Friday, July 7, 2017

Diary in the Life of a Mom

June 30: Celebrated the end of our first week of teaching with my co-teacher, Rob (he's from New Zealand, and the students love him). Beers at the treehouse, late night for us all. It was super fun - reminded me of what life was like before D. D falls asleep in the car, and miraculously, we can transfer him from car to bed (this never works...)

July 1: Crazy day with lots to do. Hit the Farmer's market and the library in HMB. Then to Costco to get gas and fill up on food. Took food to Alex's refrigerator in lab and hit a pool party hosted by one of Alex's labmates. Then back to lab for Alex to do some work and for me to pick up my stuff. Then to Chipotle for dinner, and meet up with friends at the Canada Day celebration on Stanford Campus. Then over to the building directly across from the Stanford Stadium to watch fireworks. They were so loud. So loud. My kid cried and wanted to leave, but we forced him to stay. We are really good parents :) Another night we can transfer D from car to bed...

July 2: desperately clean house. Alex goes for bike ride with Rob. D and I hang out. Rob and wife and weirdly, friends from grad school come out for BBQ at our house. It's a gorgeous day and we go for a nice walk around LH. Good food, good company - lots of laughs. I loved it.

July 3: I teach with Rob at 9am. My lecture is ready, mostly put together. I'm tired. Too much fun in the sun, I guess. This class is intense and I teach for a full hour. I feel defeated afterwards - anti-climactic, I guess. A and D come to work with me, and we leave early, around 2pm. D falls asleep in the car on the way home and sleeps for about 1.5 hours total for nap. We are exhausted.

July 4: A relaxing day. We hang out at home. A goes for a bike ride. We go to LH 4th of July picnic where there are games like a 3-legged race, an egg toss, a water balloon toss, a tug of war. D competed in the game where you fill a small cup of water, put it on your head (and try not to spill it) and then try to fill up a big cup across the way. He was the slowest of all the kids but he was so adorable. He took it really seriously. Also, he loved the hay hunt. They took a bale of straw and hid a bunch of stuff in it - little toys, candy, etc. He spent a ton of time in that and was very determined. He also swung on a swing tied to a tree branch. It was a real dose of Americana in the redwoods.

July 5: The cat wakes me up at 4:30am. I think she was upset. Or hungry. Or something. At the same time, I hear, "Is that you, Mama?" and D is up. I feed the cat and try my best to get him to go back to sleep but to no avail. He seems agitated, excited? My mom radar says, maybe he's getting sick? But then I think, no it's just been a crazy couple of days. We finally get up at 5:30am and we play with toys. He's grumpy bc he didn't sleep. He doesn't eat much. I have to teach at 9am, so we leave to get me there on time. I don't feel so great. My stomach is off. A & D drop me off and I go to class, tired. At 11am, daycare calls. D has a fever. 99.9. I think, well, I should have listened to my mom-radar. Last time I ignore that. We are teaching until noon, then Rob and I get lunch. We have to write a midterm and study guide. Daycare calls A. D is at 102.8. A leaves to get him, takes him to store, gets Tylenol, gives him Tylenol, juice and ice cream and goes to my lab to wait until I'm ready to leave. Rob and I write midterm study guide. Then I meet my family and we go home. I don't feel good either. That night, D and I slowly get worse and worse. I get a fever. My stomach is really upset. D is coughing. His fever is pretty high. We are dosing Tylenol, then motrin. Watching lots of TV. I take a nap and then go to bed at 8pm. D crawls into bed with me to fall asleep. Sometime in the middle of the night, I wake up and have to barf. I feel better, but still shitty, tired.

July 6: D comes into my room at 6am, scream/crying. He sounds like a seal. His fever is super high. I give him Tylenol. Play with toys. Watch god knows how many Puss in Boots (so, so bad, let me tell you). I take a nap. A finally gets up. I take another nap. We are all sick. Joy. D's fever is still high. He's upset and clingy. Just wants to cuddle, but he's so HOT. Ugh. He also takes comfort in holding my hair, which, after a while, just annoys the shit out of me. We spend the day taking meds, watching TV. At some point, he falls asleep in my arms like a baby. We watch Beauty & the Beast, Frozen. He won't eat, but he will drink apple juice. I think that's the only thing he got in him yesterday. Bedtime comes, and after one story he falls asleep immediately (9:30pm). At 10:45pm, he wakes up scream/crying. He is incoherent (but not feverish). I think he has to pee? Or he need water? I don't know. I finally calm him down, get him back to sleep. At 11:45, he wakes again, scream crying, and incoherent. This time, he wanders about the house, and I can't figure out what he wants. Dear god, help me. Finally, he lays down again and goes back to sleep. I think his fever has finally broken. He's not hot anymore.

July 7: At 4:30am, he wakes again, comes into my room and barks, "I need medicine". I give him medicine and get him back to sleep once again. At 7:30am, again, "I need medicine" - still sounds like a seal. I give him motrin, but he doesn't want to take it because it's not the Tylenol that tastes good. He wanders about the house, scream/crying/barking. It's fun. He finally takes his medicine. And he agrees to eat some Olaf soup. Chicken noodle soup for breakfast, it is. He drinks some juice. We turn on Puss in boots. Its still on, Mama needs to work. I feel better, but now tired/exhausted. My parents were supposed to come this weekend. No more. I have no idea what D has and I don't want them to get it. Also, he is not that fun when he's sick. Another day of TV, hanging out at home. I am frustrated and stressed out (but I feel better after writing this). I have so many things to do at work, and I cannot do them at home, esp with kids TV in the background. I am hoping I get time to work later. A is going to ride his bike to work.

Ugh, just ugh.




1 comment:

  1. I am so sorry you have to go through this. I remember many times like this with Casey and Brad was in San Diego and I hated everyone and everything. This too shall pass! Make sure to run out of that house and give D to Alex so you can at least go on a walk alone. And don't feel guilty about it one bit! Call me if you want. I'm just sitting here. I love you.

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