Is It Naptime Yet

So I’ve stuck to a bland diet for a a day and a half. I’m feeling better but, I think the tapioca pudding my mom said I could eat didn’t do me too well yesterday. I can have hard boiled eggs with my applesauce and banana’s so that adds so much to the mix. (Please note the sarcasm.) I should have asked my doctor for more suggestions, but I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind when I saw him on Tuesday.

I’ve been able to do house work and errands in the mornings. Yesterday afternoon and evening was a hard one, so I’m hoping to avoid that tonight and maybe tomorrow night I’ll be able to take the girls to the Aladdin play that Hannah is in.

I’m not attending yoga while I’m eating so few calories. I would get light-headed if I didn’t have a night-time snack the night before, so I’m afraid I’d pass out and I don’t want to use up any unnecessary calories since I’m know my intake is down greatly.

I guess this does show me I can survive on less food, which was an obstacle in my eating less and being a little more healthy, but I’m also doing less, so I’m not using up as much energy, and need less. I also constantly feel hungry which isn’t fun either.

Hopefully things can be a little more normal beginning next week and I can get over this by the end of next week.

The girls are doing fine, even with a slightly grumpy mommy and school has been on vacation, except reading, I have patience for reading since they’re so good at sitting and listening and since Lilah is doing so well it’s not hard to sit and listen to her. She really is so smart.  The other day she came and told me she had read an article in The Friend. “It was about a boy who needed a blessing to get better, and I read it all, though some of the words I can’t read. ” That’s what she told me and I was so happy to see her so excited.

Jon took a sick day so he could take care of the girls or help me if I needed him to take me to my doctor’s appointment.
Since I was felling OK this morning on my applesauce, banana’s, and 7-up diet I tried some stew for lunch that Jon had made last night for dinner.

Bad, bad, really bad, idea.

Within an hour I was experiencing the all to familiar paralyzing, nauseating, abdominal pain that I’ve experienced all weekend after I ate anything but my favorite three foods. (Applesauce, banana’s, and 7- Up.)
I  ate part of our last banana in hopes that within the hour I would feel up to going to the doctor’s office on my own.

I wasn’t.

So we packed the girls up and all went. It took a lot of my energy to stand the there waiting while the receptionist typed in my information and then handed me the papers I needed to fill out. Thankfully Jon was there and he filled out most of the forms, leaving the past health problems to be checked by me.

I got in fairly quickly and Jon and the girls retired to the car so as not to bother the other patrons.

All my stats were normal or good according to the nurse, but that meant nothing to me as I sat trying to find the most comfortable position for my aching belly in the very uncomfortable chair that had no back support.

The doctor came in asked some questions and did a quick abdominal exam.

He said I have gastritis and recommended me to stay on my bland diet for three days, take an over the counter pill, and try to slowly introduce more foods after three days. If I’m not better in 7 to 10 days to call back.

I still have a hard time digesting my bland foods, but they don’t give me as much pain as normal meals and we couldn’t find the two recommended pills, and settled for the next best thing. (Prilosec OTC being the first recommend, but sold out at both stores, and only Pepcid AC was at the second store, not Pepcid Complete which he had also recommended.)

Oh, how I long to eat our ripened avocados or bake the orange rolls that have been sitting in our fridge waiting to be bake since New Years, but haven’t due to the girls being sick, and now me.

I wonder how much weight I’ll lose over the next few days and I hope I don’t have something worse, since he didn’t do any fancy test like Web MD suggests and really don’t want to be like this for another 2 plus weeks.

Since we had (still have) two sick girls and no life, Jon and I stayed home for News Years Eve.  Traditionally we have IBC root beer floats at midnight, but we were feeling frugal and had already bought some sparkling cider and neither of us wanted to go to the store so we enjoyed the sparkling cider after midnight.

We put the girls to bed around 8ish and tucked in for some movies. Jon had Netflixed Persepolis, which was rather interesting and intriguing. Then we popped in The Prestige about 20 minutes till midnight. We paused to see the worst fireworks show Las Vegas as ever given and kiss at midnight. (New regulations made the fireworks be fired off from ground level or the top of parking garages instead of the top of the hotels roofs. They had totally lame shots of the fireworks and I’m sure anyone who wasn’t totally plastered, and maybe some that were, thought that the fireworks weren’t that  good too.)

Jon had napped during the first movie so he was awake at he beginning of The Prestige, but he did not last long. I stayed up till 2:30am watching the movie and then some temping infomercials, though I think it was the sleep deprivation that made me want to buy a hair straightener and the pilates chair.   Eden also woke up for a short time after midnight due to being congested.

The girls woke up super early on News Years day, like 5 o’clock, and Jon stayed up with them while I slept in, with many interruptions mind you, till 10:30 am. I’m a little ashamed to admit I slept till 10:30, but I did.

We had a very lazy New Years. Eden loves lazy days where she’s able to keep her pajama’s on. I do not let them do that but Jon has and even today Eden was wearing her pajama’s till she decided she wanted to go outside at like 2:00 this afternoon.  Lilah was dressed today, but that’s only because she wore clothes to bed and has yet to change.

Chaos, utter chaos, when Jon is home.

That said with the very early morning on New Years day Eden took a super long nap, like she almost did not wake up from her nap, so we let her sleep longer but then she woke up at 8pm for a couple of hours and we sent her back to bed at 10pm.

Lilah feel asleep on the couch around 6:30pm and we put her to bed and she stayed there till 7:30 this morning.

It was a lazy New Years with two sick girls.

Today I finally did something productive outside the house, grocery shopping. We were completely out of milk and thus an expedition out of the house was necessary.

We still need to take down the tree so it can go in the trash for pick-up tomorrow, but as nap time approaches it may not happen unless we get motivated tonight. (funny note: Lilah saw a thing about taking your tree to the Springs Preserve to be recycled and she said we should do that, but I had to explain they wanted real trees not fake ones. So she then suggested that we grow our own tree and then cut it down next year to be recycled. )

Monday my yoga class begins and I’ve signed the girls up for a gymnastics class. If they’re over their coughs, and if Eden stops getting a fever every night, than they’re be able to go on Tuesday.

I just hope they’re better by Sunday so Eden can attend her first Sunday in Primary and so Lilah can be there to show her the  ropes.

My baby is going to be in Primary, I think I need to have another child but not for a couple years since life has taken some unexpected turns.

Happy News Years.

Also I am setting no goals this year. I never keep them or I only keep part of them, so this year my only goal is to continue going to Yoga and hope it doesn’t get cancelled due to the small class size.

Lilah has a terrible cough. Like she’s coughing up a lung cough.  She’s had it since Saturday and now, Wednesday, Eden is starting to sound like she might too have a lung she needs to cough up, though not nearly as bad as Lilah, but I’m betting it gets worse.

It seems that it takes us 5 days to get whatever Lilah has. Eden got Lilah’s runny nose about 5 days after Lilah had it. It was the fourth day that we went out figuring that Lilah wasn’t contagious, and then regrettably the fifth day Eden was showing the same symptoms.

Last night we went to my parents house to hang out and see Andrea and Brien. Lilah kept mostly away from Zarina and I was very insistent on washing her hands after every itch she had in her nose. (Yes in her nose not on her nose.)

Then this morning Eden started sounding like Lilah.

I really hope we don’t get anyone sick, though I should have known it might have happened.

On the up side we had a fun night playing Scrabble with Andrea, Derek, Carolyn, Howie and my mom. Brien played for a little bit, but then stopped to take care of Zarina and feed her.  We won the game, we were in teams by couples, or grandson and grandma in Howie’s case. It was actually my first Scrabble game and I know I did so well on part of Jon, though I had some good words too. 🙂

We wish we could have seen more of Andrea, Brien and adorable Zarina, but it was a short visit and we are sick.

We hope everyone has a happy new year. I’m sure I’ll be up at midnight because I haven’t gotten an uninterrupted nights sleep for the past few days and it looks like I’ll have coughing girls to attend to for a few more nights at least, and hopefully we don’t catch what they have.

Not to long ago I had to have some blood tests run and the woman commented on how I was the first person in about a month and a half who had filled out the whole form. Then yesterday I got the bill to that visit like the full, never been sent to my insurance, bill.

What is up with that?

I did the hand work, then I needed to go online and fill out what they should have done.

Stupid billing.

To see the bill just reminded me how much life costs. It was $390 to find out I don’t have any thyroid problems or diabetes because of some chronic thing that has been going on for the past two years, which I won’t state directly because that would cross the line of TMI.

Anyways, I’m healthy and normal, despite a chronic problem, and will be paying  lots of bills to prove that I’m healthy and normal, and they will be on top of all the bills that showed Lilah was OK, even after sticking a plastic thing up her nose.

Life is expensive and I don’t mind if it’s expensive, as long as I have an illness to show or a plastic thing coming out the nose it was put in.

I really am grateful for my health, I’m just not grateful for the costs it takes to make sure I’m healthy.

Have you had any crazy health bills to pay for lately, or mishapes with insurances?

It once took me 13 months and a doctor’s note for a $1,300 bill to be paid by my insurance. That one was not fun.

I have a guest post over at Mormon Mommy Wars today.

It’s not a topic I would normally post about, but it was on my mind after a mean comment.

I’d link directly to the post, but then they get a link to my blog in thier comments, so I’m just gonna link to the site and you’ll have to find the post.

Mormon Mommy Wars

Guest post: Baths and blogging meanies, October 8, 2008

Jon and I both donated blood recently. I donated on Saturday, the 20th, and Jon donated yesterday, the 30th. I haven’t donated blood in a long time. I use to be on the calling list, but once you were eligible to donate again they would call like twice a day until you made an appointment. Life is busy and I have just a small window where I have feel strong enough to give blood so making and keeping an appointment can be hard and we’ve both asked to be on the ‘do not call to remind and make an appointment list’ to keep our own sanity from the ringing telephone.

Whenever I give blood I become keenly aware of how weak I am and I often get lightheaded and queasy on my way there. I think it’s more mental than physical but, I have passed out twice and nearly passed out one or two times, so I am always nervous. I’ve also been unable to donate due to low iron and low blood pressure at different times. I donate whole blood rather than plasma because I seem to always have a problem once they try to return fluids half way through the process and have only finished the process once out of four tries.  Jon had to do the plasma donation yesterday because of his weight. You have to weigh 130 pounds to donate whole blood and he only weighs 125.

I donated on Saturday because it’s been somewhere around a year and they were giving away two free movie tickets. I don’t get paid to donate blood, and I have done it when their have been no incentives, but incentives do make it a little more appealing and since we’re trying to save money where we can a free date is always welcomed.

Jon donated because they sent a postcard with the incentive of two free tickets to a local comedy magic show. I’m pretty sure my friend Alana’s husband works for that show so it was definitely something I thought would be fun. Then he got the voucher  and it shows it’s for two free tickets but we must spend a minimum of $9.99 per person on drinks. I feel it’s kinda a bust, but not all things come without small print. I have a feeling we’ll be drinking a lot of lemonade that afternoon, or very little overpriced lemonade.

I guess we’ll do anything for free/ bargain priced dates nowadays. I’m just happy I only had to give blood and not an organ. 😉

Today was my first day taking the 6 am yoga class at a local community center. I tried to get to bed early, but it is hard to begin a new habit, it’s also hard when your sister’s cell phone decides to call you at 11 pm. 😉

I awoke several times during the night. My body doesn’t know when 5:30 am is, so I kept waking up wondering what time it was. At one point I noticed our bedroom door was shut so I rolled over to see if one of the girls had climbed in, but there was no girl in my bed nor was there a husband. I knew it must almost be 5:30.
My alarm went off shortly after and I lingered in bed. Jon came in to get me up and I reluctantly got started on my day.  My eyes were to tired for contacts so I just wore my glasses and brushed my hair after I got dressed. I ate a small plum because I felt hungry, and had not eaten my normal evening snack which helps me to be less light headed in the morning.

I got to the rec center a little before six. I that saw a group of people had congregated outside the door and wondered if they were also there for the yoga class. They were not. They were there to work out and I was the first person to yoga. I waited and my friend Sam and one other person showed up. We prepared the room since the instructor had not shown up yet, which I was told was very unusual for her. The instructor and one other woman came in around 6:10 and we began stretching  with the assistance of a ballet bar, relaxing our backs and stretching our tail bones.

The instructor, who will be 71 on Christmas Eve, then showed me some modified poses by using the wall. Boy were they hard. My body is so tense and I am so not flexible. The moves used more upper body and core strength than anything, but those are two things I also lack. ( I definitely need to do some core training on my off days to get the most out of yoga.)

After showing me some poses on the wall we went to the mates. I have terrible posture and do not know how to stand up straight. Another thing I need to work on.

We did some poses on the floor and I felt a little more confident. I could do the sphinx and downward dog, but I had to leave before they finished so I could get home to Jon because he needed to leave for work.

The class had started very late and was ending even later.

I do feel a difference in my body, mostly my back and shoulders. Two places that have bothered me a lot lately.

I took a nap this afternoon because I was so tired, and I’m going to try to wake up early for a work out tomorrow. Jon pointed out that my  new schedule will limit both our quiet times. His time to himself is early in the morning, which I will be gone for three days of the week, and mine is at night, which I now won’t have because I’ll have to go to bed early. I am able to take naps if I want to stay up late, but I really want to avoid taking long naps, which is what I do and have a healthier sleep schedule.

I’m hoping to find solitude in the new schedule. Though I do worry about what to do with myself on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My at home work out isn’t more than a half hour and it will greatly distract from Jon’s quiet time. I guess we’ll figure it out as time goes on.

Today we had one full day without any accidents. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I’m talking about potty training Eden.

I think we have success.

I may also have to completely cut out pull-ups, we use them at night and nap time and when we go out. Eden wants to still wear pull-ups during the day in case of an accident, but I’ve noticed she just uses the pull-ups and has less motivation to use the toilet. She still needs them at nighttime half the time, or when she sleeps past 7:30, so I want to keep them around, but I’m torn.

I’m so happy, and so is she, ’cause now she can take dance when it starts on Monday. Tomorrow we’re going to go pick out a leotard and get new dance shoes for Lilah.

I’m excited. It’s clicked and I’ve been able to have patience and gain a belief in her abilities to know her body.

Now all I have to carry around is a change of pants and panties with wipes that can probably stay in my trunk. I’m almost free of a diaper bag.

The real test will be Sundays, to see if she tells her nursery leaders when she has to go and I’ll probably check in on her to help with the transition.

I’m so happy for her and for me.

So I hate to use the words ‘official’ and ‘old’ because that means I can never be young again and that those who are older than me, which is nearly everyone who reads this blog, will laugh at me because I ain’t that old.

Tonight while fulfilling my domestic duty by ironing shirts for Jon, something he would do but he’s just not that good at and two out of the three shirts I bought had to be ironed, grrr, I switched weight from my left leg to my right only to have a shooting pain down the outside of my left leg and to have it go slightly numb at the same time. Luckily I was close to the couch so I was able to sit down because any weight on my leg intensified the pain, but  I could only sit and I still had the intense pain if I moved so I called Jon. He came quickly, being the wonderful husband he is, and thankfully we have a small house so it wasn’t that far either. Jon helped me lie down on the couch and the pain immediately went away. The girls then came out to check on me, or to avoid sleep, and we sent them back to bed. Jon stayed and rubbed my leg for a little bit before returning to study.

So I think it was some sort of pinched nerve, though I’ve never experience that before, so I’m not sure. Yesterday I was doing a lot of cleaning  and I mopped the floors. Today I was also on my feet  doing a few more chores, but mostly chatting with Sam while we made granola in my hot kitchen.  Anyways, I was feeling a little spent earlier tonight so I’m sure that also contributed to whatever the pain was. Hopefully the yoga will help and I can reverse the hourglass and avoid having more of those shooting pains down my leg.

It seriously hurt and as I tell this story I feel like my dad. He always has leg pain, or some sort of pain going on.
I don’t want to get old.