‘Nuff said.
Just when things were looking up—Brenia is finally better, Lorelai is beginning to sleep through the night, and Stacia is back at school after a seemingly endless winter break—it all starts over again.
Stacia came home from school yesterday, sick, with a tale of woe that was sure to be the highlight of every dinner conversation in the neighborhood—she threw up on the bus. A quick check determined she had no fever and the look I’ve seen a million times screamed sinus drainage. Such is life with allergies. She was fighting with her sister again by the time daddy came home so she’s at school today.
Brenia, on the other hand, is feeling crummy and home for the day. Not that she had big plans, but I was really looking forward to the start of the new session of my Bible study. I guess I’ll jump in next week. It wouldn’t have been much fun with Lorelai fussing all morning anyway. She’s pretty stuffy too, and, from the looks of things, will probably be dealing with allergies her entire life as well. It’s possible I can chalk hers up to teething since it is coupled with enough drool to fill a bucket, but I don’t have high hopes.
This was not supposed to happen, you know. I don’t let these kids gnaw on my boobs 10 times a day when they’re born to live a life of daily medication and regular trips to the doctor. I’m pretty sure when I got talked into this, I read somewhere that breastfed kids are healthier. What a crock of shit. This child has had exactly 12 ounces of formula her entire life, and always mixed with boobie milk. Nonetheless, she’s been sick twice now and she’s not even 3 months old.
Of course, with her utter lack of patience I don’t have a choice anyway. She’s very much into instant gratification. I can’t imagine listening to those screams while I dash off to prepare a bottle. Much easier to pop a boob into her mouth and move on with our lives. Have boobs, will travel. We won’t even discuss the ridiculous cost of formula—$11.99 for a small can of powder!—versus the free milk God gave me. I’m in this one for the long haul, allergies and all.
Any random night this month:
10:14pm Baby nurses
10:32pm Baby falls asleep
12:15am Try desperately to wake baby to nurse before bedtime
12:28am Realize baby thinks 10:30 is bedtime
2:36am Nurse baby
2:48am Baby & Mommy asleep
2:56am Put baby in her crib & go back to bed
3:24am Sick child wakes in a coughing fit
3:25am Find cough syrup
3:28am Realize child also has a fever
3:29am Find Ibuprofen
3:32am Wait for fever to start dropping
3:38am Check temperature
3:46am Check temperature
3:52am Check temperature
3:53am Tuck child in bed (usually mine!)
3:55am Fall asleep
4:29am Nurse baby
4:41am Baby & Mommy asleep
4:46am Put baby in her crib & go back to bed again
6:38am Nurse baby
6:56am Baby & Mommy asleep
7:02am Put baby in her crib
7:03am Consider staying awake since Stacia will be up soon
7:04am Back to bed
7:48am The day begins
Last night:
10:24pm Nurse baby
10:42pm Baby falls asleep
12:14am Baby awakes
12:15am Get excited about the possibility of one last nursing before bedtime
12:16am Attempt to nurse baby
12:24am Give up
12:25am Tuck baby into bed
7:14am Nurse baby
7:15am Realize this is the first time since last night
7:29am Baby & Mommy asleep
7:32am Put baby in her crib
7:33am Consider staying awake for the day since the baby has a doctor’s appointment at 9:30 anyway
7:34am Remember how much sleep this month has brought, laugh & go back to bed
9:03am Wake frantically wondering why everyone in the house is still asleep
9:04am Wake hubby with instructions to get the baby ready
9:05am Realize he has no idea what that means
9:06am Throw baby’s clothes at hubby on the way to the bathroom
9:07am Throw on sweats, brush teeth & hair
9:11am Realize deodorant would be a nice addition
9:12am Start van
9:13am Grab pacifier as Daddy buckles baby into her seat
9:16am Leave house
9:32am Sign into doctor’s office-close enough!
Just when the baby was getting close to sleeping at night, middle kid starts waking up every night. Lorelai was down to one middle of the night nursing, which is so much better than getting up every 2 hours. Brenia is sick and has been waking up around 1am for the past 3 nights, and then occasionally again at 5 or 6. Combine that with Lorelai’s 4am feeding and I’m back to getting up every 2 hours.
I can’t believe how utterly exhausted I am. I guess the 1 or 2 nights of waking only once tricked my body into believing it could start sleeping again. This week I am dragging like never before. Not a good time for me to be sitting around doing nothing on my ever-expanding to-do list.
I guess I should turn this computer off and get started. If only I could take a nap first!
Here I sit minding my own business, typing out an email to my dear friend Chelle when I suddenly hear a persistent “drip, drip, drip.” The usual suspect is sick as a dog and has not left my side since she woke up at 7am. Our other mess maker has been at school for hours. Something is clearly amiss. I look up to find water dripping from the ceiling.
That is when I remember that I ran bleach water to wash the bathtub & toys in anticipation of finally fixing the cracks that began months ago. I know you are thinking I left the water running—it was my first thought too even though I distinctly recalled turning it off. I dash up the stairs to find I had not gotten that far along in my memory loss. Apparently the crack has just reached catastrophic proportions.
At least it’s bleach water so I shouldn’t have to concern myself with mold in the drywall. I won’t even begin to worry about it bleaching the carpet. The munchkins have destroyed it beyond all recognition already. I only need to worry about the ceiling caving in around us. Well, at least I won’t be here to see it.
I have to go pick up Brenia’s antibiotic. They’re thinking pneumonia since Stacia had it last week, and I’m patting myself on the back for having saved myself a trip to the doctor by having Brenia checked out then. Though, with the way she has been yelling everything today I’m guessing we have an ear problem too. Either way the drugs should kill it by Christmas.
Maybe I’ll come home and the ceiling will dry and be all better. *la, la, la* I can’t hear you!
I took Lorelai to the doctor today because her eyes are yucky. The nurse weighed her just in case the doc had to prescribe medicine. She weighs 9 lbs. 15 oz. now—that means I’ve gained 10 ounces in just 6 days. I can’t believe how fast she’s growing.
The other girls went with us too because they aren’t feeling well either. The doctor looked at her eyes and checked her out all over, landing on pinkeye. Now we have to put drops in her eyes every day. And by we, I mean him.
We came home from Thanksgiving with colds—every last one of us. Now, when my family gets a cold it hangs around for weeks at a time and usually creeps into something else. At least once a year we have a month long illness drama.
Stacia’s cold typically settles into a sinus infection. Brenia ends up with ear infections. Spencer just keeps the cold for weeks on end and becomes a big, whiny baby. I typically pick up strep throat somewhere along the way.
This time there’s a bit of a twist. My cold passed through in under 2 days. Must be the vitamins. Spencer seems to have bypassed the major drama as well. Stacia is still sick and getting worse. Lorelai’s cold seems to have settled in her eyes. My poor baby is all goopy.
Yesterday I finally took the girls to the doctor—all three of them, just to be safe, even though Brenia seemed to be missing the yucky part as well. Brenia so far still just has the cold, along with her usual allergies. Lorelai has pinkeye. Stacia has an ear infection and pneumonia. Pneumonia! How did I miss that? If I can get the girls settled into bed later, I’ll dust off a spot for my Mother of the Year trophy.
I thought I had a little vampire baby on my hands. She wakes up each evening around 10. This is her longest waking period all day, unless you count from 1 to 5 am when she wakes every 20 minutes. I don’t count that since I don’t get to see her eyes through the haze of my own exhaustion. I only know she’s awake from the tiny wails that escape from her body.
We’ve taken to putting her in her bouncy seat to sleep. The vibrations are calming and when she wakes needing nothing but attention, I can just toss an arm over the side of my bed and bounce her. I only need to half wake for this motion. I thought I was going to have to start sleeping on the couch as her cries wake Daddy—who has to actually get up and go to work the next morning—though only about a quarter of the time. Well, at least the couch is ready made.
My dear husband can’t simply use a throw pillow and blanket when he watches television. No, that would be too normal. We have a comforter and bed pillows. I kid you not. I did manage to snag a new one on Black Friday that actually matches our living room. I’m not sure that makes it any more normal, but it’s not near as tacky.
I’m not sure the theory of me staying up all night actually makes as much sense as it did for the first two. Back then I could take naps when baby did. Now I have to stay awake and diligently keep middle sis from loving her to death. I could probably count on my fingers the number of hours I have slept since the munchkin came home.
Alas, that is no longer. I managed a blessed 5 straight hours of sleep last night. The wee one slept from 1 to 6 am. I swear that is the longest stretch I have slept in months. Pregnancy is not so conducive to sleep either. I guess that would be nature’s way of preparing you for the total lack of sleep you will have for the next 18 years. At least I’m finally getting a little rest.
Unless I just jinxed it. How do you do a jinx back? Oh, well, I’ll sleep when I’m dead.