While I was pregnant with Clementine I noticed a ton of little changes on my body: the thicker hair(yes!!), the wider hips (boo!), the longer nails (YAY!) and one tiny little cyst that grew in my neck (huh?). It was itty bitty--the size of a lentil bean--but I pointed it out to my midwife and she gave the all-clear.
Fast forward to this spring. Dermatologist looks at my moles and lentil bean sized cyst. He also gives the all clear but says to call if anything changes.
And change that bugger did! Last Tuesday I woke up feeling like I'd been kicked in the throat. The lentil bean had at least doubled and it hurt like hell! Woke up Wednesday and it was worse; I had at least an almond in there and now it was purple and bruised looking.
I called the Dermatologist (who I will not name but plan to send angry letter to later) who wanted to see me immediately. Made an appointment for the following morning. But before I could even leave work on Wednesday, Dermatologist's nurse April (DAMN YOU APRIL!) called to tell me not to come in; they could already tell this was a slight infection and had called in some antibiotics. This made me bristle for two reasons:
1.) Why not see me? WHY APRIL???
2.) I am not a fan of antibiotics just for the sake of antibiotics
I should have raised hell right then and insisted on coming in, but I believed April's story and went along with it. I even started antibiotics that very night!
Fast forward to Mother's Day when this cyst was now the size of a mandarin orange, angry red and produced enough heat to warm the whole house. The antibiotics were making no difference and I was in excruciating pain.
Dermatologist reported that now they couldn't see me until mid/late-June. I called BS on that one and after some choice words Dr. begrudgingly booked an appointment for May 19th.
However, Monday I was in such extreme pain I drove my hot, red bumpy self to the hospital (Cam stayed home with Clem) where I spent most the night.
I had a CT scan (which I threw up inside, of course), half a dozen pokes to get an IV started, as much laughing gas as one nerdy teacher should ever have and a little procedure to get the cyst out and the gunk around it drained. The Doctors at the hospital said it was a good thing I didn't try to wait until the 19th for my Dermatologist's appointment--that this infection was looking for new areas to take over and was thisclose to getting under my breast plate into my chest. Phew! Close call!
The hospital sent me home at 1:00am and after a quick stop at the pharmacy, I was home in a percocet coma. Good times.
I've spent two days at home catching up on all the sleep I've lost in the last 18.5 months, reading and watching bits of movies. Tomorrow I'm going to see how working feels. Wish me luck!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Always an Adventure
We don't do things the easy way in this house. Everyday is an adventure for all three of us as we stumble our way through each new experience.
Every morning is pretty hectic as the three of us try to leave by 7:45 am each day. Gone are the days when I had literally sweat my make-up off by 7:30 in an effort to make lunches, locate shoes, change diaper (which always seemed to become magically full again just as we were walking out the door), find cell phone, etc. We seemed to have hit our stride, each of us our own tasks to do and 7:45 had started to seem easy.
Until this morning....the routine morning went just as planned. We were actually a smidge early for once! Cam and Clementine were walking to the car as I locked the handle on our front door and closed it. My hand may have been off the knob for just under a millisecond when Cam said "I don't have the keys."
I didn't have them either.
And my coat was in the car.
So was Clementine's coat.
Did I mention it was raining?
Luckily our neighbor was home. She lent us a baby girl coat sized Clementine and a phone book to call a locksmith. While Cam made the call, Clementine discovered the neighborhood cats laying in the middle of the road. Why, oh why, couldn't they be in a yard? Clementine would not take "We don't play in the road with strange cats" for an answer. So she proceeding to have a major temper tantrum on the sidewalk. She dramatically rolled around in the cold wet pavement as I shouted "CAM! Tell the Locksmith to HURRY!" (My favorite part of the morning had to be when the folks across the street left for work and were witnesses to Clementine rolling on the ground, screaming bloody murder. The neighbors seemed to get a real kick out of this as they drove past us, waving and laughing.)
The three of us waited for the Locksmith on our front porch. We pulled out all of our distract-the-baby tricks: cell phone, apple, peekaboo. It took the locksmith nearly 45 minutes to get to our house and less than a minute to open our door.
Good times.
Every morning is pretty hectic as the three of us try to leave by 7:45 am each day. Gone are the days when I had literally sweat my make-up off by 7:30 in an effort to make lunches, locate shoes, change diaper (which always seemed to become magically full again just as we were walking out the door), find cell phone, etc. We seemed to have hit our stride, each of us our own tasks to do and 7:45 had started to seem easy.
Until this morning....the routine morning went just as planned. We were actually a smidge early for once! Cam and Clementine were walking to the car as I locked the handle on our front door and closed it. My hand may have been off the knob for just under a millisecond when Cam said "I don't have the keys."
I didn't have them either.
And my coat was in the car.
So was Clementine's coat.
Did I mention it was raining?
Luckily our neighbor was home. She lent us a baby girl coat sized Clementine and a phone book to call a locksmith. While Cam made the call, Clementine discovered the neighborhood cats laying in the middle of the road. Why, oh why, couldn't they be in a yard? Clementine would not take "We don't play in the road with strange cats" for an answer. So she proceeding to have a major temper tantrum on the sidewalk. She dramatically rolled around in the cold wet pavement as I shouted "CAM! Tell the Locksmith to HURRY!" (My favorite part of the morning had to be when the folks across the street left for work and were witnesses to Clementine rolling on the ground, screaming bloody murder. The neighbors seemed to get a real kick out of this as they drove past us, waving and laughing.)
The three of us waited for the Locksmith on our front porch. We pulled out all of our distract-the-baby tricks: cell phone, apple, peekaboo. It took the locksmith nearly 45 minutes to get to our house and less than a minute to open our door.
Good times.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Oh, No
Clementine has been adding a lot of words to her vocabulary in the last few weeks. Last week, she learned five new words (see below). This week she only learned one new word, but it's a doozy. It's one I'd hoped we could put off for awhile.
This morning I asked Clementine if she was all done with breakfast. She looked at me like I was crazy, powerfully shook her head and said "No!"
Oh lord have mercy.
This morning I asked Clementine if she was all done with breakfast. She looked at me like I was crazy, powerfully shook her head and said "No!"
Oh lord have mercy.
Naturally
Clementine loves whatever musical instrument that Cameron loves. Lately, that's been his drum set.
Here she is helping daddy play drums this week:
And, of course, the drum stick goes right into her mouth.
Here she is helping daddy play drums this week:
And, of course, the drum stick goes right into her mouth.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Clementine by Numbers
It's official! Clementine is a true toddler now. 18 months old; 100% genius.
18 months is my new favorite age. There are so many fun(ny) things to do with (to) this little lady!
I was going to do another "18 facts about this 18 month old" type blog, but I don't think I have 18 facts!
Let's see how far we get:
1. In the last week, Clementine has learned five new words (go, Kirby, pee-pee, night-night, and bear). Thankfully she is still oblivious to swear words
2. She is 32.5 inches tall
3. She weighs 27.75 lb
4. Her head circumference is off the charts. It's 50 cm! The developmental pediatrician had to be consulted! My head is also larger than average (58 cm) and Cam's is Guiness World Record worthy (64 cm). We had to be measured to make sure this enormous melon is genetic rather than worrisome.
5. Her favorite food is red bell peppers. It's gotten to be such an issue that before heading into the produce aisle I have to give her my keys or a packet of sticky notes to distract her. Once her sights are set on red bell peppers, there is nothing else in this world that matters more.
6. She has started singing and it's so beautiful! She sings like a woeful mariachi band "Aye yi yi yi......aye yi yi yi!!"
7. She knows where her belly button and nose are
8. She knows where my belly button is and likes to show strangers we meet in public this fascinating part of my body
9. She knows what a dog, cat, lizard and duck say
10. She can sign "more," "all done," and "friend". We're working on "please" and "poop"
11. She can kick a ball
12. She can CLIMB!
13. She loves to brush her teeth
14. She has discovered our cat Penny's tail. She has the scratches to prove it
15. She has 12 teeth totally in--three are working their way through the gums
16. She still thinks anything that fits in her hand and has buttons is a telephone. She makes a lot of phone calls--they mostly go like this: "Hello? Hi. Yeah. Hi. Yeah. Yeah." click.
17. She can destroy a shelf full of books in less than 5 seconds
18. She loves food but always seems to want what's on my plate more than she wants what's on her own!
We are so in love with this little bug of ours. She is such a sweetheart and she spreads joy to everyone she meets.
18 months is my new favorite age. There are so many fun(ny) things to do with (to) this little lady!
I was going to do another "18 facts about this 18 month old" type blog, but I don't think I have 18 facts!
Let's see how far we get:
1. In the last week, Clementine has learned five new words (go, Kirby, pee-pee, night-night, and bear). Thankfully she is still oblivious to swear words
2. She is 32.5 inches tall
3. She weighs 27.75 lb
4. Her head circumference is off the charts. It's 50 cm! The developmental pediatrician had to be consulted! My head is also larger than average (58 cm) and Cam's is Guiness World Record worthy (64 cm). We had to be measured to make sure this enormous melon is genetic rather than worrisome.
5. Her favorite food is red bell peppers. It's gotten to be such an issue that before heading into the produce aisle I have to give her my keys or a packet of sticky notes to distract her. Once her sights are set on red bell peppers, there is nothing else in this world that matters more.
6. She has started singing and it's so beautiful! She sings like a woeful mariachi band "Aye yi yi yi......aye yi yi yi!!"
7. She knows where her belly button and nose are
8. She knows where my belly button is and likes to show strangers we meet in public this fascinating part of my body
9. She knows what a dog, cat, lizard and duck say
10. She can sign "more," "all done," and "friend". We're working on "please" and "poop"
11. She can kick a ball
12. She can CLIMB!
13. She loves to brush her teeth
14. She has discovered our cat Penny's tail. She has the scratches to prove it
15. She has 12 teeth totally in--three are working their way through the gums
16. She still thinks anything that fits in her hand and has buttons is a telephone. She makes a lot of phone calls--they mostly go like this: "Hello? Hi. Yeah. Hi. Yeah. Yeah." click.
17. She can destroy a shelf full of books in less than 5 seconds
18. She loves food but always seems to want what's on my plate more than she wants what's on her own!
We are so in love with this little bug of ours. She is such a sweetheart and she spreads joy to everyone she meets.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Our Plantation
This weekend we put together what I like to call a little vegetable garden.
It's nothing fancy but it's our first so I'm excited.
Before:
After:
Yes, I already put stakes in so that poor pepper doesn't fall over.
It's nothing fancy but it's our first so I'm excited.
Before:
After:
Yes, I already put stakes in so that poor pepper doesn't fall over.
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