It's 4:57am. The Friday after Thanksgiving.
If I have the runs one more time, I think I will implode. :P
I don't think it's a food bug. I think I just ate alot of stuff I really shouldn't have.
Still, other than the runs, Thanksgiving was quite nice. :)
It was my baby boy Logan's first Thanksgiving. He turns 1 year old on December 5th.
My husband and Logan and I met my parents at the Frog Bar and Grill at 1:30pm for a Thanksgiving brunch. My Dad had to be at work at 4:30pm, so eating a brunch worked out quite well. And the weather was lovely, in spite of all the rain and fear of flooding after all the fires in the area. The sun came out, expansive blue skies, and everything.
Logan got to have scrambled eggs and pieces of a croissant. And of course cheerios. Can't have a meal w/o cheerios anymore. ;) I also offered him pieces of a cantaloupe and pieces of a sweet potato, but I don't think he ate any of it.
My Father-in-Law spent Thanksgiving with my husband's brother, so he missed out on our fun, but got to enjoy time with his great-grand-kids. I think he may have wished he could be in 2 places at the same time, as he seemed a little bummed about missing Logan's first Thanksgiving. But he still had an awesome time with the rest of the family. :)
What did I eat... what did this to me. Let's see. Pre-brunch was a Jimmy Dean breakfast croissant with sausage, egg, and cheese. But not all of it. And some of Logan's cheerios. And some green tea.
Brunch was 2 orange juices, 2 champagnes, croissant, sweet potato, stuffing, cucumber, bell pepper salad, smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, strawberries, cantaloupe, and I think that's it. All small portions: it all fit on one plate, except the eggs were on a separate plate that I then used to feed Logan from. Well, the champagne probably dehydrated me.
Then when we went home, after some tea, and after a bottle (for Logan, not for me, LOL), went down with Logan for a nap at 4:30pm. Woke up at 6pm. Fed Logan. And ate... the wrong thing. Obviously. Chips and hot cheese dip. Lots. And a strawberry frozen fruit bar. And chocolate milk. And a turkey/cheese/bread sandwich husband called a "Royal George", but now he's not so sure of the name. Normally also includes mayo, but I included mustard instead.
Did have some of Logan's banana, and more of his Cheerios. But that was the only healthy thing this Thanksgiving evening.
Anyway, something I ate was the wrong thing.
So far, poor Logan is having the opposite problem: he is pooing less than normal. It takes time for a baby's system to become used to new food. Really, to solid food in general. It's just a new way of digesting. I think he's just overwhelmed by the whole "chewing" experience, LOL. Ok, "gumming" -- he only has 8 teeth, and they are all incisors. However, judging by the drooling, chewing on anything that's immobile and not nailed down, and general grumpiness, he's definitely trying to cut a tooth.
Well, campers, it's after 5am. My intestines feel like they may be done for the moment. And the Tylenol PM is winning over my feeling like crap from the runs, so I think I can finally get some sleep. At least until Logan wakes up, LOL. ;)
I think Friday is going to be an oat-meal and banana and Cheerios kind of day.
Ok, I was going to post this before I crawled back into bed at 5am, but didn't do it. Doing it now.
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tastes like chicken
I haven't posted since July 30th 2008. Whoa.
What's happened since then? Let me see.
August: uhm... hmph. It's like a blur. September: we had our 10th Wedding Anniversary. My parents had their ... 41st? 42nd? Let's see... I'm 40, it took Mom a year to talk Dad into having me... probably 42nd.
October: Logan had his first Halloween. :) Dressed him up as Yoda. Pics are up on Flickr, but more pics need to be uploaded due to not everything getting offloaded from our digital camera. 'Course, he didn't like wearing the ears, and his head was too big for the ears to be snapped up underneath his chin, so he was sorta Obi-Wan Kenobi for the rest of the night. :)
I let him play with my lightsaber. Yes, I'm 40, and I own a lightsaber. *Brrrrssshhhhnnnnnnng* Want to make something of it?
I bought it from ThinkGeek a few years ago. Makes all kinds of cool sound effects. It's red. Of course. :)
Logan liked it. Kept touching the part that, if it were real, would have sliced his hands off, but I'll teach him the importance of only touching the hilt when he's old enough. :)
Yes, yes, I'm such a geek.
Ended up with ALOT of Halloween candy left over. Not too many trick-o-treaters this year. Bummer. I think the trend of going to "safe shopping malls" where stores are handing out candy is affecting our foot traffic. :P
Ok, that and I didn't decorate until the very last minute. I've heard that if you want foot traffic, you want to decorate at least a week in advance. Apparently the kids scope out the houses prior to the event to ensure they hit the high-candy spots.
Early November we went to our niece's son's 1st birthday party. I think their son had a good time. Our son took over one of the blankets laid on the grass and started playing with their son's toy humvee, LOL! But their son didn't seem to mind.
Logan is all about things that roll. Especially things with wheels. My Mom keeps saying I gave birth to a linebacker because of how quickly he's grown, but now I'm wondering if he's not going to be a race car driver!
And he's almost walking. He will hold onto things and kindof totter around. And he will let go and stand and maintain his balance for a few seconds before DOWN HE GOES! :)
Well, his first birthday is coming up. December 5th. Then his 2nd Christmas. Alot to do before both events.
He's eating more "real food". It just needs to be chopped up into tiny bits as he doesn't have any molars yet. Just 8 incisors. No eye-teeth. He likes cheerios, cut-up strawberries, cut-up cantaloup, and chopped+skinned grapes. I tried just chopping the grapes, but he ended up with grape skins in his mouth that he couldn't quite swallow, and that I had to fish out.
He's also had spaghetti with ground beef and Ragu. Finely chopped up, of course. And I tried to mash some peas for him, but he's still not doing so good on any vegetables that are of the green variety.
Ellie, our female, hasn't been feeling well. But her numerous expensive tests haven't shown that there is anything wrong with her. Am thinking she must be getting into stuff. So am trying to be more careful... ensure she can't eat anything in the fireplace (sometimes we burn pizza cartons in there), and making sure there aren't any candy wrappers for chocolate candies anywhere she can get them. I think that her extra-curricular eating has made her stomach a little fragile. Kindof like after you have a stomach illness, it's easier to upset your stomach by accident for a while.
Logan... who won't eat any green vegetables... surprised us the other day when he went to Ellie's dog dish and ate some of the dog food Ellie had left in there from this morning! I truly didn't think he would do that. I truly thought he was just going over there to push her dog dish around, as he likes to do that. [And thankfully our dogs aren't food aggressive, so he hasn't started any fights by doing that. Heh... watching the dogs trying to eat from a moving bowl has been quite entertaining at times!] But anyway, yes, Logan put dog food in his mouth. And was working on gumming it and swallowing it, but I raced over and started fishing that out of his mouth. And then I started worrying that whatever was upsetting Ellie's stomach was now going to start attacking Logan's tummy! This is of course assuming Ellie might have been fighting something viral or bacterial off.
However, if she was fighting something off, it apparently isn't contagious to humans. Either that or Logan has a cast iron stomach. ;)
Ok, can't think of anything else. I know I'm forgetting something, but that is the highlights, as far as I can remember it. Consider yourself up to date... that is, until I remember what I forgot to post. :)
What's happened since then? Let me see.
August: uhm... hmph. It's like a blur. September: we had our 10th Wedding Anniversary. My parents had their ... 41st? 42nd? Let's see... I'm 40, it took Mom a year to talk Dad into having me... probably 42nd.
October: Logan had his first Halloween. :) Dressed him up as Yoda. Pics are up on Flickr, but more pics need to be uploaded due to not everything getting offloaded from our digital camera. 'Course, he didn't like wearing the ears, and his head was too big for the ears to be snapped up underneath his chin, so he was sorta Obi-Wan Kenobi for the rest of the night. :)
I let him play with my lightsaber. Yes, I'm 40, and I own a lightsaber. *Brrrrssshhhhnnnnnnng* Want to make something of it?
I bought it from ThinkGeek a few years ago. Makes all kinds of cool sound effects. It's red. Of course. :)
Logan liked it. Kept touching the part that, if it were real, would have sliced his hands off, but I'll teach him the importance of only touching the hilt when he's old enough. :)
Yes, yes, I'm such a geek.
Ended up with ALOT of Halloween candy left over. Not too many trick-o-treaters this year. Bummer. I think the trend of going to "safe shopping malls" where stores are handing out candy is affecting our foot traffic. :P
Ok, that and I didn't decorate until the very last minute. I've heard that if you want foot traffic, you want to decorate at least a week in advance. Apparently the kids scope out the houses prior to the event to ensure they hit the high-candy spots.
Early November we went to our niece's son's 1st birthday party. I think their son had a good time. Our son took over one of the blankets laid on the grass and started playing with their son's toy humvee, LOL! But their son didn't seem to mind.
Logan is all about things that roll. Especially things with wheels. My Mom keeps saying I gave birth to a linebacker because of how quickly he's grown, but now I'm wondering if he's not going to be a race car driver!
And he's almost walking. He will hold onto things and kindof totter around. And he will let go and stand and maintain his balance for a few seconds before DOWN HE GOES! :)
Well, his first birthday is coming up. December 5th. Then his 2nd Christmas. Alot to do before both events.
He's eating more "real food". It just needs to be chopped up into tiny bits as he doesn't have any molars yet. Just 8 incisors. No eye-teeth. He likes cheerios, cut-up strawberries, cut-up cantaloup, and chopped+skinned grapes. I tried just chopping the grapes, but he ended up with grape skins in his mouth that he couldn't quite swallow, and that I had to fish out.
He's also had spaghetti with ground beef and Ragu. Finely chopped up, of course. And I tried to mash some peas for him, but he's still not doing so good on any vegetables that are of the green variety.
Ellie, our female, hasn't been feeling well. But her numerous expensive tests haven't shown that there is anything wrong with her. Am thinking she must be getting into stuff. So am trying to be more careful... ensure she can't eat anything in the fireplace (sometimes we burn pizza cartons in there), and making sure there aren't any candy wrappers for chocolate candies anywhere she can get them. I think that her extra-curricular eating has made her stomach a little fragile. Kindof like after you have a stomach illness, it's easier to upset your stomach by accident for a while.
Logan... who won't eat any green vegetables... surprised us the other day when he went to Ellie's dog dish and ate some of the dog food Ellie had left in there from this morning! I truly didn't think he would do that. I truly thought he was just going over there to push her dog dish around, as he likes to do that. [And thankfully our dogs aren't food aggressive, so he hasn't started any fights by doing that. Heh... watching the dogs trying to eat from a moving bowl has been quite entertaining at times!] But anyway, yes, Logan put dog food in his mouth. And was working on gumming it and swallowing it, but I raced over and started fishing that out of his mouth. And then I started worrying that whatever was upsetting Ellie's stomach was now going to start attacking Logan's tummy! This is of course assuming Ellie might have been fighting something viral or bacterial off.
However, if she was fighting something off, it apparently isn't contagious to humans. Either that or Logan has a cast iron stomach. ;)
Ok, can't think of anything else. I know I'm forgetting something, but that is the highlights, as far as I can remember it. Consider yourself up to date... that is, until I remember what I forgot to post. :)
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Oh, dear Lord, what is that disgusting stench?!?!?
... and other stories.
Not something I get to say often, even with changing diapers. But I got to comment about and smell a horrific stench Sunday evening AND Tuesday morning. I'm just special that way. ;)
So, we had a mouse in the kitchen cabinets. I was pretty sure it may have moved to other locations in the house... honestly, it may have, and the mouse I found Sunday may have been mouse #2. Whatever.
There was this strange smell coming from the kitchen for the past few days. I checked and changed the garbage fairly often. I ran the garbage disposal. Nope, not coming from there. I finally went ahead and looked in the lower kitchen cabinets on Sunday evening. I about fell on my butt, the smell was so bad.
Our electronic mouse trap definitely had something. I couldn't verify for sure until I opened the lid, but that horrific smell was definitely coming from it. The trap is supposed to show a little green light for 24 hours after it has killed something. Unfortunately, I must have missed the 24 hour window. By a few days.
I dumped Mr. Very Dead Mickey Mouse out into a trash bag. It was covered in maggots, and some of it's fur remained in the trap. I'll spare you a graphic picture... I didn't have the fortitude or disgusting forethought to capture a picture of Mickey, unlike the other 2 times I decided to gross out my audience with a picture of a still-alive-but-trapped Minny Mouse, or the picture of my puke on the lawn after a sudden bout of food poisoning.
After talking to my Father-in-Law, he told me it was highly likely the trap wouldn't work again, just on the basis that the smell of death would probably cling to it for a long while. I didn't have the courage to pull out the leftover mouse fur or even try to clean the electronic trap, so $20.00 of mouse-killing plastic hardware and wire went into a different trash bag.
So, that was Sunday evening.
Our female German Shepherd, Ellie, has been getting into the one trash can we have that sits at floor level. Well, we have a 2nd trash can that sits at floor level, but it's very tall, and the dogs haven't figured out yet that it's possible for them to tip it over. Thank the Lord!
Ditto for the fact that they haven't figured out they could probably jump the backyard fence if they wanted to, LOL!
Our male German Shepherd Boss has long been getting into any floor-level trash he can find, even if it was partially burned up in the fireplace. Boss has also been getting really sneaky and taking food off the kitchen counter-tops, or off of my tray next to the recliner. It's been getting worse, and Ellie has decided to follow suite. I guess I can't blame either one of them: they barely get any attention anymore with our baby boy Logan being around. They desperately need to be walked, and their nails are in bad need of filing down. :P They could also really use a bath. Oh, crap... and I'm about a week or so late on their Frontline and Sentinel!!! [Memo to self: medicate the dogs!!!!]
Boss eats poop he finds in the backyard. Thankfully he mostly finds his own or Ellie's poop. Hopefully he doesn't often find other critter's poop... that could give him worms. But anyway, he's used to eating the strangest stuff. His stomach can handle the most amazing things now.
In the little trash can next to the recliner there are often several Reesus Peanut Butter Cups wrappers. Boss eats these w/o any problems. Ellie, however, has been giving herself the runs from getting into them.
Well, Monday night she got into them again. It was a bad night for her to pull that stunt. My husband was getting up at 4:30am Tuesday morning in order to catch a flight. Logan needed comforting at 2am in order to fall back to sleep after a nightmare or some other problem. The he needed to be held and allowed to fall asleep on me while I sat in the recliner with him at 3am. I tried to let my husband sleep through both events considering he was going to have to get up so early.
After I put Logan back in his crib, I let the dogs out for what I hoped was the last time that night/early morning. I was so wrong.
My husband left at 5:30am for the airport. I passed into a deep sleep finally.
At 7:30am, the dogs desperately wanted out. They bugged me quite a bit. I finally relented and got up. But I wasn't prompt enough.
Ellie had left a huge amount of diarrhea on the living room carpet.
It didn't smell too bad just yet. Maybe my nose wasn't awake. I let the dogs out, and put their water outside, and kept them out there. I didn't want them walking through that mess, nor did I want Ellie making any new messes if she wasn't done having the runs.
I took a trash bag and used it to initially scrape up the poop. This disturbed the stench hovering above and in the poop. I about gagged and almost puked then and there.
About 40 minutes and several applications of Petastic and paper towels later, I gave up, poured a bunch of Petastic onto the poo stain directly from the refill jug, and took all the soiled paper towels out to the garage. There they joined Mickey Mouse in the trash can. I gave up cleaning the poo stain as Logan was crying. Ah, time to go from dealing with canine elimination to baby elimination. At least Logan wore a diaper and was unlikely to get poop on the carpet.
Around 8:30am, I gave the Little Guy a bottle and had him come back to bed with me. I was DEAD TIRED, and ended up passing out. I didn't wake up until Logan wanted another bottle after 11am.
The poor dogs watched me wandering around inside and begged to be let in. But I felt like I needed a break from any further doggy digestion problems that morning, plus I hadn't fully finished cleaning up Mr. Poo stain.
I was standing at the kitchen counter, making a bottle for Logan, while he sat in his rocking chair watching Baby TV. It was a little after 11:40am. I was SO late for work, SO dead tired, and had missed a morning doctor's appointment. I looked to my right, and saw some hanging items in the kitchen swinging back and forth. Huh? Looked to my left, and Logan's jumper was also swinging. Looked straight ahead into the dining room, and saw the chandelier also swaying back and forth. Hmmm... I could see we'd had an earthquake, but I had actually not felt it. Very bizarre. Guess my Spidey Earthquake Sense was no longer functioning.
I was 10 miles from the epicenter of a 6.2 earthquake in 1984. Ever since then, I was always hyper sensitive to the ground swaying. It was weird to see an earthquake happen, and not even feel it. I mean, I felt a San Francisco quake that happened in October 1989 and caused freeways to collapse... and I felt it from about 300 miles away, while sitting in the computer lab in college. Everyone there thought I was hallucinating when I asked them if they'd felt it.
Tuesday's quake was a 5.4 (downgraded from a 5.8) earthquake in Los Angeles... which is a ways away from us.
My Mom called to make sure I was ok. She lives in the same city as we do. I was highly amused, as being over 100 miles away from the epicenter of a 5.4 isn't usually cause for alarm! But she'd been lying down when it hit, and had totally felt it. I teased her before hanging up, saying that I was trapped under something heavy, but otherwise I was doing fine. :) "Very funny," Mom replied.
The next person to call was my husband. I don't think he was so much concerned as curious, as if it had been serious enough I'd have given him a call. [Unless I was still trapped under that aforementioned heavy object.]
Finally got Logan off to daycare and my butt into work. Worked really late. Got out... my right rear tire was flat. :P
And my husband was out of town...
But wait! I had the cool tire inflater that I'd purchased after talking to my Father-in-Law about it a while back. It's powered from the cigarette lighter. Worked like a charm.
Then headed off in search of "Fix a Flat", a can of compressed air and stuff that's supposed to seal flat tires. I just wanted to have it on hand. Then picked up Logan from my Father-in-Law's, and headed home to enjoy finishing cleaning up the poop stain.
And to enjoy dealing with a plague of flies in the house! We've been having some extra fly problems of late, but this was ridiculous! Ended up setting some bait out for them such that they would be sitting in a cup and I'd have a good chance of using the battery powered fly zapper on them.
And that's been my weird Tuesday. Well, weird few days.
I never thought I'd find something that smelled worse than skunk, but the dead mouse, and Ellie's diarrhea, were really just phenomenally foul.
Wednesday I get to call the tire place to get my tires checked. This is the 2nd time the rear right one has gone flat. Before the tire shop thought I might have a leaky valve stem. My Father-in-Law thinks I may have cracks in my tires that are more easily influenced to open up when my car is parked in just the right, or in this case wrong, position. His explanation makes the best sense at this point.
Well, I'm typing while sleep deprived. It's time to put he laptop away and try to get some much-needed zzzzzz's.
To quote one of my favorite Baby TV programs, "Shushy-Bye and Goodnight". :)
Not something I get to say often, even with changing diapers. But I got to comment about and smell a horrific stench Sunday evening AND Tuesday morning. I'm just special that way. ;)
So, we had a mouse in the kitchen cabinets. I was pretty sure it may have moved to other locations in the house... honestly, it may have, and the mouse I found Sunday may have been mouse #2. Whatever.
There was this strange smell coming from the kitchen for the past few days. I checked and changed the garbage fairly often. I ran the garbage disposal. Nope, not coming from there. I finally went ahead and looked in the lower kitchen cabinets on Sunday evening. I about fell on my butt, the smell was so bad.
Our electronic mouse trap definitely had something. I couldn't verify for sure until I opened the lid, but that horrific smell was definitely coming from it. The trap is supposed to show a little green light for 24 hours after it has killed something. Unfortunately, I must have missed the 24 hour window. By a few days.
I dumped Mr. Very Dead Mickey Mouse out into a trash bag. It was covered in maggots, and some of it's fur remained in the trap. I'll spare you a graphic picture... I didn't have the fortitude or disgusting forethought to capture a picture of Mickey, unlike the other 2 times I decided to gross out my audience with a picture of a still-alive-but-trapped Minny Mouse, or the picture of my puke on the lawn after a sudden bout of food poisoning.
After talking to my Father-in-Law, he told me it was highly likely the trap wouldn't work again, just on the basis that the smell of death would probably cling to it for a long while. I didn't have the courage to pull out the leftover mouse fur or even try to clean the electronic trap, so $20.00 of mouse-killing plastic hardware and wire went into a different trash bag.
So, that was Sunday evening.
Our female German Shepherd, Ellie, has been getting into the one trash can we have that sits at floor level. Well, we have a 2nd trash can that sits at floor level, but it's very tall, and the dogs haven't figured out yet that it's possible for them to tip it over. Thank the Lord!
Ditto for the fact that they haven't figured out they could probably jump the backyard fence if they wanted to, LOL!
Our male German Shepherd Boss has long been getting into any floor-level trash he can find, even if it was partially burned up in the fireplace. Boss has also been getting really sneaky and taking food off the kitchen counter-tops, or off of my tray next to the recliner. It's been getting worse, and Ellie has decided to follow suite. I guess I can't blame either one of them: they barely get any attention anymore with our baby boy Logan being around. They desperately need to be walked, and their nails are in bad need of filing down. :P They could also really use a bath. Oh, crap... and I'm about a week or so late on their Frontline and Sentinel!!! [Memo to self: medicate the dogs!!!!]
Boss eats poop he finds in the backyard. Thankfully he mostly finds his own or Ellie's poop. Hopefully he doesn't often find other critter's poop... that could give him worms. But anyway, he's used to eating the strangest stuff. His stomach can handle the most amazing things now.
In the little trash can next to the recliner there are often several Reesus Peanut Butter Cups wrappers. Boss eats these w/o any problems. Ellie, however, has been giving herself the runs from getting into them.
Well, Monday night she got into them again. It was a bad night for her to pull that stunt. My husband was getting up at 4:30am Tuesday morning in order to catch a flight. Logan needed comforting at 2am in order to fall back to sleep after a nightmare or some other problem. The he needed to be held and allowed to fall asleep on me while I sat in the recliner with him at 3am. I tried to let my husband sleep through both events considering he was going to have to get up so early.
After I put Logan back in his crib, I let the dogs out for what I hoped was the last time that night/early morning. I was so wrong.
My husband left at 5:30am for the airport. I passed into a deep sleep finally.
At 7:30am, the dogs desperately wanted out. They bugged me quite a bit. I finally relented and got up. But I wasn't prompt enough.
Ellie had left a huge amount of diarrhea on the living room carpet.
It didn't smell too bad just yet. Maybe my nose wasn't awake. I let the dogs out, and put their water outside, and kept them out there. I didn't want them walking through that mess, nor did I want Ellie making any new messes if she wasn't done having the runs.
I took a trash bag and used it to initially scrape up the poop. This disturbed the stench hovering above and in the poop. I about gagged and almost puked then and there.
About 40 minutes and several applications of Petastic and paper towels later, I gave up, poured a bunch of Petastic onto the poo stain directly from the refill jug, and took all the soiled paper towels out to the garage. There they joined Mickey Mouse in the trash can. I gave up cleaning the poo stain as Logan was crying. Ah, time to go from dealing with canine elimination to baby elimination. At least Logan wore a diaper and was unlikely to get poop on the carpet.
Around 8:30am, I gave the Little Guy a bottle and had him come back to bed with me. I was DEAD TIRED, and ended up passing out. I didn't wake up until Logan wanted another bottle after 11am.
The poor dogs watched me wandering around inside and begged to be let in. But I felt like I needed a break from any further doggy digestion problems that morning, plus I hadn't fully finished cleaning up Mr. Poo stain.
I was standing at the kitchen counter, making a bottle for Logan, while he sat in his rocking chair watching Baby TV. It was a little after 11:40am. I was SO late for work, SO dead tired, and had missed a morning doctor's appointment. I looked to my right, and saw some hanging items in the kitchen swinging back and forth. Huh? Looked to my left, and Logan's jumper was also swinging. Looked straight ahead into the dining room, and saw the chandelier also swaying back and forth. Hmmm... I could see we'd had an earthquake, but I had actually not felt it. Very bizarre. Guess my Spidey Earthquake Sense was no longer functioning.
I was 10 miles from the epicenter of a 6.2 earthquake in 1984. Ever since then, I was always hyper sensitive to the ground swaying. It was weird to see an earthquake happen, and not even feel it. I mean, I felt a San Francisco quake that happened in October 1989 and caused freeways to collapse... and I felt it from about 300 miles away, while sitting in the computer lab in college. Everyone there thought I was hallucinating when I asked them if they'd felt it.
Tuesday's quake was a 5.4 (downgraded from a 5.8) earthquake in Los Angeles... which is a ways away from us.
My Mom called to make sure I was ok. She lives in the same city as we do. I was highly amused, as being over 100 miles away from the epicenter of a 5.4 isn't usually cause for alarm! But she'd been lying down when it hit, and had totally felt it. I teased her before hanging up, saying that I was trapped under something heavy, but otherwise I was doing fine. :) "Very funny," Mom replied.
The next person to call was my husband. I don't think he was so much concerned as curious, as if it had been serious enough I'd have given him a call. [Unless I was still trapped under that aforementioned heavy object.]
Finally got Logan off to daycare and my butt into work. Worked really late. Got out... my right rear tire was flat. :P
And my husband was out of town...
But wait! I had the cool tire inflater that I'd purchased after talking to my Father-in-Law about it a while back. It's powered from the cigarette lighter. Worked like a charm.
Then headed off in search of "Fix a Flat", a can of compressed air and stuff that's supposed to seal flat tires. I just wanted to have it on hand. Then picked up Logan from my Father-in-Law's, and headed home to enjoy finishing cleaning up the poop stain.
And to enjoy dealing with a plague of flies in the house! We've been having some extra fly problems of late, but this was ridiculous! Ended up setting some bait out for them such that they would be sitting in a cup and I'd have a good chance of using the battery powered fly zapper on them.
And that's been my weird Tuesday. Well, weird few days.
I never thought I'd find something that smelled worse than skunk, but the dead mouse, and Ellie's diarrhea, were really just phenomenally foul.
Wednesday I get to call the tire place to get my tires checked. This is the 2nd time the rear right one has gone flat. Before the tire shop thought I might have a leaky valve stem. My Father-in-Law thinks I may have cracks in my tires that are more easily influenced to open up when my car is parked in just the right, or in this case wrong, position. His explanation makes the best sense at this point.
Well, I'm typing while sleep deprived. It's time to put he laptop away and try to get some much-needed zzzzzz's.
To quote one of my favorite Baby TV programs, "Shushy-Bye and Goodnight". :)
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Bad parents, no donut
We're sitting here watching Law and Order. It's nearly 2pm. Logan (our baby boy) is asleep on our bed in our nice, dark, cool bedroom, after having been fed a bottle.
The dogs are VERY attentive to us.
Me: "They must be hungry."
Husband: "Oh, we haven't fed them."
Me: "No... we only feed things that scream and cry."
The dogs are VERY attentive to us.
Me: "They must be hungry."
Husband: "Oh, we haven't fed them."
Me: "No... we only feed things that scream and cry."
Sunday, June 29, 2008
4 a.m.
I woke up at 4am having to pee.
Husband was asleep. Boss and Ellie, our German Shepherds, were snoozing away.
Logan, our nearly 7-month old, was sleeping on our bed. At 2am, we'd given up and brought him to bed with us, in his co-sleeper. It was just easier than getting up to comfort him every hour. And yeah, we have to break him of that... he's got to sleep in his own room through the night. But I can totally understand his not wanting to sleep alone.
I have a bad habit of skin-picking when I'm stressed. I target bumps, bug bites, scars, pimples, scabs, edges of wounds left over after picking out a scab, etc. If I find something to pick in one area, I sometimes branch out in that area, continuing to pick.
Yeah, this is NOT a good thing to be doing to myself. :P I know. It's a form of self-injury, and is something that people sometimes fall into using as a bad coping strategy. It's sometimes triggered by my OCD.
So, the last bug bite or pimple or whatever was in my scalp, near my forehead. Been stressing in general... new project at work in new programming language, taking care of baby at night, sleep deprivation... wee. And I sometimes pick at night while lying awake, trying to fall asleep, and that was the case this night.
Anyway, 4am, and I got up to pee. I walk into the bathroom, turn on the light. There's a few small scabs that I'd peeled out of my hair, that's stuck to my bangs. I sigh. There's another peeled-off scab on the top of my head towards the back. Wow, they moved around after I picked them off.
I do my business, go to wash my hands. As I'm soaping up my hands, I look up at myself in the mirror.
The scab on my hair towards the back of my head...
... has 8 legs and is moving!!!
Husband was asleep. Boss and Ellie, our German Shepherds, were snoozing away.
Logan, our nearly 7-month old, was sleeping on our bed. At 2am, we'd given up and brought him to bed with us, in his co-sleeper. It was just easier than getting up to comfort him every hour. And yeah, we have to break him of that... he's got to sleep in his own room through the night. But I can totally understand his not wanting to sleep alone.
I have a bad habit of skin-picking when I'm stressed. I target bumps, bug bites, scars, pimples, scabs, edges of wounds left over after picking out a scab, etc. If I find something to pick in one area, I sometimes branch out in that area, continuing to pick.
Yeah, this is NOT a good thing to be doing to myself. :P I know. It's a form of self-injury, and is something that people sometimes fall into using as a bad coping strategy. It's sometimes triggered by my OCD.
So, the last bug bite or pimple or whatever was in my scalp, near my forehead. Been stressing in general... new project at work in new programming language, taking care of baby at night, sleep deprivation... wee. And I sometimes pick at night while lying awake, trying to fall asleep, and that was the case this night.
Anyway, 4am, and I got up to pee. I walk into the bathroom, turn on the light. There's a few small scabs that I'd peeled out of my hair, that's stuck to my bangs. I sigh. There's another peeled-off scab on the top of my head towards the back. Wow, they moved around after I picked them off.
I do my business, go to wash my hands. As I'm soaping up my hands, I look up at myself in the mirror.
The scab on my hair towards the back of my head...
... has 8 legs and is moving!!!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Where do I start?
So, my parents have been having problems getting online. Last time they had problems reading their email, it was because they neglected to double-click on the email subject. I don't know if the reason they weren't double-clicking was because the web interface had changed and they originally didn't have to double-click, or if they simply forgot how the web email interface worked.
Anyway, I was pretty sure that this situation would be similar. I was thinking that in the long term, I should simply come over and install Eudora, a very good email client that I used to use "back in the day".
My Mom cut me some slack and said she would call Verizon herself, and talk to their technical support. I was very encouraged by her proactive attitude, and hoped it would all go well.
Well, she called the tech support, and talked to a very sweet gal. But there was a disconnect somewhere in the conversation. And about an hour later, while I was at work and about to head out to go grocery shopping, I get a phone call.
Mom: "Well, I talked to the gal at Verizon. And now I can't get the modem plugged back in."
Me: "Huh? What do you mean you can't get it plugged back in?"
Mom: "I just can't get it plugged back in."
After explaining I couldn't come over, being told that was ok, but then hearing of some more difficulties they were having, I groaned and said I was coming right over.
I drove like a bat out of hell to get there. I was hoping I'd lose a minimal amount of time plugging the DSL modem back in, and spend most of the time showing Mom how to reset it in the event it went out to lunch again. I assumed that's why the tech. had them unplug the DSL modem's power... to ensure it got a good reset.
I needed to finish helping my parents out quickly so I'd have enough time to go grocery shopping w/o wearing out our babysitter, aka my Father-in-Law.
It's been intensely and unseasonably hot for a few days. The baby has been sleeping with us in the "co-sleeper" bed, in the middle of our bed. He's too long for the co-sleeper, so I literally took scissors and cut off the end!
Logan's been sleeping with us because the master bedroom is the only one that has air conditioning. It got air conditioning in late May one weekend... about a week after a heat-wave.
During the recent heat wave, it never really cooled off at night. Well, our house didn't, anyway! The heat wave was breaking, but I was really wiped out and in a BAD mood.
I got to my parent's place after cursing out several very slow drivers. Knocked impatiently. Marched into the living room, went straight for the computer. Looked at the DSL modem, which was happily plugged in. Reached to my left towards the computer, and noticed...
...that the mouse was unplugged.
Me: "You unplugged the mouse."
Mom: "Yes..."
Me: "Why did you unplug the mouse?"
Mom: "Well, she told me to do that."
Me: "No, she told you to unplug the modem."
Mom: "Oh. I thought she said the mouse."
In all fairness, in the middle of the conversation with the tech, their portable phone died, and they had to call the tech back later to finish trying to fix their internet connection. So, that could have greatly contributed to their confusion about which device to unplug!
That and their hearing may not be all that great. My Mom is 79, and my Dad is 85! And the fact that they can get online and even check and/or type email, considering how recent that technology is and considering how they certainly didn't start out as computer geeks, is something I have to really give them credit for.
I've noticed that the older you are, the harder it is to go through a paradigm shift, especially if you aren't used to adopting new technologies in general. So in order to survive, you basically have to always be learning something new, if only to keep your brain limber enough to handle the next paradigm shift. And of course you have to watch to see what that paradigm shift is going to be, so you don't get left behind. My parents do keep learning, but high-tech stuff is still difficult for them. It would help if they actually were interested in computers... it's really hard to learn something that you aren't interested in. I know from experience, from starting in the wrong Engineering major before I got a clue and went after Computer Science.
So, back to our story:
There I am, finding out that the device that was unplugged was the mouse and not the DSL modem.
I groan, and reach around to plug the mouse back in.
I can't get it to fit.
It's a PS2 connector. It can only go in one way. It's fairly idiot proof.
I carefully try to push it in the way it should go. It won't budge.
I pull it out and look at it.
The pins are bent.
Me: "The pins are bent."
Mom: "What?"
Me: "What did you do to this mouse cable's connector?"
Mom: "Well, we were having problems trying to get it back on. We tried to turn it."
Me, looking horrified, and turning back to the computer: "Oh, I'm sorry."
Mom: "It's ok, dear."
Me: "I was talking to the computer!" Literally, I was. Hey, I'm a computer geek.
I studied the connector. It might be salvageable. I asked Dad for some pliers, and was unfortunately kinda snotty with my folks at one point. I was tired, but I had no excuse. You're supposed to honor your parents. Heh... now that I'm a parent, am hoping my son is merciful with me in my old age, LOL!
I pulled out the keyboard connector and held the mouse and keyboard PS2 connectors next to each other, to get a GOOD reminder of the CORRECT position of the pins. And then I spent the next 20 minutes with the pliers, slowly pushing the pins back into place. It took 20 minutes in part because I'd think I had gotten it, would try to push the connector back in, and it still wouldn't fit. So I'd have to do more fine tuning.
Early on in my pin-unbending experience, I noticed my Dad hovering behind me. Unfortunately, more snottiness on my part ensued.
Me: "Hovering doesn't help."
My Dad took the Lord's name in vain and walked away muttering. I immediately regretted my impatient comment, and apologized later.
I should say that, given how hard it is to reach the back of the computer where it is in the living room, coupled with their age and the low light levels in that section of the living room, it's understandable that they, uhm, didn't get along with the PS2 connector.
And also, in their defense, they have NEVER thought the CD-ROM drive was a cup holder!!!
The long and the short of it is that the mouse is working again. And that as far as I could tell, their phone line was fine. So it was either the DSL modem or something wrong with Verizon. Or so I thought. Anyway, my parent's not being able to get online was not a PEBKAC at all. [PEBKAC == problem exists between keyboard and chair, i.e., user-error.]
Verizon sent someone out and the tech (who my parents were very impressed with) figured out that there was just too much hooked up to that one phone line. It was a very long line that was split twice to go to an answering machine and a fax machine. So he went ahead and added a jack in their wall, and now they are happily back online.
Still thinking about installing Eudora on their computer, though. ;) Afraid the web-interface for reading email is just SO busy. Very ad and news heavy, lots of popups and distractions. Makes it harder for non-techy people to get around. [No offense, Verizon.]
Anyway, I had thought I was doing really well with maintaining my patience, considering how I can handle Logan crying now, but I was wrong. Still need to work on my patience with people above the age of 1, LOL.
Oh, and my parents are NOW very much aware of the fact that NOTHING ON THE BACK OF THE COMPUTER REQUIRES TWISTING IN ORDER TO BE PLUGGED IN!!!!
Me: "Even if it acts like you can twist it, just don't!" Don't worry, I was laughing when I said it, and so were they.
Course, after I told them that, and had driven back home, I remembered how you have to unscrew the 2 screws on a serial connector in order to disconnect it. :P
I think I just need to give them a back-of-the-computer training session, LOL! Or hope that no techs tell them to disconnect a serial cable...
Anyway, I was pretty sure that this situation would be similar. I was thinking that in the long term, I should simply come over and install Eudora, a very good email client that I used to use "back in the day".
My Mom cut me some slack and said she would call Verizon herself, and talk to their technical support. I was very encouraged by her proactive attitude, and hoped it would all go well.
Well, she called the tech support, and talked to a very sweet gal. But there was a disconnect somewhere in the conversation. And about an hour later, while I was at work and about to head out to go grocery shopping, I get a phone call.
Mom: "Well, I talked to the gal at Verizon. And now I can't get the modem plugged back in."
Me: "Huh? What do you mean you can't get it plugged back in?"
Mom: "I just can't get it plugged back in."
After explaining I couldn't come over, being told that was ok, but then hearing of some more difficulties they were having, I groaned and said I was coming right over.
I drove like a bat out of hell to get there. I was hoping I'd lose a minimal amount of time plugging the DSL modem back in, and spend most of the time showing Mom how to reset it in the event it went out to lunch again. I assumed that's why the tech. had them unplug the DSL modem's power... to ensure it got a good reset.
I needed to finish helping my parents out quickly so I'd have enough time to go grocery shopping w/o wearing out our babysitter, aka my Father-in-Law.
It's been intensely and unseasonably hot for a few days. The baby has been sleeping with us in the "co-sleeper" bed, in the middle of our bed. He's too long for the co-sleeper, so I literally took scissors and cut off the end!
Logan's been sleeping with us because the master bedroom is the only one that has air conditioning. It got air conditioning in late May one weekend... about a week after a heat-wave.
During the recent heat wave, it never really cooled off at night. Well, our house didn't, anyway! The heat wave was breaking, but I was really wiped out and in a BAD mood.
I got to my parent's place after cursing out several very slow drivers. Knocked impatiently. Marched into the living room, went straight for the computer. Looked at the DSL modem, which was happily plugged in. Reached to my left towards the computer, and noticed...
...that the mouse was unplugged.
Me: "You unplugged the mouse."
Mom: "Yes..."
Me: "Why did you unplug the mouse?"
Mom: "Well, she told me to do that."
Me: "No, she told you to unplug the modem."
Mom: "Oh. I thought she said the mouse."
In all fairness, in the middle of the conversation with the tech, their portable phone died, and they had to call the tech back later to finish trying to fix their internet connection. So, that could have greatly contributed to their confusion about which device to unplug!
That and their hearing may not be all that great. My Mom is 79, and my Dad is 85! And the fact that they can get online and even check and/or type email, considering how recent that technology is and considering how they certainly didn't start out as computer geeks, is something I have to really give them credit for.
I've noticed that the older you are, the harder it is to go through a paradigm shift, especially if you aren't used to adopting new technologies in general. So in order to survive, you basically have to always be learning something new, if only to keep your brain limber enough to handle the next paradigm shift. And of course you have to watch to see what that paradigm shift is going to be, so you don't get left behind. My parents do keep learning, but high-tech stuff is still difficult for them. It would help if they actually were interested in computers... it's really hard to learn something that you aren't interested in. I know from experience, from starting in the wrong Engineering major before I got a clue and went after Computer Science.
So, back to our story:
There I am, finding out that the device that was unplugged was the mouse and not the DSL modem.
I groan, and reach around to plug the mouse back in.
I can't get it to fit.
It's a PS2 connector. It can only go in one way. It's fairly idiot proof.
I carefully try to push it in the way it should go. It won't budge.
I pull it out and look at it.
The pins are bent.
Me: "The pins are bent."
Mom: "What?"
Me: "What did you do to this mouse cable's connector?"
Mom: "Well, we were having problems trying to get it back on. We tried to turn it."
Me, looking horrified, and turning back to the computer: "Oh, I'm sorry."
Mom: "It's ok, dear."
Me: "I was talking to the computer!" Literally, I was. Hey, I'm a computer geek.
I studied the connector. It might be salvageable. I asked Dad for some pliers, and was unfortunately kinda snotty with my folks at one point. I was tired, but I had no excuse. You're supposed to honor your parents. Heh... now that I'm a parent, am hoping my son is merciful with me in my old age, LOL!
I pulled out the keyboard connector and held the mouse and keyboard PS2 connectors next to each other, to get a GOOD reminder of the CORRECT position of the pins. And then I spent the next 20 minutes with the pliers, slowly pushing the pins back into place. It took 20 minutes in part because I'd think I had gotten it, would try to push the connector back in, and it still wouldn't fit. So I'd have to do more fine tuning.
Early on in my pin-unbending experience, I noticed my Dad hovering behind me. Unfortunately, more snottiness on my part ensued.
Me: "Hovering doesn't help."
My Dad took the Lord's name in vain and walked away muttering. I immediately regretted my impatient comment, and apologized later.
I should say that, given how hard it is to reach the back of the computer where it is in the living room, coupled with their age and the low light levels in that section of the living room, it's understandable that they, uhm, didn't get along with the PS2 connector.
And also, in their defense, they have NEVER thought the CD-ROM drive was a cup holder!!!
The long and the short of it is that the mouse is working again. And that as far as I could tell, their phone line was fine. So it was either the DSL modem or something wrong with Verizon. Or so I thought. Anyway, my parent's not being able to get online was not a PEBKAC at all. [PEBKAC == problem exists between keyboard and chair, i.e., user-error.]
Verizon sent someone out and the tech (who my parents were very impressed with) figured out that there was just too much hooked up to that one phone line. It was a very long line that was split twice to go to an answering machine and a fax machine. So he went ahead and added a jack in their wall, and now they are happily back online.
Still thinking about installing Eudora on their computer, though. ;) Afraid the web-interface for reading email is just SO busy. Very ad and news heavy, lots of popups and distractions. Makes it harder for non-techy people to get around. [No offense, Verizon.]
Anyway, I had thought I was doing really well with maintaining my patience, considering how I can handle Logan crying now, but I was wrong. Still need to work on my patience with people above the age of 1, LOL.
Oh, and my parents are NOW very much aware of the fact that NOTHING ON THE BACK OF THE COMPUTER REQUIRES TWISTING IN ORDER TO BE PLUGGED IN!!!!
Me: "Even if it acts like you can twist it, just don't!" Don't worry, I was laughing when I said it, and so were they.
Course, after I told them that, and had driven back home, I remembered how you have to unscrew the 2 screws on a serial connector in order to disconnect it. :P
I think I just need to give them a back-of-the-computer training session, LOL! Or hope that no techs tell them to disconnect a serial cable...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Baby crawling still needs work
My husband and I were watching our son try to crawl on our bed. Forward crawling is no-where near sight, but there's a bit of reverse going on, but it feels partially unintentional. The concept of being up on his knees at the same time he's up on his hands is lost to him still. He covers a much larger distance when he rolls, although he also sometimes gets an arm stuck under him when doing this.
We watched him for a bit, encouraging him, laughing with him and playing with him. And it suddenly hit me:
Me: "He crawls like a defective hermit crab."
We watched him for a bit, encouraging him, laughing with him and playing with him. And it suddenly hit me:
Me: "He crawls like a defective hermit crab."
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Tasty knees
I was on the floor with Logan. He rolled over to me and started sucking on my knee. [He's teething.]
Me: "Logan, there's no breast milk in my knee."
He started acting like my knee didn't taste very good.
Me, grinning: "I'm sorry I didn't do anything to enhance the flavor of my knee for you, Logan..."
Husband: "Damn you..."
Me: "Logan, there's no breast milk in my knee."
He started acting like my knee didn't taste very good.
Me, grinning: "I'm sorry I didn't do anything to enhance the flavor of my knee for you, Logan..."
Husband: "Damn you..."
Friday, June 20, 2008
Milestones and Millstones
I started writing this ages and ages ago, and never finished. Kinda silly, but am posting it now.
Oh, and the skin cancer was removed. The scarring was minimal. And Logan is starting to almost crawl backwards. Forwards is still a challenge. And rolling is getting better, but his arms get stuck under him sometimes and keep him from being able to roll where he wants to, LOL! And he isn't sitting up yet, but is better at holding himself up a little with his arms. And we started solid food when he turned 6 months on June 5th. And I turned 40 on June 10th, but was sick with an intestinal virus. And then hubby got the virus for Father's Day. Weeeee.
And the sleep deprivation feels like it's killing me. But have started taking melatonin, since I'm no longer breast feeding, since (1) made it to the 6 month mark, (2) before the doc knew it might be viral, he thought it was an infection and put me on Cipro... no breast feeding while on that, (3) I was having issues, anyway, as my left boob had dried up due to an idiotic lack of using it that made it start to produce less that made Logan start to want it less that made it start to produce even less that... yeah. So gave up.
Anyway, here's the long update that never got posted. It's from April I think. :)
Oh, and the friend who was out of work is now working at my company. And we got our own Playstation 3 after he took his back, LOL!
Houston, we have roll
He's done it! Logan just turned 4 months on April 5th, and he's rolled over!
We need to get pictures... a sortof time lapse thing. Wait, our camera can take video... so it should be video. Definitely video. :)
Once he got onto his stomach, he managed to pull himself a little, but then got to the point where he didn't know what else to do now that he was there. And he didn't know how to get back to his comfort zone, i.e., lying on his back. So the crying started. So I rolled him back over. :)
He's done it twice today so far. I think I'd better bold the changing pad to the desk in his room, and start RELIGIOUSLY using the changing pad's strap!
Ack! Phbbbbbbbt!
Logan wasn't done with rolling... now we have raspberries! With tongue! So far, he hasn't sprayed anyone in the face. As fas as I know.
That accomplishment was April 6th's highlight. :)
Carpet Cleaning
So there's this new Woolite carpet cleaning thing, called a Rug Stick. You scrub the rug with it, taking care of high traffic areas.
Our entire carpet is one big high traffic area. The German Shepherds track in more dust and dirt than I would have thought possible. And man, do they shed! Husband bought a special vacuum in order to try to reign in the flying fur. He has to empty it for every room he vacuums. And he's vacuuming fairly regularly.
When we first looked at our house, we were told the owner had put in brand new white carpeting. We had been living in an apartment that didn't allow dogs, and knew that the moment we had a yard, we were getting a German Shepherd.
We'd looked at the beautiful carpet, at each other, and started snickering. It was NOT going to stay white for long! He should have just left the old carpeting.
And sure enough, it's more of a beige to tan now... at least we don't get upset at spills, or Logan spitting up.
But now, with Logan, we realize it REALLY needs to be a bit cleaner. Especially now that he's getting closer to crawling.
Crap... we need to get everything dangerous out of range of the Little Guy now. Well, at least he won't chew up and destroy the remote controls the way Boss dog did when he first joined our "pack". :)
Skin Cancer
So, I have this teeny black dot on my forehead. If you look more closely, you'll see that it's actually the black thread of stitches. It's from having a tiny sore on my forehead biopsed. The sore was one of those suspicious sores that refused to heal.
And yeah, it's skin cancer. It's malignant. But it's not something that's moving really fast. I've had it for probably about 2 years. Should have dealt with it earlier, but wasn't up to dealing with it during the pregnancy.
On April 23rd, I go back in to have it removed. If it's significantly large, maybe I'll get a tattoo over the scar... maybe a bulls-eye, LOL. :)
First Day Back
So, I'm back at work. The sleep deprivation and trying to get ready in the morning, trying to clean bottles every night in spite of Logan's fussing... well, sometimes I'm down to 4 hours of sleep at night.
Typing this while Logan is ironically totally asleep in his playpen. Am tempted to leave him there, since he's sleeping so well. Just worried that if I do that, w/o having the SID's monitor under him, that something will happen.
Of course, it's not like, while I'm sitting here typing this or watching TV or whatever, that I'm going to be able to watch him every second to ensure he's still breathing.
They just shouldn't tell new Mom's about SID's. They should just tell them to keep their babies sleeping on their backs because otherwise their noses will grow funny or something.
Oh my God, Ponies!
Well, our friend D came by and TOOK HIS PLAYSTATION 3 BACK. We have a widescreen TV, and so D had brought his PS3 here in... October? And was enjoying playing Warhawk 3 here. It looked so much prettier on our large flat-panel TV vs. his old TV at home that he just left the PS3 here and would come over to play.
He was laid off a few months ago, and he recently became gainfully employed again. He'd saved up enough, and purchased his own huge flat-panel widescreen TV. So his PS3 and his copy of Warhawk went bye-bye. Sigh.
We lasted about 3 or 4 days, and then Hubby went and picked up a new PS3, Ratchet and Clank, and downloaded Warhawk. :) Ironically, I bugged him about doing it... I don't play Warhawk at all, but I LOVE watching him play the game.
And so does Logan. :)
We also noticed that Logan likes Ratchet and Clank as well, but I think he's more fond of Warhawk, as he's more used to watching that game!
Parenting
Which brings us to a sad confession: because Logan enjoys watching PS3 games so much, we call it "parenting" whenever Hubby starts playing. ;)
Almost on a Schedule
Father-in-Law's been babysitting while I'm taking a break from motherhood known as a 40 hour a week job. Father-in-Law's obviously raised children before, and so has been getting a really good feeling for the schedule Logan's starting to settle into.
Oh, and the skin cancer was removed. The scarring was minimal. And Logan is starting to almost crawl backwards. Forwards is still a challenge. And rolling is getting better, but his arms get stuck under him sometimes and keep him from being able to roll where he wants to, LOL! And he isn't sitting up yet, but is better at holding himself up a little with his arms. And we started solid food when he turned 6 months on June 5th. And I turned 40 on June 10th, but was sick with an intestinal virus. And then hubby got the virus for Father's Day. Weeeee.
And the sleep deprivation feels like it's killing me. But have started taking melatonin, since I'm no longer breast feeding, since (1) made it to the 6 month mark, (2) before the doc knew it might be viral, he thought it was an infection and put me on Cipro... no breast feeding while on that, (3) I was having issues, anyway, as my left boob had dried up due to an idiotic lack of using it that made it start to produce less that made Logan start to want it less that made it start to produce even less that... yeah. So gave up.
Anyway, here's the long update that never got posted. It's from April I think. :)
Oh, and the friend who was out of work is now working at my company. And we got our own Playstation 3 after he took his back, LOL!
He's done it! Logan just turned 4 months on April 5th, and he's rolled over!
We need to get pictures... a sortof time lapse thing. Wait, our camera can take video... so it should be video. Definitely video. :)
Once he got onto his stomach, he managed to pull himself a little, but then got to the point where he didn't know what else to do now that he was there. And he didn't know how to get back to his comfort zone, i.e., lying on his back. So the crying started. So I rolled him back over. :)
He's done it twice today so far. I think I'd better bold the changing pad to the desk in his room, and start RELIGIOUSLY using the changing pad's strap!
Logan wasn't done with rolling... now we have raspberries! With tongue! So far, he hasn't sprayed anyone in the face. As fas as I know.
That accomplishment was April 6th's highlight. :)
So there's this new Woolite carpet cleaning thing, called a Rug Stick. You scrub the rug with it, taking care of high traffic areas.
Our entire carpet is one big high traffic area. The German Shepherds track in more dust and dirt than I would have thought possible. And man, do they shed! Husband bought a special vacuum in order to try to reign in the flying fur. He has to empty it for every room he vacuums. And he's vacuuming fairly regularly.
When we first looked at our house, we were told the owner had put in brand new white carpeting. We had been living in an apartment that didn't allow dogs, and knew that the moment we had a yard, we were getting a German Shepherd.
We'd looked at the beautiful carpet, at each other, and started snickering. It was NOT going to stay white for long! He should have just left the old carpeting.
And sure enough, it's more of a beige to tan now... at least we don't get upset at spills, or Logan spitting up.
But now, with Logan, we realize it REALLY needs to be a bit cleaner. Especially now that he's getting closer to crawling.
Crap... we need to get everything dangerous out of range of the Little Guy now. Well, at least he won't chew up and destroy the remote controls the way Boss dog did when he first joined our "pack". :)
So, I have this teeny black dot on my forehead. If you look more closely, you'll see that it's actually the black thread of stitches. It's from having a tiny sore on my forehead biopsed. The sore was one of those suspicious sores that refused to heal.
And yeah, it's skin cancer. It's malignant. But it's not something that's moving really fast. I've had it for probably about 2 years. Should have dealt with it earlier, but wasn't up to dealing with it during the pregnancy.
On April 23rd, I go back in to have it removed. If it's significantly large, maybe I'll get a tattoo over the scar... maybe a bulls-eye, LOL. :)
So, I'm back at work. The sleep deprivation and trying to get ready in the morning, trying to clean bottles every night in spite of Logan's fussing... well, sometimes I'm down to 4 hours of sleep at night.
Typing this while Logan is ironically totally asleep in his playpen. Am tempted to leave him there, since he's sleeping so well. Just worried that if I do that, w/o having the SID's monitor under him, that something will happen.
Of course, it's not like, while I'm sitting here typing this or watching TV or whatever, that I'm going to be able to watch him every second to ensure he's still breathing.
They just shouldn't tell new Mom's about SID's. They should just tell them to keep their babies sleeping on their backs because otherwise their noses will grow funny or something.
Well, our friend D came by and TOOK HIS PLAYSTATION 3 BACK. We have a widescreen TV, and so D had brought his PS3 here in... October? And was enjoying playing Warhawk 3 here. It looked so much prettier on our large flat-panel TV vs. his old TV at home that he just left the PS3 here and would come over to play.
He was laid off a few months ago, and he recently became gainfully employed again. He'd saved up enough, and purchased his own huge flat-panel widescreen TV. So his PS3 and his copy of Warhawk went bye-bye. Sigh.
We lasted about 3 or 4 days, and then Hubby went and picked up a new PS3, Ratchet and Clank, and downloaded Warhawk. :) Ironically, I bugged him about doing it... I don't play Warhawk at all, but I LOVE watching him play the game.
And so does Logan. :)
We also noticed that Logan likes Ratchet and Clank as well, but I think he's more fond of Warhawk, as he's more used to watching that game!
Which brings us to a sad confession: because Logan enjoys watching PS3 games so much, we call it "parenting" whenever Hubby starts playing. ;)
Father-in-Law's been babysitting while I'm taking a break from motherhood known as a 40 hour a week job. Father-in-Law's obviously raised children before, and so has been getting a really good feeling for the schedule Logan's starting to settle into.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Random
While bottle feeding Logan, was for some reason playing John William's music in my head.
Is it just me, or is the The March of the Villains song from the original Superman soundtrack VERY similar to the Ewok's theme from Return of the Jedi?
Is it just me, or is the The March of the Villains song from the original Superman soundtrack VERY similar to the Ewok's theme from Return of the Jedi?
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
All fired up...
My Mom does volunteer work for a particular charitable organization. New management has moved in. She and her coworkers don't exactly see eye to eye with the new people in power.
Mom: "I'm afraid they're going to fire me..."
Me: "How can they fire you if they aren't paying you?"
Hubby, grinning: "They'll just have to find someone else not to pay."
Mom: "I'm afraid they're going to fire me..."
Me: "How can they fire you if they aren't paying you?"
Hubby, grinning: "They'll just have to find someone else not to pay."
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Learning to walk on Coals...
Out of the frying pan, and into the fire...
So, learning how to walk on coals here. ;)
This is just getting bloody ridiculous.
Monday February 4th, after I had called my HR rep about my options for extending my maternity leave (in order to give myself more time to find daycare places with openings for Logan), I started to not feel so hot. Well, actually I started to feel very hot. And chilled. And cold. And sweaty. And shaky. And my back HURT.
My Father-in-Law was over, helping me out with Logan, so I could get stuff done around the house. His being at our place with Logan was also good therapy for him, considering he just lost his wife on January 18th.
I let him know that I thought I needed to go to the doctor, and asked him if he could watch Logan while I went. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and took my temperature. While shaking violently, I read it and realized it was nearly 102. And it had that feeling of something that wasn't finished increasing.
My Father-in-Law didn't like the idea of me driving myself while feverish, and I agreed. My parents weren't home. Hubby was busy. Father-in-Law put Logan in the car seat and drove all 3 of us in my car to the doc-in-a-box.
I had a urinary tract infection that had moved into my kidneys. Due to the C-section, I have reduced sensation in my bladder. Literally it's like I have a man's bladder... I can hold it until I finally sense I REALLY should find a bathroom. And unfortunately, the sensation of it burning when I peed was also reduced, so I didn't realize I'd come down with a urinary tract infection until it had already made it to my kidneys, causing my back to hurt. I did have a slight sensation of burning, but it was so slight, and I was so busy with Logan, etc., that I thought nothing of it at the time. It was just too low on the radar considering all the other blips I was dealing with.
The Doc thought my flu/cold may have also been coming back, as I also mentioned having a sore throat over the weekend. And of course there's the high fever. But in fact, the fever was entirely due to the fact that my body was trying to fight the infection off in the kidneys.
The Doc prescribed stuff for the flu/cold (just in case), for the fever, and for a urinary tract infection.
Hubby met me at the clinic. Father-in-Law took Logan back home. Hubby drove me home, where I crawled into bed and continued to shake violently. Hubby drove to Longs and picked up prescriptions, bringing them back after what seemed like an eternity to my fevered brain. I took meds, and ate a burger hubby brought back, and then curled back up into bed.
I couldn't stop shaking, and coming out from under the covers made me feel intolerably cold.
The next day I was feeling somewhat better. Father-in-Law came by to take care of me and Logan. By the afternoon, when it was too soon to take ibuprofin again for my fever, I got up past 102 again. I called to try to find the doc and see if I could take the ibuprofin earlier, but he wasn't at the clinic that day. I called hubby. Hubby came home and took me to the ER!
I whined when they wanted me to take my jacket off so they could take my blood pressure. I was so cold I couldn't stand it. My fever was getting close to 103. I was dehydrated. They gave me something for my fever, then tried to find a vein. I was super-sensitive to any skin pain due to the fever, and also feeling really sorry for myself. And highly emotional. Basically, I'm not at my best when I have a high fever. I cried like a baby when they kept having to stick me with needles to finally find a viable vein to pump fluids into. It was freaking embarrassing.
My fever broke finally with sufficient meds given to me to reduce it. Took about 1 or 2 hours. While it was going down, they tested my blood and my pee. They swabbed my nose to see if I had influenza. [I didn't.] They gave me antibiotics in the 2nd bag of saline they pumped into me. And they told me to quit taking my current antibiotics, and to start a course of CIPRO.
I was on @#$@^!Q#$ Cipro. They use that for Anthrax. I was on freaking Cipro.
Hubby dropped off the Cipro prescription on his way to work the next day, as we didn't get home from the ER until almost 10pm. My parents came by to take care of me, and picked up the prescription on their way in. I think. That whole week of dealing with the kidney infection is all a little fuzzy. Fevers are fun. :P
I spent most of that week sleeping alot. And not breast feeding Logan, as he couldn't have any breast milk with any of the 3 antibiotics I had in my blood by then. So I was pumping and dumping, and the plethora of baby bottles I had recently bought were suddenly coming in VERY handy for feeding Logan formula.
On Monday 2/11, I was well enough to take Ellie to the vet while my parents watched Logan. And that was about the extent of what I accomplished that day. But anyway, it was nice to actually drive my car instead of having someone else drive me due to my being too feverish!
Just to make life interesting, also on that day, my right boob felt like it had a clogged milk duct. But that passed thankfully on its own, w/o any extra doctor/ER trips.
On Tribe, I posted a prayer of sorts after having posted the above in my Tribe blog:
"Lord, please... we need help. My husband is SO tired of taking care of both Logan and me. I'm so tired of being exhausted, sick and useless. And I'm running out of time here... I need to be healthy and on top of things so I can find a daycare place and go back to work. Shoot, poor Logan is still stuffed up from catching our colds."
Yeah, I was feeling sorry for myself, and for Logan and for my Hubby. And for my tired Parents, and my tired and sad Father-in-Law. And for my Mother-in-Law's other Kids and her Sisters.
And I was just feeling really damned tired. :P
A couple of days later, Wednesday February 13th, I was in a better mood. A bunch of my Tribe friends had sent me their good wishes and prayers and comforting words, and I was getting my energy back. God was answering prayer, helping me to catch my breath.
Thursday the 14th I was able to start breast feeding again. Flow was a little slow... I hadn't been good about pumping alot while I was feeling so sick, as I was so tired all the time. But it picked back up, and I supplemented Logan's diet with formula until I'd talked my boobies into being good moo-cows again. ;)
I talked to my boss. He was ok with my taking 30 calendar days off at the end of the 12 weeks of maternity leave. If I were to go back at the end of the 12 weeks, my first day back at work would be Wednesday February 27th. Now, after I get the paperwork done, I'll be out until the end of March.
I need to fill out the stuff for "bonding", which provides 6 weeks of income from SDI I believe for bonding with Logan. I won't be able to use all 6 weeks of it... well, unless Logan has some illnesses that cause me to need to take 1 or 2 weeks off later on after this 30 calendar days off. Which is not a happy reason for doing more bonding with Logan, so I'll happily pass on that option, if given the choice, God willing.
I can't stand it when Logan isn't feeling well. He can break my heart by just pouting!!! When he cries because he isn't feeling well, I just wish I could take his pain away for him. And he can steal my heart away with his smiles. :)
Never thought I'd be a "baby person", LOL!
But anyway, the 30 calendar days will be paid for, at a percentage of my work wages, thanks to the "bonding" thing. Weee. :)
So, everything appears to be going ok so far.
I am feeling better. But I need to start researching daycare places again. I have contacted 2 places my Mom found for me. One requires that Logan be walking fairly well... which isn't going to happen for at least another 6 months -- more like 10 months? The other might be able to take Logan as early as June, or as late as Fall, and is ok with him being a non-walking baby in diapers. Since neither location is a public (i.e., advertised) place, they are both probably the best bets, as there won't be alot of other people trying to get into them. And they come highly recommended, so... :)
And I need to finish Logan's room. He'll still be sleeping in our room at night, but for naps, I should try to get him used to his crib. This was a recommendation from my late Mother-in-Law, as it would help in getting him used to sleeping in his room at night later on.
Damn, I miss my Mother-in-Law. She was really good with Logan, and alot nicer to me than I gave her credit for. :(
So, that's what's been going on.
As I said, I'm learning to walk on coals. And trying to just be glad for the good days, and not sweat the bad days too much.
Thank you everyone who's sent me warm wishes/positive mojo/prayers/kind words/etc. :)
Hope everyone out there is doing well. Godspeed. :)
So, learning how to walk on coals here. ;)
This is just getting bloody ridiculous.
Monday February 4th, after I had called my HR rep about my options for extending my maternity leave (in order to give myself more time to find daycare places with openings for Logan), I started to not feel so hot. Well, actually I started to feel very hot. And chilled. And cold. And sweaty. And shaky. And my back HURT.
My Father-in-Law was over, helping me out with Logan, so I could get stuff done around the house. His being at our place with Logan was also good therapy for him, considering he just lost his wife on January 18th.
I let him know that I thought I needed to go to the doctor, and asked him if he could watch Logan while I went. I wrapped myself up in a blanket and took my temperature. While shaking violently, I read it and realized it was nearly 102. And it had that feeling of something that wasn't finished increasing.
My Father-in-Law didn't like the idea of me driving myself while feverish, and I agreed. My parents weren't home. Hubby was busy. Father-in-Law put Logan in the car seat and drove all 3 of us in my car to the doc-in-a-box.
I had a urinary tract infection that had moved into my kidneys. Due to the C-section, I have reduced sensation in my bladder. Literally it's like I have a man's bladder... I can hold it until I finally sense I REALLY should find a bathroom. And unfortunately, the sensation of it burning when I peed was also reduced, so I didn't realize I'd come down with a urinary tract infection until it had already made it to my kidneys, causing my back to hurt. I did have a slight sensation of burning, but it was so slight, and I was so busy with Logan, etc., that I thought nothing of it at the time. It was just too low on the radar considering all the other blips I was dealing with.
The Doc thought my flu/cold may have also been coming back, as I also mentioned having a sore throat over the weekend. And of course there's the high fever. But in fact, the fever was entirely due to the fact that my body was trying to fight the infection off in the kidneys.
The Doc prescribed stuff for the flu/cold (just in case), for the fever, and for a urinary tract infection.
Hubby met me at the clinic. Father-in-Law took Logan back home. Hubby drove me home, where I crawled into bed and continued to shake violently. Hubby drove to Longs and picked up prescriptions, bringing them back after what seemed like an eternity to my fevered brain. I took meds, and ate a burger hubby brought back, and then curled back up into bed.
I couldn't stop shaking, and coming out from under the covers made me feel intolerably cold.
The next day I was feeling somewhat better. Father-in-Law came by to take care of me and Logan. By the afternoon, when it was too soon to take ibuprofin again for my fever, I got up past 102 again. I called to try to find the doc and see if I could take the ibuprofin earlier, but he wasn't at the clinic that day. I called hubby. Hubby came home and took me to the ER!
I whined when they wanted me to take my jacket off so they could take my blood pressure. I was so cold I couldn't stand it. My fever was getting close to 103. I was dehydrated. They gave me something for my fever, then tried to find a vein. I was super-sensitive to any skin pain due to the fever, and also feeling really sorry for myself. And highly emotional. Basically, I'm not at my best when I have a high fever. I cried like a baby when they kept having to stick me with needles to finally find a viable vein to pump fluids into. It was freaking embarrassing.
My fever broke finally with sufficient meds given to me to reduce it. Took about 1 or 2 hours. While it was going down, they tested my blood and my pee. They swabbed my nose to see if I had influenza. [I didn't.] They gave me antibiotics in the 2nd bag of saline they pumped into me. And they told me to quit taking my current antibiotics, and to start a course of CIPRO.
I was on @#$@^!Q#$ Cipro. They use that for Anthrax. I was on freaking Cipro.
Hubby dropped off the Cipro prescription on his way to work the next day, as we didn't get home from the ER until almost 10pm. My parents came by to take care of me, and picked up the prescription on their way in. I think. That whole week of dealing with the kidney infection is all a little fuzzy. Fevers are fun. :P
I spent most of that week sleeping alot. And not breast feeding Logan, as he couldn't have any breast milk with any of the 3 antibiotics I had in my blood by then. So I was pumping and dumping, and the plethora of baby bottles I had recently bought were suddenly coming in VERY handy for feeding Logan formula.
On Monday 2/11, I was well enough to take Ellie to the vet while my parents watched Logan. And that was about the extent of what I accomplished that day. But anyway, it was nice to actually drive my car instead of having someone else drive me due to my being too feverish!
Just to make life interesting, also on that day, my right boob felt like it had a clogged milk duct. But that passed thankfully on its own, w/o any extra doctor/ER trips.
On Tribe, I posted a prayer of sorts after having posted the above in my Tribe blog:
"Lord, please... we need help. My husband is SO tired of taking care of both Logan and me. I'm so tired of being exhausted, sick and useless. And I'm running out of time here... I need to be healthy and on top of things so I can find a daycare place and go back to work. Shoot, poor Logan is still stuffed up from catching our colds."
Yeah, I was feeling sorry for myself, and for Logan and for my Hubby. And for my tired Parents, and my tired and sad Father-in-Law. And for my Mother-in-Law's other Kids and her Sisters.
And I was just feeling really damned tired. :P
A couple of days later, Wednesday February 13th, I was in a better mood. A bunch of my Tribe friends had sent me their good wishes and prayers and comforting words, and I was getting my energy back. God was answering prayer, helping me to catch my breath.
Thursday the 14th I was able to start breast feeding again. Flow was a little slow... I hadn't been good about pumping alot while I was feeling so sick, as I was so tired all the time. But it picked back up, and I supplemented Logan's diet with formula until I'd talked my boobies into being good moo-cows again. ;)
I talked to my boss. He was ok with my taking 30 calendar days off at the end of the 12 weeks of maternity leave. If I were to go back at the end of the 12 weeks, my first day back at work would be Wednesday February 27th. Now, after I get the paperwork done, I'll be out until the end of March.
I need to fill out the stuff for "bonding", which provides 6 weeks of income from SDI I believe for bonding with Logan. I won't be able to use all 6 weeks of it... well, unless Logan has some illnesses that cause me to need to take 1 or 2 weeks off later on after this 30 calendar days off. Which is not a happy reason for doing more bonding with Logan, so I'll happily pass on that option, if given the choice, God willing.
I can't stand it when Logan isn't feeling well. He can break my heart by just pouting!!! When he cries because he isn't feeling well, I just wish I could take his pain away for him. And he can steal my heart away with his smiles. :)
Never thought I'd be a "baby person", LOL!
But anyway, the 30 calendar days will be paid for, at a percentage of my work wages, thanks to the "bonding" thing. Weee. :)
So, everything appears to be going ok so far.
I am feeling better. But I need to start researching daycare places again. I have contacted 2 places my Mom found for me. One requires that Logan be walking fairly well... which isn't going to happen for at least another 6 months -- more like 10 months? The other might be able to take Logan as early as June, or as late as Fall, and is ok with him being a non-walking baby in diapers. Since neither location is a public (i.e., advertised) place, they are both probably the best bets, as there won't be alot of other people trying to get into them. And they come highly recommended, so... :)
And I need to finish Logan's room. He'll still be sleeping in our room at night, but for naps, I should try to get him used to his crib. This was a recommendation from my late Mother-in-Law, as it would help in getting him used to sleeping in his room at night later on.
Damn, I miss my Mother-in-Law. She was really good with Logan, and alot nicer to me than I gave her credit for. :(
So, that's what's been going on.
As I said, I'm learning to walk on coals. And trying to just be glad for the good days, and not sweat the bad days too much.
Thank you everyone who's sent me warm wishes/positive mojo/prayers/kind words/etc. :)
Hope everyone out there is doing well. Godspeed. :)
Sunday, January 27, 2008
The good, and the really really bad and ugly
Well, the good news:
Bad news:
She would have been 78 on 1/30/2008.
She was so good with Logan. And so sweet. She was a 2nd Mom to me. To everyone, really.
Hubby's in shock. Hubby's Dad is in shock.
Funeral was this past Friday, 1/25/2008. A bunch of family flew/drove in for it. Sister-in-law got in the Sunday after her Mom died, and was a big help both with Hubby's Dad and with Logan.
Hubby's Dad and Sister adore Logan. Hubby's Dad may try his hand a little at some babysitting, but we can't really hold him to what Hubby's Mom had agreed to. Especially after all the stress of losing Hubby's Mom.
However, Hubby's Dad does LOVE spending time with Logan. And he also ironically loves our dogs... and our dogs adore him.
Hubby's Sister threatened to steal Logan away this week. Had to watch Logan and Sister-in-Law CLOSELY. ;)
Logan steals the hearts of any adults who get to know him. :)
Thought my breast-milk antibodies were protecting Logan from getting sick, as even though Hubby and I had been sick for almost a week already, Logan was fine. But unfortunately, last night, 1/26/2008, Logan started sounding congested. :( Poor little guy...
So now all 3 of us are miserable.
Logan still smiles at us. I can't believe how happy he can be with us even when he's feeling like crap. He IS a little angel.
Not sure when I have to go back to work now. My HR thinks I only get 12 weeks from the date the baby is born. But my ObGyn's office is sure I get 8 (maybe 10 now) weeks of medical leave for the c-section. [8 is normal, but it may be 10 as I had complications.] And then another 6 weeks for bonding on top of that. So 16 weeks total. And my ObGyn thinks that my job is protected for 12 weeks from the END of my medical leave.
So, per my ObGyn, I get SDI money for the 8 to 10 weeks of medical leave, then another 6 weeks of money for bonding. But then I could stay out of work an extra 6 weeks w/o any income if I wanted to. But I don't think I'll take that option.
Confused? Sorry... it's confusing me too. ;)
Need to get my HR and my ObGyn's office to agree. Stressing me out.
If HR is right, I return to work end of February. If my ObGyn is right, I return end of March. Really hoping for end of March here, LOL! I hope to have everything figured out by then... taking care of Logan, and also who is babysitting him while I'm at work. That and I HATE leaving him. He's stolen my heart.
So... that's what's been happening...
- Getting easier to get Logan to sleep in his bassinett. Sometimes.
- My nipples have toughened up so breast feeding no longer hurts.
- Incision is mostly healed up... just a slight crack left. No longer has to be packed. I can drive, as I'm no longer on pain meds. And since it's no longer trying to heal too fast (outside first, then inside), as it was packed until it behaved, I'm also no longer on blood pressure medication.
Bad news:
- Hubby and I have a sore-throat/cold.
- My Mom can't baby sit as she realized her congestive heart failure was going to make it too hard on her. She can babysit for a couple of hours at a time, but that's it. No "all day" babysitting while I'm at work. Dad can't as he works... he's 84 and he works. :P They need the money.
- Hubby's Mom can't babysit. Because she PASSED AWAY FRIDAY 1/18/2008. Put us all in shock.
She would have been 78 on 1/30/2008.
She was so good with Logan. And so sweet. She was a 2nd Mom to me. To everyone, really.
Hubby's in shock. Hubby's Dad is in shock.
Funeral was this past Friday, 1/25/2008. A bunch of family flew/drove in for it. Sister-in-law got in the Sunday after her Mom died, and was a big help both with Hubby's Dad and with Logan.
Hubby's Dad and Sister adore Logan. Hubby's Dad may try his hand a little at some babysitting, but we can't really hold him to what Hubby's Mom had agreed to. Especially after all the stress of losing Hubby's Mom.
However, Hubby's Dad does LOVE spending time with Logan. And he also ironically loves our dogs... and our dogs adore him.
Hubby's Sister threatened to steal Logan away this week. Had to watch Logan and Sister-in-Law CLOSELY. ;)
Logan steals the hearts of any adults who get to know him. :)
Thought my breast-milk antibodies were protecting Logan from getting sick, as even though Hubby and I had been sick for almost a week already, Logan was fine. But unfortunately, last night, 1/26/2008, Logan started sounding congested. :( Poor little guy...
So now all 3 of us are miserable.
Logan still smiles at us. I can't believe how happy he can be with us even when he's feeling like crap. He IS a little angel.
Not sure when I have to go back to work now. My HR thinks I only get 12 weeks from the date the baby is born. But my ObGyn's office is sure I get 8 (maybe 10 now) weeks of medical leave for the c-section. [8 is normal, but it may be 10 as I had complications.] And then another 6 weeks for bonding on top of that. So 16 weeks total. And my ObGyn thinks that my job is protected for 12 weeks from the END of my medical leave.
So, per my ObGyn, I get SDI money for the 8 to 10 weeks of medical leave, then another 6 weeks of money for bonding. But then I could stay out of work an extra 6 weeks w/o any income if I wanted to. But I don't think I'll take that option.
Confused? Sorry... it's confusing me too. ;)
Need to get my HR and my ObGyn's office to agree. Stressing me out.
If HR is right, I return to work end of February. If my ObGyn is right, I return end of March. Really hoping for end of March here, LOL! I hope to have everything figured out by then... taking care of Logan, and also who is babysitting him while I'm at work. That and I HATE leaving him. He's stolen my heart.
So... that's what's been happening...
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Should have listened...
Wednesday, January 9th, 2008, I saw my Gestational Diabetes doctor, to see if the blood test I took the prior week indicated I had regular diabetes now that I was no longer pregnant. Thank the Lord, I did NOT.
I will have to get tested for diabetes once a year, at my annual physical, to be sure, however. The fact that I had gestational diabetes means I still need to watch my blood sugars to ensure I don't still get the full blown diabetes later in life.
My diabetes doctor is a real sweetie, and gave me and my hubby a few of her hand-me-down baby equipment, including a car seat and a swing. She's also a Mom, having an adopted son at home.
Before I left, she heard Logan poo. She asked me if I'd like to change him in the examining room.
I should have listened to my gestational diabetes doctor...
I should have changed Logan then and there, when my doctor offered me the opportunity.
But NOOOOOOOO..... I was sure he would "keep" until I was done grocery shopping and got home.
She said that I knew best, as I was the mother, and not to feel guilty if someone else said I was doing something wrong.
Heh. Me, know best?!?
I think his dirty diaper was why he started crying. In Longs. Full blast. Without cease.
I left a cart full of groceries in Longs while I went back outside (with him) to get his bottle and a pacifier.
I got a clue before going back into Longs and went ahead and brought back in his whole diaper bag.
Then I tried to feed him his bottle (pumped breast milk) with one hand while pushing the cart with the other and looking at the shelves. I'd often look back at him and realize the bottle wasn't centered in his mouth, or even in his mouth anymore! Just dripping onto his onesie.
Then he wasn't into the bottle anymore. And the pacifier didn't work. And he wasn't content with his car seat. And holding him in twelve different positions didn't work. And he kept getting heavier.
I looked at the line to the pharmacy, looked at my screaming baby, and headed for the checkout line. Purchased my items as fast as possible, then sat in the back seat of my car trying to breast feed -- I assumed that the bottle hadn't been warm enough... I had tried to warm it in the car using the car vents, with the heater on, when driving to Longs!), giving Logan some colic medicine, and holding him again. He was inconsolable, with maybe a few times he stopped crying.
Husband called my cell, heard the screaming baby over it, and offered to take care of the rest of my chores, LOL! He picked up my meds at the pharmacy, and also took care of some of the groceries I was going to get at Vons.
Wow. This is just NOT easy, LOL! My respect for my own Mom keeps getting higher and higher!!!
Hubby was like, "why didn't you drop him off with your parents or my parents while you went grocery shopping?"
"I don't know... I thought it would be EASY!" :) Doh!!!
When I got home, I changed him, breast fed him, and he passed out, in his swing.
Ok, this motherhood thing isn't as easy as I had thought it would be. ;)
Ok, I didn't think it would be easy. But holy smokes! It's often way harder than I had thought.
I will have to get tested for diabetes once a year, at my annual physical, to be sure, however. The fact that I had gestational diabetes means I still need to watch my blood sugars to ensure I don't still get the full blown diabetes later in life.
My diabetes doctor is a real sweetie, and gave me and my hubby a few of her hand-me-down baby equipment, including a car seat and a swing. She's also a Mom, having an adopted son at home.
Before I left, she heard Logan poo. She asked me if I'd like to change him in the examining room.
I should have listened to my gestational diabetes doctor...
I should have changed Logan then and there, when my doctor offered me the opportunity.
But NOOOOOOOO..... I was sure he would "keep" until I was done grocery shopping and got home.
She said that I knew best, as I was the mother, and not to feel guilty if someone else said I was doing something wrong.
Heh. Me, know best?!?
I think his dirty diaper was why he started crying. In Longs. Full blast. Without cease.
I left a cart full of groceries in Longs while I went back outside (with him) to get his bottle and a pacifier.
I got a clue before going back into Longs and went ahead and brought back in his whole diaper bag.
Then I tried to feed him his bottle (pumped breast milk) with one hand while pushing the cart with the other and looking at the shelves. I'd often look back at him and realize the bottle wasn't centered in his mouth, or even in his mouth anymore! Just dripping onto his onesie.
Then he wasn't into the bottle anymore. And the pacifier didn't work. And he wasn't content with his car seat. And holding him in twelve different positions didn't work. And he kept getting heavier.
I looked at the line to the pharmacy, looked at my screaming baby, and headed for the checkout line. Purchased my items as fast as possible, then sat in the back seat of my car trying to breast feed -- I assumed that the bottle hadn't been warm enough... I had tried to warm it in the car using the car vents, with the heater on, when driving to Longs!), giving Logan some colic medicine, and holding him again. He was inconsolable, with maybe a few times he stopped crying.
Husband called my cell, heard the screaming baby over it, and offered to take care of the rest of my chores, LOL! He picked up my meds at the pharmacy, and also took care of some of the groceries I was going to get at Vons.
Wow. This is just NOT easy, LOL! My respect for my own Mom keeps getting higher and higher!!!
Hubby was like, "why didn't you drop him off with your parents or my parents while you went grocery shopping?"
"I don't know... I thought it would be EASY!" :) Doh!!!
When I got home, I changed him, breast fed him, and he passed out, in his swing.
Ok, this motherhood thing isn't as easy as I had thought it would be. ;)
Ok, I didn't think it would be easy. But holy smokes! It's often way harder than I had thought.
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Mommy's First Day Out Alone
7:15 am:
I am up. Feed baby, burp baby, change baby. Repeat.
8:30 am:
Husband takes shower. Continued feeding/burping/changing, tried to sleep. Heh.
8:45 am:
I take shower.
9:00 am:
Husband cleans and re-packs my c-section wound.
9:20 am:
Feed/water dogs while continuing to feed/burp baby.
10:00 am:
Prep baby bag, purse. Put on maternity bra and clean t-shirt. Feed/burp baby.
10:20 am:
Kick dogs outside. Dry hair. Cuddle fussy baby. Brush teeth. Put on pants.
10:35 am:
Change baby diaper. Logan poops onto the changing table. Manage to chase the runny, newborn, breast-fed poop such that it doesn't coat Logan or his t-shirt. Finish changing him, and sterilize changing table. Put on outside clothes. Re-run bottle sterilizer. Put nipple on bottle of breast milk that was stored in the refrigerator.
10:55 am:
Ignore baby's crying so can run to bathroom and have upset stomach.
11:05 am:
Carry baby (in car seat), baby bag, purse, jacket, and car seat base to car.
11:10 am:
Install car seat base in MY car. For first time. With less than 3 hours sleep. And empty stomach, as was fasting for a blood test. First try to put it behind driver's side because instructions don't say it's ok to put in the middle. Fight with it, curse hands (which still have barely any feeling/strength due to gestationally-induced carpal tunnel syndrome), curse back (which keeps spasming at the odd angles I'm leaning over at while in the back of the car), and finally get a clue. Install son-of-a-b*tch/fraking/piece-of-crap base in middle of back seat, realizing that just because I didn't see that the instructions said I could put it there didn't mean it wasn't allowed. Installed beautifully.
When I later described my fight with the car base, Husband had to add "So easy, even a sleep deprived new Mother can do it". :)
Car starts. Yea! Last person to drive it was Husband on December 4th, when he rescued it for me from one of my doctor's offices. [On December 3rd, I got walked over to the hospital from my doctor's office, and admitted to have induction started.]
I haven't driven a car since December 3rd. Just feeling the steering wheel in my hands again... Happy Sigh. I have my freedom back. :)
11:30 am:
Drive to clinic for BLOOD TEST, which I was FASTING for since midnight.
12:00 pm:
Get blood drawn.
12:15 pm:
Stand in line at clinic to ensure they had current insurance info.
12:25 pm:
Realized that people who would have let me cut ahead in line when I was 8+ months pregnant will NOT do me any favors while trying to carry 10+ pound baby in 5+ pound car seat, plus baby bag plus purse. Logan starts to cry... but is ok once we're driving again.
12:45 pm:
Scarfing McDonald's drive-through while sitting at bank. HUSBAND drives up and parks next to me!!! He saw me 5 cars ahead at McDonald's, and once he got his food, assumed I was headed for the bank, and tracked me down. And got to be very amused hearing about my adventures so far. :) Gave me hug, told me he was proud of me, LOL! Logan thankfully stays asleep.
1:10 pm:
I finish preparing checks for deposit. Drive car around to drive through... and the bloody bank has changed it's drive-thru ATM's. And in the process, has forgotten to fill up the cool new deposit envelope holder. Shit. Drive back around bank, and wake poor Logan up taking car seat out with me to walk-up ATM. Deposit 3 maternity leave checks that I've accumulated, as I haven't had a chance to deposit anything since before I was admitted to the hospital to be induced back on December 3rd.
1:20 pm:
Drive around for a while looking for where the phone store is. [Know it's near the bank.] Ahah! There it is! Oh, crap! Wrong cell provider. Logan's crying.
1:25 pm:
Park. Get into back seat. Try to cuddle Logan. No, he's probably hungry. Give him bottle. Shit! Can't give him cold breast milk, and have no way to warm it up in the car. But why can't you give baby's cold milk? Ok, nevermind... he only got a few swallows. Pull him back out of car seat, and pull out a boob, and start breast feeding.
1:30 pm:
Guy parked to my right walks back with his Subway Sandwiches lunch. And proceeds to eat it there in the car. Whenever I look at him, he's NOT looking at me. Still, I do my best to cover my boob!!!
1:45 pm:
Stop by work with Logan's birth certificate so HR can photocopy it and file it away as proof that I genuinely have a son that warranted adding a name to our insurance. Bring son in as well, LOL! [Talk about physical proof. Although I suppose I could have pulled down my pants and removed the bandage to show off the c-section scar, just so they could be sure.] Hear again how the 8 weeks for c-section + 6 weeks for bonding really is only allowed to total 12 weeks for maternity leave from the date of delivery. Which doesn't agree with what ObGyn said. So maybe I have until mid March, maybe I have until end of February. Still not sure.
Well, 2 weeks more or less... still have all of January and definitely most if not all of February.
Various co-workers get to see Logan and go ooh and aah. :)
Sigh. Logan starts crying again.
2:30 pm:
Arrive at other cell phone store. Purchase new phone to replace the dead one I got wet when I answered it twice in the hospital bathroom, with an ear wet from the shower. Pull Logan out of car seat and hold him when he starts crying again.
Yea! All my phone numbers were stored on the sim card, and it survived the wetting of the cell phone!
3:00 pm:
We're both home. Bring Logan inside, and all the crap from the car. Let dogs in. Clean off hospital germs. Run through bathroom. Remove Logan's outside clothes, change him. Crawl into recliner and feed Logan. Wonder how the hell people do this.
I'd intended to also visit my in-laws, and go grocery shopping. HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!!!
I am up. Feed baby, burp baby, change baby. Repeat.
8:30 am:
Husband takes shower. Continued feeding/burping/changing, tried to sleep. Heh.
8:45 am:
I take shower.
9:00 am:
Husband cleans and re-packs my c-section wound.
9:20 am:
Feed/water dogs while continuing to feed/burp baby.
10:00 am:
Prep baby bag, purse. Put on maternity bra and clean t-shirt. Feed/burp baby.
10:20 am:
Kick dogs outside. Dry hair. Cuddle fussy baby. Brush teeth. Put on pants.
10:35 am:
Change baby diaper. Logan poops onto the changing table. Manage to chase the runny, newborn, breast-fed poop such that it doesn't coat Logan or his t-shirt. Finish changing him, and sterilize changing table. Put on outside clothes. Re-run bottle sterilizer. Put nipple on bottle of breast milk that was stored in the refrigerator.
10:55 am:
Ignore baby's crying so can run to bathroom and have upset stomach.
11:05 am:
Carry baby (in car seat), baby bag, purse, jacket, and car seat base to car.
11:10 am:
Install car seat base in MY car. For first time. With less than 3 hours sleep. And empty stomach, as was fasting for a blood test. First try to put it behind driver's side because instructions don't say it's ok to put in the middle. Fight with it, curse hands (which still have barely any feeling/strength due to gestationally-induced carpal tunnel syndrome), curse back (which keeps spasming at the odd angles I'm leaning over at while in the back of the car), and finally get a clue. Install son-of-a-b*tch/fraking/piece-of-crap base in middle of back seat, realizing that just because I didn't see that the instructions said I could put it there didn't mean it wasn't allowed. Installed beautifully.
When I later described my fight with the car base, Husband had to add "So easy, even a sleep deprived new Mother can do it". :)
Car starts. Yea! Last person to drive it was Husband on December 4th, when he rescued it for me from one of my doctor's offices. [On December 3rd, I got walked over to the hospital from my doctor's office, and admitted to have induction started.]
I haven't driven a car since December 3rd. Just feeling the steering wheel in my hands again... Happy Sigh. I have my freedom back. :)
11:30 am:
Drive to clinic for BLOOD TEST, which I was FASTING for since midnight.
12:00 pm:
Get blood drawn.
12:15 pm:
Stand in line at clinic to ensure they had current insurance info.
12:25 pm:
Realized that people who would have let me cut ahead in line when I was 8+ months pregnant will NOT do me any favors while trying to carry 10+ pound baby in 5+ pound car seat, plus baby bag plus purse. Logan starts to cry... but is ok once we're driving again.
12:45 pm:
Scarfing McDonald's drive-through while sitting at bank. HUSBAND drives up and parks next to me!!! He saw me 5 cars ahead at McDonald's, and once he got his food, assumed I was headed for the bank, and tracked me down. And got to be very amused hearing about my adventures so far. :) Gave me hug, told me he was proud of me, LOL! Logan thankfully stays asleep.
1:10 pm:
I finish preparing checks for deposit. Drive car around to drive through... and the bloody bank has changed it's drive-thru ATM's. And in the process, has forgotten to fill up the cool new deposit envelope holder. Shit. Drive back around bank, and wake poor Logan up taking car seat out with me to walk-up ATM. Deposit 3 maternity leave checks that I've accumulated, as I haven't had a chance to deposit anything since before I was admitted to the hospital to be induced back on December 3rd.
1:20 pm:
Drive around for a while looking for where the phone store is. [Know it's near the bank.] Ahah! There it is! Oh, crap! Wrong cell provider. Logan's crying.
1:25 pm:
Park. Get into back seat. Try to cuddle Logan. No, he's probably hungry. Give him bottle. Shit! Can't give him cold breast milk, and have no way to warm it up in the car. But why can't you give baby's cold milk? Ok, nevermind... he only got a few swallows. Pull him back out of car seat, and pull out a boob, and start breast feeding.
1:30 pm:
Guy parked to my right walks back with his Subway Sandwiches lunch. And proceeds to eat it there in the car. Whenever I look at him, he's NOT looking at me. Still, I do my best to cover my boob!!!
1:45 pm:
Stop by work with Logan's birth certificate so HR can photocopy it and file it away as proof that I genuinely have a son that warranted adding a name to our insurance. Bring son in as well, LOL! [Talk about physical proof. Although I suppose I could have pulled down my pants and removed the bandage to show off the c-section scar, just so they could be sure.] Hear again how the 8 weeks for c-section + 6 weeks for bonding really is only allowed to total 12 weeks for maternity leave from the date of delivery. Which doesn't agree with what ObGyn said. So maybe I have until mid March, maybe I have until end of February. Still not sure.
Well, 2 weeks more or less... still have all of January and definitely most if not all of February.
Various co-workers get to see Logan and go ooh and aah. :)
Sigh. Logan starts crying again.
2:30 pm:
Arrive at other cell phone store. Purchase new phone to replace the dead one I got wet when I answered it twice in the hospital bathroom, with an ear wet from the shower. Pull Logan out of car seat and hold him when he starts crying again.
Yea! All my phone numbers were stored on the sim card, and it survived the wetting of the cell phone!
3:00 pm:
We're both home. Bring Logan inside, and all the crap from the car. Let dogs in. Clean off hospital germs. Run through bathroom. Remove Logan's outside clothes, change him. Crawl into recliner and feed Logan. Wonder how the hell people do this.
I'd intended to also visit my in-laws, and go grocery shopping. HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH-HAH!!!!!
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