It's been a rough week.
On top of the normally hectic goings-on of nine people(minus the Captain who was out-of-town for work mid-week), the baby got sick. She's spent the past seven plus days alternating between lethargic, limp, sleep-twenty-hours-a-day behavior and refusing to sleep coupled with a banshee's wail to rival the best in Ireland.
Two doctor appointments and one fruitless trip to our local ER left us with little choice but to contact her team of pediatric specialists yesterday morning at the hospital an hour's drive from our house. This resulted in a full day of testing, orchestrating childcare for six other children--not to mention rides to and from scheduled activities, and the first "date" the Captain and I have had in a while--even if it was in the pediatric ER department.
Fortunately, every single test came back normal. Unfortunately, we are no further along than we were a week ago. So, this coming week, we are staring down a minimum of three additional doctor visits: pediatric allergist, pediatric GI, and our primary doctor.
I'll be spending this weekend trying to recoup what I can from last week and preparing for next week's agenda.
Now, I know Thursday was a day of penance.
And, I know the Ark is full of over-achievers, but next time I think I'd rather be blissfully average.
Showing posts with label Moving beyond tired to a new level of weary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Moving beyond tired to a new level of weary. Show all posts
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Thursday, October 02, 2008
The One Where I Come Undone
Today's doctor appointment left us with more appointments (ent and orthopedist) a stool sample, chest xray, and many vials of blood plus a tb test. He confirmed the chicken pox diagnosis and announced a bonus ear infection. Then, after changing her antibiotic (to something called cedifnir?) I arrived at the pharmacy to find that the insurance couldn't locate her in their files. And, The Captain is just not feeling well, despite his antibiotic. He actually took his own temp today if that is any indication of how he's feeling. Almost everyone is asleep now, and I am in desperate need of a trip to the grocery. We are out of such novelty items as milk, bread, eggs and juice. Then, I am coming home to crash. I need all my strength to return to the doctor's office tomorrow to do the blood draw that they couldn't do (after two BIG sticks!) today.
I think I feel a pity party coming on. The invitations will be in the mail.
Today's doctor appointment left us with more appointments (ent and orthopedist) a stool sample, chest xray, and many vials of blood plus a tb test. He confirmed the chicken pox diagnosis and announced a bonus ear infection. Then, after changing her antibiotic (to something called cedifnir?) I arrived at the pharmacy to find that the insurance couldn't locate her in their files. And, The Captain is just not feeling well, despite his antibiotic. He actually took his own temp today if that is any indication of how he's feeling. Almost everyone is asleep now, and I am in desperate need of a trip to the grocery. We are out of such novelty items as milk, bread, eggs and juice. Then, I am coming home to crash. I need all my strength to return to the doctor's office tomorrow to do the blood draw that they couldn't do (after two BIG sticks!) today.
I think I feel a pity party coming on. The invitations will be in the mail.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Down Time
The travelers are weary tonight. It's 8:30 and everyone on the Ark is asleep 'cept for me and Baby Girl, who--by the way--slept from 9pm last night to 7am this morning! She seems better and better to me each day. We have our first doctor appointment on Wednesday and a precautionary ENT appointment set up for Thursday, so the jury's still out on any official diagnoses for her (minus a few sketchy ones from Ethiopia). She is sleeping and eating well and has a fiery temper--especially when she's hungry and my spoon-feeding isn't as rapid fire as her royal highness demands. Who says all things are passed on through genetics? *grin*
We said our good-byes to Grandma (who will henceforth be known as Gram-cracker per Naomi's nick name assignment) and Grandpa (who is Baby T's new best buddy...every time the door opens he calls out, "Grandpa?" and sulks off sullenly holding his football). Fortunately, the blows of our typically weepy good-byes were lessened by the knowledge of an upcoming holiday visit!
Baby Girl is finished watching the White Sox highlights (Go Sox!) and her voice beckons. It is music to my ears!
My big girls kept some lovely journals from their trip. I'm going to offer them a "guest blogging" opportunity to let you all know their impressions of the trip. If you have any questions for them, let us know.
The travelers are weary tonight. It's 8:30 and everyone on the Ark is asleep 'cept for me and Baby Girl, who--by the way--slept from 9pm last night to 7am this morning! She seems better and better to me each day. We have our first doctor appointment on Wednesday and a precautionary ENT appointment set up for Thursday, so the jury's still out on any official diagnoses for her (minus a few sketchy ones from Ethiopia). She is sleeping and eating well and has a fiery temper--especially when she's hungry and my spoon-feeding isn't as rapid fire as her royal highness demands. Who says all things are passed on through genetics? *grin*
We said our good-byes to Grandma (who will henceforth be known as Gram-cracker per Naomi's nick name assignment) and Grandpa (who is Baby T's new best buddy...every time the door opens he calls out, "Grandpa?" and sulks off sullenly holding his football). Fortunately, the blows of our typically weepy good-byes were lessened by the knowledge of an upcoming holiday visit!
Baby Girl is finished watching the White Sox highlights (Go Sox!) and her voice beckons. It is music to my ears!
My big girls kept some lovely journals from their trip. I'm going to offer them a "guest blogging" opportunity to let you all know their impressions of the trip. If you have any questions for them, let us know.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
Here's to your health!
Have you ever decided to add something to your daily regimen, make a change to your diet or aim to build a seemingly healthy new habit into your life?
I have. Over the last six months or so. And because I was armed with all but one very small, but very important, piece of information, my plan nearly backfired.
What did I do? Well, it won't seem as exciting as I've built it up to be, but just wait for the punch line. I decided sometime during the early Fall to begin regularly taking a multi-vitamin. Great, right? It's probably written in every primer on nutrition and health on the market, isn't it? And I, with the exception of when I was pregnant or nursing, had been woefully lax in adhering to this simple rule. I was, I assured myself, quite possibly the only adult female in America, NOT taking her Iron, Calcium and other womanly important mineral laden vitamin. So, I started. I selected a very simple vitamin, ensuring that it met the daily requirements for a nearing middle-age (ahem) woman.
After a few weeks, I wasn't noticing any major changes in my health--for good or for bad, but I soldiered on with my health maintenance. But as time went on, I started feeling sluggish. I had a doctor's visit only to find that five additional pounds had found their way onto my new, healthy self--without any of the joy of eating more. Within the last several weeks, however, I was taking tired to a whole new level. I'd go to sleep exhausted and wake up even moreso.
Then, by a stroke of luck, I happened to see the results of a blood test I had done in late October, to check my TSH level (that's thyroid stimulating hormone for you healthy folk). **Ed. Note: I've had hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) for over a decade and have my blood tested and medication adjusted twice a year.** Why is this important, you might be asking? Why do we care about the results of your blood work, you say? Well, I'll tell you why. Because it just so happens that my TSH level in late October was nearly '5', which is considered in the normal range, but for someone with my thyroid condition, a level between 0 and 2.5 is the ideal. The only time my thyroid levels fluctuate are during pregnancy and since it's already March, I can confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was simply NOT pregnant in late October. What, I then wondered, could have caused this change? When suddenly, it hit me. I had a vague notion about some long forgotten information about thyroid medication and its interaction with multi-vitamins. Sure enough, when I got home I was able to confirm that thyroid medication (Synthroid, et al.) should be taken at least 2 and in some cases 4 hours apart from a multi-vitamin. Why? Because the minerals in the multi-vitamin--specifically the minerals iron and calcium--lower and, even potentially block, the absorption of the thyroid hormone!
No wonder I was tired...and gaining weight...and a host of other hypothyroid-related symptoms...EVEN though I was religiously taking my thyroid medication. Why am I sharing this? Because it occurred to me that it's quite possible that if I, who have been on this medication for over ten years, didn't know immediately about this interaction, there might be someone else who could benefit from hearing my story.
I hope someone does. And, for the record, I'm feeling much better after less than a week of properly spacing these two daily doses! If you're interested, you can read more about this here, here and, regarding TSH levels and prenatal vitamins, here ( specifically the last paragraph).
Have you ever decided to add something to your daily regimen, make a change to your diet or aim to build a seemingly healthy new habit into your life?
I have. Over the last six months or so. And because I was armed with all but one very small, but very important, piece of information, my plan nearly backfired.
What did I do? Well, it won't seem as exciting as I've built it up to be, but just wait for the punch line. I decided sometime during the early Fall to begin regularly taking a multi-vitamin. Great, right? It's probably written in every primer on nutrition and health on the market, isn't it? And I, with the exception of when I was pregnant or nursing, had been woefully lax in adhering to this simple rule. I was, I assured myself, quite possibly the only adult female in America, NOT taking her Iron, Calcium and other womanly important mineral laden vitamin. So, I started. I selected a very simple vitamin, ensuring that it met the daily requirements for a nearing middle-age (ahem) woman.
After a few weeks, I wasn't noticing any major changes in my health--for good or for bad, but I soldiered on with my health maintenance. But as time went on, I started feeling sluggish. I had a doctor's visit only to find that five additional pounds had found their way onto my new, healthy self--without any of the joy of eating more. Within the last several weeks, however, I was taking tired to a whole new level. I'd go to sleep exhausted and wake up even moreso.
Then, by a stroke of luck, I happened to see the results of a blood test I had done in late October, to check my TSH level (that's thyroid stimulating hormone for you healthy folk). **Ed. Note: I've had hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) for over a decade and have my blood tested and medication adjusted twice a year.** Why is this important, you might be asking? Why do we care about the results of your blood work, you say? Well, I'll tell you why. Because it just so happens that my TSH level in late October was nearly '5', which is considered in the normal range, but for someone with my thyroid condition, a level between 0 and 2.5 is the ideal. The only time my thyroid levels fluctuate are during pregnancy and since it's already March, I can confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that I was simply NOT pregnant in late October. What, I then wondered, could have caused this change? When suddenly, it hit me. I had a vague notion about some long forgotten information about thyroid medication and its interaction with multi-vitamins. Sure enough, when I got home I was able to confirm that thyroid medication (Synthroid, et al.) should be taken at least 2 and in some cases 4 hours apart from a multi-vitamin. Why? Because the minerals in the multi-vitamin--specifically the minerals iron and calcium--lower and, even potentially block, the absorption of the thyroid hormone!
No wonder I was tired...and gaining weight...and a host of other hypothyroid-related symptoms...EVEN though I was religiously taking my thyroid medication. Why am I sharing this? Because it occurred to me that it's quite possible that if I, who have been on this medication for over ten years, didn't know immediately about this interaction, there might be someone else who could benefit from hearing my story.
I hope someone does. And, for the record, I'm feeling much better after less than a week of properly spacing these two daily doses! If you're interested, you can read more about this here, here and, regarding TSH levels and prenatal vitamins, here ( specifically the last paragraph).
Monday, November 19, 2007
Recovery
This was a whirlwind of a weekend. Friday night the Captain and I led our couple's bible study group and went out for coffee--always such a nice end to the week. The Boy had a basketball game Saturday, which they won--yeah!--and after going to Mass Saturday night, we had the girl's school fundraiser dinner to attend. When we arrived home from the dinner, there were still three batches of chocolate chip muffins to be made for the monthly family birthday celebration happening at 8:30 AM, Sunday morning. By what could only be termed the Spirit moving, we actually arrived on time for the birthday breakfast. Fortunately, after a quick stop to pick up the Sunday papers, we were headed back home with nothing else on the agenda...EXCEPT...there were two loaves of cranberry pumpkin bread to make, two loaves of yeast dill bread to make, a bunch of boneless chicken to be cooked and separated for three different meals (including last night's dinner) and the girls and I prepared the Blessing Mix for their teachers.
Why is it that there is no such thing as a day *off* for moms?
This was a whirlwind of a weekend. Friday night the Captain and I led our couple's bible study group and went out for coffee--always such a nice end to the week. The Boy had a basketball game Saturday, which they won--yeah!--and after going to Mass Saturday night, we had the girl's school fundraiser dinner to attend. When we arrived home from the dinner, there were still three batches of chocolate chip muffins to be made for the monthly family birthday celebration happening at 8:30 AM, Sunday morning. By what could only be termed the Spirit moving, we actually arrived on time for the birthday breakfast. Fortunately, after a quick stop to pick up the Sunday papers, we were headed back home with nothing else on the agenda...EXCEPT...there were two loaves of cranberry pumpkin bread to make, two loaves of yeast dill bread to make, a bunch of boneless chicken to be cooked and separated for three different meals (including last night's dinner) and the girls and I prepared the Blessing Mix for their teachers.
Why is it that there is no such thing as a day *off* for moms?
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Reply to Anonymous
I absolutely wanted to make sure that Anonymous reads this reply so I'm posting it here rather than have it get lost in the "older posts" down below, thus perpetuating the myth of my super-human abilities:
Dear Anonymous,
Ha! If I could have lifted my sorry self off the couch on Monday, I would have taken a picture of my *exhausted* self. Alas, the spirit was willing but the body was---nearly comatose and I have yet to teach Baby T how to use the digital camera or how to upload pics to Blogger. Maybe next time (and trust me--there will be one!)
Your sometimes-even-I-get-tired friend,
Jane (aka mother of the ark)
I absolutely wanted to make sure that Anonymous reads this reply so I'm posting it here rather than have it get lost in the "older posts" down below, thus perpetuating the myth of my super-human abilities:
Dear Anonymous,
Ha! If I could have lifted my sorry self off the couch on Monday, I would have taken a picture of my *exhausted* self. Alas, the spirit was willing but the body was---nearly comatose and I have yet to teach Baby T how to use the digital camera or how to upload pics to Blogger. Maybe next time (and trust me--there will be one!)
Your sometimes-even-I-get-tired friend,
Jane (aka mother of the ark)
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