Baby Plague.

It was bound to happen eventually. It's actually pretty amazing that at nearly 3, Dani's never had a sick visit to the doctor, and neither has Tori. Dani still hasn't. Last Wednesday, Tori was a mess; she's had a low grade fever and bad cold for a few days and it seemed to have settled in her lungs. Tommy was starting to sound sneezy and Big Man was a mess too. We piled in the family truckster and headed to the doc. Tori had an ear infection and bronchitis; Big Man had bronchitis and Tommy was deemed to only have the sniffles. Antibiotics were prescribed for Tori and Big Man, and (as Dani would call it) the "snot snucker" with saline drops for Tommy's nose.

It's kinda hard to keep germs to one's self in this house. Dani and Tori share everything from sippy cups to toys; they are also always helping themselves to whatever Big Man and I have.

They are constantly picking up Tommy's pacifier and toys and playing with them or even trying to help give them to him.

He's even been known to sport a play 'stache or two. So it should have come as no surprise that Tommy woke up from his afternoon nap on Thursday and sounded like he couldn't breathe. He was hoarse and congested and had spiked a fever. I called the doctor's office, who heard him breathing and instructed me to go right to the Emergency Room. I did. It's croup. The whole way there in the car, I was convinced he was going to stop breathing. After a few hours at the ER, he received a shot to open his airways and a prescription for steroids.

After a rough couple of days, Little Dude got his smile back. Now mommy can breathe again.

In case of emergency, a Tori guest post.

Hi everybody, Tori here. I thought that, since the holiday season was upon us, I should give you all a gift. I'm going to teach you how to do CPR. You know, with all the egg nog, and cookies and prime rib dinners this time of year, you never know when somebody's just going to keel over from all the fatty grub. So, I'm going to tell you exactly what to do if it happens to you. Well, if it happens to you, just hope someone you know read my blog so they know how to help you! But this should help you help someone else.

Now, the new school of thought with CPR is that you don't have to do the rescue breathing, just chest compressions. Start by putting your hands on the victim's chest. Lean over the victim, and press 100 times per minute. If you remember the Bee Gees, you can sing the Stayin' Alive song in your head for the tempo. (I don't know who the Bee Gees are, but mommy likes them.)

You probably want to have someone call 911. Keep pumping and pumping at that pace until the paramedics arrive.

Good work. If you need to borrow my puppies so you can practice, just let me know. I'm good at sharing.

Being pregnant sucks

Week 14. Man this sucks.

Just over a week ago I woke up in agony. Belly distended, pain, bad. Call doc. Start spotting. Head to ER.
Note: never go to the ER unless you are dying. (My OB wasn't in and his office instructed me to.) They took some blood, gave me some pain pills and sent me on the way. Next day, call doc again as even the codeine won't stop the pain and they send me for an emergency ultrasound. There, I learn that I have a fibroid tumor (benign) growing in my uterus, and it is bigger than the baby. No wonder

I am so big for 3 months. Anyway, head to the doc to learn that I should expect the fibroid to grow along w/the baby and am informed that I am measuring at about 6mos size. Nice! Nothing like telling a big girl she's going to be even bigger throughout the prenancy.

So, after a few days the GI hell/fibroid combo calms down as the GI part subsides. Now I am just uncomfortable, bigger than I should be by a LOT, and feeling downright crappy. Second trimester is when I am supposed to start feeling better.

Luckily, I am married to the best husband in the universe who has now expanded his list of household responsibilities to everything: cleaning, laundry, cooking, shopping, as I come home from work and assume a slug-like position on the couch. He's been pretty great, which says a lot since we haven't had sex since I conceived. Yep, I feel that lousy.

Hopefully things will pick up. Went shopping for maternity clothes today. Try finding maternity pants when you are a size 18. Not fun. Found plenty of cute tops though.

Cleaned up at a garage sale 2 weeks ago. Spent $80 and got a Graco bassinette w/mobile and adjustable height; Graco pack and play (word on the streets is that its the bomb!); baby monitor; Graco car seat (back up for Wes' car); Changing table. Even the hubby agreed that it was a fine haul.

Otherwise, things are moving along.
Dying to leave my job. Hate it. Nothing like feeling pregnant and miserable, and then hating every minute you are at work. Working on making a break at the end of the year. Will mean less dough, but closer to home which is a plus.

According to babycenter, the baby is the size of a lemon this week.

Haven't had a drink since July. My liver must be loving me! Never in my life have I gone three months (or three weeks for that matter) without alcoholic beverages. I wouldn't mind a glass of wine, but not taking the risk. I will just enjoy it all the more in the spring.

Working on names. We've decided we are having a boy. Have boy names picked. No girl names yet. Would like to find out but the fibroid tumor is in the front of my uterus and makes it hard to see the baby, so may be impossible. But, I am having regular ultrasounds because of the tumor, so hopefully the angle will be right at some point.

That's all for now. I am finding interesting blogs that people have re: their kids.

My faves so far:
http://www.buggydoo.blogspot.com/
http://finslippy.typepad.com/
Funny and well written and very entertaining