Am I bugging you?

It appears Arun may have his first cold. Ever.

Over the past year, I've mentioned here and there that Arun has never really been sick, no colds or anything of that sort. While it may appear that I am bragging, what is actually happening is that I am expressing my sheer fascination with the whole "breastfeeding/immunity" thing. Indeed, whether my child gets a cold or not has absolutely nothing to do with my prowess as a mother - a fact of which I am fully cognizant. Instead, this extreme interest in my kid's immunity stems from my lifelong love of science. In grade school, we would always have those special assemblies where scientists would come in and do cool slide shows on their travels to places like Africa and South America where they studied some tropical beetle. I was the geeky one with stringy hair and Coke-bottled eyeglasses on the edge of her seat with excitement. In high school, we were only required to get 3 credits of science - I got all 5 available and was a member of the Science Club (don't mock me on that alone - I was a cheerleader, athlete, bandmember, and Knowledge Bowl contestant. Now, you can point and laugh at will.) Anyway, I went into college thinking I would do some sort of engineering, but frankly, chemistry KICKED MY ASS. I loved my biology class and lab, though. As in, "actually looked forward to class" LOVED it. When the semester ended, I realized with a sick heart that it would my LAST biology class ever. I remember looking at that easily earned "A" and thinking. Hard. I suspect the problem at the time was that I had no clue what a biology major would do career-wise. Now that I am older, I would have canvassed some professors or GTAs, but I was just a kid wandering a large state university on my own. So, I told myself that biology could always be a hobby, then proceeded to enroll in business classes for the next semester. I don't really have regrets, but I do wonder what would have happened if I had pursued a career in something I truly loved. In the meantime, I try to watch the Discovery channel when possible, subscribe to National Geographic and enjoy an occasional cheesy Hollywood flick (think Outbreak - corny as all get out, but I LOVED that movie.)

Where was I? Oh, yeah. The Kid...... So, it appears he may actually have a cold and good God, he's actually COUGHING. I think he may have gotten the cold from his Uncle A. Our friend A was in town from Boston over the weekend and there is a mutual adoration between Arun and his Uncle A. I've mentioned before that A is an awesome Indian Uncle and I'll even admit that it's pretty handy when he is in town because it's like there is a 3rd set of hands to help out X and I. So, after a weekend of hanging out with A, it appears Arun has a cold. And finally, this probably makes sense.

The cool thing about breastfeeding is that when I am exposed to a pathogen, my body immediately starts producing anti-bodies. Arun, of course, gets those anti-bodies. This is why, despite the fact that we have been all over the country on various airplanes, despite the fact that X himself is on a plane nearly every week, despite the fact that we attend playgroups, despite the fact I absolutely refused to buy the shopping cart condom, and despite the fact that X and I have had several colds ourselves, Arun has yet to catch one. In most cases, the germs that Arun is exposed to are also germs that I am exposed to so he gets immunity from me before it wallops his system. This is precisely why when a mother breastfeeds and sends her kid to daycare, colds still slip through the breastfeeding cracks - her child is exposed to stuff that she herself was not exposed to. Folks, I am not judging or making some grandiose Worldwide Breastfeeding Organization type of statement - just 'splaining (i.e. I was a Formula-fed kid myself and I came out just fine. At least I think so.) Anyway, I've seen lots of mothers express dismay that they are breastfeeding, but then they still see their kids gets colds - and that is usually why. BOTH parties have to be exposed. Still, a nursing mother sending her kid to daycare shoudn't throw out her breastpump, because she's still decreasing the amount of sickness her kid will get.

So, as much as I adore our friend A, it's only in a "brotherly" sort of fashion..ahem... and that's why it appears Arun finally caught a cold. Now, of course, I am waiting to get the cold from him.

And so it begins.