Nearing 5 Months

Not a whole lot to report. My parents came down for a visit this weekend. So J and I went to see the movie "Definitely, Maybe" and had a late lunch afterwards. Movie was decent...not great but entertaining enough. It was extremely nice to get out and have some time alone w/ J. Lately I've been trying to just get out of the house more. Last week I took the boys on a walk almost everyday. It just breaks up the day which I find important b/c sometimes my days blur together with the endless 3-4 hour cycles of care that repeat over and over.

Now I enjoy "field trips" of my choosing for an errand or to get a coffee at Starbucks, but the medical appts are becoming daunting. The pediatrician we have is very cautious and I appreciate that. But what comes along with that is lot of visits to specialists to play it on the safe side. I pretty much set myself up for all of these appts when I express worry and anxiety over every tiny thing that has to do with the boys. So for example, I started to notice that Andrew has the start of a little flattening on the back of his head. So that led to seeing a specialist to see if he needed a helmet to correct whats called flat head syndrome. The pediatrician said it was very minor and he doubted that we would even be considered a candidate for a helmet but I had to be sure. I don't exactly want my kid walking around w/ a deformed head because I don't do tummy time enough. So the specialist pretty much laughed at me and said we in no way needed to be there and that Andrew looks great.... but that he'd have me come back in a month to reassure me that it hasn't gotten worse. More examples include the worry that Andrew looks one direction more than the other...so that lead to physical therapy 2x week to strengthen his neck muscles. Physical therapist said its very minor but we'll work on it to be on the safe side. And can I say that physical therapy w/ a baby is ridiculous. He kept crying and all she did was hand him back to me b/c she couldn't get him calm enough to do any exercises. Another example... Andrew has the kidney reflux and that is hereditary which means Matthew has a 40% chance of having it. This signed me up for more appts at Valley Children's hospital to have Matthew tested. The list goes on and on. So am I being paranoid or a very good and protective mother. Maybe a little of both I think.

On my medical front...I have the start of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. I've been waking up w/ my fingers and palm all numb and tingly. Like my hand is asleep and it shakes off within 5 mins of waking but when I mentioned this to my doctor she immediately said it's Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and that I need to start wearing a wrist brace at night so it doesn't get any worse. It's probably due to the fact that I'm carrying around a baby for most of the day. I have one of them constantly propped up on my shoulder.

Doctor also wants me to try *Ela.vil out for my chronic headaches. This is an anti-depressant but its prescribed sometimes for headache suffers. She said she's found it to be successful at helping many of her patients. I'm not thrilled. I just don't like the idea of being on an anti-depressant (when I'm not depressed) and all the side effects that usually go along w/ those.



J and I


Our Family