Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Maniacal Jack in the Box and Other News

Or rather our maniacal Whoop Whoop in the Crib....he just keeps popping up!
But, he finally figured out how to get down...two weeks later. Yes, two weeks, for every nap and almost every night time, he did not sit down/lay down on his own, but stood in his crib wailing. I think that added up to about 30 extra hours of crying. I'm not kidding.

I went in one day and he was crying while standing up, with his head on the rail, snot and tears flowing....It was the SADDEST thing I've ever seen. But when I helped him down, he just got up again. You cannot make a baby lay down who does not want to lay down.

It got so bad that the day before Thanksgiving we took him to the pediatrician's thinking maybe something was really wrong. He smiled kindly at us and told us to leave him, stop rescuing him and he would learn how to get down.
"But how long do we let him cry?"
"Well, he's not going to cry for 2 hours."
Chicken and I look at each other.
"No, but he can cry for the entire hour of nap time and refuse to lay down no matter how many times we help him. He just pops back up."
"Really? An hour? Well, I'd say he's a very smart and very stubborn little boy. You're going to have your hands full with this kid and he is going to test you. Starting now."

Boy, you aren't kidding. Both of these babies are s.t.u.b.b.o.r.n.
Until you have a baby like that, you just don't get it! Our mothers didn't. Then, they were like...oh. You weren't like that. Blame it on the donor!

He doesn't look that stubborn, does he?
In addition to the crib antics, he also had a cold he was fighting. Oh, it was bad.

We went away for Thanksgiving to BigGayDad's BigGayBF's house. We were able to catch up with a lot of family members and make ourselves crazy trying to wrangle very mobile twins in a house filled with burning fireplaces, priceless antiques and a massive amount of electrical cords. Oh, and a big dog that terrified W2. Good Times!
I managed to make a pumpkin pie which was delicious and a batch of brie/buttermilk/chive biscuits and they...well, you should never try to make biscuits "healthier" with whole wheat flour but make them as God intended with blasted white flour. And...they don't travel and reheat well. So, we basically had hockey pucks. How embarrassing.
I only got four hours of sleep that night because the guest bed in this house is the kind that ensures guests only want to stay one night. I battle so many sleep problems in my own bed (a tempurpedic, which I love) that I really dread sleeping in other's beds. My bed has spoiled me for all other beds.
We managed to time the car rides perfectly and the boys mostly slept the entire way there and back during their afternoon 'nap time' AND we didn't hit any traffic. Very grateful for that!

Unfortunately the day after we got back Grunter woke up with a fever of almost 104. It ran for 24 hours and 2 days later....Whoop Whoop got it, again for only 24 hours. Then we noticed the blisters forming on Grunter's hands and his crankiness and their general lack of appetite. Dr. Google had us suspecting, but pediatrician confirmed, we've got a case of Coxsackie Virus, the hand, foot and mouth kind. We must've gotten it from music class...it's the only place we've been with other kids.
I imagine we'll start seeing the blisters on W2 any day now....
There's nothing to do except try to make them comfortable and give them whatever they want to eat--which seems to be Greek yogurt and fruit.
All they want to do is breastfeed. One Saturday I started breastfeeding every hour at 4am. On Sunday it was 2:30am. On Monday, it started at 11:30pm. Last night, 4:15am. My nips are the sorest they've been since early newborn days. These poor babies just feel miserable and I'm so tired I'm dizzy.
We will get by. We can do this. But I'm really ready for my healthy, happy babies to be back in my arms.

Hope everyone had a great holiday. I didn't make NamBlo this time...but it wasn't for lack of topics to post! Oh, I've still got things to say!


11 comments:

tireegal68 said...

Wow, that's a lot to deal with at once! I'm sorry I haven't commented much but I have been reading. I was wondering:How is your mental health now? I got PPD / OCD after Isobel was born ( had OCD remnants and depression before) and it was horrible. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Was scared shitless would have to take new meds and wouldn't be able to continue BF. Upped my Proz.ac with docs approval and gradually felt better. Still fragile but not a complete wreck. Anyway, I digress!
Hang in there with those delectable stubborn boys!
Xoxo

Anonymous said...

You are having quite the time over there! Hand foot and mouth is no fun. I had it an an adult while I was teaching, yuck! I hope everyone is back to their smiling selves very soon.

Anonymous said...

Poor babes and poor mommy too. I hope you get back to the house of healthy asap.

Thank goodness your little man figured out how to lay down! Your doctor's evaluation made me laugh a bit - wise man.

Dre said...

Ooooh, I hate the hand, foot, and mouth. Hang in there... thankfully it should pass soon. Once this is done you should get some sleep finally now that he can lay back down on his own!

Strawberry said...

Welcome to the coxsackie club. We were just led to believe that we have been dealing with a mild case of it over the past 2 weeks in which we ALL got some version of it (fever and a couple blisters in the little guy, very sore throats and congestion in moms, pink eye for everyone). Totally sucks.

Hope things settle back down soon. So glad the stubborn little guy has learned to get down by himself.

K J and the kids said...

I'm so sorry. I know exactly what you mean in the stubborn department.
And seriously...right when he figures out how to get down....he gets hand foot and mouth. Aint it the way it always works out.

My daughter had hand foot and mouth and was MISERABLE. My boys got it and it wasn't so bad. I know for her they ended up prescribing Tylenol with codeine it was so bad.
I hope they get feeling better soon.

tbean said...

Sorry both boys got the dreaded h/f/m virus. But man, that picture is SO cute!! Stubborn? Who, me???

Ruby at Breathedragon said...

Oh, Puffer. You are a trooper. I hope everyone is on the mend.

Anonymous said...

Hope everyone is feeling better! And yay for whoop whoop learning to lay down. Sounds like that was quite the struggle. Gotta love stubborn babies :-)

AdventuresInBabyMaking said...

Oh my, he sure doesn't look stubborn but I guess looks can be deceiving. I'm so glad you seem to be over that hump!

Hope your household is healthy again! xo

K said...

Yowza, that breastfeeding-while-sick schedule sounds grueling. I am in awe of you!

p.s. Try the brie and chive biscuits again. I made the same ones (I'm assuming we got them out of the same magazine that came out right before T-day. I had a stack and can't remember which one I pulled that particular recipe from... Bon Appetit? Real Simple?) and they were... life-changing. :-)