Wordless Wednesday

An Oscar Performance

Dear Katie,

Last Friday, I spoke to a nurse from your doctor's office in regards to your low-grade fever you came home with. Concerned that there was something serious going on, I started asking more questions regarding the rash you had been dealing with. I mentioned to the nurse that 3 nights in a row you had been having difficulty sleeping and that you were waking and staying up for 3 hours at a time. I thought she was going to reassure me that this is all part of this particular virus. Instead, do you know what she told me? She said, "Um, sounds to me like she is 'playing' you!". Say what? No. Not Katie. Not my sweet, pitiful, sick baby girl. But, "She is only 8 months old," I told her. She told me that this is where it all begins...

I picked up the phone and called my best friend, your Aunt K, and asked her what she thought. After several minutes, we both agreed that you were sick, BUT that you may need a little "reassurance", if you will, if you choose to wake up in the middle of the night (once you are all better)just because you want some Mommy/Daddy time. In other words, we would finally have to consider letting you do thathorrible thing - CRY IT OUT.

Much to my surprise, you slept extremely well both Friday and Saturday nights. But, unfortunately, Sunday night rolled around and I should have known you would wake up - I mean, it was Sunday night after all.

Once again, you suckered me in, and this time I blamed your painful gums. So, I rocked you. I rocked you for 45 minutes and decided you were good and relaxed, and then this happened:

I put you into your crib.
You started to cry.
I left the room.
I consulted with your Dad while you wailed in your room.
I caved and went back in and picked you up.
I rocked you. This time for 15 minutes until I thought you were REALLY good and relaxed.
I put you into your crib.
You screamed.
I left the room.
I consulted with your Dad while you screamed bloody murder in your room.
He (caved) and went back in and picked you up.
He rocked you. This time for 25 minutes and put you into the crib because you were trying to rip his chest hair out in chunks. Yes, that's right.
He put you into your crib.
You completely lost your sh*t.
And you then continued to lose your sh*t for the next half hour until you completely passed out, stomach down, butt up in the air, pacifier in your mouth...until 7:30 this morning.

Well, I had seen it in the movies. I've read about it in books. I've had friends tell me about this happening before, but I can honestly say that I had no idea that at 8-months you could start to show such a personality. Honey, dramatic doesn't even begin to describe what we saw over the monitor.

You were literally throwing yourself down on your mattress, thrashing around, screaming - I mean SCREAMING. Then, you would get real quiet and look around as though you were waiting for someone to walk into the room. When no one would come, you would sit up, make fists with both hands and start screaming/grunting as loud as you could. Bravo, my child...bravo.

And, the Oscar goes to...




Love,
Mama

On the mend

It appears as though the drama from last week is finally coming to an end. No question that we were hit with a double-whammy last week between the viral rash and teething. We're still battling teething issues, but honestly, I'll take it any day over the symptoms of a nasty rash.

One tooth finally cut through on Friday (right top outer tooth-in between the Eye tooth and center tooth) and another one is just about to bust through. She isn't feeling 100% because of this tooth - there is a blister over her gum, so I suspect it will come through within the next couple of days.

I bought some Orajel night time medicine and it definitely seems to be doing the trick at night. Last week was worse than having a newborn in terms of the lack of sleep we were getting, so if it's the Orajel that is doing the trick, I'll keep applying it until the tooth comes through!

I'm looking forward to a good drama-free week! ;)

One Helluva Week

Wow. I had several people warn me that parenting takes on a whole different feel whenever your baby gets sick. I had no idea. Again, wow.

I received a call from her daycare on Monday afternoon around 1:00 letting me know that she had a fever of 101.1. They told me she had to stay home on Tuesday and could return once she didn't have a fever for 24 hours. They also mentioned that there is a virus floating around that some of the older kids (toddlers, maybe?) had contracted and it consisted of a fever and a rash. I wasn't worried. I thought I would err on the safe side and take her to the pediatrician - knowing that it was probably one of two things - either teething or an ear infection.

After sitting at the doctor's office for an hour and 15 minutes, they finally took me back, took one look in her mouth and told me she was teething. 2 top teeth (the outer top two in between the front teeth and the K-9's) were starting to surface. Phew. At least it wasn't an ear infection.

She was cranky that day, I gave her Tylenol before bed as well as some teething tablets and called it a night.

We had a Mommy and Me day on Tuesday and I SO enjoyed it. She was a little fussy, but manageable. I considered myself lucky that day to have been able to spend time with her, go to the playground, go for a walk, play indoors, etc. She was fever-free all day, so I packed her diaper bag, made bottles and hit the sack.

Then came the screaming at 2 am. I didn't even have to pick her up to know she had a fever. 102.5. And on top of that? A rash. Great.

And, honestly, it just went from bad to worse from there - everything from the actual rash itself to just how the days/nights went. I'll spare you all the details, but will say that last night - or should I say "this morning" - she went to bed at 4 am. Today, she cried almost the entire day until 4:00 when I got smart, put her in the car and literally drove around Smyrna for 2 hours. 2 hours!!! She sat there for part of the time and then finally drifted off to sleep.

I can honestly say that today was the hardest day that I have had in the 8 months of being a new mom.

I am sure tonight will be another long night - she has already woken up once in the hour that she has been in her crib. I'm planning on moving the ottoman back into her room, bringing a pillow and a blanket and am prepared to rock with her all night if I have to. As long as she lets me sit down (unlike last night where I had to walk around her room for several hours)...

But, I will say that despite all of the crappiness that this week brought, I have never been so happy to hear the words, "Mamamamamama" that came out of my baby's mouth for the first time late last night (and two times today)!

Baby's First Plane Ride

Dear Katie,

I have mixed emotions about this blog post. On one hand, I am so excited that you were able to experience your first plane ride this past holiday weekend. On the other hand, I am still completely traumatized by the fact that you were Crying sobbing uncontrollably for 30 solid minutes on the return flight - accompanied with a blowout and major spit up upon exiting the plane.

I went into both flights thinking that I could really care less what other passengers think if you get upset. You're a baby. You cry. You can't help it if your ears begin to hurt - you can't chew gum, yawn on command or swallow in a way that will help make them pop. Your mother, on the other hand, can help you by not trying to feed you a ridiculous amount of food thinking that the continuous "sucking" will help remedy the situation. But, guess what? I cared. I cringed. I almost started crying myself because all I could think about is what do all of these other people think? Daddy, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less about everyone else. He got it. He understood what you were going through and may have spent more time trying to calm me down than you.

So, as you may imagine, I am left with mixed emotions. I want to take a solo flight with you next month to visit family, but am terrified. Forget how I am I going to lug everything into the airport, through the airport and onto the plane - what am I going to do if you start crying uncontrollably and I don't have your Dad with me to help (calm me down)?

What probably topped the entire situation off is that as soon as we exited the plane, you not only let out a large burp, but you spit up everywhere and then started to crack up. If only you had done that on the plane...

Love,

Mommy

She's On the Move!

Dear Katie,

Today is a big day for you. While you have been on the verge of crawling for the past week, I am going to officially declare July 2, 2010 as the day you started crawling. Not only did I witness it this morning when I dropped you off at daycare, but I witnessed it tonight in your nursery. You don't go more than a few crawl "steps" at a time, but it's enough that I can say you are a crawler!

Daddy better get to work this upcoming week on baby proofing! Our lives as we know it will never be the same.

Love,
Mama