AWESOME!

Tallulah's fighting another cold, and neither of us have been sleeping too well the past two nights. A good mother would be in bed asleep at 12:25am, knowing she and her baby need their rest, but not me. No, I'm on the computer updating my blog. I've always been known for my sound judgment. This entry will be brief - I'm fading, fast...

We had a CHOP appointment Tuesday morning. This was the 6 month checkup, X-Ray included. Dr. Flynn had this to say about her progress: "Talllulah's hips look awesome!" The conditions are right for healthy bone development, and she actually has the hip bones of a nine month old. We return for another follow-up X-Ray shortly before her first birthday. It's sad for us because we won't get to see the nurses and admin staff for another six months.

Back From Vacation

Hello! I would have posted while I was on vacation, but the camp we stayed at had no internet or cell phone access. The three of us went to Sweden, Maine and had a lovely time. It was a little chilly, but the company kept us warm.

Tallu hiked a mountain, sat on a dock, endured mosquito bites, had lobster-flavored milk, toured her parents' college campus, and survived her longest car trip yet. Now that she's teething car rides are not so enjoyable for the three of us. We were able to break up the seven hour trip with stops to visit family and friends un NY, CT, and MA.

I'm nursing Tallu as I write, it's 11:34pm, and I'm tired...gnight y'all

Water Baby

This is the third time Tallu has been in the pool. She had a great time! She kicked her legs and moved her arms like she had done this before. (Well, she has, but amniotic fluid is a lot warmer, and my belly was much smaller than this pool.) She also pursed her lips to keep the water out. Here's Tallu with her grandfather, practicing her crawl stroke.

Her first pool experience wasn't the most pleasant because she was cold and hungry. The second time I fed her about fifteen minutes before she went in, and we chose the hotter part of the day. She stayed in for a little longer without freaking out. This last time she stayed in for about 15 minutes.

Her dad did a good job of checking her body temp by feeling her cheeks. He figured if her face wasn't cold, she was probably warm enough. Watch the baby- she can't tell you she's cold, but you'll see her changing colors. Tallu's lips were a little blue by the end of her swim. I stayed dry to document her swim and to warm her up when she was finished. Bring two towels: one to dry the baby, and another to wrap the baby after you've removed her wet bathing suit.

Between my body heat, the dry towel, and warm milk, Tallu warmed up pretty quickly and enjoyed a quick post-workout nap.

Tidbits

Here's an update on Tallu, something I haven't done for a while.

Milady is five months old, with lots of curly hair, big cheeks, and turkey legs. The cough is finally gone, though every once in a while she needs to clear her throat. She doesn't really enjoy being on her stomach for very long, and would much rather move around on her back. Tallu loves her rainforest gym and uses her hands and feet to play with her toys. She's found her hands, and mine, which have become her chew toys while she's teething.

I know the proper term is teething toys, but for some reason I keep calling them chew toys...

Anyhoo- she's not exactly sleeping through the night. She sleeps in five hour stretches. Now that I am not leaving the house for work, I don't mind getting up in the middle of the night. The last early morning feeding I bring her in the bed with us, because she can nurse in her sleep, and I can nurse her while I sleep.

There is a radio campaign in my city urging parents not to co-sleep with your baby. You could roll over on the baby in your sleep, crush her, suffocate her. She's safer in her own crib. Could these things happen? When I was fourteen my sister and I slept over at my aunt's house to hang out with my cousin. My aunt was babysitting an infant, and when it came time for bed she asked who wanted to sleep with him. I volunteered, and it meant the baby and I would have to sleep together on the sofabed. (There were also kittens in the living room, somehow they ended up in the bed with us.) I remember waking up twice. The first time the baby was crying. The second time I smelled something awful. I thought he pooped, but it was one of the kittens. However, I did not roll over on the baby, and I was not his mother.

If you have a large enough bed and you want your infant to sleep with you, I say why not? (I wouldn't recommend it if you've had a little too much to drink, or if you're on heavy medication.) I get more sleep after the 3 AM feeding because I don't have to wake up at 5 or 6 to feed her again. My husband gets more sleep because he doesn't have to hear a crying baby. Tallu gets more sleep because she can just wiggle over to me and nurse. Everybody's happy.

The Inappropriate Behavior of Strangers

We're driving down Broad Street when this voice calls out to us from the next lane. I turn to look, and it's a man in a white commercial van. Here's a transcript of the conversation

Driver: "You have a beautiful baby back there. Just beautiful."
Me: "Thank you, thank you."
Driver: "And what are you doing up there? You should be in the back seat with her."
Me: "She needs her alone time, too!"
Driver: "You don't need to be up there with him. It's all about her now!"
Me: "Aww, she's alright. She enjoys her alone time (fake laugh)"

Here's what I'm thinking:
Look, dude. I don't know how many children you have stashed in the back of your van. But my baby aint gonna be one of them. So do us both a favor, and keep your eyes on the road, Chuck.
Don't be looking in this car at my baby...shiiit....

Who does this? Who operates a moving vehicle and feels compelled to talk to a stranger about the baby in her car? Clearly this man felt it was his civic duty, but he really needed to keep his eyes straight ahead. The man wasn't that concerned for her, cuz a few minutes later he cut us off. Jackass.

Then there was the waitress we had at IHOP. She gushed for five minutes about how cute the baby is, she's got one around that age, her children are mixed too - aren't they the cutest? Meanwhile, my husband and mother are starving, and I'm getting ready to pass out from fever. She even takes out pictures from her apron to show us, then takes our order. When she dropped the check, she asked to hold the baby. I had to shut that down- I told her Tallu was sick, which was true. I couldn't let another waitress hijack my baby. Did I tell you all about the one who scooped up Tallu from her grandmother's arms while asking: "Oh, can I hold her?"
Yeah...

I don't know what possesses people to behave like this.

Home Economics

Now that I am a stay at home mom, it is my job to maintain the apartment's cleanliness and well-being. This requires a level of organization I have never aspired to, nor was interested in attaining. I started creating a list of everything that needs to be done in the house. I typed it on the house computer. The printer is acting up, so I couldn't print out the list to finish working on it. This is how lazy I am- I let a printer malfunction prevent me from completing the chore sheet I started to create for myself!

I hate schedules, I abhor chores. But if I am going to be at home I have to be organized so I can take care of Tallulah and this house. And prove to my husband and myself that it was a good idea for me to quit working. I could write a brief essay about feminism and motherhood in the 21st century, but I don't have time to wax philosophically, my sink is full of dirty dishes and there are mountains of clothes that need to be washed.

Family Down!

Everyone in my house has been felled with some illness for nearly three weeks. It started with Tallu having a fever and accompanying cough. Last Sunday my husband and I felt a little off, and later that afternoon I went down with a fever and slight cough. Two days later, my hsuband joins the high fever club.

Tallu's cough was not really improving, so last Wednesday I took her to the doctor, after I quit work (see last week's post.) There was no medicine I could give her, and the doctor sent us home with a plan to see her on this Monday, and to call if she took a turn for the worst.

We returned to the doc on Monday, and Tallu has bronchiolitis, or bronchitis lite, as her father and I called it. Bronchiolitis is an inflammation of the bronchioles, the airways that lead to the lungs. It is a virus that affects children under 2, and is more common among children who live in close quarters.

Going to a daycare where a child already has bronchiolitis helps spread the virus.

That's right. Tallulah was sitting in a room with an infected baby. The daycare workers said nothing to me about one of their children being sick, which pissed me off. Knowing a child was sick would not have prevented mine from becomming sick. It just would have been nice to know. How do I know there was a carrier? One of the workers, whom I happen to know, told me one of the children was sick. This was after Tallu had her fever, of course.

Bronchiolitis is a common childhood illness, but it can develop into something more serious. An article I read online says children who have had bronchiolitis may be more likely to develop asthma. More research needs to be done to clarify the relationship between asthma and bronchiolitis.

Tallu is doing better, her cough is sounding drier and is much less frequent. The doctor prescribed only Tylenol if she was very uncomfortable and to lower her fever. We bought a cool mist humidifier to soothe her at night, and did lots of sucking snot with the baby nasal aspirator.

The moral of this story: babies + daycare= sickness. If your child is sick and she's enrolled in daycare, do the rest of the parents a favor and keep your child at home. If you work for a daycare and you recognize a child is sick, do the children a favor and send that child home. And let the parents know someone was sick. You don't have to name names, but just communicate, please.