Epic.

My weekend was epic. Epic in that nothing went as planned, everything pretty much sucked and the only epic part that was good is how much time Logan got to spend with his grandparents.

Early last week, B and I decided it was time to get away. We were overdue for some quality alone time and what better way to spend alone time than in Black Hawk, the only place in CO where you can gamble your little heart (and money) away. It's in the mountains and not a long drive so we booked a hotel and looked forward to the getaway.

Friday night we packed up and left. Logan spent the weekend with his grandparents, which he LOVED, as did they. You will NEVER hear me say this again, but thank goodness for facebook! My mom was awesome in posting photos from their weekend:



 

Watching the sun rise.

 

Morning paper with Pop Pop.

Chess, of course! With Pop Pop.

We arrived and checked into our hotel, which was also a major casino and I think that is just how it works there. Most hotels are also casinos. Anyway, we were starving and headed down the hill to a bigger casino for what we were hoping to be a fancy-ish dinner. We ordered our food and waited awhile. It was almost 9pm by the time we ate. I had some pasta with chicken and B had an omelet. Yes, an omelet. Then we went and lost a lot of money. It was weird and disappointing, but we tried. We've both had luck in the past, but that was just not our night.

Then we went back to the hotel and withing 4 hours, I was in the bathroom all.night.long with food poisoning. Ever had that? Ever had that AND been pregnant?! No fun. In fact, I would not wish such a night on Mitt Romney. We barely slept. There was not a store in town so B had to drive into the canyon to get me some meds. The ride home was horrible. We had plans to play poker, watch a movie and have another nice dinner and NONE of that happened. In stead, I remained in the fetal position all weekend.

I'm at work today and it sucks. I'm tired and weak. Drinking tons of water to stay hydrated. And all I want to do is leave and go to bed. Sometimes, though, you have to tough it out and that is exactly what I'm doing now.

the last week

I have missed out on a few link ups last week and this due to my incapacitated state. Thank goodness my husband is not into taking photos of everything, including how terrible I look while sick and horizontal for 5 days straight. Last Tuesday I woke up just fine and by the evening I was certain a cold was coming on. At first, I was hoping it was just some post-concert-yelling sore throat that needed another day to heal. You know Dashboard? Then you know you sing along to every song. I did that.

For the next 4 days I called into work and slept for hours, barely eating and started a much-needed marathon of One Tree Hill. Thank goodness for Netflix. Without it, this sick lady would have been so terribly bored. So what was going on? I had no clue. It was, at first thought, the worst cold I'd ever had, one which I'd been hit with so quickly I hardly saw it coming. I had even asked a dear friend for her cold remedy stew recipe so I could catch the cold on its heals before it could do any damage, but I was too late.

I never went to the doctor, but I'm certain I had the flu. The real-people-get-vaccinated for this flu. I've never had it before and I've always had a vac since I have worked with people and in places in which an outbreak would be terrible. Day cares, hospitals, schools, retirement homes...

Today is my first day back to work and I just feel so...tired, slow, and ready for a long nap. So I'm listening to Harry Potter Book 1 and I love it so far. Work is slow for now and I hope it stays that way (which I NEVER hope for!).

Cheers to my new readers. Please come back again. I promise I write more exciting posts than this. More to come this week: birthday post (last Saturday), the orange dresser, Currently, and more.

love,

Sarah

germs suck

I'm sick--again! This new year has hit our family hard with germs and I am so sick of being sick. I have not gone more than 3 weeks healthy since December...no wonder I'm so exhausted! Every germ I encounter at work or through Logan has found a way to beat down our immune systems and since it (our systems) have not had a long enough time to recover, we keep getting sick. So that is why there have not been any new posts. I'm laid up an resting as much as I can, all while working full time (no sick days left!) and taking care of the fam.

Plans Change

I can't catch a break. Everyday, something else is going on with my health and well-being, or so it seems. On Friday night I was walking quickly through the parking lot carrying a rather large bottle of wine when I slipped and fell on some ice. I saved the wine! But my wrist? Mildly sprained and then yesterday my low back flared up. Awesome.

The results from my ultrasound last week are normal, but I did not find out from my doctor or from looking the results up myself. On Saturday, we had big plans to have a Christmas party with B's family. We were so excited. I went shopping and bought everything for a really yummy salad, we went a cut down our Christmas tree, and only a few things to do before they arrived. All morning, however, I was actually having some serious stomach issues. I could not keep anything I ate or drank inside. But I tried to push through it. I assumed it was just my stomach acting up, of course, when we have something great planned. I took my meds and hoped for the best.

As the day went on I started to feel worse. I laid in bed until everyone arrived and put on a smile, pushing through and trying to hid any of the pain and discomfort I was feeling. I knew in my heart this had to be something more than just my stomach being dumb. I felt ill.

I looked awesome. I had been planning my outfit for the party for a week and tried to convince myself that I looked good so I feel good. That ran through my head over and over to no avail. We watching Logan open Christmas presents. He totally gets it! With hardly any help from his Nona he was ripping paper off and saying "out, out, out" after seeing his new toy. His grandparents absolutely spoiled him, in a good way of course! I'll post pictures as soon as I can, but watching Logan really enjoy Christmas for the first time was priceless. I am so thankful that I was able to hold out for that.

We took a break and I mustered up any strength I had to help make the salad and get things ready for dinner. Standing up made me feel as though I would faint and I pushed through those feelings as long as I could until I went back to lay on the couch. I felt terrible. Our family was doing everything and here I was laying on the couch. I hated, and still do, that I was not able to be in the mix with everyone, sipping on homemade eggnog and wine. My heart still hurts that it did not go that way.

At one point while I was laying on the couch B came over and asked if I needed to go to the ER. I had those thoughts in the back of my head but it was the last thing I wanted to do. But then we thought about it. It had been over 12 hours since I had been able to keep anything from coming right back out and sipping on water was painful. The cramping had me keeled over and I knew I was becoming very dehydrated. We made the decision to go. I was devastated. I was leaving Logan with our family and I knew he would be fine, but B was also leaving his family and we don't get enough time with them as it is. But I was going downhill so fast both B and I were scared. We could not worry about those things.

Only one other time in my life have I been in the ER. When I was in college the week before spring finals I became sick. I passed out in the dinning hall and was taken to the ER via ambulance. Diagnosis was sever dehydration and a viral infection.

When we got to the ER, things moved quickly. We didn't have to wait long and in no time I was having blood drawn and an IV put in. The fluids were a welcomed relief. I went through a liter in less than an hour. After anti-nausea meds, 2 liters of fluids and good blood work, I was sent home. I felt worse, though, because the body aches had kicked in. The drive home was just as bad as the drive to the hospital when I was in labor. And yes, I made that connection! lol

In the end, I slept until 130pm the next day and slowly regained my strength. Today, I am totally back to normal, stomach pains and all. The meds I'm taking for that do keep them under control and on the 19th I have a follow up to find out if this is going to be a life-long battle.

The moral of this story, friends, is to WASH YOUR HANDS and DON"T TOUCH YOUR FACE! I know these things are so simple and "DUH" even, but until you start paying attention to how often you touch your face, you don't even realize you do. My official diagnosis was the flu and gastritis. YUCK! Stay healthy friends!

words

(our front window covered in ice!)

• I have a cough that will not go away. I think I'm on day five or six. At night, I feel like I'm dying from all the coughing and no amount of nyquil or tylenol cold medicine can keep it at bay (not taken together, obviously).


• I'm drinking coffee, yo. For the first time in over three months I am sipping on a caramel latte. I'm hoping all the meds I'm on will allow me to enjoy it without pains.


• I've been pain-free for FOUR WHOLE DAYS NOW!! Thank goodness for meds! (I'm not usually all about meds. In fact, I've avoided taking them for some time now and boy am I glad I changed my mind!).


• B is super sick. Fever, aches, and overall yuck. Taking care of him and Logan and our house all while I'm not up to par either is soooo hard! I'm pretty sure that if I put my head down I'd pass out right here. Hence, another reason for coffee.


• Logan did not puke again on Saturday so we are 100% positive it was motion sickness. I had it when I was younger on long, windy car rides.


• It' is BELOW 5* outside right now. SO COLD!


• I have something really cool brewing in my head about a charity I want to start contributing to. As soon as I'm able, I will share those deets with everyone because I will need your help as well! More on this later (hopefully by Jan 1st).


• A new post will be up soon on my midwife blog about losing all the fear you have about pregnancy and childbirth so that you can *try* to get the exact birth you and your partner are hoping for. I'll post a link when that's up.


• And that's all. Have a great Tuesday friends!

a troubled tummy

I have not received my official diagnosis from the (lack of) findings from both of my procedures, however, I did read my pathology report. Just call it one of those perks of working in a hospital. As I said before, my visual reports were good: healthy and normal. No ulcers, polyps, cancer, etc...which is all good news. And, honestly, what I expected.

It's been over two weeks now and that "7-10 days" for results rule is out the window. So I read my own report, which is not breaking any rules (goodie-two-shoes here!), and the only diagnosis I found among all the medical terminology is that I do have some form of GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease). It's like acid reflux, but worse and in my case most likely chronic. Again, I have not been given my official diagnosis. This is just what I know from the report. More good things: I don't have Celiacs, Chrons, of H-Pilori bacteria, among other stomach-related diseases. I'm so glad for that.

BUT.

I still want an answer!! GERD is not curable, rather, it's managed by very strict dietary changes. I also suspect IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or it's evil twin Irritable Bowel Disorder (IBD). I'm not sure which is which and what the differences are, but neither are curable either. Changing the way I eat along side medication (at least for now-until the pains subside) is what I'm going to have to do. There is still a chance my doctor could call on Tuesday and say none of the above and diagnose me with something else, or nothing at all and continue tests. I'd really like an of my gallbladder, just to be sure.

So this is where we sit. I've been mentally preparing myself for major dietary changes and when I say major I mean MONUMENTAL. 98% of the things I eat now are irritants. Irritants of GERD, IBS, IBD, and so on...nothing I've been eating as been good for me, even if you and everyone else might consider it healthy (ie: a salad).

Here's a taste (pun very much intended!) of what I have to avoid. And just for kicks I will also be eliminating gluten. Why? Well...why not?? I know a hand full of people who do not have celiac but some other ailment and going gluten free has improved their issue.

No...

• caffeine


• chocolate


• alcohol


• soda


• acidic foods


• spicy foods


• milk, cheese, yogurt, etc (no lactose, period.)


• wheat/barely


• fermentable foods (watermellon, avocado...)


• sugars (glucose...)


• anything deep-fried/breaded (french fries, boneless chicken wings)

Doesn't that look like fun!! :::enter sarcasm:::

Thank you, my dear readers, for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers through this whole mess. I truly hope that once I get things under control that I will be a much better, happier person and blogger. I'm not inspired to write about anything else for now. Until then I will keep you all updated on how things turn out. There is always a chance that none of this will work and that something else is going on. I hope that's not the case.

Have a great weekend!

Superfast Jellyfish

I'm in LOVE with The Gorillaz Planet Beach album and as the title suggests, this is just a superfast update in bullets.

• Logan is sick again. Make that FIVE times since May.


• He weighs 22.6 pounds (10th%) and is 34" (80%) tall!


• I love my job. It's wonderful and only when Logan has been up all night and I've been visiting with an old college friend do I have a hard time coming in.


• I have been updating my Midwife 101 blog 2-3 times a week now. I just posted a book review. Check it out.


• I'm bummed that the photo I entered last week was not even a honerable mention. THOSE EYES. Wow...bummed.


• My bestie bought me The Help for my kindle and so far I am loving it.


• I am looking forward to: having all of next weekend off, labor day weekend (sun,mon) off, the Hanson concert on Sept 17th, and fallish weather.

One of THOSE Weeks

I won't lie: this week was rough. We had so much going on and a few job-related issues that even writing about it now is difficult. However, everything has seemed to resolve itself so no real reason to worry about it any more.

I turned 27 on Thursday. I worked at 6am and spent the afternoon hanging out with Logan. We were heading to the park and got rained on. B came home from work and made the most wonderful spaghetti I've had in a long time! We had a friend over to watch TRON. Not my fav and Disney still has a way of sneaking in really bad sexual innuendos that we mostly made fun of it the entire time. Overall I had a nice time, but it was just like any other day and I'm okay with that.

On Friday I rode my new bike to work and back. It felt great!! Just under a 4 mile ride one way. My legs still feel like jelly! I am so out of shape and really hope that this helps me tone things up. I am nearly 11 pounds under my prepreg weight and not by accident. It's just happened so I'm really hoping to build up some more muscle mass by riding as often as I can. All we need is a trailer for Logan to sit in and then the entire fam can ride around town.

In the mix of all this I have been dealing with crippling stomach and abdominal pains. No sooner did I get over the Hand Foot and Mouth disease did the stomach issues begin. I'm a veteran to stomach pain, unfortunately, and over the last 10+ years I've gone back and forth to the doctor to try and figure out what's going on. In college I was diagnosed with IBS and other than that I've not had any other real diagnosis as to what ails me. So I'm taking things into my own hands. My blood work this week came back perfect. I'm trying a new stomach-relaxing medication that does not hold off the cramping more than a few hours. Several family and friends have suggested it could be dietary and while I have felt they may certainly be right, I've not wanted to admit the truth I am now seeing. The problem is what the heck in my diet is causing such pains?! The most obvious seems milk and milk products (whey, lactose, etc) but can I just say how OBSESSED I am with anything cream? I mean, this is going to be a very hard breakup for me. I just in the research stage and figuring out where to shop and what to buy. I can't go until Wednesday and even then I'm not sure I'll be ready. Hopefully over the next few weeks I will be slowly transitioning into a dairy-free lifestyle. I'm going to do a 10 day challenge without it and try to reintroduce a few things on the 11th-14th days to see how they affect me. I'll be journaling about the entire experience here.

Today? Well today I have the day off with my one and only so we're going to head downtown with the wee one and play at the splash pad. Our THREE YEAR anniversary is on Monday--wow!

Awkward

I've never been one to get normal illnesses. I get the normal ones and then I also get the really odd, weird, and not so common ones from time to time. Now that I work in a hospital my awareness for illnesses has only increased with "I cannot bring this home to my family" in the front of my mind at all times.

When I was 9 I had tonsillitis and was out of school for almost 2 weeks. When I was twelve I had strep throat and spent another week out of school. During a family vacation to Florida over the Christmas holiday I, and eventually my entire family, came down with the 24 hour stomach flu. When I was in college just a month away from finals I got pancreatitis and spent another good week getting my strength back. Logan and I passed Thrush back and forth to each other when I was nursing him and I ended up with an abscess (different from mastitis). And now, dear friends, I have something you really only hear about children getting. It's even dubbed a children's disease and is rather rare among adults either because they had it as a child or they have a natural immunity to it. I, clearly, did not have it as a child nor do I have an immunity.

Now, what is IT, you ask? Well I'm a little embarrassed to admit it and only because disease is at the end of its name. How unfair! It's not really a disease. It's an illness! So remember on Sunday when I mentioned that I thought I had the flu? Wrong. Those body aches were in fact the first signs of Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease--minus the hands and feet part. Sunday I felt terrible. Monday I worked, only feeling very weak, tired and carried around a terrible headache. As the night went on my throat really started to bother me. I'd noticed Sunday that my glands were sore and swollen but again, attributed that to the flu.

When I got home I peeked in the mirror at my throat and saw spots that I was sure indicated the onset of strep. First thing yesterday morning I headed to the doc and walked out with a totally different diagnosis. Those aren't the puss spots that come with strep. They're blisters and within a few hours my entire mouth was covered in so many blisters it hurt to talk, swallow, and eat. Today I'm doing a little better. More energy and hanging out with Logan but found out I cannot go back to work for 5 days because of how contagious this is. There's a huge change Logan will get this since he has been exposed to me the entire time. However, I've heard it is not nearly as bad in children as it is in adults. There's a 4-6 day incubation period so if B or Logan end up with it we should know pretty soon.

Please pray my blisters heal quickly and that B and Logan don't get this nasty thing. We have a wedding to go to on Saturday which I should no longer be contagious for. I can still feel new blisters under my tongue and it's so painful! Awkward post, I know. But I just had to get it out.

My Sick Little Seal

No sooner did Logan recover from Roseola did he bring home a new bug. The lats four days he has been coughing almost uncontrollably. At 2am this morning I swept my miserable baby into my arms and held him while we sat on the toilet in the bathroom. I let the shower run as hot as it would go and we breathed in hot steam in hopes of giving him some relief. This was the first official night ever that Logan actually slept in bed with me. We got a solid 4 hours before he was awake and coughing again.

I had to work at noon and did not think twice about calling the doctor. Logan has had a cough for months now but this seemed different. I could just feel it. On my way to drop Logan off with his sitter Logan began coughing again and it was in that moment that I heard the bark. I must not have been paying attention before but it was clear as day now. Logan was barking like a baby seal, the kind of bark in a cough that other mamas and doctors warn you about. I was moments away from urgent care and without a second thought I made the turn, called B and my mom, and checked us in.

I told the receptionist that I *thought* it was just a cold but that he needed some kind of relief (something!) to ease the cough and give Logan's body a break. Surely it was nothing more than a cold.

An hour later we were discharged after two chest xrays to check for pneumonia and a prescription for a steroid. The diagnosis? Croup. As I was waiting for the doc to come check Logan out I received a text from his sitter, who is also his day care provider, telling me that "Oh by the way....there was a child in his class this week with croup." :::headdesk:::

I just want my baby to be healthy! His little immune system is getting rocked right now and I only pray that it is 10 times better than it was a week ago. So there, new mamas who are wondering what day care is like. You're kid will get sick. And not just cold-sick but sick-sick. It's exhausting, mentally, emotionally, physically and your patience will be tested more than it ever has before. I love being a mom. BUT taking care of a sick child who has no words yet is by far one of the hardest mom-things I have ever had to deal with. And I know I will be 10 times stronger because of it.

Out Damn Spot, Out!

EDIT: Within 20 minutes of writing and posting this I surfed on over to mayoclinic.com and checked out Roseola, a fairly common virus which is similar to chicken pox. It comes from the same Herpes family chicken pox does, but is not nearly as contagious or serious. Every ounce of worry you hear in this post has been eased. Of course, if it gets worse then I will take him in.

See the spots on Logan's cheek? I know this is a terrible cell phone photo but Logan broke out in a rash shortly after spiking a high fever on Sunday afternoon. He has been pretty miserable ever since and I have no idea where either have come from. Daycare is certainly where he may have picked up a bug but I've had it in my gut that this is a reaction from his MMR vaccine he received 10 days ago. I've talked to a few other mamas who have had the same experience, though I am not 100% convinced. Another thought is a fever-induced rash. Where the fever came from is still a mystery and as a mother it kills me not to know exactly what is causing my babe so much discomfort. My gut aches and my mind runs to places it shouldn't. B keeps bringing me down, reassuring me that he's fine-no big deal. I know he's right. At the end of almost 3 days his fever has subsided to a 99*, the rash covers splotchy spaces of his body on his belly, back, face, arms and bottom. Up until after his nap today I was certain that his mood was back to normal, however he woke up crying out in his painful cry, you know the one only a mother can determine, for a good 20 minutes.

The worst part is what my mind tries to convince me of. Not being able to know right away what is wrong, Logan not being able to communicate his pains is just killer. So I pray. I pray he's healed, that the rash is nothing serious, and that I have peace. And I do. Now, if he wakes up tomorrow still having a rough time with more spots then I'm taking him in. Mama says.

No Bubble Boy Here

 
On Friday morning we loaded our happy boy into the car and anxiously drove into town. We were on our way to the allergist and could not be more uncertain of what would come of the testing. Knowing full well how allergies run in our families I was convinced he would be allergic to something.

B and I took separate cars. Logan and I stopped at the most incredible donut shop between here and NYC for some yummy breakfast and coffee. Crumbs littered his seat and mouth. Satisfying Logan's needs is one of the greatest feelings as a mom. I cannot always know exactly what it is he needs or wants, which is why this visit was so important. I needed to know what was causing such a horrible cough in him.

We arrived early after dropping one of our cars off at the shop. Logan ran around playing with the toys and moving magazines around. After the paper work was complete we were escorted to a small room with a nice view. Logan played with cotton balls while B and I paced around, looking at each other knowing what the other was thinking.

We went over everything with the allergist and after she left her assistant came in to draw on Logan's back and flick him with 10 different allergens ranging from cotton wood trees to fish and peanuts and grasses. That was the worst part. Using plastic tooth picks dipped in the allergen she quickly nicked Logan's back and it did not take long for crocodile tears to flood Logan's face. I held it together while I helped hold him together. We helped each other out.

And then we waited. The assistant put Finding Nemo on and the distraction was nice. Keeping Logan from scratching his irritated back was not difficult. I expected to see his entire back flare up as I had last weekend when I laid him in the grass. But that didn't happen. Two controls were on his back, one with a histamine he was supposed to react to and one with only saline on it. He only reacted to the histamine control and his slight reaction to the saline control was the same as fish. Neither were big enough to declare an allergy to fish, yet. Other than those few reactions Logan is not allergic to anything. Not cats, dogs, weeds, grass, peanuts, eggs....nothing. Like his mama and dad he has sensitive skin which is why his back flared up in the grass last weekend.

Relief flooded us and while we are still unsure what is causing his cough we know it's not an infection and it's not allergies. PRAISE THE LORD!

 

 

 

 

the rundown

>I really hate doing these drive by posts but that is just how it is right now.

• Logan has been sick for over 2 weeks now and for a little more than that time he has barely been eating, has diarrhea at least once a day and since his last weigh in 8 days ago he has lost a pound. I took him into see the pedi this afternoon because when we came home from work/daycare he could not put any weight on his right leg. I panicked. I mean full on freaked. I was rushing around to get changed from my work clothes and Logan was crying and could not stand up. I had just seen his doctor at our hospital and knew she was not in the office so I quickly called the office to see what I should do. They had an appointment with the next best doc and we dashed over there. In the mean time, Logan was becoming more tolerable of whatever pain was going on in his leg, baring more weight on it and taking assisted steps. I was beginning to think I was a crazy mama who should have just waited things out but then I thought it was good to take him in anyway. The antibiotics and steroid he was prescribed over a week ago were not making one dent in his cough and overall well being. He spiked a fever of 101.4 on Sat and without motrin it stayed put and he was in my arms all.day.long. Trust me, I LOVE the snuggles and love he has been giving but not at the expense of him feeling shitty. His fever broke sometime yesterday afternoon and I summed it up to be a totally unrelated new virus he brought home. Regardless, his pedi was wayyyy more concerned about the weight loss and lack of appetite so we will be going back in on Friday for a weight check and then about a week after that for his 15 month check up. Oh my stars I am exhausted. I am tired and worried and frustrated that my sweet boy is sick. I've cried off and on all weekend with him. 
• I'm still fighting off my cold. Taking care of myself and a sick baby at the same time is next to impossible and explains why I am still just as ill today as I was three days ago. Oy.
• Logan and I did the March of Dimes walk on Saturday and I have a feeling the biting wind did not help whatever virus was just coming on. He was miserable most of the time, crying and sleeping on and off. I was nearly running, although I felt just as bad as he did. I am glad we did it. March of Dimes is a charity I feel very strongly about. I only wish we could have done it under better circumstances and had the same amount of fun most of you had.
• A few of you have asked about my job. First of all: I FREAKING LOVE IT! I love the people and what I'm doing. It is a ton of work and a lot to learn but everyone is so gracious and easy to talk to. I feel 100% comfortable asking for help and even being on my own for most of the time. All I will say is that I now work in a hospital (hence seeing our pedi there today). I've always wanted to work there and it has been an incredible life change. The only sucky part is hearing about the bad stuff. My office looks out to the helipad and according to my coworkers we rarely ever see patients brought in and/or taken away and there were TWO here today. One was for a newborn who died and was revived and flown to Childrens. I was instantly taken back to when Logan was born and how we had know idea what was going on with him. I have been praying for the baby and parents all day and have been extra emotional. I think it's good, though, that I hear about these things now so that I can get a thicker skin for it. That might sound bad but I don't want to be wiping tears away every time I hear a tragic story, especially coming from the L&D or Peds. 
• Anyway, that is how things are right now. I wish they were less frantic but heck, that would just be too boring! Ha...hope you're all having a great week so far.

It happens every time

>So it seems. This is the first time in three years that I have started a new job and 10 days in I'm already sick.  I'm sure that Logan brought something home from daycare and we must be fighting off the same nasties. I remember three years ago when I started my previous job and the second night I had one of the worst sinus infections I'd ever had. I was working the night shift and felt so bad that I called in sick on the second day. Good thing the person who was training me knew how yucky I felt the night before so I knew she didn't think I was faking it (I get very self-conscious about people thinking this about me). Anyway, a week ago my supervisor told me straight up that I would get sick and it would be soon. I tried to scoff that off because B has been sick three times in the last 5 weeks with nasty stuff and both Logan and I have been able to stave it all off. Apparently Logan and I have the same immune system because we're both sick. YUCK! I hate it. I hate head colds and feeling like my balance is off because I can't hear anything. I do feel a little better today and am taking the day to rest and clean the house. Logan is at daycare for a few more hours so I better get going.

Of reactions and sickness

>The last few days have been rather crazy. And not really in a good way.

Last Thursday, I was informed that I should get two immunizations for work (by my employer). They were DTAP and Meningitis. I have had both, several years ago, and never had any issues with reactions. DTAP is known to be a sore shot at the site. Redness and slight swelling are almost expected symptoms, as is it with just about any immunization and with these, the shot has a small portion of the live virus in it. So Thursday night I was hurting. I had a shot given in each arm in the upper portion of my tricep muscle. Why it has to go into the muscle, I don't know! But I slept horribly, to say the least.

Friday I was still in training and pretty much grinned and bared it all the way through. I took ibrpofin to keep the soreness at bay but I was in some serious pain. I could hardly concentrate on the important material I was trying to absorb. Now, one thing about me that kind of sucks is that I do not tolerate pain very well and I make sure that everysingleperson knows it. Because I was training with new people I did not say one word about how I was feeling so I saved up all that complaining energy for B. Initially, he gave me the side eye for being such a baby over simple immunizations. Get over yourself, is what I kept seeing come across B's face but he just happens to be the most amazing husband and would never dare say something like that to me. I was already in tears from the pain. 

Saturday morning I woke up (from what little sleep I had-sleeping on my arms was impossible) and was in so much pain. The soreness was not going away and up until this point I had paid little attention to how my arms actually looked. I was so focused on the pain I did not even bother to check on the sites. Well I finally did and WOAH! My arms were so swollen and red. The sites were HOT to the touch. I knew that was not good and I felt worse that I had since the first day. Took my temp and had a fever. I cannot even tell you the last time I had a fever! Later, it dawned on me that as mamas we keep an eye on a fever after our babies have immunizations and it was rather ironic to me that I spiked one. All of these symptoms are considered mild side effects to the vacs, things which are not normal, but also not unusual (as that is how the ER doc explained it). Oh yeah, the ER (errr Urgent Care). So I called my supervisor and told her what was going on. She then called our big boss and he asked that I go to the ER or urgent care because something like this would fall under workers comp and I had know I idea how much worse I could get.

(I just want to point out that had this been a reaction to vacs given to me by my PCP and NOT work related I would have just sucked it up at home-I thought urgent care was a bit much but heck, I do what I'm told.)

Saturday around noon I headed to UC with my kindle. I knew it would be a really long wait being that it was Saturday and my priority was like, not one at all. Three hours. All to be told to keep icing and ibprofining it up. Duh. I knew that. Today, my arms are much better. Still a little tender to the touch but not painful. Does this mean I will never be able to receive these vacs again? I have no idea. I have yet to follow up with my PCP. If I find out, I'll let you know.

***

On top of all this Logan has been sick. Bad cold which we are certain he got at daycare. Pretty normal and nothing we can't handle, although trying to carry a 22 pound child while my arms were in serious pain was no fun at all. He's still not feeling great and I can see three more top teeth inching their way in.

THEN I get sick. I'm sick. Wow. I have not said that since last June. I rarely ever get sick anymore and I am certain that Logan got me sick this time. Ha...blaming it on my child. Great mama here! lol I feel pretty crappy and am doing everything I can to try to keep it at bay. Still have a ton of training and practice going on at work and I really cannot afford to miss any days. So please pray that Logan and I get well soon and that B does not pick up what we've got. Also for motivation to keep the house picked up. We are moving in less than a month and there are two boxes packed. Thats it. 

Diagnosed

>For now, anyway. For the last week and a half I have been having some serious dizziness. Not just quick little spells that come and go but hard core almost-fall-over and have-the-spins when laying down kind of dizziness. At times, it's caused tremendous nausea. I am sure others may have puked by now, but God graced me with an iron stomach and I rarely ever throw up. Not even when I was pregnant. Oh and on that note, as far as I know, I'm not. Well today I was changing Logan and nearly fell over right there. I steadied myself and set Logan on the floor. I sat there and tried to see if it would subside. It didn't and I'd had enough. I called my doctor. Unfortunately B had the car, not that I should have been driving anyway, but I had resolved to walk to my appointment. It wasn't too far--just a little over a mile and a half each way. When I arrived I felt horrible. I tried to eat some snakes and drink some water--didn't help. I met with my doctor and after loads of questions and some poking around she was convinced I have an inner ear infection. DING DING DING!! Now I remember. Four years ago I had one with the exact same symptoms. She also wanted some blood and when I say some I mean a lot. Five vials worth. Testing my thyroid, metabolic levels, insulin, blood sugars and pregnancy. I really don't think I'm prego, just for the record. And if there is something else going on, we'll know in a few days. For now, I am resting before heading into work. I'm pretty dizzy right now but the meds she gave me will knock me out so I am going to wait before taking anything.

Of Croup and Losing Weight

>

Last I wrote I had mentioned that Logan was trying to kick some kind of cold. I took him to the doc on Friday and by Saturday it was clear he was starting to feel better. We kept our plans to go to Denver on Sunday and we had a great time at the party. Again, Logan still had a stuffy nose but was otherwise in good spirits. He went to bed fine and slept through the night just fine (although I can't say the same for B who enjoyed himself a little too much at the party...).

Monday morning we left early to head home and Logan kept coughing. He's done this before with the 1-2 minor colds he has had in his short life, however, by noon it was clear that this was not the same thing. He wouldn't sleep, and if he did he wouldn't lay down. He cried for 2 hours straight. I had to hold and rock him. He didn't want to eat hardly anything and playing was out of the question. I tried feeding him dinner at one point and he was shaking. Yes, shaking. Like he was cold. I had just changed his clothes and he was in a warm sleeper. He began to spit his food out so I called my dear friend Megan asking for counsel on what to do. She is a veteran momma of 3 beautiful boys and I knew she would know what to do. Thing is, I had been doing just about everything she had suggested and still no luck.

I gave Logan some Motrin and took his temp. He was 98.6 and not even a half hour later (just before I gave him the meds) he was up to 101.4. He was coughing so bad he could hardly catch his breath. I was quickly thrown into mommy freak out mode and called my mom. I then called the Urgent Care nurse and she said to just keep an eye on him and if his fever got worse or he started puking, to bring him in. Thankfully, he fell asleep and only woke up twice in the night.

This morning, same story. He was coughing and just kept crying. He just cried and cried until he fell asleep. I called my mom again since B had the car and she agreed to come pick us up so I could take him to the doc. Good thing I did! He has the start of croup. We caught it early enough that I think the meds will kick in soon and he will feel much better tomorrow. He is on an antibiotic and a steroid. Poor guy. Having a sick baby is so hard. I am exhausted and not to mention that both B and I have sore throats. Something is going around.

In other news, I have been a little MIA not only because I am nursing a sick baby but because said baby chewed our charge cord and it died. So I grabbed some extra cash we had and bought a new one. Note to self: hide everything!

ALSO, I need to brag a minute. When I went into L&D to give birth to Logan, I weighed 181. YES! Can you believe that?! Then it took me a good 5 months to go down to about 135. 131 was my prepreg weight and the month before I conceived, I was 130. On Sunday while in Denver I took a shower and my MIL has a scale in her bathroom. I was naked and wanted a true, just-had-a-poo-weight and....**drumroll please** I weigh 127!!! I have not been under 130 in I cannot even tell you how long! At least since before I was married. I think I was right around 128-130 when we got married. I am so effing happy. I thank my genes for being so gracious to me. Because honestly, eating salads everyday for lunch and only having my meats and protein for dinners, along with the occasional run (see side bar), I did not do much to get there. HOWEVER, I will say that just because I am that weight, there is quite a bit of jig going on in the thigh/ass area. Indeed, there is some toning up to do. But now I know what I need to do! Ahh, feels great!

And lastly, I have so many friends who are pregnant or just having new babies and it is giving me serious baby fever. Yet, I just realized today that it is not the little baby that I want right now (yes, later on, but not NOW). It's the experience of making a baby and giving birth that I want again. So, now that I know that I know that I can wait another year or so before we try for another. Some friend of my MIL told me on Sunday: "Don't ever let your financial status rule your need to grow a family. Your needs WILL be met. You must trust in Him. He will provide." Wow. Talk about profound advice! While I am a little hesitant to throw all caution to the wind, I appreciated hearing it.

A Little Random

>

It's probably a good thing that I have not had a lot to write about lately. That means things are getting better around here. However, just because things are better does not mean I should only write about stuff when life sucks. So here is what we have been up to:

** We found a sitter! She is actually a friend and has a little boy just a few months younger than Logan and today they played hard! I also found a home daycare that I have put Logans name down on a the waitlist for May when I go back to school. I have learned my lesson of not waiting until the last minute to find RELIABLE childcare.

** Logan has been up and down the last few days. My mom had him on Wednesday and said he had a screaming fit for nearly a half hour. Just totally inconsolable. That night he did that twice after he had been in bed already. Screaming, not wanting to eat, etc. On and off for the last few nights, we've had to get up to console him. We dropped Logan off at his sitters house (more on that later) and after an hour I got a text that he had been screaming for almost an hour. She could not console him and he was tugging on his ears. Oh dear. So I left work and took him to urgent care. Turns out he does not have an ear infection (THANK GOD!), however, he does have a cold and his stuffy nose has caused his eustatian tube (runs between your ear and nose) to swell and is now causing obvious discomfort. There is no way for this to go away without the cold going away. So I am home with my clingy, snotty, weepy baby. I can't lie that I would much rather be here than work, even if it is to take care of a sick baby.

The Problem

>

I had a beautiful post of all the songs for day 24? and it was pefect and I even had matching lyrics, my favorites, of the songs that appeared on my random shuffle when all of a sudden blogger pooped out on me. All my stuff disappered and that is why I screamed at blogger last night. So, this will sound odd being that I have been on here for over 2 years now, but do any of you NOT use the typical Blogger "new post" page and something else to write your post out? I have issues loading pictures, etc. I just wanna make it work!

PS. This week has been terrible and I hope and pray that by Sunday morning the week is anew and all is well. I have been up since 2:30am with a very sick little boy. Coughing and crying all night. We laid on the couch together. We slept tummy to tummy, but I really did not sleep at all. I dozed on and off until 6am when I had to get up. While it was the most exhausting night I've had since Logan was a newborn, only because I had to work all day, I did love feeling him breath on my chest, take his little fist and grip the collar of my shirt, and snuggle in close. I have seen so much change in Logan over the last few days. He has a fear of water now. He screams bloody murder if I even try to put him in the tub for a bath so I will try a shower tomorrow. I am sure the steam will help his congestion as well. Anyway, I have seen Logan's awareness of his surroundings and where I am grow ten fold and it is amazing to watch. I am so glad to see that happen. I want him to be aware of things and then it is my job to show him that the bath is okay and safe. But not tonight. Tonight he went to bed in the same clothes I put him in last night and now I am off to sleep. My eyes, if I let them, would probably bleed if I stayed up any longer.

Night friends.

Children's Hospital Visit

>

I am sure some of you would like a detailed account of our trip to Children's Hospital and while I am usually happy to oblige, I think this is something that I will keep to myself. I went through more emotions in one day than I have in a very long time and I can't even seem to form the words to talk about it in the first place. Besides, we did so much waiting and sitting around and eating and trying to entertain a sleepy 7 month old.

Logan has been great this week. In fact, this entire week has been great, aside from Monday. No time for details right now, but just know all is well in our little home!