Mar 31, 2013

Retro

My mom kept several things from my childhood, some of which were some clothes. Most of it Persephone can't wear until she's a little older, but this one particular dress fits her just right and we snapped a couple of photos with her in it :)









Mar 28, 2013

All in one day

I took the day off today to give myself some rest. I had to take Persephone to the doctor anyway. I feel a lot better, but my head has this bruised feeling. The actual pain is gone, but I'm afraid of it happening again. When it hit me at work yesterday I couldn't help but burst into tears. I was so embarrassed, but it is what it is. Seriously...the pain was unbearable. The only comfort I found was holding my breath - why I don't know.

So now that I know I have high blood pressure, I'll do what I need to to help keep it normal (with the help of the lisinopril they put me on.)

Today was a girls day, just me and Persephone. We played some, napped, ate, played some more then went to the pediatrician for her 6mo check up.

She weighs 16lbs 13oz, is 26 3/4" long and her head circumference is 16 3/4". They said her motor skills were great and she looks perfect. She goes back at 9mos and they said she won't get shots again until her 1yr appt - thank god. Even though she did good today with minimal crying, it still hurts my feelings!!!

So here are some photos from today!













Mar 27, 2013

The single worst night of my life

I'm hoping I never ever ever ever have another post with that title.

I've blogged before about having migraines. I've been suffering from them for 7 years. 7 years too long. Over the last 3yrs I have been able to successfully treat them with sumatriptan succinate (generic Imitrex). Sometimes they would reoccur in a couple of days, but I could always count on relief within 20mins of taking the pill (or using the epi-like pen). Last night I was hit with the WORST migraine I've ever had. I can't even begin to put enough emphasis on that sentence. I can now even say it was worse than labor pain - are you saying "yea right"?? Well it's true.

I sat down after giving Persephone a bath and immediately started feeling this pounding/throbbing in my head. At first I thought maybe it was just because I sat down too fast, but it kept on. I was trying to give it a minute or two to fade away, but it didn't. I started crying because the pain was scaring me. I thought my head was about to explode. Normally when I have a migraine it's always on one side of my head or the other, but this pain was literally around the entire top of my head and sometimes the pain would radiate down into my jaw. I was pushing my head with my hands, trying to apply some pressure to relieve the throbbing. I took off downstairs with tears pouring out of my eyes and was scrambling through my purse to try and find my medicine. Hardy was holding Persephone when I made my way into the kitchen and he immediately started freaking out. I took the pill and decided to wait a little while to try and let it kick in. I tried standing, laying down, closing my eyes, opening my eyes...every pain remedy I've used in the past and nothing was working. Finally Hardy suggested we either call 911 or go to the hospital. I was scared, I didn't want to waste money on an ER bill if it wasn't anything major, but he insisted.

Thirty minutes passed and what was once my reliable sumatriptan hadn't relieved ANY pain. It was just past 8:00pm, I was worried about screwing up Persephone's schedule. I tried to talk Hardy into letting a friend drive me and him staying home with Persephone, but he insisted on taking me. I kept thinking about how this was going to screw up her sleep schedule - so selfless, right?

We got to the ER at about 8:20, I signed in and the nurse called me back to get my weight and BP. I should have taken a photo of the BP machine with my phone - it said it was 178/108! I just knew I was dying...I thought this was it, my head is literally killing me. They got me in a room and the doctor came in to see me, he had me do a few cognitive tests to make sure I was functioning then said they would give me a pain shot and send me on my way. The shot was called toradol. By the time we got home, it had kicked in and my head was feeling little to no pain. I went to bed. At 12:45am I woke up to my head pounding again - not nearly as bad as it had been, but enough to make me restless. I ventured downstairs and just sat...tried doing some research online, debating whether or not to take some medicine we had in our cabinet and whether or not it would kill me.

Eventually I called the ER, explained I was in there just 4 short hours ago and the shot had worn off - WHAT CAN I DO?!? She told me to take some ibuprofen as that was basically what toradol was. So I took 800mg and paired it with 2 benadryl. I finally dosed off....

I woke up this morning feeling extremely sleepy, for obvious reasons, but my head feels alright. My neck is so sore from all the ways I was twisting and turning it to try and relieve the pain last night, and my head almost feels bruised from how hard it was pounding. The doctor in the ER didn't seem alarmed, just told me to get in touch with my doctor if this headache persisted into today. I will tell all of you, migraines are serious. I've heard people say they have them, but they just toss the word around because their headache won't go away. I do not wish this pain on anyone (maybe bad people who deserve it). If I could have just cut a hole open in my skull to help relieve the pounding I was close to it. I hope I never have to experience that again. In my entire adult life I've never had to go to the ER for myself. It freaked me out, made so many thoughts race through my already crippling head.

Of course I'm glad it's nothing major - at least I sure hope it isn't. But I'm pissed that I had to throw $200 on a credit card to visit the ER and the shot didn't even help me through the night.


*****Update

At about 1:30 this afternoon the crazy migraine came back. Caught me at work and it crippled me. The only relief I found was when I held my breath. A coworker drove me back to the ER where this time they ran bloodwork, did a ct scan, gave me an IV of zofran, toradol and demoral. Everything came back "normal", but my blood pressure was sky high in the 170's/100's just like last night. The doctor was so sweet and thorough and diagnosed me with hypertension (high blood pressure). Gave me a prescription of 5mg lisinopril and told me to follow up with a neurologist about my migraines. She said migraines and high blood pressure are the perfect storm and just feed off one another making for a horrible migraine. Please keep me in your thoughts, prayers, dreams or even poems...hell I don't care. I'm just ready to feel normal again.

Growing up

Babies grow fast, REAL FAST. When people tell you to cherish every moment, definitely listen. I'm still amazed at how one day changes from the next.

I'm almost positive she's cutting her first tooth/teeth. Last Thursday we came home to a cranky baby with a runny/stuffy nose. I was even asking myself who this baby was. She's been so sweet and perfect up to now and literally on the day she turned 6mos old she had us worried and clueless. I made a call into her doctor who asked me about 60 questions - in the end she suggested saline spray in her nose, Tylenol for fussiness and getting a humidifier. We did this ALL.WEEKEND.LONG.

Between her being out of character, being fussy, stressing us out and then us getting stressed at each other I'm surprised Hardy and I left the same house Monday to go to work lol. I laugh now, but really I thought we were going to kill each other.

She dropped the runny/stuffy nose by Sunday, but was still fussy and refusing to eat an entire bottle. Her drool doubled by Sunday and was sooo messy. While we have started introducing solids via baby led weaning she's still in the learning stages and isn't actually swallowing pieces of food (not intentionally anyway). So we were freaking out that she would get dehydrated from not enough fluid.

She never ran a fever, but the Tylenol did seen to help with her irritability.

So here we are 5 days in and still no toofer visible. But I'm sure it'll rear itself soon. I did manage to catch some cute photos of her over the weekend during her "pleasant" moments.



















Mar 21, 2013

6 months old!!!!!!!

This post deserved multiple exclaimations!

The other day I had to purge my cell phone of pictures (again) because it was taking up too much space. On my 3GS, I had 800 something photo/video files and although it wouldn't let me add music or download any new apps, it still allowed me to keep taking pictures. In February I upgraded to the 4 (it was $0.99 with another 2yr contract) and I only had 300 photo/video files and it kept telling me I didn't have space to keep taking more.
Each time I back my phone up, I'm taken aback by how many photos of Persephone we have taken since she was born. But then I'm thankful because I want to to be able to remember as many moments as I possibly can. I wonder sometimes if people get sick of my many postings on Facebook/Instagram, but then I figure they'll just block me/unfriend me if they don't like it.
 
 
At 3:52am Miss Persephone turned 6 months old! HALF A YEAR. I can't believe 6 months ago I was pushing a baby out...then seeing her for the first time, hearing her cry for the first time, smelling her for the first time.
 
I say it every month, but where has the time gone? I can't help but play Jim Croce's Time in A Bottle in my head.
If I could save time in a bottle
The first thing that I'd like to do
Is to save every day
Till Eternity passes away
Just to spend them with you

If I could make days last forever
If words could make wishes come true
I'd save every day like a treasure and then,
Again, I would spend them with you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with

If I had a box just for wishes
And dreams that had never come true
The box would be empty
Except for the memory
Of how they were answered by you

But there never seems to be enough time
To do the things you want to do
Once you find them
I've looked around enough to know
That you're the one I want to go
Through time with
So let's recap
As a working mom, you have no idea how little time you actually spend with your child after work until you have one. I swear at most we get 4hrs a day with her from the time she wakes up until the time she goes to bed. I end up letting my house go to spend time with this sweet baby girl. 
Persephone has been rolling from her back to her belly from both sides. She can also roll from her belly to her back. She can't fully sit on her own unsupported, but I've been working to help her every chance I get. I still have the high mattress on her pack 'n play, so after I change her diaper and/or clothes...I always sit her up and curl her fingers around the edge so she can grip it and hold herself up. 
 
She has this chair which she loves.  Only hers is pink with a teal/purple seat.
 
You can put the table on or take it off and it grows with her. The table spins so she can have access to all of the toys.  She especially likes to try and eat the butterfly and bee.
 
 
She's still eating about 5 times a day - 6oz each feed.
Two weeks ago we bought her this Fisher Price hair chair
 
so she can start sitting at the table with us and get the hang of dinner time being family time. It's PERFECT for us.  She sits high enough to see the table and us eating from our own plates.  We decided to do baby-lead weaning, which so far I love. She's not actually eating the foods yet, but she's certainly shown an interest in the foods she's offered without a hitch.  In just the short time we've implented this I can already tell her "grabbing" skills have improved.  
 
She's still sleeping through the night, only making some noises at times.  This morning in fact, at about 2am I heard her giggling and cooing.  For sure there has to be a ghost in her room, right?!  I've been naughty and I almost always go grab her from her crib and bring her to our bed at some point before Hardy wakes up for work.  I can't help it, I love snuggling with her....and because we have so little time with her after work, I want that bond with her.  I know I know, I've heard it all...I'm setting myself up bla bla bla.  Oh well - I'll either stop doing it or I'll keep doing it and in 2yrs I'll be bitching about not having our bed to ourselves anymore.  But its my life :)
 
I'm so happy she loves baths.  It's so much fun to watch her kick her legs and splash and squeal.
 
 
 
Her 6 month appointment isn't until next week so I don't have her growth details yet.  I'm NOT looking forward to all those shots.  Hopefully she won't associate Mommy with shots haha.
 
I would like to say that Hardy has been a phenomenal Dad.  Although it took him about 2 weeks before he would change a shit diaper - he has never disappointed.  He feeds her, changes her diapers, changes her clothes, soothes her, gets her to sleep.....it always makes me melt when I see him interact with her.  Funny seeing myself type that, when just over a year ago I was complaining about him being vocal about NOT wanting kids.
 



This smile never gets old...

 
Stretch 

I put these on her real quick for a photo op at Target a few weeks ago




 
First time swinging...well modified anyway :)


 
 

Mar 15, 2013

LOL

Some of you may not share the same sense of humor as I do, but these are some videos I saw on Facebook recently that made me laugh out loud.

Baby dancing to Beyonce's Put A Ring On It

A cute little dwarf goat who will jump on anything, even his peers..
 
 
A french bulldog afraid of a cat....who's the scaredy cat now?!

 
 
A Harlem Shake video...I know these are getting old quick, but I'm addicted to watching them and seeing how dumb people are. I can't stop laughing at the guy punching the giraffe...

Mar 14, 2013

In a slump

It's been almost a month since I've posted anything.

Truth is I just don't have anything (that I feel) is worth posting about.  Of course I could plaster pictures of Persephone all over here, but most of you are either friends with me on Facebook or follow me on Instagram (or both) and already see the photos I would most likely share on here.

So....that's all I have.

I will for sure post an update next week as Persephone will be a whopping 6 months old!!  Half a year has already flown by us.  WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?!