Crazy Mommy

Being sick always sucks, but when you have a child to take care of it sucks even more. In my last blog I posted how I wasn’t feeling well and as I thought I was getting better I was apparently wrong. Today is day five of having the flu and I’ve now lost between 5 and 6 pounds. Not to get to disgusting or too personal but in order to hopefully help others out in the future; I had diarrhea and vomiting. I’m currently with out medical so I looked up these two symptoms on WebMD and WOW did that help a lot. For anyone who gets this horrible bug, stay away from high fat foods, greasy foods, spicy foods, and dairy. Don’t jump into any of these foods either; try and gradually eat foods, work up to different things and EAT SLOWLY. I went over twenty four hours with out vomiting and ate some taco’s because I was STARVING and I was sick five hours later.

My husband went out yesterday and bought me some Gatorade, bread, bananas, applesauce and big sticks. Okay the big sticks were no where on WebMD, just something I wanted. I started out with a piece of bread that I toasted but left dry and I ate it very slowly and sipped some Gatorade; this made me feel better instantly. I’m convinced it was psychological but it still made me feel better and that is what is important. ha ha Today I’m on my second bottle of Gatorade (one yesterday and one today) and I already have so much more energy than I’ve had. But I can’t say it enough, don’t push yourself too quickly, eat slowly and drink lots of fluids! I tried to drink a ton of water but it upset my stomach so I had to sip it slower than the Gatorade.

Here is the WebMD site that I used to help guide me through my sick times. Gastreonteritis in Adults and Older Children
I got to this page by typing in WebMD “What to eat when you have diarrhea” and this was one of the first links it gave me. After reading through the page and it said “stomach flu” than I knew to keep reading.

My biggest fear while I was sick was that I would lose my milk supply. I knew it was okay to nurse as long as I didn’t have food poisoning, which I knew I didn’t have because food poisoning wouldn’t let me keep anything down for any amount of time. (Also I hadn’t eaten anything to cause food poisoning, and no one else was sick.) I nursed just like normal which is at night and to put her down for naps and I forced myself to sip on water as often as possible. I thought you had to eat between 1800-2200 calories in order to keep up your supply so I’m not sure how much she’s been getting but I know that I still am producing. Which is great! I have a personal goal to make breastfeeding until at the very least, one year. Once I am able to eat better I’m going to try some oatmeal to bring my supply back up. (Did you know oatmeal will do that? I had one bowl of oatmeal months ago and I could tell my supply increased for at least three days before balancing back out.)

Sorry if any of this doesn’t make sense, I’ve proofread and spell checked but I still haven’t eaten much.

I don’t have much to say. For New Years Eve we went to a friends house and took the baby with us. I don’t like to ask people to baby sit because she’s my responsibility and if I’m going to have a child than I don’t feel I should pawn her off onto others. It was a small party with close friends; Only problem is, she gets so excited when we’re around people she wont sleep. I’d take her upstairs and nurse her, hoping she’d fall asleep in bed and she’d only nap while nursing. Once she let go she was wide awake again. She wasn’t fussy just a little restless.

Than yesterday I ended up getting the flu which effected her sleeping pattern as well. When I’m stressed or acting different she senses it and gets fussy and wont sleep.  My whole body ached so obviously I was unhappy and she knew something was wrong. Luckily I have a great husband who helped me take care of her he just can’t breastfeed and she wont sleep unless she’s breastfeeding so I had to take over at times. When you are sick it’s important to still breastfeed because your body will carry the antibodies from the cold in the milk. This could help the baby from getting as sick as you or even keep them from getting sick at all. Also even if you throw it up you should try and stay hydrated, maybe eat something if possible too. It’s so frustrating and difficult to take care of a small child when you feel sick and I’m thankful that I have my husband around. I have a lot of respect for single parents out there because you don’t get that break we sometimes need.

I have to add though that my daughter is so great, and so smart! She’s going to be ten months old on Monday and she knew something was wrong with me. She’d come up while I was laying down and cuddle or while my eyes were closed she’d give me a kiss. She’s very selective with her kisses, she doesn’t give them on demand so when she gives them it’s very special.

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

Sorry it’s been a few days since I posted. I went out of town for a few days and was unable to get online.

In 2006 I was in a car accident that left me with bad back pain. Turns out I have a pinched nerve in my back that when I lay down sends pain to my legs and feet. Sometimes it feels like my legs are expanding or blowing up like a balloon and it doesn’t matter which way I toss and turn, the pain wont go away. Because of the pinched nerve I had horrible heart burn and acid reflux that made it difficult to do work, or think straight. I always needed to keep milk or sprite close by to drink otherwise I was miserable. Finally I gave in and went to the chiropractor because the Dr threatened to give me a cortisone shot! (My dad said those hurt and I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of a shot.) With in weeks my back felt better, I could sleep with out using Vicodin (sp?) and the heart burn and acid reflux was gone too! I highly recommend chiropractors for ANY problems. Reading the different signs on the walls in the office and listening to others in groups or forums, chiropractors are good for all sorts of issues; heart burn, headaches, wetting the bed, colds etc. 

Did you know going to the chiropractor while pregnant is perfectly safe? When you start to show or it becomes uncomfortable they will not have you lay on your stomach to realign your back.  One of the women in the office told me that when you have a cold going in for realignment could possible make you feel worse for a short time because you’re releasing toxins into your body but I’ve heard from others that it’s helped their children and themselves get through their colds quicker. (Especially those long lingering ones.) One woman said her child had a cold that the doctor brushed off as being “how he normally sounded”, the cold or “normal” sound lasted for months and they couldn’t find the problem but when she took the child to the chiropractor it went away. So it’s worth giving it a try!

I am the kind of person who dislikes the popping sound and it took a lot of trust for me to go in and have my neck realigned. But I have to tell you it’s so worth it to get over that fear; the more you go the easier it gets. Try finding someone you can trust; someone recommended through a friend maybe? 

Monday I took my daughter in to see Santa. I know it’s a little last minute but I couldn’t decide how important it was to me and if I’d regret not doing it. Both my husband and I are with out jobs currently so I’m trying to save money. Luckily my mother-in-law gave me $20 so it made the decision easier. ha ha

So Monday I woke up bright and early hoping to beat the rush since it’s 3 days before Christmas and there should be plenty of last minute shoppers. I don’t know why I was so surprised when I got to the mall 15 minutes after it opened and I still had to park in the back of the lot. It started to sprinkle as we were walking in and that’s when I realized that in my hustle to get to the mall ASAP I forgot a sweatshirt or something to keep her warm; at least I walk fast. I was so happy when I saw only two groups of people in line for Santa; I hate crowds and here I am at the mall on December 22nd. 

I was so afraid Em was going to cry as soon as she saw Santa. She didn’t sleep well and I wasn’t sure what kind of mood she was in; she doesn’t typically cry for strangers - yet. I prayed and prayed that things would go well because it’s not like I had the money to come back another time and try it again. So I go up and place her in Santa’s lap and try distracting her by calling her name and walking straight back. I try not to let her see him and just stick her straight back in his arms; yet the first thing she does is turn around and look right up at him.

This is one of my favorites! I think she just looks too cute looking up at him like that and him down at her. And I have to compliment our mall because he looks so realistic! No fake beard which is another thing that made me want to get this photo done even more; I’ve seen some scraggly looking Santa’s around. He was a nice guy too which is always a plus. 

Oh I should also add, she did not cry. I was so thankful!

Yesterday Southern California got an early Christmas present from God; SNOW! I can’t remember the last time we got snow but several freeways were closed and remain closed today due to snow and ice. (Which may or may not mean anything, Californians can’t really drive in any weather.) I look outside now and there is a stream running down the street from all the melting snow because today it’s bright and sunny out. When I woke up yesterday morning it started snowing around 6:30 AM and did not stop snowing till sometime after dark. Some places reported getting at least six inches of snow. I heard even Vegas received between two to eight inches of snow as well.

For my daughter this was her first snow encounter and she seemed to really enjoy it. When we woke up in the morning I opened the blinds to the sliding door and she seemed to like looking out at all the white. She even looked up at the sky a few times to see the snow falling towards her. Here is a photo of her at the door looking out at our little patio. (The snow never stuck to the ground on the patio because there was too much water that had collected there.)

Then I bundled her up nice and warm; putting her into clothes that didn’t fit but I knew would do the trick. (They are hand me downs and so they are too big.) Below is a photo of her sitting in the snow for the first time. A few times she looked like she wanted to lean forward and try and eat the snow off the ground but because she was wearing a few layers of clothes she was hardly able to move.

(These photos of me just make me aware of how I need to diet. ha h)

Em liked it when I’d face her into the snow that was falling; she’d giggle as it hit her face.  

My dad told me his usual, maybe ten minute drive home from work, took him forty minutes because the roads were so slick. He said he’d coast through the intersections because if he’d apply any pressure to the gas pedal he’d just slip and slide around. One time he went down to the bottom of his street to help a man who’d got himself stuck in the intersection and afterwards got himself stuck and almost didn’t make it back home. 

I’m glad my daughter was old enough to enjoy this, even a little. Later on last night after the snow had stopped my neighbors made a nice big snow man. (He was about my height) So I took Em outside to see him; she looked him over, up and down, and giggled a little. It was an unsure giggle as she tried to figure out what to make of him. I know she wont remember this when she gets older, but it was still enjoyable for the three of us.