We had to take Little Man to the ER yesterday. I am incredibly grateful for the wonderful emergency room right up the street from us - it acts as an Urgent Care/Emergency Room with it's own lab/diagnostic testing department, even though there is no hospital physically connected to it. (It is owned/run by one of the local hospitals - the one my mom works for - which is a great hospital.) Anyway, this is the 2nd time our family has had to use it (Daddy Fuss had to go for a severe case of strep throat a couple of Christmases ago) and they have always been quick, efficient, and helpful.
Anyhow, he had this horrible cough that was worrying me and when I called the pediatrician's after-hours help line, the nurse was useless. So, as I saw he got worse, we decided to take him in. I've had too many friends who have had their babies come down with RSV or whatever to risk it.
Of course, when we got there, he was suddenly feeling better. After not smiling at me for HOURS at home, he was flirting with the nurses and smiling at them. And of course, how do you get a 5 month old to cough on command? I think they were nearly ready to send us home until he FINALLY coughed his horrible cough in front of the Dr. That made the Dr. stop and rethink, because he didn't like the sound of it, either. We ended up getting a rapid RSV test (negative) and chest X-ray (positive for... something.) It indicated that there was SOMETHING in one of his lungs, so rather than give him a 2nd X-ray to determine HOW MUCH, they decided to treat him with antibiotics - since that was going to be the treatment either way. The PA described it as "early-stages of pneumonia" which, I guess is sort of how it works - if Bronchitis goes untreated, it can often lead to pneumonia? Regardless, I felt vindicated in my paranoia of taking him to the ER for what could have just been a bad cold.
(I called the pediatrician's office to let them know so that they could request the records from the ER, etc. They are discussing whether or not I should come in - why on earth would I come in? He's got his diagnosis and his medication, what else is there?)
Anyhow, the rest of us are still battling various levels of having a cold, but thankfully, it's manageable. And the baby slept well last night, so we got some decent sleep.
Showing posts with label Medical Junk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Medical Junk. Show all posts
Monday, February 21, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Moaning and Groaning.
My baby seems to think that every waking moment needs to involve him in my arms. He is constantly fussing at me if I'm not holding him. Mix this in with the random-acts-of-fussiness that he's been giving me for the last few days (he goes from 0-screaming in 1.5 seconds, in my arms or not and then is inconsolable until I do something "drastic" like feed him off-schedule or stick him in the car and drive around for awhile until he passes out)
I told my husband that I was a bad mother last night because at one point, I screamed at my baby. He told me that as long as I didn't HIT (or shake) my baby, that it was okay and I could let myself off the hook. I needed to hear it, but I still feel awful for yelling at him. He doesn't know. It's not like he can control how he feels or communicate to me what the problem is...
I had 2 awful headaches yesterday, one vying for the list of Top 5 Worst Headaches of my life. And of course, the baby wouldn't sleep and let me just try and sleep it away. I had to take medicine that is questionable while nursing (though I took it immediately after a feeding and was able to delay the next one to limit the amount he might have gotten. And the biggest complaint about taking this medicine is that there is a lot of caffeine in it, and since I have a little bit of caffeine each day anyway, he seems to be used to it.) But I was at the point where I was seriously considering how I could possibly get to Urgent Care to deal with the headache. And that's not a place I like to be. I need to work on staying more on top of the pain before it gets to that point, but I just hate taking daily medication if I can help it.
I'm sure that the headaches and related stress are what contributed to the screaming at the baby. I'm also extremely frustrated with the whole Potty Training thing we've got going on right now. I am so sick of having her ignore my suggestions that she go sit on the potty and 15 minutes later have an accident. I think she has worn every piece of underwear she has in the last 4 days. Despite making her clean up after herself when she has an accident, and of course not giving her rewards when she DOESN'T use the potty properly, it doesn't seem to be moving forward. I am just so SICK of pee.
I told my husband that I was a bad mother last night because at one point, I screamed at my baby. He told me that as long as I didn't HIT (or shake) my baby, that it was okay and I could let myself off the hook. I needed to hear it, but I still feel awful for yelling at him. He doesn't know. It's not like he can control how he feels or communicate to me what the problem is...
I had 2 awful headaches yesterday, one vying for the list of Top 5 Worst Headaches of my life. And of course, the baby wouldn't sleep and let me just try and sleep it away. I had to take medicine that is questionable while nursing (though I took it immediately after a feeding and was able to delay the next one to limit the amount he might have gotten. And the biggest complaint about taking this medicine is that there is a lot of caffeine in it, and since I have a little bit of caffeine each day anyway, he seems to be used to it.) But I was at the point where I was seriously considering how I could possibly get to Urgent Care to deal with the headache. And that's not a place I like to be. I need to work on staying more on top of the pain before it gets to that point, but I just hate taking daily medication if I can help it.
I'm sure that the headaches and related stress are what contributed to the screaming at the baby. I'm also extremely frustrated with the whole Potty Training thing we've got going on right now. I am so sick of having her ignore my suggestions that she go sit on the potty and 15 minutes later have an accident. I think she has worn every piece of underwear she has in the last 4 days. Despite making her clean up after herself when she has an accident, and of course not giving her rewards when she DOESN'T use the potty properly, it doesn't seem to be moving forward. I am just so SICK of pee.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Panic, Parties and Programs
On Monday night, we went to my husband softball game and then went to dinner after. While we were eating, I started to feel really tight in my shoulders and it got worse and worse until it was beginning to be unbearable. I excused myself from the table and went to the bathroom - I don't know what my motivation was, really, other than I felt like my body was beginning to freak out and I didn't want to have a fit or something in front of the other patrons. (Really, I have no idea why I chose to leave the table...) but I continued feeling SO tight that it became hard to breathe deeply. It was the closest thing I've ever felt to a panic attack, I think, but it was awful. (Oddly, i don't recall anything to panic about in our conversation or situation at the time. Weird.) My husband called me on the cell phone to check on me and I explained how I was feeling. He had me come back to the table and coached me through some breathing and rubbed my shoulders.
I loosened up a little with his help and was able to drive home without incident. I ended up with a headache once we got home, but was able to feed the baby and sit down and relax with some TV (Lie to Me - what are they doing to the schedule on FOX these days?)
I have no idea where any of it came from. It was bizarre and I hope I never experience that again.
__________________
My mom was always strict about the type of shows that I was allowed to watch when I was a kid. I never argued (until I was a teen and figured I should be allowed to watch shows that other kids my age were watching) but now I'm dealing with Fuss arguing when I tell her the show on TV is not appropriate and she needs to turn it off. (She can watch the pre-school shows on Disney, but once they sing the "Ooh, ahh ahh, Bye-Bye" song, I don't like the shows for older kids, so she is not allowed to watch them.
Of course, I guess we didn't have cable until I was 5 or 6, so maybe I would have been more difficult as a toddler - who knows?
__________________
Trying to come up with birthday present ideas for Fuss is HARD. I did so much for her at Christmas, that now, I'm like - what now? We are taking her to Sea World for her birthday (worked out sort of randomly to have a hotel for cheap in Orlando for the weekend of her birthday, and I know she'll love Sea World and I always do, so... ) but we're not really going to have a party, I don't think. (I kind of hate throwing little kid parties. Is that horrible? We always do a family celebration and last year we took her to Disney - albeit 9 months later, but still - for her big celebration and now we're taking her to Sea World - but I wonder if I'm short-changing her somehow, by not throwing her a party with little friends and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and party hats and cupcakes...
What do you think? Should I throw my 3-yr-old a party?
I loosened up a little with his help and was able to drive home without incident. I ended up with a headache once we got home, but was able to feed the baby and sit down and relax with some TV (Lie to Me - what are they doing to the schedule on FOX these days?)
I have no idea where any of it came from. It was bizarre and I hope I never experience that again.
__________________
My mom was always strict about the type of shows that I was allowed to watch when I was a kid. I never argued (until I was a teen and figured I should be allowed to watch shows that other kids my age were watching) but now I'm dealing with Fuss arguing when I tell her the show on TV is not appropriate and she needs to turn it off. (She can watch the pre-school shows on Disney, but once they sing the "Ooh, ahh ahh, Bye-Bye" song, I don't like the shows for older kids, so she is not allowed to watch them.
Of course, I guess we didn't have cable until I was 5 or 6, so maybe I would have been more difficult as a toddler - who knows?
__________________
Trying to come up with birthday present ideas for Fuss is HARD. I did so much for her at Christmas, that now, I'm like - what now? We are taking her to Sea World for her birthday (worked out sort of randomly to have a hotel for cheap in Orlando for the weekend of her birthday, and I know she'll love Sea World and I always do, so... ) but we're not really going to have a party, I don't think. (I kind of hate throwing little kid parties. Is that horrible? We always do a family celebration and last year we took her to Disney - albeit 9 months later, but still - for her big celebration and now we're taking her to Sea World - but I wonder if I'm short-changing her somehow, by not throwing her a party with little friends and pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey and party hats and cupcakes...
What do you think? Should I throw my 3-yr-old a party?
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Household of Sickness
Yesterday, I thought I might be dying. Am still miserable today, but slightly better. Yesterday I spent the bulk of the day in bed. I slept through the night (propped the baby's mattress up with a pillow so he could sleep elevated and voila! Slept through the night) woke to feed him at 5:30 - went back to bed by 6:30 and when my husband came to kiss me good-bye just before 8, realized I felt like I had been hit by a bus. Every joint in my body hurt. They hurt when I lay still and they screamed when I moved. I couldn't get comfortable. My head pounded. My throat was sore and glands were swollen (that petered off during the day, thank goodness). My wonderful, blessed, sweet, loving husband declared he was working from home and stayed to let me sleep (I didn't get out of bed again until 11. I ate some soup and watched a tiny bit of TV and then went back to bed until almost 4). I fed the baby in bed, but otherwise, did nothing helpful until evening.
My house is a disaster. Seriously. I am trying not to think about it.
Last night, Fuss started acting more congested. I gave her some Tylenol when I heard her whimpering from her bed an hour or so after bedtime. She woke this morning with a horrible cough. The baby is still snotty and coughing and irritable, but he started to occasionally smile again yesterday, so I know he's doing better, at least. And he has mostly stopped screaming he fool head off.
I woke this morning with more of a headache and less of the body aches. My sore throat has decreased in pain, but increased in area. And I am more congested. Yippee. Day 2 of my husband staying home. (He is actually grateful, I think. A few problems have come up at work and he only has to deal with them by phone and email instead of more directly.)
I am able to get a bit more done when on medication. I did some laundry and we both began working on the pile dirty dishes/pans/garbage that is our kitchen slowly but surely.
I hurt. My neck and shoulders are so tight, I think I could strum them with a bow and make music.
Eventually, I will post something interesting on here. But meanwhile, bear with me.
My house is a disaster. Seriously. I am trying not to think about it.
Last night, Fuss started acting more congested. I gave her some Tylenol when I heard her whimpering from her bed an hour or so after bedtime. She woke this morning with a horrible cough. The baby is still snotty and coughing and irritable, but he started to occasionally smile again yesterday, so I know he's doing better, at least. And he has mostly stopped screaming he fool head off.
I woke this morning with more of a headache and less of the body aches. My sore throat has decreased in pain, but increased in area. And I am more congested. Yippee. Day 2 of my husband staying home. (He is actually grateful, I think. A few problems have come up at work and he only has to deal with them by phone and email instead of more directly.)
I am able to get a bit more done when on medication. I did some laundry and we both began working on the pile dirty dishes/pans/garbage that is our kitchen slowly but surely.
I hurt. My neck and shoulders are so tight, I think I could strum them with a bow and make music.
Eventually, I will post something interesting on here. But meanwhile, bear with me.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Tooth Pain Rant.... and Gardenias, too!
I hate the dentist. Have I mentioned this? I HATE going to the dentist. I have horrible memories of my first dentist, though when my mom finally got the picture that the crotchety old man terrified me, she found me a much nicer pediatric dentist and he was okay, but I mean, who likes going to the dentist, right? And then I had this orthodontist who had these HUGE, MASSIVE, MEATY hands (they belonged on a butcher. Seriously, I always felt that way) and here he was trying to manipulate pieces of metal into my very tiny mouth (every person who has ever worked on my teeth/mouth has commented on how tiny my mouth is) and it was several years of torture, though he, at least, tried to be nice about it.
So I avoid the dentist like the plague. I think I've been to the dentist 3 times since I became an adult (my pediatric dentist stops taking kids at 18) and 2 of those times were at my moms request, just before my wedding when she begged me to have my teeth cleaned and a filling put in a cavity that showed when I smiled.
Plus, I have bad teeth. I blame that gallons of undiluted apple juice I drank as a kid, even during the nighttime (I was allowed to have a cup of it by my bedside for years and would wake up feeling dry and take a swig) and the fact that I, like most people, don't brush or floss often enough or well enough. But anyhow, my teeth are not great, so I have a tendancy towards cavities anyhow...
But I have a tooth ache. And when I finally sucked it up to go see a dentist about it yesterday, I was informed that a) it was possibly infected and b) the decay was severe enough that I would need to see an oral surgeon to have it extracted or have a root canal done, since it was bad enough that this dentist couldn't take care of it for me. Ugh.
As if finding a babysitter wasn't hard enough for FUN reasons, now I need to find one in the middle of the day, during regular business hours to get this darn thing taken care of. And it's obviously not something I can fudge and bring her along if the babysitting thing doesn't work out... I already had to ask my husband to come home early yesterday for the first appointment, where I was hoping they could just TAKE CARE OF IT, but it's hard for me to do that to him repeatedly - his boss isn't all that great about family obligations, though I admit getting him to let my husband work from yesterday was surprisingly easier than I expected...
And I have to get my OB to tell them all this stuff about what I can have - anesthetics, pain meds, antibiotics, etc. because OF COURSE they don't know all this stuff and they have to cover their backsides (which, truly, I understand and I appreciate as far as it goes to protect me and my baby, but isn't it something they should know? Can't you just give a pregnant woman some Novocaine and move on? I cannot be the first pregnant woman to ever need dental work...) so I have to make a zillion phone calls to the OB, too.
The one bright spot over the last couple of days is that our gardenia bushes are in bloom and my husband makes a habit of gathering some great blooms and bringing them inside for me, so every time I pass them, I get this awesome scent of gardenia flowers... Even the gardenia bush that my old co-workers sent me when Fuss was born is blooming. (It was blooming great when I got it, but this is the first flower I remember seeing since we planted it. I don't think it gets quite enough sun, but it's likely too late to transplant it elsewhere)
So here I am. Tooth aching, begging people to babysit my daughter so I can be tortured by someone I will then have to pay a fortune to. But at least my house smells good.
So I avoid the dentist like the plague. I think I've been to the dentist 3 times since I became an adult (my pediatric dentist stops taking kids at 18) and 2 of those times were at my moms request, just before my wedding when she begged me to have my teeth cleaned and a filling put in a cavity that showed when I smiled.
Plus, I have bad teeth. I blame that gallons of undiluted apple juice I drank as a kid, even during the nighttime (I was allowed to have a cup of it by my bedside for years and would wake up feeling dry and take a swig) and the fact that I, like most people, don't brush or floss often enough or well enough. But anyhow, my teeth are not great, so I have a tendancy towards cavities anyhow...
But I have a tooth ache. And when I finally sucked it up to go see a dentist about it yesterday, I was informed that a) it was possibly infected and b) the decay was severe enough that I would need to see an oral surgeon to have it extracted or have a root canal done, since it was bad enough that this dentist couldn't take care of it for me. Ugh.
As if finding a babysitter wasn't hard enough for FUN reasons, now I need to find one in the middle of the day, during regular business hours to get this darn thing taken care of. And it's obviously not something I can fudge and bring her along if the babysitting thing doesn't work out... I already had to ask my husband to come home early yesterday for the first appointment, where I was hoping they could just TAKE CARE OF IT, but it's hard for me to do that to him repeatedly - his boss isn't all that great about family obligations, though I admit getting him to let my husband work from yesterday was surprisingly easier than I expected...
And I have to get my OB to tell them all this stuff about what I can have - anesthetics, pain meds, antibiotics, etc. because OF COURSE they don't know all this stuff and they have to cover their backsides (which, truly, I understand and I appreciate as far as it goes to protect me and my baby, but isn't it something they should know? Can't you just give a pregnant woman some Novocaine and move on? I cannot be the first pregnant woman to ever need dental work...) so I have to make a zillion phone calls to the OB, too.
The one bright spot over the last couple of days is that our gardenia bushes are in bloom and my husband makes a habit of gathering some great blooms and bringing them inside for me, so every time I pass them, I get this awesome scent of gardenia flowers... Even the gardenia bush that my old co-workers sent me when Fuss was born is blooming. (It was blooming great when I got it, but this is the first flower I remember seeing since we planted it. I don't think it gets quite enough sun, but it's likely too late to transplant it elsewhere)
So here I am. Tooth aching, begging people to babysit my daughter so I can be tortured by someone I will then have to pay a fortune to. But at least my house smells good.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Goodness Gracious
Thursday night I started in with this pain in my stomach. It began as this tight, full, bloated feeling (like I was extremely stopped up) and then expanded to a sharp, intense pain on my lower right pelvic region. (I even asked my mom the symptoms of appendicitis it was so sharp). I woke up repeatedly during the night - mostly due to the pain. When my alarm went off at 6, I got out of bed, painfully and on my way to the shower, Fuss woke up and I realized that I couldn't pick her up without an extreme amount of pain. I woke my husband and asked him to take care of her for me. I took my shower, but could barely stand up straight.
He offered to keep her for our usual "I get one hour at work to myself" Friday morning thing, for which I was grateful. I had no clue how I was going to load and unload her from the car when I couldn't pick her up. When he arrived at work, I had already called my OB's office and left a message, but of course hadn't heard back yet. I asked him to stick around and I called my dad to find someone to relieve me at work. I worked for a little while longer and my dad showed up early to help me out and wait for my psuedo-step-mom to arrive to help out. Having not heard from my OB's office, I decided to just show up and try and get them to see me as soon as possible. (I live and work at least 30-minutes away anyhow, so there would be a commute.)
When we arrived, I explained to the office manager that I didn't have an appointment, but that I had this horrible pain and was hoping one of the midwives could see me. In just a couple of minutes, I had been asked to come back, do my vitals (I'd lost 2 lbs) and leave a sample. They got me into a room quickly, too. They told me right off that my midwife had been planning to call me back, but had been called to the hospital to break someones water and would be back shortly.
She arrived several minutes later, but not before Fuss had gotten antsy and one of the staff members had come in with a latex glove balloon for her to play with. When my midwife came in, she apologized for being delayed, which I thought was amazing. Here I show up without an appointment and she is apologizing.
From my description, she guessed that it was round ligament pain, but gave me a check anyhow. She tried to pick up the heartbeat on dopplar, but couldn't get it (but OMG, did it hurt as she pressed the thing against my belly!) and hooked me up with a quickie ultrasound. They checked my ovaries and cervix length (all normal) and showed me the baby floating around in there. We got the heartbeat (166 bpm) and I asked the tech if she had noticed a correlation with the old wives' tale about the heart rate (> 150 = girl, < 150 = boy) and she said no, that it didn't seem to be the case that it totally depended on the size of the baby, etc. and so then she told us she had a 70% guess on gender.
The ultrasound confirmed that there were no further problems, so my pain was diagnosed as the ligament pain. The midwife reminded me that as my second pregnancy everything was going to be a little more dramatic and intense, etc.
I was relieved to find out that there were no problems. Very relieved. I think I didn't realize how worried I was until she told me it was all okay.
It took me 2 more days (Sunday) to clear up the pain completely. I was able to get back to normal actions (like picking up Fuss) on Saturday, thank goodness. I'm back to regularly taking softeners since the vitamins tend to make me more stopped up than I'm comfortable with. I also had a lunch on Friday that consisted solely of a Jamocha shake from Arby's (my favorite shake, but also often a guarantee to get my insides moving) and took it easy on my stomach for a few days.
I am hoping this week will bring less drama than last. I'm hoping March is better to me than February.
He offered to keep her for our usual "I get one hour at work to myself" Friday morning thing, for which I was grateful. I had no clue how I was going to load and unload her from the car when I couldn't pick her up. When he arrived at work, I had already called my OB's office and left a message, but of course hadn't heard back yet. I asked him to stick around and I called my dad to find someone to relieve me at work. I worked for a little while longer and my dad showed up early to help me out and wait for my psuedo-step-mom to arrive to help out. Having not heard from my OB's office, I decided to just show up and try and get them to see me as soon as possible. (I live and work at least 30-minutes away anyhow, so there would be a commute.)
When we arrived, I explained to the office manager that I didn't have an appointment, but that I had this horrible pain and was hoping one of the midwives could see me. In just a couple of minutes, I had been asked to come back, do my vitals (I'd lost 2 lbs) and leave a sample. They got me into a room quickly, too. They told me right off that my midwife had been planning to call me back, but had been called to the hospital to break someones water and would be back shortly.
She arrived several minutes later, but not before Fuss had gotten antsy and one of the staff members had come in with a latex glove balloon for her to play with. When my midwife came in, she apologized for being delayed, which I thought was amazing. Here I show up without an appointment and she is apologizing.
From my description, she guessed that it was round ligament pain, but gave me a check anyhow. She tried to pick up the heartbeat on dopplar, but couldn't get it (but OMG, did it hurt as she pressed the thing against my belly!) and hooked me up with a quickie ultrasound. They checked my ovaries and cervix length (all normal) and showed me the baby floating around in there. We got the heartbeat (166 bpm) and I asked the tech if she had noticed a correlation with the old wives' tale about the heart rate (> 150 = girl, < 150 = boy) and she said no, that it didn't seem to be the case that it totally depended on the size of the baby, etc. and so then she told us she had a 70% guess on gender.
The ultrasound confirmed that there were no further problems, so my pain was diagnosed as the ligament pain. The midwife reminded me that as my second pregnancy everything was going to be a little more dramatic and intense, etc.
I was relieved to find out that there were no problems. Very relieved. I think I didn't realize how worried I was until she told me it was all okay.
It took me 2 more days (Sunday) to clear up the pain completely. I was able to get back to normal actions (like picking up Fuss) on Saturday, thank goodness. I'm back to regularly taking softeners since the vitamins tend to make me more stopped up than I'm comfortable with. I also had a lunch on Friday that consisted solely of a Jamocha shake from Arby's (my favorite shake, but also often a guarantee to get my insides moving) and took it easy on my stomach for a few days.
I am hoping this week will bring less drama than last. I'm hoping March is better to me than February.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
She's swelling, I'm whining.
Yesterday, I took Fuss to the Dr to check out the spots on her body. I had established (with the help of Dr. Google) that it wasn't chicken pox, but my mom had me scared that it was something really bad (measles?) and the Pharmacist at our local drug store suggested Fifths Disease (again, Dr. Google and I discovered that the main and most prominent symptom for that is the bright red cheeks, which she didn't have) and the pediatrician established that they are hives, not some sort of other rash and has jumped on the assumption that it is an allergic reaction to the amoxicillan she was on for her ear infection. (she admits, though that since it happened after the last dose, it doesn't follow the logical pattern and my mother is objecting to the diagnosis and it's stressing me out!)
She put her on a regular dose of Benedryl, and the implication I got was that it would work reasonably fast, but that I'd see the hives worsen again as it wore off every 6 hours. Unfortunately, that was not the case. It didn't seem to have any effect on her whatsoever.
Yesterday evening I noticed that her main joints (knees, wrists, ankles) were swelling, were bright pink and were hot to the touch. I ended up calling the after-hours service at the pediatricians office and we came very close to taking her to the ER. They were really only worried about if her breathing was labored or wheezing (it wasn't) and if her face was swelling (it also wasn't) and said to continue with what I was doing - that the Benedryl could sometimes take 24 hours of regular doing to have effect(!) and I should watch her. Later in the evening, I noticed she was having more trouble walking - the swelling in her feet and knees had gotten that bad. But she fell asleep on my lap shortly thereafter, so we didn't end up taking her to the ER, even though I was tempted to do so. (My mother was getting on me, too. She seemed to want to take her to the ER and usually, my mom is my go-to when it comes to medical stuff - she's a nurse. But I felt like she was just disregarding everything the pediatric people were telling me because she didn't agree and ultimately, we decided to simply go with the pediatric nurses advice.)
She slept okay through the night. We had to get her up at 10 to give her the next dose of medicine, but she went right back to sleep. She stirred a few times during the night, but quieted quickly.
She got up this morning and the swelling had gone way down, though the red spots on her wrists were still horrible and were starting to look bruised. I took her back to the pediatrician around 8 this morning. It was nearly 11 when we left. They made us stick around for a urinalysis and the poor kid wouldn't pee. When she finally did, it came back normal. (Natch! All that trouble for nothing) The Dr. put her on prednisone (which makes me nervous) and we're continuing Benedryl.
My husband was at work all morning and kept leaving his cell at his desk so was unable to answer it. I'm really feeling like no one is being supportive right now, I'm so tired and grouchy myself (my own head is aching and throbbing at this point) and I'm stressed out. Tomorrow is Fuss's 2nd birthday and here she is sick, spotted and my house is a disaster because my plans for cleaning it up have been pushed to the side while dealing with my clingy child. My mom and step-dad are supposed to come over for dinner tomorrow and I have no idea when I'm going to get this place in order.
She's still swollen all over, but not as bad. She's cranky, but I would be if I was swollen, too.
I'm whining, too. We're a sad pair, Fuss and I.
She put her on a regular dose of Benedryl, and the implication I got was that it would work reasonably fast, but that I'd see the hives worsen again as it wore off every 6 hours. Unfortunately, that was not the case. It didn't seem to have any effect on her whatsoever.
Yesterday evening I noticed that her main joints (knees, wrists, ankles) were swelling, were bright pink and were hot to the touch. I ended up calling the after-hours service at the pediatricians office and we came very close to taking her to the ER. They were really only worried about if her breathing was labored or wheezing (it wasn't) and if her face was swelling (it also wasn't) and said to continue with what I was doing - that the Benedryl could sometimes take 24 hours of regular doing to have effect(!) and I should watch her. Later in the evening, I noticed she was having more trouble walking - the swelling in her feet and knees had gotten that bad. But she fell asleep on my lap shortly thereafter, so we didn't end up taking her to the ER, even though I was tempted to do so. (My mother was getting on me, too. She seemed to want to take her to the ER and usually, my mom is my go-to when it comes to medical stuff - she's a nurse. But I felt like she was just disregarding everything the pediatric people were telling me because she didn't agree and ultimately, we decided to simply go with the pediatric nurses advice.)
She slept okay through the night. We had to get her up at 10 to give her the next dose of medicine, but she went right back to sleep. She stirred a few times during the night, but quieted quickly.
She got up this morning and the swelling had gone way down, though the red spots on her wrists were still horrible and were starting to look bruised. I took her back to the pediatrician around 8 this morning. It was nearly 11 when we left. They made us stick around for a urinalysis and the poor kid wouldn't pee. When she finally did, it came back normal. (Natch! All that trouble for nothing) The Dr. put her on prednisone (which makes me nervous) and we're continuing Benedryl.
My husband was at work all morning and kept leaving his cell at his desk so was unable to answer it. I'm really feeling like no one is being supportive right now, I'm so tired and grouchy myself (my own head is aching and throbbing at this point) and I'm stressed out. Tomorrow is Fuss's 2nd birthday and here she is sick, spotted and my house is a disaster because my plans for cleaning it up have been pushed to the side while dealing with my clingy child. My mom and step-dad are supposed to come over for dinner tomorrow and I have no idea when I'm going to get this place in order.
She's still swollen all over, but not as bad. She's cranky, but I would be if I was swollen, too.
I'm whining, too. We're a sad pair, Fuss and I.
Friday, February 12, 2010
7 Quick Takes: It's Been a LONG Week
My blog has been dark the last 2 days due to the combination of sick Fuss and single parenting. And now I am getting sick and of course can't take anything before 12 weeks (for those counting, I'm at 10). Also the crazy-worry about my husband who is in Delaware, flying out of Philadelphia, which has been closed for the last 2 days.
1. I am tired. 5 days is too much. Yesterday, I determined that 4 days is too much. I'm at the end of my rope and my patience is gone. Of course, I am also beginning to get sick, so that might be playing a part in that.
2. Fuss has a bad cold which developed into an ear infection. It's her first, 2 weeks before her 2nd birthday, so obviously we're not doing too bad in that department. My best friend's son had been on antibiotics 4 times before his first birthday, for example. I guess my "better to be safe than sorry" attitude is working afterall.
3. The take-out diet does nothing for my intestinal issues. I hadn't had hardly any vegetables in days and my tummy is rebelling. Despite the fact that I'm eating Asian food almost exclusively, it's not nearly as healthy as I would have thought...
4. Fuss hasn't been eating over the last day or so. This is very unusual for her. She's also been taking extra naps that throw off her schedule a bunch. I ended up only working one day this week instead of my usual 3. It really ended up being bet that way, but I feel at least a little guilty (it wavers between a lot and a little) about not doing my part to bring in a paycheck. Our schedule went out the window. I knew I liked schedules, but I don't think I realized how much I depend on them.
5. My husband is scheduled to fly home today and we are hopeful that he will get home on time. I am grateful that they opened the airport this morning. A friend of ours was supposed to fly home from the same airport yesterday and he won't be getting home until Saturday night.
6. My husband's birthday is this weekend and I need to make his favorite oatmeal cake. I hope I have all the ingredients, because I don't really want to go back to the grocery store today. We went yesterday to pick up Fuss's prescription and some "hold of the cold" supplies for me (OJ, Zicam, etc.) We have reservations for his birthday and a babysitter all set up, so I'm really hoping that everyone is feeling up to the plans we have in place.
7. I am very ready for this week to be over. Very, very ready.
1. I am tired. 5 days is too much. Yesterday, I determined that 4 days is too much. I'm at the end of my rope and my patience is gone. Of course, I am also beginning to get sick, so that might be playing a part in that.
2. Fuss has a bad cold which developed into an ear infection. It's her first, 2 weeks before her 2nd birthday, so obviously we're not doing too bad in that department. My best friend's son had been on antibiotics 4 times before his first birthday, for example. I guess my "better to be safe than sorry" attitude is working afterall.
3. The take-out diet does nothing for my intestinal issues. I hadn't had hardly any vegetables in days and my tummy is rebelling. Despite the fact that I'm eating Asian food almost exclusively, it's not nearly as healthy as I would have thought...
4. Fuss hasn't been eating over the last day or so. This is very unusual for her. She's also been taking extra naps that throw off her schedule a bunch. I ended up only working one day this week instead of my usual 3. It really ended up being bet that way, but I feel at least a little guilty (it wavers between a lot and a little) about not doing my part to bring in a paycheck. Our schedule went out the window. I knew I liked schedules, but I don't think I realized how much I depend on them.
5. My husband is scheduled to fly home today and we are hopeful that he will get home on time. I am grateful that they opened the airport this morning. A friend of ours was supposed to fly home from the same airport yesterday and he won't be getting home until Saturday night.
6. My husband's birthday is this weekend and I need to make his favorite oatmeal cake. I hope I have all the ingredients, because I don't really want to go back to the grocery store today. We went yesterday to pick up Fuss's prescription and some "hold of the cold" supplies for me (OJ, Zicam, etc.) We have reservations for his birthday and a babysitter all set up, so I'm really hoping that everyone is feeling up to the plans we have in place.
7. I am very ready for this week to be over. Very, very ready.
Monday, January 11, 2010
I'm so glad my kid doesn't have hooves...
Fuss came down with a fine, bumpy, rash on her hands and legs last night. Add to that the weird little red marks around her mouth that weren't clearing up (I thought they were cold sores or irritation from the paci or something) and I decided to take her to the pediatrician this morning. Turns out she has Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, a virus that creates sore, painful bumps on the above mentioned body parts.
In telling those who needed to know (my husband, my OB, etc.) several people confused it with Hoof and Mouth Disease, a disease that only effects animals with cloven hooves. Oops.
It's pretty contagious, so I'm debating the wisdom of taking her to work with me. You can carry the virus even if it doesn't show in you, and while it primarily effects little children, and there aren't a lot of those around at work, I worry anyhow. But at the same time, we really need the money, especially with the new baby coming along.
In telling those who needed to know (my husband, my OB, etc.) several people confused it with Hoof and Mouth Disease, a disease that only effects animals with cloven hooves. Oops.
It's pretty contagious, so I'm debating the wisdom of taking her to work with me. You can carry the virus even if it doesn't show in you, and while it primarily effects little children, and there aren't a lot of those around at work, I worry anyhow. But at the same time, we really need the money, especially with the new baby coming along.
Friday, November 20, 2009
7 Quick Takes (TGIF)
1. I spent ALL DAY Thursday this week cleaning my house. I regularly scrub the kitchen and do the maintenance type things in the bathroom and living room, but this is a pretty irregularly thorough cleaning. I will be hosting a Booty Parlor party (co-hosting, actually) on Saturday and it was a well-needed cleansing. My house sparkles and smells faintly of PineSol.
2. Publix (our local grocery store) has put out the Egg Nog. We are beginning our holiday celebrations.
3. I am starting to gear up for the holidays - Thanksgiving is one of my top favorite holidays and when the schedule permits (and we're not traveling) I begin my Christmas baking Thanksgiving weekend. Looking forward to some homemade Snickerdoodles. And I'm getting urge to buy wrapping paper and decorations... obviously the early promotion of the holidays in the stores is working.
4. They finally had an event at MOPs that wasn't on a day I was working, and I had other plans. And it was something I would have been totally up for, too - a picnic at the park where the kids could run an play and Fuss would have had a blast.
5. I miss my camera. I am pretty sure we lost it on the dock over Labor Day when we went out on our friends' boat. I haven't seen it since. We have another camera - a big one, fancy. But not as easy to cart around, of course. So I haven't been taking as many pictures of the Fuss as I would like and I miss it.
6. Daddy Fuss took me to the shooting range the other day. I had never shot a gun other than a BB gun before, but he thought that we could use a chance to blow off some stress and blow things up, so he took me to the local indoor gun range, got me a lesson, rented a 9mm and we shot a target. We did rather well. My dad was a sharpshooter in the National Reserves, but I've never learned to shoot. My dad was all excited when I told him - he told me stories of his parents going to the range and my Grandma Lelah used to outshoot my Grandpa. (which must have been interesting, since my grandfather was a chauvinist). Will likely do it again some time.
7. I have gone all week without crying about the baby I lost. Next week I'll be going to get my bloodwork to make sure that the Hcg is all out of my system. I can go any time after Monday, but I don't have free time until... I don't know when. (Update: I made the appointment for Tuesday, when my husband is going in to work late because he has to work late that night. He can watch the baby while I get my blood drawn.)
For more quick takes, click here.
2. Publix (our local grocery store) has put out the Egg Nog. We are beginning our holiday celebrations.
3. I am starting to gear up for the holidays - Thanksgiving is one of my top favorite holidays and when the schedule permits (and we're not traveling) I begin my Christmas baking Thanksgiving weekend. Looking forward to some homemade Snickerdoodles. And I'm getting urge to buy wrapping paper and decorations... obviously the early promotion of the holidays in the stores is working.
4. They finally had an event at MOPs that wasn't on a day I was working, and I had other plans. And it was something I would have been totally up for, too - a picnic at the park where the kids could run an play and Fuss would have had a blast.
5. I miss my camera. I am pretty sure we lost it on the dock over Labor Day when we went out on our friends' boat. I haven't seen it since. We have another camera - a big one, fancy. But not as easy to cart around, of course. So I haven't been taking as many pictures of the Fuss as I would like and I miss it.
6. Daddy Fuss took me to the shooting range the other day. I had never shot a gun other than a BB gun before, but he thought that we could use a chance to blow off some stress and blow things up, so he took me to the local indoor gun range, got me a lesson, rented a 9mm and we shot a target. We did rather well. My dad was a sharpshooter in the National Reserves, but I've never learned to shoot. My dad was all excited when I told him - he told me stories of his parents going to the range and my Grandma Lelah used to outshoot my Grandpa. (which must have been interesting, since my grandfather was a chauvinist). Will likely do it again some time.
7. I have gone all week without crying about the baby I lost. Next week I'll be going to get my bloodwork to make sure that the Hcg is all out of my system. I can go any time after Monday, but I don't have free time until... I don't know when. (Update: I made the appointment for Tuesday, when my husband is going in to work late because he has to work late that night. He can watch the baby while I get my blood drawn.)
For more quick takes, click here.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
I'm so tired of being here...
(thursday)
An old friend of mine had a baby a couple of weeks ago. We were friends in high school (in that mentoring sort of way - I was several years older than she and sort of "adopted" her her freshman year) and reconnected recently. I've really enjoyed getting to know her again and am very excited about her new baby.
Monday afternoon I received an email from her, asking if I wanted to come by this week to meet her son and hang out, etc. Obviously, monday was not a great day for me to be dealing with new baby stuff, but since she had no idea, I wrote her back to say that I had been dealing w/ the sniffles (which was true) and didn't want to expose him to any bug I might have, but that I'd call her the end of the week and maybe next week?
In the past week I've also received not one but 2 invitations to other old friends' baby showers that will be coming up this month as well.
Is this the big irony or is this God telling me to get back on the horse? (she says with a sarcastic tone)
I'm finally starting to feel a little better. My bleeding has slowed significantly (I told my husband this news this morning and informed him that this meant that we might get to make love again some day - he was overjoyed) and I'm having more "normal" times than not. Of course, this means that when it does hit me, it's even harder (that whole when your highs are high, your lows are lower thing), but I think I'm doing a lot better.
Sometimes that make me feel guilty - should I be getting over it 5 days later? The thing is, I WANT to get past it. I want to be able to move on. I don't want to mope around for weeks and months and I don't want to be scared to try again.
Both Daddy Fuss and I are concerned about what caused it. Our midwife told us that there was (likely) nothing we did that caused it (the first time she said "nothing," the second time she said "likely nothing", I imagine that there are statistics to support that rarely can a miscarriage be prevented, but there IS a difference between rarely and never.) I know that statistics show that usually an early miscarriage is usually a genetic problem. But since I bled after sex, and then the miscarriage started right after sex the next time, I'm wondering if that could have effected it. Also, I'm wondering if I had low progesterone again and starting the progesterone earlier could have helped. I will be discussing this with my midwife next week when I go in for a follow up.
(Today's title is the opening line from an Evanescence song)
An old friend of mine had a baby a couple of weeks ago. We were friends in high school (in that mentoring sort of way - I was several years older than she and sort of "adopted" her her freshman year) and reconnected recently. I've really enjoyed getting to know her again and am very excited about her new baby.
Monday afternoon I received an email from her, asking if I wanted to come by this week to meet her son and hang out, etc. Obviously, monday was not a great day for me to be dealing with new baby stuff, but since she had no idea, I wrote her back to say that I had been dealing w/ the sniffles (which was true) and didn't want to expose him to any bug I might have, but that I'd call her the end of the week and maybe next week?
In the past week I've also received not one but 2 invitations to other old friends' baby showers that will be coming up this month as well.
Is this the big irony or is this God telling me to get back on the horse? (she says with a sarcastic tone)
I'm finally starting to feel a little better. My bleeding has slowed significantly (I told my husband this news this morning and informed him that this meant that we might get to make love again some day - he was overjoyed) and I'm having more "normal" times than not. Of course, this means that when it does hit me, it's even harder (that whole when your highs are high, your lows are lower thing), but I think I'm doing a lot better.
Sometimes that make me feel guilty - should I be getting over it 5 days later? The thing is, I WANT to get past it. I want to be able to move on. I don't want to mope around for weeks and months and I don't want to be scared to try again.
Both Daddy Fuss and I are concerned about what caused it. Our midwife told us that there was (likely) nothing we did that caused it (the first time she said "nothing," the second time she said "likely nothing", I imagine that there are statistics to support that rarely can a miscarriage be prevented, but there IS a difference between rarely and never.) I know that statistics show that usually an early miscarriage is usually a genetic problem. But since I bled after sex, and then the miscarriage started right after sex the next time, I'm wondering if that could have effected it. Also, I'm wondering if I had low progesterone again and starting the progesterone earlier could have helped. I will be discussing this with my midwife next week when I go in for a follow up.
(Today's title is the opening line from an Evanescence song)
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Under the Weather
I have been "under the weather" all weekend. This began at 3am Friday night (er, Saturday morning) when I woke from sleep and realized that I was in pain all over. my joints ached and ached. At5:15 I took my temp (charting) and it was almost 100 degrees. Oops. I dosed myself w/ Tylenol and went back to bed until the dogs woke me at 7:30. Still felt awful, but got up to let them out and climbed back in bed just in time to hear The Fuss wake up and my dog start to bark. He got the baby and I got her milk, mumbled something about being sick and going back to bed and fell back into bed.
The Tylenol helped control the fever. As long as I took it every 4 hours (with one or two mid-dose doses of ibuprofen... I've heard about a lot of moms doing that for their kids for bad fevers, I figured it couldn't hurt me, either...) I could function at least, even if I was extremely uncomfortable all day long.
I took a soak in the tub w/ The Fuss around 7:30. After that, I finally felt human again for the first time all day. (After the Fuss went to bed, Daddy Fuss had a fight, which didn't really help the whole "feeling bad" thing, but we got through it, and then things were much better.) I had a decent night's sleep.
I had some trouble waking up Sunday AM, so he got up w/ Fuss and I got up about 20 minutes later. Soon after, I felt a weird feeling in my tummy and rushed to the bathroom. I'll spare you the details, but let it be known that something wasn't right. And this happened several times throughout the day, so there was definitely something wrong with me, overall.
But we had tons to do - we collected stuff from my mom's for the garage sale, and had to borrow my dad's van to cart it all over. And it started to rain as we were finishing up, so then we had to return the van in a major downpour. (Seriously. As we were driving to my dad's house, we came to a point where I couldn't see the road. This is not a shocker - we get plenty of rain/lightnight/thunder storms in FL, but I had the wipers on full blast and they still couldn't keep up. Thankfully, it's a straight shot to my dad's and there was very minimal traffic, so we didn't have any problems.) We ended up getting pizza for dinner and renting a movie from Blockbuster.
I was finally feeling a little more like myself, but I'm still dealing with these random headaches. And now, apparently insomnia (what is that about? I rarely get insomnia, but there is so much going through my head right now, I guess.) I guess part of my frustration with that is, I so rarely get insomnia that I don't know how to handle it. Usually, I just stay in bed and try and bore myself into sleep. But tonight, the more I tried to do that, the more my mind raced with things to do and projects to start/research, and things to find, etc. Since I have to get up early on Mondays, this is a problem. A Major problem. I will not be functioning at my best level in the morning. I REALLY need my 7-9 hours to be at my best. And the Fuss has already begun her night-wailing so, I know she's not getting her best sleep, either and this leads me to believe it's going to be a rough day.
The Tylenol helped control the fever. As long as I took it every 4 hours (with one or two mid-dose doses of ibuprofen... I've heard about a lot of moms doing that for their kids for bad fevers, I figured it couldn't hurt me, either...) I could function at least, even if I was extremely uncomfortable all day long.
I took a soak in the tub w/ The Fuss around 7:30. After that, I finally felt human again for the first time all day. (After the Fuss went to bed, Daddy Fuss had a fight, which didn't really help the whole "feeling bad" thing, but we got through it, and then things were much better.) I had a decent night's sleep.
I had some trouble waking up Sunday AM, so he got up w/ Fuss and I got up about 20 minutes later. Soon after, I felt a weird feeling in my tummy and rushed to the bathroom. I'll spare you the details, but let it be known that something wasn't right. And this happened several times throughout the day, so there was definitely something wrong with me, overall.
But we had tons to do - we collected stuff from my mom's for the garage sale, and had to borrow my dad's van to cart it all over. And it started to rain as we were finishing up, so then we had to return the van in a major downpour. (Seriously. As we were driving to my dad's house, we came to a point where I couldn't see the road. This is not a shocker - we get plenty of rain/lightnight/thunder storms in FL, but I had the wipers on full blast and they still couldn't keep up. Thankfully, it's a straight shot to my dad's and there was very minimal traffic, so we didn't have any problems.) We ended up getting pizza for dinner and renting a movie from Blockbuster.
I was finally feeling a little more like myself, but I'm still dealing with these random headaches. And now, apparently insomnia (what is that about? I rarely get insomnia, but there is so much going through my head right now, I guess.) I guess part of my frustration with that is, I so rarely get insomnia that I don't know how to handle it. Usually, I just stay in bed and try and bore myself into sleep. But tonight, the more I tried to do that, the more my mind raced with things to do and projects to start/research, and things to find, etc. Since I have to get up early on Mondays, this is a problem. A Major problem. I will not be functioning at my best level in the morning. I REALLY need my 7-9 hours to be at my best. And the Fuss has already begun her night-wailing so, I know she's not getting her best sleep, either and this leads me to believe it's going to be a rough day.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Several Random Things
Last night The Fuss started to wail and wail around 9:00. We both went into her room to look for her paci or to see if her Maddie the Monkey (her favorite lovie) had fallen out of the crib, as sometimes happens and then she can't put herself back to sleep without them.
She had all her things and continued to cry, standing at the wall of her crib and reaching for us.
My husband left her to cry it out by herself, but I went ahead and scooped her up and sat with her in the chair in her room. She stopped crying immediately, and settled onto my lap without a problem. She fell asleep in my arms. I sat there thinking about how big she's gotten - she doesn't fit perfectly in my lap/arms like she did when she was just a baby - she has to sit on my lap and flop forward to put her head on my shoulder. I thought about how she is my baby - but if/when we have another kid, she won't be the ONLY baby. It made me want to cherish the moment for awhile. I thought I was going to have to justify my actions to Daddy Fuss, when I came out - we really relish our alone/quiet time, and we had been watching a movie together - but I was so sure that rocking her for a few minutes meant more than watching a movie. She's growing so fast that I felt like I won't get this time back - let me just enjoy having only one that I need to care for, etc.
Of course, I would have had to justify it less if she hadn't woken up when I set her down and began to wail again when I tried to leave. :)
_____________________________________
I woke up last night at 12:45am. I had to pee. No biggie, this happens once or twice a night. I got up, I went to the bathroom, I climbed back in bed. Only to discover that I had to pee again.
And again. And again.
I was up until after 3:30 (at which time I stopped looking at the clock) with frequency/urgency and some sharp pains and a lot of pressure down below.
I know these symptoms. I've had them before. I used to get frequent UTI's and I'm prone to a really bad type that cause kidney stones if I don't get it treated immediately.
I debated my options for treatment. There is an urgent care/ER down the street, but when I get kidney stones, I shouldn't drive (pain causes me to pass out) and we had the baby asleep in her bed. I also only like to go to the ER (does anybody actually LIKE to go to the ER? You know what I mean) when there is, in fact, an emergency. So a UTI by itself wouldn't count, but kidney stones would. But I didn't really have the major pain associated with stones, so I waited until morning.
But my new insurance doesn't kick in until October 1st, and I don't have a primary doctor right now because of a bunch of insurance jumping around over the last several years.
So I had to go to a walk-in clinic this morning. I had to pack up my active, wiggly toddler and go sit in a waiting room with a bunch of people who didn't feel well for whatever reason. They didn't want a toddler yelling at them and banging the mini blinds against the windows, etc. I felt bad, but what can I do?
I felt better this morning, but still have the frequency/urgency. Driving me crazy, actually.
I'm also 10DPO, so there is a concern about what meds can be given during a (potential) pregnancy. (Usually, I'd take Cipro - but that is a big no-no during pregnancy. Causes defects, apparently.) I keep feeling like I might be pregnant, but I can't tell if it's wishful thinking or actual premonition. The test I took this morning before I left for the doctor was negative and they ran another one for me at the office, also negative.
But, so was the test for infection.
So here I sit, having to pee constantly, with less than 5 hours of sleep from last night. Hopefully, this will resolve soon.
____________________________________
Do you remember the Rice Krispies commercial with the 3 little girls having breakfast w/ their daddy? Every time I saw that commercial (I haven't seen it in awhile, but it's been in the last year or so) I would think of my husband/our family. Something about it always made me think we'd have 3 little girls. That came up in conversation this weekend with Daddy Fuss. He said," oh dear. I will spend all my time being a puddle of mush. You'll have to clean me out of the carpet all the time."
I would love to have 3 little girls. The idea thrills me. Growing up, my jr high best friend was the oldest of 4 girls. They were all carbon copies of each other, too. You could see the stair-steps if they stood next to each other. Dark, curly hair, big bright eyes. I'd love that. But I do eventually want to give my husband (and his family) a son, as well.
I guess we will have to see what God has in store for us.
She had all her things and continued to cry, standing at the wall of her crib and reaching for us.
My husband left her to cry it out by herself, but I went ahead and scooped her up and sat with her in the chair in her room. She stopped crying immediately, and settled onto my lap without a problem. She fell asleep in my arms. I sat there thinking about how big she's gotten - she doesn't fit perfectly in my lap/arms like she did when she was just a baby - she has to sit on my lap and flop forward to put her head on my shoulder. I thought about how she is my baby - but if/when we have another kid, she won't be the ONLY baby. It made me want to cherish the moment for awhile. I thought I was going to have to justify my actions to Daddy Fuss, when I came out - we really relish our alone/quiet time, and we had been watching a movie together - but I was so sure that rocking her for a few minutes meant more than watching a movie. She's growing so fast that I felt like I won't get this time back - let me just enjoy having only one that I need to care for, etc.
Of course, I would have had to justify it less if she hadn't woken up when I set her down and began to wail again when I tried to leave. :)
_____________________________________
I woke up last night at 12:45am. I had to pee. No biggie, this happens once or twice a night. I got up, I went to the bathroom, I climbed back in bed. Only to discover that I had to pee again.
And again. And again.
I was up until after 3:30 (at which time I stopped looking at the clock) with frequency/urgency and some sharp pains and a lot of pressure down below.
I know these symptoms. I've had them before. I used to get frequent UTI's and I'm prone to a really bad type that cause kidney stones if I don't get it treated immediately.
I debated my options for treatment. There is an urgent care/ER down the street, but when I get kidney stones, I shouldn't drive (pain causes me to pass out) and we had the baby asleep in her bed. I also only like to go to the ER (does anybody actually LIKE to go to the ER? You know what I mean) when there is, in fact, an emergency. So a UTI by itself wouldn't count, but kidney stones would. But I didn't really have the major pain associated with stones, so I waited until morning.
But my new insurance doesn't kick in until October 1st, and I don't have a primary doctor right now because of a bunch of insurance jumping around over the last several years.
So I had to go to a walk-in clinic this morning. I had to pack up my active, wiggly toddler and go sit in a waiting room with a bunch of people who didn't feel well for whatever reason. They didn't want a toddler yelling at them and banging the mini blinds against the windows, etc. I felt bad, but what can I do?
I felt better this morning, but still have the frequency/urgency. Driving me crazy, actually.
I'm also 10DPO, so there is a concern about what meds can be given during a (potential) pregnancy. (Usually, I'd take Cipro - but that is a big no-no during pregnancy. Causes defects, apparently.) I keep feeling like I might be pregnant, but I can't tell if it's wishful thinking or actual premonition. The test I took this morning before I left for the doctor was negative and they ran another one for me at the office, also negative.
But, so was the test for infection.
So here I sit, having to pee constantly, with less than 5 hours of sleep from last night. Hopefully, this will resolve soon.
____________________________________
Do you remember the Rice Krispies commercial with the 3 little girls having breakfast w/ their daddy? Every time I saw that commercial (I haven't seen it in awhile, but it's been in the last year or so) I would think of my husband/our family. Something about it always made me think we'd have 3 little girls. That came up in conversation this weekend with Daddy Fuss. He said," oh dear. I will spend all my time being a puddle of mush. You'll have to clean me out of the carpet all the time."
I would love to have 3 little girls. The idea thrills me. Growing up, my jr high best friend was the oldest of 4 girls. They were all carbon copies of each other, too. You could see the stair-steps if they stood next to each other. Dark, curly hair, big bright eyes. I'd love that. But I do eventually want to give my husband (and his family) a son, as well.
I guess we will have to see what God has in store for us.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
It burns near my heart...
We went to my mom's house for dinner and a computer lesson last night (Daddy Fuss was GIVING the lesson) and my step-dad made home made Thai food. I love his cooking. He loves all sorts of eastern cuisine and my favorite is Thai. He likes things spicy (he typically adds spice to everything he eats from pizza to pasta), but usually makes a full meal with mild spice and lets everyone add their own blend of hotness. I didn't add any hotness to what he made last night, though I'm a spicy lover myself. It was delicious!
But oh, did I pay for it afterward! I began to feel uncomfortable on the way home, but remained upright for an hour or so thinking that would help... No such luck. I took a Pepcid - my old friend from late pregnancy days. Worked for a bit and I was able to fall asleep. But 2 hours later I woke to this horrific pain in my chest.
For the next two hours, I dozed sitting upright on the couch in my living room. Talk about uncomfortable.
I went back to bed around 2:30. I woke again at 3:30 and propped up my pillows so I was angled up a bit more. That helped tremendously. By the time I woke at 5 (don't ask me why I woke at 5 - I have no idea) I felt like my chest wasn't trying to burst down the middle for the first time all night. I didn't get much sleep (my husband's alarm went off at 5:30, mine went off at 6 and in between, The Fuss woke up and started to cry. She put herself back to sleep while I was taking my temperature (weird results, but the time was off and I hadn't gotten 2 solid hours of sleep prior to taking it, so who knows?), but I was awake anyhow.
I had half a soda with my breakfast this morning at work and I started to feel funny again. What is with the heartburn?I am sooooo over it right now.
+++++++++++++++++
My SIL, LP offered to take the Fuss for a few hours this afternoon. I went to the library, did some laundry, went to the children's consignment shop, and didn't have to share my lunch with anybody. It was nice and peaceful. So here I am, waiting for her to come home. Shouldn't I be out celebrating the freedom?
But oh, did I pay for it afterward! I began to feel uncomfortable on the way home, but remained upright for an hour or so thinking that would help... No such luck. I took a Pepcid - my old friend from late pregnancy days. Worked for a bit and I was able to fall asleep. But 2 hours later I woke to this horrific pain in my chest.
For the next two hours, I dozed sitting upright on the couch in my living room. Talk about uncomfortable.
I went back to bed around 2:30. I woke again at 3:30 and propped up my pillows so I was angled up a bit more. That helped tremendously. By the time I woke at 5 (don't ask me why I woke at 5 - I have no idea) I felt like my chest wasn't trying to burst down the middle for the first time all night. I didn't get much sleep (my husband's alarm went off at 5:30, mine went off at 6 and in between, The Fuss woke up and started to cry. She put herself back to sleep while I was taking my temperature (weird results, but the time was off and I hadn't gotten 2 solid hours of sleep prior to taking it, so who knows?), but I was awake anyhow.
I had half a soda with my breakfast this morning at work and I started to feel funny again. What is with the heartburn?I am sooooo over it right now.
+++++++++++++++++
My SIL, LP offered to take the Fuss for a few hours this afternoon. I went to the library, did some laundry, went to the children's consignment shop, and didn't have to share my lunch with anybody. It was nice and peaceful. So here I am, waiting for her to come home. Shouldn't I be out celebrating the freedom?
Monday, June 1, 2009
Crumbs on my shirt
When I was preparing to become a mother and imaging my life, I expected to need to carry around a spare shirt when The Fuss was a newborn... certain that there would be leaks and spit-up and such... a spare set of clothes for me was going to be standard, I thought. No biggie. That's babies for ya.
The Fuss wasn't a spit-upper. I can count on one hand how many times she spit-up/threw up since she was born. My obsession with burp rags pre-baby was unnecessary, apparently.
She began running a fever this weekend - the first one of her life more than 100 degrees (it was reading over 102) and we had to take her to the doctor this morning. She was clingy and wanted to snuggle all morning - fussed a lot when I put her down for even a second.
When she had her snack this afternoon and then simply wanted to bury her head in my chest while sitting on my lap - I was covered in cheese smudge (cheese crackers) while at work. But I didn't mind. I have long since stopped carrying a spare shirt with me - she doesn't make that much of a mess on ME, usually - but that was okay. I was right where I needed to be - taking care of my baby who wasn't feeling well.
Amoxicillan (sp?) for 10 days (which naturally runs into our vacation, of course) with a diagnosis of possible sinus/ear infection. Poor baby. Responding well to ibuprofen, but only for 2.5 hours or so before the fever spikes again.
The Fuss wasn't a spit-upper. I can count on one hand how many times she spit-up/threw up since she was born. My obsession with burp rags pre-baby was unnecessary, apparently.
She began running a fever this weekend - the first one of her life more than 100 degrees (it was reading over 102) and we had to take her to the doctor this morning. She was clingy and wanted to snuggle all morning - fussed a lot when I put her down for even a second.
When she had her snack this afternoon and then simply wanted to bury her head in my chest while sitting on my lap - I was covered in cheese smudge (cheese crackers) while at work. But I didn't mind. I have long since stopped carrying a spare shirt with me - she doesn't make that much of a mess on ME, usually - but that was okay. I was right where I needed to be - taking care of my baby who wasn't feeling well.
Amoxicillan (sp?) for 10 days (which naturally runs into our vacation, of course) with a diagnosis of possible sinus/ear infection. Poor baby. Responding well to ibuprofen, but only for 2.5 hours or so before the fever spikes again.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
"Big head want dolly"*
The Fuss had her 15-month appointment at the pediatrician today. She is perfect in weight, short and big-headed if you consider percentiles the way to figure these things. :) (50, 25, 90) She got 2 shots. It took 2 hours. We were an hour and a half late in putting her down for her afternoon nap which meant she was a holy terror at the doctor's. This was no surprise, because she had been a holy terror this morning, too.
I'm starting to have those "how can I have another baby when I can't handle the first one?" thoughts again, though my friend, M (mother of 3) assures me that I can.
This morning I went walking w/ mommy friend J and her son (6 weeks younger than The Fuss). She is sort of SuperMom. Part of that is that she has a super laid-back baby (which can be both a blessing and bothersome) and she is Type A all the way. I don't agree with everything she does as a mom, and I know she doesn't agree with all of my choices, and usually I don't have a problem with that. But today? As during our entire 2-mile walk my daughter cried/fussed/whined and her child sat there quietly munching on his Cheerios. I was so embarassed.
She cried and complained for 30 minutes (a record for her) when I put her down for her nap upon returning home from the park. She whined and complained after her nap when I tried to change her/dress her/put her socks on/herd her out the door. She fussed repeatedly in the van on the way to meet her Daddy for lunch. She mostly behaved while eating, but complained during the car ride to the doctor's office.
It's been a rough day. I am tired. And my husband isn't coming home until late because of the stupid mandatory overtime at his job. I want to put the baby to bed early, and sit down to a meal of cheese fries and margaritas. I will do none of this, but it's a nice dream.
Lots more posting to do, but those are for another day.
*Gilmore Girls quote - apparently, Lorelai's first full sentence as a toddler. :)
I'm starting to have those "how can I have another baby when I can't handle the first one?" thoughts again, though my friend, M (mother of 3) assures me that I can.
This morning I went walking w/ mommy friend J and her son (6 weeks younger than The Fuss). She is sort of SuperMom. Part of that is that she has a super laid-back baby (which can be both a blessing and bothersome) and she is Type A all the way. I don't agree with everything she does as a mom, and I know she doesn't agree with all of my choices, and usually I don't have a problem with that. But today? As during our entire 2-mile walk my daughter cried/fussed/whined and her child sat there quietly munching on his Cheerios. I was so embarassed.
She cried and complained for 30 minutes (a record for her) when I put her down for her nap upon returning home from the park. She whined and complained after her nap when I tried to change her/dress her/put her socks on/herd her out the door. She fussed repeatedly in the van on the way to meet her Daddy for lunch. She mostly behaved while eating, but complained during the car ride to the doctor's office.
It's been a rough day. I am tired. And my husband isn't coming home until late because of the stupid mandatory overtime at his job. I want to put the baby to bed early, and sit down to a meal of cheese fries and margaritas. I will do none of this, but it's a nice dream.
Lots more posting to do, but those are for another day.
*Gilmore Girls quote - apparently, Lorelai's first full sentence as a toddler. :)
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Looking for a catchy title
I was going to write a post about my adventures in using a cold-waxing kit on my bikini line (disaster), but before I got to the computer I started watching an ER rerun about when the med students or whomever did a rotation in the NICU. I was heartbroken watching the families have victories and devastation and knowing that many people - even some of my friends - have had days and weeks of not knowing... suddenly my sticky, yet still hairy bikini line didn't seem as funny. I was incredibly thankful for my very healthy baby.
The Fuss is very fussy today - as has become her norm lately. She's going through a phase - she's learning and developing so fast that it's hard for her to handle, I think. She's been trying to pull up for a week and today suddenly she was able to do it and even occasionally sit back down, though mostly she would just scream for me to come help her once she was done with the standing. I also think she might be getting yet another tooth (she has 2 in case I hadn't mentioned this already).
I made my first batch of baby food today. Avacado. Looks like guac, but I guess that's about right. :)
I've been trying to introduce more table foods to her, but she's still not chewing very much. My aunt made this amazing chicken salad the other day (and I'm not a big chicken salad kind of girl) and I was giving her some little bites - she was in love.
I called in to work today - I was supposed to do the 1-5:30 shift but she didn't sleep well this morning and was so fussy and started to have a bit of a breakdown around noon and I didn't get her down for a nap until 12:30, so... It didn't work on Tuesday, I couldn't handle that again today.
The Fuss is very fussy today - as has become her norm lately. She's going through a phase - she's learning and developing so fast that it's hard for her to handle, I think. She's been trying to pull up for a week and today suddenly she was able to do it and even occasionally sit back down, though mostly she would just scream for me to come help her once she was done with the standing. I also think she might be getting yet another tooth (she has 2 in case I hadn't mentioned this already).
I made my first batch of baby food today. Avacado. Looks like guac, but I guess that's about right. :)
I've been trying to introduce more table foods to her, but she's still not chewing very much. My aunt made this amazing chicken salad the other day (and I'm not a big chicken salad kind of girl) and I was giving her some little bites - she was in love.
I called in to work today - I was supposed to do the 1-5:30 shift but she didn't sleep well this morning and was so fussy and started to have a bit of a breakdown around noon and I didn't get her down for a nap until 12:30, so... It didn't work on Tuesday, I couldn't handle that again today.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Nighttime
This week we've been experimenting with the nighttime schedule. If she is fed after 9:00, she typically doesn't wake up until somewhere past 2AM. One night we stretched to late in the 3:00 hour and she only ate once... holding off eating until what I consider to be a reasonable hour of the morning (6:45)for waking. Mr. Moose had to do some 5 AM comfort, but that is normal - he probably gets up with her in the 5:00 hour about 50% of the time, and she doesn't need to eat then, just be comforted back to sleep.
Another night she woke up howling at 2 due to a painful BM and I got up and changed her diaper. I picked her up after the diaper change, as per usual and started the routine of getting ready to feed her, but once I was ready, she was sound asleep across my lap on the Boppy. I wrapped her back into her swaddle and she slept until sometime in the 4:00 hour. I would love to drop one of her nighttime feedings, and I'd prefer the 4AM one, but if she wants to skip the one on the middle, that would work, too.
Our only problem now seems to be the BMs that give her so much trouble. She's not really constipated - it still comes out normal, etc. but it bothers her so to go through it, for whatever reason.
We're battling lots of gas. She gets Mylicon drops several times a day, which help, but don't take away the problem completely. And it is becoming more and more difficult to burp her... Mr. Moose, however, has discovered that often some tummy time really helps her get enough pressure on her tummy to help move it along. She's taken to taking a nice long nap after her first feed of the "day" when I get out of bed and she typically does it on her tummy on the living room floor.
My dog, Murphy the Moo, has taken to keeping her company during tummy time.
Friday, April 25, 2008
2 months old
Fuss is 2 months old today and she had to get 4 shots and one oral vaccine. She was traumatized and I'm thinking of looking into the possibility of having them spread out the next round when she's 4 months. It seems like she's so miserable and if there is a reaction, how would they know which one she reacted to? All I can say is thank heaven for Tylenol Infant Drops - they saved my life and sanity this afternoon. She slept most of the afternoon and into the evening, but when she was awake, she was screaming in pain until the drops kicked in. I'll be giving her the preventative doses in the future and will be following the suggestion of giving her the allowable dose for 24-hours after the vaccinations.She is 12lbs, 5.5oz - we knew she'd been growing big, but now she's in the league with average 3-month olds!
I had to do the appointment by myself again, even though I'd originally planned to have my mother join me. She had to work and couldn't get out of it, and I didn't know exactly how bad it was, or I would have asked Mr. Moose to join me for the appointment. His schedule should be more flexible for the 4-month appointment, so I hope he'll be available to go with us. I'll be back at work then, but we're discussing making an afternoon appointment and both taking a half day off of work to take her to her appointment and take care of her afterwards.
She ate really well today, despite the trauma and I'm wondering if her little body knows it needs it's strength to counteract and recover. She ate for 41 minute this evening, for example - something she's done before, but not recently and not very often.
We have another busy today tomorrow with two events throughout the day. We are simply hoping that she does alright through them, but neither is a situation where we can't leave if we need to.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Contracting, hospital, shopping - all in a weeks work.
On Wednesday afternoon I started to get regular contractions coming 4-6 minutes apart. Some oh them were pretty strong, while others were more of a “medium”. The ladies at work found out and began pressuring me to go to the hospital. I was resistant, because I’d been through this before – regular, though reasonably mild contractions for an hour and then they stopped dead. But since the midwife had mentioned that she didn’t think I’d make it through the week at Monday’s appointment and I was feeling so crummy, around 3:00 I caved to peer-pressure and called my doctor’s office. My favorite midwife was in the office and suggested I come in to get checked by her before going to the hospital. I left my own office practically with fanfare – nearly everybody currently in the office showed up in the hallway to see me off. Considering at this point, I was nearly expecting to be sent home, I was completely embarrassed.
At her office, they were so sweet, squeezing me in quickly while my friend, Fran, from the office waited in the inner waiting room. Mr. Fuss started the trek southward from his job. (We work on opposite ends of the county and the doctor and hospital are down south by my office.) The midwife checked me and announced no change from my Monday 3cm, 80% effaced, but she felt one of my harder contractions and suggested that I go on to the hospital to get on the monitors for awhile and see what happens. She sounded promising, though saying that if I could hold off until 8am to deliver, she was on call then and she’d be my “catcher”.
To summarize, I spent about 2 hours on the monitors, but didn’t progress as far as dilation goes. However, I must insist that during my time there, I actually began to feel as if I were, in fact, in labor. The pain got pretty intense. My whole body started to react and I could barely move without wincing in pain. The baby was holding up beautifully. I had an impressive 7 minute contraction (the nurses were amazed and equally surprised that that alone didn’t move me along) and did the breathing through it, but was really much more ready to start crying. The frequency of the contractions went more sporadic on me, however, and regardless of the discomfort I was in, they sent me home.
By this time, my mother had shown up and we ended up catching my step-father as he commuted home past my office city and we all went to dinner. (I had only felt up for a very light lunch and was pretty hungry by this time.) I continued to have intense contractions while at the restaurant, though they were sporadic (10 minutes, 3 minutes, 8 minutes, 12 minutes).
I was told at the hospital that I needed more fluids and some rest to relax. Both my mom and Mr. Fuss suggested that I take the next 2 days off of work, even though I had originally planned to work until Friday and only take Monday before the induction. My supervisors at work were very understanding and so, here I am at home. Thursday I felt crummy, somewhat drained and not interested the least bit in food. I got out of the house with my friend K and her 2 boys to walk the mall and by the end of the day (around 4) I was having contractions every 20 minutes for hours. I went to bed at 11, wondering if this meant imminent labor through the night, but alas, they seemed to have stopped or faded. I woke up to 3-5 contractions 5 minutes apart, but they, too seemed to stop pretty quickly. After a morning of feeling blah, I took a nap around 10:20, to be awakened by the phone less than an hour later. However, suddenly I was feeling pretty good and was able to make plans to meet K at Babies R Us for a quick shopping spurt using some coupons that would soon expire. Then I met Mr. Fuss for a mid-afternoon coffee break and headed home. It was a very successful day.
At her office, they were so sweet, squeezing me in quickly while my friend, Fran, from the office waited in the inner waiting room. Mr. Fuss started the trek southward from his job. (We work on opposite ends of the county and the doctor and hospital are down south by my office.) The midwife checked me and announced no change from my Monday 3cm, 80% effaced, but she felt one of my harder contractions and suggested that I go on to the hospital to get on the monitors for awhile and see what happens. She sounded promising, though saying that if I could hold off until 8am to deliver, she was on call then and she’d be my “catcher”.
To summarize, I spent about 2 hours on the monitors, but didn’t progress as far as dilation goes. However, I must insist that during my time there, I actually began to feel as if I were, in fact, in labor. The pain got pretty intense. My whole body started to react and I could barely move without wincing in pain. The baby was holding up beautifully. I had an impressive 7 minute contraction (the nurses were amazed and equally surprised that that alone didn’t move me along) and did the breathing through it, but was really much more ready to start crying. The frequency of the contractions went more sporadic on me, however, and regardless of the discomfort I was in, they sent me home.
By this time, my mother had shown up and we ended up catching my step-father as he commuted home past my office city and we all went to dinner. (I had only felt up for a very light lunch and was pretty hungry by this time.) I continued to have intense contractions while at the restaurant, though they were sporadic (10 minutes, 3 minutes, 8 minutes, 12 minutes).
I was told at the hospital that I needed more fluids and some rest to relax. Both my mom and Mr. Fuss suggested that I take the next 2 days off of work, even though I had originally planned to work until Friday and only take Monday before the induction. My supervisors at work were very understanding and so, here I am at home. Thursday I felt crummy, somewhat drained and not interested the least bit in food. I got out of the house with my friend K and her 2 boys to walk the mall and by the end of the day (around 4) I was having contractions every 20 minutes for hours. I went to bed at 11, wondering if this meant imminent labor through the night, but alas, they seemed to have stopped or faded. I woke up to 3-5 contractions 5 minutes apart, but they, too seemed to stop pretty quickly. After a morning of feeling blah, I took a nap around 10:20, to be awakened by the phone less than an hour later. However, suddenly I was feeling pretty good and was able to make plans to meet K at Babies R Us for a quick shopping spurt using some coupons that would soon expire. Then I met Mr. Fuss for a mid-afternoon coffee break and headed home. It was a very successful day.
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