My God, it never ends…

February 28, 2008 at 10:39 pm (sickness)
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We are sick, sick, sick.  I have a pretty bad cold, head all stuffed up again, coughing up crap, low grade fever.  My throat and chest burn when I walk around too much, and I get all worn out.  Sophie is still running a fever on and off, has a runny nose… AGAIN… I am really getting really tired of this!  We haven’t been able to get out and see friends at all.  Poor Will is stuck inside with the same old, same old stuff to do.   We planted some seeds to start inside for something different to do.  And he got out his huge legos to play with.  But, this is making me very unhappy.  I was up with Sophie from 4 am on this morning, because she was warm and her nose was all blocked up.

I am getting a small bit of knitting done for Anne at Mombastic (see blog roll!).  I am making her a pair of socks.  Her birthday is in July so I am hoping I can get them done by then.  I’m enjoying the colors that she likes, and I find knitting relaxing (I need all the help I can get!).

Otherwise just taking the vitamins and trying to get better!  This is really not fun.

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Finnish keyboard

February 25, 2008 at 11:52 pm (Finnish)
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This is cool!  I found out how to switch, very quickly, from a US English keyboard to a Finnish keyboard.

Now I can say Hyvää päivä and Yö  (which is MUCH easier to spell than it is to say) and spell them correctly!  :D

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The last of the birthday festivities

February 24, 2008 at 10:13 pm (baby stuff)
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We wound up have two very small birthday parties for Sophie. The first one was just us, Tuesday night. Since she is too little to ask for a special meal, I made her organic mac and cheese from a box and green beans, then organic chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese icing for dessert. She loved her meal and the cake! After that we helped her open presents. We got her a couple of heavy wood puzzles, one with knobs on the pieces and the other one with various latches that can be done and undone. We got her some clothes too, and a very old fashioned toy that I had when I was little! I don’t know what they are called, but it’s a little metal can, with a noise maker inside, and when you tip it upside down, it says “maaaaaa” like a sheep! She also got some books and a hand carved turtle from her Grandpa Oak Tree (that’s what Will calls my dad), some doll clothes from my mom, a nice jacket from her great aunt and uncle, and some spring clothes from one of her Godmothers.

I found out that there is going to be another box coming from Finland and I’m so excited!! We recently sent them a bunch of stuff (see Tanja’s Blog) and they are enjoying it!

We were all feeling a little off this week, but Sophie didn’t have any more croupy coughing at all. Then, Friday afternoon she started with a fever, almost 102. It came down easily with medication and she’s been running a low fever on and off since. She has her 1 year check up tomorrow so we will address it then. I am sure it’s viral, she has been running around playing and generally happy so I don’t think it’s her ears or anything like that.

Today, we had our family party. Grandma and Grandpa came back from Florida and my husband’s brother and sister in law, and our niece and nephew came too. We got a cake from a local bakery, Hamilton’s. Their cake is SO good! And we decided to get some sub sandwiches this time instead of cooking, so we got a party platter from Jimmy John’s. I also cut up some veggies to dip and put out some chips, and made punch. It was a good meal, and Sophie enjoyed the cake again! (I will be putting the pictures in Shutterfly so if anyone wants to see them, let me know.) Her Aunt and Uncle got her a musical Gloworm toy and her grandparents got her some clothes and a big pink car for outside in the spring. It’s hard having kids with cold weather birthdays, because people want to get them outside stuff, yet it’s still going to be a while before we can play with outside stuff, especially Sophie!

Now we are all birthdayed out. Mine is coming up in May and usually we just go out for dinner, Clane’s is in June, then after that, our house is set til November again.

I just wish we would get well. Dear Husband gave me two mornings of lovely sleep this weekend, but I still feel run down. I think the mono is back. We are all feeling a little “off” and it stinks because I miss getting out, we haven’t seen friends in weeks now. We are all getting a little loopy! Let’s hope it’s a better week.

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Happy Birthday Sophie!!

February 19, 2008 at 10:32 am (baby stuff, birth)
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As I write this, 1 year ago RIGHT NOW, I was almost FINALLY DONE with nearly 34 hours of labor, plus another 8-10 from two nights before!!  This is how it went after I got my epidural around midnight.  I finally crashed and had light sleep, but it was at least sleep, til about 6 or 7 in the morning.  I realized I was wet, and when I gave a little push, more fluid.  So I woke up my husband (who was sleeping in one of those horrid little fold out beds) and we called the nurse.  She came to see us and I’d progressed to 6!  When the doctor stopped by after a while, I was still 6 with bulging forewaters, so she broke it the rest of the way.  That was probably around 8 am.  About 9 am, I felt the urge to push.  I was only 7 cm at that point but the urge was so strong, I felt totally out of control and totally crazy.  (I recognized this feeling from my first birth and was pretty unhappy because the first time around, this stage lasted a LONG time!)  One of the nurses came in and helped us get through quite a few contractions, and after maybe 20 minutes, I was nearly complete, with a small lip.  So, she said “Let’s see what you can do.”  Pushing in the bed felt very wrong so I asked for the squat bar.  They had to go looking for one and were concerned because of my epidural but I knew I could hang on it if I had help getting to it, I’d done it before.  Once I got up there, Sophie was being born very fast and everyone got all excited!  I found out later when I got copies of my medical records that I only pushed for 1 minute!!  By the time she was out, I came out of “labor land” and looked around the room and it was full of people, and there was this guy in there!  It turned out that he was the only doctor available, an ER resident,  so he came in just in case something went wrong.  As it were, they didn’t get ahold of my own doctor in time, because nobody expected a 1 minute delivery, and she missed the whole thing.  The nurse “caught” Sophie and by the time our doctor arrived, it was all over!  So, that’s the story, see how many days it took for me to tell it?  The good thing, even though it took forever and I did get some medical intervention, was that it started BY ITSELF and I didn’t get any pitocin at all… so even though I didn’t get the birth I wanted, I made peace with what I got and we had really awesome nurses this time!!!

Now on to the birthday.  She hasn’t had a croupy cough since Sunday night, which is great.  I am hoping the nursing and high humidity in her room stopped it.  But, nobody is feeling quite right, I feel like I have mono and Will and Sophie both have runny noses.  Clane’s throat is still gunky and we are all beat.  But, I am going to make some organic cupcakes later with cream cheese frosting!  And I don’t know yet what to have for dinner.  We had chicken last night so maybe I’ll make some kafta, which are Lebanese meatballs.  I haven’t decided yet.  If I asked Sophie, she might want us all to have oatmeal or something so I don’t know what I’ll come up with!  We didn’t get her a lot of stuff, a few puzzles and some play food that is wood from Melissa and Doug… and some clothes for spring.  Oh, and an Andrews Sisters CD.  She loves Frank Sinatra and I’m trying to expand her musical horizons… it turns out that when we are in the car, she ONLY likes Frank!!  He puts her to sleep.  It’s funny!

We will probably have a small party for her with family this weekend.  Her grandparents are still en route from Florida to Michigan.  But we definitely have to do something special today.  If not for her, for us!  Now let’s just hope we are all on the way to finally getting better and staying that way!

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Remembering a year ago today… and croup

February 18, 2008 at 11:49 am (baby stuff)
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Out of all my days in labor, this day was my hardest.  I was just about to fall asleep around midnight and I started having contractions.  They were so strong I had to get up out of bed and stand by the bed for each one.  I managed to sleep in between them but I knew by 6 am that this was it and when I called my doctor and couldn’t actually talk on the phone, she said just to go in.

Long story short, I was about 2 cm Friday night when we went home.  Now it’s Sunday morning, 8 hours after the contractions stopped me from sleeping.  I’m still 2 cm.  I finally break down and accept some cervical softening.  I’d wanted to do this birth free of all medication but I was so wiped out that I just couldn’t keep going.  At 3 pm when they got me to a room, I was still 2 cm.  I had the prostaglandin and then some Nubain because I needed a rest, and at 10 pm I was still 2 but very soft and stretchy… finally I caved in and got an epidural about midnight.  So that’s 24 hours of contractions so hard (couldn’t walk, talk, move), long (over 90 seconds) and so close together (sometimes only 1.5 to 2 minutes) and I was still a 2, I knew I wouldn’t make it without sleep.  So, begrudgingly I got the epidural and an Ambien and finally crashed.  Between Friday morning and midnight Sunday night, I’d gotten 5 hours plus maybe 2 broken up hours Saturday night.

Fast forward to a year later.  Last night I was up with Sophie because now she’s got croup.  It scared the crap out of me when she first sat up in bed barking like a seal (that’s really exactly what it sounds like).  Of course epiglottitis came to my mind immediately when I heard her make such an awful noise while breathing IN.  Kids die from that.  I got ahold of the doctor covering for mine and he agreed that he also thought it was croup and I should bring her to the ER if she ran a fever or had a bad spell or was struggling to breathe.  We ran the vaporizer all night in her room, and I slept with 1 ear open all night next to her, ready to get up and leave at any moment.  She had a couple of short barky coughing spells last night but she hasn’t had any this morning.  I called my regular doctor and she didn’t need to see her today, but did say that RSV is going around (great) so I should keep an eye on things and call her if there is shortness of breath or a fever.  So far, she has coughed a few times today but they sound like normal coughs now.

Plus I’m not feeling great.  I don’t have a fever but I do have a funny headache and even though I had a chance to sleep a little longer this morning, I couldn’t get comfortable because all my bones ache.  Isn’t it lovely?

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A year ago today!

February 17, 2008 at 4:42 pm (birth)
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I had gone to bed around midnight (like I said in my last post) and woke up at 5 am!!  NO CONTRACTIONS!  I was SO bummed.  I finally got out of bed and went to the living room and sat and cried.  My first baby was gone (at grandparents from the night before) and my other one wouldn’t come out.  It was SUCH a bad day!  I made my husband go get our son as soon as it was a little later in the morning.

After spending the day moping around, I finally wanted to go out.  We went to Quizno’s for dinner, then went to Hollywood Video and rented some funny movies, then after that, we spent about an hour wandering around Wal Mart.  When we got home, I put Will to bed (he nursed), had a beer (LOL) and crawled in bed with a book.

I’ll update it more tomorrow.  (I just want folks to get an idea of how LONG this took!)

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A year ago today…

February 17, 2008 at 12:43 am (birth)
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I lost my mucus plug and was having good contractions from about mid afternoon, on.  We dropped Will off at Grandma and Grandpa’s house and went to the hospital.  Nurse said I was in early labor, and I could go home if I wanted, and she expected to see us later in the night.  Went home with some Ambien so I could get some sleep.  It was too late to go get Will so he spent his first night away from home without us.

More tomorrow…

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What the…

February 15, 2008 at 10:14 am (family)
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Only 8 hours?  Really?  #*(&$(*&#$

The more Sophie walks, the less she sleeps.  I know this is normal and I shouldn’t be surprised.  But, when it’s me FINALLY getting her to STOP fighting sleep at 11 pm, and it’s me she wakes all night, then it’s me she wakes for the day at 7 am… IT’S ME WHO IS GETTING PRETTY ANGRY ABOUT THIS!

Part of the issue is that she is trying, I think, to give up her second nap.  If she doesn’t take a second nap, she is asleep within minutes just after 8 pm.  If she takes a second nap, and believe me, you don’t want to be around her when she needs one, she suddenly is up later than I want to be!

So today, she is not getting a second nap, and I don’t care how horrible things get around here.  So, if you decide to come to my house today, be prepared for a lot of screaming and crying from a kid who can’t figure out where to put her sleep.  Day or night.  I’d prefer night, but those nap-breaks during the day sure are nice…

They do grow out of this, right?  I mean, Will probably won’t be crawling in bed with Daddy at midnight when he’s 13, right?  What is that, 10 more years of hell plus whatever Sophie dishes out?

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Snow Soup

February 11, 2008 at 12:01 am (family)
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My son has a thing about temperatures.  He likes food, and baths, COLD.  He would rather eat cold leftover mac and cheese straight from the fridge, than have me heat it up.  Anything that is slightly warm to the touch is too hot for him!

So, tonight I thought I would make chicken soup for dinner.  I had some bones and frozen parts in the freezer, and some good egg noodles, so I put it all together and it sure tasted good.  (It was only about 2-3 above today, so it was a good day for it!)  The kids had enjoyed some chicken soup Clane had gotten while out to dinner this past week.  We usually run into at least one issue with Will at dinner time.  I asked him if he wanted an ice cube in his soup.  Well, we have no ice maker (I use trays) and I didn’t have any ice made at all.  Then, I had an idea.  No, my mom never did this for me that I remember, even though I grew up in a very snowy place.

I opened the front door (by now it was about 0 out), took a coffee cup and scooped up a cup full of snow from just outside our front door.  I put it down at Will’s place at the table with a spoon and his bowl of soup.  I said, “Here is some snow soup, just for you.”  It was a hit.  It must have been one of the most pleasant dinners we’ve had at home with him in a very long time.  He happily ate his soup, putting little bits of snow in it here and there to watch it melt.  He even picked out the noodles and veggies and ate them all.  When he was done, he just had a little bit of broth left, diluted and cold from all the snow.

At least now I know he will eat soup as long as it’s winter.  Not sure what I’ll do when it melts!

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The three year old just doesn’t understand

February 6, 2008 at 11:57 pm (parenting)
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Parenting is full of paradoxes.  My favorite one is “Why do they need less sleep than me?”  I find myself asking that question at least 4-5 times a week.  A friend of mine explained it, that they sleep peacefully, whereas we sleep with 1 ear open, always ready to get up at any time.  I’m sure that’s got a lot to do with it!  Then there is that energy that everyone says they wish they could bottle.  They aren’t kidding!

Lately, we have been very frustrated with our 3 year old son, Will.  (His name is Will for a reason!)  Often, if something isn’t working, a person should try something new.  (They say it’s a sign of insanity to keep trying the same thing over and over, expecting different results!)  I think several things are happening here.  First, he has an excellent vocabulary.  When you hear him talk, you would guess that he would understand a lot.  Second, he is a giant compared to Sophie, who is almost a year old.  She doesn’t understand much, and is learning.  Also, I think it’s just human nature to expect more from the first born.  Maybe it’s because you don’t have anything to compare them to when you’re going through the stages of childhood at first.

So we were talking tonight, that we should stop expecting really anything from him.  We should stop trying to explain things.  We need to realize that he doesn’t understand, that he is too little to understand (even though he screams “NO I BIG!!!”)  and that we would probably not be as frustrated with him if we changed the way we approach things.  For example, we are playing at a friend’s house and the baby needs a nap, so it’s time to go.  We give a warning “In a few minutes, it’s time to leave.”  A few minutes later, we tell him it’s time to go.  He pitches a fit, screaming, crying, yelling in my face.  I tell him “I’m sorry you don’t want to go, but we have to.  Sophie needs a nap.”  He continues screaming and refuses to put coat/shoes on.  I say, “If you don’t let me put these on, you will get cold when we go out.” and be fully prepared to carry him to the car.  He does not like being carried to the car and he definitely doesn’t want to go out without his shoes so he settles and lets me do it.  Later, when he is more able to understand more abstract things, we can explain.  Lots of time left for that.  But for now, I think we need to make things more simple.

Lowering expectations so you don’t get mad and frustrated?  I’m sure we could find paradox in that somehow!

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