the glamorous life

So, day one has been survived and day two is almost complete. By "day one", I mean the first day on my own with the girls, of course. It was smooth, Plava was behaving like a star, and Pito, well, between the screaming and the full body rash.....oh Pito.

Let's go back a little further.

On Sunday, the day before "day one", I came down with an ailment. (For my privacy as well as consideration for the squeamish, we'll just refer to it as "the ailment".) It was very quick to progress and by 4:20, Ryan was urging me out the door with Pito to find a drop-in medical clinic that would be open. I had a fairly good chance at finding one, since the ones that closed early usually closed around 5, and there were usually a handful that were open later than that.

I headed out, feeling sickly and uncomfortable. The first one I got to looked open - lights on, people waiting. Yessss.....but the door was locked. A sign indicated that the wait would be too long to let anyone else in. Arg!

I called Ryan and he located two more online for me that would be open later. One was open until 6. I raced over and arrived at 5:25. The doors were locked and the lights were out. I was fuming by this point - I banged on the door. A woman appeared, mouthed, "We're closed" and walked away. I almost broke the door down. THE SIGN ON THE DOOR SAYS YOU CLOSE AT 6!!!! But I refrained from violence and moved on.

The next one was supposed to be open until 9. Surely it would still be open. Surely. It was a bit longer of a drive, but I got there with loads of time. It was only 5:50. Nope. Doors closed, lights out, a big "CLOSED" sign on the door. You must be kidding. What is up with the clinics tonight?

I decided to give up and try again in the morning. Surely this ailment wasn't so serious, right?

When I got home I decided to call the nurse line to see what they had to say.

"You need to be seen immediately."

GREAT. So again, I headed out. There was one more clinic that might still be open, and then there was the dreaded hospital. I knew I'd be in for a long wait in Emergency if I had to go to the hospital.

So, I arrived at the clinic and it too was closed. Then I looked and saw that I had missed my mark! I was at the wrong clinic! The one I was headed towards was a block further down. And it was still open! I made it just in time! I saw a doctor, and he prescribed some antibiotics - something I knew I would need.

This would have been manageable - if the story ended here. I might have started the antibiotics that night and felt better by morning. But no, we were just beginning the saga. Unfortunately, the antibiotics he needed to prescribe to me are not good for Pito, so I had to agree to formula feed her until I was done. Thankfully it would only be a three day course, but still that meant convincing a baby that thus far has refused to let any plastic soother enter her mouth that a bottle is appealing. Furthermore, in order to continue nursing after the antibiotics, I would have the ever-glamorous task of PUMPING. Augh.

BUT, for her safety, I agreed (what choice did I have?) and picked up some formula and new bottles and stuff on the way home. I also called and found out where I could rent a pump for the next couple days.

So, okay, this might have been manageable, right? So I'd have to bottle feed for a couple days. There are worse things!! Hopefully Pito would take the bottle and all would work out fine!

YES, thankfully, after trying a couple different kinds of bottles, she took one of them. Aaaah. The feeding went fine the first night. She drank, she slept, all was well.

In the morning, Ryan looked at her sitting in her swing and said, "What's with her face? It's all red and blotchy."

Our little pumpkin was covered, head to toe, in a nasty red rash. I had an appointment with my midwife that afternoon so I thought I would talk to her about it and ask what I should do. In the hours between, I picked up a pump, napped Plava, gave Pito a couple more bottles, and was left in shock as my sweet, fairly calm baby turned into a writhing, screaming pile of sadness. The rash was getting to her - it must have been itchy - and her stomach seemed really upset. She burped, hiccuped, sneezed, tooted, and pooped her way through the day.

At the midwife's office, they suggested getting some soy-based formula which she's now drinking. THANK GOODNESS SHE ISN'T PICKY ABOUT TASTE because boy, that soy-based stuff stinks up a storm. Her rash is gone (thankfully) but has been replaced by some seriously dry skin, and her screaming fits continue.

Let me just say that from the perspective of a nursing-on-demand, attachment-style mother, this is really hard. I'm finding myself flailing and trying to find ways to soothe her and it's really hard. I've looked like a jiggling, wobbling freak today as I've tried to calm her down.

MERCY!!

Anyway, we did manage a grocery shopping outing today, and it was quite successful. Of that, I'm proud. Little things. Little things.

So, wish me luck over the next couple days. This is not a glamorous time, this jiggling, wiggling, writhing, antibiotic-taking, rash-outbreaking, screaming, pumping-like-a-cow time. But the thing that keeps me going - I LOVE THIS LIFE. My children are beautiful and my husband is wonderful. Even as Plava is trying our patience and Pito is writhing, we look at them in love and say, "Aaaaaah. What a wonderful life."

rashy Pito - it got much worse than this.

goofing around

Pito grinning in her sleep on Ryan's chest

Plava making "a funny face!!!"

a cozy snuggle