You may not care to know about this (for instance, Dad, you probably won't want to continue), but it's part of being a breastfeeding Mommy.
For the past month I had been feeling a tad off (beyond the cold that never goes away). I was even starting to have some cramping and last week I found it pretty painful to feed the little guy.
What is going on? If it is what I think it is, why doesn't it just come already?
So I dragged the two kids and myself to the OB-GYN last Thursday (just to add on to all the trips to the pediatrician) and had a pelvic exam (oh joy). They took some samples to send off to the lab and I was told it was probably nothing to worry about.
Fast forward two days. Guess what showed up? After a 20 month hiatus, it's back. I suppose I should be happy I'm getting back to normal (whatever that is), but I am now stuck with this fact of life until menopause. Because if there's ever a reason for it to go on hiatus again, I won't be too happy about it!
It's just crazy that it has been a part of my life for only 6 months out of the past 3.5 years. I suppose I better get used to it now. And the fact that weaning the little guy is just around the corner.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Gobble Gobble
And so another long Thanksgiving weekend comes to a close.
I am truly grateful this year. I have an awesome family and amazing friends.
My thanks to I and D for hosting us all for the most lovely Thanksgiving meal. It was spectacular...all of it.
My thanks to my brother and "sister no law" for coming down from Toronto for a visit.
My thanks to my amazing kiddies and husband for being who they are.
The list could go on and on, but those are the immediate memories from the past few days.
Despite the fact I was sick with a cold (the one that never goes away but just gets a little worse and then a little better and so on), I had such a great weekend.
I hope you did too (even if you are somewhere that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving!)
I am truly grateful this year. I have an awesome family and amazing friends.
My thanks to I and D for hosting us all for the most lovely Thanksgiving meal. It was spectacular...all of it.
My thanks to my brother and "sister no law" for coming down from Toronto for a visit.
My thanks to my amazing kiddies and husband for being who they are.
The list could go on and on, but those are the immediate memories from the past few days.
Despite the fact I was sick with a cold (the one that never goes away but just gets a little worse and then a little better and so on), I had such a great weekend.
I hope you did too (even if you are somewhere that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving!)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
New Routine
- Two doses of Amoxicillan for the ear infections (one per child)
- One dose of eye drops for the eye infection (the babe)
- One nebulizer treatment for the serious congestion and wheezing (the little guy)
- Breakfast
- Morning stuff
- One nebulizer treatment (the little guy)
- Nap time (the little guy)
- Lunch time
- Story time
- One dose of eye drops (the babe)
- Nap time (ideally both children)
- Late afternoon stuff
- One nebulizer treatment (the little guy)
- Dinner
- Two doses of Amoxicillan (one per child)
- Bath time
- One dose of eye drops (the babe)
- Bed time
Monday, November 23, 2009
November Sickness
November has been a health roller coaster around here.
The babe is still coughing up a storm...but the antibiotics have taken care of the ear infection and the drops have erased the eye infection. She was back at school today and it was a lovely thing.
The little guy has sadly come down with his sister's cough (thankfully not the eye infection). Night time has been the worst with frequent wakings and many trips into his room to check that he is OK. It's hard for him to sleep when he's in such discomfort and hacking up a storm, but there is only so much I can do. We've got the humidifier running, the soft sound of waves from the sound machine, frequent feedings which result in frequent diaper changes. The night rules I had been following have been adjusted to account for the little guy's illness.
I have to admit that it is pretty exhausting after having just made it through the babe's stomach virus and ear infection drama. The past few nights have been rough on baby, Mama and Papa. So rough that I fell back asleep after feeding the little guy at 7:00 am today. I then woke to the babe walking into our room and asking to climb into the bed. I looked over at the clock and realized it was 8:30 am. Woops. We're normally getting to the front door to leave at that time. So we all hustled and managed to get to school 25 minutes late. An extra hour of sleep was well worth it!
Fast forward to this afternoon. I had a mild panic attach and was considering bringing the little guy to the ER. He was coughing in a scary way, snot running down his face, irritable, very hot, and I discovered what looked to be mucus in his poopy diaper. After calling the pediatrician at 4:55 pm (they close at 5), I was faced with a choice. The receptionist recommended we head to the Children's Hospital to have him checked out. I called my husband, and we decided to call our health insurance provider's 24 hour help line (which has come in handy in the past). The nurse recommended we talk to our pediatrician in the next 8 hours and watch him closely.
We decided a trip to the ER at rush hour on a rainy Monday night wasn't in any of our best interests. After a dose of Tylenol and a few minutes of Little Einsteins, it was clear we had made the right decision. The little guy, although still ill, was sitting and doing his new arm shaking dance move to the overly familiar theme song. It's amazing how half an hour can change things.
I will stop my rambling as I need to shower and sleep before the night time sickness routine kicks in again. I know we are not the only house dealing with this, and I take a strange comfort in that. Watching your kids fight sickness is hard on a parent. We just have to remember that this too shall pass, right?
The babe is still coughing up a storm...but the antibiotics have taken care of the ear infection and the drops have erased the eye infection. She was back at school today and it was a lovely thing.
The little guy has sadly come down with his sister's cough (thankfully not the eye infection). Night time has been the worst with frequent wakings and many trips into his room to check that he is OK. It's hard for him to sleep when he's in such discomfort and hacking up a storm, but there is only so much I can do. We've got the humidifier running, the soft sound of waves from the sound machine, frequent feedings which result in frequent diaper changes. The night rules I had been following have been adjusted to account for the little guy's illness.
I have to admit that it is pretty exhausting after having just made it through the babe's stomach virus and ear infection drama. The past few nights have been rough on baby, Mama and Papa. So rough that I fell back asleep after feeding the little guy at 7:00 am today. I then woke to the babe walking into our room and asking to climb into the bed. I looked over at the clock and realized it was 8:30 am. Woops. We're normally getting to the front door to leave at that time. So we all hustled and managed to get to school 25 minutes late. An extra hour of sleep was well worth it!
Fast forward to this afternoon. I had a mild panic attach and was considering bringing the little guy to the ER. He was coughing in a scary way, snot running down his face, irritable, very hot, and I discovered what looked to be mucus in his poopy diaper. After calling the pediatrician at 4:55 pm (they close at 5), I was faced with a choice. The receptionist recommended we head to the Children's Hospital to have him checked out. I called my husband, and we decided to call our health insurance provider's 24 hour help line (which has come in handy in the past). The nurse recommended we talk to our pediatrician in the next 8 hours and watch him closely.
We decided a trip to the ER at rush hour on a rainy Monday night wasn't in any of our best interests. After a dose of Tylenol and a few minutes of Little Einsteins, it was clear we had made the right decision. The little guy, although still ill, was sitting and doing his new arm shaking dance move to the overly familiar theme song. It's amazing how half an hour can change things.
I will stop my rambling as I need to shower and sleep before the night time sickness routine kicks in again. I know we are not the only house dealing with this, and I take a strange comfort in that. Watching your kids fight sickness is hard on a parent. We just have to remember that this too shall pass, right?
Friday, November 20, 2009
Promises, Promises
I make a lot of promises to myself to blog more. Then I break my promises.
I have just been overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being a parent.
And there are always a zillion other things I need to do. But really, I need to do this too. I love it and it makes me feel better.
That said, here's a brief update!
I have just been overwhelmed by the responsibilities of being a parent.
And there are always a zillion other things I need to do. But really, I need to do this too. I love it and it makes me feel better.
That said, here's a brief update!
- The kids were very cute for Halloween. The little guy was a cow (as the babe was two years ago) and the babe was Winnie the Pooh (as she was last year). We carved two pumpkins and went trick or treating up and down our block. The babe didn't even seem to mind that she couldn't eat most of her loot. I wonder if the food allergies will catch up with us next year?
- I have been on a house hunt (again). This is where a lot of my designated computer time has gone lately. It is a frustrating and tedious experience, and I'm not sure what will become of it. However, we did make our first offer to buy a house last Friday (the 13th, I might add). Our offer was promptly rejected without a counter on Saturday morning. So how's that for a first experience!!! I am continuing my hunt but, as my husband suggested, I will try to be better at dividing up my computer time to various needs (such as blogging!)
- I love preschool. BUT, I do not love all the ridiculous germs there. In the past three weeks, the babe has been inflicted with an eye infection, a stomach virus which involved vomiting and fevers, a bad cough, a constant snotty nose, and as of yesterday, an ear infection and another eye infection. She has been in school for about 7 hours total in the past 9 days and I am about to lose it. It's also tough on her to have to hang out at home all day instead of the awesomeness that is preschool. I am getting seriously sick of The Little Einsteins (her favorite show). Knock on wood though, as it can always be worse.
- The little guy has three teeth coming in on the top. His smile is changing every day. He also started to pull himself up on the table yesterday and not just hold himself on his knees (as he's been doing for a few weeks), but is standing all the way up. We are about to enter the "cruising" phase of life. What happened to my baby? This is all happening way too fast.
They are both upstairs crying so I better sign off. So much for a quiet nap time.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Beeline
Last night my husband walked in the door from work around 6:45 pm. The little guy, upon hearing his father's voice, crawled out of his play zone and speed crawled across the living room floor all the way up to his Papa in the entrance way.
The smile on both of their faces was priceless.
It was one of those moments that makes it all worthwhile.
The smile on both of their faces was priceless.
It was one of those moments that makes it all worthwhile.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Getting the Vaccine
Last Thursday I stood for 3.5 hours to get the little guy his H1N1 vaccine. It was 2.5 hours outside and 1 hour inside. We were 2 people in a line of thousands. There were 1,000 doses and I didn't know if we'd manage to secure one for my little love bug.
By the time I had dropped the babe off at a friends place at 4:25 pm, found very expensive parking (no street parking left), and gotten in line, it was almost 5:00 pm (the official start time of the clinic). There were already so many people my heart sunk. I stood and tried to keep the little guy entertained with food and toys. He was a trooper and had only brief moments of annoyance. It was cold and then it got dark. This is what flu fear looks like, I thought to myself.
My husband, who had come straight from the office, managed to make it to us just before we entered the school. The three of us stood for another hour, sans stroller, snaking along the halls of a decrepit high school with hundreds of other tired and frustrated parents and children (this was only for "priority groups"). At one point I had to break down and breastfeed the little guy while standing in the line. Unbelievable, and not great for my back.
We made it past the form checkers and down to a scary room in the basement. The fluorescent light flickered and people were looking really bad at this point. The room was filled with the sounds of screaming children. It felt like a bad movie. There were 18 people giving out shots and mist, and after waiting our turn, we were ushered to a nurse in the back of the room.
She was lovely and we managed to get the little guy his shot in the left leg (we were number 614). Next to us was an EMS team with a stretcher that had been called in for a young boy. Scary.
We waited around for 10 minutes after the shot to make sure there was no reaction. He was fine.
We headed back to pick up the stroller, then pick up the car, then pick up our daughter, then get the kids bathed and in bed. We turned off the babe's light and said good night at 10:00 pm. What a day. Can't wait to do it again.
By the time I had dropped the babe off at a friends place at 4:25 pm, found very expensive parking (no street parking left), and gotten in line, it was almost 5:00 pm (the official start time of the clinic). There were already so many people my heart sunk. I stood and tried to keep the little guy entertained with food and toys. He was a trooper and had only brief moments of annoyance. It was cold and then it got dark. This is what flu fear looks like, I thought to myself.
My husband, who had come straight from the office, managed to make it to us just before we entered the school. The three of us stood for another hour, sans stroller, snaking along the halls of a decrepit high school with hundreds of other tired and frustrated parents and children (this was only for "priority groups"). At one point I had to break down and breastfeed the little guy while standing in the line. Unbelievable, and not great for my back.
We made it past the form checkers and down to a scary room in the basement. The fluorescent light flickered and people were looking really bad at this point. The room was filled with the sounds of screaming children. It felt like a bad movie. There were 18 people giving out shots and mist, and after waiting our turn, we were ushered to a nurse in the back of the room.
She was lovely and we managed to get the little guy his shot in the left leg (we were number 614). Next to us was an EMS team with a stretcher that had been called in for a young boy. Scary.
We waited around for 10 minutes after the shot to make sure there was no reaction. He was fine.
We headed back to pick up the stroller, then pick up the car, then pick up our daughter, then get the kids bathed and in bed. We turned off the babe's light and said good night at 10:00 pm. What a day. Can't wait to do it again.
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