Emma is slowly recovering from her most recent Gastritis attack. The bleeding usually only lasts a day, but afterward she has some painful abdominal cramping. It is hard to watch. Emma doesnt cry tears very often so you know it is painful. She has started to also change her sleep schedule. She now likes to wake up at 6:00 a.m. and go to bed close to 9 pm. If we get her to take a nap at all during the day it is a short one. I guess this girl has alot to do and doesnt want to miss a thing! Mommy, on the other hand, is not a fan of the new schedule. I love Fall! Football, cooler weather, Holidays approaching.....oh and allergies. Wait! What?! So I love Fall, but my body doesnt. I have been taken over by the wonderful allergies that affect so many Arkansans during this time of year. I need more sleep during this time, but my daughter has decided I need less sleep. ha ha. My husband also loves Fall, mainly because he loves decorating for Halloween. We usually have around 100 trick or treaters. Since having Emma, my perspective has changed on alot of things. Halloween being one of them. See, events like birthday parties and trick or treating is difficult for tubies, as our tube fed, non-oral feeding children are affectionately referred to. It is not just babies that are tube fed. Some older children remain tube fed for various reasons. This Halloween I challenge you to consider having non-edible treats to give out to trick or treaters. Oriental Trading is a great website to order from. Use promo code: CE144561 during check out for free shipping on orders of $49 or more. Go in with a neighbor to buy in bulk and save. Just in case there is a Tubie out there, but also because of the following statistics from the CDC: •-Childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and quadrupled in adolescents in the past 30 years. • •-The percentage of children aged 6–11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to nearly 18% in 2012. Similarly, the percentage of adolescents aged 12–19 years who were obese increased from 5% to nearly 21% over the same period. • •-In 2012, more than one third of children and adolescents were overweight or obese. • Ok, enough with the serious talk. The following is an excerpt from Diary of a Special-Needs Stay at Home Mom (just kidding no diary, just me)..... Tonight I decided to make dinner. Why is this the opening line to this excerpt? Well, making dinner has only happened a handful of times since Emma has been born. The first 9 months of her life, she was in the hospital. The hospital gave us credit to the cafeteria in exchange for me pumping breast milk for our daughter. It was a very good incentive program for people like us. It is hard to keep motivated when you are with a machine several times a day! Especially when most of the time Emma could not even have milk and then it was decided after 9 months that maybe she was allergic to my milk. What?! All that work and she is not even going to benefit from it! Ok, cue the sad violin music. However, I found an agency that would take donor milk for moms that wanted to provide breast milk to their child but could not. SCORE! That made it all worth it! Cue clapping and screaming hip hip hooray! So yes, my boobs bought us many meals during that time. We also had wonderful friends that started a meal train and many wonderful people provided us meals. We will never forget the generosity we received. Ok, so I am getting off track. Tonight I decided to make dinner. So what am I going to make? Well, since I hardly ever get to the grocery store and I never cook...the choices were limited. I found some frozen ground beef. I wonder how long that has been in there? Well, it doesnt look scary so I guess it is safe to eat. Oh and I have some soft taco shells. Now this is where it gets exciting! A meal is starting to come together in my mind! Oh and sour cream! Wow! Wait a minute. What is the expiration date on the sour cream?...Sept 24. That is not that long ago, maybe I can still use it. (She puts nose over container). Oh my! No!!!!! Oh that is awful smelling! Whatever you do, do not throw up. You can keep it together. Think of something nice. The meal must go on! Forget the sour cream. We have one avocado left. That will be nice to add to dinner. (she cuts open avocado. So much disappointment follows that she thinks she may start crying). I just bought that avocado. How can it be bad already?! Ok, no worries avocado is like automatic windows on a car, a nice luxury but not necessary. We have lettuce and tomato. That will be good to go with this wonderful meal that centers around meat that has been in the freezer for who knows how long. (major dilemma arises). If I use the lettuce tonight then we wont have enough for lunch tomorrow. Oh no! Oh well, I already made up my mind. I SAID I AM MAKING DINNER TONIGHT!!!! Whatever it takes!!! (She proceeds to cook meat. Emma is fussing in other room). Ok. I can do this. Whatever you do...do not let this meat burn. It is all you have. Without meat you have no meal. You must protect the meat! (Emma continues to fuss). Two voices appear in brain. One saying, Remember mom that babies must experience all emotions. Happy and sad. They must learn how to self-sooth. She will be fine. She is just fussing because she is lacking from the constant undivided attention you and others have given her since the day she was born. It does not hurt her to play alone for a minute or two. Then the second voice appears. Babies need to feel secure. They need to know that when they fuss, their caregiver is going to tend to their needs. Dont be a refrigerator mom. Oh the choices. What to do, what to do?! (turmoil inside brain) If I tend to her the meat may not make it. We will be having tomato and lettuce in soft shell tacos. Gross! So its decided. She will learn a valuable lesson in patience today. Ok. Yeah, thats right, because I am a mom and moms raise their children to learn all those valuable lessons. (by the time she had reached this conclusion Emma is happily playing with her toys. She goes back to cooking the meat). And..... SUCCESS! It is finished!!! Oh happy dance in the kitchen floor! I have successfully completed a meal while taking care of my daughter and we are both happy. And that is how it is done folks!
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 03:03:37 +0000
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