u/CalatheaHoya

Been following the Hantavirus outbreak with interest. Supremely unfortunate that victim 2 deteriorated with probably maximal viral shedding during a long haul flight and on a trip through busy airport.

Anyway I was just thinking how impressive it is that the South African ED doctors for the presentation of victim 2 thought of Hantavirus and tested for it, allowing for much more rapid contact tracing and hopefully outbreak control. Given that she was only the second victim and her husband was initially thought to have died of ‘natural causes’ according to press reports, I think it’s pretty amazing they managed to identify the pathogen in her case. Must have been some pretty clever people on the case there!

Anyone else have any thoughts about the outbreak?

Hello! Mum of 2, first is 2y4 months and second is 7 weeks.

Hitting feelings of serious overwhelm here.

My first is lively, demanding, hilarious, rushes around, lives for riding his balance bike and active adventures. He’s in nursery 4 days a week at the moment which I feel terrible about given I’m on maternity leave.

My second is an incredibly fussy and clingy baby, cried solidly for the first 4 weeks of his life, hates the pram, the carrier, just wants to be held in arms. Has bad reflux so I need to hold him upright for 30-45 min for every night feed, these are happening every 2-3 hours so I’m literally awake half the night. My husband is great and often takes over from 4/5am so I can get a block of sleep but I’m still so tired

Before he was born I worked part time and had my first born 2 days a week. This was busy and demanding but I had a routine nailed and would take him all over on trips, play dates, etc.

I had an emergency c section so only just been cleared to lift and take care of my first who is a big boy weighing 16kg.

I can’t figure out how to have both of them together and meet their needs. My first needs lots of activity and attention (he’s not bad at independent play) and is very upset by me holding the baby, he’s started physically lashing out at me and saying ‘mummy go away’. The second can’t be put down anywhere even for a minute without screaming. The screaming upsets and triggers my first who starts shouting. He often doesn’t even tolerate the carrier and hates the pram and has to be physically held which uses both my hands. My poor first born has ended up watching far too much TV (we used to be basically screen free) and I miss him so terribly.

My husband will often take the baby after work and I get an hour 5-6 to take my first to the park or just generally hang out and these are the only times I really feel happy and like I have a grip on my own life. I think I might be becoming depressed and am seeking help for that.

Please any words of advice or when does it get better?