The job is great. I enjoy it. I like my co-workers. I like my boss. It's awesome to be working again.
I do miss the children, but not in the way I did when I returned to work before. I think about them often during the day, but I no longer feel like running out the office door to the day care centre and scooping them up at 11 in the morning.
I'm glad to be away from them for awhile each day. I'm even happier to see them when I get home.
There is one enormous wrinkle though, so enormous it qualifies as a fold. I am having massive problems with my child care.
Our live-in nanny is coming sometime in late April through May. She is currently working in Hong Kong, and that's just how long it takes to get the immigration paperwork done through the Live-in Caregiver Program.
I had one week to find temporary child care. I thought I found it another military mom here in the PMQs.
The kids were there less than two weeks when she quit. I'm trying very hard not to take it personally, since she is pregnant and bailed because she is concerned about her health. Her baby comes first. I support that. But she's left me in a terrible situation.
She quit on Thursday. Tomorrow is her last day with the kids. I had 4 days to find child care.
Hubby and I managed to do it. Toddler N. is going to be cared for by my best PMQ friend who runs a day home. The boys are going to another day home in the Qs, at least for now. We may move them to a day care centre and the day home is cool with that.
If this doesn't work out, I will lose my job. I'm freaking.
Plus, all these changes are very hard on my kids, especially A. He has been moody and lashing out at Little I. I. is a terrible tease and A. just can't handle that this week.
There really is no winning. I stay home and go batty. I go to work and worry about the kids' child care.
There is no perfect way to mother, it seems. I'm screwing up both choices.
Showing posts with label Baby N.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Baby N.. Show all posts
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The story of the stomach bug
About three and a half weeks ago, Little I. started complaining his tummy hurt. He started eating less and less. Then he had the diarrhea. Then he started puking.
On the Saturday, five days before I started my new job, we took him to the ER. We were there 12 hours for IV rehydration. I took him in again on Sunday. He seemed to perk up and got over the illness.
Toddler N. had mild diarrhea this whole time.
On Wednesday night, Super A. started throwing up. He seemed better Thursday, but by Friday, my first day of work, he was very ill.
Hubby stayed home with him Friday so I could start my new job. On Friday night, N. started puking too.
By Sunday my oldest and youngest were so dehydrated the nurse who lives next door said they needed the ER right away.
It took five sticks to get an IV needle into A., his veins were so small from dehydration. He was listless, vomiting bile and passing out between vomits.
They had to put N.'s IV into her external jugular vein. She was poked six times before that. Her kidneys stopped working properly and she didn't pee in three days.
They were in the hospital four days. They were the worst four days of my life, camped out on a cot, praying their organs wouldn't shut down.
The kids were released a week ago. They looked terribly thin. Hubby has been feeding them up ever since.
I've been watching them sleep at night this week, looking at the bloom of health on their cheeks again and thanking God I didn't lose them.
And I've been thinking about the mothers who do. Mothers in the Third World who lose children to vomiting and diarrhea.
There are millions of them every year, dead for the want of IV fluids and simple medications.
Even in my children's illness and suffering, I am blessed and fortunate. It's not fair and I am not deserving.
On the Saturday, five days before I started my new job, we took him to the ER. We were there 12 hours for IV rehydration. I took him in again on Sunday. He seemed to perk up and got over the illness.
Toddler N. had mild diarrhea this whole time.
On Wednesday night, Super A. started throwing up. He seemed better Thursday, but by Friday, my first day of work, he was very ill.
Hubby stayed home with him Friday so I could start my new job. On Friday night, N. started puking too.
By Sunday my oldest and youngest were so dehydrated the nurse who lives next door said they needed the ER right away.
It took five sticks to get an IV needle into A., his veins were so small from dehydration. He was listless, vomiting bile and passing out between vomits.
They had to put N.'s IV into her external jugular vein. She was poked six times before that. Her kidneys stopped working properly and she didn't pee in three days.
They were in the hospital four days. They were the worst four days of my life, camped out on a cot, praying their organs wouldn't shut down.
The kids were released a week ago. They looked terribly thin. Hubby has been feeding them up ever since.
I've been watching them sleep at night this week, looking at the bloom of health on their cheeks again and thanking God I didn't lose them.
And I've been thinking about the mothers who do. Mothers in the Third World who lose children to vomiting and diarrhea.
There are millions of them every year, dead for the want of IV fluids and simple medications.
Even in my children's illness and suffering, I am blessed and fortunate. It's not fair and I am not deserving.
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Hospital horror
We just got home from the pediatrics ward today. A. and N. were both admitted for severe dehydration. The baby is still having the odd vomit, but A. is back to normal.
I'll post a longer story and some pics on the weekend. Need to catch up on work and life.
I'll post a longer story and some pics on the weekend. Need to catch up on work and life.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
"You want million dollar?"
For those of you who have never met my Hubby, he has a fairly zany sense of humour. It's one of the reasons I fell in love with him, and one of the things that helps us through tough times.
Hubby has an obsession with YouTube, especially when he can find episodes of the show Robot Chicken there. And unfortunately, he has a bad habit of showing these (admittedly side-splitting) clips to the boys.
The other day, he found this on the Net:
http://www.dumpalink.com/videos/Robot-Chicken-Who-Poop-Last-5a15.html
The boys, being boys, thought this is the funniest thing they had ever witnessed. For two days, our happy PMQ has rung with shouts of: "You want million dollars? Who Poop Rast!!!!"
It was all very funny until this morning. Super A. woke up at 6:30 a.m. and the first thing that came out of his mouth was the triumphant shout, "Who Poop Rast!!!!"
He woke everyone in the house. Soon his brother and sister were also shouting, "Who Poop Rast!!!" (Baby N.'s version was just the word "POOP" over and over.)
I sent Hubby to put them back to bed. His "poop"y mess, not mine.
You want million dollar?
Hubby has an obsession with YouTube, especially when he can find episodes of the show Robot Chicken there. And unfortunately, he has a bad habit of showing these (admittedly side-splitting) clips to the boys.
The other day, he found this on the Net:
http://www.dumpalink.com/videos/Robot-Chicken-Who-Poop-Last-5a15.html
The boys, being boys, thought this is the funniest thing they had ever witnessed. For two days, our happy PMQ has rung with shouts of: "You want million dollars? Who Poop Rast!!!!"
It was all very funny until this morning. Super A. woke up at 6:30 a.m. and the first thing that came out of his mouth was the triumphant shout, "Who Poop Rast!!!!"
He woke everyone in the house. Soon his brother and sister were also shouting, "Who Poop Rast!!!" (Baby N.'s version was just the word "POOP" over and over.)
I sent Hubby to put them back to bed. His "poop"y mess, not mine.
You want million dollar?
Friday, January 11, 2008
A whirlwind visit
I haven't dumped you, readers. I've just had a whirlwind trip across the continent.
My grandmother had open heart surgery on Christmas Day. She survived the operation but there were doubts she'd live in the days following the surgery.
I was a wreck. She had asked to see me and baby N. before she went into the OR. Here I was in British Columbia, too far away and too broke to fulfill what might have been her last request. I cried for most of Boxing Day.
My sister-in-law L. was visiting over Christmas. Just before we took her to the airport on Boxing Day, she gave me a big hug. She understood, she said. She would have been a wreck, too. And she also understood how grief and sadness just creep up on you in unexpected moments.
She would know, I mused. Her beautiful father died when she was in high school and her grief was enormous. It seems to have made her wise.
My mother-in-law called on the 28th. After much wrangling, she had gotten me and the baby a plane ticket.
Four hours later, I was on a plan to Halifax. It was the red-eye. We spent 12 hours in Pearson on my anniversary.
The look on Nan's face when I came into the hospital room was worth every torturous minute. Her face shone as she looked at N. It was the first time she'd ever met her.
"Cindy! And the baby!"
Over the next few days we had a chance to talk and to pray together. Mom and I also spent lots of time hanging out and playing with the baby like a pair of nuts.
I returned home yesterday to two little boys who missed me and their sister desperately. C. held his own fairly well, though.
Now I must go un-Christmas my house. Taking down the tree is something I insist on doing every year.
Glad to be back, folks!
My grandmother had open heart surgery on Christmas Day. She survived the operation but there were doubts she'd live in the days following the surgery.
I was a wreck. She had asked to see me and baby N. before she went into the OR. Here I was in British Columbia, too far away and too broke to fulfill what might have been her last request. I cried for most of Boxing Day.
My sister-in-law L. was visiting over Christmas. Just before we took her to the airport on Boxing Day, she gave me a big hug. She understood, she said. She would have been a wreck, too. And she also understood how grief and sadness just creep up on you in unexpected moments.
She would know, I mused. Her beautiful father died when she was in high school and her grief was enormous. It seems to have made her wise.
My mother-in-law called on the 28th. After much wrangling, she had gotten me and the baby a plane ticket.
Four hours later, I was on a plan to Halifax. It was the red-eye. We spent 12 hours in Pearson on my anniversary.
The look on Nan's face when I came into the hospital room was worth every torturous minute. Her face shone as she looked at N. It was the first time she'd ever met her.
"Cindy! And the baby!"
Over the next few days we had a chance to talk and to pray together. Mom and I also spent lots of time hanging out and playing with the baby like a pair of nuts.
I returned home yesterday to two little boys who missed me and their sister desperately. C. held his own fairly well, though.
Now I must go un-Christmas my house. Taking down the tree is something I insist on doing every year.
Glad to be back, folks!
Thursday, August 02, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Adventures in pebbles and baby poop
It was bound to happen sometime.
Baby N. enjoys putting things in her mouth. A lot. More than the boys did at the same age, let me tell you. We are constantly scooping stuff out of her gob, everything from pennies to sticks to dust bunnies. She always complains loudly every time we rescue her digestive system from these objects.
Yesterday, however, she triumphed. Yesterday, she swallowed a pebble.
We were out on the back step. I was hanging laundry while Baby N. sat at my feet, playing with a toy. I had scanned the step for swallowable objects when we came outside. Nothing, I thought. Then Baby N. got that gleam in her eye.
She dived. I scooped her up, grabbed her cheeks, pushed on them to open her mouth, and inserted the trusty swiping finger. I could see the pebble at the back of her mouth. We struggled. She screamed, pulled her head back and went gulp! The pebble was gone.
I sighed, brought her inside, and called the BC Nurse Line.
She wasn't choking, wheezing or in pain; in fact, she was sashaying around the living room, enjoying her success.
The nurse told me to keep an eye on what comes out her other end.
"If she hasn't passed it in a week, bring her to the doctor," she said.
Princess Plumber Butt passed the pebble this morning in her ritual morning deposit.
And I wonder why I'm going gray.
Baby N. enjoys putting things in her mouth. A lot. More than the boys did at the same age, let me tell you. We are constantly scooping stuff out of her gob, everything from pennies to sticks to dust bunnies. She always complains loudly every time we rescue her digestive system from these objects.
Yesterday, however, she triumphed. Yesterday, she swallowed a pebble.
We were out on the back step. I was hanging laundry while Baby N. sat at my feet, playing with a toy. I had scanned the step for swallowable objects when we came outside. Nothing, I thought. Then Baby N. got that gleam in her eye.
She dived. I scooped her up, grabbed her cheeks, pushed on them to open her mouth, and inserted the trusty swiping finger. I could see the pebble at the back of her mouth. We struggled. She screamed, pulled her head back and went gulp! The pebble was gone.
I sighed, brought her inside, and called the BC Nurse Line.
She wasn't choking, wheezing or in pain; in fact, she was sashaying around the living room, enjoying her success.
The nurse told me to keep an eye on what comes out her other end.
"If she hasn't passed it in a week, bring her to the doctor," she said.
Princess Plumber Butt passed the pebble this morning in her ritual morning deposit.
And I wonder why I'm going gray.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
M5 W1 D5: Thoughts on my last night alone
I have been alone with my three children for four full months and five days.
Tonight is the last night I will put them to bed on my own in a very long time. The Hubby returns tomorrow.
My feelings are a stew right now, but the stock is certainly gratitude. I'm so grateful to the friends who watched my kids and cooked me meals and cleaned my house. Grateful to my parents for listening to me moan and complain. Grateful to my in-laws (both sets!) who helped me during a tight financial squeeze. And to the staff at the MFRC, who were an unfailing help and support through this, the longest, hardest and most accomplished winter of my parenting life.
To all of you, thank you a million times over. Please give me a chance to return the favour; call me anytime you need a hand.
And thank you, God, for giving all these beautiful people to me as my family and friends.
As for the other feelings floating in that stock? Excitement, certainly, and elation. But also some nervousness and fear. Will we fit back together as a family easily, or will we squabble and fight? How has he changed? How have we? Can I let go? Will the kids be royally ticked off and show it? I'm expecting the worst, but hoping for better; after all, we have a very long drive ahead of us.
If you're the praying type, drop one for us tomorrow, will ya?
Tonight is the last night I will put them to bed on my own in a very long time. The Hubby returns tomorrow.
My feelings are a stew right now, but the stock is certainly gratitude. I'm so grateful to the friends who watched my kids and cooked me meals and cleaned my house. Grateful to my parents for listening to me moan and complain. Grateful to my in-laws (both sets!) who helped me during a tight financial squeeze. And to the staff at the MFRC, who were an unfailing help and support through this, the longest, hardest and most accomplished winter of my parenting life.
To all of you, thank you a million times over. Please give me a chance to return the favour; call me anytime you need a hand.
And thank you, God, for giving all these beautiful people to me as my family and friends.
As for the other feelings floating in that stock? Excitement, certainly, and elation. But also some nervousness and fear. Will we fit back together as a family easily, or will we squabble and fight? How has he changed? How have we? Can I let go? Will the kids be royally ticked off and show it? I'm expecting the worst, but hoping for better; after all, we have a very long drive ahead of us.
If you're the praying type, drop one for us tomorrow, will ya?
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Little Miss Upright!
Oh, Baby N., please stop growing. I can't have another baby after you (unless we adopt) and I am sooo not ready for you to become a toddler!
Your father is not going to recognize you.
Friday, April 13, 2007
M4 W1 D6: Beyond three months
I have now been alone with my kidlets for more than three. stinking. months.
THREE CALENDAR MONTHS! (Bangs head on keyboard)
Ok, ok, I'm ok now.
Mom and dad, don't read this part: I haven't had sex in three months! I want my husband back!
Lots has happened lately, so I'll give you a list:
THREE CALENDAR MONTHS! (Bangs head on keyboard)
Ok, ok, I'm ok now.
Mom and dad, don't read this part: I haven't had sex in three months! I want my husband back!
Lots has happened lately, so I'll give you a list:
- Spring has finally come to Yellowknife. The boys and I have been wearing our funky rubber boots all over town.
- Baby N. has graduated to a rear-facing large car seat, and is out of the baby bucket. Sigh.
- My darling father-in-law called the other day and offered to pay the cost of sending the children and I to the Hubby's graduation. I soooo want to go, but can't imagine surviving the trip. Plus, Hubby flies out to Esquimalt the very next day. So not worth it. But B., that was such an incredibly kind offer! You are so thoughtful.
- A. has discovered the wonders of big, fancy words. I love to hear him say "gigantic" and "discovery". I did that as a kid. Anyone remember "hilarious"?
- I have lost 15 lbs on Weight Watchers. Hooray! 15 to go.
- Baby N. is crawling well and is now pulling up on her knees. Video coming soon.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Saturday, March 10, 2007
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