Christmas Craziness

This post was started yesterday and it will have to be finished within the next couple of days. I'm dealing with what I consider to be a major "issue" right now, even though C tries to tell me it's not my fault and it's "out of [my] hands".

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I figured that since today is the last day of January, I really should make an attempt to revisit and give details about our Christmas trip before the calendar turns to a new month.

I'm not even quite sure where to start but I'll give it the 'ole college try and start at the beginning...

We were to set sail on our adventure at 4:30am, Sunday, December 16th. About 6pm the night before KT started coughing. I knew it wasn't a good omen. But we woke her up at 4am anyways and strapped her into the carseat. She coughed and whimpered her way across Idaho, Wyoming and a good chunk of Nebraska that day. By the time we reached the Wyoming/Nebraska border on Sunday afternoon she was barking like a seal in the backseat. We kept her dosed with Tylenol and gave her as much water to drink as we could. Our original intent was to give ourselves 3 days to make the drive to Michigan, but we decided she needed to be seen by a doctor and changed our plans to do the drive in two. I didn't want to spend hours in an emergency room somewhere in Iowa (no offense to Iowa); I thought it would be better to push on to Michigan and get her seen somewhere close to my in-laws. Mainly in case we needed a follow up visit or anything else.

Even with being so sick, KT rode like a trooper. We logged almost 1000 miles and 19 hours on Sunday before stopping for the night in Lincoln, Nebraska. Monday we pushed through almost 700 miles in 14 hours before reaching C's mom and dad's. The last time we drove this trip we drove it straight through in about 26 hours. We learned quickly that having a toddler tag along for the ride adds considerable time on to a trip (close to 7 hours). Mainly because pit stops take much longer than before. But anyways.

An afternoon's worth of adventures in a local clinic and the nearby hospital (which at this point I'm incredibly grateful we were still on my health insurance as B!ue Cross is taken everywhere and not considered out of network) for an RSV swab and a chest x-ray gave us the diagnosis: bronchitis, bronchiolitis and an ear infection. Thankfully no RSV and no pneumonia. A heavy duty round of antibiotics and some prescription cough medicine brought much needed relief within a few days.

The biggest disappointment to KT being sick is that it canceled some important visits I had planned. Two of my closest friends, Sami and Bean both gave birth to little boys last fall and I was sooooooo looking forward to seeing the new additions (and them too of course!). With KT being so sick, C and I were warned that we would most likely both come down with at least colds. There was no way I was going anywhere near little ones with that possibility.

Million Dollar Question

Believe me, after 4 days of feeling horrible last week the same thought crossed my mind. But no. Katie is not going to be a big sister. Thank heavens.

I'm still sick too. Thought I was doing better but had a late night appointment with the porcelain last night as I tried to eat some soup.

In Other News

This week has been crazy around our house.

After KT's puking episode on Saturday afternoon/evening we have yet to have anymore. Thankfully. She's now an eating monster and will just about take off the tip of your finger with her snapping jaws if you tried to feed her something directly. I've learned that it's much easier (and safer) to put it on the highchair tray or in your hand and let her feed herself.

I've had 2 separate episodes this week of "drop everything and do THIS right now because it's due tomorrow". One email was sent Tuesday night at 10pm; the report was due Wednesday at noon. Don't mind the fact that I had sent the rough draft in 10 days earlier for their review. The second was in regards to my annual evaluation. Thursday, just before 5pm I get another email stating that annual evaluations need to be turned in on Friday. I got my part done but never heard a word back from my boss. My guess is that it's not turned in since I needed to check a box stating I agreed with the overall ratings and sign it. Gee. I wonder how not turning it in on time is going to affect my evaluation.

I'm also sick with some random, mysterious illness this week. Just weird hot flashes, nausea and vomiting. I'm lucky to keep one meal down a day. Good news is that I've lost 4 pounds in a week. Bad news is that I have no energy because my calorie consumption is so low. This is not good when the tiny terror tornado is wreaking havoc on my home and I need to deal with last minute, overlooked projects.

It's been a wonderful start to 2008. Maybe February will be better.

Me and OCD

I think that no matter the person, everyone has his/her own little quirks. It may be how you eat your food, how you get dressed or a silly "thing" you do out of habit. I have numerous little quirks. I've tried to tell myself in the past that it's just my way of trying to be organized. In reality it really isn't. It's more than that.

In 2005 I did a short stint with a therapist. After the miscarriage in May I couldn't pull myself together and get on with my life. I found myself sliding down that slippery slope of depression -- for me it meant spending way too much time in bed, not caring about my appearance (to the point of not wanting to shower) and calling in sick to work when I just didn't have the emotional energy to go. In August I realized that I needed professional help and I was lucky to find a fantastic therapist. After a couple of visits he had me take a quiz of sorts that contained about 100 questions. It was then that I was officially diagnosed as having OCD.

I've always joked about the anal-retentive aspects of my personality. How I had certain aspects that I felt were "obsessive" and that I couldn't let go of. But I never thought that I could truly have OCD. My therapist said that it's a more mild case. Most of my tendencies revolve around routines and order. It's my way of ME having control. (Which is, by the way, why he thought I was struggling so much with trying to get pregnant and the miscarriage. It was all of my control no matter how hard I tried to change it.) When I stray from these tendencies it makes me uncomfortable and I get flustered.

For instance. Getting showered and ready is a hugely structured endeavor for me. If I don't follow a specific order, things get forgotten. When I get in the shower I rinse off completely and wet my hair down. Then I wash my face, shampoo and condition my hair. With the conditioner still in my hair I shave. Conditioner is then rinsed out and I wash my body. After getting out of the shower and drying off I follow another structured regimen: contacts in, facial moisturizer, deodorant, makeup, hair, teeth and then lotion and chapstick. A break in this routine (from something like an unexpected awakening of the child, doorbell or phonecall) can be horrible for me. I might as well just stop getting ready completely.

Many would say that my need for things to be orderly is just me being neat. No. It's worse than that. At the end of the day I pick up all of KT's toys in the living room. Every single piece is put back with the set it belongs to. All the wooden blocks go back in the school bus; all the shapes go back in the shape sorter; all the balls go back in the ball popper. I will frantically search through the house when something is missing. I can't finish until everything is in its proper place. I'm trying to work on it but it's hard.

So you can imagine (or perhaps you can't) how much a 14-month old tiny terror can throw my world into a tailspin when she does this to the drawer in the bathroom where I keep my stuff.


For right now, the only cabinets that have been childproofed are those with cleaning chemicals in them. I don't mind if she plays in the pots and pans or pulls all of the plastic storage containers out into the middle of the floor. That stuff is all part of being a kid. Obviously this drawer hasn't been made off limits to my toddler. It is an addiction to her. I'm sure it's because it's loaded with all sorts of wonderful stuff to pull out and throw on the floor. Different colors, shapes, textures, sizes, etc. It has to be a goldmine for an exploring child. We found 2 tubes of lipgloss in one of the dresser drawers in our bedroom the other day. Courtesy of said toddler.

It literally gives me goose bumps to see her pull this stuff out and scatter it throughout the tiny bathroom. Since it doesn't hurt anything I continue to let her do it. When she figures out how to open my mascara or lick my deodorant, she'll be stopped from getting in the drawer-o-fun.

So after this confession would it surprise anyone that immediately after that picture was taken I dumped the entire drawer out and reorganized it?

Copycat

This post needs to be prefaced with a HUGE disclaimer as I know that this is the first that many people have heard of this news.


**WARNING -- WHAT YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ MAY BE CONCERNING TO PEOPLE ON A PERSONAL LEVEL. I UNDERSTAND THAT THIS INFORMATION SHOULD HAVE BEEN DISSEMINATED ON FRIDAY OR YESTERDAY BUT PLEASE BELIEVE ME WHEN I SAY THAT IT'S BEEN AN EXHAUSTING FEW DAYS AND I HAVEN'T HAD NEITHER THE TIME NOR THE ENERGY TO BE MAKING A TON OF PHONE CALLS TO PASS IT ALONG.**


My long time readers may remember that I was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum when I was newly pregnant with KT. Due to the extreme vomiting and the inability to keep fluids/food down my OB ordered a PICC-line be inserted in my left arm to facilitate home infusion/hydration therapy. I sincerely believe that line in my arm played a huge part in having a successful pregnancy and a beautiful daughter, in turn.



Often, when one is dehydrated their body rejects any liquids it is offered via the mouth creating a vicious cycle. IV hydration is the only way to "reset" the body and help to curb the vomiting. We got to experience this firsthand with Baby Girl on Friday night.

KT started teething on the way back to Idaho 2 weeks ago. Just our luck, all 4 molars decided to start pushing through at the same time. When she teethes she tends to vomit for a day or two (usually only 24-48 hours). We've attributed it to the extra drainage from her runny nose and increased drooling that accompanies new teeth. Although frustrating, a day or two of changing clothes, washing blankets and smelling like baby puke are manageable. Not necessarily enjoyable but their fairly short lived. This time has been HUGELY different.

It all started last Sunday. From Sunday to Friday it was a non-stop puke fest around here. She'd immediately throw up her bottle right after waking; most of her meals would end up back on the highchair tray before she was finished eating; both C and I were randomly covered while holding her, no matter when she ate last; and our nights were interrupted with the wonderful sound of a toddler gagging in her crib at 4am. My washing machine ran just about non-stop throughout the week. I spent my days cleaning up after her -- tearing the highchair apart and washing it, washing/drying/folding laundry, scrubbing carpets and upholstery -- and living in fear of the next "episode". Very little got done around here except to tend to the puke monster.

The top two molars have broken through the gums but they provided very little relief. Thursday afternoon she started rejecting everything we tried to give her. My thought is that she was afraid of throwing it back up so she didn't want to eat or drink. And I couldn't get her to try anything new. Friday rolled around and the refusal to take anything in was at its worst. She went from 4am until almost 6pm that evening without a single wet diaper. At one point I started holding her down and forcing syringes full of pedialyte into her mouth so that she was getting something into her system. All this resulted in was her getting pissed off and immediately throwing it back up all over both of us.

So I broke down and called the pediatrician's office for an appointment. Although there is some disagreement over exactly what is wrong with her (the pediatrician scoffed at it being teething related, heaven knows that her Mom see this similar pattern with every eruption of a new tooth, and diagnosed it as gastroenteritis although she didn't "exactly" fit the criteria/symptoms for it) it was agreed upon that she was dehydrated and in need of fluids.

Thankfully, due to our home hydration experience, the pediatrician was willing to order the insertion of an IV and allow us to take KT home for the evening. She would infuse a 250ml bolus of solution at the infusion center and then would be on a slow drip throughout the night. If she was doing better on Saturday the line could be pulled and we'd carry on as normal; if she wasn't doing better, our options would be discusses. The pediatrician said that in only 1 in 5 cases would he allow this. That in 80% of patients he'd admit the child to the hospital for fluids. But he believed that we could handle it and that KT would rest much better in her own crib on Friday night than to be in the pediatric unit at the hospital.

And so it was. (Please don't mind the grainy/bright picture as it was taken with my cell phone, the disaster that is my kitchen right now, or the pre-shower pictures.)








The IV fluids helped tremendously and KT went from Friday afternoon pre-appointment all through the night and next morning without any problems. She managed to keep a little formula down Saturday morning and a handful of animal crackers. Due to this the IV was pulled around noon yesterday.

Much to our dismay, the vomiting started back up again late afternoon yesterday. It was hit or miss throughout the rest of the day and our day turned into a major battle of wills. KT was extremely frustrated that we wouldn't feed her what she wanted and she refused all attempts at a bland diet. Fortunately, C was persuasive and managed to get some more animal crackers into her. So far, so good today, but we still have much more of the day to get through. It's just so difficult when she wants something to eat and you can't give it to her. You certainly can't explain the reasoning behind it to someone so small.

I promise that when all of this slows down and life gets back to normal, I will get back to the Christmas related posts detailing some of our adventures.

Happy New Year!

We're home. A little rough around the edges, but we're home.

When I get through some of my emails, get some of this stuff unpacked and try to clear my head from the congestion induced fog, I'll be back.

Stick around. The details include dead deer, police reports, closed Interstates, high winds and a head cold.

I'm so glad to be home.