Night Terrors in Toddler

Last night I actually went to bed before 11pm, and thank goodness for that. My bf and I were awoken by our son at 2am, and he was having a night terror. if you have children and have experienced this, you know the anxiety that I speak of. If not, it is when your child is half asleep and half dreaming. I went into his room, and thought if I covered him up, he would just move past it, but he stood up crying and i picked him up out of his bed. I was walking him to our room and he flaled back. I am so glad that I was expecting this, because I was able to keep us from both falling over.

I layed him on our bed, and he looked right at me, like he didnt know me, almost right through me. And flipped out, so I threw all of our bedding on the floor, pillows, everything, and laid him on top, so as he lifted his legs and slammed them down on the ground, he wouldnt hurt his little feet. This lasted about 20 minutes, and he has done this a few times, and it's usually because he's not feeling good, and this is the first sign, so just going with what I normally do, luckily, his favorite cartoon is on ondemand, so at 230, we watched Caillou.... bless Caillou, he started to "wake up", meaning it took him a while, he stood up, I asked him if he wanted to sit on the bed with us and cuddle, and he just looked at me, as if to say, what did you say? and so I repeated and he said yes, and then I asked if he wanted a drink.. yes.

Phew, so we moved passed that hurdle, and guess what, after he had his drink and cartoon and was calm, I tried putting him back into bed, and he flipped out, normally he cries for a few minutes and then passes out, well he screamed, and cried, so I went and got him after an hour, and we did it all over, see, before I usually had given him a small bowl of plain cheerios, so this time, that is what he got, ate about 30 of them, and after another cartoon, and its now 4am, I put him back to bed, and he fusses, cries, and throws a fit, and after about an hour, he see's the day light coming, its nearly 5am, and he falls asleep.

I had to be to work late today, thankfully, so after eating his real breakfast at 8am, we had an early lunch at 10:30am, and I put him to bed, he was so tired. He slept for 3 hours, I went to work, and heard that Daddy had an ok day with him. When I arrived home, at 630pm (work for a Naturopath) he had just gotten out of the bath, smelled so good, got him some medicine from the doctor, and he and I played outside for a few minutes, I dressed him for bed, and at 715p I put him in bed, read him two books, he fussed for about 10 seconds, and I havent heard from him since. All I have to say is that kids are the funniest little creatures.. they are so predictably unpredictable. LOL

In a couple of hours, I will be headed for bed, I am so tired, but still going, why you ask, because I have more work to do, and just want to vent this out. If you have a child that has gone thru this, let me hear from you.

Thank You's

I have so many reasons to complain, but I don't, one might ask why even with all the hardships we have had in 2009. I just know that there are others out there facing way more hardships. I still have my home, and a healthy family, that is worth so much more than I could have imagined. Life throws you curve balls, and as our Father reminded us at Mass recently... he said, " Sometimes God doesn't like what he see's that you are doing, and gives you awhile to change what you know that you can, but if you don't... Whack, down comes the hammer." I believe he spoke to several in our parish, and things are changing. I am in school, and my boyfriend is on a new path for himself. Might be a bit of a struggle, but we are making it. Each day forward is a leap later ... I was woken this morning by our little guy.. almost 18 months old, and I rushed to him, and he gave me this great big morning hug, then wanted down, he immediately ran for the bathroom door, opened it, and flushed the toilet.. baby steps.. in a couple of days we will bring in his own potty that he got from Santa... its the little things that just make me smile. I was not prepared to wake up at 5am, as I had gone to sleep at midnight after making Thank You cards, and doing a bit of studying for the final this Monday... so after he had a little cup of milk and a drink of water, I put him back into bed with a couple of books and a night light.. sure enough, he was back to sleep in minutes.. we later woke up at 9:30.. had breakfast, and he's back to sleep at 11... soon we will head to my in laws.. Nana is home from visiting her Mom, and will love to see her little guy.. who as I looked at him this morning, must have grown some while asleep, he appeared taller, so maybe in a week or so, his 2T pants wont need that roll of the cuff.. He's so long in the torso that we are grateful for the 2T shirts he got... I packed up his 12-24 mos clothes the other day.. sometimes I wish that I hadnt gotten fixed and we could have another one, but right now is definitely not the time to be thinking babies, and deep down, I am glad we are blessed with our spirited little one.

Life is a journey, sometimes it might feel like you are alone, but if you turn ever so slightly, there is someone there. Either in the form of a spouse or loved one, to a rambunctious toddler showing you his way.

the untolds of pregnancy...

When I found out I was pregnant, I was so shocked I had to take the test multiple times because I just couldnt believe it. Got to the doctors and they confirmed it, and my due date was set for July 4th, 2008. Well thats a good day to be born, going thru my pregnancy was actually met with minor complications, nothing wrong with him, but I had developed gestational diabetes. I took a one hour GTT ( glucose tollerance test) and boy that stuff is gross, it was confirmed that I had a glucose problem, but I needed the longer test. The three hour GTT, which is actulaly 4 hours, and five blood samples. I felt like a pin cushion, but it was all for the great good of my child. Then the results came back, I had Gest. Diab. I had to go see a Gest. Diab specialist and she had things for me to read and start doing. It started with dietary modification, here it is almost summer and I have to give up fruit and only allowed to have one piece after Noon. And I had to limit my milk intake, it was a total bummer, but alas, I made the best of it. My sugars weren't where they wanted them to be, so they put me on Glyburide which is a drug that helps with sugars but safe for pregnant moms to take, and that with the diet wasn't helping, so the last month I was pregnant, I started insulin, and well that was a shock, I'm not one for needles, granted I'm not a whimp or one that carries on, I just dont like that initial poke, but since this time, I get to do it myself, it shouldnt be so bad, since I can control the pace and preasure. I came out successful. A few brusies since I had to inject daily, but moving around a pregnant belly was quite colorful, and my belly button as the bullseye, and luckily for me, mine stayed an innie. LOL

I knew that I was going to have a C-Section, my son had grown to be quite long, but wasnt the weight they were predicting, they were figuring somewhere around 11 lbs, but nope, he was 9lbs 14 oz. The C-section was wonderful, I had no complications, other than the annoying itch from where my staples there, finally they were removed and I felt so much better. So much has been written about experiences of Mothers and pregnancy and birth, that I feel this is just a waste of time, but you just never know, it might help someone else who is facing similar complications.. I was going to the doctors twice a week, in the end, well, the last two months, every Tuesday and Friday, it was a total pain, one appt was for me, and the other was for the baby, just wish they could have gotten us in on the same day LOL But the nice thing was, I got to have weekly visits with my son on the inside, so it was like a mixer, but instead of getting to know a man, I was getting to know my little boy, who eventually will become a man. I got my date set for surgery, and it was set for the 7th of July, and it was a walk in the park, I couldnt believe that the spinal block didnt hurt, it felt more like a void, I have been asked so many times but its so hard to explain, but it sure is trippy when you look down and cant feel your toes LOL and then your legs, then up your waist and then stopping at your breastbone. They were playing James Taylor and my surgeon was singing and they were having a great time, and then when it came time for the operation, the music was turned off, and they got down to business, and he was brought out, all wet and crying. I got to see him for a few minutes, and then he and Daddy went with the nurses to get weighed and a proper bath. 21.5 inches 9lbs 14oz. I was in surgery for another hour while they closed me up, and then brought back to my wonderful suite where my whole family was waitng with our little guy. I finally got to hold him after I got situated in my room. My mom was amazed that I looked so great, but I felt great too, just that damn pinching ... but it finally subsided, or I just blocked it out after I got to hold my son. I unwrapped him, and looked him over, and wow,what a cutie. The three days in the hospital were nice, granted I would have much rather had them keep up on my meds, I wasnt in a lot of pain, until the first time I got out of bed... 5 hours after my c-section I got my cathedar removed and then finally got to go to the bathroom, and then thats when I felt my staples, it felt like Frankenstein, I counted 16 staples, and the ones on the ends itched, but I put a bit of vaseline on them and wow, felt so much better. I had a drain tube put in so that had to go with me, and damn, that was annoying. But that was removed that night, granted the Doctor had to cut my skin because I had already started to heal over it, but everything was removed, and I could finally take that first shower, and BOY that was a real treat, until I got into my hospital big girl pants, and you ladies you all know what i'm talking about. My mom warned me to take plenty of pads, I hadnt warn a pad in YEARS, but the hospital had Gigantic pads, and well, they werent bad, I hardly noticed but it sure was funny the first time trying to pee after my cathedar removal, I sat there and sat there, and then got back into bed cause there was nothing, and then about an hour later, POOF, i gotta go, well I couldnt hurry out of bed, but I got there, luckily I have great bladder control LOL and triumph... I got to go.. Did you know that for the first 6 weeks after delivery you leak everywhere??

Most men just dont know about it, or just havent gone thru it with their wives, gf's etc, but my bf and I got a crash course in leaks.. not only from our son, but from me, and you just feel like a terrible mess. Breasts are leaking because your baby cries, or you get emotional because you are coming off the biggest hormonal high of your life, and leaking everywhere. I had pads all over me, to help with the leaking, but in all, wow, it wasn't that bad, trying to get on a schedule, and then after a few days of being home, things started to come together, nursing was easy, I had a great nurse that taught me well, and a lactation consultant on call, so I felt totally sure that we could do this. And after the first few days, we did, every two to three hours, and as time passed it was more amounts and less often. I was pumping every few hours, and then waking up in the middle of the night to pump so that Daddy could give him a bottle before he went to work, and it was nice, but about 5 months of age, I noticed I wasnt producing as much, and it quickly just stopped, I was a bit hurt, but then started him on formula, and we were fine. It wasnt what I wanted to give him, but he didnt seem to mind and actually loved the stuff... Once my leaking got under control, his leaking picked up, Jeff Foxworthy says it best.. " you look like condors have been landing" if it wasnt spit up on your shoulder, or lap, it was in the form diapers.

I have been around babies my whole life, but when they are your own, you are in for a whole different perspective. Everyone thinks they know what to expect, but you dont, not til you deliver, and get sent home, not just the daily care of your baby, or the daily care of you or lack there of because it always seems like your busy with baby, making bottles for baby, doing diapers if using cloth, or laundry, laundry, laundry, or just relaxing and prepping to nurse, there is just no time to relax that first month, and then poof, a nice rhythm sets in and you just keep chugging forth. He is almost a year, and we still have a routine, it just keeps getting modified, sometimes weekly, but the leaking has stopped, and not once have we had a leaky diaper of number 2... so that is a great feat, either that, or its the great diapers.... gotta love Costco!! LOL