Posts Tagged ‘ailments’

Happy New Year!

I wish I could report that we had a super exciting New Year's Eve (and birthday celebrations for Matt!) but unfortunately we rung in the new year with a stomach bug! 

I had plans on Thursday night to go to a Pampered Chef cake party with church ladies, then on Friday (Matt's birthday) hang out with new friends and attend our church's watch night service. Thursday, out of nowhere, I started with the vomiting, then Rhino joined in. It was so pitiful! Rhino has had colds, fevers, and motion sickness, but never had to deal with hoovering over a bucket and not being able to hold anything down. I felt so bad for him! He was so thirsty (we were so dehydrated!) but we couldn't keep down any water. 

So Matt woke me up from the couch at 5 minutes to midnight, I think I mumbled happy new year and fell back asleep. Yuck.

Thursday and Friday were miserable, but by Saturday we were back on track. Rhino kept telling us he feels "much better" all day, whether we asked or not! Heron's been doing just fine, but Matt picked up something on Saturday night and is just now feeling right again. What a waste of a four day weekend!! 

Thankfully Matt doesn't really care to do anything big and exciting on his birthdays. He likes to just relax at home and not have any plans. I would have at least liked to make him a special dinner and bake a cake, but that will have to wait until later.

Sunday after lunch, Andrea and I packed up all the kids in her roommate's truck and headed south for San Angelo. We spent about eight hours driving (including a dinner stop and many potty breaks!) It was a long drive, but great to sit in the car and chat withmy sister!

Unfortunately, the boys and I picked something up in Dallas (a few people were sick.) Heron had a temperature of over 103 degrees for a few days and Rhino and I were throwing up and sniffly. I had hopes of getting out and seeing the town and playing with the kids, but was just so miserable. We spent most of the week on the couch, but after three weeks of running around, it was kind of nice to relax. 

We did go one day to get the boys haircuts (Heron's first!) They were getting pretty shaggy and Heron's bangs were almost down to the tip of his nose. Andrea picked a salon with a great toy store, Specialties, next door. When I was in the chair with Heron, Rhino was playing with Thomas trains the whole time! The staff there was great and didn't seem to mind the kids hanging out for so long. (We did do some shopping, too, — their Melissa & Doug collection was wonderful! And Andrea picked up a cool, blue pop-up tunnel which was a huge hit!) Rhino was great getting his hair cut because he knew that Thomas was waiting for him if he got it over with! Unfortunately, it was time to go and there was another huge meltdown in the parking lot because he wanted his trains. Heron's first hair cut was not as calm as it may appear in the photo above! He screamed most of the time and swung his head back and forth. The stylist was really great and patient. She sang songs, talked to him, showed him toys. Heron just wasn't impressed and clung to me for dear life. He really did seem to transform from baby to toddler after the haircut. He looks so much like Rhino now!

We went out to eat a few times (and I tried the local favorite, fried pickles. Ehh.) San Angelo didn't seem as bad as I had been led to believe. We did go out looking for all the local yarn shops that I found addresses for online, only to find they had all been closed down. Disappointing! We ended up at Michael's and picked up some yarn for Andrea and started up crochet lessons again. She's now on her way her own crochet afghan!

I'm so glad I got to spend some sister time with Andrea and that the boys and Amelia were able to play together! There were a lot of silly little toddler arguments, but I think they had a good time! This part of our trip was short, but it was time to head home. I think were all missing Japan / Matt! It's time to take that long flight back home!

Saturday night was our first Girls' Night Out with my sweeties Muriel & Keri. We planned to go out for sushi, but the Kappa Sushi place was so busy. We just decided to go to Tubes right outside the main gate and order a thousand appetizers. Yum! Upstairs from Tubes is a karaoke place, La La La (Jen and I went there back in November.) We rented a room for two hours, but I think we probably should have just gone for one. It was late and I was exhausted by the end of our second hour! We had fun, though. Muriel & I are about on the same level with our singing and it was pretty bad — but fun! I mixed it up with some classic rock and some gospel hymns. Keri surprised us with her beautiful voice! It's not that I expected her to be terrible or anything!

I wasn't feeling so hot Saturday afternoon but really wanted to go out with the girls. My throat was hurting and I was so tired. I went to the doctor this morning after a weekend of sleepless nights and extreme pain-while-swallowing. The doctor said I have the worst case of strep throat he's seen in a while. Ugh! We all had the flu two weeks ago and I just thought the sore throat was lingering from that. He gave me some lidocaine jelly to gargle with for the pain and some antibiotics. Hopefully the boys don't pick it up, too!

How are moms supposed do this? I’ve spent the last three days on the brink of death (not really, but you know, I felt like it) and absolutely no opportunity to recuperate. I had a low fever, lots of aches, sore throat, constant headache, upset stomach … and a teething baby and insanely wild toddler. They didn’t seem to get the message that Mom wasn’t feeling up for dealing with their moods. Matt works all night and sleeps all day and we have very few hours together where he can lend a hand. One night Heron sat up pretty much all night screaming for an hour, drifting off to sleep for 10-20 minutes, screaming for another hours, etc. I’m doing everything I know to do to soothe his achy gums (I’m assuming that’s the problem even though I don’t see any budding teeth yet.) He’s doing a little better now, but the peak of his discomfort seemed to be at my peak as well. And Rhino … Rhino! He knows just when to act out the most. Right when Heron finally calms down enough to nurse or fall asleep in my arms, that’s when Rhino causes the most damage. Do I drop the baby, upsetting him all over again, to give Rhino a swat? Or do I whisper-yell at him from across the room and give him lots of Mean Mommy looks. Yeah, he knows when he can get away with tearing all the DVDs out of the stand or pulling all our condiments out of the fridge. It’s been a long, long week and I am ready to go to sleep for a month.

My dear Rhino,

This month has been very busy! You’re running around even more, playing cute games, and babbling to us in your own language. You keep growing, of course. You’re now 30.5 inches tall and weigh 22 pounds. We’re not worried about your low weight anymore, it seems you’re just a smaller guy right now. I think it’s because you’re always burning off so much energy keeping active! You still love dancing and have a whole bunch of cute and hilarious moves. You will dance to songs in movies we’re watching, music on the radio, the sound of the dishwasher or washing machine, or songs I sing or whistle. We have been attending church early on Sundays and are around for choir practice, which is my favorite time to watch you dance! You run into the auditorium as soon as you hear the piano and dance in the aisle, either squatting, sumo-stepping, or rocking back and forth, then clap for the choir at the end of every song. You’re so amusing! You’ve always been pretty interested in music. You love the little toy piano Aunt Jen gave you for Christmas. I’ve also set up a keyboard so I can practice the piano and you are very excited about that! You like to listen, but you really enjoy playing, too. Every day we get about 30 minutes in front of the keys together where you play little musical patterns, alternate between the highest and lowest keys, or bang excitedly! You also like playing the guitar and more than once have unzipped the guitar case and struggled to pull it out of the bag so you can sit on the floor and pick away. I do hope that this interest sticks with you and you will pick up some instrument later on!

You are also such a big sweetheart. I am still pregnant and awaiting your baby brother and Daddy gives me a massage every day to help me relax or ease some of the pregnancy aches. You always want to be involved and will help rub my legs or back alongside Daddy. Usually your massages tickle or you just rock me, but it makes me so happy! You’re copying us more and more each day and always seem to want to do what we’re doing. It’s so much fun having you around!

Part of our month was a little stressful. You had been sick in the past, but recently you were even more sick. Your temperature rose to 104 degrees, which had me really scared. You tried to do the things you usually do and seemed to want to be in a good mood, but we could tell how drained you were. You spent about four days really tired and calm. You weren’t sleeping well and didn’t have much interest in food. We took you to the doctor and he determined you had an upper respiratory infection and all we could do was let you get over it. We kept trying to keep your fever down with Motrin. Daddy and I got sick at the same time and our whole household was pretty pathetic. We got through it though, and you were such a trooper! I’m so glad you’re better now!

We had one more big change this month: we moved to a new house! Because we’re adding another member to our family, the military has let us have a larger home. It was a lot of work to pack everything up, move all our stuff, and clean the old place, but the new house is so nice that it was definitely worth it! You started to get a little stressed out at the old house with all the mess and boxes. As soon as we were given our new home, you loved running around the big, open rooms! We had to go back and forth between the old and new houses and your mood would sour so much when we arrived at the old place, but whenever we showed up in the new home you would get so happy! I’m glad you like our new house! You were very helpful in the moving, though. When Daddy would carry boxes to the car, he’d give you something small to carry (a small box or your baby wipes or a little bag) and you would carry alongside him. You’d also want to help clean with any rag or paper towel you found. Mrs. Kiser came over to help clean up the old house and when she took down all the long, vertical blinds in the living room to wipe them down, you sat on the other end with your own paper towel wiping away, too! Now we’re mostly settled down into the new house and you seem to be right at home.

Maybe next month when I write your 17 Month letter, you’ll be a big brother! I can’t wait to see how you react to a little baby around the house. I know it will be a big adjustment, but I won’t forget about my sweet, first born boy! You’ll get a lot of time with Daddy at first, but I know I’ll miss you (I’ll have to be in the hospital for a couple of days) and want to spend time with you, too! I love you so much, Rhino!

Love,
Mommy

On Saturday Matt and I took Rhino out for a walk (and drive) up the big hill behind our house.

Matt would push Rhino around in his little red car — and really fast down little hills, which made me nervous, but they had a good time!

I’m having fun practicing taking photos, of course! Spring is so pretty here and I really like our little neighborhood. There are tons of gorgeous things to photograph! We made it up to top of the tall hill out back, where I love all the tall yellow grass that covers it. Rhino took a couple of little tumbles, but it was cute and he didn’t seem to mind. It seems like he thought the tall grass was a little strange and couldn’t keep his balance very well on the hill, but he had fun!

I definitely need to get some allergy medication quickly. In California my springtime allergies didn’t act up so much, but here I’m miserable! Especially if I’m going to be getting down in the grass to get pictures of flowers, etc., I’m going to need something to keep me from getting all runny, itchy, and red! Ick!

I feel kind of guilty that I haven’t said more about this pregnancy. It’s not that I’m not excited about Baby’s arrival, but of course it’s not quite the same as it was with Rhino. Plus, he’s keeping me too busy to have pregnancy on my mind 24/7! I would be doing Belly Shots now too, but I have no camera so that will have to wait. Plus, I’m sure they’ll all look about the same as last time!

I took my gestational diabetes test on Wednesday. It wasn’t so bad. I went, chugged my super sweet flat orange soda, and had an hour to read a book by myself (which hasn’t happened in SO long!) They took some blood and I haven’t heard anything back, so I’m assuming no news is good news. It wasn’t a problem last time and I haven’t been loading up on sugar or packing on too many pounds, so I’m not worried.

Yesterday I had my 28 week appointment with Doctor #3. It was our first time meeting with him and as of right now he’s ranked lowest for me. We have no idea who will deliver Baby, but I’m hoping it’s Doctor #2. We’ll see in a couple of months, though! The appointment was quick and there wasn’t really anything too exciting to speak of. Rhino came along again and still hates doctors. He was doing all right until Doc messed around with the chair and I had to lie back — then he freaked out! I’m not sure if he thinks the doctor is going to hurt me or what is going through his little head. We heard Baby’s heartbeat, which was around 140 bpm. I’ve put on 17 pounds so far, which I think is much less than I did at this time with Rhino. For the last few weeks I’ve been revisited by some morning sickness. I’m sure that’s what it is, it just happens in the morning and it feels just the same. I’m eating small snacks, healthy breakfasts, drinking liquids; nothing’s really changed (just hormones?) I mentioned it to Doctor #3 and he said he’s never heard of morning sickness returning, so he thinks I’m just sick with some GI bug. I’m not a doctor, but I think he’s wrong. I really don’t think I’m sick. It’s no biggie to me, though, it’s just annoying having to run off to the bathroom and shut Rhino out (so he doesn’t get in the way) then have him scream and pound at the door to let him in while Matt’s asleep!

I also asked if there will be an opportunity to tour the facilities, ask questions, see how everything works. He said I can do that, but everything is routine and there’s not much to it. I didn’t dig any deeper, but I’m a little hesitant still to bring up providing a birth plan (though we will) or talk about things like delivering Baby straight to my chest without cutting the cord immediately or us taking the placenta home. I think I’ll wait a few more weeks to test the waters there.

Really, the pregnancy is going fine and I’m feeling pretty good! My back pains have relaxed a lot and I’m still keeping active. I think this little guy is moving around a whole lot more than Rhino did (or maybe I just don’t remember clearly?) I get some really strong, sometimes a tad painful kicks. I think I’m carrying higher also, as it gets really difficult to breathe sometimes with all the lung-squishing. For some reason Rhino has started kissing and babbling (and head-butting until I stop him!) to my tummy a lot lately. I don’t know if there’s some sense about what’s going on or if he just likes to play with a big, bare belly. It’s cute any way!

I had my third prenatal appointment this morning. Just to catch up, my first appointment was at 9 weeks for a dating ultrasound, where I measured at 8 weeks and 4 days. (I haven’t yet scanned in the image, but I will soon to post it here!) They determined my due date to be July 8, 2009. We left a few days later for the our vacation, and when we arrived back home I had another appointment just to check in. No weight gain yet, got the results back from a bunch of blood tests that were all fine, met a different doctor, and everything went smoothly. The base has three OBs and they don’t know who will be on to deliver the baby, so I get appointments with each of them randomly so I have some sort of relationship with all of them. I don’t love how that works, but that’s what we have to do. Right now I have a warmer feeling about Doctor #2, but I haven’t yet met Doctor #3. At today’s appointment I had Doctor #1 again, who told me I have to stop nursing Rhino immediately because it is dangerous to do so. I know this isn’t true and that I must pay greater attention to my nutrition and hydration, but it isn’t necessary to stop. Unfortunately, I think I’m about ready to. Rhino is almost a year and can start drinking cow’s and soy milk soon and the pregnancy is wearing on my body in a way that really is making breastfeeding a drag. I’d like to stick it out as long as possible, but that may just be a matter of a couple more weeks. I think he’ll be okay with it soon, too, as he is enjoying more foods, water, and juices and we don’t spend as much time nursing as we used to anyway. Also at the appointment today we talked about the cystic fibrosis test and the quad screen, neither of which we had while I was pregnant with Rhino. We declined those this time as well for a few reasons. We also heard Baby’s heartbeat today, which was a strong 140 beats per minute. I still haven’t gained any weight yet, but it’s nothing to worry about. The pounds will definitely start piling on soon! I’ve recently been having lower back pains where I am unable to sit up straight while lying on my back — I get stuck a couple inches off the ground. I’ve been attending a yoga and pilates class and have noticed that even some of the simple movements I used to do have become very painful. I have had mild discomfort since Rhino was born, but during the last couple of weeks it has gotten much worse. I know that pregnancy has its associated pains and with pressure and bones shifting, this will happen. I asked Doctor #1 about it today and she pretty much just told me it will get worse and there’s nothing to be done. I can stick it out, of course, I was mostly worried that neglecting it would cause a problem. I’m stopping the yoga/pilates class and Matt has to help me out of bed sometimes, but I think that’s just how it’s going to be for a while! Other than that, there wasn’t much else about the appointment. I’ll schedule another one for 5 weeks from now as well as my ~20week ultrasound (no, we are not finding out the sex!)

Hi sweetie! You’re now 8 months and doing fantastically! You’ve lost a tiny bit of weight compared to last month, but it’s probably because you’ve also been a little sick. You had your first cold, but you got through it like a trooper! At first whenever you’d cough or sneeze, you would smile or giggle because it was oh, so amusing! You got tired of that pretty quickly, though. We didn’t go to the doctor because you seemed to be doing really well with everything and had a great attitude all the way through. Daddy and I were sick at the same time, so it made the whole week a little stressful. At least that’s over with now!

Your friends Josh and Aime are visiting their grandparents in Texas right now, so you haven’t seen them much this month. You did have a nice visit with Samantha from church and across the street. I babysat her for a few hours and you two had fun playing together! She is 6 months older than you and it was fun to spend time with her and see about where you’ll be in the near future. We also met a lady who has a son, James, who is 2 weeks younger than you. We got together to play at his house and at the playground and you guys were too cute playing side by side!

You’ve been eating solid foods for a while now, but I’ve mostly looked at it at exploring new tastes and sensations. Now we’re trying to have more regular meals for you. Mealtime was a huge mess and was a little frustrating for me for a bit. When I used baby food you would get it everywhere, grab it with your hands, wipe your ears, play with your hair, and we’d have to rush off to the bathtub after every meal! I found that if I tuck your hands under your high chair tray, you keep them down in your lap and I can spoon feed you without you rubbing it all over your body. It may sound mean, but you don’t appear to mind having your arms pinned at all and mealtime goes much more smoothly. I’m trying to move away from the liquid baby foods more and have you feed yourself little bits of things. You have tried all sorts of new foods recently, most of which were a success! You love baked carrots and cauliflower with nutmeg and gobble them all down very quickly. You’ve had egg yolk and also yogurt, both of which you aren’t quite so sure about. Yesterday you had some cottage cheese with mango pieces that you loved! Last night for dinner you had some acorn squash pieces and also baked chicken and brown rice. You were pretty unsure about the chicken, so I ground it up in some sweet potato baby food (which you love!) You still love to munch on your sweet potato puffs – your favorite food! Daddy and I are lining up puffs along the clean carpet to try to encourage you to crawl. You will lean and reach as far as you possibly can then flop to your stomach and stretch even farther!

Speaking of crawling, you did crawl for the first time a couple of weeks ago! I was sitting in a chair and there were some toys and your books by my feet and you flopped from a sitting position and crawled on your hands and knees for about a foot and then creeped on your tummy for another foot to reach the book. Daddy and I were so excited that you were getting around on your own, but that was the last time we’ve seen you do that! There’s no rush, sweetie, but it will be fun when you’re traveling around the room on your own!

We haven’t done a whole lot that is too exciting. You love going to stores and looking at all the neat little things, so we do go shopping together. We’ve been out for a little hiking and walks around the base. We’re still having a great time at home, playing, reading, Skyping with grandparents, and snuggling together. Daddy and I love you very much and are looking forward to another wonderful month!

Love,
Mommy

We went back to finish our hike of the gorge. We had gone a few weekends ago, and only made it about 4.5 miles into the gorge before turning around. The hike is about 9 miles to the lake, but an 18 miles hike was just too much for the 3 of us for the day. So today we parked at the lake and worked our way backwards. We didn’t quite make it as far as we had wanted — only about 3 miles in, a 6 mile walk total. We did see some gorgeous waterfalls, though! It was raining, but we were pretty protected from all the tree cover. Hardly anything made it down to us. Rhino’s new backpack carrier has a snazzy little rain hood, so he was just fine. (Yeah, we got a new one. The other one was really uncomfortable for us and left nasty marks on Rhino. We sprung for a nicer one that we should get plenty of use out of.) I think everything was even prettier this second time around while it was all wet and shimmery. The trail was a little muddy, but that can be fun, too! Matt and I were still recovering from being sick (Matt’s has been lingering, then I think he got me sick again!) so I was glad to have a short day. We did see Lake Towada, but didn’t explore around it. We’ll drive back just to hike around the lake someday soon. Here are some photos from our second trip: