Hand, Foot, Mouth

Yep, I'm talking about the DISEASE! What, never heard of it? Consider yourself LUCKY! HFM disease is really just a virus - causes a fever and congestion and a lovely rash on the hands and feet and sores in the mouth.... and apparently also in the diaper area. Seriously, it should be "hand, foot, mouth, bum disease," but I guess that sounds too yucky, even for a disease lol =). That's what we're in the process of recovering from over here. We think Eli picked it up from nursery (of course) only he never really seemed sick. I noticed the rash in his diaper area, but took it for heat rash - afterall it's pretty steamy out here! A few days later I noticed some bumps on his feet and knees and thought he'd gotten chiggers. Then I noticed one or two on his fingers, then a giant sore on the tip of his tongue. We still don't have a doctor, so Brad checked him out and said, "It's a virus!" I was like, what? Oh no, we'd been at a playgroup all day (I hate when people knowingly spread disease - I didn't realize he was sick but still felt bad - hopefully no one else gets it)! He never got a fever or anything, but that night woke up screaming in pain 3x because his tongue/mouth hurt. Brad went to the store at 3am to get anbesol... that same night Owen got a fever, and that's where the drama really begins. The next day was Friday so I just accepted that the boys were both sick and we laid around and watched a lot of TV. Owen suffered the most from this nastiness - he had a fever for 4 days straight. Sunday was the scariest - the mouth sores appeared and his fever wouldn't respond to tylenol anymore. He refused to nurse and we were getting ready to take him to the hospital! But, I was able to pump some milk and get him to take it from a dropper... and we switched to baby Motrin which helped with the fever and pain. That night his fever got to nearly 103 so I was up rocking him and giving more motrin at 2am. So scary and awful to have a sick baby! And strangely enough he only ever got a few spots on his feet - his diaper/thigh area was another story though. Brad stayed home Monday because we were thinking again that we might have to take Owen in if his fever persisted, and I was starting to feel pretty sick myself - not to mention exhausted from several sleepless nights in a row (but he took some flack the next day at work - grrr!).

Thankfully both boys are doing better. Unfortunately when you have been the caregiver for two sick kids, you tend to get it! I only ended up with two little bumps on my toe, but I feel like I've been hit by a bus! It's just congestion/sinus pain/runny nose but I must say it's the worst of it's kind that I've had in a long time! So, we're still laying around in our PJ's watching a lot of TV, lol. I'm going to have to put Eli though TV Detox when all is said and done - thankfully we have two PBS channels here.

The Mount

Most people are enjoying a 3 day weekend right now.... for us Brad gets to work 3 LONG days in a row (until after 7pm) to finish the first week of 3 WEEKS with NO days off. That's 14 straight days of wards, then he takes off early Saturday the 30th to Arizona to get our house back in shape so we can rent it out again. So I'll be all alone for 5 days, then he gets back around midnight on a Weds only to start work bright and early the next morning for two more days. THEN we'll have a weekend - which includes a yardsale, and Brad's parents coming for a visit - yay! Just typing this is making me tired =). I'm taking the kids to the hospital today to have lunch and icecream with Daddy!

Last Saturday Brad was off and we went to check out a local attraction - The Mount, or the Edith Wharton Estate and Gardens in Lenox. Edith lived at the turn of the century, and came from a wealthy family. She became a best-selling American author in her time, and her works of fiction and short stories are still respected today (The House of Mirth). She was also an avid gardener, and interior designer - her book The Decoration of Houses put interior design "on the map" as a profession. The house and gardens she had constructed in Lenox are truly beautiful. Her home is much more simplistic and classically beautiful than other homes of the guilded age era. I think I would have liked getting to know her! She was also good friends with Henry James, another well known author of the time (Turn of the Screw), who visited The Mount often. Edith only lived in the home for a decade or so, until her mismatched marriage ended and she moved to Paris, where she stayed until her death. Since then, it's been a home to other families, as well as a school for girls. Now it is a museum. I am SO jealous of the gardens most of all, and the scenic views of Laurel Lake in the background.

A bit of August

At last... our computer is fixed! After we got it semi-working, we moved it and it stopped turning on again. I ended up taking it to a small computer repair company, and they replaced the power supply (it was indeed fried from power surges) but the part was only $50 and they had it replaced and the computer all cleaned of viruses and problems by that afternoon. And the bill was a fraction of what Best Buy was going to charge (they tried to make it sound like I should just buy a new computer for what it would take to fix it). So poo-poo on the Geek Squad. Anyway, now I can blog more effectively and actually upload some pictures from our jam-packed August of adventures! We tried to take advantage of our last few weeks with a cushy schedule and nice weather. Brad is now in the ICU so he is on-call every third night. His first day was a call day so he went in at 630am and didn't get home until noon the NEXT day. Then he slept a bit and had to be back at the hospital at 630am for at least a 12 hour shift. Same thing the next day. Then the next is call again so repeat the overnight thing... and so on. He will have Saturday off this weekend though.

We had a fun "date night" with the ward this month - ballroom dancing! We learned swing, the cha-cha, and tango. The babysitter didn't show up at the church so Eli ended up running around in the gym and trying to trip us the entire time, but it was fun. He liked to stand up by the instructor as well and show him a few moves.

On one Sunday afternoon we headed up to Bennington, VT to see some covered bridges. It is SO beautiful and green in Vermont! Crazy that we are only about 45 minutes from Bennington, but it is even more "woodsy" up there than it is here!


Another quick weekend adventure was up to Northampton, MA (about an hour from here). The downtown area was FILLED with quirky people - seriously - dreadlocks, tattoos, tattered clothing, big dogs, musicians on every corner. I just wanted to take pictures of everyone, but I didn't want to upset anybody, lol. We finally found a place that serves decent fresh Mexican food and had some delicious burritos. Then we shopped til we dropped at Whole Foods Market (a seriously awesome store!) and Trader Joe's. On the way home we drove through historic Deerfield, MA - this OLD town section that has been preserved. Many people still live there, but most of the homes are now part of a historic tour. They were even equipped with the old lantern "streetlights" - it seriously made me want to watch Little Women again. In fact, I think I will have to go unpack it.



Well that's it for this post. We went blueberry picking again as a family this time and got some more of the good stuff. I also took Eli to another farm/petting zoo as a part of a community playgroup (so we got in free) and he had a ball seeing kittens, and various farm birds (his favorite). I think this post has enough pictures though. Our other adventures this month deserve their own posts, so I'm stopping here! =)

I Love my Midwife and Brad's Schedule

I had my second appointment with the midwife out here this week and I have to say, there really is a difference in a practice with midwives versus OBs only. This particular practice is home to 2 midwives and 2 OB's (who reportedly have more midwife-like philosophies than most). I feel so wonderfully comfortable there - very laid back, attentive, and supportive and in general a positive and "you are normal" approach to pregnancy and delivery. One example - towards the end of my pregnancy with Eli the PA at my Dr's office told me that since I was having a big baby I had better bring low cut pants to wear home so that it would be more comfortable when I ended up with a C-section. Her comment just illustrated her total lack of confidence in the birthing process and assumption that any baby over 8 pounds wouldn't come out normally - plus her apparent lack of sensitivity to the fact that I was planning and hoping for a natural and unmedicated delivery was evident. Contrast that with a comment the midwife made this week while examining me - "How big was Eli". "9lbs 7oz." "Oh, well you have a nice wide pelvis - you could have a 13 pounder no problem." Maybe it was just her nice way of telling me I have big hips, lol, but it sure boosted my confidence and lessened my obsession with having this baby early so it would be smaller.

Also, the midwife hasn't batted an eye so far at the more "natural" and "non-invasive" approaches that I prefer for labor and delivery - and in fact she agrees with many of the things I have brought up and for the most part, follows them in general rather than exception! In general it just helps me feel less anxious about going to the hospital to give birth. I was lucky to find an OB in Phoenix who was at least supportive of my birth plan, but I felt like I had to be on the defensive at the hospital with a super detailed birth plan so that nothing was "done" to me that I didn't want while unable to concentrate and object. Anyway, the hospital I'm delivering at is 40 minutes away (not the one a mile from our home where Brad works, lol) but I think it will be worth it. Afterall, they have Jacuzzi tubs!!! Seriously, I wanted one so badly when I was sitting in that puny shower at Thunderbird hospital in labor with Eli. So hopefully it will be as helpful this time around as I envisioned =).

In other updates, a few of you have commented about the apparent amount of time we are able to spend with Brad during internship - well you are right if you guessed that we are lucky! That is part of the reason we chose this type of internship and had to move across country for it. His first two months have been electives - meaning he chose the specialty to rotate in. He did pediatrics first, which was office based so he had nice daytime hours. He was on call several evenings a week, but was able to answer most call from home, and only went in if a child got admitted. So we had dinner together and most of the time he was here for Eli's bedtime. Not to mention weekends off! This month he is doing PM&R (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation - the specialty he will be training in for the rest of his residency starting next year.) This one is hospital based, but the hours are awesome. He is often home before 5pm and again has weekends off. Sounds too good to be true, right?! Well yes and no - it is awesome while it lasts. Starting next month he will be doing ICU and the month after that hospital wards (internal medicine) so it won't be so great. He will have only one weekend off the entire month for each of those, and then one day a week otherwise which he will probably spend catching up on sleep because he will be on overnight call every third night. So those months won't be fun, but at least we have the good ones to balance it out!