Instead of enjoying our summer holiday over this Christmas, we spent it in our bedroom isolating ourselves because my toddler has COVID.

November 2019 – Our first born arrived and so did COVID

This blog is like an open journal to me, a diary of my life and experiences. This article was the last thing I wanted to write, but COVID stuck our entire household.

My toddler, Kai, was born in early November 2019, around this time COVID-19 was born too. Fortunately for us, Australia had a tight hold on the situation by closing our borders early. We also went into lockdown when COVID initially landed on our shores and when Delta hit. But when Omicron arrived in late 2021, our Government had changed their tune.

Australians were 90% fully vaccinated and the Omicron strain was apparently less dangerous than the previous 2. By December 2021, our Government announced masks were no longer compulsory and all restrictions were to be lifted. Regardless of what the Government was telling us, the adults in our household still wore our masks everywhere we went. We were the ultra-paranoid people that carried extra masks, disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitisers in our bags.

Unfortunately, my 2-year-old Kai won’t let us put a mask on him. Although his safety was my priority, health experts on TV assured me that babies and toddlers were not easily susceptible to catching COVID. I want to kick myself for putting so much faith into them!

The case numbers started climbing daily to around 5000 in NSW. Frightened by these numbers, we only left the house to grab necessities. That included food for our small Christmas party we were planning on hosting. Just by doing this, my toddler ended up with COVID.

Reading this now probably doesn’t sound too scary because the cases numbers have since exploded to 100,000 cases a day. However, it was terrifying for us as we caught it early! So much that we got a phone call from a health worker working for the Government. To put that into perspective, I knew no one that had COVID until we were infected ourselves.

24 December 2021 – Christmas Eve

After spending a few nights prior to Christmas Eve cleaning and decorating, the house looks beautiful and festive. Finally, our brand new Christmas tree is up and it’s magnificent! However, our kitties and Kai teamed up to destroy our tree by pulling on the decorations.

With the frightening spike in Omicron cases, we reluctantly hosted a small Christmas gathering, limiting it to immediate family invited only. My two brothers declined our invite because one was hosting a function himself and the other was terrified of contracting COVID. Mind you, we thought he was ultra-paranoid. My youngest of my three brothers, Philip, and his family accepted our invitation, and so did my parents.

Although it was a shame, our entire family couldn’t be together, it was also a relief because fewer people meant less stress.

This Christmas was all about store-bought meals. The last thing I wanted was to be was stuck in the Christmas crowd searching for specific ingredients, especially when we’ve seen the highest number of daily COVID cases.

I needed to pick up a few more items for Christmas Day. After putting Kai down for his afternoon nap, I plonked the baby monitor on my husband Tomasi’s work desk. I didn’t want to take Kai shopping with me because of safety reasons. After all, he is unvaccinated and unmasked.

For the latest recipes, join our FREE 3CatsFoodie mailing list

25 December 2021 – Christmas Day

We started our Christmas function at 10 am because we wanted Kai around before he had his afternoon nap.

The day was relaxing. Everyone grudgingly wore a Christmas hat and played my silly games. I stuck a number ranging from 1 to 1000 on their hat and my family took turns guessing their number. I could only tell them whether their guess was higher or lower. My nephews were the first two to guess their numbers correctly, and this embarrassed the adults that tried really hard to win.

When it was time to exchange presents, Kai wanted to open everybody’s presents but his own. He squashed a few presents by sitting or climbing on top of them. By 2 pm, it was time for Kai to have his nap and all our family left. We spend the rest of the day cleaning up and chilling around in the house.

The only ones in our household that escaped COVID, Caviar our Siberian (left) and our Babyface Gangsta, Teddie. For being COVID free, they still look grumpy!

26 December 2021 – Boxing Day, the first day my toddler had COVID symptoms

Although tempting, we stayed away from Boxing Day sales as again cases were exploding. Instead, we ran some errands during the first half of our day. We got some groceries, picked up some medication at the pharmacy, and treated Kai to a sundae at McDonald’s.

For lunch, we went to a local cafe that we knew would be quiet so we could sit away from people. With a few minutes to spare; we allowed Kai to play in an indoor children’s playground near the cafe. There were only a few older kids playing in there, so we weren’t too worried. After watching Kai climb the circuit around 50 times, hubby picked him up over his shoulders and carried him away.

When we got home, we put Kai to bed for his usual 2-hour nap, but he only slept for 1 hour and didn’t go back to sleep. I was in the kitchen cleaning when Tomasi carried a sleepy-looking Kai and placed him in his high chair. Concerned that he woke up early, I went over to Kai to check on him. I bent down and planted a kiss on his temple, and that was when I realised he had a high temperature. He was burning up.

His temperature read 37.5 degrees. I gave him some Panadol and his temperature went down. Kai didn’t act any different, he was his same happy, mischievous self. He even slept the entire night with no issues.

My sister, Nara, went out with her friend in the city for lunch. When she came home, I told her that Kai was unwell with a fever. I also advised her we would isolate in our room, just in case!

27 December 2022 – A visit to the Emergency Department

This morning, Kai woke up and was extremely distressed. He was again burning up, but this time he was extremely irritable and in pain. I was trying my best to console him, but he kept wailing loudly. Feeling helpless, I did what I could, and that was to take his temperature and give him another dose of Panadol. This did the job for a few hours, but we could tell he wasn’t himself. He didn’t want to leave my side, which was highly unusual for Kai.

Tomasi and I agreed that if his temperature increased once more, we would take him to Emergency Department (ED). We were reluctant to go to the hospital because we knew there would be an influx of people waiting to be treated for COVID, plus it was the holiday period, so hospitals were running on skeleton staff.

Worried, I stayed with Kai the entire time when he was down for his nap. At around 3 pm, he woke up squealing in agony and tears came streaming down his face.

Tomasi quickly packed a bag with supplies for Kai and drove us to the hospital. They permitted only one parent because of COVID policies. I stayed with Kai and hubby waited for us in the hospital car park.

As expected, the ED was full. No seats were empty, and many people stood around waiting to be treated. Thank goodness they allowed us into the children’s ward immediately. The louder Kai wailed in pain, the more distressed I became. The nurse gave him some Panadol and Nurofen to help ease his pain and bring his fever down.

The doctor did not know what was wrong with Kai and thought that he may have croup again. I knew it wasn’t croup this time because his symptoms weren’t the same. So, I asked the doctor to give my son a COVID test. It surprised me they didn’t offer to give him one, but during this time there was a shortage of staff and COVID tests.

They kept us there for over 6 hours, which was extremely difficult. Kai bear-hugged me for most of the time and did not want to eat or drink. He also wanted to rip the strap on his toe, the one that was monitoring his vitals. They let us go at around 10 pm when he seemed to get better.

Tomasi, Kai and I were stuck in our bedroom isolating ourselves until we receive Kai’s COVID test results. We couldn’t leave our room because my sister lived with us. Kai was still very sick, but he wasn’t as bad yesterday and his temperature looked good. Regular intake of Panadol kept him comfortable.

Keeping a 2-year-old toddler in a room is challenging to say the least. We coped by playing Kai his favourite cartoons repeatedly! Hubby also invented silly games to distract him. He threw a blanket over the top of the cot and Kai played in his pretend cave for ages. We also read to him several times, we know his books by heart! To our surprise, Kai adapted very well to isolating in our room. It was us adults that were struggling!

I woke up with a little sore throat but thought little about it. Yesterday I spent all day hugging my son, so if anyone was to catch whatever he had would be me.

Isolating gave us lots of time to think. What if Kai had COVID? OMG, what if my elderly parents have it too when they came over for Christmas? That was when I stewed around in anger.

To be frank, I’m severely pissed off at the NSW Premier and our country leaders. They promised us freedom and lifted the restrictions even when they knew Omicron hit our shores. Mask was no longer compulsory and there were no limits at all venues. Regardless of these new rules, our household still wore masks and kept away from crowds.

Here we were waiting for Kai’s result to come in, but it never did.

I woke up hearing Nara and Tomasi talking in the hallway, but couldn’t make out what they were saying. Tomasi opened our bedroom door and told me that Nara was walking up to the medical centre to get tested, as she had COVID symptoms. Last night, she had hot and cold flushes and an intense headache that wouldn’t leave.

Dread washed over me, and the possibility of Kai having COVID was now a reality. I was worried about my sister because she was feeling unwell and was queuing for a COVID test in the sun. We knew that due to lack of staff and an explosion of cases meant she could be waiting for up to 3 hours to get tested.

Meanwhile, the 3 of us were still isolating in our bedroom and it was driving us insane. We had all our meals delivered to our house and ate in our room. There was also a heatwave in Sydney so it was extra humid, so our room felt like a sauna. We couldn’t put the fan or air conditioner because it would have irritated Kai’s and my cough more.

Speaking of which, my throat was no longer mild. It hurt every time I coughed or sneezed. There was something different about this sore throat, it differed from a cold or flu. I didn’t want to say it out loud to Tomasi, and I didn’t want to believe it but, I knew we had COVID.

Around 10 am, I received a ping on my phone. I picked it up and saw it was a message from the NSW Government. The words KAI, COVID and POSITIVE struck me to the core after I opened the message. I dropped my phone on the bed and filled my husband in, he was lost for words. I then messaged my sister, who was still waiting in queue to get tested. She didn’t take it well and burst into tears.

My feelings of anger quickly turned into guilt. I didn’t protect Kai enough, and the Christmas party shouldn’t have happened. I failed the people that were the closest to me. My beautiful baby boy, that meant the world to me has COVID.

Covid was no longer a virus other people had. It was now something we have and the timing couldn’t be worse.

A call from the NSW Government

Kai was positive, so that meant we had to get tested. The only problem was there was a three-hour wait, and that’s impossible for us to do with a two-year-old and me getting sicker by the second. The closest drive through COVID testing was an hour away from us.

Just as we were about to leave, my phone rang. The lady on the other end explained she was working for the NSW Government and was calling us about Kai’s positive test. I told her the places we visited, but she cut me off short and said they weren’t looking at this information because the cases were spiralling out of control. The lady just wanted confirmation if Kai visited health workers or nursing homes in the last few days and who his close contacts were. We were also told that we had to isolate for 7 days from the day of our test. If positive, we had to do another test in 6 days, then get tested again on day 21. However, the government changed the rules shortly after, which confused us further.

Whilst I was driving, my Apple watch pinged me. It told me my pulse rate was at 145 when I haven’t been moving. This clearly alarmed Tomasi and me, but we had no choice but to remain calm. My watch continued to ping me 6 or 7 times later that day, but my pulse rate improved when I drank more water.

Once we got to the testing site, we only had to wait for an hour in our car, which wasn’t too bad. Luckily, Kai was feeling a little better and was happy watching his cartoons and eating his snack in the back.

30 December 2021 to 2 January 2022 – Razor blades in my throat

There would be no celebrating and welcoming 2022 because our entire household was ill with COVID. Well, that’s what we thought at the time as we didn’t get our results until 6 days later.

Nara and I were really sick to the point we were bedridden. Luckily for us, Tomasi was asymptomatic, so he could look after Kai. For Nara and me, days 3, 4 and 5 were the worst. We had hot flushes and cold chills at night. However, the worst by far was the throat pain we experienced every time we coughed and sneezed. It was like my head was about to explode and I was swallowing razor blades. The pain was unbearable.

It’s hard to explain there was something very different from having COVID than a severe cold or flu. It felt bloody and my body knew it. I suffered from continuous painful dry coughs and was in terrible pain.

Unlike Nara, I’m not quick to grab Panadol or medication to help ease the pain, but COVID was a different ball game. My sister took at least 6 Nurofen a day to help her cope with the pain. I gave in and did the same and it helped me cope on day 5. I took Benadryl to help with the cough, but it didn’t help that much.

The upside was our household had COVID, so that meant we had the entire house to isolate in and not just a bedroom. However, dark thoughts went through my mind. I spoke to hubby about Kai and my expectations were if I didn’t survive COVID.

Thankfully, the person who meant the most to me was doing well. It bore little Kai to be stuck at home, but other than that, he was his happy self. He had a few coughing attacks during the night, which scared the crap out of me. One time, he coughed so hard that it sounded like he was drowning. I rushed over to check on him and saw him lying in a pool of clear liquid that wet his hair and face. Examining the liquid, I did not know what it was. It was runny and not thick like mucus. I cleaned him up and gave him a sip of water, and he continued to sleep without fussing.

3rd to 7th January 2022 – OMG Hubby was NEGATIVE!

My throat pain eventually disappeared, but now my sense of smell and taste is totally gone. The dominant flavour I could taste in my food was salt. Everything tasted salty!

Tomasi had Christmas leave from work for two weeks, so we had plans to take Kai on day trips and show him a few places. I also had plans to make several recipes for this blog so I could get ahead for 2022, but none of this happened. There’s no cooking and writing recipes when my tastebuds and smell weren’t working correctly. Thankfully, I had a small collection of recipes I made last year stored on my computer.

Day 5, after taking a COVID test, Nara was the first to get her results by a text which advised her she was positive. Nara was feeling much better and had a laugh when she read her results. My results came on day 6 and it was no surprise that I was also positive. Hubby’s result didn’t arrive until late on the same night. ‘What the ^**^? I am NEGATIVE!’ he gasped in shock, showing me his phone.

We looked at each other in complete silence for a few seconds. How were we to know? We didn’t get our results until 6 days later and we just assumed we all had it. Tomasi wasn’t asymptomatic at all, and he wasn’t sick because he didn’t have COVID. If we had the results earlier, we would have socially distanced ourselves and worn masks around the house.

It’s too late because Tomasi was feeling lethargic and unwell. He had the same symptoms as I did, so we all knew he had COVID. Fortunately, I felt better so he could rest up, and I looked after Kai. In retrospect, this happened for a reason and it turned out better this way. It would’ve been challenging looking after Kai if we were both feeling like crap.

We went to another drive through to get tested on 4 January 2022. All four of us were in the car. This one was a killer because it was so humid and we had to wait 3 1/2 hours until it was our turn to be tested. It was the worst experience I’ve ever had with the wait time, and to make things worst the guy that took the test shoved the swab so deeply into our noses that we were in tears by the time we left. We got the results a few days later. Nara and I were still positive, and Tomasi was now also positive.

8 to 12 January 2022 – Out of isolation

Nara had severe asthma when she was younger and spent a few nights in hospital. As she got older, it wasn’t as bad, but she always had a Ventolin puffer. She had trouble breathing, so I drove her to our local chemist and she bought an asthma ventilator, but she also needed the medication, so she had to see a doctor for the prescription.

The lady at the front desk at the Medical Centre turned Nara away, even when she told them she has passed 10 days since COVID. She advised her they could only offer her a phone consultation.

This left us all seething in frustration and anger. I had to ask myself, am I still living in Australia? Because it didn’t feel like it! Here in Australia, we always felt safe and cared for. Our government had its flaws, but they always cared about everyone’s wellbeing. We felt let down and alone, left to deal with COVID ourselves.

My sister didn’t get a phone call until late in the evening. Luckily, she was okay and could pick up the prescription the next day.

We went for another drive through on 10 January 2022 for a PCR test. The RAT tests were no longer scarce and many people choose to do this instead. This meant we no longer had to wait for hours. My sister and I were negative, but Tomasi was still positive.

Our COVID symptoms and how it affected us

When we caught COVID, all of us had been double vaccinated except for our toddler. We had our last shot in November 2021.

Kai (our 2-year-old toddler) had a terrible fever for the first two days, and that was when he was at his worst. He had husky coughs throughout the day, but they got intense at night. He recovered quite fast, so COVID didn’t affect him as badly as us adults.

Nara (my sister) – On the first night, she had trouble sleeping and felt overheated. The left side of her head was throbbing intensely. Day 3 and 5 were the worst because Nara experienced severe pains in the throat from coughing and sneezing. She also had back pains and a mild runny nose and she lost her voice. Nara had trouble breathing but wasn’t sure if it was to do with her asthma or COVID. She also felt exhausted throughout the entire ordeal.

Tomasi (my husband) – First day he felt a tight squeeze in his throat but felt very exhausted and tired. His symptoms were mild. Tomasi had body aches and shortness of breath, but could still function as normal throughout the entire ordeal.

Me – First few days were dry throats, like the beginning of the flu. My resting pulse rate doubled for the first two days. The second night I experienced hot and cold flushes. Day 3 to 5 were the worst because I had severe pain in my throat every time I coughed or sneezed. The coughs were dry and happened frequently. I also had a mild runny nose and felt completely exhausted but couldn’t get any rest because of the pain and having to look after Kai. Day 6 I started feeling better but I lost my voice, sense of taste and smell. It’s now February and I feel like I haven’t fully got those senses back, especially my sense of smell.

Our household had other challenges prior to COVID, like dealing with BED BUGS. COVID was painful but bed bugs almost broke me!

Our take on having COVID

When my toddler had COVID, we were the first people to have it in the new wave. I know this because we got a call from NSW Health. Once the cases exploded, NSW Health didn’t have enough human resources to call everyone.

Our entire family was in shock to discover we had COVID and were all worried sick about us, especially my parents. They called us every day to see how we were. However, a few weeks after my niece caught COVID and my brother’s family that did not attend our Christmas party had it too. That reflected how easy it was to get COVID in Australia now!

Before catching COVID, we viewed it as a possible death sentence. We’re not as frightened of COVID anymore but it saying that we have not become complacent. There’s a possibility we could catch another strain and get even more ill. We still practice good hygiene and wear masks every time we are indoors. I have also taught my son how to wear a facemask and surprisingly, he’s doing very well with them.

We are grateful our family has survived COVID when many people around the world have lost their lives. Even though we went through lots of pain, we don’t want to even comprehend what it would’ve been like if we weren’t vaccinated.