Manic Monday

Wow.  So glad today is a new day.  Yesterday was not very good.

It started out well.  Lil' Monkey and I went to Dick's to get a sports bra (since none of mommy's pre-pregnancy sports bras fit her breastfeeding boobs! -- see "Feeling really white" post).  Got the bra and headed home.

About 10 minutes away from home, I hear Monkey in the back in his car seat grunting.  They sounded like his usual "poop grunts" so I thought "he'll need a new diaper when we get home".  WELL, about 5 minutes later he starts screaming and crying.  We're close to home, so I pick up the speed and finally pull into our neighborhood.

When I go to get him out of the car, I realize why he had been screaming.  He pooped OUT THE SIDE OF HIS DIAPER AND ONESIE, ALL OVER THE CAR SEAT.  Not only that but he had put his hand in it and had smeared it all over his face, his body and the straps of the car seat.

Now I was truly surprised by my actions.  I suppose I had slept enough the night before because instead of being upset, I just kept laughing.  Unfortunately, Monkey did not find it so funny.  But he was a happy camper after I gave him a bath and a new clean diaper and clothes.

So Monday nights, as I mentioned in my previous post, are "raid" nights for DH.  So Monkey and I are pretty much on our own except for an hour or so around dinner.  Monkey decided to go into his "cycle" of being upset at about 8:30 (15 minutes into DH's WoW raid).  I had fed Monkey, burped him, and DH had just changed his diaper before the raid.  I checked his diaper again and nothing.  I walked him around for several minutes in the two different ways he likes to be held when he's upset like that. 

NADA, still upset.  So I decided to open a new toy that he received on Sunday. He's screaming in his crib and I'm trying my darnest to get this thing out of it's bullet-proof/child-proof packaging.  And then it happens.  The scissors slipped and I gouged my hand.  At first, I thought, "Okay, it's just a minor cut".  But then when I went into the bathroom, I realized otherwise.  Blood was gushing out really fast and I just started crying.  Partly because it hurt, but partly because I knew this meant I'd have to get DH off the game, we'd have to go to the emergency room with Monkey in tow and that would take forever.  And then I'd have to watch Monkey with sore hand for a week or more.

Honestly, our local hospital hasn't been that bad with the two emergency visits we've had in the past 45 days.  Last night, we were in at 8:45 and out by 10:00.  I got two stitches in my hand. 

It hurts still and I think it would hurt less if it weren't right in the area where you bend your hand to pick up things.  So changing Monkey and doing other minor everyday chores have been really challenging today.

I just hope it's all healed soon.  They said I could have the stitches out in 5-7 days.  So that was our Manic Monday.

Life is getting better

Life with Monkey is getting better.  The Zantac seems to be helping.  He still has his moments when he'll curl up in a little red ball after feeding and act like he's in pain.  I call him my 'little kidney bean' during those times.

I dropped my basket a bit last evening when he did the 'cycle' as I call it now.  On Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays, DH has 'raid' nights where he is semi-obligated to participate in his World of Warcraft game.  We've been trying to make it so he can continue that but it's been hard for me to take care of Monkey for that long of a stretch by myself. 

When Monkey's having an acid reflux moment, he'll feed for a long time, then be upset until the next feeding and possibly until the following feeding.  So it's an endless cycle of feeding, changing diapers, walking and rocking -- all the while Monkey is screaming, grunting or making milk gurgling noises loud enough that I can' nd it possible to take a nap.  After about 4-6 hours of this, I tend to have hard time dealing.  Last night, I just broke down and cried while sitting on our bed rocking Monkey.  DH stopped playing and took him over for a bit which helped.  At the next feeding, he finally went down and slept for about 3 hours giving me a much needed break.

He's becoming a little more alert during the day and early evenings.  Which is both good and bad.  It's good because I like to see his little eyes open and his little brain working as he examines everything around him.  Plus, his 'smiles' seem to be turning into real smiles (or as the books call it, a social smile).  Even his eyes seem to 'smile' a bit.  It's bad because he definitely wants attention and I want to give him attention, however, if he's caused me to be up all night, it's hard to muster up the energy and be happy about it.

But tonight, DH is going to take over for a couple hours and I'll take a nap.  So maybe I'll have the energy to play with Monkey tomorrow!