'Tis the Season

... for Flus and Colds.

Oggie has his first major viral infection - fever, projectile vomiting, severe congestion, hacking cough and thick green mucous flowing out his nose non-stop. Per my mom's instructions, I have been giving Oggie Chitharathai (Alpinia Galangal) and Chukku (Dry Ginger) for cough.

Thankfully, my mom gave me a little kit of Vasambu, Maasikkai, Jaathikkai, Kadukkai, Chitharathai and Chukku, along with a tiny grinding stone when Ana was born. And she replenished it when Oggie was born. I wouldn't know where to look for them here. The most used among these herbs so far was Vasambu for Oggie (and for Ana when she was a baby) - for stomach discomforts and general well-being. All I have to do is add a few drops of breast milk to the grinding stone and stroke the herb a few times to get the extract. As the quantity is so small, I simply pick up the herbal remedy in my finger and let him suck on it.

Till he turned 6 months, the herbal kit my mom gave seemed to keep him "safe". But now, I guess his body has to learn to recognize these new attacks and fight it and develop immunity. Thankfully, Oggie's (and Ana's) pediatrician doesn't like prescribing antibiotics and other medication right away, so, I am going to have to let Oggie suffer through this and fight it out...

I suspect Ana got it from her new preschool and passed this on to him. Ana has similar symptoms, but to a lesser degree thankfully†. Chitharathai and Chukku seems to help her cough too, but, only if I catch it right when she is feeling down. Ana is more of a "homeo baby" as D used to refer to her - she gets homeopathic remedies for her specific conditions - remedies that my uncle usually advises us about, based on her specific symptoms.
† update: Eep! Spoke too soon - Ana projectile-vomitted and they called from her school to come and get her right away if possible - she is terribly limp and unhappy, poor thing.

It got me thinking... the most used home remedy for me has been a concoction my mom makes with cumin, coriander and ginger for headaches - headaches that are usually stomach-related. Since I am prone to nasty headaches pretty much lasting 2-3 days about twice a month, this concoction is handy. I keep them coarsely ground and mixed in the right proportion so that D can simply make a "tea" out of it by boiling required amount in water and filtering it and handing me the steaming cup of "kashayam"...

Perhaps I should collect all these home remedies here someday...