Final update- WE'RE ALL BETTER! 7 days of a stomach virus has left everyone in the house much thinner. Except me. I am the only person on this earth who could get a 7 day stomach virus AND GAIN FIVE POUNDS. Welcome to my world, people! I'm a big ol freak.
Update: After a nasty scare yesterday where Avie's lips and hands turned blue, I'm pleased to report all is well and she's much, much, better. Sometime during yesterday's trauma, a crow landed on my left eye. I now have my first ever crow's foot. I told you these little ones age you! My only hope is that Avie grows up to be a best selling author and can buy me all the plastic surgery required to fix the damage!
I can't believe I haven't gotten a comment from some idiot saying, "You sure complain about being a mom a lot. You must not like motherhood at all." I've been bracing myself for that since I started writing about the darker side of motherhood. I know my regular readers get it. You know motherhood is complicated. But there's always going to be that one person who stumbles on a blog due to a google search, reads a few lines, and feel compelled to go off without thinking. Yeah, I dislike motherhood. That's why I adopted a baby when I had a four month old and a three year old.
I write about the bad because I wish someone had told me about the bad when I was pregnant with Boo. I had no idea. I was the baby of the family. I didn't grow up around little kids. I was the little kid. And as an adult, I didn't hang out with people who had kids. I knew nothing about being a parent when I became one. And since it took so long to become one, I had turned motherhood into a fantasy world. Me in a white dress, running through a field of daisies with my gorgeous little girls in their white dresses, our hair blowing in the delicate breeze. Sunshine. Happiness. 24/7.
I'm not a stupid woman. I just live in a different world than most. Reality is not something I''m fond of embracing. I spend a lot of time inside my head. It's fun in there.
I always wondered why the parents of young children look so... old. Now I know. Those little ankle biters can take years off your life in a matter of seconds. Like my little Avie did today. Oh that Avie. Here's how Avie and I are alike. She's dreamy just like me. She's the flower child kind of dreamy, living in her happy world of sunshine and clouds and dollies and cookies. Such a sweetie, that Av.
It was 8am and Avie had been in bed since 7pm the night before. I went to wake her up and she just wouldn't wake up. I picked her up and she looked at me, then flopped against me. I forced her to take a few drinks of water, then put her back to bed, thinking she just needed to catch up on sleep from being sick.
Mom came to watch her while I took the other two to the Science Center. On Field Trip Friday? How desperate was I to get out of the house? And let me just say having two kids- how easy was that! Two kids is nuthin. I could do it with my hands tied behind my back and on heroin.
Shhhh calm down. That's just an expression. I wouldn't think of having my hands tied if I was on heroin.
We get home about Noon and Avie is still asleep. I was livid with my mom for not calling me as I raced to her room to make sure she was still alive. Same scenario as the morning. A floppy little baby who just wanted to sleep.
I raced to the phone to call her DR and was told to come right in, as the DR is right down the street. When the DR walked in, Avie didn't scream in fear as she normally does. Instead, she remained floppy while being examined, then pointed at a book and said, "Buh." The doctor suspects Avie has Rotavirus. That would explain why our entire family was so sick for 7 days. Rotavirus releases a toxin that makes little ones floppy like rag dolls. Hence, why Miss Boo slept for a solid day straight when she was at her worst. Hence, why I could barely walk from the bedroom to the bathroom. Rotavirus is nasty nasty nasty.
We are to wake Avie up every few hours for liquids, which she gladly takes. Avie is well hydrated, which is the most important. If she continues to be this way over the weekend, off to the hospital we go.
Time to wake her for more liquids. I'll update over the weekend.
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18 comments:
I personally am happy to read about the dark side of parenthood, as I'm on the fence about whether or not to have kids.
I wouldn't worry about that one comment. The person probably doesn't even read your blog regularly.
Oh, poor Avie. I hope she comes back to her normal self soon.
Oh, poor Avie! Floppy babies are definitely scary. Here's to everyone getting better soon.
You sure complain about motherhood a lot. You must not like it at all.
Oh geez, you know somebody had to be that person. ;-)
Ok. I am a long time reader of your blogs. Wow, over 6 years now. So I hope that what I will say won't piss you off or anything.
I was just thinking the other day about the mother you were with just Boo and who you are now. There is NOTHING wrong with either "mother" just that... I remember you renting a hall for Boo's birthday and I couldn't help but wonder if the mother you are now thinks back and goes "You silly, darling, naive person." ;-)
I'm scared of motherhood myself. I'm an only child as well. And I haven't had much experience with babies. All this talk scares the crap out of me, but I do know intellectually that it's going to happen. I guess it helps a little bit that I have many furkids though so I know a little bit about the downs and the ups.
Anyway, DEFINITELY keep writing the dark side with the bright side. I don't like reading the blogs out there that are always LIGHT. There are a few that always paint this Norman Rockwell painting - Ugh.
YUCK to the virus. I hope The Av does much better by tonight.
Oh man, Poor baby. I really hope you don't end up in the damn emergency room this weekend. Esp. with Av. If it makes you feel better we are having some issues over here too. Thank goodness you post "real" posts. There are some blogs that make me want to slit my wrist. One esp. comes to mind. It drives me nuts, but to me is a bit like a train wreck - I can't not watch. Talk soon!
K
Don't worry one bit: your blog is so reassuring for all of us "non-perfect", "non-running-in-daisies" mummies out there... With only one baby, I often totally understand what you're talking about. I have a real, sincere, and deep admiration for what you're doing right now, with three, all with their own special, unique needs. The internet can be so fake, I'm thankful for honest, generous women like you. They help, they really do.
You keep it real, and you know how to keep it interesting too. I really appreciate that. I hope to become a Mom someday, but I was the eldest of 4 kids, so I do know all about the sick and the tired and the scared... as much as any kid can observe, anyway. I find it useful to have a perspective from one of my "peers" now as an adult to have a better idea of how becoming a mom will change my life one day. It's something real and day by day, that no book could match.
Maybe years ago people lived in big enough families with enough relatives that they learned these things from older moms and grandmas that way... but I'm living too isolated for that. Friends are all I've got. So your ups and downs are valuable information as well as simply be good human connection to a friend.
Best wishes with Avie. Poor kid! (and parents!).
your blog is great - it's real, and I believe anyone who says real life is always east or happy is either lying or smoking something really good. Don't change - we love who you really are.
And I hope Av makes it through the weekend okay. I know another family whose toddler (who also had been a preemie) had it a few years back - it was scary. Their doc gave them a choice of home and insuring that the baby drank fluids on a regular schedule (I can't remember the details, but a few sips every 15 minutes or so?) or to the hospital for iv's. It was a long few days, but the baby recovered just fine....and the mom and dad did too. :)
Oh how you kill me - "I wouldn't think of having my hands tied if I was on heroin." (Just kidding. I wouldn't dream of killing myself if I was reading about my blog friend on heroin.)
Thank god for your writing - we're thinking about kids and I would have gleefully tossed my pills out already if it weren't for such Real Words as you provide. After all, what's starting a business and having your first child at the same time? Not much, riiiiiight?
Bless you and hope Avie is better, no emerg for you all.
sending get well wishes to your sweet little one. I hope she is feeling better.
Oh my god, that update was scary. Glad Avie is on the mend! Get better soon Mutha house!
Everyone who says it's all rosey is a liar. THat being said, it would be hard to type the negative on my blog if my face was there, as well. So for that, I give you props!!
Hope Avie is ok. Eek. We SO need Spring and fresh air and sunshine!!
You are SO NOT a bad mother; goodness, you're a great mother. I remember saying, "How hard can it be if so many people do it?" and my mother just shaking her head . . . If you mother/parent with your soul engaged, it's ALL hard. But sometimes joyful. So there's that.
I hope Avie feels better soon! Sick babies are the worst. Hang in there.
ok, you seriously need this black cloud of sickness to just leave from atop your house. I hope you all are feeling better, especially Avie.
Poor Avie!! Glad she's doing better.
I had that floaty white dress/field of daisies image too. Like one of those soft-core '70s greeting cards.
...you mean it isn't like that?
oh and btw, you have A crow's foot? ONE? I laugh in your general direction.
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