Paying For It

Dear Hazel,
Well... you've been in day care for about six weeks now. And have been sick for about four of those weeks. Sometimes, I feel like I'm working so that I can pay for your day care and then pay for the doctor's visits and medications for the illness's you pick up while at day care. It's a vicious circle, Hazey. One that has me pulling my hair out. Literally. I mean, have I mentioned that not only has my hair started to turn gray, but that it's falling out in clumps these days? Ah... the joys of post-partum.

But, I digress. So, you've been sick for a while. First it was with the rash. Thankfully, changing your bathing patterns and the detergent we use on your clothes seems to have cleared most of it up. However, your left arm continues to give us problems and you really have a case of exczema on it. You also get small rashes on your neck where the car seat straps rub on you. But, there's nothing we can really do about that, so we just try to keep you lotioned up with some Eucerine and you don't seem to bothered by it. Not that you've ever been bothered by anything... except when dinner is late or I haven't picked up on your clues that YOU NEED TO GO TO BED RIGHT NOW. Luckily, I'm getting better at both of those and your cries are just not necessary now. Which is a blessing.

We went to St. George again for the long holiday weekend last week. We headed down Thursday afternoon and you slept about halfway there before you woke up and needed to be fed. We pulled over at a gas station in Fillmore and got your tummy situation taken care of and played with you for a bit before we put you back in the car seat for the remainder of the trip. For the next couple of hours, you and I had a great time. And then... when we were about 30 minutes outside of St. George, you lost. your. ever. loving. mind. I think you were tired. And you were tired of being in the car seat. And since I'm not producing as much milk as I used to, you were probably a little hungry. What followed was a LOT of screaming and crying until we got you to the house and were able to get you fed. By the time we got you down, you'd been up for four hours, and we really thought you would sleep through the night. I should mention now that although at 2 months old you were regularly pulling 8-10 hour night sleeps, the last week or so, it was hard to get you to sleep for more than three hours at a time. That, I guess, should have been our first clue.

Before we left for St. George, I'd taken you to the doctor because I'd noticed a slight cough. The doc said that everything looked okay and your lungs sounded clear, but that you did have a slight ear infection. We put you on antibiotics and hoped for the best. The first night down in St. George was awful. You were up and ready to party every three hours. You weren't unhappy or anything. Just awake. And it was KILLING me. Hopefully one day, you'll understand... feeding a baby ever 2-3 hours is really draining on a mommy. Especially one that's been used to only having to feed ever 3-4 hours during the day and not having to feed at all at night.


The second night in St. George was more of the same. We'd get you down. You'd be out. And then 2-3 hours later, you were up... chatting up a storm. The third night, Aunt Natalie mentioned that you might be waking up because of the pressure in your ear from the infection, and that maybe letting you sleep in the swing upright would help. At that point, I was willing to try anything. And that night, baby girl, you threw down a 10 hour, 45 minute sleep.

EUREKA!

The following night you slept for 9 hours and have been sleeping through the night since then. All in your swing.

We noticed a few days ago, while we were still in St. George, that your cough was getting a little worse. A little phlegmy. But, again... you didn't seem too bothered. Plus, you were having too much fun getting to meet Aunt Natalie and make faces at Aunt KC... you couldn't be bothered with being cranky.

Coming home from St. George was not a lot of fun. First off... I mean, who wants to leave Southern Utah and go to Northern Utah in the middle of February. It's illogical. And secondly... well, let's just say that when you're over the car seat... YOU ARE OVER THE CAR SEAT, mkay?

The next morning, I took you to day care and mentioned that you had a bit of a cough. When the day care workers said: "She can join the club!", well, I shoulda taken you to the doc right then. Because every baby in that room was coughing.

When we got home that night and I tried to feed you, I knew something was wrong. You were screaming and crying in a way I haven't seen since you were five weeks old. You wouldn't eat and you were coughing up a storm. I took you to Urgent Care at our pediatrician's office where you were diagnosed with RSV. Lovely. The one disease I tried to avoid with you because I know how awful it can be. I keep trying to explain to you not to put your mouth on the toys at day care... but do you listen? Guess I should learn this early on, huh?

They sent us home with a nebulizer and a medical grade nasal suction machine (which by the way, you DO. NOT. LIKE.)(Probably because it feels and sounds like we're trying to extract your brain through your nostrils). They also upped your antibiotic since your ears are not getting better. And other than that... well, we just have to wait this thing out.

The good news is you're still sleeping through the night in your swing. You cough every once in a while but you stay down. Which is nice, I guess. I still keep going in and checking on you to make sure you're still breathing, but honestly, you're handling this whole thing remarkably well. For a baby with RSV, you're full of grace and even though I know that you don't feel that great... you're still full of smiles and happiness. You still like to talk and you've recently taken up happy shrieking. If we can just get you feeling better, you're going to be even more incredibly happy.

But, I guess will just have to wait for that.

I'm shooting for sometime in April.

Love,
Mama