my-speck

i'm pregnant and it's going to be a rollercoaster

another week has flown by… and bad parent of the week award to me! September 30, 2010

Filed under: activities for kids,baby stuff,bad parent of the day award,development stages,exercise,Parenting,playing,Raising a Child — rakster @ 7:55 pm
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Hello!

bad parent of the week: mum

I award myself bad parent award of the week this week.  For not realising you were sick and nonchalantly taking you to the doctor for a check as you were extra tired and a bit cranky on Monday, only to be told that you apparently have ear infections in both ears. Which reminded me what a tolerant and happy little thing you really are, as all I had noticed was the extra fatigue and a bit of extra whingeyness when you wanted something I wouldn’t let you have (which was enough to make me want to go to the doctor to check, but I was a bit surprised, I was expecting the usual, ‘he’s fine’).. The new doctor who we’ve never met before kind of gave me a kinda funny look as he told me you had an ear infection and that you needed antibiotics, and that “you need to keep up the pain medication, that is probably why he’s upset” as I’d just 3 minutes earlier cheerily informed you “no blocks until we’ve finished with the doctor… and gee you’re a bit cantankerous today!” as you pounded on the doctor’s door in an attempt to exit the consulting room and return to the blocks you were previously happily playing with in the reception…  So yes, the new doctor thinks I’m a bad parent who doesn’t pay attention to her child’s needs and treats his health as a bit of a humourous aside.  Well, maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but that look he gave me certainly indicated he wasn’t convinced I was the best parent either.  Suffice to say it was the end of the day, you were ratty, and I was a bit more scattered than usual myself.  So maybe appeared to someone who doesn’t know me a bit nonchalant.  When really I was just a bit tired and distracted….

health – an ongoing issue

Anyway, all good.  You’re on antibiotics and you’re already getting better.  Today you played independently heaps during the day, and it reminded me how good and easy to look after you are when you are 100% healthy…. Which reminds me, it seems such a common thing that all babies are sick for ages after starting childcare.  My mother’s group doesn’t meet up much anymore as almost everyone has gone back to work, but we still email a lot, and this week one of the topics that has come up has been the relative frequency of sickness in everyone’s kids since starting childcare.  So it’s not just you.  Which makes me feel slightly better.   Starting childcare is a sickness-inducing thing in most kids.  Which I knew, but it’s still helpful to have people at the same point as us going through the same thing and talking about it.

today: climbing

So.  No swimming lesson today (thought that I’d win bad parent of the YEAR award for taking my ear-infected child to a swimming lesson).  Instead: naked playing in the sandpit while I weeded the garden.  A visit from little E (who you gave a dink to on your little trike – the cutest thing ever), a bike ride with mum and a stop in the park on the way home…

baby climbing

climbing at the park

..

All good fun.

Love and kisses

mum

P.S. Another photo from last week: exploring at the State Library.  I just let you wander about wherever, and this is where you ended up.

exploring

 

Fever! And it’s not translating to the dance floor variety. September 1, 2010

Filed under: family,healthcare,Parenting,Raising a Child — rakster @ 4:49 pm
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Hello Little Poogie,

Long time no write. I think I’m suffering from what Faemom (one of my favourite other mum / mom bloggers) refers to as Psychic Block: a lack of motivation following my exam and end of semester on the weekend. This follows on from a lack of writing due to what I refer to as the Procrastination Effect: (more…)

 

mishaps… baby safety and a big rash December 27, 2009

Filed under: healthcare,Parenting,Raising a Child — rakster @ 9:32 pm
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Hello Little Pumpkin Pie,

so.  It’s now the 27th of December, two days have passed since Christmas.  Your fever broke on boxing day, and you seemed to be doing quite well today.  Apart from the bit of a red rash that you got yesterday / on Christmas day.  Which was just light and a little red, so we figured it was just maybe some food that maybe someone slipped you in passing on Christmas day, or just a reaction to the heat, to the humidity (it’s been around 100% and raining a lot for the past 4 days, highly unusual for this time of year but hot and sticky), or just ’cause you were tired.  Or …

But.  Another day on, and you’ve just had boob juice today as the rash was a little worse yesterday so we wanted to check.  The rash is getting redder, brighter, bigger.  And while you’re off the panadol, you seem a little unsettled.  So hard to tell why though: it could be shock from when you rolled of the bed today onto the floor when I turned my back on you for a second when you were almost asleep on our bed (I felt like the worst mum on the planet, a feeling that actually got progressively worse for an hour or so after it happened after my immediate panic and caring for you had passed).  Or it could be just that it’s been a very busy few days and whilst we’ve been trying to keep it a little quiet for you as you had an ear infection, it’s been hard to do that so there have been a lot of people about.  Who knows?  Maybe you have an opinion you could share with us if you could talk.  Your signing isn’t quite up to it yet.

What your Dad and I do know is that we’ve decided to cancel our planned trip to Straddie (Stradbroke Island) for the next two days and take you to the doctor instead as we didn’t fancy two days on an island with limited medical facilities if there is in fact something wrong with you.  And we figured that you’d only worked your way through about half of the antibiotics prescribed, so we couldn’t really stop giving them to you in case the ear infection wasn’t gone properly yet, but we couldn’t keep giving them to you as that might be the cause of the spreading rash.

Rash smash.

So.  We might just have a quiet time at home depending on what the doctor says.

Ah, the joys of being a new parent.   😉  I sigh.  I love you but goodness, there is a lot to worry and think about.  It’s all a bit stressful sometimes, but it just creeps up on you.  All fine, all fine, then BOOM!  Rash has got worse and it looks like you’ve got the pox and we’re feeling like bad parents again. I’m starting to get the picture that this is a common feeling of parenthood.

kisses and hugs to my little boopie baby

mum

 

Murphy’s Law, Christmas and an Ear Infection December 24, 2009

Filed under: healthcare,Parenting,Raising a Child — rakster @ 2:58 pm
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Hello Poogie,

you are reclining on our bed, coming in and out of dozing.  You are officially ear-infected, and on a bunch of paracetamol to bring your 39.5 degree celcius (that’s 103.1 farenheit) fever down.

Yesterday you came down with a fever in the morning, so I dosed you up on paracetamol, as it was pretty high, and made sure to give you lots of breastmilk during the day.  I am not a generally ‘give babies paracetamol’ kinda person, but your temperature was HIGH and you were burning up, and I’d rather keep your temperature down so you have a chance to recover.  You seemed to get better, but another fever spike late in the afternoon, so we kept you in bed with us and you spiked again around midnight.  The paracetamol seemed to bring it down, and you weren’t screaming in pain or anything, but oh, so hot.  The books I read seemed to say you’d be ok if the fever came down with paracetamol, but I figured 24 hours the day before Christmas was long enough to wait to see if you could right yourself, and I didn’t want to spend the next two days lining up at the emergency ward of the hospital…

So.  I managed to convince the lovely receptionist at the Doctor that we really did need an emergency appointment, she was much more resistant than normal but finally relented.  You screaming your way through the waiting room I’m sure helped us get moved up the list…  And you have a middle ear infection.  Right on the six-month mark – just what the baby books say is common in infants six months to 2 years.  Good work.  I’ve had a stressful night and morning worrying about you – not just the ear, but the antibiotics too – both my sister and I are allergic to the one you got prescribed, so I’ve been watching you to make sure you’re ok with it..  But now, apart from being very dopey, you seem a lot better.  The doctor said 24 hours or so until we should see a big improvement, and to lay low.

So.  Santa, be quiet when you come, we have a sleeping, dozing, recovering baby in the house.

Shhhhhhhhhh

mum

 

And bring on the summer flu. Erk. December 15, 2009

Filed under: healthcare,Parenting,Raising a Child — rakster @ 11:26 am
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Hello Poogie,

Well, you had a snuffle on the weekend, and so did I.  So we laid a little low.  But to no avail.  Full blown flu has hit.  I thought you were worse than me – snuffling and coughing and having difficulty breastfeeding.  But today it’s me that is worse.  Think all out on the floor unable to do much except get a glass of water then lie down again.  And feel like death warmed up.   You are relatively cheeful for someone who is obviously sick too – despite coughing and hacking and nasal-breathing difficulties, you still seem to want to play in between longer-than-normal sleeps.  Which is tough for me as all I want to do is lie down and stare at the ceiling.  So.  We’ve reached a middle ground.  You’re on the bed with me, playing rolley-polley while I lie there staring dejectedly looking at the ceiling, alternatively moving you back to the middle when you’re in danger of rolling off the bed again or giving you a muslin wrap to play with (you are endlessly fascinated by the variety of ways in which you can eat, wrap yourself in, cover you face etc by such a cloth).

You are supposed to be having your six month vaccinations today.  I think they won’t give them to you as you have a cold.  But we’ll go to the doctor – to check you, and hopefully get me some medication.

Ark. Erk. Yuck.

love you

ps. your Aunt is severely afflicted too. In fact, I think she is worse.  Your dad however is at work and seems to have escaped so far.

P.p.s. And yes, this  is the first time you’ve been sick.  And I was really worried about you and feeling bad on the weekend.  But I took your temperature a lot, and you aren’t feverish.  So I figured just a bit of mucous and discomfort.  But still felt heartwrenchingly bad for you.  Now that I’m feeling like death, I do feel bad for you too, but in a more detached way.  Like, as long as you are ‘ok’, then you’ll get through it and be ok.  I just don’t have the energy to feel bad for you anymore.  Sorry.

 

You made me cry… You got sick for the first time August 10, 2009

Filed under: pregnancy — rakster @ 1:32 pm
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Hello Poogie,

Well. You seem to have an ear infection but are coping pretty well with it. I on the other hand have been in tears. Worried that you’re ok. We took you to the pharmacist yesterday as we were worried, but on her advice and our own assessment you didn’t seem too bothered and so today we’re here at the doctor’s surgery waiting to be seen.

I don’t think I was quite prepared for how strongly upsetting, worrying and essentially heart-wrenching I am finding it. I teeter between telling myself you’ll be totally A-OK fine (which I know you will) and worrying – not about any specific bad outcome as such, but just general worry. Mostly just upset worry that you will be in pain.

waiting at the doctors

love mum