Surviving COVID with 2 young Toddlers in an apartment!

When I learnt about COVID back in March, my fear was always 'How would I cope with being sick and stuck in our apartment with no outdoor space with 2 toddlers and a sick husband and no family nearby?!' It was this fear that led us to being extremely diligent about washing our hands and social distancing. I know everyone talks about being careful and I’m not saying I would avoid family gatherings over the holidays if I had the chance, however the fact that our family lives 1000’s of miles away in the UK actually meant that we avoided family gatherings for thanksgiving and the holidays as we had no choice! In fact, it was just the 4 of us and our routine consisted of walking a 3-minute walk to daycare and back during the week and going for a small walk at the weekends! Totally boring and very COVID friendly routine.

However, being careful was not enough from catching COVID! We received a call from the daycare last Tuesday letting us know that our daughter (22 months old) had been exposed to the virus because someone in her classroom tested positive and they were last in the facility the Friday before. They told me that they needed to shut down her class for 2 weeks and that I also needed to pick up her brother (3 years old) and that he must stay at home for 2 weeks also! My first reaction was of being really annoyed and demanding refunds. Never in a million years did I think that we would catch the virus! Firstly, I assumed that young kids would show symptoms and that their risk of transmission was low! Oh, how wrong I was!

My husband and I decided to go for a COVID test the next day and we had to wait 24 hours for our results. The results day was Xmas eve. I woke up that morning with a banging headache. I rarely get headaches, so I knew something was happening. I assumed it must be grief as I had lost my dad on Christmas eve 10 years earlier, so always felt a bit funny on that day. I found my husband lying on the sofa and he was coughing continuously. He told me he had been up all-night coughing! My heart sank. My first reaction was I need to make sure we have food! In pure ‘mum’ get it done style and knowing that I was feeling ok in that moment I made sure I cooked enough food to last us a few days! I did not have the luxury of family or lifelong friends nearby, plus takeaway food always made me feel sick, so thought it best to take matters into my own hands. I cooked chicken soup, roast vegetables, Roast chicken, salads, chickpea curry, rice, carrot cake and scones etc. I literally cooked as much as I could until I started to feel lousy and dizzy and needed to sit down. It was in that moment; we received our results. We were both positive! I was so shocked! And I felt such a sense of shame and guilt for having the virus, however the fact that we genuinely were really being careful and that it was not our fault that we contracted it made me feel better! (Ps I do think this feeling of shame and guilt is ridiculous! It is never anyone’s fault for contracting a virus, especially one this contagious).

Based on the fact my husband could not move and was lying on the sofa and I was feeling lousy, I knew I had to snap out of it and continue to make sure my kids and husband were being looked after. This is where my tips come in! I will caveat this post by saying that my symptoms fall into the ‘mild’ form of the virus, which is where 85% of us will live. One of the best ways to beat the virus is to get into the right mindset! I put on my warrior mum hat. I literally pretended in my mind that the virus was something I could defeat and beat and that I would fight it off ??

I studied with a happiness coach Dr Aymee Coget for many years and I genuinely believe her techniques helped me during this time! I woke up every morning declaring that this was the BEST day of my life and smiled! I kept referring to what I had as a ‘cold’ versus COVID as COVID has such negative connotations.

SOME OF MY TIPS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

REGULARLY EAT AND DRINK- I totally lost my appetite and my ability to smell and taste, however I made sure I was constantly eating healthy food to keep my strength up. I remained hydrated with electrolytes in water and carried my water bottle with me everywhere.

TAKE VITAMINS- We all know eating healthily and taking vitamins makes us feel better and when you have COVID, the same rules apply. I took vitamin C and elderberry every day and the kids too.

LET THE KIDS WATCH TV- I feel very fortunate that each of my kids were able to access a device and I let them watch hours of TV. I had to rest! I figured they could survive for a couple weeks watching TV! I also left out their toys and art supplies and snacks.

ASK FRIENDS FOR HELP- I asked my friends to drop off my packages and to pick up some arts and crafts for the kids. I knew they would be there if I needed anything.

CONSTANT CONTACT WITH LOVED ONES- I rang my mum and sisters every day to let them know how I was doing.

HAVE A SHOWER AND BRUSH TEETH Looking good makes you feel good, so make sure you get washed and ready for the day. Sounds crazy but it makes a huge difference to your mindset!

ADOPT A HAPPINESS ROUTINE- Wake up in the morning and smile, concentrate on positive statistics and news and make sure you are always feeding yourself positive thoughts. I practiced gratitude every day. I was grateful for spending time with my kids, grateful I was not in hospital, grateful that I had a roof over my head, grateful my kids were healthy etc etc.

TAKE TIME TO BREATHE- Focus on your breath several times per day. Inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale. This mindfulness technique not only calms you down and keeps your anxiety in check, but it is also a great exercise for your lungs.

ORDER HEALTHY TAKEAWAY- If you are going to order food, make sure it is healthy! It will make you feel better. You need to keep your strength and immunity high.

AVOID THE NEWS AND GOOGLE RE COVID- Keeping a positive mindset is vital to beating COVID! Change the name in your mind from COVID to a cold and make sure you concentrate on positive stats. You will get through this! 85% of cases are mild etc

GET PLENTY OF REST- Ok so looking after 2 toddlers, I was not able to rest, however I was able to go to sleep at the same time as my kids. I went to bed latest 8pm every night!

LET GO OF MESS- This was hard for me, however I just kept telling myself the house will be cleaned once we start to feel better. I had to let it go!

TAKE IT IN SHIFTS- If you and your husband are both feeling bad, then the best way to cope is for you to take it in shifts looking after the kids. Sometimes I needed to sleep more than him, so he would take the kids in the morning and then I would let him have a couple hours and we kept rotating throughout the day. This meant we were able to get adequate rest and catch up on our favorite TV at the times we needed.

PLAN SOMETHING FUN FOR THE FUTURE- I kept daydreaming of future fun plans once we all felt better. That helped me get through each day!

In case you are interested, below is a timeline of events and symptoms.

FRIDAY- TEACHER AT DAYCARE CONFIRMED POSITIVE CASE

FRIDAY- LIKELY MY DAUGHTER PICKED UP VIRUS

SATURDAY/SUNDAY- MY DAUGHTER LIKELY TRANSMITTED VIRUS TO US

SUNDAY-WEDNESDAY- NO SYMPTOMS (I have been told this is when you are your most contagious so please be extra careful with social distancing)

WEDNESDAY- COVID TEST AND WEDNESDAY NIGHT MY HUSBAND STARTED FEELING REALLY BAD. HE WAS COUGHING ALL NIGHT.

THURSDAY- XMAS EVE- FELT LOUSY! HEADACHES AND MUSCLE ACHES FOR ME, FEVER AND COUGHING FOR HUSBAND. CONFIRMED POSITIVE TEST.

FRIDAY- HUSBAND- FEVER, ME- FEELING LIKE I HAVE A BAD COLD. NO COUGH AND NO FEVER FOR ME.

SATURDAY- BOTH FEEL TIRED. I BEGIN TO FEEL CONGESTED. HUSBAND STILL COUGHING. NO FEVER.

SUNDAY- BOTH FEEL TIRED. MY CONGESTION GETTING WORSE. HUSBAND’S COUGH GETTING BETTER.

MONDAY- - HUSBAND AND I BOTH LOST SENSE OF TASTE AND SMELL. FELT LIKE I HAD A REALLY BAD COLD. CONSTANT SNEEZING AND TONS OF CONGESTION

TUESDAY- HUSBAND REALLY TIRED. IM FEELING A BIT BETTER, STARTED BAKING AND WRIITNG THIS POST. STILL CONGESTED. BOTH STILL LOST TASTE AND SMELL.

WEDNESDAY- STILL FEEL FULL OF A COLD. FINDING TODAY HARD. WENT TO SLEEP DURING DAY AND FINDING IT A BIT HARDER TO BREATHE TODAY. HATING THE LACK OF TASTE AND SMELL. HUSBAND RECOVERING WELL.

THURSDAY FEEL A LOT BETTER TODAY. STILL CONGESTED AND WITH NO SENSE OF SMELL AND TASTE, HOWEVER PSYCHOLOGICALLY FEEL BETTER. DANCED AROUND THE ROOM WITH THE KIDS SO DEFINITELY HAVE ENERGY BACK. HUSBAND STILL TIRED BUT DEFINITELY GETTING BETTER. HIS COUGH HAS GONE. TODAY IS NYE! ROLL ON 2021!

FRIDAY- FEEL TIRED STILL BUT DEFINITELY ON THE MEND. I DID A HOME YOGA CLASS THIS MORNING. ITS NEW YEARS DAY SO FEELING MORE POSITIVE. HUSBAND JUST FEELS TIRED. PUBLISHED THIS POST!

SATURDAY TBD

SUNDAY TBD

Kids return to daycare this week!

(KIDS EXPERIENCED NO SYMPTOMS APART FROM A BIT OF CLINGINESS FROM MY DAUGHTER)

If you have any questions or need any additional support during these times, please email me [email protected]