a c c o m p l i s h e d

This weekend brought summertime weather and we got busy. I think we’ve started running on summer energy.

On Saturday we:

~Cleaned

~Washed diapers and hung them out to dry

~Took Mr. E to watch the herring swim upstream at the Herring Run in our town

~Purchased the materials to build two raised garden beds

~Built two garden beds

~Baked a cake for my father’s birthday

~Washed 6,000 loads of laundry

And today we:

~Went out to breakfast to celebrate my father’s birthday

~Shoveled a truckload of mulch into the truck; into garden beds

~Got a truckload of top soil; shoveled truckload of top soil into garden beds

~Drank a beer

~Ate birthday cake

~Made laundry detergent (have I mentioned I’ve started making this?)

~Took Mr. E to the beach, played in the water and built sandcastles

~Came home, cleaned up, made dinner

~Took Mr. E on his nightly walk, put him to bed

~Put away 6,000 loads of laundry

And now…we are heading out to sit by the fire pit…time to relax!

Molar Hell

We are in molar hell. Due to the onset of the 12 month molars, my poor sweet baby boy has had is just-starting-to-regulate-his-sleep-pattern turned up side down.

Night weaning was huge success. That was about six weeks ago. I’ve spent the last three nights up from 1:30-3:30 trying to comfort him (And multiple night waking began about 2 weeks ago). I’ve done everything I could thing of to help him get back to sleep. After hours without results, I caved on two of the three nights and nursed him. He immediately entered the land of nod.

Last night after losing the two hour struggle, I offered him my breast, while I began to cry. I felt defeated. I worried how nursing would impact the next night and the next night and… I am so desperate for sleep.

A very graciously got up with him at 6AM. Apparently I was unresponsive the first time she tried to wake me so she could get ready for work. In all she gave me an hour of sleep. It was blissful. I had planned to attend a social group today but it was canceled due to illness so I decided to go to a breast feeding support group. [And I was surprised to arrive and learn today is actually Wednesday and the BF support group is on Tuesdays...see I am so tired I can't tell what day it is.]

I had a chance to talk to a Lactation Consultant. I explain our entire situation- and she very calmly listened and echoed what I already knew: E is teething. Molars are really effing painful. But what I didn’t know is that breast milk actually has a pain relieving effect, so this is likely why all he wants when his teeth hurt is to nurse. It also explains why he recently started nursing up to 10 times a day. He is constantly signing for milk, he is not always nursing long enough to bring a let down, but he is comforted just by sucking.

So I am some what reluctantly returning to night nursing. If this is the one thing that will help relieve his pain, then how can I deny it? I just really hope we don’t end up back on the nursing every-hour-over-night-schedule. That was awful for all of us.

The Allergy No Parent Wants

Forgive me if this post is sloppy – I am running on empty.

Sometime after Mr. E turned 1 I started trying peanut products in small doses.  A bite of my peanut granola bar or a PB&J. He did not react. My worst allergy nightmare was averted. Or so I thought. Now I know that it can take several encounters for an allergy to present.

Last night Mr. E ate raw peanuts. Clarification, A and I were eating massaman curry topped with peanuts – our dinner appealed to him much more than his dinner. So we indulged him. Two hours later he woke from his slumber and vomited, which sadly is not all that uncommon for him. He went back to sleep until around 12:30AM when he woke A and I -he was snuggled between us – as he began to vomit, again. A changed the sheets as I cleaned him up. This is when I noticed he was red and blotchy. No, he was one huge hive – head to toe and itching like a madman. He was sad, whiny and crying. I was a nervous mess of a mum.

A and I packed him up and headed to the ER. He was a super star in the ER.We made it out of there in record time with an Rx for Benedryl (not sure why, cause it was the same dose as OTC), a suspected peanut allergy, and instructions to follow up with his pedi for allergy testing. Mr. E was knocked out by the Benedryl fell asleep on the way home as we stopped at the 24 hour pharmacy to fill the non-prescription prescription (at which time we also learned his insurance does not cover liquid Rxs…WTF?).

I followed up with his pedi today. She is the most anti-medicine doctor I’ve ever encountered and she’s starting to grow on me (previously I did not fancy her, but I can really appreciate her not-overly medical approach). She prescribed Epi Pens and made a referral for allergy testing, while letting me know she “does not know how effective the testing is.”

I feel bad. I can’t help ask why my son? But I know the answer is why not? I feel very lucky that his first allergic reaction was not life threatening and we now have the medication needed should he become very sick. For now, his pedi has said no more peanut products for either of us until we complete the testing. I know there are worse things to have wrong with your child, but I’d be lying if I said I was not terrified — I know how sever this can be.  And how hard it is to limit peanut exposure.

Perhaps all you IVP mamas can help me out.

I really do believe if awards were given to babies my son would get the most clingy designation. Even at 15 months he is a cling monster. He is a shy guy, he does well at home, or when surrounded by a handful of people – especially people he knows. In larger social settings he tends to become irritated and wears out easily.

When home alone with him, he tends to cling to me– all.the.time. There are moments when he will suddenly pick up a book and intently turn the pages, or otherwise enjoy independent play. And I start to feel guilty for walking away and leaving him to play. Just now I took him upstairs to our bedroom to change my clothes. As usual I put him in the pack and play, fully stocked with book and toys, while I changed. He began playing and when I asked if he wanted to go down stairs with mum, he kept playing. He’s up there, playing away, I am down here blogging. And I feel so guilty.

When he’s clingy I get annoyed that he is on me all the time, but when I leave him alone to play I feel like I am abandoning him. If I am being rational, I know that a balance of play with others and independent play is ideal, but since the scale is so often tipped in one way, I just don’t know how to relax and enjoy the latter.