37 weeks, stomach virus, Penny's play

I am officially 37 weeks pregnant, which means that if I go into labor I can now have this baby at home.

So that's a relief... not that I thought I was going to give birth early - there's been no signs of impending labor and I'm 100% ok with that. I still have 3 weeks left of work and a whole bunch of work-related things to do before this baby comes. Not a lot of actual birth prep yet though, I'm pretty much ready for birth. Just work. It's always work..

Anyway, for comparison, here are some pictures:

Baby #3 @37 weeks 1 day

Griffin @ 37 weeks 5 days

Penelope @ 37 weeks

I think I look the same.

I did have a dream that the baby was a girl. But I've had dreams that they were all girls and Griffin is clearly a boy. So my dreams are obviously not prophetic.

Anyway, 20 days until my EDD. I'll be counting down the minutes.

If you'd like to be a part of the guessing pool as to this baby's birth date, sex, weight, and length, go here: http://bebepool.com/sinatra1981

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Sissy and Bubs are both recovering from a wicked stomach virus. Sis went through hers in 3 days with an extra day or two of recovery/weakness. G is now on day 6, poor dude. I hate it when they're sick but I'm so, so glad that so far it seems to have left the adults alone. I don't think Grandma would do well with this one. I won't feel like we're out of the woods until G has been diarrhea free for a week though, he started his about a week after Sis recovered from hers. So either this bug has a long incubation period or he picked it up from school and not from home.

Either way, I'll be glad when the house is bug-free.

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I was planning on blogging about Penny's play, but I'll save it for later. I don't have the pics readily available and I have grading to do before tomorrow so I should probably do that. Suffice it to say, she was cute and loved being on stage. This will not be the last production she's in, that's for sure.

It's pronounced "tu-tu", didn't you know?

For years I have been mispronouncing the word "tattoo". Apparently it's pronounced "tu-tu". Thank goodness I have Penelope to correct such egregious pronunciation mistakes. Thank you Penelope.

We went to a friend's 1st birthday party last weekend and the take-home prizes were temporary tattoos. Poe immediately wanted to wear one, but then freaked-the-f-out when I actually attempted to put it on her. So her butterfly was missing a wing. She didn't seemed to mind, and showed off her brand new "tu-tu" to anyone with eyes.

She then proceeded to try and rub it off with a paper towel... and then she tried to do the same to mine & my mom's wrist tattoos.

Even now, almost a week later, she asks where her "tu-tu" went. When I ask her if she wants a new one she quickly says "no thank you mama".

I will remind her of this when she's 18 and wants her first real tu-tu.

Also? We have entered the phase of "I do it myself" which is fun and exasperating. So now I budget extra minutes of getting ready time so Poe can put on her own shoes and climb into the car seat. After she successfully (or sometimes unsuccessfully) completes a task she says "yea! I did it!" very proudly. It's cute.

AND Griffin took two steps Wednesday at Kim's house. She is the queen of getting babies to walk.

Oh yes, Poe is better and now Bryan is sick. He seems to be feeling a bit better after sleeping most of today and a good part of yesterday. I hope tomorrow he's well again because it is no fun for anyone when ANYONE in this house is sick.

And? I lost a dress size.

Ugh

I have allergies. Or I'm dying. I cannot decide which - and I can't decide which I'd rather have/be.

I think the crappy weather, stress from my Thesis/Capstone, G's sleep, teething, and today's all-day headache have combined to make me spectacularly p*ssed-off. I want to run away to Hampton Inn & Suites for the night. Or two.

Parenting is hard work. Like really hard. You never get a break, ever. Especially if you're a nursing mom. Thankfully tomorrow is Friday and my parents have the kids for the night (so I guess I get a sorta-break). Only I wish I could actually sleep for 10 hours straight when they're at the weekly sleepover. If my parents hadn't been taking the kids every Friday then I shudder to think about what my emotional state would be.

Put another way: I DO NOT recommend going to grad school while having two young children. DO NOT.

The good news is that I'm almost done with my project. Chapter 2 is done (I got an A- on the rough draft) and I need to do some edits, but nothing major. Chapter 1 is also finished. This is what my professor had to say about it:

Jessica,

I rarely award 5 points for a writing assignment since no one is perfect. However, your paper was excellent.

The paper was clear, concisely written, and the style of writing was interesting! I did make a few changes and added a heading. Please refer to the color code in the attached file.

John

That's right. I got 100%.

I do still have to make a few changes, but nothing major. I'm quite happy about it.

Chapter 3 is due Tuesday, so I'll work on that Tuesday (I know, I know, but I probably won't have much time this weekend) and then I just have to turn in the entire paper after I've edited it. Then I am done. D. O. N. E.

I will have my M.Ed. and my credential. Done.

I don't think I can say that enough, I really love that word.

You know what other word I love? Sleep. Both kids are in bed (G fought the good fight, but I won this round) so I'm going to take my headachy, sore-throat self to bed and hope that tomorrow finds me in a much, much better mood.

Our Medical Drama

I will preface this by saying that hopefully last night's events prove to be the most dramatic and traumatic medical issues we have in this family. Because looking back on the events of last night, things could have been 1,000x worse. Looking objectively at this week, things could have been 1,000x worse; but when you're in the thick of it it's hard to be objective.

So. The story.

The kids have been sick since the 1st. Fevers (never over 101), runny noses, sneezing, watery eyes, etc. Tuesday they seemed to be doing better, Wednesday they were just a little sniffly (although at that point my Dad was sick) and so I figured we had seen the worst of it. Thursday everyone got worse. Bryan, the kids, even I wasn't feeling all that great Thursday evening.

Griffin got the worst of it though. He was so congested he was having trouble breathing, his right eye was constantly 'weepy', he was sneezing and coughing... but no fever. So we gave him a bit of baby Benedryl in the hopes it would clear up some of the mucous so he could sleep and he and I camped out on the couch so he could sleep on me in an inclined position. I hoped this would help him sleep since he hadn't gotten anything resembling decent sleep.

Neither one of us got much sleep. I couldn't fall asleep because Griffin needed to be patted/bounced to stay asleep and then he started having these weird breathing spells. He'd stop breathing for a few seconds (2-3 seconds max) then open his mouth, take in one big breath (which sounded like a frog croak), cough (which sounded like a seal bark), and cry (which sounded so pathetic). He'd have to pause during the crying to breathe, which means that he'd stop breathing, gasp, cough, and cry some more.

Broke my heart. And it freaked me the f*** out.

Bryan comes out in the living room to join us and I call the Blue Cross Advise Nurse. I generally love the AN line. I trust my nurses. I prefer nurses. But I now realize that the AN line has a serious case of CYA (cover your ass).

The nurse I spoke to was pleasant. She had a reassuring voice, she was calm. During the first part of our conversation she had me convinced that nothing was wrong. Until we started discussing G's breathing. She asked a few questions and the moment I said yes to one of them her voice changed. She was worried. Very worried. And then she said to me.

"Ma'am. You need to call 911. Would you like me to call them for you?"

If I was freaked out before I don't know what I would call my emotional state after that.

So we call 911 and a few minutes later, 6 Firemen are standing in our living room listening to G's chest.

Turns out, he's ok. Well, he sick. Really sick, but not Emergency Room sick.

The rest of the night was pretty suck-tastic. G slept on me in our bed for awhile, then slept next to me - that was when I was finally able to get a tiny bit of restless sleep.

I only taught one class period today and then went home to take care of my sick baby. We saw a doctor today and what he has is viral - meaning we keep and eye on him to make sure its not getting worse and just wait it out. If he's not better on Wednesday then they want to see him again. Croup was mentioned as a possible culprit, but he doesn't have a fever. It's not a sinus infection or ear infection.

Benadryl to clear up mucous, eye drops for his "weepy" eye, and humidifiers in every room in the house.

Add to this short naps (he's still not breathing well enough to nap for periods longer than 30 minutes) and now Penelope is having sinus problems. She woke up from a too-short nap crying... she has so much mucous that she is swallowing it (gross) and her breathing is now labored and a little on the erratic side (at least when she sleeps). Oh! And my fever is back! Hoo-flipping-ray.

In general, this week has been awful. I would like a do-over.

1,001

I have 1,001 things to do and 1,001 things I want to blog about.

Blogging wins for now.

This weekend is Poe's birthday weekend, I can't believe she's going to be two already! We have the location, invites out, and drinks and crayons purchased. We still need butcher paper, plates, random decorations, and a party dress for Pen. "What?" you say, "a party dress? What is this, 1940?" Well to you I say :P

The theme is crayons since she loves to color, and so the kids will be able to doodle to their hearts content. I should probably bring some other toys or games as well since not all of the kids will be as excited to color.

If I get my act together, I will be making her a gluten and dairy free cake in the shape of a crayon. If I don't get my act together she'll get a gluten and dairy free cake shaped like a rectangle.

I promise to take pictures.

On the G front, the poor bubs is sick. He has it coming out of both ends and it is.not.pretty. We think it might be a formula issue, it seemed to start with the opening of this latest can of formula - but that could be purely coincidental.

The advise nurse wants us to call in the morning and get him an appointment, she and I were both concerned about dehydration. So it looks like we'll be seeing the doctor in the morning. Hopefully I can arrange the appointment for after school, it's a short day anyway.

Ok, I really should do something more productive. I have SO MUCH TO DO.

tHERsday

Does anyone else remember when The Daily Show had tHERSdays? It was for the ladies ;)

Anyway, not much change on the Penelope sickness front. Although we've set up the humidifier in her room and I hope that will help her sleep in her own room tonight. But if she needs to come sleep with us in the middle of the night then that's ok too.

Oh, real quick - shoutout to my Aunt Jody who have baby #4 yesterday! Chloe Strong Rorie was born at home and Mom & baby are doing well. She was in the 6lb range and 19 inches long. We can't wait to meet our newest cousin!!!

So I'm in the middle of yet another ridiculous assignment for Grad School. Although I admit that I would probably find MOST assignments ridiculous. This is a timeline... really? A timeline in Grad School? Insert eye roll here.

You know, I had a lot I wanted to talk about, but it all completely escapes me. When Penny won't nap tomorrow I bet I'll remember everything I wanted to blog about.

Sick.. sleep.. summer

Penelope is sick... and not just the ear infection (which I'm 99% sure is gone). Her nose is running, she's sneezing a ton, watery eyes, and she's congested. I'm thinking it's a cold and there's really nothing we can do :( I've administered some saliene nose drops (which she HATES) in the hopes that it helps either the runny nose or the congestion, and we're suctioning her nose as well. That plus the antibiotics means she now hates us. Luckily we get to stop the antibiotics after Friday.

This has messed up her sleep. We were hit with some crappy sleep during the crux of the ear infection, and now she won't sleep in her crib at night. She'll sleep just fine in bed with B and I though... but hey, she's not feeling well and at least everyone is sleeping, right? Well, mostly everyone. Miss Bed Hog leaves little room for B and I to sleep. Oh well.

This summer has begun with a whimper, thank goodness. I'm not a fan of the summer heat and am quite glad that it's been delayed.

I should post more, but Cranky McSickypants needs to go to bed...

Feeling better

So even though Penelope woke up 5 times last night, it was a pretty good night (for her, not for Mommy & Daddy's sleep). She went right back down after either being fed, changed, or getting ear drops. At 5am I brought her into bed with us and she slept until almost 10! Her fever is gone and she's smiling and happy... still not eating all that well, but I can imagine it's not fun to eat when your ears hurt. The drops seem to be managing the pain pretty well tho.

Oh, and she weighed in at 21 lbs yesterday - did I already mention that? She's about 29.5 inches long, so the Jolly Green Giant continues to grow :)

We missed Brandon's 8th grade graduation this morning, and mom's group, but I'm just glad she's feeling better. I promise Brandon that I won't miss his high school graduation!

So hopefully today will be a good day. I'm optimistic.

Double Ear Infection

Boo!

So the Ped says it's viral, but gave us a prescription for antibiotics anyway (wtf?).

I know I should give them "time" but they suck and she HATES the meds with a burning passion... she sobs whenever she sees the bottle/dropper.

So we went to Whole Foods and picked up some homeopathic ear drops... 15 minutes later she's happy, eating, and NOT screaming bloody murder when I lay her down to change her diaper.

Home Remedies 1, Modern Medicine 0

(This is not to say that we don't believe in modern medicine because there is certainly a time and a place for medical intervention. Heck, if we didn't believe in modern medicine then we wouldn't have health insurance for her, get any vaccinations, or call a Pediatrician when we have concerns... and if the home remedies stop working then you can bet your @$$ I'll be back on the intervention band wagon. But if low-intervention strategies are working for her, then why up the ante?)

Thankful

We decided to take Penny in to the Pediatrician, our appointment is at 2:30 (although if the fever breaks then we may cancel).

Anyway, just being able to call and make an appointment without having to worry about taking time off of work, copay costs, or one of the other hundred reasons that some families don't have access to healthcare makes me incredibly thankful that we are able to afford coverage for Penny. There are so many children without coverage - who lack preventative healthcare, whose parents can't afford to take them in unless it's for dire emergencies, or whose copays are so extraordinary that families have to make decisions about feeding themselves vs. seeing a doctor... it's really quite tragic.

It makes me all the more supportive of universal coverage, especially for children. Healthcare isn't a privilege, it's a right.

A new first

Last night we got our first real fever. 102.5

Now she's had a fever of 100 before, but it quickly went away and was possibly operator error when it came to the digital ear thermometer. Last night's fever was no error, poor Penelope was SO hot to the touch and unable to sleep. Bryan and I took shifts, so neither one of us slept well (but at least we slept a little). Regular doses of Tylenol have dropped it down to 100.5 so I'm not going to take her in to the Pediatrician (I did call the on-call Ped last night and she didn't seem too worried, but told me to watch and monitor her).

If it spikes back up then we'll go in.

We're all so exhausted this morning...

Still sick

So we're on Day 5 of this cold. Bryan and I are trying to decide if we think it's just a lingering bug or if all her congestion is due to an allergy onset. I really hope it's not allergies, I would be super upset if we had to find new homes for our pets. While they're sometimes a pain in the butt, I LOVE our animals (ok, so maybe I don't love the cat - but I certainly don't want to get rid of her).

Ever since she got sick she's been having some sleep issues. Sleeping in her crib makes her more congested (I'm 99.9% sure that it's due to laying flat on her back) so we've brought her swing into our room and she sleeps in that. It puts her at a slight angle, so she gets less stuffy. However she still wakes up 3 times a night - which is what she was doing 2 months ago. So I feel like we've taken a huge step backwards in the sleeping department, but hopefully we'll go back to our awesome 1 waking once she's feeling better.

Last night she went to bed at 8, woke up at 9, was back down at 9:30, woke up at 2, down at 2:30 (my best guess, B took that shift), back up again at 5, down at 5:10 and up for the day at 6. It's now 8 and she's asleep. I hope she sleeps until at least 9:30.

I'm going to need some serious coffee today.

Sick Baby :(

So Saturday after we got back from Reno, Penny's nose started running and she was a little congested. We took her temperature (very slight fever - 99.9), gave her some infant Tylenol, suctioned the heck out of her nose, and cuddled her a lot. Sunday she seemed to be doing better until about mid-day and then her breathing started to get really loud, although she didn't seem to be bothered by it too much. She did get a little fussy near dusk, but cheered up when Bryan got home from golf (she LOVES her Daddy).

Monday morning she seemed much better, and I thought we were in the clear!

Last night was not fun - for her or us - she woke up every 3-4 hours (which doesn't seem all that bad, but considering that she had been getting 6 in a row at night her sleep has been almost halved). Her breathing sounds awful - and it's just her nose, her lungs sound clear (although I don't have a stethoscope, nor am I trained in any of that but to my untrained ear it sounds just like nasal congestion).

My Mom (who shall now be nominated for sainthood) dropped off some infant saline drops this morning. I'm going to try them once P wakes up from her nap... I currently have the humidifier and the air purifier running in P's room. I hope the humming noise they both make lulls her to sleep for longer than her normal 45 minute nap, poor baby NEEDS to sleep.

Thank goodness this is only a cold. I would be a wreck if it was anything more serious. I think she's handling the cold much better than I am, I feel like crying whenever I see her poor stuffed up face (this morning her right eye was red and puppy this morning too - my poor baby!). Being a mom is nerve racking.