Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Wee Hours

It’s 1:55am and I have been unable to sleep for the past hour and a half.  I have also been unable to destroy this stupid annoying fly that keeps passing in front of my computer monitor.

Over the course of yesterday, Jens improved about 800%.  I kept the kids out of the house all day and when we arrived home it was like meeting a different Jens.  Well, “different” meaning the “same” Jens that I knew BEFORE our happy home was plagued with the Disease - yes, Disease with a capital D, oh D that will never stand for dog or donut or daisy or dallas or anything else in this house but Disease and maybe Death and Destruction or possibly Diarrhea and once we get past this thing we are burying D and probably S in the back yard never to speak of them again because these letters?  They spell bad things.  Excuse me while I go rock myself in the corner.  Again.

He ate a banana.  While we were gone yesterday.  A whole banana.  Swallowed it and everything.  And then?  Then?  Then we had dinner and he ATE. 

TACOS. 

Two, to be precise.

I just about fainted.

He’s even sleeping in our bed tonight.  Which, you may notice, I’m not.  I’m not sure if it’s the fact that Jens is sleeping in his own bed, or the fact that I was stupid and told my mom today that, “Koren has been sleeping pretty well the last several nights” (because I’m sure it’s one of those two things) but Koren has already been up several times.

A few minutes ago, I heard, “Mama, I’m cold.”  I went in to put a blanket on him and as he laid back down, he hit his head on the music box hanging on the side of his crib.  “Hey,” he said as he turned around to glare at it, as though the music box had intentionally reached out and hit him.

Also, there was the porcupine making a racket on our front porch.  Little turd. Although, I’d rather look out and see a porcupine on the front porch than another bear trying to get into the trash bins.

I have to say though, it’s weird to see it dark outside.  I think the sun will start coming up in about an hour and if I’m still awake to see it I’m going to be very depressed about that.

Tomorrow is a big day - kids go to school, I clean the house, then we have friends come to visit for a few days from Dallas.  So I guess I’ll go back downstairs and try to get some sleep so I don’t keel over in the middle of dinner tomorrow evening.

Night!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Can I Have Some Cheese With That?

Jens is sick as a dog today, with a sore throat so bad he can barely swallow.  He didn’t sleep at all last night, due to a combo of being uncomfortable and having his heart race for no discernible reason.  He has a doctor appt. at 1pm.

I heard Kaelin coughing a few times last night.  If she gets sick too, I think I’m just going to throw myself off the balcony.

This week is wearing me down.  All the household chores are pretty much up to me now, which might give me a martyr complex if I was actually doing a good job at getting them done.  But I’m not, so it’s just making me frustrated and stabby.  It seems that no matter what I do, the laundry keeps piling up, the floor keeps getting cluttered and dirty, the dishes keep appearing OUT OF NOWHERE, and the trash…I don’t even want to think about the trash.  Though Jens and his mom did manage to do a dump run yesterday, so at least I have a place to PUT the trash.  For now.

Koren seems to be back to normal, except that he suddenly has the emotional consistency of a ping-pong ball.  Is that a 2-year-old thing?  I don’t remember Kaelin going through that stage.  He’s loving all his new toys, but he’s obsessed with the fact that they’re HIS.  As soon as he even THINKS Kaelin is going to touch one, he starts shrieking. 

He keeps telling us that he’s ready to use the potty.  I’m so not ready to go there.  We haven’t even weaned him off the pacifier yet.  I keep meaning to do it, but something’s always happening that makes it a bad time.  He’s sick, we have company, we’re traveling, etc. 

Also, I have a feeling that he’s going to be one of those kids who sleeps in a crib until he’s 3 and a half.  Kaelin got transitioned to a “big girl bed” shortly after she turned 2.  But just trying to keep Koren in his dinner seat is like trying to keep all the packing peanuts inside a box, so I can’t even imagine what trying to keep him in a bed in the middle of the night would be like.

I had plans to go jogging this morning (good stress relief) but after taking Jens to the doctor (they weren’t open yet) and going to the store to get throat spray I was finally headed out and then it started raining.  Since I can’t think of anything more miserable than running in the rain, it appears I’m not going jogging.

Maybe I’ll just take a nap instead.

Monday, June 14, 2010

Sick.

Puke sessions so far: 3

Urine analysis came back normal, so it’s not a UTI.  While it would have been nice to have an actual diagnosis, we’re glad for the result because if the test had come back abnormal they would have stuck a catheter in him for further testing.  One more trauma avoided.

But let me tell you, he was none too pleased when it was time to remove the plastic baggy that was (excessively) taped all around his wee-wee to collect the urine sample.  Even armed with adhesive-remover, it was an experience I hope never to repeat.

Also, did you know that if you Google “toddler back pain” you come up with two things:

1. A plethora of parents in forums inquiring about the same thing and not getting any answers
2. A long list of possible diagnoses that have VERY SCARY NAMES.

In other health-related updates, Jens had his CAT scan today and the doctor doesn’t think he will need surgery (PRAISE!) but does want to refer him to another doctor in Anchorage (who is, coincidentally, one of Jens’ extended relatives) for a second opinion.

Bummer

Koren woke up last night at 3:30am.  This is (unfortunately) not unusual, but it IS unusual for him to wake up crying, “Owie, Mama, owie!”

Amidst his tears, he explained that his “back. hurts.” and pointed to his lower back.  He was inconsolable for about half an hour, at which point he had cried himself into exhaustion and fell asleep again.

Then he woke up 2 hours later and it started all over again.  Another inconsolable crying jag about how much his back hurt, and nothing we did seemed to help at all.  He finally fell asleep in my arms out of pure exhaustion and slept until almost 8:00am.

This morning he is not himself.  He is very lethargic, sleepy, and hardly talking at all.  Anyone who has ever met him knows that this is highly abnormal.  He says his back is “good” now, and that he doesn’t have any owies anywhere.  He has a low-grade fever, but he’s acting like a child with a fever of 104°.

He’s passed out on my bed right now.  A very early nap that will hopefully do him some good.

We made a trip to the doctor this morning and came home with a plastic bag taped to his wee-wee.  That will be fun to remove.  But the alternative was a catheter.  The doctor wants a urine sample to rule out a UTI that may have spread to his kidneys, causing the back pain.  Beyond that, they took some blood (which was not pleasant) and want to x-ray his lower back.  He has been complaining off and on about back pain for several months, though it has never been this bad.  Usually I have him lie down on the couch for a minute and he’s back to his normal rambunctious self.

And finally, if they can’t figure out the cause, we’ll have to take him to Anchorage (4 hours away) to see a pediatrician, since there aren’t any in Homer.  We’re hoping it doesn’t come to that, but we may end up making a family trip to Anchorage - Jens may need surgery on his arm and I need to see a dermatologist about a spot on my arm that has me concerned.

Fun times at the Eckels hospital house!  Here’s hoping that Kaelin will remain her usual healthy self.