Welcome to the Circus
I'm supposed to be getting a massage right now. Seriously, right now. And I can tell you that I really, really need it. Of course, most new moms can benefit a massage--carrying the baby, breastfeeding, not getting good sleep, etc. But really, right now, it's about more than that for me. I could use a little bit of the relaxation that comes with relieving the tension in your muscles. And why would today be any different? Let's just take a peak at the last 2 days. Well, maybe 3 days.
Three days ago. It was Sunday. The weekends pretty much are the only times that I get some time away from the craziness of life with 2 small children. So, after some family time in the morning, I had the most relaxing pedicure I've ever had. No loud atmosphere full of fumes. A quiet experience where I was able to lie back and rest with a lavender eye mask, instead of catching up on some reading, which was a nice change. I had a chiropractic adjustment on Saturday, so my neck was feeling pretty good.
Monday was fairly uneventful. I kind of even forgot about it because Tuesday and Wednesday have been so traumatic! :-)
Tuesday: We didn't get out to do grocery shopping over the weekend and, though Stephan was going to go on his lunch break for me, he forgot his wallet. So I made a few modifications to our shopping list and was able to hit our nearby grocery store. Yes, that's right, I took both kids shopping. (Check back for a posting on our first trip to Target last week, as compared to the infamous trip that happened when Eisley was a baby.) We came home, had lunch. Soren took a nap. Then Eisley had her quiet time (as Soren was waking up). But Soren has had some rough times lately with his reflux and tummy troubles. He's been waking up from sleeping soundly with the need to burp/spit up, usually spitting up before we can get in to pick him up. We've had a lot of crib sheet changes in the past week. I'm not sure if his medicine isn't working as well for the acid reflux, if he has more gas than usual or both. He had a growth spurt last week, and I think that he hasn't quite evened out yet. All of that to say that I have had to spend more time with him to get him to sleep. During the daytime, this results in Eisley spending a bit of time on her own. I often leave her with a video or TV on so that she has something to keep her anchored. I don't think she's lonely without it, but I know that it helps to keep her out of trouble while I am nursing Soren or putting him sleep. It seems that we found ourselves on a slippery slope in the afternoon.
After one feeding, I came out to find Eisley with a Sharpie marker. She was coloring on art paper, so that was fine. She had also fully decorated a few boxes that I had prepared to be shipped. No big deal. I decided to secure the Sharpie and gave her her set of washable markers. I had to go back to Soren, though, and left feeling pretty comfortable that Eisley would color with no issues. When I returned later, I found that she had gotten into a real creative streak. On her Belle princess dress. Mind you, at this point, I was not in a great spot because I had left Soren in his crib because he was having trouble falling asleep and I felt like I was leaving Eisley alone too long. Plus, it has been rather stressful dealing with Soren's fussiness and resistance. So, as he is beginning to transition from fussing into hysterics, I tried to explain to Eisley why her dress was now not so pretty. She did not agree with me and very convincingly stated that her dress was very pretty. Okay, suit yourself, little princess, but don't be upset with me when you decide that your dressed is ruined.
I then went and retrieved hysterical, snot-faced and spit up covered Soren from his bed. I pulled back his sheet and flannel pad with the intention to return later to put dry set on. I had to strip him down and clean him up to calm him down. Poor kid was a mess. But at that point, the nap seemed a little out of the question. So we had a little tummy time and I tried to get caught up a little bit. I turned on my ipod/speakers with some Brooke Fraser. Eisley loves to look at the iPod Touch when I'm playing music, whether it's our music or Pandora radio. So, she pulled up a bar stool to the counter and was watching the pictures of the album. By this time I knew that Soren was starting to crumble again, so I decided to pull out my old faithful Ergo Baby Carrier, which formerly had been the only way I could get him to sleep. I wasn't concerned about getting him to sleep, but I just wanted him to be able to rest calmly, snug up against me. It was almost time for me to get dinner started, so I needed him to be secure and not fussing. As luck would have it, he did calm down and fall asleep. I felt good about just gently walking with him and singing along with Brooke Fraser--no big shushing, bouncing sleep intervention for once. I told Eisley I was going to put Soren down and went to his room to rock him for a few minutes first. It wasn't but a few minutes later before I heard this crash and cry, so I ran out of Soren's room to see that Eisley had fallen off of the bar stool onto some large, plastic boxes that were on the floor. She was trying to reach for something that was just a bit too far. Well, all of the commotion surrounding that brought Soren out of the very light sleep he was in, but...Eisley was okay and Soren seemed to be refreshed from his rest time. After this is when I updated my Facebook status to indicate that I needed some backup from Daddy!
Of course a little while later, I found out that Stephan had a late meeting, so he was going to be running behind. Super. Duper. So, I started dinner, but since Soren really didn't get his afternoon nap, he was starting the final descent into 'need to go night-night, mama'. Instead of following our usual routine of getting Eisley dinner with one of us, while Soren gets his medicine and bath, I decided to put both Eisley and Soren in the bath together. Thankfully, Stephan came home right as we finished the bath, so Eisley wasn't going to be left alone while I fed Soren and put him to bed.
Soren's tummy started to amp up again in the evening. Just 2 hours after he went to sleep, he woke up, wriggling around. He coughed and then started getting vocal. Upon checking him out, we found that he had indeed spit up. So while Stephan held and burped him, I changed the sheets on the bed. I even cut my shower short and skipped shaving my legs so that I could get to him, just in case he needed to eat. But I was thrilled that he didn't actually need to eat at the 2 hour interval (and he ultimately made it over 4 hours).
The overnight hours were not great, but they weren't terrible. After going to bed at midnight, per our pathetic usual, I was up from 2:45 to 3:15. Soren woke again around 5:30, though I was sooo tired and barely heard him fussing. I got him back down around 6:00, and he woke again at 7:15. I would love more than 2-2.5 hours of sleep in one stretch! But Soren's stomach is kind of giving him a run for it right now. It takes me a little longer to get him back down in the middle of the night right now because I have to wait a while to make sure he burps enough (or at all). This patience does pay off and will afford him a longer period of sleep if I wait for the extra bit of air to pass. I think Soren actually was having a bit of issue with "air" this day...the poor guy was SO gassy. Not sure why...just another of the mysteries of an infant.
Wednesday: This morning started out fine. Eisley went to the dentist with Stephan to have 3 fillings and one sealant. We found out a few weeks ago that she needed them. She did awesome for her cleaning and we assumed she would be fine for this as well, but I was nervous about it. So, Stephan took her.
Soren took a morning nap, affording me some time to relax and do some devotions while Eisley was at the dentist. Perhaps I could have used a little more time...I had no idea how the day was going...or that it was going to possible top yesterday!
While we were eating lunch, I was holding Soren in my lap, since he just woke up, but I was determined to eat before he did. I held him sitting on the table for a few moments and his swinging arms and his BAM-BAM arm in an instant knocked my cup of tea over on the table. Of course, within range of this puddle were my computer, camera and phone. Unbelievable! How does he have such aim? Thankfully, nothing was affected.
The afternoon went okay. I mean, the kids didn't sync their naps, but at least Soren did sleep and Eisley was in a pleasant mood. And today, I didn't feel the need to keep the TV off while Eisley was alone, (well technically a video on my iPad). We had a little talk about not coloring on her Aurora dress with markers and she agreed with me! No colors on her dress. Great! Of course, she seemed rather obsessed with tracing her hands/fingers with the markers, so her hands were COVERED. And subsequently, her face (from the wiping her hair away or rubbing her poor allergy tormented nose) was also covered in a variety of colors.
I was supposed to have a massage this evening, as I mentioned at the beginning. I was looking forward to it...oh yes. Stephan and I talked before he left about the schedule. He had a workshop at work followed by an appreciation dinner at 6pm, and I made him promise to be home by 8:00 so that I knew we were covered for my 8:30 massage. Well, around 4:30pm, I found out that his dinner plans were screwed up and they had postponed it until 7:00pm. And this was at a Brazilian restaurant that is all about drawn out eating of mass quantities of meat. I was not happy about this change, but it was determined that I would change my plans. I knew that it would be risky to try to have a massage with Soren's random wakings without Stephan here to get him. I was also rather nervous about taking care of bedtime by myself. Again, I just didn't want to leave Eisley alone for too long. And Soren is just so unpredictable.
Surprisingly, the evening unfolding better than expected. I organized some toys and baby clothes. I prepared dinner for me and Eisley. We ate while Soren's medicine got in for the minimum 15 minutes. Then I gave Soren a quick bath. (Normally he gets about a 15 minute bath to allow the medicine to stay down. The idea is for him not to spit up so that the meds can be absorbed into his system.) Soren was pretty hungry and tired, so it was fairly straightforward. He ate. He fell asleep. He had a few good burps. I felt pretty good about it. I came out, cleaned up the kitchen, and then got Eisley's bath ready. I got her all cleaned up and then I heard Soren. I saw him on the monitor with his head bobbing. No!!! And then everything just shifted.
I found that he had already spit up by the time I got in his room. Earlier I had put 2 sets of sheets on so that I could pull one off without having to totally change them out. So, after getting a string of burps out, I pulled that top set of sheets off. Eisley was still in the bathtub right across the hall. She was being louder than I hoped, and Soren wasn't settling as quickly as I'd hoped. And then I heard it. Eisley was calling for help. Oh good grief. So, I put Soren down in his crib and went to Eisley who was panicking. "I have to poop!" Or maybe it was "I have poop!" I think she wants to sit on the potty, but as we're getting there, I realize that she's already started to go. Just a small bit, but she is clearly aware that the tub is not the place she wants to do it. I can hear that Soren is not settling in, and realize that I need to get things moving. So, I drain the tub, shower Eisley off. I forget her allergy medicine, but remember to brush her teeth (her newly filled teeth). I am growing impatient now because I know that Soren is starting to get upset. Poor Eisley didn't really want to be rushed, but I knew that I didn't want to get Soren out of bed and fully awake. So I just hurried Eisley to her room, trying to get her to stay quiet. It was not my best moment of patience and peace, but I didn't lose it outwardly as much I wanted to! I quickly got her dressed and put her in bed without a story. Without a prayer. Without a song. She was upset and so was I, but the more Soren cried, the more air he swallowed and the more potential for spitting up and gas. So, I went to Soren. He was quite hysterical, and even though it had only been an hour since he had last eaten, I was in no mood to convince him that he didn't need to eat. That filling his belly with more milk was just going to complicate matters. Nope. If he wanted to nurse back to sleep, then so be it. I was just exhausted. And thankfully he went right back to sleep. And while Eisley was upset when I left her, she did go to sleep. But as I sat rocking Soren, waiting for him to burp (which he never did), I had to pee, I was thirsty and I knew I needed to give Eisley her meds as she was coughing a lot. In the middle of all of that above, I texted Stephan to tell him that "Never again" would I be left to deal with all of that on my own. As I sat rocking Soren, I updated my Facebook status that I was ready for the cameras to come out, for everyone to get a laugh and for the drama to end!!
And I was right to not have my massage tonight, as I had to go to Soren right after I started typing this. That was a quick burp and back to sleep. The 2nd time he woke up during typing this was not so simple. Spit up, screaming, burping, more screaming, and finally another burp. On a positive note, he didn't need to eat to go back to sleep, and let me just rock him gently to sleep. By this time, I was ready for Stephan to be home, but apparently his boss and the Brazilian restaurant were on a different time frame! I know that this material is all good for a laugh and I'll be able to look back one day and be fine with it, but tonight, I am just hoping that tomorrow will be a little smoother. You can definitely say that my days are not filled with too many dull moments! (And it sure makes me think twice about adding any more kiddos to the circus!)
Three days ago. It was Sunday. The weekends pretty much are the only times that I get some time away from the craziness of life with 2 small children. So, after some family time in the morning, I had the most relaxing pedicure I've ever had. No loud atmosphere full of fumes. A quiet experience where I was able to lie back and rest with a lavender eye mask, instead of catching up on some reading, which was a nice change. I had a chiropractic adjustment on Saturday, so my neck was feeling pretty good.
Monday was fairly uneventful. I kind of even forgot about it because Tuesday and Wednesday have been so traumatic! :-)
Tuesday: We didn't get out to do grocery shopping over the weekend and, though Stephan was going to go on his lunch break for me, he forgot his wallet. So I made a few modifications to our shopping list and was able to hit our nearby grocery store. Yes, that's right, I took both kids shopping. (Check back for a posting on our first trip to Target last week, as compared to the infamous trip that happened when Eisley was a baby.) We came home, had lunch. Soren took a nap. Then Eisley had her quiet time (as Soren was waking up). But Soren has had some rough times lately with his reflux and tummy troubles. He's been waking up from sleeping soundly with the need to burp/spit up, usually spitting up before we can get in to pick him up. We've had a lot of crib sheet changes in the past week. I'm not sure if his medicine isn't working as well for the acid reflux, if he has more gas than usual or both. He had a growth spurt last week, and I think that he hasn't quite evened out yet. All of that to say that I have had to spend more time with him to get him to sleep. During the daytime, this results in Eisley spending a bit of time on her own. I often leave her with a video or TV on so that she has something to keep her anchored. I don't think she's lonely without it, but I know that it helps to keep her out of trouble while I am nursing Soren or putting him sleep. It seems that we found ourselves on a slippery slope in the afternoon.
After one feeding, I came out to find Eisley with a Sharpie marker. She was coloring on art paper, so that was fine. She had also fully decorated a few boxes that I had prepared to be shipped. No big deal. I decided to secure the Sharpie and gave her her set of washable markers. I had to go back to Soren, though, and left feeling pretty comfortable that Eisley would color with no issues. When I returned later, I found that she had gotten into a real creative streak. On her Belle princess dress. Mind you, at this point, I was not in a great spot because I had left Soren in his crib because he was having trouble falling asleep and I felt like I was leaving Eisley alone too long. Plus, it has been rather stressful dealing with Soren's fussiness and resistance. So, as he is beginning to transition from fussing into hysterics, I tried to explain to Eisley why her dress was now not so pretty. She did not agree with me and very convincingly stated that her dress was very pretty. Okay, suit yourself, little princess, but don't be upset with me when you decide that your dressed is ruined.
I then went and retrieved hysterical, snot-faced and spit up covered Soren from his bed. I pulled back his sheet and flannel pad with the intention to return later to put dry set on. I had to strip him down and clean him up to calm him down. Poor kid was a mess. But at that point, the nap seemed a little out of the question. So we had a little tummy time and I tried to get caught up a little bit. I turned on my ipod/speakers with some Brooke Fraser. Eisley loves to look at the iPod Touch when I'm playing music, whether it's our music or Pandora radio. So, she pulled up a bar stool to the counter and was watching the pictures of the album. By this time I knew that Soren was starting to crumble again, so I decided to pull out my old faithful Ergo Baby Carrier, which formerly had been the only way I could get him to sleep. I wasn't concerned about getting him to sleep, but I just wanted him to be able to rest calmly, snug up against me. It was almost time for me to get dinner started, so I needed him to be secure and not fussing. As luck would have it, he did calm down and fall asleep. I felt good about just gently walking with him and singing along with Brooke Fraser--no big shushing, bouncing sleep intervention for once. I told Eisley I was going to put Soren down and went to his room to rock him for a few minutes first. It wasn't but a few minutes later before I heard this crash and cry, so I ran out of Soren's room to see that Eisley had fallen off of the bar stool onto some large, plastic boxes that were on the floor. She was trying to reach for something that was just a bit too far. Well, all of the commotion surrounding that brought Soren out of the very light sleep he was in, but...Eisley was okay and Soren seemed to be refreshed from his rest time. After this is when I updated my Facebook status to indicate that I needed some backup from Daddy!
Of course a little while later, I found out that Stephan had a late meeting, so he was going to be running behind. Super. Duper. So, I started dinner, but since Soren really didn't get his afternoon nap, he was starting the final descent into 'need to go night-night, mama'. Instead of following our usual routine of getting Eisley dinner with one of us, while Soren gets his medicine and bath, I decided to put both Eisley and Soren in the bath together. Thankfully, Stephan came home right as we finished the bath, so Eisley wasn't going to be left alone while I fed Soren and put him to bed.
Soren's tummy started to amp up again in the evening. Just 2 hours after he went to sleep, he woke up, wriggling around. He coughed and then started getting vocal. Upon checking him out, we found that he had indeed spit up. So while Stephan held and burped him, I changed the sheets on the bed. I even cut my shower short and skipped shaving my legs so that I could get to him, just in case he needed to eat. But I was thrilled that he didn't actually need to eat at the 2 hour interval (and he ultimately made it over 4 hours).
The overnight hours were not great, but they weren't terrible. After going to bed at midnight, per our pathetic usual, I was up from 2:45 to 3:15. Soren woke again around 5:30, though I was sooo tired and barely heard him fussing. I got him back down around 6:00, and he woke again at 7:15. I would love more than 2-2.5 hours of sleep in one stretch! But Soren's stomach is kind of giving him a run for it right now. It takes me a little longer to get him back down in the middle of the night right now because I have to wait a while to make sure he burps enough (or at all). This patience does pay off and will afford him a longer period of sleep if I wait for the extra bit of air to pass. I think Soren actually was having a bit of issue with "air" this day...the poor guy was SO gassy. Not sure why...just another of the mysteries of an infant.
Wednesday: This morning started out fine. Eisley went to the dentist with Stephan to have 3 fillings and one sealant. We found out a few weeks ago that she needed them. She did awesome for her cleaning and we assumed she would be fine for this as well, but I was nervous about it. So, Stephan took her.
Soren took a morning nap, affording me some time to relax and do some devotions while Eisley was at the dentist. Perhaps I could have used a little more time...I had no idea how the day was going...or that it was going to possible top yesterday!
While we were eating lunch, I was holding Soren in my lap, since he just woke up, but I was determined to eat before he did. I held him sitting on the table for a few moments and his swinging arms and his BAM-BAM arm in an instant knocked my cup of tea over on the table. Of course, within range of this puddle were my computer, camera and phone. Unbelievable! How does he have such aim? Thankfully, nothing was affected.
The afternoon went okay. I mean, the kids didn't sync their naps, but at least Soren did sleep and Eisley was in a pleasant mood. And today, I didn't feel the need to keep the TV off while Eisley was alone, (well technically a video on my iPad). We had a little talk about not coloring on her Aurora dress with markers and she agreed with me! No colors on her dress. Great! Of course, she seemed rather obsessed with tracing her hands/fingers with the markers, so her hands were COVERED. And subsequently, her face (from the wiping her hair away or rubbing her poor allergy tormented nose) was also covered in a variety of colors.
I was supposed to have a massage this evening, as I mentioned at the beginning. I was looking forward to it...oh yes. Stephan and I talked before he left about the schedule. He had a workshop at work followed by an appreciation dinner at 6pm, and I made him promise to be home by 8:00 so that I knew we were covered for my 8:30 massage. Well, around 4:30pm, I found out that his dinner plans were screwed up and they had postponed it until 7:00pm. And this was at a Brazilian restaurant that is all about drawn out eating of mass quantities of meat. I was not happy about this change, but it was determined that I would change my plans. I knew that it would be risky to try to have a massage with Soren's random wakings without Stephan here to get him. I was also rather nervous about taking care of bedtime by myself. Again, I just didn't want to leave Eisley alone for too long. And Soren is just so unpredictable.
Surprisingly, the evening unfolding better than expected. I organized some toys and baby clothes. I prepared dinner for me and Eisley. We ate while Soren's medicine got in for the minimum 15 minutes. Then I gave Soren a quick bath. (Normally he gets about a 15 minute bath to allow the medicine to stay down. The idea is for him not to spit up so that the meds can be absorbed into his system.) Soren was pretty hungry and tired, so it was fairly straightforward. He ate. He fell asleep. He had a few good burps. I felt pretty good about it. I came out, cleaned up the kitchen, and then got Eisley's bath ready. I got her all cleaned up and then I heard Soren. I saw him on the monitor with his head bobbing. No!!! And then everything just shifted.
I found that he had already spit up by the time I got in his room. Earlier I had put 2 sets of sheets on so that I could pull one off without having to totally change them out. So, after getting a string of burps out, I pulled that top set of sheets off. Eisley was still in the bathtub right across the hall. She was being louder than I hoped, and Soren wasn't settling as quickly as I'd hoped. And then I heard it. Eisley was calling for help. Oh good grief. So, I put Soren down in his crib and went to Eisley who was panicking. "I have to poop!" Or maybe it was "I have poop!" I think she wants to sit on the potty, but as we're getting there, I realize that she's already started to go. Just a small bit, but she is clearly aware that the tub is not the place she wants to do it. I can hear that Soren is not settling in, and realize that I need to get things moving. So, I drain the tub, shower Eisley off. I forget her allergy medicine, but remember to brush her teeth (her newly filled teeth). I am growing impatient now because I know that Soren is starting to get upset. Poor Eisley didn't really want to be rushed, but I knew that I didn't want to get Soren out of bed and fully awake. So I just hurried Eisley to her room, trying to get her to stay quiet. It was not my best moment of patience and peace, but I didn't lose it outwardly as much I wanted to! I quickly got her dressed and put her in bed without a story. Without a prayer. Without a song. She was upset and so was I, but the more Soren cried, the more air he swallowed and the more potential for spitting up and gas. So, I went to Soren. He was quite hysterical, and even though it had only been an hour since he had last eaten, I was in no mood to convince him that he didn't need to eat. That filling his belly with more milk was just going to complicate matters. Nope. If he wanted to nurse back to sleep, then so be it. I was just exhausted. And thankfully he went right back to sleep. And while Eisley was upset when I left her, she did go to sleep. But as I sat rocking Soren, waiting for him to burp (which he never did), I had to pee, I was thirsty and I knew I needed to give Eisley her meds as she was coughing a lot. In the middle of all of that above, I texted Stephan to tell him that "Never again" would I be left to deal with all of that on my own. As I sat rocking Soren, I updated my Facebook status that I was ready for the cameras to come out, for everyone to get a laugh and for the drama to end!!
And I was right to not have my massage tonight, as I had to go to Soren right after I started typing this. That was a quick burp and back to sleep. The 2nd time he woke up during typing this was not so simple. Spit up, screaming, burping, more screaming, and finally another burp. On a positive note, he didn't need to eat to go back to sleep, and let me just rock him gently to sleep. By this time, I was ready for Stephan to be home, but apparently his boss and the Brazilian restaurant were on a different time frame! I know that this material is all good for a laugh and I'll be able to look back one day and be fine with it, but tonight, I am just hoping that tomorrow will be a little smoother. You can definitely say that my days are not filled with too many dull moments! (And it sure makes me think twice about adding any more kiddos to the circus!)
Wow! That was a very long few days for you! You're not kidding when you say it was a circus! I hate when I have those days/weeks. Good for you for keeping those spirits up despite everything! I hope you get some respite soon and that the massage that was cancelled gets resheduled very soon! I'm sorry that Soren is having so much trouble, and I def agree that going to a specialist is the way to go. They know so much more about dealing with severe cases. Logan was managed by a pediatric gastro and it was much better than just a ped. Love you friend! Hang in there!
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