Mallory, Ethan and I are in Elberton with my folks for the next few days as Patrick is in Nashville on business. We arrived here on Friday night and Patrick left yesterday for Nashville. Our plans changed a bazillion times, though, as we dealt with yet ANOTHER sick little girl.
Saturday dawned (yes, DAWNED) with awake children, even though they only had a few hours of sleep. Mallory usually does very well at Grandma and Grandpa's, but when her Aunt Amanda, Uncle David and Aunt Teresa (well, actually my cousin...and Mallory's second cousin once removed...) made an appearence she was a bit overwhelmed. There was so much oooing and ahhing over the kids, so much excitement over the Wii my dad got, so much excitement over family time that I think Mallory got overwhelmed. But, mommy didn't really see it. We packed the kids up about 10:30 to take them to an Emu festival (um, an Emu festival, you may ask? I'll explain later...) though Mallory probably needed a nap. I pushed Mallory's limits and later that afternoon, the vomitting began. She couldn't keep anything in her tummy, poor girl. And on Sunday, with more running around, getting ready for church and the Mother's Day/ birthday celebration, there was more vomitting. She had no other symptoms, so we made our own speculations on what was wrong. But when she woke up from a dead sleep that night vomitting again, we called the nurse and got her opinion. She didn't think anything was wrong with Mallory, she just thought she might be over-tired and anxious about her surroundings (which is what we thought). She did fine for the remainder of the night and yesterday morning. We were on the phone with the Ped that morning, who perscribed an anti-nausea suppository (yes, suppository) which Mallory has been handling very well. We were preparing to head back to JC in case the Ped thought she needed to be seen immediately, but they thought she was fine.
My dilemma was that if we went back home, Patrick was going to leave for Nashville the next day and I would have to deal with Mallory on my own with only 4 hrs of sleep under my belt for the last 3 nights. The lack of sleep and stress was drastically effecting my milk supply for Ethan, which became another element of stress. I knew that if I went home, the stress would have escalated and my precious milk would dwindle and my patience with the kids would probably be strained. But, I knew that if I stayed here, there could be a chance that Mallory would get worse and I had no way of getting home until Wed night. Patrick and I stressed and worried about our decision until we finally agreed it was best that I stayed here to get rest and have help from my mother. And if Mallory got worse or vomitted again, I promised to take her to the DR here. So, as soon as Patrick left, I took a 2 hour nap and felt 500% better. And my milk supply is back to normal. And Mallory is doing MUCH better (just very tired from the drug). She's kept what she's eaten safe and sound in her tummy.
So, Patrick called me when he got to Nashville saying he wasn't feeling good, so he went to bed early, only waking an hour later to vomitting and, well, you know...the "other" stuff. He had a few bouts of that during the night. Poor guy. He's been exhausted, too, and I'm sure very stressed about what the best decision was for the family. He called me this morning saying he's feeling much better, though VERY tired. I hope that he gets some rest and doesn't over-do it. He wasn't required to do much today in Nashville, it's tomorrow that is his primary responsibility. So, I'm hoping that he's resting. Rest, rest, rest.
Anyway, to put an end to this long story, I'm making an appt for the kids to see the dr. on Thurs. Mallory has been sick a lot these last few months and I want her to have a visit. Ethan, too, since his nose is starting to run AGAIN. It's stressful having sick kiddos. It's the pits.
Keep us all in your prayers. I'm glad to have the help of my sacrificial mother. It's going to be nice to have this time with her and I think the quietness of the house is a balming effect to Mallory, who has trouble with large crowds in the first place. Pray that the DR appt on Thurs will have good results and that our suppositions about the cause of the sickness is just that...overtiredness and anxiousness.
So, Mother's Day and my birthday were a bit stressful. Our celebration was interrupted a bit, but it was nice just the same. VERY memorable.
We had a great 4th with friends and family. Gram and Pops came to visit us for a few days and they embarked on all of our 4th activities with us. We enjoyed a parade in Jonesborough on Friday in addition to a carnival at our church in the early evening. We then sat on our back porch and had a panoramic view of fireworks, much like we enjoyed last year. On Saturday, I enjoyed a quiet breakfast with one of my good friends here while Patrick started smoking a pork, which cooked all day for us to enjoy later in the evening with friends and family. My mother-in-law took me shopping on Saturday afternoon and bought me a few new clothes, which was a huge treat for me. Today, we spent a wonderful morning a church, lunch with friends, and a quiet afternoon at home watching Nadal win the Wimbelton Championship. It's been one of the best weekends we've had in a long time. Here are just a few of my favorite pics. I'll have to post more later after the children go to bed...
Here is Aunt Amanda with the kids.
Now, if you're looking at his outfit saying "Gosh, Mel, did you go out in public with him in THAT outfit??? It looks so old fashioned!". Well, no, I did not go out in public with him in that outfit. And I probably won't because it IS so old fashioned. BUT, it was Patrick's when he was a baby. Well, Patrick was more like a toddler when he wore this romper, since it's an 18 month outfit and Patrick was small for a baby. And the words "Ethan" and "small" should NOT be in the same sentence. Anyway, this post is for Gram. I am putting E in some of Patrick's clothes...while we're at home. :-)
