The Dogs' Altercation

Of course, the drama of the weekend wouldn’t be complete if it didn’t involve the dogs. Before we headed up to the hospital on Saturday, I decided to run home and pack a bag and let the dogs out. I was upstairs getting things ready when I heard shouting. I ran downstairs to find Sammy and the neighbor dog fighting the driveway. Before you say anything, I already know I should not get in between fighting dogs, and I’ve already been lectured on this point, but at the time, I don’t think-I just react. And that’s exactly what I did. I ran out and tried to separate the two (the other dog is probably 50-60lbs). It’s all a blur, so I’m not even sure exactly how I got them separated. All I know is I was screaming at the top of my lungs for the kids to go get help, I’m sure the entire neighborhood could hear me. I think he was frozen in fear because he just stood there. I tried separating them several different times, picking each of them up at different times, yanking the dog by the collar so hard that it came off, prying them apart, etc. I finally got Sammy in my arms and the other dog grabbed her leg and pulled her back down. Neither one of them was giving up, and I was afraid it was going to result in Sammy’s death. So I finally got Sammy in my arms, got the other dog off of her, and ran in the house. Benny, of course, was on the sidelines watching all the action happen but staying out of it. There was blood, but I wasn’t sure how bad it was. I did a quick check over and put her in the bathroom. All I could think is that I can’t deal with this. I need to take Nate to the hospital, this can’t really be happening right now, and not again. I finished packing the bags and went back down to check on Sammy. I figured if she had any really bad wounds there would be blood everywhere. There were a couple spots of blood on the floor, and checking her over again, I didn’t see anything serious. So I kept her in the bathroom and called Jaime back again. Jeremy said he would come up to help out. All the dogs are okay, and none needed to be taken to the vet. Sammy has a small wound on her back near her tail, but nothing too bad. Not like last time. The other dog is probably about the same, the owner said a couple small wounds but nothing too serious.
I, however, probably came out the worst. Heading out the door I realized my hand was bleeding. I didn’t have time to deal with it, so I just wrapped a towel around my hand and left. After I got Nate admitted in, I had the nurses look at it. They didn’t think I needed stitches and so they gave me some stuff to clean it up and bandage it. By Sunday morning it was hurting so bad. The bite is on my pointer finger, near my knuckle. It was really red and swollen and I can barely bend it. To put any pressure on it is excruciating. The nurses looked at it again and said that I need to have someone look at it. I waited until Nate was sleeping and decided since I was already at the hospital (and it was a Sunday so the only place open was the urgent care clinic and I didn’t want to leave Nate) I headed down to the ER. They weren’t busy so I checked in. It’s infected and so now I’m on antibiotics. I need to watch it for the next few days because the infection can spread into the tendons and then I would need surgery. Wonderful. It’s starting to feel slightly better, but I am still limited with how much I can do with it. I also am scraped up pretty bad on my knee and foot, probably from hitting the concrete getting down on the ground with the dogs. Lesson learned? Well, hopefully this will be the last dog fight Sammy will get in so we won’t need to find out how I react the next time.

Longest Week

Okay, this has been the longest week ever! What? It's only Tuesday? Michael is finally coming home at the end of the week and the days are dragging. While I can't believe we will be seeing him again in just a few days, it feels like a few hundred. The last few weeks have been busy, getting things ready before he comes home. But now all of that is done, and it's just the day to day stuff, which isn't enough to keep the days from feeling like forever. I went grocery shopping yesterday to get a few of his favorite things. Not sure if that was a good idea because I'm pretty sure those oreos aren't going to make it that long.

I am learning to nap. Maybe now with less to do, or maybe because it helps pass time, or most likely out of sheer exhaustion. Nate is still not sleeping through the night, and the usual 3-4 wake-ups are killing me. A friend suggested I just let him cry it out for 15 minutes, if he's still crying, go in and let him see me but don't touch or talk to him. I tried it for a few days. The first night worked pretty well and he went back to sleep before I had to even go in there most of the time. But the times that I would have to go in there, he would see me and then just get more upset that I was in there but not picking him up or giving him his soothies (he loves what we call "soothies"--rubbing his head and face softly, something my Grandma did to us kids as we were growing up). He ended up crying so hard that he gave himself a belly ache, which of course in pain, ended up crying even harder. So I went back to the going in every time he wakes up and putting the pacifier back in.

However last night the pacifier wasn't cutting it. He woke up at 2:30am, I put it in, and gave him his soothies until he started to drift back to sleep. But the minute I stopped, he'd look up and see me leaving and start crying all over again. I was SO tired that I thought, I'll just let him cry for a little bit and I'll lie back down in bed just for a minute. Next thing I know it's 3am and he's not crying anymore. Hmm...

So, yes I know the answer to my problem is to let him cry it out and eventually he will learn to soothe himself. But to be honest, it's hard. And knowing I still am the only one to take care of him the next day, and the day after, and so on, I do what is easiest and quickest so that I can get back to sleep too. When Daddy comes home we definitely will be working on this problem. Until then, we are counting those few days that we have left...

My First Mother's Day

Is it crazy that Nate is almost 6 months old and I still can't believe I'm a mother? I guess it's just so surreal, so amazing to me that I actually have a child of my own. While I didn't get much pampering, it was still a wonderful 1st Mommy's Day! Although I had requested breakfast in bed, Nate wouldn't get up and make it, so I did have to make my own pancakes and bacon. But he woke up with smiles, and I'll take that. After church (which I wish Michael was home to hear--all about how to treat your wife and what she really needs with a lot of humor infused!) we headed down to Jaime's. It was nice to hang out with them and of course, play with Lucas. He informed me that I was his best friend in the whole world. That kid can melt my heart. I was surprised with a mother's day gift from Michael (he had it sent down there, so sneaky). We went over and visited Jeremy's mom for a little bit. A house is being built down the road that is the same floor plan as the one Jaime and Jeremy are building so we did a little trespassing and checked it out. I am so excited for them to build their house and see the end result. For dinner, Jeremy grilled some steaks and we had ice cream for dessert. It was a good mother's day, spent with family and my little boy.

Michael was able to catch us on the web cam before we headed out. At least I was able to see him on Mother's Day! It might have even been one of the last times we'll get to talk on that thing (thank goodness, 1)I don't know how much longer I can handle the connection and 2)it means he's that much closer to coming home!). I think this week will drag on, but that little light that has been at the end of the tunnel is getting much, much bigger.

Sleep & Sitting

So, enough is enough of this not sleeping through the night business! For the last few nights we have been working on getting Nate to sleep through the night. I think it's been about four nights, and of all of those nights, one has been a success. I'll take it. Even though I don't sleep through the night no matter what (will I ever stop worrying and just get some rest already!?!). The other nights he's up 2-3 times. Sometimes he wakes up, cries for a minute and is then back to sleep. Other times he cries and cries and my heart just breaks, because now, instead of going in and rocking him back to sleep or giving him his pacifier, I am letting him cry it out. If he cries for 15 minutes, then I go in there and let him see me, so he doesn't feel abandoned, but I don't touch him or talk to him (which it is very difficult not to console your crying baby) and then I walk out. If it's before 5am, I won't get up to feed him. So far, it really hasn't improved. Sometimes he'll cry for a minute or two, sometimes 15, and sometimes longer. Although I don't know that I'm going to let it get longer than 30 minutes. Last night he woke up at 4am. I went in there at 4:15am because he was still crying. He saw me, which mad him more upset that I wasn't picking him up, so he cried even harder. He would start to calm down and then just start screaming again. This went on for another 15 minutes, until I went in there and picked him up and fed him. It was close enough to 5am, right? So I probably have reversed all the work we have done over the last few days, but this is hard. So we will see how tonight goes. I'm hoping that each night he will wake less often and go back to sleep sooner.

This past Friday I went down to watch Jaime's boys because their sitter needed the day off. Jeremy was taking off work early, so I wouldn't be home with them until evening and I thought I should be able to handle it. It was actually easier than I thought it would be. Of course Lucas is easy. I couldn't get the babies to nap at the same time, but at least they always had a bed to sleep in! I like spending time with the boys and I haven't gotten to spend as much quality time with Landon as I would like (or as much as I did with Lucas when he was a baby) and so it was good to get to know him better too. When Jeremy got home from work, Nate was still sleeping and so Lucas and I went in their room to watch cartoons and I think a fell asleep for a few minutes. I've been exhausted lately--I think it's all finally catching up with me--I even took a nap yesterday when Nate did! When Jaime got home from work Jeremy cooked some burgers out on the grill. I wish we lived closer so we could have dinners and get togethers more often, but I'll definitely take the hour drive over the 12 hour drive! And even though we may not live in the same city, we are close enough to be able to see each other and watch our kids grow up together. And I am grateful for that.

5 Months Old

I can't believe Nate turned 5 months old last Friday. 5 months! Wasn't he just born? He's rolling over like crazy and his latest thing is blowing raspberries. He cracks me up and is the most adorable little guy. I just love him to pieces. He now also has 2 teeth, both in the front bottom. He seems to be teething off and on, affecting his mood and sleep some days, but for the most part, is a pretty happy baby (especially now that we have his feeding/napping on a better schedule). On Saturday I went with Jaime and Jeremy up to Indy to finalize their house plans (so much fun picking out colors!). Nate, of course, came along and did so well. The guy kept commenting on what a good baby he was. He really even surprised me. He can be pretty good at home, but when he's out and about he can get tired and cranky. He played on the floor and was able to take his nap in the crib that was set up in the model home's nursery room.

We were supposed to walk in the March of Dimes March for Babies walk yesterday, but due to the rain we opted out. It was still good to raise money for the cause, but I really wanted to participate. Next year for sure!

And, I'm happy to report he did his poopoo twice on Sunday, before and after church! I was so happy that he didn't poo all over the poor lady again this week. He must have had a pretty good time in the nursery because after service I came in to find him passed out. Silly baby.

Poo Poo

Nate only poops once a week. It has been a concern of mine, but the doctor, all the books, and everything I read online say that this is normal and I should count myself as one of the lucky ones. So it may be completely normal, but I still wish he would poop more often, as he seems much happier after doing so.

He was pretty fussy this morning, his nap was much shorter than it should have been, but I didn't insist he sleep longer, since we were already running late for church. I dropped him off in the nursery and told them he might need a nap or I fixed him a bottle and he might get hungry. Since the morning was so rough, I figured I would get paged out of the service like last week. Can you see where this is going?

Well, I didn't get paged out of service, and when I went to pick him up from the nursery he was playing contently on the floor. But one thing had changed, his outfit. Oh no. The ladies laughed about it, one asked the other if he was gassy as he was farting, and she replied that he was more than just gassy! The poo was going up his back and up her arm! I was so embarrassed but all you could do was laugh. I told Nate he was supposed to do his business before or after church, but not during! The ladies were nice and they have children and grandchildren, so "nothing we haven't seen or done before" but I know what a mess a week's worth of poop is and I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Leave it to Nate. The ladies didn't seem to mind but we'll see if his name is still on his cubby next week!

**As a side note, not only did he poop during service, but he has since pooped TWO more times since we got home today. Ah, reminds me of his newborn days.

Sleep & Teeth

The last couple of weeks have been extremely rough in the sleep department. Nate has some good nights, and then some nights where he wakes up every couple of hours. It's been exhausting and I needed to do something about it. So Jaime and I started reading her book, The Baby Whisperer. It profiles your baby and then tells you the best way to deal with your baby based on his type/personality. Nate is a touchy baby. Short version: he's ultra sensitive, flinches at loud sounds, blinks & turns away from bright lights, cries for no reason (usually to say, I've had enough and need some peace and quiet), gets fussy after a number of people have held him, plays on own but needs reassurance that someone he knows is close by, likes to suck a lot, and has difficulty falling asleep. All of these fit Nate to the T. It says that a change in schedule can really throw him off and knowing his cues and cries will help. Babies that are touchy babies love structure and predictability. This is Nate. I know his cues, so that's half the battle. So the last couple of days I've been working on figuring out a good schedule/routine. I've been marking down his sleep times. I've also started pumping and feeding him a few feedings in a bottle. I think we have had a couple of problems that are now being solved. The every 2 hour feedings are now 3-4 hours apart. I think when he ate, he became tired of eating and so would quit before he was really full and so would come back for more later. I put a fast flow nipple on his bottle and now he gets sufficient amount of milk in less time and that seems to keep him satisfied longer. I'm also not so quick to get him from his naps. The morning naps are usually an hour long. Every nap he takes he seems to wake up after an hour, crying. In the afternoon, he would wake crying and then continue to be fussy. So now he still has an hour long nap in the morning, but when he cries in the afternoon I let him cry for a little bit and then he falls back to sleep. He wakes up now in a much better mood. As for the night time wakings, if I know it hasn't been that long since he's eaten, then I let him cry and go back to sleep. So now he might wake up several times during the night, but he usually only gets one feeding. I know he's been teething for awhile, and I think that the nights where he's waking up is due to that. The white spot on the side of his upper gum hasn't changed. That one might take awhile to come through. But yesterday I noticed a white bump coming through on the bottom front, and sure enough you can feel a little tooth. That explains the extreme fussiness the couple of days prior. I thought I would have a couple more months (and a husband at home) before the teething started, but just like everything else that has to do with baby, it can't be controlled. So we roll with it and know that we'll have some good days and not so good days, some long nights, and some better nights. And I know as soon as we get this schedule down, we'll be changing it for a new one.