Fever Pitch (Week 33, Day 3)

Maddy woke up with a fever this morning. Of 103. This was the highest it's ever been, and she was burning up to the touch. I stayed home from work with her, and planned to take her to our doctors walk in appointments as soon as they opened. I got there right at 8:30 on the dot (the official opening time) to find an absolutely jam packed waiting room - every seat taken and extra chairs in the hallway, also taken. Part of me was anxious about the long wait before anyone would be able to see Maddy, and the other part was relieved that there must be something going around, which explains Maddy's horrendous cold. Once we finally got to see the doctor, they identified an ear infection and a cold and I hiked off, stroller in tow, to fill her prescription.

By the time I got back home, it was almost lunchtime and I had to begin fielding calls for work. While I could stay home with Maddy, my workday did not stop. So in between phone calls, I played, fed, changed diapers, nursed, changed more diapers, and generally entertained Miss Madeline. I had given Maddy her prescription for her war infection, but had not given her any Tylenol as I didn't like to give her too much medication. And in full disclosure, I could not figure out how to get the medicine out of the bottle. Damn you child proof bottles!

In the afternoon I had a very long conference call, and Maddy had begun to get irritable playing. I was able to soothe her to sleep on my chest, and she stayed there, asleep but clearly uncomfortable, snotty and sick, for 3 hours - not a usual nap for her. She woke up right around the end of my call, and she felt like a little furnace she was so hot, so I took her temperature. 104. Now the highest it's ever been, and scary high. Mom freaked out high. Ready to take action and head to the hospital high.

Before I completely panicked and rushed to the emergency room, I decided to call her doctor and get their opinion. I'm very grateful for the nurses and doctors at her practice - they are all very responsive, and very understanding of how scary it is to have a sick baby. They suggested that before I hike off to the ER, I give Maddy some Tylenol and see if her fever drops and she perks up with 30 minutes - if not off to the hospital we go. So now it was me against the childproof bottle, and I was going to tear it apart with my bare hands if I had to and get the medicine inside. Luckily, I was not foiled by it, and was able to get the medicine out of the bottle and into Maddy's mouth. And then we waited. My lethargic, fussy girl laid quietly on my chest, sniffling and suffering, and it broke my heart. I sat there, sleep deprived, hungry, and anxious, worried about what would happen if the fever didn't go down, if she didn't perk up. 30 minutes felt like two days. And then Maddy raised her head, looked me square in the eyes for a while, and started to squirm. She started to roll, and look for a toy to play with. She wanted to get on the floor and crawl. In summary, she started acting like herself again - the fever had gone down.

I knew eventually the day would come when the scary high fever would arrive, a day every new mom dreads but knows is unavoidable, and today it had. Together, we weathered the storm, and made it through relatively unscathed.

The Dog Day (Week 33, Day 1)

This weekend, we went to Fort Wayne to see my parents before thanksgiving. We thought it would be fun to get to spend some QT with the grandparents, and they were thrilled to see Madeline. We drove in late on Friday night, and Maddy was a dream- slept every second of the 3 plus hour drive from Chicago. Even slept once we got there, and sat and chatted with my parents. She slept every moment until it was time for us to get settled to sleep for the night, and transfer her to the pack and play. And that is when she woke up. And stayed up. All night. I'm not sure where her pure hatred for pack and plays came from, but it seems to be here to stay. She wants nothing to do with them. Ever. That night was spent coercing Maddy to sleep next to me in bed, and was only half successful. I thanked my lucky stars that we had nothing major planned the next day, and could rest and relax.

One of the amazing things about my parents place is the space- after being in our shoebox apartment, Maddy now had some serious crawling space, and didn't hesitate for a moment to use it. It was such a fun site.

Another treat was a visitor for my parents - my sisters dog Jackson. He is one of the sweetest dogs in the world, and also a little bit of a sceredy cat. I knew we had nothing to worry about with Jackson being around Maddy - he was probably more scared of her than she was of him, and kept wandering near me to get a look at this small new object, but never got too close to her. He definitely couldn't understand what all the fuss was over this little being, and continued to ensure all the big people knew he were around him.

As for Maddy, she couldn't quite make out what this new furry creature was doing in her world. She alternated between giving Jackson a serious stared down to attempting to chase after this new friend. At one point, Maddy was sitting in my lap, and Jackson came in a little closer to check out the little lady. Maddys response was to throw her arms open and squeal in delight- making Jackson jump and run away in pure terror. It was absolutely hilarious to see how confused each was by the others existence. By the end of the weekend, Jackson had become accustomed to Maddy, and had found one of her toys that he really wanted to explore. I spent a good half hour with Jackson running around me trying to steal Maddy's toy, and Maddy crawling around trying to catch Jackson. It was absolutely adorable. 

A few days later, Maddy now clutches a tiny soft puppy while she sleeps. I think Jackson has made a lasting impression on her!

Small Moments (Week 32, Day 6)

It's the week before thanksgiving, and I'm giving thanks that a break from work is near. Things have been so hectic that I'm barely able to keep up, and it's beginning to really wear on me. I feel like I'm in constant motion between spending quality time with Madeline and my husband, working and catching up at night, and cooking, cleaning bottles, doing laundry, making food, and generally running myself into the ground.

In all the madness, there are moments that make it all worth it. Today when I got to daycare, I got a very special treat. For the first time ever, when Maddy saw me and grinned, she went from sitting and playing with her toys to crawling over to be with me. It was amazing to get to see her be able to take action and control of what she wanted- just days ago she could only wave her arms and show frustration at not being able to move towards her goal (aka me) and now nothing stopped her. And it's the best feeling in the world to have your child want to be with you so much. It's the moments like this that make all the madness worthwhile.