Doctor, Doctor Gimme The News.

Two whole weeks have passed since I’ve posted something on here because I have had a distinct lack of material. Of course, I could write endless posts on my mundane day-to-day, but can’t imagine that would do much for my readership.  “Today Tess sat up on her own for 3 straight minutes, I took a trip to Michael’s Crafts and I made a brisket in the crockpot.”  Zzzzz…

Sitting up all alone is by far the most 

exciting thing to happen to me in weeks.

I like to actually write stories with SOME substance, but even mundane stories can be entertaining when you inject some humor into them. I just haven’t been feeling it the last couple of weeks.  I’ve even complained to Andy, “I can’t think of anything good to write a blog post about.” 

OK, I'm partly lying about having nothing to write about.

These are from some of our fun outings with the munchkin...

Just never got around to writing about them!

Well, there is something to the expression “Be careful what you wish for,” because I was inundated with material today!

My day today was spent at both the pediatrician and veterinarian.  Let me tell you why:

A couple of weeks ago Twickers, my basset hound, looked like she was walking with a slight limp.  She is getting older and, as a basset hound, carries 55 pounds on 3 inch legs, so I just assumed she was getting a bit of arthritis.  I bought some glucosamine and chondroidin tablets and shrugged it off. 

That she can walk at all is a miracle, really.

Over the following couple of weeks, however, her condition has worsened.  She has been limping more and more, and what’s odd is it appears to be affecting all of her limbs at different times.  Sometimes she’s limping on her back right leg, other times it’s her front legs, then her left hind leg.  It definitely appears to be worse when she first wakes up or gets up from lying down for some time, while other times she’s almost galloping through the backyard.  We took her for a walk one day and it took us about an hour to walk 2 miles because she kept stopping and lying down in the middle of the street!

The start of our walk.

The end of our walk.

It took so long we ran into nap time 

so Tess put herself down for one in the baby carrier.

On our very slooooooowwwwww walk.

Twicky usually lags behind like this while Fenway pulls out in front.

We call it a "drag and pull" not a walk.

This past weekend things deteriorated with Twickers and fast.  She pretty much didn’t move all weekend other than to go out to pee and to eat.  She wouldn’t get up to go to bed at night, even when we enticed her with a dog treat.  Each night Andy had to pick her up and carry her to bed. I don’t think I saw her wag her tail for 3 days.

There was a lot of this going on.

Twice she didn’t finish her breakfast.  And for those of you who don’t know my dog, let me try to explain how concerning this was.  This is a dog, who given half the chance, would devour an entire 40-pound bag of dogfood.  Twickers inhales her food then sneaks in to push Fenway off his dish to finish his food on the regular.  She will eat anything that vaguely resembles food. Never have I once seen her not finish a meal.  In fact, never have I seen her not attempt to finish Fenway’s meal after her own is gone. Every night, no matter how much I might yell or take the food away, she will try to go after Fenway’s dinner. Now she was leaving behind her own food?  Yikes.

Lots of this.
Fenway is a good boy and likes to stick close by his sis.

Saturday night she busted out of the room where we keep her at night (one door doesn’t have a door knob because it’s under construction) and when Andy went to lock her back up, he discovered she had vomited, peed on the floor and was panting heavily.  I also found a swollen lymph node.

We were up half the night with her in a panic.  I emailed our vet and after doing some reading online I was convinced she had Lyme disease.  I was somewhat relieved since they could give her an antibiotic and sort it right out.

Our awesome new vet emailed me back right away and told me I should bring her in on Monday and we can see what’s up.  Sunday night she emailed me again and told me that at Twicker’s annual exam last month she tested negative for Lyme disease, in addition to a plethora of other tick-borne diseases. 

This is Twicky sticking by my side after my knee surgery.

I gotta stick by hers in her time of need!

My heart sank when I saw her email.  I spent the night in floods of tears thinking Twickers was dying.  This was a very sick dog and the other things the vet suggested might be going on were serious. We aren’t quite sure how old she is, she is a rescue, but we think she is around 9.  I thought I was going to bring her in to the vet today and be told she has 2 months to live.  I was heart broken.  We even let her sleep in our bed last night convinced there were only so many nights left for her. 

One of our naps together when Tess was brand new.

MEANWHILE…

During the weekend Tess also had developed a cough.  A dry cough.  It was sporadic and it appeared to be worse first thing in the morning. Andy said he thought she was coughing to get our attention. “Please,” I said. “She is not even 6 months old.  She is smart but give me a break.”

Look at how smart!
Reading a book - 

a book about a doggie too!

She also had a little rash that I thought might be heat rash.  Then I found she had scratched her ear and drew blood, I thought maybe she was pawing at her ear because it was infected.  Sunday night she didn’t feel warm but did feel sweaty, almost clammy. I took her temperature and she wasn’t feverish, but I’ve never dealt with a sick baby so didn’t know what I was dealing with.  I was simultaneously thinking my dog was dying so I was a little panic-stricken with everything.

In her diaper, trying to cure the heat rash.

The beauty of cloth diapers! They are so damn cute!

So, this morning I called the pediatrician and they got me in right away.  There was some pre-pubescent medical student shadowing our physician today so I first described her symptoms to him.  He seemed to be more enthralled with how much she smiles.  He was pretty nerdy and awkward, I think it was the first time a girl smiled at him.  I started to feel pretty stupid I was even there at this point.  Then the doc came in and confirmed the rash was heat rash, her ears and lungs were totally good and she was a 100% healthy baby. 

A healthy girl who probably just has spent 

too much time outside in hot, humid Atlanta.

“What about this cough?” I asked.

She tells me sometimes babies can do an “attention-getting cough.”

Um, what?  Are you serious?  My 6 month old is already manipulating me?! 

I’m in big, big trouble.

I left the pediatrician’s office with a clean bill of health, $25 poorer and more than slightly embarrassed. Oh well, a $25 co-pay for my piece of mind. Totally worth it. When I called Andy to report the news, he told me “I knew that appointment was for you and not her.” 

Yep. Pretty much.

OK, healthy baby? Check.  Now on to deal with sick dog.

This afternoon I packed up Twickers and Tess and headed to the vet’s office.  I’ve started to get used to going out with Tess.  I can’t walk by a single person without them gushing over her.  Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining that people think my baby is cute… it just means I can no longer be invisible. There is no more slipping through a crowd unnoticed.  It just makes going into public different, slows me down significantly.  Well, today was the first time I was out in public with my disgustingly cute baby AND my disgustingly cute dog.  Half the people at the vet office were cooing over Tess, the other half were putty in Twicker’s paws.  Meanwhile, I was standing there like, “Hello! Can someone check me in please?!”

With my cuties.

During the melee that was my cuteness-overload check-in process, I suddenly noticed Twickers didn’t appear to be limping.  And she was wagging her tail.  As the vet tech was walking us to our examining room she commented, “What a happy, energetic basset hound!”  And she was right! In fact, she looked downright sprightly!  What the hell is going on here?!

The vet came in and did a full-on physical examination on her, felt every vertebrae, checked for a torn ACL, worked every joint down to each and every last toe.  Not only didn’t Twickers yelp, she didn’t so much as flinch.  It got to the point where the vet tech was reporting to the vet if Twickers “squinted more” when she touched one body part over another.  It was ridiculous.  The sight of Twickers lying there being rubbed down, honestly, it looked like she was having an afternoon at the doggy spa!  The worst part was when the vet took her on a walk about.  This dog looked like she was prancing for the judges at the damn Crufts dog show.  Not the slightest limp.  Literally, 24 hours earlier this dog could not move and I was planning her funeral. Oh, and the swollen lymph node was actually just a fatty deposit I hadn't noticed before.

The vet was at a little bit of a loss. She thinks Twickers has a bit of arthritis, and the lack of eating was due to pain, the urinating in the house was due to her not getting up to pee for too long.  She gave me some prescriptions for pain meds and sent us on our way.

My diagnosis?  I have a kid who coughs for attention and a dog who limps for attention.  I think the only real mystery here is whether they are competing for my affection or are they in cahoots to drive me crazy?! 

I wonder if this is when they first conspired against me.

$125 later, I have a diagnosis of a dog and baby who have an insatiable desire for my attention.  Don’t get me wrong, I am so relieved that they both appear to be 100% healthy.  Tess is 6 months old but I am still not ready for her first illness.

And Twickers?  She looked like a 2-year old puppy at the vet today!  I honestly just think she is depressed.  Before Tess was born, she was the center of our world. Now? Not so much. She is just not the absolute center of attention in this house anymore.  

Family B.T.

(Before Tess)

Me & Twickers right after I told my mom I was pregnant with Tess.

Twicky helping me set up the nursery,

poor thing didn't know how her life was about to change.

Today she was miraculously cured by a night of sleeping in our bed and a trip in the car with mom, not to mention the insane amount of pets and cuddles she got from the staff at Village Vets.  I am going to keep an eye on her, of course, and continue with the meds.  But really, I think all she needed was a prescription for some serious TLC. I just only have so many arms with which to snuggle all my babies!  I am totally screwed once we get to baby #2…

These two...

I'm doomed.

Adventures in Tess-land

Hi guys! Tess here again – lots of people have been telling Mom they like my blog posts better than hers so I’m taking over!  At least for today. Sorry Mom!

This week has been a major adventure!!!  Last Friday Mom and I flew on an airplane again, but this time we were all by ourselves!  We left Dad at home and we went up to Massachusetts to visit Gramma again.  For Mother’s Day, I got us plane tickets to Massachusetts so the three of us could be together.  Aren’t I such a nice baby?! 

I was very sad to say Goodbye to Dad at the airport, I have never been away from him for that long!  I was a little antsy on the airplane this time because I didn’t understand what was going on.  But I was pretty good because Mom fed me a lot!  That was sweet. I wanted to play a lot so Mom had to work pretty hard to keep me entertained. She did a decent job and I didn’t fuss TOO much.

This is how I started the flight, 

lulling Mom into a false sense of security! HA!

Didn't last long...

When we landed, my “Auntie Jonny” (or Auntie Steph) picked us up at the airport!  It was so fun to see her!!!  She is so smiley and funny so I love spending time with her.  It was so, so nice of her to come get us too. 

Auntie Jonny had to pick us up because Gramma had to work.  I was so jealous – why does she like those bratty kids at her school better than me?!?!  But Grandpa was there and Mom made me take a nap when we got to Gramma’s house anyway.  As soon as I woke up, Gramma was home and she was so excited when she walked in the house and saw us sitting on the couch.  She came right over and scooped me up in her arms and snuggled me and said “Ohhhh this is so nice to come home to after the day I’ve had!”  She looked VERY happy so I knew then I got the right Mother’s Day present for her and my mom.

I love when Gramma reads to me.

That night Gramma took me to an ice cream place to hang out with the Pussycat Mafia – her best buds.  Except I was mad because Mom wouldn’t let me have any ice cream!!! I couldn’t believe it. It was such crap.  She says I’m not old enough yet. Pffttt… whatever, Mom.  She thinks I was fussy because we stayed out past my bedtime, but I was just mad about the ice cream.  To get her back, I refused to go to sleep that night.  I also insisted on sleeping on my tummy, because I only just learned to do that a couple of weeks ago and I know it makes her nervous! I decided that night was the perfect night to start sleeping that way.  I hope she thinks twice before refusing to give me ice cream next time, or else it’ll be another sleepless night! HA!

See how tired I look!? Still smiley though...

The next day we had a really fun cook-out at my Auntie Wendy and Uncle Steve’s house! I also got to see my  Auntie Steph and cousin Alex again, and got to meet my cousin Chris for the first time.  Except Chris is old like my mom, he seems more like an uncle! I also got to meet my new cousins Ben and Adam for the first time too – they are my new Uncle Steve’s boys.  I think Ben and me are gonna be good friends because he’s only a little bit older than me. I think we will all have a lot of fun playing together, just as soon as I can figure out how to get my legs to work!  I also got to meet the rest of Steve’s family too – they are all soooo nice and so fun!  I’m so excited that I get this whole big family of people who think I’m so cute and snuggly.  I just wish I got to see them more!

I made sure to wear my Red Sox bib 

because my Uncle Steve is a Yankee fan! 

Mom tried to get me to sleep over Auntie Wendy’s but I wasn’t feelin’ it.  It was just too exciting and there were too many people I wanted to hang with.  I refused to go to sleep again, so she packed us up and we went back to Gramma’s house. 

This is Gramma, Auntie Wendy and Auntie Jonny 

setting up my pack n play for the sleepover.

They finally figured out how to set it up then 

had to take it back down an hour later since I refused to sleep.  

I'm just glad they are learning who is really in charge around here.

The next day we went to this great place called Yankee Candle where it’s Christmas ALL THE TIME!!!  Can you believe that?!  They have a huge Christmas village and Christmas trees and ornaments and decorations and Santa – it was pretty awesome. Mom loves that place.  So does Gramma.  And so do I now! 

Me & Mom in the Christmas Village room at Yankee Candle.

I look confused because I was thinking,

"If this is a candle shop...

where are all the candles?!"

Mom, me, Gramma.

Mom forgot to pack socks for me, so she bought me these super fun socks that look like monster feet!  Aren’t they cool?! 

Monster feet!

Even monsters gotta nap.

The next day we had to leave and ohhhh boy was I unhappy about it!  I cried and cried on the airplane.  Mom was super stressed out about it but I didn’t care. I was just sad to leave Gramma.  This was also the first flight we’ve had where we didn’t have a free seat next to us. We were super cramped so Mom didn’t have the space to feed me, which made me EXTRA angry.  Mom says she’s never flying alone with me again.  Which is a good thing, really, because I missed my Dad too much.

Me saying "No! Don't take me away from my Gramma!"

As sad as I was to leave Gramma and the rest of my family, I was also happy to get home.  Yesterday, I had another awesome adventure at home – I went into the big bathtub in the backyard for the first time!!!  I have been wondering what that big thing is back there for a whiel now – its big and blue and wet looking and since I have been born no one has been in it.  But Mom took me in yesterday – that’s right, this bathtub is so big even Mom can fit in it!  It’s different from my bathtub because it's a little cold, my baths are warm and soapy.  But this was cool because Mom held me the whole time and we got to move around a lot.  I was a little skeptical at first but after I got used to it I had so much fun. Mom was very proud of me for being so brave – I didn’t cry once!  I’m looking forward to a whole summer of outside baths.

Ladies of leisure? I wish.

A few weeks ago I was outside planting some flowers in my front yard, and my neighbor (let’s call her Sarah since I haven’t asked her permission to write about her on here) was leaving to go walking with another woman. I chatted with them for a minute then off they went, pushing their little boys in jogging strollers.  When Sarah returned from her walk she told me that she and her friend, let’s call her Samantha, go walking once or twice a week and invited me to join them.  Samantha lives around the corner and has 2 small kids just like Sarah, and while their older ones are at preschool they walk with the younger ones. 

Tess likes being outside in the garden with Mom.

I’ll be honest, I felt a little bit like I got invited to sit at the cool kids’ lunch table at school when they invited me to go along with them.  I know, I’m such a geek, but I don’t have many friends in my neighborhood nor do I hang out with many people with kids – I also haven’t made new friends in longer than I care to admit, so this was super exciting for me all around. 

She REALLY loves being outdoors.

A couple of days later Sarah texted me saying they would be meeting at 9am the next day if I wanted to join them.  I said I’d be there, and planned my morning to make it happen.  Tess had been taking her first nap of the day right around 9, but since I really wanted to join them I thought I’d just shift her nap to start earlier.

HA! Rookie mistake.  First rule of Parent Club is when you make plans, nothing goes to plan.  I put Tess down for a nap at 8am thinking she would sleep til 8:30 at the latest since it is always a battle to get her to nap for more than 30 minutes.   This would have given me a whole 30 minutes to do one last feed and diaper change before heading out to meet the girls.  I even picked out a cute little outfit for her to wear. 

Just because we are exercising, doesn't mean we can't be fashionable.

Well, of course this one morning Tess decided she needed a good long nap.  I was basically sitting there watching her sleep, waiting for the slightest indication she was waking up, but she was completely comatose. 

8:45 came and went.

“OK, we will skip the feeding and just change her diaper, we won’t be gone long,” I thought.

8:50. 

8:55. 

“Well, hopefully she hasn’t pooped because she’s not getting a diaper change now either.” 

8:59. 

I was in a serious moral dilemma at this point!  Do I wake a sleeping baby?  Hell no!  An hour-long nap is like my dream – I will never be blessed with an hour-long nap again if I wake her!  She probably also wouldn’t stop crying the entire walk if I woke her. 

Andy did happen to be home still so he said he’d stay with her and I should go alone.  But this was a “Moms-Who-Walk-With-Babies” group! I can’t go Sans Baby!  They probably only wanted a cute little 4 month old cute baby girl to join them anyway, they didn’t care about me being there!  I was only a vessel for the baby! 

The cute one in front is clearly the draw here.

I briefly considered bringing my dog Twickers in the stroller, covering her with a blanket and telling them she was asleep. That plan would have worked too, had Twickers had a bath more recently than a month previously.  They instantly would have smelled a rat. Or a hound, as it were.

Fenway says 

"Why does the little bald puppy get to go for walks 

and not me when she can't even WALK!?"

 Finally, it was 9:05, I saw Sarah and Samantha out in the street loitering and knew it was do-or-die time.  I needed to go or else I would get kicked out of the moms walking group on my first day for tardiness.  The second I decided to just go alone, I saw Tess stir in the baby monitor video.  YES!!!  She is awake!!!  It may have been the first time I was actually excited to see her wake up. 

Tess and I walked a 5K for the 

Susan G Komen Race for the Cure

I quickly poked my head out my front door and shouted that Tess was just waking up from a nap and I’d be out in a second.  I ran back in, grabbed Tess, threw her into the baby carrier – no food, no fresh diaper, no cutie little outfit.  (Yes, yes, terrible mother that I am but I didn’t have that kind of time! I was desperate).  In her PJs, eyes still half closed with sleep marks on her face, looking like a deer in the headlights, I paraded her out into the street so I could make friends. 

Tess likes making new friends too.

I was very glad I exploited my poor hungry, soggy-diapered baby girl for my own benefit though, because I had a great time on the walk. And let’s face it, so did she!  She likes the stimulation she gets from being outdoors. 

Clearly looking very stimulated.

I did feel a bit overwhelmed from all the baby-raisin’ info I was inundated with though.  Gymboree, music class, reading groups at the library, choosing a pre-school, baby proofing, playground groups, vaccinations, learning to talk.  I have convinced myself my baby is going to be delayed because she does not go to Gymboree, will never get into a good pre-school since she isn’t already on a waitlist and I can't afford it anyway, and I not only need to cover my entire property in bubble wrap but need to get rid of my pool as well.  In fact, when Andy came home the first thing I said was: “We have to move.” 

OK maybe we won't get rid of the pool quite yet. 

She seems to be enjoying it so far...

I do feel grateful that I’m learning this stuff now and not when she’s 5.  At least now I can try to maybe undo all the harm I’ve already caused by my naïveté.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m putting the pressure entirely on myself – Sarah and Samantha are totally chill and not at all like those crazy Moms who are all, “WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVEN’T STARTED GIVING HER PIANO AND CHESS LESSONS AT 5 MONTHS?!” They were just chatting about this stuff, which then made me start to panic that I didn’t know about it all.  I’m a type A personality, and always will be.  I want to be an expert in everything before I start.

We do our own version of Gymboree anyway.

She can already roll over in both directions!

and is ALMOST sitting up on her own, at least while sitting in the boppy!

Not bad for 5 months!

We have continued to walk once maybe twice a week, and I really do love it.  Both Sarah and Samantha are at home with their kids too, so it’s nice to talk to them about life as a “SAHM.” I also get plenty of reinforcement that I’ve made the right decision to do that. 

The bad thing is they don’t just walk… They also often run.  I have thus far avoided the running since I bring Tess in the baby carrier.  They told me I need to invest in a jogging stroller so I can run with them.

Ug. Running.

Tess' reaction when I suggested we start running.

"Say what???"

Running and I have a sordid history.  It is most certainly a love-hate relationship.  After I had my first ACL replacement surgery at 18 and had to give up playing contact sports, I started running for rehab and to keep in shape.  Throughout college I would run up to 6 miles or so for fitness on a pretty regular basis.  One summer I lived with my brother Ron and we would run together.  I would run off and on when I started grad school, mostly off during our insanely hot summers. 

When my brother died I did something crazy and convinced Andy to train for a marathon with me for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The Team in Training group will provide coaches and training opportunities for marathons, triathlons, century rides etc if you raise a certain amount of money for them.  It was my therapy in grieving Ron’s death, Andy and I would go out and run and I would think about Ron, his illness, his life, our relationship. It was a very special time in my life and gave me a sense of clarity that I was desperate for at the time.  I also raised a ton of money for the LLS due to the extreme generosity of my family and friends, I was the #3 top fundraiser in the state of Georgia!  It was the best decision I’ve ever made, to run that race.  It was the proudest moment of my life. 

This was a video my friend Devon put together to commemorate our marathon.

But that was 3 years, 20 pounds, a second ACL surgery and 1 C-section ago.  I tore my ACL a second time last winter and had surgery just before getting pregnant.  I haven’t gone for a run in 18 months. 

I’ll be honest, when Sarah told me I needed a jogging stroller, my blood ran cold. I started plotting how I could avoid her from that moment forward so I wouldn’t have to face the fact that I probably couldn’t jog 1 mile.  How could I possibly admit this to her?  I have a 26.2 sticker on my car for Christs’ sake!  AND a 26.2 tattoo. I feel like a fraud.

Maybe I should show her my jersey and medal so she believes 

I was actually capable of running at one point.

This morning I was too sore from spreading 800 pounds of mulch in my yard the previous day to bring Tess in the baby carrier, so I walked with her in my regular non-jogging stroller.  Sarah asked if I wanted to try to run with the stroller I had.  Oh, no! I wouldn’t dream of it! Of course, I didn’t admit it wasn’t that I feared the stroller wouldn’t hold up for a run, it was the person pushing the stroller I was concerned about.  I didn’t want them to have to take Tess out and put me in it to get me back home. 

I think Tess wants to go out to lunch with Dad instead of go running.

As much as a part of me can’t help but think “Goddamnit, why did I have to befriend active moms who run? Why couldn’t I have met ladies who lunch and drink wine?!” I do kind of hope this inspires me to start running again. After my last knee surgery I did my PT, did a lot of walking, circuit training type of stuff.  I try to keep in shape in other ways.  But running is so good for the body and mind in a different way from all other kinds of exercise.    It’s just impossibly hard to start. 

Tess also thinks we need to spend more time going to lunch 

with Auntie Megan rather than exercise with the new friends.

Alas, I suppose the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.  So, in that vein… anyone out there have a cheap jogging stroller they are looking to get rid of?