Politics Wed -- Postponed

Due to work obligations and lil' Monkey coming down with a cold (Where is this kid getting all of these germs?! At least, it's just a head cold and no diarrhea this time!), Politics Wednesday will be postponed until next week.

In the meantime, I said last week that I was going to cover Education this week. However, from our poll, it looks like I'm the only one that voted for it. So should I cover the Environment or Tax Reform next week, or keep on with the Education?

Strange Bedfellows

We just recently started the lovey concept with lil' Monkey, just prior to him getting sick as a matter of fact. We allowed one soft rattle shaped like a monkey (go figure) to be in his crib starting around Christmastime. But his monkey rattle was one of the first causalties during his illness. It along with a few other toys were quarantined in the to-be-washed bag which took me a long time to go through! He's been endowed with so many toys!

So Monkey has replaced his monkey with a new lovey or shall I say loveys (is that the plural form of lovey?). And they're kinda strange really. He's decided that his toy hammer is a source of comfort as well as the rubber ducky we usually have in the bathtub. Seems like two very strange bedfellows, if you ask me. But whatever works, right?

I was wondering, how many parents out there let their child take a lovey with them to sleep? And if so, what kind of lovey do they prefer? And for those with older children, did the lovey become an issue later?

Miss Pissy Pants, would you like some more whine?

Lately, as anyone who has read this blog has probably noticed, I've been more than a little whiny. I've been whiny, needy, tired, angry, pissy and not just on this blog, at home and in life in general. Needless to say, DH hasn't been a happy camper either living with Miss Pissy Pants 24-7.

I think I've gone into a mental and emotional downward spiral and I've been trying to figure out what to do.

The year didn't get off to a great start with Monkey's illness, then my semi-vacation to my cousin's wedding was good but getting there was a nightmare (I missed my flight) and then this latest resolve that we're hunkering down to wait out the housing market didn't help.

Plus, we've come to the conclusion that in order to use what space we have to its maximum potential we'll need to get rid of some cats (we have 4, contemplating dwindling that number to 1). The cats, or the "Girls" as I used to so affectionately call them, were my babies prior to my son's birth but with lil' Monkey in the picture, I haven't been a very good cat mommy. With that in mind and the fact that we're just not comfortable with Monkey crawling around in the massive amounts of hair deposited in our basement by the Girls, we're going to have to make the hard decision to give some of them up. I dread this decision but I understand it's necessary. I'm just going to have to DO IT and never give another thought to where they might be or what happened to them. Or else I'll just drive myself insane.

So I feel somewhat justified in my pissy demeanor. But I've GOT to get out of this somehow. I think I'll have some wine with my whine tonight and go to bed early.

Bitter about clutter and the housing market

Feeling a little bitter tonight. Yet grateful for what we DO have.

My bitterness comes from the reality that has slowly set in recently about our housing situation. You see, DH and I bought our home at the peak of the housing market when seller's were still raping buyers and taking the highest bidder. Now the prices in our neighborhood have slumped far past what we can afford to pay out in order to move.

This realization of not being able to sell our house and move into a bigger one any time soon makes me bitter. I'm talking 5 years possibly if things keep getting worse with the housing market. Which means having a second child will cramp our living situation severely. That just plain sucks. Sure, we could manage and most likely will have to manage. There are plenty of people out there with less than what we have and they have more than one child -- some of them managing quite well, others not so much.

However, I'm a complete clutter-phobe so space is really important to me. After having lil' Monkey, our house has been invaded with the tons of stuff required to raise a little one (and some things not so much required but loved by him). So space in our home is at a premium now. My once sparse home with lots of visible floor, cabinet and wall space is no longer.

Plus, working from home, I need one area of the house to be a home office. Both DH and I are accustomed to using our computers simultaneously (I work while he plays WoW -- or sometimes works as well). So really we need an entire room for our home office, not just a desk tucked away somewhere like the kitchen or family room (plus that would set off my clutter alarm). Therefore, our office eliminates one of the rooms in our house. Luckily for us, the previous owners finished the basement and there's technically a bedroom down there (which used to be our office). This room will probably become our office again when/if child number two comes along and we need to give up the bedroom next to lil' Monkey's bedroom. This means I'll need to run up two flights of stairs if our little ones wake up screaming into the baby monitor and I'm working downstairs! This also means we'll need to put the guest bed and my sewing machine/table into storage. Which means during the Holidays, our relatives will either need to use an Aerobed or get a hotel room. It all just seems to snowball -- all because of the housing market!

Now I've re-read what is written above and here is where the grateful part comes in ...

At least, we HAVE a house, we HAVE jobs, we HAVE cars, we HAVE a computer for each of us, we HAVE a sewing machine, we HAVE all the furniture and clothes we could ask for ... we have EVERYTHING we truly need (and plenty of nice-to-haves). I can't in good conscious act like a "have not" when in fact we have a lot.

So after watching part of that 20/20 special on t.v. last night about anger, instead of just being bitter and angry about our housing/clutter situation, I'm trying to refocus my angst to what I CAN do. So for the next few months, I'll be spending some time weeding through my closets, cabinets, etc. to see where I can make space so at the very least, the clutter won't feel like it's closing in on me. I can take my bitter butt to Goodwill and give the things I don't appreciate anymore or no longer need or can't wear to those who truly are in need.

Anyone a size 10 in need of business suit pants, jackets or shirts?

Funny Quote -- Week of 1/21/08

From the Mom-101 blog post about what each presidential candidate has on their sites about families specifically (the entire post is great, well, unless as the author points out "Skip This One if You've Got an Elephant Bumper Sticker on the SUV")

The funny quote for this week:

"Because as we all know, Jesus said, 'Ignore the mothers for they are not as important as the gun lobby.'"

LOL! I apologize to my Republican friends but as an Independent who leans to the left, this is hilarious.

She did go on to say: "Now I'm not saying that everyone is going to be pro-choice. But man, shouldn't everyone be pro-family? I mean they didn't even mention the FMLA. Try googling any GOP candidate with FMLA."

Any working mother should really read this post and the references she makes to the sites she researched. It may have just changed my mind about this race. We'll see.

In effort not to offend anymore, I will try to keep the rest of the posts apolitical until next Wednesday. :)

Politics Wed -- The Issues: Iraq

There's so much information on this topic so I'm going to present the history of Iraq and then the Iraqi War numbers.

HISTORY

PARAPHRASED AND QUOTED FROM WIKIPEDIA

You may remember something about Mesopotamia (3000 B.C.) and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers from your high school history class or perhaps earth sciences. This is the area that Iraq exists within today. It was inhabited by the Sumerians, then the Babylonians (no, not the people from Babylon 5), then the Assyrians, then the Persians, so forth and so on. Alexander the Great and the Greeks took over at one point in time as well. In other words, lots of cultures and peoples have called this land their own over the centuries.

The longest period of rule was by the Ottoman Empire, from roughly the 16th century until World War I. At that time, the Ottomans sided with the Germans and the Central Powers in the war. The British captured Baghdad in 1917 and an armistice was signed in 1918. “On 11 November 1920 it became a League of Nations mandate under British control with the name ‘State of Iraq’.” The British turned it into a monarchy and did not take into account the different ethnic groups when dividing it up into territories (especially the Kurds and Assyrians to the north, meaning they supported the Sunni population mainly). During the Brits occupation, the Shi’ites and the Kurds fought for independence. British occupation came to an end in 1932 when the mandate officially ended.

In 1948, Iraq was a part of the war against the newly formed State of Israel. Iraq never signed the cease-fire agreement. They did however sign the Baghdad Pact in 1956 which allied them with Turkey, Iran, Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The Pact “committed the nations to mutual cooperation and protection, as well as non-intervention in each other's affairs.”

The monarchy established by the British was overthrown by the “Free Officers”, a military group inspired by the words of an Egyptian leader named Nassar who criticized the legitimacy of the monarchy. At that time, the Baghdad Pact ceased and a republic was formed.

At one point in the 60’s, Iraq tried to challenge the sovereignty of Kuwait when it gained independence from the British but was forced to back down by the British. They would continue to have border disputes with Kuwait and Iran well into the 70’s. “In retrospect, the 1970s can be seen as a high point in Iraq's modern history. A new, young, technocratic elite was governing the country and the fast-growing economy brought prosperity and stability.”

In 1979, the president at that time resigned and this was the point that Saddam Hussein took over the country. Territorial disputes with Iran resulted in an eight year war with Iran that in the end was won by neither side. The invasion of Kuwait in 1990 would result in the Gulf War. After the Gulf War, the United Nations would impose economic sanctions on the country “providing for a full trade embargo, excluding medical supplies, food and other items of humanitarian necessity”. These sanctions “were linked to removal of weapons of mass destruction by Resolution 687”.

And think we all remember what happened starting in May 2003. If not, Wikipedia has more information on it here.

THE NUMBERS

According to Friends Committee on National Legislation (as of 6/2006):

CASUALTIES

ARMED FORCES

U.S. Killed -- 2,500
U.S. Wounded -- 18,356
U.S. MIA -- 1

U.K. Killed -- 113
U.K. Wounded -- 83
U.K. MIA -- 0

IRAQI Killed -- 6,400
IRAQI Wounded -- Unknown

CIVILIANS

IRAQI
Killed -- 5000
Wounded -- 8000

COALITION CIVILIANS & CONTRACTORS Killed -- 337 (from 36 different countries)

JOURNALISTS -- 99

UNITED NATIONS -- 16

COST OF WAR

Original estimate: 25 billion to fight; $4 billion/month
Cost as of 6/2006: $480 billion

Post-war Reconstruction donations (in millions)

U.S. -- $550
UK -- $330
Australia -- $100
Japan -- $100
Spain -- $56
Norway -- $21
Netherlands -- $21

---

According to WIKIPEDIA:

CASUALTIES

ARMED FORCES

U.S. Killed -- 3,921
U.S. Wounded 8,691 (medical air transport required)
U.S. Wounded 19,970 (no medical air transport required)

NOTE: Of all the wounded 12,912 were unable to return to duty within 72 hours.

IRAQI Security forces and police: 6,327 police and 3,463 soldiers killed

CIVILIANS

JOURNALISTS: 114 (plus 40 media support workers)

CONTRACTORS: 933 (both U.S. and other countries)

AID WORKERS: 95

COST OF WAR

$474 billion has been spent as of 12/2007

SOAPBOX AREA!!

After reading the history of Iraq and understanding it a little more clearly, I'm thinking to myself, why are WE cleaning this mess up? The British started it, it's THEIR BLOODY mess! Okay, okay, that's probably unreasonable. I really like British people, British music, Monty Python and London was fabulous. :) So please, no hate mail.

But more seriously, I never did agree with this war. The link of Saddam Hussein to 911 was disproven by the September 11 commission so that reason is out the window (unlike so many people tout) and no WMDs were found. So why do I think we're in this war? War is big money, for the consulting companies and all of the people who have their hands in the pockets of the President, Vice President (hello, Halliburton) and the rest of the politicians in Washington.

As for the whole concept "if you don't support the war, you don't support our troops" -- please, stop for a minute and really give that some thought. How is putting them in harm's way in a war which didn't really need to be started SUPPORTING THEM? Wouldn't it make more sense that supporting them would mean returning them to their family and friends in ONE piece with all of their senses in tact?

Now that being said, I do think our troops are doing an excellent job with what they've been given. They just need leaders that can come up with a better resolution than throw more bodies at it. And truth be told, they NEED to finish that job because if not, we'll end up with another unstable area like Afghanistan (see section named "Soviet invasion and civil war" within this page) which has been determined as a "terrorist breeding ground". Then we'd be no better than those darned Brits! Again, Brits, just kidding! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more!

The thing that makes me most angry about this is the money being spent on it. We could use that money for really important things HERE in AMERICA. Education for one (which I will be covering next week). How about that immigration problem? Or Homeland Security? Bring the troops home and secure the borders?

Wow, okay I think I've gone far enough. I'm guessing this post isn't very "flame retardant". I expect I'll be getting a few comments on this one. :)

Feelin' Un-Mommy like

When I came home today, I was SO happy to see lil' Monkey. Even though I was only gone for two and half days, I really missed him. However, while I was away, I partied like a non-Mommy (the wedding was open bar so you do the math). It was fun to dance and whoop it up with my cousins because let's face it, that's probably the closest I'll come to my clubbing days ever again. Of course, I was the only one partying that needed to stop periodically to pump and dump (special thanks to the wedding planner who let me use the office at the reception hall). So when we arrived home and it was my time to take over the baby responsibilites, I felt very out of place at first. Could I remember how to DO THIS? Did Monkey still love his mama? He was definitely a little apprehensive at first, perhaps because I was too. We'd smile at each other but something was definitely OFF. It took a little while I think for both of us to get back into our groove.

Still there were days even before I left this past weekend that I just didn't feel like a mommy. Almost as if I were pretending. I felt this way at my first "dress up" job as well -- as though I were wearing my mother's suit and heels and playing office. Somedays I either couldn't believe the amount of responsibility or begrudingly accept whatever I had to do. I didn't want to pump before going to bed, I'd think, "I WANT TO SURF FOR SHOES!" I didn't want to get up at 6 am when Monkey got up (of course, I did). I'd feel like the world was going to end or social services would come because I forgot his gloves and a good mommy, one that wasn't pretending to be a mommy, wouldn't have forgotten!

But as it turns out, I'm not the only one. Thank God.

Gray Matter Matters has an excellent post on her site about how sometimes she feels like a "Poodle in a tutu". This was her analogy to how she doesn't always FEEL like a mommy.

I'm so glad I'm not the only one and that post came just at the right time.

SIDENOTE: Seems like I always get an appropriate song in my head after posts like this ...

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!

Politics Wed -- The Issues: Healthcare

HEALTH CARE IN THE U.S (FROM WIKIPEDIA)

The U.S. is one of the few industrialized nations that do not offer access to healthcare.

84% of Americans have health insurance.

59% receive that insurance through their employer.

9% purchase health insurance directly.

27% are covered by government resources.

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, since 2001, premiums have risen 78% while wages have risen 19% and inflation has risen 17%.

Certain publicly-funded health care programs help to provide for the elderly, disabled, children, veterans, and the poor, and federal law ensures public access to emergency services regardless of ability to pay. U.S. government programs accounted for over 45% of health care expenditures, making the U.S. government the largest insurer in the nation.

HEALTH CARE POLICY TYPES (FROM WIKIPEDIA)

Health care can be financed in combinations of four basic ways. Provision can be public or private. Finance can be public or private.

A. Public Provision / Private Finance -- example: Private insurers can buy services from publicly owned hospitals
B. Public Provision / Public Finance -- example: health can be provided by publicly financed staff in publicly financed hospitals
C. Private Provision / Private Finance – example: A private hospital which is financed by private health insurance schemes is an example of private finance and provision
D. Private Provision / Public Finance -- example: A self-employed doctor working for the National Health Service is an example of private provision with public finance

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

Definition (FROM WIKIPEDIA): Universal health care refers to government programs intended to ensure that all citizens, and sometimes permanent residents, of a governmental region have access to most types of health care. Patients may pay for some portion of their care directly, but most care is subsidized by taxpayers and/or by compulsory health insurance.

The major argument surrounding this issue: The level of health care provided will suffer if we have a Universal Health Care system.

“The United States is famously the world leader in medical innovation--in part, it would seem, because we spend like a drunken sailor when it comes to medical care. Today, we devote 16 percent of our gross domestic product to health care, by far the largest proportion of any country in the world. (The highest spending country in Europe, Switzerland, devotes just 12 percent.) That huge, largely uncontrolled spending translates into large profits for health care companies, offering an incentive for them to do research and development ... While the United States is a world leader in cancer care, other countries, such as France, Sweden, and Switzerland, boast overall survival rates that are nearly comparable. For some variants--such as cervical cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and two common forms of leukemia--the U.S. survival rate, although good, lags behind at least some other countries. You may also have heard critics complain that universal health care inevitably leads to long lines for treatments, as it sometimes has in Britain and Canada. Again, the facts just don't back that up. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, France and Germany don't have chronic waiting lines. … None of which is to say a universal coverage system couldn't have a chilling effect on innovation while severely pinching access to medical care … All it would take was a system that had both a rigid budget and very low funding. The British have such a system, or something approximating it. Even after some recent spending increases, they still devote just 9 percent of the gross domestic product to health care, less than many European nations and a little more than half of what the United States spends. And that shows up in the availability of cutting-edge care. Relative to other highly developed countries, Britain is one of the last to get the latest cancer drugs to its patients. And that probably helps explain why British cancer survival rates generally lag, too.” (FROM The New Republic – PERSONAL NOTE: This article is very good at presenting both side of the issue if you want to read on about it.)

U.S. ranks 23rd in infant mortality, 20th in life expectancy for women, 21st for life expectancy for men, 67th in immunizations (behind Botswana). (FROM Connecticut Coalition for Universal Health Care – PERSONAL NOTE: This site is obviously slanted and I didn’t double check these figures)

This is all I had time to come up with but it’s good to digest at least the figures at the beginning and make your own assessment. I really wanted to break it down further and explore Medicaid/Medicare, perscription drugs and cost to employers. Perhaps I will revisit this one after the primaries once we've covered more of the other issues. I highly recommend the article from the The New Republic site as I didn't find it very biased (even though the entire site is deemed biased by some).

Here are some other good links:

http://www.familiesusa.org/issues/uninsured/coverage/ (has articles on local legislation in regard to health care)

http://www.nchc.org/ (has survey on health care issues – doesn’t show results or how you compare to others, it just informational for them)

http://www.kff.org/ (has a lot of information the multiple health care topics)


SOAPBOX AREA!

It seems to me that the Universal Health Care option isn't really the "end-all-be-all" solution. But what IS the solution!! I like the idea that the TNR article presents -- "Ultimately, whether innovation would continue to thrive under universal health care depends entirely on what kind of system we create and how well we run it." Can our bureaucratic, red-tape laden government run such a system?

Which is fine.

Monkey has been a very needy little boy. Which is fine considering what he's been through.

Ever since his hospital stay last week, lil' Monkey has been VERY needy. I can't put him in his crib to sleep at night unless he's completely Milk Drunk (which now takes 20 minutes instead of the usual 7-10 minutes). Which is fine since I really just want him to get a good night's sleep and for US to get a good night's sleep. He also nurses more often than he did prior to getting sick. Which is fine, since the breast milk should help with his diarrhea.

We've regressed to napping together in our bed like we did when he was 3 months old. Which is fine because at least we're napping which was hard in the hospital. I can't put him on the floor to play while I check email like I used to do and he doesn't even like sitting in his brand new exersaucer or jumper things anymore (that was short lived as they were Christmas presents). I had to take him into the bathroom with me and put him in his bouncer (which he's getting a little too big for) in order to pee or poop. This is not so fine and driving me crazy quite frankly.

At his follow up appointment today with his doctor, I asked if this could possibly be PTSD from the hospital stay. She said it could be, in combination with the teething (he's got one trying to break through currently) and possible separation anxiety since he's nearing that age.

Now I don't mind this too much and I know he'll eventually go back to his usual self, however, there are two things that worry me at this moment. One, my nipples. They are SO sore because they're not used to this much activity and because he's decided they are a good teething ring. I realized today during one nursing session that he wasn't really drinking anymore and was just sucking with a little toothiness thrown in there. Two, I'm going away this weekend and if Monkey is experiencing separation anxiety from his mommy, my poor DH will have a real tough go of it while I'm gone.

At least we found a solution for the soy formula switch -- he's supposed to avoid milk-based formula for the next few weeks because the lactose might irritate his stomach more. The doctor gave us some free samples of regular lactose-free formula today which he gobbled up at bedtime. Which is more than fine because if DH runs out of frozen breast milk this weekend he has a suitable back-up.

So my questions to the other parents out there are:

1. As they got bigger and more mobile, what did you do to keep them safe while you did your business, got dressed, checked email?
2. If you kept breastfeeding until your child got teeth, how did you prevent the biting or scraping of the nipples? I've tried the loud "Ouch" without the smile and the prompt breakaway (as prompt as I could pry him off) but he just doesn't seem to get it.
3. Has anyone had to deal with the separation anxiety when going away on a trip and what did you do to help it?

Can you tell I'm trying to remain on that positive note I had Sunday night but finding it hard?!

A New Day!

I must say I'm not the biggest Celine Dion fan. However, the one song of hers I do like, A New Day Has Come, is pretty much what I'm singing in my head and hoping for this week.

Sure. I have a ton of work to catch up on. And I could use more rest to catch up on my sleep deficit. But I'm hopeful that I can make headway in both areas. Plus, at the end of the week, I'll be traveling to sunny Tampa for my cousin's wedding! Sun, sand and relaxation! And hopefully a glass of wine or perhaps a mimosa!

I feel blessed that Monkey is home finally and that it was just a virus. I couldn't imagine what it must feel like to be one of those families with a child who has to be in the hospital for a chronic disease or disorder. Must be heartbreaking and tremendously stressful. I'm extremely thankful for his recovery, the prayers of our family and friends, and for the people at the hospital who helped us through this.

Here's to a more positive, more productive and more pleasant upcoming week!

Funny Quote -- Week of 1/6/08

Stephen Colbert from The Colbert Report:

"Did the pundits not make ourselves clear? ... If you keep voting the way you want, rather than the way we tell you you want, well, then we pundits are just going to stop telling you how to think!"

Good stuff! South Carolina's primary is coming up! Too bad they wouldn't let him on the ballot. So much for the "any American citizen born in the U.S. can be President" line we all heard growing up.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1573288/20071101/id_0.jhtml
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1107/6674_Page2.html

My tired little baby ...

... do you need a kiss?

This is how his favorite book begins. And Monkey received plenty of kisses this past week.

Thursday morning, shortly after my mother arrived to help out, DH and I decided that lil' Monkey should go to the hospital again. His diarrhea diapers just weren't diminishing in number, he still hadn't peed and the test where you press the fatty part of their toe to see how quickly the color comes back wasn't satisfactory for us.

So mom and I took him in while DH headed off for work. It took the ER nurses another 3 tries to get a vein for the IV again (that's 3 on Tuesday, 3 on Thursday). This time I wasn't so brave. I didn't cry but the stress of it was getting to me because this time Monkey knew what was coming and cried harder and longer than last time. I felt my chest tightening.

Because he hadn't been urinating very well and had lost a POUND in the past week, they decided to admit him for the night. Not good news for me since I had put off all of my work for the week due to the previous hospital visit. I had something due the next day and knew now that it would be nearly impossible to get it done. Plus, I wanted to call DH to let him know the deal. Plus, I was feeling bad because mom drove 2 hours to help me out around the house and with Monkey but there we were in the hospital. So I had all of this in my head floating around and I could barely think due to the lack of sleep in recent days. So the stress of all of it was weighing in pretty hard. At one point during the day, it took all I had not to either punch something or break down and cry (I did eventually have a moment on Friday where I cried a bit). I don't think my brain has quite recovered yet so I'll apologize now for the scattered nature of this post.

The crib at the hospital

The nurses at the Pediatrics wing LOVED Monkey. He can be quite the charmer even under stressful circumstances apparently. He had the splint thing on his arm again with the IV tightly wrapped so he couldn't pull it out. He enjoyed playing what I can only describe as jump rope with an invisible leprachaun using the IV tubing. He'd just swing the tube round and round.

The room he was in did have a bed for me to sleep in overnight (not comfortable but better than a chair). They had free little soda and juices for the parents and did send up one meal tray at dinner, breakfast and lunch time. DH came up after work and took mom home with him so they could sleep in something other than a chair. I forgot Monkey's favorite book but think I did a pretty good job remembering it while kissing him goodnight. Not quite the same without the book but he did go to sleep and slept well until the techs came in for their routine temperature check (which happened every 3-4 hours).

The next day mom came to keep me company while we waited for news about whether Monkey's bicarbonate numbers had improved (this would indicate his system was keeping up with the diarrhea).

Monkey's bandages from IV and blood tests

All in all, we're both glad to be home. Unfortunately, my mom caught it yesterday and had to stay another night at our house to recover. She's feeling better and headed home this morning so she could do the rest of her recovery in a more familiar place.

Monkey expressed his pleasure of being home last night by breastfeeding for 17 minutes (he's usually done in 7 max) and falling asleep at the breast. When I put him into his crib I realized that he still needed some pants. He woke up a little cranky while I put them on but when he realized where he was he promptly fell asleep again.

BTW, this turned out NOT to be the dreaded Rotavirus like we thought (which is good since he's been getting the vaccine for that!). The doctor thinks it might have been the Norovirus ... you know, the one from the cruise ships.

Also, in case anyone was actually wondering, my deadline was extended to Monday. Guess I better get off of here and do some work!

Politics Wed -- The Candidates

This is only the second installment of my "Politics Wednesday" posts and it's going to be a disappointment. At least, it is for me.

Straight out of the gate, I was going to take on one of the major issues the media covers constantly. But after some consideration, I figured it might be a good idea to get a run down of each of the candidates' platform. Then as I was trying to put the list together of all of them I realized it was just too much information (probably why most of us just use what little the news sound bytes give us). Then I was going to do only the front-runners.

But due to the kind of week I've had, I'm only going to point you in the direction of WashingtonPost.com's candidate breakdown which seems more in depth than most of the other news sites I used while researching. I do apologize. I had great hopes for this week's post but lil' Monkey's virus just isn't getting better. Also, if you go to the home page of my web site, I have a nifty little widget on there from WashingtonPost.com that does a brief run down of each of them with the latest news headlines on each.

Will try to do more next week.

Hospital visits with child (focus on dehydration)

Little Hospital Gown -- am I sick for thinking
this was too cute to not take a picture?

The saga continues ...

I generally don't like to post photos of myself or my child with our faces on this blog. However, I just had to this time to illustrate a point. Plus, it took forever to get them emailed from my phone to my account! Karma, don't bite me in the butt for this one! ... on second thought ... yes, I'm using the cheesy black bars.

Went to the doctor's office today because Monkey hasn't been peeing that much. They confirmed that he was dehydrated and needed to go to the hospital. So off we went.

Here are some things to remember when you go to the ER with your little one (some just apply if your child is dehydrated):

• Just because you are wheeling a stroller, doesn't mean the person that pulled into the parking lot at the same time you did will not race you to the counter to fill out the admission form first. We were called in first anyway! HA HA, woman with bad roots and unreadable poorly done shoulder tattoo!! (I get catty when anxious.)



• Do NOT sit any where near anyone else, especially their kids, unless you have no choice -- REGARDLESS if it's the last seat with a view of the waiting room television (my mistake). Inevitably, their kid will cough without their hand in front of their mouth about 2 feet from your child's face and/or stroller.



• DO bring plenty of toys and other supplies to the hospital to entertain and take care of your little one. I recommend cloth books and little toys if your child is an infant/toddler and going in for dehydration (see why later). For some reason, I actually had the sense to stop by the house and pick up a few more of these items prior to heading to the hospital. If your child uses a pacifier, bring a couple because they aim for the dirty floor where hundreds of sick people have tread. You'll thank yourself later.



• Bring pen and paper. Don't rely on the discharge instructions being as specific as what the doctor and multiple nurses will tell you (hence leading to confusion and memory loss when you arrive home and are trying to figure out what to do in order to prevent your child from going back to the hospital). I did not do this. And I SHOULD KNOW BETTER! My memory is crap!



• Take your stroller and/or car seat. Skip the car seat if your stroller reclines for baby to sleep. Consider it an extra set of hands and an absolute MUST if you and the babe are on your own for whatever reason. Thank goodness I thought of this! I surely would have been suffering greatly if I hadn't.



• If your hospital has them, ask if they have a room with a pediatric gurney available. I didn't realize they even existed and the kind nurses put me in a room with one this time (they didn't when we took him to the hospital at 4 months). It really helps to have at least a 2X3 foot area where you can block your mobile 7-month old (probably not needed for a 3-4 month old since they're not extremely mobile).



• I didn't have to do it this time but I've been in situations where I'd wished I had asked the nurse when we would be receiving our discharge papers the MOMENT treatment by the doctor was finished. The nurses this time just brought them in RIGHT WHEN Monkey was finishing his last IV treatment! It was AWESOME!




Monkey before the IV drip -- lethargic.



These tips are for strictly if your child is going in for dehydration



• Realize that they are most likely going to give them fluids intravenously and prepare mentally for that. That means the nurses will have to find a tiny little vine in a tiny little dehydrated body (can't be easy). This might take, oh I don't know, 1 ... 2 ... 3 tries (in our case it was 3). Then your child's arm will be placed on a soft splint and wrapped with that self-adhesive bandage stuff. This is primarily so your child will not chew and/or yank out the intravenous drip. But if they are dehydrated, they will not be too interested in it but still mildly amused (more to come on this).



• First they will take blood to evaluate the level of dehydration and then put a drip on while they wait for the results. Theory is a little more fluid couldn't hurt if they are only a little dehydrated.



• Depending on how dehydrated your child is, they will administer various amounts of fluid. If it is really severe and the kidneys have shut down due to the lack of hydration, your child will be staying overnight. Luckily, we were not in this predicament.



• For each bolus administered (HA HA -- remembered that medical term!), you will need to wait approximately 40-60 minutes. We needed two; the first took 60 minutes, the second they sped up to 40 minutes.



• I'm guessing it depends on the severity of the dehydration in your child, but at some point it's going to start working. And when I say "start working", I mean your little bundle of joy will become just that -- a little bundle of joy who now has complete interest and strong intent on yanking that tube, chewing on the ace bandage thingy, getting angry because they can't manuever with the splinted arm. This is also where the cloth books, small toys and pediatric gurney come in handy.




Monkey AFTER the IV drip -- bundle of joy.


• Ask for SPECIFIC feeding and changing instructions from your doctor. This is where that pen and paper will come into play. I got two different directions from the discharging nurse and the doctor. It seemed like I could play it down the middle. That is, until I got home and DH started finding holes in that theory, then when my memory failed me on what else was said and the discharge instructions didn't clear things up for us, we had to make not one, but two phone calls back to the ER to clarify. (DH is always getting onto me for not drilling the doctors like I'm in the army. I'm just not good at thinking of the follow up questions like he is. Or retaining pretty much anything but the basics.)

The local hospital here has been really great during the 4 times we've been to it in the past 7 months (once for Monkey's birth, twice for Monkey's health (this time and the time he fell out of his swing -- uh yeah, won't go into that one) and once for myself because I cut my hand while opening a new toy for Monkey (it was apparently mommy-proof packaging). The nurses and doctor were very nice and reassured me putting Monkey through that was the right thing to do. Which is EXACTLY what I needed to hear.

Overall, I think it was a positive experience and that I did a GREAT job taking Monkey to the hospital by myself. Yes, blatant pat on the back -- YAY ME! This wasn't the first time but the last time didn't involve multiple tries for a vein and I'm surprised that I didn't shed one tear or get majorly worked up in anyway. YES, dear, I will work on my interrogation skills with the doctors and nurses and this time, bring a pen and some paper. OR better yet! Maybe I'll buy one of those recorder things from that commercial! You know the one! Where the lady tells it her parking spot number and then joyfully plays it back ... again... and again ... and again.

Correction: We've been to the hospital FIVE times in the past 7 months. I forgot about the time when Monkey was only a week old and we were both nervous new parents who couldn't understand why he would cry for 4 hours straight and spit up everything he ate. Can anyone say GERD?

It's Contagious!

After our lil' Monkey came down with a stomach virus late Friday night, DH and I were pretty much exhausted the next day. Then about 3:00 am Sunday morning, I woke up with a burning feeling in my stomach and felt the need to burp every few minutes. Then it started for me. The vomiting, the diarrhea, the dizziness and that lasted pretty much all day.

DH was fantastic as he took care of our lil' Monkey, diarrhea diapers and all, for the entire day. However, at about 1:00 am this morning, he started feeling the symptoms. So now we're all home, DH fighting it and lil' Monkey and I are in recovery.

I hope next weekend is better!

Poor Monkey's Stomach Virus

This weekend has not been fun for poor Lil' Monkey. Last night, he went to bed at his usual time of 7:30 but little over 2 hours later we heard gurgled cries from his room. I went into the room and noticed something funny about his face (the only light we have in the room is very dim, on purpose). I felt his face and around his little wiggly body to realize that he had vomited EVERYWHERE. His face was in a pile of it and there were two more piles elsewhere in the crib. Practically the whole mattress was covered in it.

After turning on the hall light, I lifted him out and realized it was ALL OVER his poor little face! His eyelids and lashes were covered; it was in his nose, his ears and all down one arm. So I rushed to get his clothes off of him and yelled for DH to get off of The Game (I may be posting about this later) and help me with this mess.

It smelled awful and was the color of salmon (makes sense since he had carrots and bananas yesterday). Monkey was so upset and it took a lot for me not to cry at that moment due to the wretched smell and extreme empathy for him.

So after cleaning him up, putting a new sleeper on and breastfeeding him, changing his sheet and mattress pad, we put him back to bed. I could tell he was miserable and felt bad because he just lay in his crib afterward staring into space as I stroked his back and petted his head. Meanwhile, I'm having an inner struggle not to panic because I've inherited the worry-wart gene from my mother and find that my reactions are little severe sometimes when compared to others.

About hour and half later, he's crying again. I go into his room and this time, the bed is just wet. Really wet. No color just wetness. He had thrown up all of the breast milk which left about a 2 X 3 foot area of the mattress soaked, not to mention all of one side of the new sleeper. Out of the crib he comes and as I'm putting him down on the changing pad, he starts vomiting some more. I couldn't help but say "Oh my God" as it went all down the front of him and all over my shoulder, which alerted DH that something was wrong (he later protested this as I'm supposed to save those type of exclamations for broken legs and what he considers really serious problems). Then as I'm trying to quickly get the sleeper off of him, he pukes again all over the changing table -- this time with more salmon colored stuff. His little body was shaking as he did it and I could see the sheer terror in his eyes because he clearly didn't understand what was happening to him. So again, I yell for DH to get off The Game (apparently even though that type of exclamation is supposed to be saved for extreme emergencies it still wasn't enough to pull him away).

So I undress him, and while DH hoses him down in the tub, I take off the changing pad cover and wipe the whole thing down with disinfectant, wipe down the outside of his mattress with the disinfectant, change the sheet and mattress pad cover ("we're now down to 1 clean mattress pad cover", I note in my head), and we get him dressed again. This time he's in a onesie and pants since we figured this might give us chance to change only the onesie and save the pants. All of this accomplished within I'd say 7 minutes.

At this point, I'm ready to call the doctor or take him to the emergency room. So I call the answering service for our pediatrician and ask him to call us. Tom does some research on the Interweb. I read about vomiting in one of the 3 books we have on babies. And we wait.

Ten minutes later, Monkey is crying again and this time, he's pooped his pants. Only it's NOT really POOP but greenish, nauseous smelling watery stuff. And yes, it's ON the mattress. So out he comes, we wipe him down, we change his onesie AND HIS PANTS (so much for that plan), and I change the bed and mattress pad one more time.

We finally decide that maybe we'll just breastfeed him for a minute or two and see how that stays down since he's acting like he's starving. Then as I'm holding him upright after that feeding, he pukes again. New outfit!

By this time an hour has passed with no call from the pediatrician's office. So I call the service again. About 5 minutes later, the doctor finally calls. DH talks to him and he suggests that we go get Pedialyte (which we figured he would since we had already read this and I had already figured out which grocery store near us is open 24 hours). DH runs to our Harris Teeter, gets the fluid and we give lil' Monkey some.

Luckily THAT stayed down and Monkey only had diarrhea one more time prior to going to bed. He slept until 8 this morning which is 2 hours longer than usual but that was good for us since we were up later with him. I felt like a wondering zombie most of last night after the drama was over. I was still pretty tired when we got up this morning as well.

He had some more diarrhea at some point in the night and we had to change him again when he woke up, but lucky for me, only the sheet bit the dust this time. We took him to the doctor this morning and they said to continue with the Pedialyte until this afternoon and try a little bit of breast milk again. If that stays down, we're good. And so far, it has so we are all relieved. However, the doctor said he might have diarrhea for 7-10 more days! I hope not. I'm sure I'll be keeping everyone posted on that one. My poor hands are already cracked and bleeding from all of the hand washing I've been doing lately. I'm just glad things are looking up for lil' Monkey.

This Week's Funny Quote

Tim Gunn of Bravo TV's Project Runway (in reference to a contestant's skirt):

"It looks like a coffee filter ... or a maxi pad."

Gotta love Tim Gunn!

Politics Wednesday -- The Beginning

Growing up I was always told "Never talk about Politics, Religion, Sex or Money". Now I've never been shy in talking about Sex or Farts (most think that should be added to the "polite" list as well) and though I have yet to post something on either one of these, I'm sure they'll come up eventually. However, I've always tried to avoid the topic of Politics unless I'm with close friends whom I know either agree with my point of view or are kind enough to take it with a grain of salt should they disagree.

Recently talking amongst these select few, I realized that most of us are judging candidates on the sound bytes we happen to catch quickly via television or radio. Or sometimes it's just a feeling we get from the candidate. But with the 2008 election nearing, I feel compelled to DO something.

What IS that something? Educate myself and others about the election process, the issues and the candidates. Now I'm no expert by any means and I've forgotten quite a bit about the whole thing since my college years and my high school Political History class (sorry, Mr. Rudolph). And since I know my blog isn't read by many people, this will probably be more of an exercise to re-educate and inform myself.

However, I do hope some of you find the information I'll be posting each Wednesday a worth while read (if I do not have enough time or enough material, this might turn into a monthly thing). I realize this is testing fate and may incite flaming on this blog but I also know that the people who are currently reading this blog are decent folk with open minds.

Here are some general guidelines I'd like everyone to keep in mind while reading:

Try to read thoroughly with an open mind (and I will do my best to boil down the topics to a nice, digestible read without losing the flavor or meaning)

Think about your comments before you respond in anger (should that emotion arise within you)

Understand that I am NOT an expert and will most likely be gathering the information from multiple sources (I will try to cite those sources as often as I can)

I will always begin the post with "just the facts" and then reflect on their meaning for me (this section will be flagged with a "My Soapbox" graphic or title or something -- not quite sure yet).

Sometimes I will "give assignments" to see what others came up with which will offer an opportunity to shed light on things I may not have considered or missed (although feel free to share any valuable information you think is truly a contribution to the discussion at any time).

Speaking of which .... YOUR FIRST ASSIGNMENT:

Go to one or more of the "candidate quizzes" linked below to see where you stand right now. I say "or more" because I took a couple and came up with a few different answers, plus they're not all built the same. It is crucial that we start here since the primaries are about a month away for most people (sorry folks in Iowa, New Hampshire, Republicans in Wyoming ...).

USA Today Candidate Quiz
Glassbooth Candidate Quiz
Politalk Candidate Quiz

There's no need to comment about who your candidate turned out to be, however, just keep it in mind for the future. It will be fun to take this quiz again in a month to see if your candidate selections are still the same for the primaries. Then we'll do it all again for the November 4th election!