Goodbye illness!

I’ve been feeling sick since Friday morning. It’s frustrating because I feel as if every single day is the same. I wake up feeling crappy… sore throat, tightness in chest. Then, as the day goes on, the symptoms seem to fade and I’m just a little tired. But it feels like I’m improving. Then, I get in bed and my lungs start acting up again and I proceed to have a sleep filled with coughing, discomfort and pain in my throat. Repeat.

Besides taking extra-strength Tylenol a handful of times, I’ve been completely “drug-free” this pregnancy and honestly, I don’t want to change that. I know certain medications are okay, but I just don’t want to go there until I feel like I’ve exhausted my other options. Not to mention the fact that nothing happening thus far is unmanageable. I should also mention that I have asthma. This is really what’s been bugging me the most.

Anyway, last night, my sweet husband stood by the side of the bed with a flaming hot cup of water for me to breathe over. That seemed to help, although it was somewhat of a temporary fix. So, this morning I was inspired to try some other natural remedies. Here’s what I’ve done so far…

1) Steam: again, maybe I didn’t breathe it in long enough, but this was pretty temporary. Within minutes of removing the steam, I started to feel the tightness in my chest again.

2) Gargling warm salt-water: this was surprisingly effective. Within minutes of gargling, my cough was way looser and I was coughing stuff up. Gross, absolutely. But… effective. They say you can do this 3-4 times per day, so there is definitely more in my future.

3) Drink water & thyme: You’re supposed to put 2 tbsp of fresh thyme in boiling water and let it soak for 5 minutes. Then drink while hot. I only had dried thyme, so I soaked and strained, then chugged it down. There wasn’t anything wildly noticeable like an uproar of phlegm, but I think overall, this has been helpful, too.

That’s all I’ve found and tried for now. Fingers crossed things will loosen up and get the f**k out of my body.

Symptoms

Feeling good from a pregnancy stand-point. I’ve been working out at home lately because it’s been so cold, so yesterday was my first day back at the gym. It was nice to hear that even my coach noticed that I seemed to have great energy and looked strong. After the workout, I went to the grocery store and had a total cook-off. I made wheat pasta and turkey meatballs, maple blueberry oatmeal, prepped chicken korma for tonight, and packed up our lunches. I felt proud of my endurance, but I’m not going to lie… when I crawled into bed at 11:15, I felt like a zombie. Did I mention that I also did a load of laundry and took a shower in that time? Yes, I’m proud.

Anyway, I think that’s a sign that my energy is back.