You know how some days motherhood feels like a musical montage of love - talking to a cooing baby, nursing her to sleep, watching her figure out things like how her hands work. Well, yesterday was NOT one of those days. It was more like a Luvs commercial.
We are currently dealing with a growth spurt, an outbreak of thrush, and I do believe some teething.* By 10 pm I was exhausted and on the brink of a breakdown. I knew I had to get up early to take Lucy to the doctor for an 8 am appointment. And on top of that, my mom has just been admitted to the hospital for low platelets and white blood cell count so I feel bad for even having a bad day when I know hers was so much worse. I really wanted a piece of chocolate - but I couldn't have any since I'm avoiding sugar to stop the thrush!
But Tina passed on a bit of wisdom she heard, always keep in mind that "This is the only one of this day you'll ever get." Whether you take that to mean, cheer up, you never have to live through this day again or that you should cherish it despite the problems because your baby is getting older, the point is still the same.
And it's true. Today was a new day. We got up and going just fine, the screening took a while but the audiologist was great and Lucy slept all the way home and through my errands to the grocery store and post office. Then we treated ourselves to our first mommy/daughter date at Panera. I've given up pretty much all white sugar and flour and am even limiting myself to only one piece of fruit a day (just temporarily) so it was nice to go out someplace I knew I could enjoy without feeling guilty. And while she is still cranky, she slept a lot this afternoon so I got a nice rest too. And she is back to only nursing every hour or two instead of constantly which makes me feel much better, although the itching and pain of the thrush has mostly subsided. And my mom is still in the hospital, but I'm glad that she feels okay, only a bit tired, and that since her treatment is over, this is the worst her "counts" should be, they should only go up (well, I guess when you are at 0, the only place to go is up!) And while I may not get to see her this weekend like we planned, I will get to see her soon. So my life is not perfect right now, but tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. I'm just hoping tomorrow is more like today than yesterday!
And it's true. Today was a new day. We got up and going just fine, the screening took a while but the audiologist was great and Lucy slept all the way home and through my errands to the grocery store and post office. Then we treated ourselves to our first mommy/daughter date at Panera. I've given up pretty much all white sugar and flour and am even limiting myself to only one piece of fruit a day (just temporarily) so it was nice to go out someplace I knew I could enjoy without feeling guilty. And while she is still cranky, she slept a lot this afternoon so I got a nice rest too. And she is back to only nursing every hour or two instead of constantly which makes me feel much better, although the itching and pain of the thrush has mostly subsided. And my mom is still in the hospital, but I'm glad that she feels okay, only a bit tired, and that since her treatment is over, this is the worst her "counts" should be, they should only go up (well, I guess when you are at 0, the only place to go is up!) And while I may not get to see her this weekend like we planned, I will get to see her soon. So my life is not perfect right now, but tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it. I'm just hoping tomorrow is more like today than yesterday!
*Why yes, it is too early for teething but she is very cranky, having weird poop, strong smelling urine and drooling more than normal (doesn't teething have the oddest symptoms?). And when I try to check her mouth for thrush, instead of sucking my finger like she normally would, she starts gnawing on it. I kept trying to convince myself that she couldn't possible be teething at 11 weeks but both Craig and I have felt a sharp bump on her lower gum so its getting harder to deny.
THURSH! OH NO! My neighbor had that with her second... she said it was the hardest thing to deal with ever! You guys are in my prayers!
ReplyDeletewhat is thrush? I suppose I could look it up for myself, but I like the way you describe things
ReplyDeleteI love the Anne of Green Gables reference =) Thank you for this post, MacKenzie - I've needed a bit of an attitude adjustment lately, and these are some words I needed to read! Hope today is better =)
ReplyDeleteThrush is a yeast infection (candidiasis to be precise). It is the same yeast you normally have in your body just on overkill. In the breastfeeding mom/baby dyad it occurs in baby's mouth (as white film/spots)and diaper area (as a rash) and in mom's chest (as itching and deep sharp pains). My case is pretty mild and Lucy isn't really showing any symptoms but I'm being vigilant in treating us both because ive heard horror stories.
ReplyDelete