Awake

Often when I'm awake in the middle of the night (usually to feed the baby), I find at least ten other things to do after I'm finished with his feeding. Feed the cat. Get a drink. Go to the bathroom. Put wood on the fire. Get lotion for my hands. The list goes on.

More often than any of those, I've been getting online when I'm awake in the middle of the night. I'm not sure why, but I find myself staggering toward Facebook, mentally crying out "Facebook bretheren! Come, get online with me at 2 a.m!" Most of the time, there is no one to hear my cry. It is a phenomenon of which the cause I am unaware.

On to the snow. Boy, there is a lot of it. News anchors and Richmonders alike are calling it "record snowfall." Well, it could be record snowfall, but it's not THE record FOR snowfall in Richmond. Please don't get confused - that honor belongs in 1940, where Richmond received a whopping 21.5 inches of snow in 24 hours in late January. And you thought this snowfall was bad...

I'm debating tackling the great dig-out tomorrow. There is no telling if work is going to close on Monday or not, and I would HATE digging out my car at 6 a.m. on Monday morning. Talk about a big suck.

Well, the fireplace was just roaring and I had to shut it down quick, so I guess my work is done here. Over and out, until 2 a.m. tomorrow.

One More Day

My self-inflicted quarrantine is nearly over, with just today to go. Tomorrow will be day four since the ease of my stomach illness symptoms, and I will no longer be contagious then. Praise God.

And guess what tomorrow also will bring? SNOW, and LOTS of it! Hooray!

I completely plan to sit on my butt all day and do nothing. Nope, I don't plan to go out in it, mostly because JJ can't really go out in it due to the RSV. It's just not a smart thing to do. So we will sit and play and nap all day. It's going to be very nice. What a great winter weather weekend.

Everybody has their milk and bread, right?

I ventured to Walmart for diapers this afternoon and immediately thought to myself that I was in trouble. I knew that I was in serious trouble when I couldn't find parking spot. No joke. I just needed diapers!! They should have spots at Walmart for customers that only need one thing, right in the front. They should also have spots for pregnant women and parents with children. What a world.

I did make it in and out of Walmart alive and under a half hour. Surprisingly.

I discovered a very scary thing today. As you all know, I've been having some serious sinus issues all season. I'm at my whits end, so I tried a Neti Pot. Here's how it works, and NO, I'm not making this up.

You get this little tea pot thing and fill it with warm water. Then you mix in the packet that comes with the pot. Then you tilt your head to the side, lean over a sink, and pour the spout into one of your nostrils. The water comes OUT THE OTHER NOSTRIL. The first time I tried it, I thought I was going to drown myself. For real, this thing is terrifying. After I finished it, my nose felt clearer, but it's running like crazy now, so I'm still a little skeptical. Freaky.

It was fun, to say the least.

So I'm just in babble mode so I'm going to sign off and go to bed, even though it's only 8:40 p.m. Perhaps one day my evenings will be filled with something other than eating and immediately going to bed...

It Must Be the Plague

Don't you hate it when the lousy Virginia weather pulls a fast one on us? That warm weather earlier in the week was so good; I could have taken a bath in it. I could have bottled it up and saved it for a day like... well, today. I want spring so bad, I can taste it. Pollen and all.

It's been a hard week. Tuesday was especially hard - leaving JJ in the morning to come to work was difficult after being so close with him for the previous four days. I felt like I could hold him forever and that would be okay. Then Tuesday night, I came down with a stomach bug. Thankfully, it didn't last long and I somehow managed to work a half day yesterday. I feel completely fine today.

The only problem with all of this is after stomach flu, you're contagious for at least three days after your symptoms start to go away. I haven't touched my son in two days and still have a few to go. It's excruciating. My house reeks of Lysol and Clorox. If the CDC walked into my house, they may even call it sterile. I've sprayed the walls, doors, doorknobs, light switches, refrigerator, countertops, ceiling fans, baby swing, high chair, toilets, sinks, computer keyboards, cabinet knobs, TV remote..... anything that was even slightly touched got sprayed. I'm going to do it again today, too. JJ can't catch this - he needs time to be well for a while.

Jerry has really stepped up to the plate and taken all baby responsibilities. JJ slept all night last night as a favor to Daddy, which I thought was nice. As a result, I also slept all night, which is something that I haven't done in MANY months. It was great because we all needed it. I could hardly believe it when I woke up this morning.

So now that the stomach bug is gone, I'm continuing to fight the sinus infection that is still hanging around. It's been four weeks and one round of antibiotics for this stupid infection and I've just had enough. I'm probably going to have to do another round of antibiotics to get it to go away. Anybody have a quick fix in the mean time?

I'm hoping that the plague is on the way out and we can start being normal again - whatever that is.

Rain, rain... go away...

And I don't mean the rain outside.

JJ and I are home now and both completely exhausted. In fact, he's been sleeping in his car seat since I got on Chippenham Parkway to come home over two hours ago. He needs the sleep.

We've had some major drama to go with our hospital stay, including some home nebulizer drama that we're dealing with right now. It basically comes down to people not doing their jobs, including JJ's doctor. It's ok, though. We're home and on the mend and that's the only thing that matters right now.

And now it's six hours later. JJ woke, I fed him, and we snuggled and slept on the couch for a while. It was nice not being interrupted every two hours. Now he's sitting in the bouncy seat, being bounced by Daddy, and watching the football game. He's cooing and kicking and having a great time. It's good to see him so active - it's been a while since he's been really happy.

My sinus infection has come back with a vengeance. The cough has come back too. I feel competely miserable, on top of the sleep deprivation. I'm looking forward to a nice, quiet day tomorrow... including a trip to the peditrician. I'm also hoping JJ sleeps well tonight. It's been a while since either one of us have done that.

I've concluded that we're all going to be okay one day. The sun will come out again.

I'm gonna go snuggle my baby and call it a night. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, visits, calls, and especially the food. It is all deeply appreciated.

Looks like morning in my eyes....

A perfect sunrise is developing over the city of Richmond. I can see the downtown skyline from our window, and I must say, it's quite beautiful when you look past the rusty satelites and the dirty puddles of water that are on the rooftop under us.

JJ had a pretty restless night. He can only tolerate 2 ounces of formula at a time, so he's waking practically every hour wanting to eat. We didn't get much sleep, to say the least. Respiratory Therapists are coming in every three hours, so our 90 minute sleep marathons are frequently interrupted. He's taking his last nap of the night now, but I'm awake and wired.

My mom will be here in a few hours. There are times when a kid needs Mom. JJ needs me right now, and I need my mom right now. I'm looking forward to her visit.

I also have breakfast coming. SUPER EXCITING!

Baby calls... more later.

Our little drama king...

I should be sleeping. Anyone with half a right brain would be sleeping right now if they were me. But nope. Not sleeping.

JJ is sleeping in his hospital crib beside me. In fact, he's even snoring a bit. I feel quite comforted by his apparent comfort.

On Thursday night, JJ was very uncomfortable. I could tell he was working a little to breathe, but I didn't worry too much because he's had this respiratory infection for a few days. I couldn't get him to settle down to sleep, so I rocked and rocked until it was nearly time to eat.

After he finished eating, I pulled the bottle out of his mouth and he was blue around his lips. I gave him a little jostle and he perked up and the blue went away. He's quite stuffy, so I'm sure he just couldn't move any air when he had the bottle in his mouth. I laid him down in the swing to sleep, and watched him for a few minutes. I could literally see the perimiter of his lips start to turn blue as he fell alseep. I woke him up, he turned pink again. He fell asleep - he turned blue again. I immediately packed him up and headed to the ER.

We got to the ER around 1 a.m. He was very sleepy and pale when we got there, and we were again immediately taken to the back. The nurse suctioned his nose out and he was much more comfortable. We waited. And waited. And waited. Finally the doctor came in and told me that he was moving air well and that he turned blue probably because of all the mucus in his nose. She was going to send us home with a nebulizer since JJ had started wheezing. As an afterthought, she checked his oxygen saturation (the amount of oxygen in his blood) and it was 80. It should always be close to 100.

She moved the probe and checked again. 79. I was in disbelief since he was sleeping in my arms and seemed so comfortable. The nurse gave him some oxygen and it went back up to 90. She took it away - back down to 75... which made JJ the proud winner of a shiny hospital room on the seventh floor.

It was 6 a.m. when we were wheeled into our room. At that point, I hadn't slept in 24 hours and it didn't even phase me at all. My kid is in the hospital and I have one job to do - mommy him as much as motherly possible. Sleeping not required.

So here we are at 1:25 a.m. - 24 hours since we were in the ER, waiting. Jerry brought me the netbook with the wireless broadband so I can have some entertainment. The baby down the hall that has been crying since we got here is finally quiet. In fact, all of the babies are quiet right now. JJ has had eight breathing treatments and is finally starting to breathe more comfortably. He's still on oxygen, but they are stepping down the dose so we can get him off it soon. I don't have much of an appetite, although I feel hungry. My sinuses are on full fledged attack mode and have been driving me crazy since we got here. I still have a litle lingering cough, so I sound just sick enough for people to feel a little sorry for me, but not enough that they think I'm irresponsible for being in a hospital with the plague.

Prayers are appreciated. Always. We think we might be able to go home Sunday or Monday, depending on the course of the RSV. The doctor warned us that it still could get worse before it gets better, and we need to keep him here long enough to make sure that doesn't happen while we're at home.

This is the finale of the sickness. We've decided that none of us are going to be sick anymore all season. We've all had enough.

Feel free to call me tomorrow if you have questions or want to check on us.

Epidemic Proportions

Sickness is rampant in my house. JJ and I have escaped the latest epidemic, so far, and I plan to keep it that way. We think Jerry has the stomach flu, but are hoping that it was just a nasty sub he ate at Mr. Submarine last night. I wouldn't eat there even if the President offered his seat to me. Gross. To be safe, the Clorox, Lysol and Purell are stationed on the front lines and Jerry has been quarantined to the upstairs for the next three days or so, with rations being delivered to him as needed. JJ and I cannot get sick again, after finally starting to get over this bronchiolitis/sinus infection/RSV crap. Our immune systems just can't handle it.

Spring, WHERE ARE YOU?!

On my way back to C-field from dropping JJ off at my sis-in-law's house (again, God bless you, Ev!), I started getting a little queasy and immediately started to panic. I'm talking the sweaty palms, heart racing, frantic-to-find-a-solution kind of panic. How in the world would we take care of JJ if we both have the stomach flu?! This can't be happening to us!!

As I was sitting in the inevitable stand-still traffic on I 95, I realized that I hadn't eaten anything since lunch yesterday. I completely forgot to eat dinner last night because I was so busy with the baby. I didn't eat breakfast this morning because I was busy, again, with the baby and taking care of Jerry. My stomach was starving!

I made a quick stop at WaWa and got some breakfast and felt WAY better after I ate. Phew. That was a close one.

I finished breakfast as I pulled into my office's parking lot and right on cue, I started to have a coughing fit. As time moves on, these coughing fits are getting longer and more painful as my body continues to try to get the gunk out that got in there nearly three weeks ago. I coughed so hard, I saw stars. I thought my head was going to fly off. Thank goodness I didn't lose my breakfast, like I have in the past after a coughing fit.

Somehow I managed to recover, gathered my things, and staggered into the building, all while sucking in gulps of air. I hate being sick.

Let me back up here a little on my blog full of rant - yesterday, I had my fancy new birth control implant put in. It's totally cool - no worries at all about birth control for the next three years. Super exciting. Basically, it's a 2 inch rod that the doctor crams under your skin on the underside of your upper arm. It's minor surgery to have it done, but I was numb the rest of the day yesterday, so it was okay afterwards. Now? It feels like I've been shot in the arm. Multiple times. Looks like it, too.

So when I walked up to my office, I plopped my stuff down and poked my head into my neighbor's office to say hello. Just as I positioned myself in the doorway, I crossed my arms. YEOWCH!!! Holy hell, that hurt so bad I thought I was going to pass out. It's been throbbing ever since and it's lunchtime.

Thankfully (knock on some serious wood here), JJ and I haven't developed any symptoms of the stomach flu, which means either we caught it in time for an effective quarantine, or it's the Nasty Sub Disease.

We need a break here. I would like just ONE day where none of us are sick. None. Just one day. Is that too much to ask? I would think not...