, making as much noise as possible.
Winter is still in full swing in the mountains, however in the warmest part of Switzerland, the locals are already calling for the spring and summer. Here, in Centovalli, the sun arrives to the valley towards the end of January. So it makes sense to make as much noise as possible to scare the winter away for another year.
First Day of JanuaryLast Day of January
It is yet another great opportunity to spend time outdoors with the community. The celebration often ends with a ‘merenda’. All participants contribute with some drinks and snacks. We got to spend it with a group of amazing, dedicated parents and caretakers. With the tummies filled, the guitarist took his instruments and the sound of the music gathered all the singers around. Time flies when you are having fun.
1000 Hours Outside Challenge
With a fresh start, I am logging the time spent outdoors (roughly). In January, with the winter flu blooming, we spent 35 hours and 15 minutes outdoors. This is a tiny bit more than one hour per day on average. I expect, it is the toughest to show results in the first month of the year. My tiny peeps are not a big fan of cold and dark. So the window of opportunity is pretty narrow. Based on that I am happy with the results and I am looking forward to seeing some longer days to come.
Swimming Lessons, Back to Work, Winter Flu, Exploring Brissago, Family Pool Fun
Brissago
Driving straight into the winter sun, which is sitting low on the horizon. Lake on the left and mountain on the right. The road hosts two way traffic but with the width of two old minis, very narrow. It is full of twists and turns. Just around one corner a garage door amongst the rocks of the mountain. Park the car and take the lift to get to your residence.
There are many such garage doors along the road south from Ascona just like that. Each one has a concrete lift shaft above. I can only imagine how people live / commute from places like this. I wonder what happens when the lift breaks down.
We kicked off the trip at the southern part of the town. Parking near the lido of Brissago, we planned to check out the slide leading to Lake Maggiore. However it is closed in the winter and it is not accessible with a buggy / trailer due to the stairs.
Chiesa di S. Maria di Ponte
A few meters further to the south on foot, we found a church. Large wide stairs leading down to what it looks like to the lake. To the right the cemetery to the left the most well maintained church yard, I have ever seen. The church is open for visitors from April until November. However the surrounding garden is open all year around. The lawn is manicured with precision, the trees are pruned for the next season. It is a great spot to fill up on vitamin D on a nice sunny day.
Looking around we can see the nearby lido and long slide just behind the church. On the lake the island of Brissago is visible. It’s botanical garden offers a couple of hours excursion for the visitors. On the other side of the lake, the mountains go from green bottom to brown middle to white caps.
From here we carried on towards north of the town. Along the way, many of the Mediterranean features can be spotted. The houses have warm colours, the palm trees keep their unique shades all year around. Stone dominates many of the walls, bridges and due to the steep hill Brissago is built on, there are many not-so-hidden stairs along the town.
Lungolago of Brissago
Lungolago is filled with benches to rest on. Unique statues and fountains break up the path. Lemon and orange trees show off their fruit even this time of the year. The winter sun makes long shadows creating a dramatic effect on the photos we took along the journey.
Below the promenade the large stones form theater seats like structure. Great spot to admire the the ‘vista’ in front.
The houses are colourful with large balconies maximising on space to admire the view of the lake and mountains. Tranquility dominates the lake side in January. I imagine that it is the perfect calm before the high season storm begins.
However the winter sun has now disappeared behind the mountains. We pulled up the zips of our winter jackets, to keep the cold out and headed back towards the main road. Behind the fire station, a lively sport field breaks the serene site.
Along the main road, the town is busy with locals chatting in the bars, rushing from one place to another. Busy traffic rushing in front of the hill covered with terraced houses facing the lake.
It was our first time visiting Brissago, however, we would love to visit in the high season, to be able compare the atmosphere between the seasons.
Brissago in summary
It was a great 2-3 hours trip (including playground pit stop, which is unavoidable with little kids). The playground is secured with a fence and has a few different features. There are many parking spots available around the town with various facilities. The trip can be stretched out to a whole day experience by visiting the Botanical Garden on the island of Brissago.
Visiting with a buggy / trailer was easy. The only challenge was to drag the trailer back up the wide stairs from the church to the main road. The stairs are really small and deep, so the passengers did not complain.
Swimming lessons
While waiting for the lesson to kick off, M had a few rounds on the water slide. She is gaining confidence in the pool. During the lesson we walk in big circles with the little ones (1 & 2 year old) across the whole lane. Each round we do a different activity. This is the quietest time in the pool. I can hear the lifeguards’ chatter faintly while focusing on blowing bubbles underwater for M’s entertainment. She is mesmerised with all the toys and busy keeping them in her hands while being pulled around in the water.
I hope next week O can join as well. He is home with flu, he needs a rest.
Back To Work
Holidays are over and M is back to his work routine. It was so nice to be together for a couple of weeks. But as anything, this is now over, which means I need to get my sh!t together again.
Winter Flu
Baby is moaning, temperature soaring above 40 degrees Celsius. Last night I called the hospital for advice. I was reassured that I can safely increase the amount of meds given to keep the fever in check. Next day, we were due for O’s one-year-old routine check up. Our paediatrician prepared me to keep fighting the fever potentially for a whole week. ‘It is flu season!’ Important to keep up the dosage every 4 hours. However, during the night I let him sleep through one 4 hour window. At 3 am I woke up for an inconsolable crying for help. His temperature was nearing 41 degrees Celsius. From that point onward I skipped zero 4 hour windows. The following night was even worst and I had to give him another med, which is like a horse kick. It takes ages to make a difference, but once it works it lasts for 24 hours. Eventually we got out of this madness by the second part of the week.
Family Pool Fun
Sunday FunDay. The pool was the busiest yet plenty of space to splash about. Four grown ups for 3 kids is a great balance in a busy pool. Huge inflatable across two lanes keep the bigger kids busy and the parents anxious. Blue elephant slide keeps M focus sharp. She is growing into a little adrenaline monkey. Sliding down, immersing under water, climbing out of the pool and starting all over again for another twenty rounds. Before she disappears behind the stairs again, but instead of appearing on the top of the slide, she is off to the baby pool. Luckily Granmy with little O are already there splashing on the tiny water fountains.
This week we set out to visit two beautiful waterfalls in Ticino. Do you think we made it? … Read on to find out.
Back to Ticino, and Back to Kindergarten, Catching up with Friends, Visiting Maggia, and Valle Verzasca, and a Birthday Celebration.
Back to Ticino
Week two of 2025 started off with a road trip back from Poland to Ticino. As we got to the Alps, we drove through the most beautiful snowfall. Crossing the border from Austria to Switzerland there was no sign of snow. We could see the mountains far away glowing with their white snowcaps. An hour later when we started the ascent to St Bernardino along the crooked road, the snow started to settle on the asphalt. Traffic was light so we had minimal distraction until we got to the other side of the tunnel.
On the southern side of the tunnel snow covered everything. At this point there was no snowplough in sight. Throughout the serpentine, the descent took a long time. Winter tyres did an excellent job for us. However a few cars in front of us an Italian car had to stop to wait for rescue services (summer tyres – I guess).
We don’t have too much experience driving in the snow, especially in the mountains. Luckily everyone was going sensibly throughout our journey. At home we were greeted with hot dinner made by my parents. Little treat to the soul, when you don’t have to think about feeding the fam after two long days of travelling.
The following days were filled with various tasks around the house to get it into shape before our friends arrived. I think one day I did six loads of laundry just to give you an idea of the mess we had post holiday.
Back to Kindergarten
Kindergarten started midweek with half a day session. Easing back into the classroom routine was smoother this time than after autumn break. B can communicate much better now in Italian thanks to the lessons and the friendships he made in the last four months. Our nervous boy turned into a confident cheeky italianish-speaking boy.
Birthday Celebration
O turned one this week. Celebration was planned for the weekend. However, winter flu caught up on our little boy by the end of the week. With a temperature over 40 degrees celsius, he wasn’t enjoying much of his first birthday celebration.
Catching up with Friends
Hosting has become the highlights of my year. Since I am a full time stay at home Mom, I appreciate all the connections I get even more than before. Days fly by so quick with three little ones in tow.
I love the anticipation (cleaning / tidying). I love the meal planning and preparation process. Choosing things to do and places to explore. While adjusting the rhythm to suit 4-6 grownups and 4 kids (1-2-3-6) and the coolest dog and cat. Life is never dull.
Maggia
This time we visited a little village of Maggia. With the goal to visit the Cascata del Salto first then to head down to the river for a stroll. Little we knew that the waterfall is not accessible with buggy. Indeed it is a hiking trail gem. With the help of the locals, our crew quickly changed direction and headed to the river, Maggia. Dads took the cars, and Moms took the kids and the dog. Down in the village behind Migros, the suspension bridge, called Pontine di Maggia, leads across the Maggia river. The shore on the other side is easily accessible even with tiny feet (not with buggy though).
Overall, Maggia is a small village with about 2.5 k residents. It seems to be a good base for the many trials. There are many parking spots, convenience stores and restaurants. Looking at the mountains from the car park, I could see some chapels and waterfalls that I would have loved to explore but they were not accessible with a buggy. I am sure we will be back though.
Our tiny humans, and the doggy had plenty of space to roam. Hence, on the way home, they have all fallen asleep in the car. It’s impossible to plan a second stop when your passengers are snoozing. We called it a day and headed home.
Valle Verzasca
Set off as early as possible to catch the couple of hours of sunshine that reaches Valle Verzasca in January. First stop was Sonogno. The village is at the northern part of the valley. Parking was free of charge this time around. Although, the reminders for paying for parking in the high season were displayed everywhere. There is an option to buy a whole day parking ticket that covers the whole valley.
We were not prepared for the snow but it was very welcomed. We are yet to learn to plan properly, considering the elevation level. There was a crisp line showing the start of the snow on the trees and rocks. The divide was visible from far away.
While walking around in Sonogno we met a local gentleman, who was ever so chatty and helpful. He told us that this time of the year we can grab something to eat by the sport center. We quizzed him a little about the surroundings. He told us that when he was little snow was covering the area for most of the winter, however in the recent decade snow is less and less. We set out to look at the Cascata La Froda, however he told us that it is unlikely that we find any water running, but may be some ice. He also pointed out that the path is free from services during the winter but encouraged to see it for ourselves. So we did.
Turning right at the sport center, the road was clear until the next turn. Then it was clearly marked that no winter clearing services are in operation. First we tried to pull the buggy / trailer through the snow. Then we decided to ditch it and carry the kiddies. Following the map we got to the point where we should have crossed the river. However, there was no clear access to the other side. We decided to return to the car park, feed the empty bellies, and move onto the destination.
Ever so famous dam appeared in the opening part of the James Bond movie ‘GoldenEye’. Mostly known as Verzasca dam is called Contra Dam or Locarno Dam. It is a popular spot amongst the adrenaline seekers. The dam is 220 m tall and has a well-known bungee jumping station. This year the dam has hosted the Red Bull dual ascent climbing event. Where ten teams of twenty climbers tackled 180 m route.
It is really hard to put into words how small one can feel standing on the dam, with huge opening in front of him / her when looking out to the Lake Maggiore. On the other side, Lake Vogolno holds a terrifying power of distraction should the anything happen to the structure of the surroundings. Running out of daylight, we have returned to home and warmed up with some homemade soup.
There are many places we wished we could further explore. However, due to our young crew, we need to limit our stops to two, maximum three. We aim to extend the time spent outdoors and the number places visited as the kids grow.
Two more family friends are visiting in the next few weeks. I am very much looking forward to these. Look out for more updates on our adventures with our tiny humans.
The days are flying by super fast. We welcomed 2025 in Poland with the in laws. It’s been 3 days and many precious time spent with people who we rarely see throughout the year.
The year behind us
I never close the year that has just passed. But I would like to change that. I am thinking to start a new tradition this year with the kids, but more on that later.
For now, what made my 2024 are the following:
New Year’s Day trip to the Christmas Garden at Mainau Island near Konstanz
Meeting our son, Oliver
Grateful for all emergency services that helped to keep our family safe
Easter fun with the Puha family
Visiting the Lindt Chocolate factory near Zurich
Trip to Swiss Miniature in Lugano
Trip to Säntis with Mother’s Day breakfast at the peak
Random sightseeings around Bodensee
Testing out the first Rugelreise in Thurgau
Trips with the Andrusiewicz family
Moving to Ticino, leaving Thurgau
New kindergarten for B
Electric scooter purchase
Nature walks
Halloween party with Kindergarten friends
Visiting Brissago Island
Visiting family in Italy
Andrusiewicz fam visiting in Ticino
Advent Walks and kindergarten party
Cousin and family visited for Christmas
Trip to Poland
New Years Eve
We made it to Poland around 4 pm on New Year’s Day. Just enough time left for a brief stroll around the old town before tucking the little ones to bed. Then popped a large Prosecco and kept our eyelids open until the midnight fireworks had begun. It was worth the wait and the bonus that we got to watch it from the dinning table.
The year ahead of us
I have good feelings about 2025. I read that it is a very mathematical year and that the last time such year occurred was is 1936. (45 x 45 = 2025) The next perfect square year will arrive in 2116. I don’t think I am going to live 129 years to experience that.
So this year I would like to focus on three things mainly when it comes for parenting.
Being outdoors
Being present
Being grateful
Firstly, being outdoors as much / as often / as possible. Last year, I joined the 1000 hours outside challenge. But soon I have lost count. Although my vision did not change for the year, the circumstances did not allow me to focus on this objective throughout the year. This year, I would like to give it another go and involve my eldest son in the recording process. The attractive aspect of the challenge is the visual recording of the time spent outdoors. I am a sucker for hitting goals so I think this is a win-win situation. A nice recording sheet on the wall will be coloured hour by hour after spending time outdoors. There are a lot of trackers available online. Click on the link to see some of them!
Secondly, I would like to make a school day goal to spend time with each of my kids (at least on school days) individually. Weekends are for collective fun because there are no extra curricular activities yet in our lives. One ‘game’ per day per child. It is just too easy to overlook even though it is so so simple. Often it doesn’t take longer than 10-15 minutes due to their short attention span. However, it means a lot for them and even more for me. I need to stay connected to them all on a personal level. It is way too easy for me to find one more thing that needs to be done around the house with the endless chores and tasks to complete. These need to take a second place and stop running my days.
Thirdly, I may have mentioned it before that Alzheimer runs in the ladies side of my mom’s family. We talk about it with my mom from time to time. We are both terrified to end up one day not remembering all the nice moments of our lives. I am even considering to film our adventures for my future less attentive self. I think it will be nice to watch back the videos to help remembering better. I am not video maker but I feel passionate about learning this new skill. Keeping it private takes the perfection-pressure off my shoulders. Another activity I used to do (and I loved) was bullet journal. It kept me sharp on things that were happening around me and allowed me to be more present. This time my issue is that every time I sit down with some paper and pen, my effort to record things is being overwritten. My daughter does not yet understand the concept of having a notebook or paper for each of us. She will eventually get in my notebook and takes over the pages like she has to finish the whole book in one day 🙂 I tried digital trackers, but the complexity of the tracker makes the experience utterly non-enjoyable and after a few weeks of logging the program breaks down.
In summary there are two things to focus on. Creating memorable videos of our adventures (that are in the nature) for personal use and to get back to daily bullet journaling, which also ties in nicely with being more present rather than move with the tide.
Moving again. This time from one Kanton to another within Switzerland.
I am glad we are not going to have more babies. So far every single time our babies turned 6-7 months old we moved to another place.
At first I thought it was hard to pack up and move with one child, even though it was only 10 miles away. But then our second was 7 months old when we moved from the UK to Switzerland. Now our third is 6 months old and we are packing up again.
But this time for good. I feel that this move is our last. And that we can finally settle down and relax.
How do I know?
I don’t really… it’s a feeling. Hubby and I speak the local language. My husband’s family speaks the local language and my parents will learn it quickly with our help. Our oldest son is very excited to learn Italian so he can speak with his cousins finally. Our two younger doesn’t yet speak, so they will learn to speak Italian as their first language.
Bureaucracy
The process of moving from one Kanton to another, as a foreign national on ‘B permit’, seems more complicated than moving to Switzerland from abroad as an EU national.
The amount of registration / de-registration and change of documents required is mind-boggling. But this is a story for another time.
Ticino! We cannot wait to call you home!
Here are some of the pictures from the past few weeks.
Bonfires, fireworks, lighted paper lanterns, and many decorations all across Switzerland commemorate the founding of the Swiss Confederation in 1291. This day is a bank holiday across the country.
This is our second time experiencing this occasion. First, we were in Thurgau, and now in Ticino. Both places offered a variety of festivals and food stalls for visitors. While the festival near Bodensee felt touristy, the celebration in our new little town had a more cosy community feel to it. Kids were roaming on the field, people gathered around the tables.
We made some paintings in the morning and visited the local festival in the afternoon – although we stayed on the playground, the festive atmosphere surrounded us. Loud music, and lively chatter filled the hot and humid air.
Yesterday’s weather has reminded me of a walk at West Whittering beach in the UK. Picture a sandy beach. It is low tide, the sea is barely visible somewhere far. Warm dominant wind blows the soft powdery sand at you fiercely. Now, back to reality, we are in Switzerland and the wind doesn’t blow sand at us instead it showers with rain.
Meanwhile Indoors
My son decided he would like to draw something. He was determined to use many colours but he didn’t know what to draw exactly.
He wanted to work on it collectively with his sister and me. As I was taking the crayons out and the notepad, an idea sparked in his head. He opened the notepad and took the brown crayon. He divided the paper into smaller parts. Then he dedicated a colour to each part and instructed us to colour as he told. He felt in control and it was great to see how he gently giggled when we improvised and things didn’t go the way he imagined. He was easy and we were too. We named him Colour Chief and proudly played his part.
Colouring
And we just coloured. It was a bliss. We all chipped in and got the work done. There was no competition, it wasn’t a race, it was a bliss. The kids enjoyed it so much that we made four different pictures.
1000 Hours Outside Challenge
This week has passed by ever so quickly. We spent time outdoors five out of seven days due to some above described weather. In Hungarian customs April is labelled as a foolish month due to its ever changing weather. Well, here is Switzerland, March feels like April in Hungary. The weather is playing tricks on us, as my son would say. Its hard to tell how to dress. It could be winter when the bus picks up the kids in the morning and early summer warm when the bus brings them back from kindergarten. Overall we braved the elements for over 12 hours outdoors this week. Since we starter the challenge we logged over 120 hours outdoors in total. This number is not as high as I expected it to be three and half months into the challenge, but it comes with no surprise due to the time spent in hospital earlier this year. I am not worried about the early set backs as I know that we will recuperate the hours in the warmer summer months ahead of us.
In Summary
We made the most of the good weather outdoors and made good use of our time indoors. The kids enjoyed this simple drawing activity so much that we coloured a dozen more in the following day. It gave us a break from the daily routine. It is easy to set up and put away. My daughter learns bit by bit that drawing happens on the paper and not on the wall or furniture. It teaches them to put away things after use, so it is ready next time we need them. And my favourite part is that while drawing the conversation flows like water from a mountain stream. During this time, I can indulge in the stories my son invents.
there’s always at least one upset, and if not, it’s just the calm before the storm.
In theory
My go-to approach is to get them outside to burn off all the excess energy they may have. The 2-month-old falls asleep in the buggy in no time. The 21-month-old usually enjoys the view from the bike seat behind me. And the 5-year-old races me from roadside pole to pole.
Sounds like a winning recipe right?
Reality
I was worried that my little one would be upset with the sun shining in his face as I couldn’t find the cover for the buggy’s basinet. However, to my surprise, he was absolutely fine and seemed to enjoy feeling the warmth of the sun on his face.
My nearly two-year-old was already upset about getting dressed up. To make matters worse, she wasn’t allowed to play near the pond in the garden, which was the final straw. It’s not easy to say no to a toddler without them having a full-on meltdown. I thought putting her in the bike seat behind me would cheer her up, but I was wrong.
My five-year-old did everything in his power to return to base. 2 minutes after leaving the house, he wanted water. We have done this journey many times without any hiccups. But today he needed water, a snack, and tissues and he was too hot. So he needed another stop to take off half of his clothing just so he could re-dress himself. This was followed by a drink stop every 100 meters.
In Conclusion
Did we race? Yes. Did anyone enjoy it? No.
What has changed? Nothing. Spring has sprung 🌸
I hope with this trip the winter moodiness has evaporated. And I keep my fingers crossed for better trips to come.
It think of the time when I was younger than twenty years old.
But, not too long ago, I associated this phrase with my childhood.
What has changed? Well…ten years.
I guess in my mind I group years in tens. So now that I am 37, I think of my twenties as ‘recently’, and anything before my twenties is my ‘young’ era. Even though there are significant differences between my teenage and pre teenage years.
How do you think about yourself “when you were young “?
This week wasn’t about getting out and about. It is by far not about spending time outdoors in the nature. This week is something that nobody is ever prepared for. It has tested us to a great extend, I wish, it will not happen to anyone. It has made us stop and appreciate every tiny help and assistance.
Last week I ended my post, by writing about all three kids being ill by Sunday. Well, the saga doesn’t end there. This week has brought more sorrow that my heart could handle. This illness has taken over control in our family.
RSV infection
I am being told that this is all over the news. But I stopped listening to the news when the last pandemic hit the media. So I haven’t heard of this virus before. Now I learnt that the smaller the child, the sicker they get . So having three kids 5 and under mixing with the virus has brought us to our knees.
Our eldest was poorly for two days last week and he then carried on with simple winter cold symptoms. Heavily runny noise and coughing but good mood overall.
Our one and half year old had a fever for 6 days. Her temperature stayed just under 39 degrees but enough to make her feel weak. Coughing is causing the biggest problem for her as she can barely sleep at night. She cries and coughs when she should be resting, and she is not in a good mood during the day. Friday she was finally fever free and her appetite has came back to some extent.
But our youngest got the worst of it. He started to cough on Sunday, he stopped drinking Monday night. Tuesday morning he throw up the milk, he got from the bottle. Immediately, I called the paediatrician, however it is Sports Holiday in Switzerland, and the call went to voicemail directly. So I called the hospital and they said to bring him in along with my daughter (who at this point had fever for three days and a bad chesty cough).
In the First Hospital
When we arrived, we were seen immediately. Our three weeks old was attended by the nurse pronto, while the doctor was asking all the questions. Filling in the registration forms with the translator app, answering all the questions to the doctor, while trying to keep our daughter in the room when she has no intention of staying, was not ideal.
Luckily, my husband managed to leave work and follow me to the hospital. So he caught up with us at the emergency room and he took over our daughter’s examination with the doctor, while I attended to our son and his nurse. Our daughter was cleared by the doctor from further tests and they were happy to send her home based on the fact that she was walking around and drinking water.
By this time, our son’s blood test confirmed that he has RSV infection. He was put on the monitor to keep an eye on his oxygen level. The sensor showed 100%, then it went down to 62%. Then it went up to 100% then down again. We got a room on the ward and we were prepped to stay for a couple of nights under close observation of the nurses and doctors.
However, his condition has deteriorated, in a matter of couple of hours, to the point that the head of the ward had to look for another hospital with an ICU unit. It was challenging due to the holidays. St. Gallen and Zurich hospitals were at full capacity, so we were prepped to be transferred to Chur.
By this time our son’s body was massaged by the nurses to keep his heart pumping, while the helicopter arrived. It felt like hours by the time the crew has arrived. Unfortunately, the fog was so thick above our canton that the helicopter had to land elsewhere and the crew came to the hospital on an ambulance. The doctor and the nurse, who flew from Chur, have prepped our son for the journey and gave us instructions on how to make our way to the hospital where we can reunite.
In the Second Hospital
Upon our arrival, the doctor and nurses had already done what they could to comfort our son. However, to maintain his stability, they had to sedate and intubate him. According to the doctor, the procedure went well, but I can hardly recall anything aside from being a walking fountain of tears. It was a scary experience, and everything seemed to happen so quickly that I could barely grasp the gravity of the situation. I was going with the flow, hanging onto every word that the doctor and nurses spoke.
Waiting for it to peak
We were fortunate enough to get a room to sleep in. However, the next few days were as hard as we expected them to be. We were told that the virus peaks between days 5 and 7, so we prepared ourselves for the worst. His oxygen levels were unstable, even on the machine. Fortunately, the machine was able to provide him with the much-needed oxygen when his little body was unable to. The machine also kept his lungs inflated to make it easier for him to breathe. The aim was to reduce the amount of energy he needed to take a breath.
His temperature was up and down, which meant that some further blood tests were required. Luckily no further infection was detected. This virus turned his saliva into a gluey, stretchy structure. It would have been impossible for him to cough it up, even if, he had had energy to do so. So it had to be sucked out for days.
Meanwhile at Home
When one is poorly and taken away from the tribe, the worry settles in to every family members mind. Our eldest son told me he is worried about his little sister as she keeps coughing at night and doesn’t want to play during the day. Meanwhile his younger brother and mommy are only visible on a video call twice a day. It is hard enough for a grown up, let alone to a young boy who is just starting to gasp more complex situations of life.
As reality settles in, we brace ourselves for a couple of weeks separation and sorting out the logistics of supplies, making sure that everyone carries on as ‘normal’ as possible.
Awakening
Saturday brought hope, as he was expected to be ex-tubated. His oxygen levels improved and apnea decreased throughout the week. When I was told on Friday, that the next they his tube will be removed, suddenly my world was shaken again. I only just got used to what I saw and heard and everything seemed to improve slowly but steadily. Now, an aid is being replaced and he will be woken up. As much I longed to see his eyes again, I couldn’t shake off the worry of the unknown. How is he going to react and what to expect? Nobody could tell us in advance exactly.
‘We take one step at a time.’ I am being reminded. And I know, deep down that he is at the best place possible. With that thought I settle in for the night once again exhausted but full of hopes and worry at the same time.
Expat Mom Journal 