Monday, March 7, 2011

Trust, but verify

Jeez, a week since I posted.  Where does the time go?  This past week has evaporated.  It's hard to know where to start.

I've had a migraine off and on for the better part of two weeks, and none of my usual treatments are working.  I've been to the midwives at the OB office for medication, and now we've gotten to the point where there are so many different pills (compazine, hydrocodone, imitrex).  I'm not clear on what can be taken safely with what, what to try first, how long to wait, what's safe for breastfeeding (the new midwife said compazine was safe, but the packaging said "DO NOT" in large letters), and what's safe for co-sleeping.  I have an appointment with my family doctor tomorrow to sort it all out and talk about a preventative (betablockers) which should also help with my blood pressure.  I trust the midwife I saw (not the one who delivered Jack - the new one) but I need to verify that everything is safe.  I'm sort of overwhelmed with it all, and I hate Hate HATE taking medication of any kind - much less strong stuff that I've never taken before - when I'm nursing, but what choice do I have?  I can't have migraines so bad that they make me vomit and effectively take care of my kids at the same time (especially the baby, listening to him cry on my shoulder while I was at the worst of the migraine was pure torture). 

The night I got sick (Thursday, I think) I called the on-call OB, and he told me to come to the ER and get a shot.  It's $200 just to walk in the ER, though, and I figured it was cheaper to just go to bed. 

The migraine thing has made it hard to work out, so I've done poorly with the Biggest Loser contest this week.  I'll be happy if I break even tomorrow when I weigh myself.  It's a delicate balance, trying to lose just one pound a week, but making sure that I eat enough to keep up my milk supply for Jack.  I think I might take the next few months off, and wait until he's eating solid food before I worry about my weight (contest, schmontest).  It's just injecting a lot of unnecessary worry into my day, to try to lose but not too much.

I had a horrible dream last night.  We have a friend who is getting married in October in Florida.  I dreamed that we were at his wedding, but I'd left Jack home.  I needed to nurse him, and I could hear him crying for me in my head, but he was hours and hours away.  So I found another mom with a bottlefed baby, and I begged them to let me feed her to relieve the pressure.  The parents finally agreed, but the baby didn't know how to breastfeed, and I was frustrated and sobbing, missing my baby and hurting and feeling so guilty, worrying that he wasn't eating at home with whoever was watching him...  Ugh!  I can't even describe how relieved I was when I woke up and he was right there with me. 

I know exactly where this dream came from.  We drove to a party about an hour away last night, and Jack was crying in the car, and I thought, "How on earth are we ever going to get to Florida if we can't drive an hour without stopping?"  Also, Jack slept for four hours (hooray!) last night, so I was really ready to feed him when he finally woke up.

Speaking of Florida, my grandmother is really sick, so my dad went to Florida to help take care of her.  It's handy to have a nurse in the family.  Mary Grace made her a get well card with pandas (MG's favorite animal) and sent it with Dad.

Claire's fourth birthday is less than a week away.  Time really does fly.  We're having her party at the movie theater, the kids are going to see Gnomeo and Juliet.  I need to get the cake ordered.  I found her a dress-up dress from Tangled on Etsy that she's going to LOVE.  We'll see if I ever get her out of it.  I also found her a purple flowered dress, and a spring dress (with a matching one for MG) for school.  I made her a photo book on Shutterfly called "What Claire Likes" with pictures from her whole life - so for example, Claire likes the Children's Museum, and on that page there are pictures of her from when she was one, two, and three.  Strollers, playing inside things, grandparents, outings, etc.  I'm really happy with how it turned out, and I think it'll make her feel special to have a book that's all about her.  I made one for Mary Grace a couple years ago.  I just hope Claire's book gets here in time!

I'm kind of steering away from toys this year.  She can have more toys when she learns how to clean up! 

So that's the update from somewhere in Indiana.  What's new with you?

2 comments:

Rob Monroe said...

Drugs suck. Long story, but I totally get behind you on that.

Four? That can't be! If C turns four, then Abby is not far behind. I am dodging birthday questions from Anny right now. (Literally.)

Ember said...

DS managed long drives okay, as a BF baby. We drove from Houston to Indiana (~18 hours straight) when he was 4 months old. The first day was not too bad, but on the second day he was TIRED of sitting in the car seat.

He was 10 months old when we moved here, and that two-day drive went even better. Still a lot of stops for BF and diaper changes, but we had the patience for it.