Thursday, January 27, 2011

So Cute!

About, oh I don't know, 9 months ago or so, Asher was clearly ready to move out of his crib, but the bunk bed was without a ladder, so I "temporarily" put Asher in the bottom bed with Brennan. It was just a test for a night or two, but 9 months later we still don't have a ladder and I'm honestly not in any hurry. Not only do the boys share the bed really quite well together, but even if I did move Brennan to the top I have no idea where I'd put all the stuff I'm currently storing up there ;-)

They sleep with their heads at opposite ends and almost always leave each other alone. They don't even play and giggle too much, certainly not any more than they would with separate beds. Anyway, last night I went it to peak on them before I shut their door the rest of the way, and this is what I saw...

I know, that's some flash huh, looking like the middle of the day instead of almost pitch black like it was. Anyway, how did this happen with Asher using Brennan's legs as a pillow? There's no way Brennan would have allowed this to happen if he'd been awake to be aware of it. But Asher had gone to bed much earlier than Brennan and was sound asleep on his own side when Brennan came in. I don't know what went down exactly, but it was pretty cute to see. :-)

Interesting Day So Far

So, a memorable OB visit is always around 28 weeks when you take the dreaded glucose test. In my case, it's also the visit of the RhoGAM shot, which is a whopper even for a shot, so I was not looking particularly forward to this appointment.

Corvallis has two main Dr's offices: The Clinic where you see a different Dr. every time, and my place which is a group of about 6 or so Drs and you see your own physician each time. At the Clinic, the glucose test is a much bigger deal. You arrive, drink the syrup there, wait for an hour, and get a blood test - and I think there's even an initial blood test before you drink. At my place, you drink the stuff at home and get a finger prick an hour later at your visit. As far as I'm concerned, that's a HUGE difference and a reason for me never to switch offices.

So, today being test day, I got up early just for the drink... but it didn't go over well. I threw it up when I was almost done. At my visit later my Dr told me that at my next visit rather than drinking the juice, they'll do a finger prick an hour after a meal. A "nice, full meal." What the what?!? That's AWESOME!!! Instead of the gross, tummy-upsetting drink, I get to totally pig out on whatever I want? Why on earth don't they do this every time, at least as the initial test and only do the other kind if they're concerned about the results?

I still got the RhoGAM shot though, which left me sore and tingly for a while now. :-(

To make the day even more interesting, Brian had to take over watching Peyton (and Brennan) during mine and Asher's back-to-back appointments despite having a TON of work to do. And the visit went so long, so I just barely had time when I walked in the door to have Brennan throw on some clothes so I could take him to school. In the mean time, Peyton was resisting her nap and Brian was watching his precious work-time slip away. All's settled down now though... whew!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

He’s All Fixed!

It’s been a very busy week.  Asher’s birthday was on Wednesday, and since Brian works until about 1:30am Wendesday nights, we celebrated the following day.  It was so nice to have my family over for the festivities.  Brian took any/all pictures on a different camera, so I’ll post stuff about it later.

After Asher’s party, he and I headed over to my parents house to spend the night, and at 6am I slipped out to get Brian and Brennan.  Yesterday was Brennan’s long awaited ear tube placement surgery.  Brian and I had gotten Brennan not just prepared, but actually excited about the whole ordeal and we couldn’t have asked him to be a bigger champ.  He was pleased to find some little toys/stickers for him, and all the nurses spent a while chatting with him and helping him feel comfortable around them before they wheeled him away from Brian and me.

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We were told he would be brought back, probably crying, a little while after most of the anesthesia had worn off.  Brennan’s a crier anyway, so I was so surprised that he WASN’T crying when he got back.  He did get grumpy as also predicted, mostly about wanting the bed railing down and wanting to leave.  As soon as he got the go-ahead to go, he perked right up, excitedly got dressed, and waved to everybody on his way out.

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We were told the procedure was simple, and he would have instantaneous full hearing.  Since we wasn’t exactly deaf or anything before hand, it was not terribly obvious to me if there was a difference, but he’s made a couple comments since his surgery.  Twice yesterday when our heaters went off, he asked me what that sound was, and today after Asher commented about hearing an airplane outside, Brennan said, “I did never know we could hear airplanes inside our house with no windows open!”

We’re so excited that Brennan has full hearing now.  Not only is it much safer for him (I watched him get honked at once in our parking lot because he had no idea there was a car a couple yards behind him waiting for him to move), but it will ease a lot of frustration for those who associate with him.  I’m also thankful that all went smoothly, and Brennan has felt basically no pain from the experience.  He was back to his old self within hours without so much as a dose of Tylenol.  It was just an exciting experience for him that he will remember more or less positively.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Are You Kidding Me?

So this is a rather unexpected experience for me.

2 months ago, before Thanksgiving, I got sick. I thought it might be a sinus infection, but the Dr. thought it seemed just a viral cold. Just as he predicted it cleared up shortly after my visit... except for the cough. It's not uncommon for my coughs to linger for several weeks, so I suffered on. And waited. And waited. 4 weeks later I was getting extremely irritated and SO tired because it was keeping me from sleeping. I survived Christmas with it and finally saw my Dr. again for my next OB visit the following week. In my discussion with him of my symptoms he suggested I might try Asher's inhaler when my coughing starts. I said, "oh yeah, some times I do start to wheeze from the coughing." He replied that that made sense.

I went home wondering what this all meant, but I started using the inhaler to treat my coughs and it works! I also started noticing when my breathing gets a little heavier and sure enough, the coughing inevitably follows. I've been asking so many questions since that visit though. Does this mean that I have asthma? Like, will I always have it, or is it just related to this virus? If it is asthma, what's with all this mucus I'm coughing up? And since I've been needing the inhaler at least once a day, every day, WILL THIS EVER GO AWAY?

Just this morning after waking up to a bad coughing spasm, I jumped right on the computer for some research. It sounds like I'm a perfect match for Adult Onset Asthma. It's apparently somewhat common to develop asthma as a result of hormonal changes, such as pregnancy, as well as from a virus (how Asher got his), and if you already have even seasonal allergies. I learned that a symptom of asthma is the production of extra mucus, which I didn't know. (Why didn't Asher tell me?)

I didn't even know that adults could just develop asthma like that. I find this all very disappointing actually. Since I've had "attacks" every day for 2 months now, can I expect to ever live the way I used to again? This cough has seriously gotten very old. Very. Old. It also surprises me because to my knowledge no one in my family has had asthma before. I always assumed inheritance was the biggest (if not only) way to get asthma.

Also in my research I started thinking about exercise-induced asthma. The thought has always crossed my mind because jogging and similar exercise always makes my chest feel tight and my breathing difficult. But then, isn't that the case for everyone? Reading about it though has made me suspect that perhaps there is something to my wonderings all these years. Especially since there's a strong link between even that type of asthma and allergies, which I've had since childhood.

Anyway, obviously I'll be confirming stuff with my Dr. at my next visit, but based on what he told me at my last visit and my research, I guess I'm now an asthma sufferer. :-(

Friday, January 14, 2011

Who's Raising This Child?!?

Asher is such a pill! Yesterday he missed his nap when we were playing at a friend's house. No big deal. We had an early dinner out though, and Asher fell asleep on the way home at 5:30. Brian was able to successfully make the transfer of Asher to his bed and we were looking forward to nice night.
I should have known better. Asher "napped" until 7:30, and slept through Brennan getting into bed, but it didn't last long. By 8:00 he was wide awake. Asher being awake in his bed is never a good thing. He kept turning the light on, and pushing the thermostat buttons all the way up in his room. Brian and I repeatedly scolded him, but being late at night (and with Brennan eventually sleeping through it) there was little we could do. The final time I got up was 1am. His light was on again. I ended up throwing down a blanket in the playroom and leaving him in there to sleep on the floor. My one consolation was that if he was still awake at 1am, at least he'd be sleeping in the next morning. Nope. He woke up earlier than usual and snuck back into his room this morning and AGAIN turned on the light while Brennan was sleeping. Agh! I am SERIOUSLY going to send him to live with his Grana in Idaho!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

This 'n That

Last night after a busy evening in that part of town, I took the boys for chowder at the Restaurant where Brian had been working all day covering his boss's shift. Every so often when we eat there, Brian will take one or both boys into the kitchen for a little tour. They both forget the experience pretty much immediately, but this time Brennan was FASCINATED! Brian said he was in awe like a child at Disneyland. After his own tour and during Asher's turn, Brennan expressed to me that he wanted to work at this restaurant when he's a Dad. I asked, "I thought you wanted to be an astronaut/jet pilot?" He responded that he'd changed his mind. Brennan has made similar statements before and Brian always cringes.

After getting home, Brennan again told me that he wanted to work at the restaurant. I usually don't try to discourage him, but this time I said, "Daddy doesn't want you to work at the restaurant." "Why not?" he asked. "Because he wants you to work somewhere better." Brennan sighed as he said, "Fine," and in a relenting tone continued, "I'll work at the library." I'm not sure where that idea came from at all. We almost never go the library, I'm sorry to admit, and certainly not any time recently. But he wasn't done yet. He went on, "and when I get home from college I'm going to drive myself to the store and buy a watch." What a weirdo.

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Brian and I are enjoying our new calling so far teaching CTR 6. There are 3 kindergartners and 3 1st graders. All girls, except one boy who only shows half the time or less. Interestingly, Brennan's class, the one below, is the opposite with about 6 boys and only 1 girl. Very weird how that happens. This last Sunday during our lesson, Brian posed the question "who is Lucifer?" One girl pointed to him and asked, "you?" One or two more joined in and said, "Oh yeah, it's you." We had to laugh. I asked if they know who Lucifer is, his other name, and they did not. Nothing personal Brian ;-)

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Well, we're all doing well. Brennan was supposed to have his ear tube placement on Wed the 5th, and when I called to confirm I learned that the Dr.'s office hadn't actually put him in their schedule, therefore didn't send the requests to insurance or anything. So, it got pushed to today. Starting Monday I starting calling to confirm again, and the insurance still wasn't done thinking, so AGAIN we postponed the surgery until Friday next week. I just got a call from the Dr.'s office though that at 8am this morning he was approved, so this time we should actually be good to go. It's only been the 6th time he's been scheduled for this surgery, but whatever. As long as it gets done.

Asher and Brennan are very into costumes right now, particularly Asher. I have a bunch of old halloween ones that they like to use, and Asher especially likes a tiger (a.k.a. "tigger") one that he looks ADORABLE in. As luck would have it, the boys got pj sets from Grana that each included a small stuffed animal. Brennan's was a rhinoceros that he names "Dino" (because he thought it was a dinosaur) and Asher's was a tiger which they named "Tiggie." Asher's favorite thing to do right now is wear his costume, put Tiggie inside to his belly, then give birth to him by pulling him out. He also adopted Dino I guess because he likes to go around in his costume with the two babies together. It's really cute. Of course, when he's not doing that, he's pretending to be a pirate or Star Wars' "Captain Rex" (whoever that is) or a storm trooper. My goodness how this boy has picked up on the "fighting play."

I started helping in Brennan's classroom one a week and am LOVING that. Brennan is always very excited to see me too. I love watching his teacher interact with the children. She is very good and I can tell she really loves them all. She mentioned once at open-house that she has no children of her own so our kids really do become her kids, but I thought that was just a cliche or something. I mean, I like other people's kids all right, but I just can't love them like they're my own. In general their habits and characteristics tend to be more annoying than my own kids' and so forth. (The children of those reading this excluded) But watching Mrs. Lashley with those kids has softened my heart I think. I've now met each child in the class and I enjoyed my minutes with each and every one of them. I'm sad that I only get to do this until the end of April.

Also as of this month I've started watching my dear 2 1/2 month old niece a couple times a week. I've gotten to bond with her like I've never bonded with a niece/nephew before and it's been a great experience. She is so cute and really quite easy, I think. Maybe it's taking nursing out of the equation this time, which pretty much ruins my mothering experience for the first 6-7 months until I quit. Anyway, it's been fun to have a baby in the house again. :-)