Ummmm, do you think this looks serious?

 

I noticed the red spot on Friday.  I don’t know if it was on Friday morning or Friday afternoon, but I know that some time on Friday, I saw that Conor had a red spot on his upper arm.  I figured that some bug had bitten him.  It wasn’t swollen like a mosquito bite, but then again, I knew we were in the desert and he was unlikely to have to deal with mosquitoes. 

 

I checked it again on Saturday and it was still there and it was still red.  It was about the size of a quarter, but it really didn’t seem to bother him that much.  He wasn’t scratching it and except for us looking at it, he didn’t notice it at all.

 

Then on Sunday morning, I saw that it had blisters, huge big blisters, swollen to the point of looking very scary. 

 

Seeing blisters the size of a quarter on one’s son’s tiny arm is enough to make this mother freak out a little bit.  The first thing I thought of was a spider bite.  There are so many spiders in California, and in fact, Dave taking charge killed a big furry one walking along the bed in anger after seeing Conor’s arm.  (We later decided it was a mistaken spider murder, but we figure we’ll be forgiven) 

 

The only problem was that we couldn’t call our pediatrician’s office to find out what we should do.   We are one of the last people in the world without a cell phone.  Conor seemed fine enough but there was a ginourmous blister on his arm of suspicious origin.  Should we go to Urgent Care (not right around the corner in 29 Palms, I’d like to add!) or could we wait and see the doctor back in Charlotte.  For all we knew, it could be poison ivy from our own back yard!

 

I can lead you through the blow by blow of what we decided, but I think instead I’ll give you the highlights.  They involve a pharmacist friend in the wedding party, an RN who works as the hostess in the Inn’s restaurant and Web MD. 

 

It’s unlikely that it was a spider bite (sorry dead furry spider!) because they blister up quickly, they are very painful, and they are more likely to be a hard lumpish sort of think.  Conor had no problem with us touching it (thus not painful) and we could tell by touching it wasn’t hard. 

 

It was, however, likely to be plant poison, possibly from one of the cacti around our Inn or even from our quick trip to Joshua Tree.  Plant poisons can take days to blister and we heard from the RN that the points of cacti (I really like saying cactuses better) contain poison.  They wouldn’t affect us as we are big people, but a little toddler could react to it! 

 

The whole blister thing has taken nearly a week to resolve.  Today, he only has a scar in that spot, but it’s a huge, ugly purplish scar which we are now putting kiddie Mederma on.  It never did itch and it never did weep, so we’re ruling out poison ivy.  I swear I recall that on the first day he walked into a plant, but I could be wrong. 

 

It’s times like those that make me think we should get a cell phone.  But then again, it was Web MD that gave us the list of when to go to the doctor because of unknown rashes and blisters. 

 

OK.  I’m off to try to still catch up from our trip out west.  Vacations in the middle of the semester suck. 

8:28:50 PM     trackback [] Comments? []

Lots of Firsts

 

We have been in the desert.  Wandering around for a few days and now we’re back.

 

No, I’m not kidding.  We went to Joshua Tree and Twentynine Palms, CA for our friend’s wedding.  And we took the little guy.

 

I’ve never been so impressed with our little muffin.  He was a trooper on the plane:  he only fussed a little and charmed the pants off everyone sitting around us.  Of course, it helped having a window seat so he could see the little houses and cars and he loved the dozens of trucks driving around the airport.  But honestly he was once again the best baby on the plane. 

 

We also lucked into the best travel time to help him adjust to west coast time:  we arrived 12 pm their time (3 pm ours) which was entirely too late for him to be awake without a nap (hence the fussing), but he was able to take a good nap from the Palm Springs Airport to our inn, which included a trip to Taco Bell (real Mexican food now that we were back on the west coast!) en route to the Inn.  Food for us, nap for him.

 

Then we arrived at the Twentynine Palms Inn, a charming group of cabins on an oasis.  Yes, a real oasis in a real desert.  Besides the fact that it was the best restaurant in the city (they grow their own veggies), it was way cool. 

 

And 30 minutes after we arrived, Conor got his first dip into a real pool.

 

He is a water baby.  Even when his teeth were chattering from the cold of this unheated pool he wouldn’t leave.  We took turns floating and twirling him around the water.  After more than an hour, when we were all water logged, we took him out and back to our cabin.  Can I tell you how adorable and heartbreaking it was to have our little guy sob “Bye-bye pool.  Bye-bye pool” hugging our legs, waving and crying to his new favorite activity. 

 

So we dressed him and took a tour of the grounds at which point he saw his first live ducks.  (way cool!) We went to the fancy restaurant where he behaved like an angel and afterward sat out at the pool (he told him it had gone night-night) and listened to a classical music trio which enthralled him almost as much as clapping with everyone else between the songs. 

 

Can I tell you how in love I am with my little guy?  Two planes, a pool, ducks, a fancy restaurant, new music and a new place to sleep and he completely rolled with it.  He was up for and excited about each new thing.  What an amazing little man. 

 

All in all, it was fun.  There were some “interesting events” but we had a good time.   

 

In the next entry, I’ll talk about our debate about whether to go to Urgent Care or not. 

 

And btw, yes, I’m behind in blogging.  Things are going on. 

9:41:28 PM     trackback [] Comments? []

Feeling Our Way Through This

 

Way back in December, when I had the miscarriage, I remember feeling that I didn’t know what “path” we were on now.  That I didn’t  know what I supposed to feel or even what I was going to feel as we started the healing process.

 

I do know that I was surprised by how quickly I bounced back and was able to “get back to normal.”  And I’ve been surprised by how I’ve had bad reactions to hearing good news about the pregnancy of others. 

 

And now we’re at a whole completely new stage and I’m surprised at how I’m reacting now.  First, we’re in our first cycle in TTC again.  And I’m not going to tell you where we are on it just so we can deal with it when it happens by ourselves.  But I do have to share with you that I’m not taking my morning temperature regularly. 

 

Yikes!  I know!!  You’re just as shocked as I am.  How can little Miss I-gotta-be-in-control not be taking her temperatures?  Well, one reason is that the battery died and I’ve yet to replace it.  But I wasn’t taking my temps regularly before then either. 

 

Even more shocking was my reaction to the positive OPK: hmmmmmmm.  Yes, my reaction was actually:  hmmmmmmm.   I even took tests two to make sure it was correct because I didn’t believe the first one  This is coming from a woman who fairly whoops when we get a positive OPK, because I had evidence that things were finally “happening.” 

 

I have been searching for how to name this feeling and I come up with ambivalence.  (And little love bunny, if I do get pregnant and you’re born and you’re reading this, I was never ambivalent about you;  I’m ambivalent about being vulnerable again and open to being hurt again)

 

It’s completely bizarre for me.  I’m not temping, desperately searching for a sign that I’m pregnant.  I’m not anxiously analyzing every twitch and tingle despite knowing there is no way possible for me to be sensing being pregnant.  I’m not counting the days and hours until I can take my first pregnancy test. 

 

I’m just sort of going with the flow. Which for me is quite unusual. 

 

11:19:45 AM     trackback [] Comments? []

Twenty Questions with a Toddler:  The Twilight Version

 

Do you want some nummies?

 

Yeah.

 

Do you want more?

 

Yeah.

 

Other side?

 

Yeah.

 

Do you want to go to bed?

 

No.

 

Do you want more nummies?

 

Yeah.

 

((Loop through above questions several times))

 

Do you want Daddy?

 

Yeah.

 

((Pause and exchange of parents))

 

Do you want to say Night-Night to everybody?

 

Yeah.

 

((Pause while father and son say night-night to all the stuffed and painted animals in the room))

 

Do you want to go to bed?

 

Yeah.

 

Do you want to lie down?

 

No.

 

Do you want to lie down?

 

No.

 

((pause and small grunt))

 

Are you going poop?

 

Yeah.

 

Are you pooping?

 

Yeah.

 

Are you done going poop?

 

((pause))

 

Yeah.

 

Do you want to change your diaper?

 

No.

 

Let’s change your diaper.

 

NO!

 

We have to change your diaper.

 

NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

 

((crying as diaper changed and then pause))

 

Do you want to rock?

 

Yeah.

 

Do you want some water?

 

Yeah.

 

Do you want to go to bed?

 

Yeah.

 

Do you want to lie down?

 

Yeah.

 

Nighty-night. 

 

It’s not always this easy or this straightforward, but it’s pretty close.  The poop thing was only over the weekend and can I just say how weird it is to ask someone if they are going poop? 

 

It’s only slightly less weird to have them to answer “yeah.”  

 

Sleep talking

 

In other toddler related sleeping news, Conor is increasing his sleep talking.  Two nights ago, we heard over the monitor “Milk!!”  (although it sounds more like “MEEE-ilk!”)  Dave and I rushed around to find a sippy cup of milk and then went to Conor’s door at which point we realized he was sound asleep.  Clearly, he was hungry (or thirsty or in his dreams at daycare fighting for his cup), but he was sound asleep. 

 

Home Depot

 

That’s what it feels like around here.  We’ve pretty much finished the bathroom.  I’ll update flickr this afternoon.  We also just had a truckload (literally!) of mulch delivered this morning for spreading around the yard.  It’s a bargain and a half from the city; just $115.  And with my friends arriving tonight for a 6 to 8 week visit, it shouldn’t take us nearly as long to spread it around.  (We’re going to put them to work, not the least of which will be babysitting while Dave and I have a date or two!)

10:43:46 AM     trackback [] Comments? []

Nummies Kind of Go Night-Night

 

Well, last night’s sleep was muuuuuuuuuuuuuch better.  Conor only woke up once at 11:15 which has become his first time to wake up, almost like clockwork.  It doesn’t matter what time he goes to bed or what time we go to bed, he wakes up at 11:15 on the dot.

 

We tried the nummies go night-night explanation which led to hysterical screaming so I relented and soon Conor went back night-night.  He then woke up about 30 minutes later and Dave game him a sip of water and he was back down for the rest of the night. 

 

I don’t think he understands the whole “Sun goes down and Conor and nummies go night night” thing yet, so this morning, when he got up we made a big deal about how the Sun Was Up, Too (which it really isn’t because we’re having a freak cold snap including SLEET yesterday so it was really cloudy and not sunny at all).  Nonetheless, there was a sort of glow behind the blinds in his bedroom so we’re going to promote that when the Sun Wakes Up, so Conor and nummies can too. 

 

I do feel infinitely better today.  And tomorrow I go back to the doctor for my repeat C/T scan to see what progress has been made.  I will take your questions along with mine and see what we can see with this whole Chronic Sinus Infection that causes poopedness and potential delay in procreating thing. 

 

In other news, we’ve finished painting the bathroom and bought new accessories (yikes! More expensive than I thought it would be).  I’ll post new pictures here later on.  It’s odd that now I feel like it’s gotten almost too understated.  But I guess that’s what happens when you live in blue, yellow, terra cotta and sage house.  Off white with blue accents just seems dull.  We’re not finished yet, but we’re well on the way. 

 

Does it ever really end though? 

12:14:49 PM     trackback [] Comments? []

Sleep

 

Oh, dear, I am so tired.  While surfing the net on chronic sinus infections and fatigue, I found that chronic sinus infections are often incorrectly diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome and that the most common indicator of a chronic sinus infection is not headache or pressure, but fatigue. 

 

Add to that a toddler who doesn’t want to sleep and idiot parents who can’t figure out why and you’ve got one sleepy working mama.

 

Last Thursday, we had a horrible night of sleep.  And it wasn’t until Dave (who kept waking up thirsty from our dinner) gave Conor a sippy cup of water and the child fell back asleep soundly did we realize that 1) we are truly idiots as parents and 2) water is good for children at night. 

 

Last night, however, we could not figure out what the problem was.  He was up nursing 13 (THIRTEEN…1! 3!) times from 11:30 pm until 6 am.  He was in bed with us, otherwise, I would have slit my wrists, but we don’t know what happened.  He did wake up with a running nose, so maybe there’s a sore throat involved.  All I can conclude though at the moment is 1) we are still idiots and 2) I am fucking tired. 

 

Dave agrees with Gabriella, our resident dentist/commenter, that I have a sleep deficit what with both the toddler and nose.  I confess that I went to bed at 9:00 on Saturday, slept in until 7 am, and still did not wake up feeling refreshed.  I tried to go to bed last night early, too, but even 15 minutes of the Sopranos worked me up so much I had a hard time settling down. 

 

And as for how I’m feeling with the sinus infection, the only thing I can say is “tired.”  There is no more snot coming out in any large fashion.  I’m still on the antibiotics trying to kill off the film that is keeping those germies alive.  But the most I feel is clogged, not congested, sort of like I’ve been swimming and my nose is irritated. 

 

And I’m tired.  But how on earth can I say I’m more tired than you are?  Raise your hand if you are NOT tired?  I’m looking out my window and I do not see a lot of people with their hands raised.  So I’m tired.  Yes, very tired.  But what parent of young children isn’t?

 

As for the mega-nursing, tonight we are going to start the ol’ nummies go night-night routine.  We’ll make sure the little guy has a big dinner and has lots of water before he goes to sleep.  But Mom’s All Night Dinner is going to issue a last call for boob-a-hol around 8:30.  And as we used to say in the bar where I used to be a cocktail waitress:  “Either you work here, you sleep here, or you sleep with someone who works here.  But you can’t nurse any more till the morning.”  Or something like that.  

 

In any case, boobies need to sleep, too.  Or as he calls them “boo boos.”  Mommy’s boo boos need to go night-night.  They will wake up with the sun comes up and Conor can have more nummies then. 

 

Now it’s time to go make another pot of coffee. 

12:49:32 PM     trackback [] Comments? []