UGH, my turn AGAIN!?

As I lay in bed this morning, awake and ill at 3:30am, I thought to myself, “why am I getting sick so often lately!?” It’s annoying and disruptive to life to be sick and normally I'm pretty healthy.

Bad news- I think Martha’s right, it is food poisoning. I think so because

1. Feeling bad happened several hours after a meal (3:30am)
2. only lasted about 6 hours total
3. vomiting and diarrhea were the main symptoms

This unfortunately leads me to believe that it must have been my lunch because Jim and Nicole aren’t sick and we ate dinner at home together. It pains me to admit this, but lunch was Skyline (a chicken burrito, not chili). I can’t remember a few weeks back to recall if that’s what I ate the last time this came on or not…

I will say, it continues to amaze me how much better I feel after I throw up. Not perfect, but certainly good enough to go to work for the day. Of course it’s no fun while you’re on your knees praying to the porcelain god, but man, after, it’s like flipping a switch.

The Rest of the Story

The doctor’s appointment went as well as can be expected. We got there on time but they were running behind so we had to wait for about 25 minutes to see the doctor. In that time Nicole got diarrhea (Jim thinks from nerves) and went through the only 3 diapers and all the wipes I had in her bag. It got on my pants, it got on the examining table, it was not fun. The only advantage was that I was mid-changing her [again] when the doctor finally came in so it was not as traumatic for her to evaluate the boil since she was already undressed in that area.

The pediatrician said that we’ve cleaned out 75% of the contents and that it’s not likely more will come out. Warm compresses, continued oral and topical medication use, and supervision is all she needs for the next few days. We don’t even need to bandage it since it’s mostly covered by a diaper and clothing.

She’s taking her medicine now with promise of using a “big girl cup” (one of our regular glasses) which works out well since she’s supposed to have plenty of water with the medicine.

The boil is deflating and went from red (Monday) to purple (Tuesday) to white (today). The doc was very pleased with the progress there and said the medication is clearly working.

I get the impression that MRSA at Nicole’s level is like herpes – you can get a cold sore/boil once and never again or you can get them routinely but if you get them routinely you see the signs early and can sometimes prevent a sore all together. The more people I’ve told the more I hear “oh yeah, so and so had that…” which is comforting and concerning at the same time. The story’s outcome ranges from cases like Nicole’s to “they ended up in the hospital for 2 days” or even one that finished “… and they had to cut off his toe”. EEK! We're aiming for one and done.

Boil Boil Toil & Trouble

Nicole’s doctor appointment yesterday has led to some new medical routines at home. The doctor is thinking MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and gave her the anti-biotics as if she has it but said that when the culture comes back and she sees the progress the boil has made on Wednesday she’ll know more and can change medications if necessary.

Nicole is antsy during a diaper change and clamps her legs together like a vice because she expects it to be sensitive but if you leave her diaper on and just push the elastic aside (it’s on the inside of her leg) she doesn’t really care what you do. Problem is that now that it’s bandaged it’s hard to get to fully if her diaper is still on.

We have to put warm compresses on it “many” times a day (“as often as possible”) which in our world will mean 3 times (morning, lunch & bedtime), try to massage more “stuff” out of it, put a topical medicine on and bandage it with gauze and tape, and then give her an oral medicine 2X/day that she doesn’t like at all (I tasted it and it is horrible). So far this process has happened twice since the appointment and has been a challenge on all fronts but eventually she gives in or gets to tired of fighting it.

Hopefully this gets easier as she gets used to it happening. When we’re not messing with it she’s oblivious, plays, gets carried, etc. with no problems. Her appetite has reduced due to stress though.

Need a vacation day to catch up from my weekend

This weekend was ridiculously busy. Some highlights:

1) Friday – I went to the Cyclones hockey game (and thought of Sue the whole time) while Jim stayed with Nic. He doesn’t like hockey and prefers her sleep schedule stay pretty consistent so this arrangement worked out for both of us as I didn’t get home until 11.

2) Saturday – we all slept in which never seems to happen anymore. I was going to skip the morning concert as a result but thought Nicole might appreciate it so we rushed around and flew out the door.

Cincinnati had their Fine Arts weekend and the morning show was done by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and was a shortened version of a fall concert titled Bugs. They played La Cucaracha, the Bugs theme song, The Spiders Feast (which had CCM doing and interpretive dance), some song about a guy loving a flea just a bit too much, and, the highlight, the Itsy Bitsy Spider sing-along. Nicole was VERY attentive during the concert and really my taping it was the only thing that distracted her from the music. At first she was so startled that the thousand or so people at the concert all knew IBS, but then she joined in. This video is kinda rough because she was sitting on my lap as I was taking it.

3) That afternoon Nicole headed to Aunt Lindsay’s for her nap because Jim had a bowling tournament and I went to go see Jenny and Tom’s performances that afternoon. Both were absolutely fantastic (and I’m not just saying that because they both read this).

4) When I got home Chris from Cridersville (Jim’s friend) was waiting for me and we all hung out, went to dinner, and hung out some more. We skipped Church because of his visit and didn’t finish the errands we wanted to run because of Nicole’s nap time. I did get $60 in clothes (23 pieces) from Old Navy – ½ off clearance prices so the most I paid for a single item was $3.74 for a dress for Nicole; most of the other things were $1.49 - $2.49.

5) We bowled AMAZING that night and walked away 4/4 with a solid placement for the upcoming tournament.

6) I had to take Nicole to the doctor this morning because what I thought was a pimple forming on the inside of her leg turned into a boil on Sunday. They pierced it, squeezed a bunch of blood and puss out and are sending it all to the lab. She was NOT happy to be pinned down or in pain but was all smiles once she was allowed up. We have antibiotics to give her and need to use warm compresses 2/day to try to extract more out of it. She heads back on Wednesday. Goal is to hear that it’s not MRSA but we’ll know more when the results come back.

7) We also staked out the deck in the yard and are going with option #1 but bigger square footage-wise than what you see below.

Decking Decisions

As previously mentioned, Jim and I are in the throws of deck planning. Some of the things we started with and have since eliminated

1) hot tub – jim doesn’t want to walk through the cold to get to it in the winter
2) multiple levels – somewhat of a pain due to the slope of our yard and while I’d REALLY REALLY like to incorporate aesthetically, I'm not sure if it’s practical or necessary
3) reading nook – the deck materials are expensive and space can be used in more practical ways

Here was the first design I did:


What I like about it is that it’s not just a square, there’s some dimension to it. The intention would be that sitting furniture and a fire table would be put in the octagon and a dining area with grill would be in the large rectangle. This design makes maximum use of the land because that are near the office on the far right is only about 15 feet from our property line and not much would be done with the space if a deck wasn’t there. Finally, I like that from our family room, which has lots of windows to look out of, I’d be gazing upon a pretty sitting area with couches and cushions.

Then I got to thinking…. If I'm eating dinner and forgot to get the ketchup, do I really want to walk all the way across the deck, through the only door, into the kitchen then all the way back out for that? Doesn’t it make more sense to have our main activity on the deck, eating, be closer and more convenient to the entry? So, I rearranged things so the seating area and dining area were reversed:

This will save greatly on materials because it’s smaller but now I have “dead” space by the office and I'm not sure it’s going to be that pretty to look at (we'd fill it in with a garden maybe?).

Thoughts?

Dinosaur Quest

The search for dinosaurs has continued and I’ve been really touched and happy with the help (and interest!) others have been lending. Carol sent me several links of things including a $100 plush rocking dinosaur which I later found at HomeGoods for $50 on a family friend’s suggestion. (side note: I’ve never even heard of HomeGoods, it was the TJ Maxx of home stuff and if it was closer might be a place I stop at more often to find a hidden treasure). Jenna sent me links of a variety of things from animals to mobiles and Anjali went to the trouble of finding me stencils for the walls.

The set I found that I liked the most has been discontinued for two years and finding the bedding (bumpers, not sheets) has cost me several more hours of searching:



Lindsay saw this set on a Kmart commercial and sent it to me:

It’s got the essentials (bumpers, sheet, comforter & bedskirt), is the right color palate that I was looking for and is only $50 – FANTASTIC!!!!!! Too bad it’s out of stock. Grrrr…. I put my name on the registry to have Kmart email me when they have it again. Meanwhile I’ll look for the brand elsewhere. This could be the ticket!

Should any of you continue to be interested, bored, or come across something randomly like Linds did, I still need some wall art!

Some random thoughts and weekend updates

1) per comments and questions below, Christopher James is the name we’ve picked out for #2. I hope that it’ a strong enough name for our future President. Ha!

2) I feel better, thanks for asking. Apparently it was an annoying 24-hour bug because I was back to eating normal [amounts of] food on Saturday and haven’t had problems since.

3) Though Valentine’s Day is largely uncelebrated in our household Jim did bring home Nicole and I a red rose each . It was very sweet. Nicole’s hand-made Valentines went over well and she got some in return as well as a ballerina doll from Grandma that is bigger than her. She and the doll have waltzed around the family room several times since!

4) I'm wearing a borrowed shirt of Sarah’s today (a navy blue cotton one) for the first time and I LOVE IT. It’s so comfy, can be dressed up or down, and isn’t too low-cut (a common and confusing problem with maternity tops). It immediately became my new favorite shirt.

5) On Saturday I took Nicole to Furniture Fair to look for a big girl bedroom set. Unfortunately she was not living up to the purchase and threw a tantrum in the front entry when I wouldn’t give her Cheerios (I didn’t want her to spill them everywhere in the store). After about 2 minutes of cajoling I hauled her back to the car, sat her on my lap and told her that she was not to behave badly again or we were leaving. We did give it a second go, the nice salesman even brought her a balloon which made her smile but when I tied it onto her stuffed cow (so it wouldn’t float to the ceiling if she let go) we started on tantrum #2. My girl friend Jamie told me once that her son Ryan was so bad in the grocery store that she took him out with items still in her cart. This memory gave me motivation to apologize profusely to the salespeople and take Nicole out of the store immediately, never having made it past the first 20 feet of the store. I was steamed. On the way home Nicole got a lecture about good behavior in stores, how acting that way embarrasses both of us and that she was getting a time out once we got home. She sniffed and looked pathetic on the drive home but, true to my word, she sat on the step for a minute once we got back and she didn’t budge an inch. I don’t know if she got it or it was luck, but she was an absolute angel the next day when we took her out for several hours to the mall and Meijer.

6) They announced on the radio today that there was a speed trap around a certain exit on the highway. While I appreciate this as a driver it doesn’t seem “right” that they can just publically announce this over the airwaves. Then again, if the point is to ensure that drivers are safely driving, maybe the city of Montgomery doesn’t care that people are being warned…

Sick

Nicole's virus finally kicked in in me. I'm home from work. Her symptoms were vomiting the first night followed by a croupy cough and a runny nose and lots of lathargic activity, I started feeling "off" on Wednesday, only ate peas for dinner that night and threw up lunch and dinner at 2am last night. BLEH.

Christopher can hang out for four months in me and not cause any morning sickness but the general world's gotten me under the weather about 3 times in the last 8 months.

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We watched the movie Taken (A-) last night. Story line is that a retired special forces father's daughter is taken by a sex trafficing ring while on holiday in France and he has 96 hours to get her back. I found it thought provoking and a sad reminder that these types of things actually are going on all around the world all the time.

I asked Jim if he'd go to such lengths to get Nicole back and he correctly answered that he wouldn't have the skill to do all the things that the main character did. She's never going anywhere alone for the rest of her life.

Random Updates

• Nicole is in a singing phase. On Monday night she sang to herself for over a half hour in lieu of going to sleep. We sing in the car, sometimes to the radio, sometimes not. And she’s learning words to her favorite songs – she will start and chime with “twinkle twinkle star” and “up above… high”. It’s really really cute. When she sings AND dances you can’t help but smile. Other thing she really likes – songs that have hand motions (itsy bitsy spider, wheels on the bus, etc.)
• I got hit on Monday in my work parking lot. I was backing out of a space and some guy backed out into me. The estimate for repairing (not replacing) my back bumper was $508. I need to give this to him today and see what our next steps are.
• The new baby is moving around much more frequently to the point that I can feel him inside and outside now. Jim’s not all about putting his hand on my stomach but humors me if I insist.
• Jim and I have a LONG to-do list. He’s helped make the task less daunting by giving us four February goals which should be achievable – work on our will, buy Nicole’s new bedroom furniture, repair the settling cracks in the corners of our crown/base molding, measure the house for the deck. He’s been spending gobloads of time reading deck-building books, calling the county, etc. Too bad I’ll be 8 months pregnant when this project starts. Shucks!
• JC Penney has shoes on sale for $7.95! After being pregnant the last time my foot grew a whole size permanently which means that there aren’t as many options for 8.5s –they get swallowed up pretty quick. I had envy for all the 7.5 wearers – there were SO MANY cute shoes. I did find two new pairs – a brown stiletto sandal and a pointy-toed black heel. I also scooped up a simple black dress for $14.95 and a pair of work pants for $6.97. Fingers crossed that they fit after this is all said and done (couldn't try them on now)….

Foods I don't like

Pepperoni

Jerky- any variety

Brussel Sprouts

Crème Brule

Jalapenos

Iced Tea

Runny Eggs

Splenda

Crawfish

Decorating Blues

UGH. I clearly have bad taste because the things I am looking for DO NOT EXIST. Not in stores, not online, not anywhere.

I decided that I’d like a dinosaur-themed nursery for the baby. You’d think dinosaurs would be pretty popular given the gender but nooooooo… no one makes sets that aren’t discontinued, “gentle” (aka not fierce) dinosaur wall art is impossible to locate, and to find any bedding is making me pull my hair out. I went to a fabric store willing and able to make my own bumper pads but even they don’t carry any dinosaur material.

A smarter woman would give up and pick a more common theme like trucks.

If this kid was 8 or something, and not terrified of the beasts, I would think this was pretty cool (it’s a wallpaper stick-up):

Baby News

Went to the ultrasound today to see the baby. Very squirmy little one - it was all over the place!! Here are some pictures:

Profile

Head on

Arm

2 feet (crossed)

And the money shot......

He's a BOY!

Due date's still the same, 6/28/09, and all looks normal with his size (11 oz) and measurements.

I had a "big talk" with Nicole (who's home sick today with croup and vomiting) about being a sister and she shook her head "yes" when I told her she'd have to share toys and be nice, etc. She'll tickle my tummy and say "get you get you" but I doubt she fully understands what's going on yet.... :)

Anticipation

So tomorrow is the day we find out that baby #2 is doing well and, hopefully, the gender. People ask what we want, boy or girl, or if we don’t care. Honestly, it’s my goal to find out that everything looks “normal” and that there’s only one. I have no reason to think there are more than 1, but man if there were, whew! Obviously it would be exciting but oh so much more to do and plan. Not to mention the expense as things to get would be a larger vehicle (SUV), not just another crib.

Jim thinks we’re having a girl. So far he’s the only one that thinks that. EVERYONE else expects a boy.

I'm very excited for tomorrow morning but it seems almost too soon to know! I’ve been so busy personally and professionally that this day seems to have come suddenly. Almost like I haven’t “done” enough to deserve to know yet. Not that I'm complaining….. : )

Parenting Concern

Last night I told Jim about a concern that I’ve had but really jumped out to me that afternoon. Nicole is a very loving little girl. I assume it’s because we’re very touchy-feely at home and greet those we meet with hugs that she sees it as perfectly normal to greet her friends with a hug. The problem is that there are a lot of other kids who aren’t like her in this capacity. For example, Nicole adores her cousin Ryann and will often try to hug her, hold her hand, etc. Ryann will often hold her hand and walk with her but is not initially inclined to hug Nicole upon first seeing her. Ryann really likes Nicole – she says her name and they play together really well. She’s just doesn’t find the need to hug Nicole as frequently as Nicole wants to hug her.

This weekend that was also the case for our friends’ daughter, Julia (2 years), who wanted nothing to do with Nicole physically though they were pretty content playing next to one another. I was really happy (though maybe they were cringing inside) that Kendall and Lisa let Nicole love on Max. She hugged him, kissed him, and tried to say his name. While other parents might shy away from letting their 7-week old have so much physical interaction (germs and all, I know), they didn’t tell Nicole to stop and as a result she was very happy telling me “baby Max kdajfdo akfkdfj” (stuff I didn’t understand after his name) well after he left for the night.

When I went to visit Nicole at daycare yesterday one of the other kids, a 5 year old boy named Cameron, was sitting and watching a DVD on a portable player on his lap. This is certainly not the first time Nicole has gone to him, gently stroked his arm and said “hi Cameron”; he totally ignores her. After several times repeating, I had to sharply say “Cameron, Nicole is talking to you” at which point he acknowledged her and said “hi”.

About 10 minutes later a 3-year old girl (ironically named Cameron too) came in and was feeling some abandonment after her mother left. Nicole, upon seeing her upset patted her back and said “ok, Cameron” which she, like the first Cameron, also ignored.

Now, I know the girl Cameron was distracted with emotion, but these many examples make me concerned – what if Nicole starts getting put off that other kids aren’t responding to her affection (which I see as a positive) and she stops reaching out? I realize that, like the comments from my last post clearly show, some people are more comfortable with physical touch than others and I need to respect that. It’s probably something that is a positive for Nicole to learn early. I also try to see the other side – maybe Nicole is TOO touchy and tells Cameron “hi” 8 times and hour and he’s just annoyed and therefore ignoring her which is nicer than yelling at her to leave him alone.

Jim’s response was that we continue to hug and kiss her at home. He reminded me, which made me very sad to think of, that we can’t control her interactions when we’re not with her. There’ll be kids who make fun of her at school (who would dare!?) and we can’t stop it – she has to learn on her own. I guess these lessons, while I recognize their value, are coming a bit earlier at 18 months than I thought they would…….

HA!

funny from Mark!