Hey folks. I'm in the final lingering stages of a pretty nasty cold. I mention this not only to explain why it's been so gorram long since my last post, but also to explain why it might seem a bit... off. Since it's also a major theme throughout this post, it serves as a pretty good introduction too.
Wow. I just looked at the last post I made. Much has happened since then.
So, Labor Day Weekend was momentous. It began with a trip to the FedEx depot and ended with a trip to Nighttime Pediatrics. I'll get into the FedEx stuff in a bit. For now, I'm focusing on the NP thing.
PrettyGirl was fussy that weekend. A grump-a-wump, if you will. She had been wheezy since her doctor's visit, and pretty much everybody said that immunizations can cause congestion, so we weren't overly worried.
But by Monday, she was transcending grumpiness and entering into what appeared at times to be pure misery. An example that comes immediately to mind, no doubt because the memory of it is seared into my psyche now, is hearing her wake up from a nap. I was just sitting there at my new computer when I heard an air raid siren, coming from the playpen, slowly rise in volume and segue into a full-out sobbing wail. I assumed at the time that she was just upset about having been fooled into sleeping (she's not a fan of the playpen naps, y'see,) so I picked her up and assured her that everything was A-OK. She didn't seem to buy that.
She couldn't be consoled, and it wasn't time to eat yet, so I finally put her in the stroller and took her out for a walk in the neighborhood. She complained briefly, and then went to sleep. It was pretty hot out, and I was sweating pretty hard. Thus, when we finished our walk, and PG started crying again, I figured she was thirsty from the heat and needed some milk.
But PG flat-out refused to suck on anything, and indeed seemed to find the prospect of eating to be most upsetting. That's when we called the doctor.
The doctor told us to take PG to Nighttime Pediatrics right away. It takes a lot to get a baby to refuse food, so the doc definitely saw that as a red flag.
After a somewhat labyrinthine process, I finally secured an appointment for 8:20 (it was a little before 7:00 at this point.) Shortly after doing so, PG decided that eating was a good idea after all, and she calmed down a lot. We wondered if maybe we should cancel the appointment, but further decided that we would probably have to put as much effort into canceling the appointment as we did to make the appointment in the first place. Besides, if PG had refused milk once already, it was entirely possible that she'd do it again.
So we went to Nighttime Pediatrics and waited a while before being sent to a room. On the way to the room, we saw Finding Nemo playing on a TV in the hall. We turned the corner and saw another TV showing Finding Nemo. We went into our assigned room, and our Finding Nemo enjoyment continued uninterrupted.
Eventually, a nurse came in and weighed PG, took her temperature (using some sort of superthermometer that gets the temperature in only about a second) and got the basics of what was going on. She told us that the doctor had some sutures to take care of but would be with us as soon as he was done. So apparently someone else's kid was having a worse night than ours.
The doctor finally came in, and, of course, PG acted like there was nothing wrong with her. Instead, she got all flirty with the doctor, and just seemed to be enjoying her lot in life at that moment. The doctor joked that he was just that good, healing babies just by looking at them.
We gave the doctor some more details (been sounding congested, been waking up several times in the night all upset, etc.) and he whipped out the ol' ear scope thingy, stuck it in her ear, and said "yep, she's got an ear infection."
We totally didn't see that one coming.
A look at her throat confirmed it: PG had a cold and a sore throat (complete with slightly swollen and white-dotted tonsils,) which had led to an ear infection. There wasn't much he could do for the cold, but he gave us a prescription for antibiotics for her ear infection. This was just lovely, considering she was already taking the ringworm medication, which she hates with a passion that knows no bounds. The doctor gave us some pointers on how to get her to swallow medicine (stick the dropper way in there, and blow in her face,) though, so we thought we might have a chance at getting anything in her.
Since PG is on Kaiser Permanente (for now) insurance, we were one of the unlucky few who could not fill our prescription right there at the facility. So we went to our local pharmacy, with a stop at Burger King to pick up some long-overdue dinner, and placed the prescription. We went back home, I gave PG some bottle milk, which she willingly drank, and M went back out to get the medication.
PG and I waited about 45 minutes for M to get back (the doctor had neglected to specify how much to give us, so she had to wait for the pharmacy to get that info... she eventually gave up and waited until the next day to get it.) While we waited, I finally ate my Burger King, though I had to sing to PG in between bites to keep her happy. After a while, she calmed down, I finished my chicken sandwich in peace, and then we just sat and stared at each other. Apparently satisfied that Daddy was keeping an eye on her, PG fell asleep in her swing. It was 10:45 PM. She barely stirred when we took her upstairs and put her to bed. That's how I remember it now, 12 days later, anyway. And I'm not going to bother thinking back to make sure I'm remembering it correctly. I like this memory better.
The next day, PG slept a lot. Since she didn't have a fever, we got the OK from Nikki to take her to daycare, so she slept despite all the noise from the other kids.
After that, she was fairly good natured. Except when medicine time came. With both ringworm medicine and antibiotics to deal with, it wasn't pleasant. PG is like a 'gator when it comes to clamping down her mouth. After a day or two, M found out that she could mix the antibiotics with milk, so we started giving PG a little "strawberry milk" (the antibiotic was pink, y'see) from a bottle before moving her along to the direct Mommie source for the rest of her wake-up and bedtime feedings. Worked like a charm. The ringworm meds continued to be a sticking point (often resulting in a sticky face,) however.
I was finally able to get PG to take the ringworm meds by blowing rather hard in her face. The concept there is that she has to swallow to free up her mouth to breathe, which becomes a bit of an urgent matter, since Daddy's putting a whole mess o' carbon dioxide where oxygen is supposed to be. Unfortunately, I could only continue the practice for so long, because I got sick on Friday (the 7th) and didn't want to risk getting PG sick too. Blowing in one's face can be a good way to give them your sickness, I reckon. Although, I probably had gotten the germs from her in the first place.
I ended up getting pretty much exactly what PG had. Stopped up sinuses. Sore throat (also with the tonsil thing... the one thing that remains now.) No ear infection, so I had that going for me, at least. I took off work on Monday and ended up taking Thursday off too to see the doctor about a sudden onset of pink eye that hit me out of nowhere on my way to class from work Wednesday night. I'm not sure if I got that from PG too. She hasn't shown any signs of it, and I started avoiding her to make sure it stays that way.
PG had a follow-up appointment with her usual doctor Friday morning, and she checks out A-OK! I also got the green light to hold her, so long as I maintain responsible hand washing habits. That will not be a problem with me.
She also gained two pounds in the two and a half weeks since her last appointment. Growing baby!
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Now then, back to the FedEx thing. The expected Friday or Tuesday arrival of my new Dell ended up actually being Thursday, a day early. I discovered this when I got an alert e-mail from FedEx, letting me know that delivery failed because nobody was home to sign for it.
I was given two options. I could do nothing, and the driver would come back the next day and try again. Someone would have to be there to sign for it, of course. That wasn't going to happen. The other option was sign a slip giving the driver permission to leave the $1,900 computer system, with "DELL" written on the side of the boxes, on my front porch all day. Um, nope.
So I called FedEx to see if I could just pick it up on my way home. UPS has a conveniently located facility where you can pick up your package the very same day during convenient nighttime hours (well, until 8 or so, but that's still convenient for me,) so I figured FedEx would have one too.
FedEx did indeed have a facility for picking up stuff. But you couldn't get it the same day the driver tried to deliver it; you had to order a Hold on the package, effective the next day. And the facility is on the other side of town. And it closes at 4:30. I work 70 miles away from home and about 90 miles away from the FedEx facility. How lovely.
After much grasping for ways I could get my Dell anytime soon (after feeling out my boss, I established that leaving work extra-early on Friday would not be among them,) it finally dawned on me to see if the facility was open on Saturdays. Sure enough, it was! So the whole family took a trip to the east side of Baltimore on Saturday morning to pick up my computer, which I ended up not setting up for another day because I wasn't done clearing out my old computer.
Vista has, so far, not given me too many problems. I had read up on issues with the programs and games I usually use, so I was able to nip problems in the bud right away. Overall, I like Vista.
I also like my 24" widescreen flat panel monitor. It's kewl.
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There are other odds and ends to mention, but I think I'll leave it at this for now.
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