I Have a Tiny Little Secret

After a lot of thought I decided to try for #2. I had another IUI with a different donor on October 30th and it worked! I'm now 19dpiui and my beta was 976, just above the median for 19dpo. I'm relieved that the number is good but I'm also feeling a bit nervous because this is very much real.

Tooth #12 ... Finally!

Henry's 12th tooth finally cut through today.  Yay!  This kid has been biting everything in sight me and his legs included, but thankfully not the cat, for months now.  I was sure he was cutting another molar since he enjoys chewing his entire hand after sticking it as far back in his mouth as possible without gagging.  Nope, just the last front bottom tooth.  He'd looked a bit lopsided for months ... a cute lopsided, though.

I don't expect any relief for him, though, as he's drooling like crazy today and still biting the furniture ...  Where are those molars?

Off on another work trip tomorrow.  Henry will be staying with my parents the week between trips and I'm looking forward to some time to myself.  Not that I'll get to relax.  Nope.  I've got too many things around the house that need to get done.  I'm not feeling the least bit guilty about him staying with my parents for a week.  I see many fellow moms with kids his age get so upset over having to spend a work day away from their kids.  Am I just strange?  I know he is comfortable with my parents and he is never phased by my leaving to go anywhere without him.  Plus he'll spend lots of time with his cousins which he enjoys.  I think the biggest difference is that as an SMC with no family nearby I can't just send him to his grandparents' house when I need to get something done.  Aside from day care where I go he goes.  And as much as I love him I do need some time by myself.  I'm really looking forward to getting to sleep as long as I want.  I certainly don't get the benefit of a partner taking care of Henry on one weekend morning every week like some couples I know.  I'd love to have that option!  Just one day a week.  And this from me sitting here in my pajamas at nearly 11:30 am because I'm still waiting for Henry to go down for a nap so I can shower ... Oh what a glamorous life I lead.  LOL!

Totally horrible blogger! 18-month update

Yes, I'm dropping in after weeks of agonizing whether I should own up to my shame of not posting in a very long time ... many months.  October, I think?  Sheesh.

Anyway, I went back to work in January and Henry went off to day care.  We both adjusted well.  Henry has adjusted well to my travel schedule and is a fantastic traveler.  He does very well on the flights even though he is now in the "I must scale and crawl on any upright object" phase.  The 2-hour time zone change we have during summer months isn't the best but Henry adjusts fine.  He loves getting to see grandma, grandpa (H calls him papa and made that up on his own) and his cousins regularly. And they love spending time with him too.

Henry is tall (85.4 cm) and heavy (13.5 kg) for an 18-month old so I'm convinced he's going to be a big kid and eat me out of house and home when he's a teenager.  That or he'll have to get a job to pay for the groceries.  He's been quite healthy since his last cold in January and no more bouts of wheezing, thankfully.  My fingers are crossed that he'll outgrow that issue.

He's finally started speaking and repeating things I say to him including 'moo' which he finally said tonight after a long time trying to get him to do it.  For the longest time he would only say about five words and no animal sounds and at his 15-month appointment the nurse practitioner told me they could intervene by 2.  Now he offers a variety of words spontaneously in varying levels of quality depending on the day.  Some days he's clear and others I just get a first consonant out of him.  He loves to answer various versions of 'good' when I ask him how he is.

He's a very physically active kid which will be a good thing down the road.  But he also loves music and books.  He's now started taking a book to bed with him and I don't care since it seems to keep him calm and busy until he finally falls asleep.  Tonight he started repeating 'moo' when I put him in his crib and was still going at it when I walked out of his room.  I heard this thunderous noise not that long after and went in to check afraid he was banging his book on the wall.  No need to worry about the neighbour going nuts from the noise.  Nope.  He was just banging his feet on the end of the crib to check out the sound.  Another thing he loves to do these days especially if it is something that can cause damage.  Oh yes, he's a little go.dzilla, this one.  lol

I'm busy with work, traveling, keeping the yard in order (I did a ton of landscaping in the front this spring) and generally just keeping up with things.  My house is always in a state of mess but I do my best to at least keep the main floor organized lest anyone think I'm a hoarder.  lol  Nah, more like someone who doesn't get the floor vacuumed nearly often enough.  I've gotten into genealogical research and am trying to get back into travel writing as well so that will also be taking up free time. I've also got to figure out how to fit some sort of exercise in there somewhere too.  I weigh less than when I got pregnant but my shape is a little different and I'm in need of some muscle toning.  A little cardio wouldn't hurt either.  I'd love to go for walks in the evening (and that was the plan before the ridiculously hot weather moved in) but that will have to wait until cooler weather appears.

I'm hoping I can do a better job of posting even if it will be a bit sporadic.  Because of my travel schedule I am unable to set a time such as Sunday mornings to post an update because we're often getting ready to catch a flight on Sundays ... well, at least every 2nd week until the end of September.  Until then here's a couple of new photos of the little guy from the day he turned 18 months.

He loves to play in my bathroom in the morning. (July 10, 2013)

I love climbing on the couch!  (July 10, 2013)

And now a second tooth!

Henry's second tooth popped through on Monday morning.  What a miserable month for him.  Two colds and two teeth.  Poor thing. 

His cold is progressing and seems stuck in his chest.  We saw the nurse practitioner after I called to make his 9 month well baby appointment.  I asked to make a second appointment because he had been wheezing the night before.  Not badly but I could definitely hear it.  He wasn't having any trouble breathing but having asthma myself I know how horrible it feels when I wheeze.  Even just a small amount makes it feel like I can't breathe at all.  They asked us to come in 30 minutes later resulting in a mad dash to get there.  lol

The good news is that he doesn't have an ear infection even though there is some fluid on the left, the ear he has been tugging at.  And he isn't running a fever.  I checked.  But the nurse practitioner did hear the wheeze.  So, we have an inhaler and mask to use.  Henry did really well the first night I used the inhaler probably because I made it out like a toy.  But he's been fighting it since.  It really should come with a strap that I could place around his head.  But it probably doesn't because some idiot didn't use it properly and injured their child ... lawsuit.  *sigh*  Anyway, he is still coughing and has that slight wheeze but he has otherwise done really well.  Except for the night waking ... including his lovely 1-3:30 am on Saturday night.  I'm crossing my fingers that this will come to an end soon, once the teething and cold have passed.

We've been out for daily walks this week which has been nice.  I can't lie in saying part of the motivation is losing some weight.  Well, not really weight as I've been at my pre-pregnancy weight for some time now.  Somehow my hips seem to have spread, permanently.  In fact I had wished for that if I had to have some sort of permanent body change.  This really wouldn't be a bad thing for me since I'm built very straight and a little extra width in the hips would help to make my waist, such as it it is, look a bit smaller.  But along with my hips my waist also seems to have spread in direct proportion to my snazzy new hips.  How much better can it get?  lol  I was in a size 12 Ga.p jean and size 14 B.R pant before getting pregnant and wore them long into pregnancy.  Now I'm lucky to be able to close my size 14 jeans.  I had to dig through my pile to find the curvy ones since the long and lean don't close.  I refuse to pay any money to buy a bigger size.  And I refuse to try on my work pants as I'm in denial about them fitting.  So walking it is.  I may not be particularly fast (thanks plantar fasciitis during pregnancy turned damaged foot needing orthotics post-partum) but I figure it is better than nothing.  And besides, Henry loves going for walks.  So that can't be a bad thing.  ;-)

First tooth and second cold

Finally, on Wedensday Henry cut his first tooth.  Over two weeks of unpredictable vomiting and poor sleep finally came to an end this week.  I felt for a tooth first thing that morning but there wasn't one.  By early afternoon my mom felt the unmistakeable sharp little tooth on the right.  The other one isn't far behind.

Unfortunately, our reprieve has been short lived.  Henry was a beast last night waking multiple times, crying.  Thankfully he was able to fall asleep again right away but neither of us slept a lot.  And this morning when I went in to get him from his crib he had snot running down his face and a large streak of dried snot in his hair.  *sigh*  Two colds in three weeks.  This is insane.  I'm just crossing my fingers that I don't get sick with this one as well as my parents are out on the east coast for a week for my cousin's wedding.  Just to be safe I did run to the pharmacy to get some cold medication for me just in case ... and it was on sale this week.

I suspect that he's picked up both colds from music class.  We're in the third of three classes that day and the instructor says she disinfects the musical instruments every day.  But being that we're in the last class of the day that doesn't matter.  A sick kid in either of the two earlier classes can pass along their cold anyway.  There was a kid in our class on Tuesday who was sick with a cold ... snot down his face when they came in.  But I'm sure it wasn't him who passed it on to Henry as they didn't get close enough.

I'm almost livid at this point.  I make an effort to stay home when I'm sick and that's even with a job that requires me to travel.  If I'm in town I use my sick time.  If I'm traveling I have to go but I do everything I can to disinfect myself before touching things so I don't make others sick.  I even put my tissues into a separate container on the plane so that the flight attendants don't have to touch them, or I just take them with me when disembarking and toss them in the trash.  I hate being sick and I really hate having to take time off when sick.  I hate it.  I do not understand people who leave the house when sick or take their sick kids places other than medical appointments or the pharmacy.  I ran to the pharmacy today to get cold medication in case I get sick but I also kept Henry in his stroller and away from things he wanted to touch.  Why can't other people do this?  Is it because we've become so accustomed to popping meds to deal with illnesses?  Is it because we've seen so few serious and even deadly illnesses in our age that we don't think about simple but effective infection control mechanisms?  I just don't understand the absolute selfishness of others.  And because of this we're missing the second of our first three swimming classes.  Henry loves swimming.  I feel so bad for him. 

House of sickness

We're a house of sickness this week.  After the vomiting episodes (and cat poop incidents) Henry got sick, for real.  Thursday morning he woke up with congestion and as much as I kept hoping it wasn't a cold I just knew it was.  I did my best to keep from getting sick but started feeling it on Friday morning and it just got worse.  And based on my symptoms we don't have a cold, we have some type of influenza.  Just peachy.

Thankfully Henry has been doing really well.  He is mostly full of energy and played a lot through his illness.  Friday he was very clingy and whiny but that was to be expected.  He slept 12 hours Thursday and Friday night.  Which was good because I didn't sleep a wink Friday night even after taking some nighttime cold medication.  Zombie time!  I've been alternating between fever and chills and now that my nose is finally starting to stop running I'm hoping that things will turn around.  Unfortunately, Henry didn't have such a good night last night.  At 12:30 he woke up crying and nothing would console him or help him get back to sleep.  So, I finally decided after multiple tries to take him back to my room and put him on my chest.  That used to be the only way to get him to fall asleep some nights.  He finally settled down but I can't keep a 25 pound child on my chest all night and sleep.  So I had put him between the pillows (with a changing pad under him so he didn't drool all over my bed) and he was none too pleased.  He complained on and off all night finally waking around 5:45.  I fed him a bottle and gave him some Tyl.enol and he eventually fell back asleep.  My fingers are crossed that we'll both have a better night tonight.

Hopefully we'll both be feeling better by Tuesday so that we can go to music class.  We had to miss our first swimming class on Friday.

In better news Henry is now consistently pulling himself up to standing on furniture.  He could do it with the ottoman because it is a bit lower and more sturdy than the sofa.  The sofa cushions are a little soft and that made it more difficult for him to get up as well.  And on Friday he started motoring along the sofa all on his own.  He can't stop himself from falling and banging his head if he loses his balance so we've had a few accidents as of late.

My parents are arriving Wednesday and I'm very much looking forward to having a little help around the house for a while especially as we're not going to be 100% yet.

Epic failure

In an effort to broaden Henry's diet and as recommended by the information given to me by my nurse practitioner I pureed some broccoli and offered it to Henry yesterday afternoon.  I didn't give him much.  I got the super sour face, though.  But he held it down with no trouble and ate the rest of his solids without any issue.  He was burpy the rest of the afternoon but I didn't think much of it.  He was fussy for his last bottle of the night which hasn't been a surprise as I think his teeth are finally making a move.  I put him to bed and he started crying.  I went in his room a few minutes later to help him get to sleep and picked him up to hold him and then it happened .....

......... projectile vomit.  All over the mattress.  Then again 4 more times just outside the bedroom door on my way to rushing him into the bathroom.  We didn't make it.  Poor thing was covered in vomit but thankfully he had a sleeper on.  It wasn't too difficult to clean him up and he seemed happier that his stomach was empty.  But what a mess.  I threw the sheet and sleeper in the wash machine right away and tried to sop up as much vomit as I could but I know I'm going to have to use a carpet cleaner to get the stains out.  Thankfully the mattress cover has a waterproof backing on it otherwise the foam would have gotten soaked.  Have I mentioned this is the second time in a week I've had to wash the mattress cover?  Anyway, I had just moved the playpen out of my room to the living room the day before.  Well, I had to truck that thing up the stairs at 11 pm last night so Henry had somewhere to sleep other than the floor.

I don't often complain about being a single mom but last night was one of those nights that I really wished I'd had some help around the house.  I had to get the recycling, garbage and organics out to the curb last night.  I have no idea what time I finished that task. And then I had to clean up cat poop.  Oh yes.  It appears my cat has colitis.  We've been having litter issues ... when he is having issues he doesn't poop in the litter box.  No, he decides the best place is right outside the litter box between two of the boxes.  *sigh*  The last thing I wanted to be doing last night (other than cleaning vomit) was cleaning cat poop off the concrete floor in my storage room.  I absolutely lost it last night.

Henry didn't end up falling asleep until about midnight.  I did feed him another bottle since his stomach was completely empty by then and he needed something to get him through the night.  And in an effort to keep him occupied and not screaming his head off for a period of time I actually turned on Tre.ehouse and thankfully he loved it.  Yes, I pacified my 8 month old child with kid's programming but until you have to do everything I did last night don't knock it.

I had to be up early this morning.  Well, at least that was the plan.  I wanted to get up before Henry did so I could get in my shower but Henry had other ideas.  My alarm woke him up and he whimpered for a while before actually waking.  I fed him and he fell back asleep.  I showered and when I got out of the shower I could hear him playing in his playpen.  Thankfully Henry was in a good mood, if tired, for his first music class today.  It went well and Henry loved the guitar!  He also liked one of the other little boys in the class.

We had a good day and ran some errands in the afternoon.  Henry got his second feeding of solids and I was looking forward to a quiet evening knowing Henry was tired.  I gave him his supper time bottle and what happened?  Projectile vomit ... again.  Thankfully we were seated on my leather sofa.  Yay for leather!  Actually none of it got on the sofa, rug or floor.  No.  Instead of that Henry and I were just doused in vomit.  Oh yeah.  I managed to make it upstairs without it dripping off my pants and promptly put Henry in the tub ... no water.  I had no idea where to put him that was safe and where he couldn't crawl and cause a mess.  The tub did the trick.  I cleaned up, changed then got him undressed and gave him a bath.  I gave him some play time to start and he seemed to enjoy it.  He loves baths in the big tub now.  He was pretty crabby tonight and likely overtired and hungry.  But he went to sleep easily which allowed me to unpack my groceries from earlier in the day.  And then I stuck the newly vomited clothing into the wash machine.

And then I cleaned more cat poop ... from the floor ... again.