The Road to Recovery....
We have been back nearly a week and I still feel like I have my sea legs on so to speak. Our vacation was not exactly what we had expected, but we had a good time despite the obstacles. The weather was, for the mostpart, uncooperative. But thanks to some rain and overcast days we did get to see some sights that we hadn't on past trips. Rebecca developed an ear infection, and while being quite the little trooper, she just was just not herself.
It was a cold and cloudy Wednesday and we were huddled up on the beach with our Dunkin Donuts coffee and towels and sweats trying to figure out what the game plan was going to be. Rebecca started to complain that her ear hurt, and since I have been doing this Mom Thing for nearly a decade I knew for certain that Rebecca had developed a lovely case of swimmer's ear. So I called up our pediatrician and aksed if we could please have an Rx of Cipro ear drops for my ailing daughter as there is not a Walk In clinic for many many many miles. A perscription was promptly called in. Two hours and a dose of Motrin later Rebecca is getting worse. I could see that the pain was intollerable, so I decided perhaps she should be seen by an MD as opposed to Dr. Mom... called up the Insurance company and got an appointment set up. Lo and behold I was wrong (to my shock and amazement!) and Rebecca was given a 3 day dose of Zithromax. The next day there is only mild improvement, and the day after that and the day after that as well. Now the course of antibiotics are done and Rebecca is still not well. We had many mini-battles because although her ear was bothering her, the sun finally came out and she desperately wanted to go swimming and boogie boarding in ocean. I caved in knowing it was the last day of vacation, and a beautiful day at that. We would be home the next day and she could see her pediatrician Sunday morning. (I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that our pediatric group is open every day!)
We decided to hang out all day and take advantage of the wonderful weather and avoid weekend rental traffic. We left Maine at 8:00pm. (The drive home is 4 hours barring any stop or traffic incident. Don is happy to make the trip at the end of the day and we both think that this is the best for Alexander. We would hate for him to take a 2 hour nap at 6pm!)
The drive home ended up being late and long, but other than that it was uneventful. Until we got home. Alexander woke up as we stepped through the front door. At first he was a little disoriented, then saw his little Fisher Price Laugh and Learn play house and got all excited to be back. Do you know what's worse than a two hour nap at 6pm? A FOUR hour nap at 8pm! Ugh... I sat with him in his stuffy (the house had been completely closed up for a week) sardine can sized room and together we rocked on his rocking chair. It could have been worse and less than an hour later he was back asleep...
I crawled into bed that night so excited to sleep in. It had been a tough week of sleep on vacation. Alexander did nap every day, but was deprived of the long ones he was used to. That combined with later than normal bedtimes and early morning wakings, thanks to the train tracks just behind the condo property line, did not make for much sleeping... at least for Alexander and Mom. I knew that Alexander would sleep in for me that morning. Nice and late.
And then, there it was, a bad nightmare come true. The shrieking MOMMMMMMEEEEEE at 5:45. Could it be? Was it a dream? Was it from the TV? I fell asleep in front of the television. Nope, not the TV. What better than to air a commercial for the Tempur-Pedic mattress? No more insomnia... no more nightly wakings... Alexander is screaming MOMMMMEEEE across the way and here is a mattress that can solve my problems? Damn, I'm getting one ASAP! Not sure how it will solve my Alarm Clock from sounding off at the most inoportune times, but if it can solve all my sleep problems it has to be the mattress for me!
So here I am a week later and still exhausted. I can not sleep in and I have not been able to nap. I tried to nap that Sunday afternoon after returning from the pediatrician with Rebecca, who, by the way still had the nasty middle ear infection and apparently the Zithromax did squat for it and apparently it is a dated drug. Well, no dwelling on the past... we move on to bigger and better drugs. Or whichever the Drug Rep Who Recently Visited the pediatric office says is the bigger and better drug!
So why not nap with Alexander? I knew you were going to ask! Well, Christopher has had soccer camp this week from 8:30 am until Noon and Rebecca has had tennis camp this week from 9:00 until 1:30 and so Alexander thinks the perfect time to nap is when we get Christopher. A nice 25 minute nap. And certainly I can not nap then too as who would then drive the car? And I absolutely, positively will not let him nap after 4pm... So, we have long and exhausting days which start at 5:30 or 6am and don't end until 9pm! Luckily, my husband can be a real trooper (when he wants to!) and I have gone to bed before the older two! Unfortunately these crazy exhausting days mean I do not get any time with my husband. As I walk around in my zombie-like and terribly sleep deprived state I have one thing that helps me to stay positive and focused... school will start up again ... in about 6 weeks I will have my life again! Meantime, yawn, I will try to move forward the best I can... It's now 10:30 and Alexander has decided to take an early nap today. He just woke up. Yep, it's early, but at least I was able to get some sort of break today!
It was a cold and cloudy Wednesday and we were huddled up on the beach with our Dunkin Donuts coffee and towels and sweats trying to figure out what the game plan was going to be. Rebecca started to complain that her ear hurt, and since I have been doing this Mom Thing for nearly a decade I knew for certain that Rebecca had developed a lovely case of swimmer's ear. So I called up our pediatrician and aksed if we could please have an Rx of Cipro ear drops for my ailing daughter as there is not a Walk In clinic for many many many miles. A perscription was promptly called in. Two hours and a dose of Motrin later Rebecca is getting worse. I could see that the pain was intollerable, so I decided perhaps she should be seen by an MD as opposed to Dr. Mom... called up the Insurance company and got an appointment set up. Lo and behold I was wrong (to my shock and amazement!) and Rebecca was given a 3 day dose of Zithromax. The next day there is only mild improvement, and the day after that and the day after that as well. Now the course of antibiotics are done and Rebecca is still not well. We had many mini-battles because although her ear was bothering her, the sun finally came out and she desperately wanted to go swimming and boogie boarding in ocean. I caved in knowing it was the last day of vacation, and a beautiful day at that. We would be home the next day and she could see her pediatrician Sunday morning. (I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that our pediatric group is open every day!)
We decided to hang out all day and take advantage of the wonderful weather and avoid weekend rental traffic. We left Maine at 8:00pm. (The drive home is 4 hours barring any stop or traffic incident. Don is happy to make the trip at the end of the day and we both think that this is the best for Alexander. We would hate for him to take a 2 hour nap at 6pm!)
The drive home ended up being late and long, but other than that it was uneventful. Until we got home. Alexander woke up as we stepped through the front door. At first he was a little disoriented, then saw his little Fisher Price Laugh and Learn play house and got all excited to be back. Do you know what's worse than a two hour nap at 6pm? A FOUR hour nap at 8pm! Ugh... I sat with him in his stuffy (the house had been completely closed up for a week) sardine can sized room and together we rocked on his rocking chair. It could have been worse and less than an hour later he was back asleep...
I crawled into bed that night so excited to sleep in. It had been a tough week of sleep on vacation. Alexander did nap every day, but was deprived of the long ones he was used to. That combined with later than normal bedtimes and early morning wakings, thanks to the train tracks just behind the condo property line, did not make for much sleeping... at least for Alexander and Mom. I knew that Alexander would sleep in for me that morning. Nice and late.
And then, there it was, a bad nightmare come true. The shrieking MOMMMMMMEEEEEE at 5:45. Could it be? Was it a dream? Was it from the TV? I fell asleep in front of the television. Nope, not the TV. What better than to air a commercial for the Tempur-Pedic mattress? No more insomnia... no more nightly wakings... Alexander is screaming MOMMMMEEEE across the way and here is a mattress that can solve my problems? Damn, I'm getting one ASAP! Not sure how it will solve my Alarm Clock from sounding off at the most inoportune times, but if it can solve all my sleep problems it has to be the mattress for me!
So here I am a week later and still exhausted. I can not sleep in and I have not been able to nap. I tried to nap that Sunday afternoon after returning from the pediatrician with Rebecca, who, by the way still had the nasty middle ear infection and apparently the Zithromax did squat for it and apparently it is a dated drug. Well, no dwelling on the past... we move on to bigger and better drugs. Or whichever the Drug Rep Who Recently Visited the pediatric office says is the bigger and better drug!
So why not nap with Alexander? I knew you were going to ask! Well, Christopher has had soccer camp this week from 8:30 am until Noon and Rebecca has had tennis camp this week from 9:00 until 1:30 and so Alexander thinks the perfect time to nap is when we get Christopher. A nice 25 minute nap. And certainly I can not nap then too as who would then drive the car? And I absolutely, positively will not let him nap after 4pm... So, we have long and exhausting days which start at 5:30 or 6am and don't end until 9pm! Luckily, my husband can be a real trooper (when he wants to!) and I have gone to bed before the older two! Unfortunately these crazy exhausting days mean I do not get any time with my husband. As I walk around in my zombie-like and terribly sleep deprived state I have one thing that helps me to stay positive and focused... school will start up again ... in about 6 weeks I will have my life again! Meantime, yawn, I will try to move forward the best I can... It's now 10:30 and Alexander has decided to take an early nap today. He just woke up. Yep, it's early, but at least I was able to get some sort of break today!