DD Minus 27 - Last Fortnight We Had A Sleepover

I know posting around here has been a bit erratic, but i've tried to post at least once a week. And then, last week - nada. So where was I ? I would love to be able to say that i was off on some exotic babymoon, or too busy doing interesting things but no... sadly, my gorgeous little Flynny had picked up a bout of gastro and we spent the majority of the week hanging around at the hospital.

See, my BIL and SIL visited us on a Friday night with their three children. They live 3 hrs away so we dont see them all that often, but when they are in town or on their way through, they stop in for a cuppa and a play. Their middle boy, who is notoriously sooky, was alternately lying all over my lounge and then getting up to play with all of Flynns toys ( which he didnt pack up when he left! ). After an hour, as they were leaving, BIL thinks to say " Oh, by the way, Middle Child has been vomiting all day "..... well bloody thanks! I know we dont see you often but why would you bring a child you has been throwing up all day into a house with a toddler AND a pregnant lady?! Morons...

Saturday and Sunday passed ok, Monday Flynn seemed a little lethargic then bam! Midnight Monday poor little fella starts throwing up. He tried eating a little and drinking, but he couldnt keep anything down and had very dry nappies so Tuesday afternoon up we went to the local emergency ward. After some hydralite, an anti-nausea tablet, and being monitored for 3 hrs we were allowed to go home, with strict instructions that if he started vomiting again or his nappies were still excessively dry, to come back. Which is exactly what we did Wednesday lunchtime, after another morning of " bomits " and dry nappies.

This time he had a canula inserted and was put on a drip, to be admitted to the Paed ward for the night. My poor little man - it took 4 of us to hold him down so the doctor could insert the canula, and after that he was terrified of sitting on his little bed in the ER, waiting to go down to the ward. He wouldnt sit anywhere except on someones lap - luckily my mum and dad had both come to see him and decided they would stay til he was moved from ER to Paeds. Once we were down there he calmed a bit - the lovely nurses gave him some stickers and offered him some custard, which he managed to eat and keep down - and after a quick trip home to get us some PJs he and i settled in for the night.

I tried to make it sound exciting by telling him it was a " sleep over " at the hospital. Even though there was nothing remotely exciting about it, it seemed to work - he only woke once during the night, when his drip ran out and the machine started beeping. I, however, had the fold out bed from hell and was incredibly uncomfortable, what with the squeaky springs, and pregnancy aches. Its an experience i hope not to repeat ever again! Thankfully in the morning his appetite had started to come back, his nappies were wet and he seemed much more like himself, so were sent home on gate leave at lunch time ( and officially discharged the next day ).

And that, my friends, is what kept me from posting last week. Even on the Friday, when we were home and totally vomit free for 2 days, i was still exhausted from all the stress of having my little man sick, and the lack of sleep. I dont think my brain would have functioned for me well enough to post, even if i had had the motivation! But now, with the official countdown on, my motivation is back. Question remains - what do i post tomorrow?

A ( Long ) Weekend By The Numbers

Its been a while since i've done a Weekend By The Numbers post ( the last one was in October of last year! ) and, seeing as i'm not inspired by todays #Trust30 prompt, i've decided to skip it and do a weekend run down instead....

Image from here

1 - date gone on with Mick. Oh yea, we left Flynn in the very capable ( and loving ) hands of my parents so we could go to the movies together.

3 - movies watched this weekend. " Pirates 4 " at the movies with Mick, " Shrek Forever After " at home with the boys and " Black Swan " at home by myself. Can i just say - Nina from "Black Swan "? Total nutcase...

140 - dollars spent on two suits and two ties for Mick and his best man for our wedding. They were business suits marked down from $200 at Lowes - oh yea, we are awesome savvy shoppers!

10 - blissful hours of sleep on Saturday night, when i had the night to myself. Mick had gone away to his brothers for the night, and i asked my parents if Flynn could have a sleep over so i could have sometime to myself... and they said " of course! " so i gotta to sit home Saturday night, watch " Sister Act2 ", Twitter, blog, read some of my book ( " Deliverance From Evil " by Frances Hill ) and eat icecream....all whilst being uninterrupted!

7 - hours spent in the Emergency ward early Monday morning with Flynn ( and his teddy bear, Bruce ). He'd come down with croup (again - this is the 3rd time in about 9 months ) so i had him in bed with me so i could monitor his breathing. He'd had the cough before, but never the horrible, wheezing stridor. At 1:30am he sat up, crying, trying to get in air but all you could was the squeak as the air struggled to get down into his lungs, and he was twitching his limbs and hot all over. I hastily put on my slippers, warm dressing gown ( and, strangely, my bra... ) and took him straight to the hospital. They put him on some nebulised adrenalin to open the airways, and then gave him a shot of steroids to help keep them open. 4 more hours of monitoring ( and trying to sleep on a narrow ER bed... not.comfy. Jan ) and we were allowed to go home... and, thankfully, he was much better last night. ( Oh, and in case you were concerned, Bruce the teddy has hit ears and his heart checked and he is ok aswell ).

25 - dollars my Mum spent on a pair of boots for me, just 'cause she wanted to by me a present. You have to love the specials at Rivers - boots that were originally $80 for $25? yes please! And oh - thank you Mum!

50 - approximate number of times Flynn has said " Luff you Mummy! " this weekend. Some when i dropped him at Poppy's for his sleepover; some at the hospital when he was all upset, cuddled up on my lap; and a whole bunch yesterday afternoon when he had his strength back a bit, running around the loungeroom like a man man. Gotta love those 3 little words....

That Small Warm Weight

The small, warm weight of him is nuzzled against my stomach, his head sweaty against my breast. He has been here for days now, feeling safe encircled in my arms. Without the use of words, we communicate with touch - i know his tummy hurts so i give it a gentle massage; i know his throat aches so i offer him his water; to show how sleepy and sick and altogther frusturated he is he pulls gently at my ponytail, at the soft flesh under my chin. He wants no-one but me - even the Daddy he idolises so much has been pushed aside - and i feel strangely honoured that he wants me as his comfort.

His mum. Mummy. Muuuuuuuummmmmmy.

Yet, i too feel frusturated. I want my lap back - selfishly, perhaps, i want twenty minutes to have a shower without hearing the tired moans of my son, or an hour to cook and eat my dinner without having to fork mouthfuls of food very carefully over the top of his fluffy head. His father would take him - has taken him - but the constant siren wail of " Muuuum! Muuummmy! " is too hard to listen to. It is easier to work around him, to suffer the sore back and numb buttocks for him, to only go to the bathroom when he has fallen asleep and can be put down.

And then, when i again shift my weight beneath his smallness and find a new comfortable spot, i remind myself how lucky i am that it has only been days. That it is not months of sickness, of suffering, of tired frusturation. That we are at home on our lounge under a blanket watching Sesame Street and Play School, and not stuck in the paediatric ward of a hospital. That i even have a child to be sick, when other women want so badly to have a fluffy, sweaty, bundle calling out their name. And, most luckily, that i have family to support me, who gladly agree to take my boy for the night so i can cook, and eat, and fold the four baskets of washing that have piled up in the few days he has been sick.

And i smile through my discomfort, and hold him tighter. I brush the soft hair across his forehead, stroke the smooth baby skin of his cheek. This is only temporary, but he is mine forever....

Cold and Flu and Buggy Things...

Image from here

Does anyone want my cold? I've had a cold/flu type thing for over a week now, and the constant sniffles and bone-rattling coughing fits are driving me up the wall. They are also hindering my fledgling exercise routine - by the end of the day my energy levels have been pretty low, so i havent done any exercise for the last 10 days. I'm not feeling too happy about this fact, seeing as i had done so well the last fortnight with the 2kg weight loss. I was really keen to push on and then bam! I've turned into germ city. Yuck.


However, i have been careful with what i've been eating. Granted, i did have takeaway twice in the past week but i made sure that my other meals those two days were spot on, health and calorie wise. I weighed myself this weekend, just out of curiousity and concern that this damned cold was sending me back a few steps, and i had lost weight ( i'm not telling you how much - you'll have to wait til next weeks official weigh in! ) but i'm 95% certain that had i been able to get in a few 40 minute walks i would have lost a bit more. I did take myself out for a stroll on my lunch breaks though - a leisurely 20 minute walk around the CBD near my office - and i guess thats something.

So we'll see how i'm feeling by Wednesday afternoon. Mick and I have agreed that Wednesday arvo's are my night to go out for a walk while he stays in with Flynn ( who is either in the middle of his dinner/bath/bed routine, or already asleep, when its most convenient to walk.. ), and then i can take Flynn in his pram Thursday and Friday mornings, weather permitting. So consider this me crossing my fingers that my cold clears up a little, and that the weather stays clear, over the next week....

What A Couple Of Days!

Holy guacamole - the last few days have been " different " to say the least. You may have noticed that i missed Friday Flip Offs but there is reason for that. Let me backtrack:

*Thursday - woke up feeling a little yucky, which i blame on Flynn. Last week i had a stomach bug for three days, i had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday feeling back to normal, but by Thursday i'd contracted Flynns chest infection because he's been sick enough to have him in bed with us. Well, partly because he's sick, partly because we're still midway through Project SleepyTime. Anyhoo, the doctor we saw on Monday said Flynn had a chest infection that had developed in conjunction with the viral infection he had the week before, and the poor little bloke has suspected asthma ( i say suspected because kids under 12 months can't officially be diagnosed with asthma - apparently you need a history of wheezing before they'll call it " asthma " ). So Thursday morning i think i've probably picked up his infection - by Thursday afternoon i'm sure. A fever of 38.2 degrees, hacking cough and every bone and muscle in my body aching. I feel like total crap. My mum and dad take Flynn grocery shopping with them so i can have a nap.

* Friday - Mick takes a sick day off work so he can look after Flynn because i am totally out of it. Still feverish and with a total body ache. Cold and flu tablets take the edge off a little but i still spend the majority of the morning moaning on the lounge. Mick takes Flynn off to visit his Nanny so they can get out of the house and i can have a proper rest. I pop me some prescription pain killers ( thanks Dad! ) and have a nap - which does wonders. I was still wheezy and felt like my head was going to explode but the aches and pains were gone. I could move freely again! The other big and waaaaaaaaaaaay more important development of the day? Flynn said his first word!! I was ( irrationally ) starting to worry that it was never going to happen, that there was some developmental delay, and then Friday morning we got a " da da da " which had become a fully fledged " dad dad dad " by the end of the day. Guess who'll be getting up in the middle of the night from now on ? Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad.....

* Today ( Saturday ) - A rare weekend sleep in. Why ? Because Flynn had his first sleepover at Grandma and Poppy's. My mum and dad volunteered to have him for the night because i was still a little unwell and Mick had been up most of the previous night and they thought we could use a full nights sleep. Best.Grandparents.Ever. Flynn smiled his little guts out when we go to pick him up which was an awesome feeling. My dad says he wasnt too bad overnight but they he did get to watch a whole soccer match very early in the morning. We take Flynn home, i get to making some rocky road fudge for the two Pop's fathers day presents and then i go back and get my mum so that we can go to a bridal gown sale. A boutique from Sydney has come five hours to my town with discontinued gowns and last-of sizes. I originally only went for a look, to scope out what kind of cuts are available and what would suit me but guess what? I tried a few on ( to appease the sales woman ) and i absolutely fell in love with two of them. I knew that i didnt want a strapless gown ( bloody everyone has strapless gowns ) and i didnt want anything too frou-frou princessy either. I was really dreaming about something either very vintagey or Grecian inspired so when i spied one of each i had to try them. I called my sister and got her to come down for another opinion and after about 2 hrs of trying-on and careful deliberation i went with the Grecian dress. Very simple in cut but it has some sparkle to bling it up. My wedding is not until November 5th next year, so i have 14 months to maintain this weight ( or ideally lose 5 kgs, which wont effect the fit too much ). I cant believe i bought a wedding dress!

And so, tomorrow is Fathers Day. We are having breakfast at my brothers and i'm cooking dinner and dessert for Mick. Lets see what crazy things might happen in between!