Mommy's Rough Week

Shad's Bad Back

Well, Shad reaggravated the herniated disks in his back on Monday evening. He was on the floor doing his back exercises before his softball game. He went to stand up and had a severe spasm. He was in so much pain that I almost called for an ambulance. He couldn't move, much less sit or stand. He was basically stuck on his hands and knees, but still wasn't comfortable. His reaction to the pain really scared Christopher. Poor thing was crying right along with Daddy! When Shad was finally able to get into the recliner, he wanted me to bring Christopher over to see him. However, Christopher didn't want anything to do with Shad, which upset Shad even more. If it hadn't been for the Lortab that was leftover from my gallbladder surgery, he wouldn't have made it through the night!

After being drugged up, he was able to sleep until it all wore off. Around 2:00, he woke up in as much agony as when it first happened. I got up to get some more Lortab and stayed awake with him until he fell back asleep around 3:00. Since he couldn't move to any other position besides his back, he couldn't roll onto his sides. When he sleeps on his back, HE SNORES. Therefore, between being wide awake anyway and his snoring, I couldn't go back to sleep. Finally around 6:30 (yep, still awake!), I moved out to the couch to try and salvage a little bit of sleep. I think I dozed for about an hour, but Christopher woke me up around 8:00. So, I went off of about 4 hours of sleep on Tuesday. No fun!

I took Shad to see his doctor on Tuesday morning. Thankfully, he was able to move a little better and was able to get out of the car and walk into the doctor's office (unlike last time which resulted in an overnight hospital stay)! He got a Cortizone shot and was sent home with prescriptions for a steroid, a muscle relaxer and some more Lortab. He also took yesterday and today off work, but is planning on going back tomorrow. He's moving around much better now, but won't be playing any golf or softball for a while! He claims his problems resulted from not being in shape or using his muscles enough. He played a softball game on Friday night and then turned around and played in a church golf scramble Saturday morning. He was pretty sore after playing golf on Saturday, but was planning to play softball again on Monday night. I guess that was too much for him, though.

Another Stomach Bug for Christopher

When I went to get Christopher up on Tuesday morning, before ever walking into his room, I realized something bad...he threw up sometime in the night! When I opened his bedroom door, his room REEKED! Christopher, though, was as happy as usual and ready to get up, eat breakfast and play. So, I cleaned up as much as I could and then fed him a little cereal. Unfortunately, I forgot to not give him milk and after drinking almost a full sippy cup, everything from breakfast came back up...before he even got out of his highchair! Ugh! So, now not only did I have a husband not able to do much for himself, but I also had a sick baby!

I had a softball game on Tuesday and Shad assured me that he'd be okay with Christopher. I told him not to put him to bed since he didn't need to be lifting anything, but apparently, Christopher couldn't make it until I got home. So, I got home to Christopher in bed sound asleep. Since I wasn't planning on Shad doing the bedtime routine, I didn't give him any bedtime instructions, including NO MILK. Of course, he didn't know he wasn't supposed to give Christopher milk, so that's what he put in the bedtime sippy. As a result, Christopher got sick just a little bit overnight. So, more sheets and pj's and carpet to clean on Wednesday!

He's had a couple of runny diapers and a little bit of a decreased appetite today, but overall has been okay. I tried nursing a few times to supplement, but he actually refused it once. That was a first! He started to refuse it a second time, but decided at the last second that he wanted to afterall. LOL! So, no milk at bedtime tonight and we've been trying to follow the BRAT diet. Hopefully, he'll be completely over the bug tomorrow!

He's got his second dentist appointment tomorrow afternoon. They'll just do another exam. I'm sure he'll cry like he did the first time. I'm wondering if he's too young yet. I don't want to scare him so much that he won't have anything to do with the dentist when he really needs to start going!

Mommy's Birthday

Today is my 29th birthday! Yay...I think! I'm certainly not feeling old, although I DO have my moments! As a friend who also just turned 29 told me...this is the only year that we can *truely* say we're 29! ;-) LOL! Shad won't say that he's 31. Instead, he says that he's celebrating the 2nd anniversary of his 29th birthday. LOL! I guess there's just something about turning 30. I don't know what, but I'll probably find out this time next year. :-\

So, the first good thing to happen was that Christopher slept all night long. Yay! He woke up around 7:30 and let me stay in bed until around 8:00. Even though I don't get to stay in bed until 9:00 or later, it's MUCH better than getting up once or twice in the night!

After we got up, I gave him the bath that I attempted to give him last night before bed. He was in such pitiful shape and so tired last night, though, and wouldn't tolerate the bath AT ALL, so I gave up and just put him to bed. He still didn't want to take one this morning, but I wasn't going to cave this time, so he tolerated it long enough for me to clean him, but not any longer. I don't know what his deal is, but this child has hated baths from Day 1! I really hope he grows out of it! I thought most kids his age like to play in bathwater.

Shad surprised me this morning with my birthday gift. He left it on the coffee table before leaving for work, so I found it when I got up. It was a gift purse from Bath and Body Works with body spray, lotion and shower gel in the new Wild Honeysuckle scent. The purse is nice and springy, but DH's ulterior motive was for me to use it during football season since it's close to the UT orange. LOL! Now, I just need to get a wallet since I don't have one. The purse I'm currently using has a place for my money and cards.

I have several errands to run today, but can't go anywhere until after Christopher wakes up and eats lunch. He normally takes a 3 hour nap, but I'm probably going to cut it short at 2 hours so we can get everything done. I need to be back home between 5:00 and 5:30 since a friend is coming over to babysit Christopher for a little while tonight.

I've got a Mom's Night Out (MNO) planned tonight with online friends I met through my local board on BabyCenter. We're meeting at Olive Garden, which will be yummy! However, Shad's got a softball game at 6:00, so has to go straight there from work. That's why I've got a friend babysitting Christopher. It shouldn't be for very long, though, since it's only about an hour.

Tomorrow, Shad's got a church golf scramble first thing in the morning. That'll probably last until noon or 1:00. Plus, it's in Manchester, which is about a 45 minute drive from here. He'll have an hour or two to shower and relax before we head out to Nashville. We've got 5:30 reservations at The Melting Pot, but have to drop Christopher off at Richard's first. We try to go there each year around my birthday. It's SO yummy and is mine and Shad's favorite restaurant!!! It's prom season, though, so I always have to make reservations at least a month in advance! I made this one TWO months ago just to be safe! LOL!

So, we've got a BUSY weekend planned, but that's okay every once in a while! I'd better go get some stuff done around here now while Christopher's sleeping.

Later!

16 Months

Here's an update on a couple of things:

Ear Infections: We went for Christopher's 3 week follow-up ear check on Tuesday, April 10 and have been given the "All Clear!" Therefore, no talk of tubes at this point! Yay!

Weaning: On Thursday, March 29, I decided to cut out the bedtime nursing, which only left the middle-of-the-night feedings. Instead, I've been giving him about 4 oz of cow's milk in a sippy and he's been doing great with it! For me, though, it's been bittersweet! I'm ready to wean, but at the same time am not. Since dropping the bedtime feeding, he's been doing SO much better sleeping through the night! He still has several nights in which he either wakes up, cries and goes right back to sleep or he stays awake and then needs me. It's the nights that he can't go back to sleep on his own that I am able to nurse him. Right now, though, it's not uncommon for me to go 2 or 3 days/nights in a row without nursing, but surprisingly, my supply is still holding up. However, I just went back onto regular bcp's, which will probably decrease my supply. If it means completely weaning, then I'm okay with that. If we can push through, I might pick another feeding back up (NOT the bedtime one, though!). I haven't completely decided yet.

Non-Christopher Stuff: Shad and I are just starting our softball seasons. My team (the women) started practice around mid-March. Shad's team (the men), though, weren't on the ball and only had 2 practices. We both have our first game tomorrow night. We seem to have a bunch of younger, college-aged girls this year on my team. I just hope they stick around since we always have a problem keeping players. It looks as if we should have a decent team. I guess I'll get more of an idea after tomorrow's game.

My birthday is this Friday (April 20). I'm celebrating it by going to a Mom's Night Out (MNO) with a group of friends that I met online on my local Babycenter message board. We'll be going to Olive Garden. Shad's got a ballgame at 6:00 that evening, though, so we're having to find a babysitter, which is not common. Other than Shad's dad, we've only let a couple of people babysit. As long as I know and trust them, though, I'm okay leaving him. He'll be at home, too, so that helps. Plus, it's only going to be for 1-1/2 hours at most.

We've got to be at church here in a little bit and Christopher's sleeping, so it's time to go wake the munchkin up and get him ready.