I sure had my share of momming these past two days. We knew James needed his wisdom teeth out, and we were loosely planning it for the first Monday of his spring break. Sorry, no Cancun for this kid of mine, not this year anyway. The surprise came when Rachele called me as soon as she got home from skiing at Lake Tahoe with her friends (and PeekaBoo Street!!, no joke!!) with complaints of her wisdom teeth really bothering her. I half-jokingly asked her if she wanted to join Jamey and come with us to get hers out too. Well, she took us up on it, and after a rush consultation, we had the appointments back-to-back; 9:30 and 10:30 Monday morning.
I have to say, these kids of mine were calmer than I was. I tried not to show my distress of course, but any time your kids are getting knocked out (meaning general anesthesia) it is a source of major concern. Jamey went first, and as always, Rachele was my rock in the waiting room. Again, I managed to squelch any anxiety I was having with her right next to me - after all, she was the next one to go; had to stay (appear) nice and calm for her. Two and a half hours later we left the office, me armed with gauze and several sheets of instructions on how to best care for my little patients. They were a little out of it from the anesthesia, and looked pathetically adorable with their cheeks all puffed out with packed gauze. Off we went to pick up the many prescriptions and get home to change the gauze.
Yikes, all I can say is this was momming at an extreme level; only the strong survive this one. Mentally grueling and physically exhausting, a momaholic has to be at the top of her game for this feat - and times two kids, what a challenge. I had to make charts just to keep their medication straight. Not only that, I had to keep their bellies full for all of the medicines, and they couldn't chew. I also had to run ice packs back and forth for over 12 hours. Hysterical, really, the ice packs being frozen peas stuffed into the thighs of my pantyhose tights, with the legs tied on top of my kid's heads to keep them on. When this mental pciture enters my mind, even now, two days later, I could just loose it laughing. On Monday, however, there was no laughing, only worrying. Worrying that they would be in pain or not be able to eat or drink enough, Worry that they swell up like balloons overnight and their sweet faces would be almost unrecogniable on Tuesday morning. Worry that their mouths would start profusely bleeding overnight.
Okay, none of that happened. Matter of fact, they slept pretty decently and there wasn't one drop of blood on their pillows. And I guess the 'anti-swelling' medicine really works, because they looked amazing considering what they had just been through. We went for their follow-up and everything looked good. Still had to keep an eye out and juggle medicines, but they were both on the mend. Tuesday was a much better day.
Moral of this story ladies is that just when you think that maybe you're not needed that much anymore, along comes a call of duty, a big one, and you have to be ready. Ready to resume the roll we love best, momming our kids. Hey, I'm sleeping with one eye open - I never want to miss a momming opportunity, no matter how difficult, or how scary. So Rachele, Kristin, Charles and Jamey; I'm ready - bring it!
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Birthday Eve
Yes, I've let this, my blog, go. I know I'm guilty. Truth is, I've almost posted at least a dozen times, then just kept my thoughts to myself. Tonight is different. Tonight I have thoughts that won't leave my head. Tonight raw emotion is running rampant in my mind and I need to write. Tonight is the eve of my first born son's birthday, his 24th. And in 24 years, this is the first time I won't be with him on his birthday. When he went off to college, I expected not to see him on his March 8th birthdays. As luck would have it, his spring break freshman and sophmore years were his birthday week; coming right after basketball season ended. His junior and senior years we had the thrill of watching him play NCAA games on his birthday, so we were with him then too. He moved out of our home to an apartment about three weeks ago, and since his birthday is on a week night this year, we won't see him til Friday. It's just so weird. He's had sooo many amazing birthdays that we've been a part of and for some reason, I'm remembering all of them tonight. Probably one of my favorites was when he was a senior in high school, and exactly on his birthday he was playing in the state sectional championship game, which meant the world to him. As he flew out the door to the game I kissed him good luck, knowing that this was going to turn out to be one of his best birthdays ever, or quite possibly the worst. And yes, it was one of the best.
When I was pregnant with Charles, towards the end I had a complication and had to be hospitalized about four weeks before he was due. I had to have a c-section, which was a first for me since I had the girls the good old-fashioned way. I was petrified to say the least. This night, 24 years ago, I had a hard time sleeping. I knew that the next day, around 10:30 am, I was going to have this baby. Being the chicken that I am, I was a wreck which continued into the next morning, even as I was whisked off to get prepped. We all have our own amazing childbirth stories, so I won't go into any detail. Suffice it to say that I was blown away shocked when I had this precious baby boy - the whole time I was convinced I was having another girl. He was so round and perfect; my baby boy. I've joked around over the years telling him how much I was racked with pain having him; showing off my scar. The truth of the matter is, now, so many years later, all I really choose to remember is the first time I laid eyes on his sweet face and held him to me.
Yes, no matter how old our babies get, these are the things a mother holds onto, our children's birthdays from the day we had them to the present and all of the special ones in between. 24 years ago tonight as I sat in that hospital bed wondering about the baby I was about to have, I never would have guessed just how great a child, and now a young man, that he would turn out to be. Charles, Happy Birthday I love you more than you know. XOXO
When I was pregnant with Charles, towards the end I had a complication and had to be hospitalized about four weeks before he was due. I had to have a c-section, which was a first for me since I had the girls the good old-fashioned way. I was petrified to say the least. This night, 24 years ago, I had a hard time sleeping. I knew that the next day, around 10:30 am, I was going to have this baby. Being the chicken that I am, I was a wreck which continued into the next morning, even as I was whisked off to get prepped. We all have our own amazing childbirth stories, so I won't go into any detail. Suffice it to say that I was blown away shocked when I had this precious baby boy - the whole time I was convinced I was having another girl. He was so round and perfect; my baby boy. I've joked around over the years telling him how much I was racked with pain having him; showing off my scar. The truth of the matter is, now, so many years later, all I really choose to remember is the first time I laid eyes on his sweet face and held him to me.
Yes, no matter how old our babies get, these are the things a mother holds onto, our children's birthdays from the day we had them to the present and all of the special ones in between. 24 years ago tonight as I sat in that hospital bed wondering about the baby I was about to have, I never would have guessed just how great a child, and now a young man, that he would turn out to be. Charles, Happy Birthday I love you more than you know. XOXO
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