Maternity Leave: Week 4

Kyle came down with a stomach bug between my third and forth week of maternity leave, which of course he passed on to Chris and I, which then turned into a nasty head/sinus cold, which he then passed on to me, so basically we've been operating a sick house for the past two weeks. Yuck. Here are a few shots of what we did in order to have a little fun in spite of it all.

Uncle Tom made a cozy penguin blanket for Kyle. So warm :)

My angel making snow angels.

It's hard to keep a boy inside. Even a sick boy.

"Because I have a brother, I always have a friend".

Art class painting.

Art class clay and glitter work.

Building skyscrapers in the living room.

He requested pancakes for dinner more than once last week.

Blizzard of 2015: 2/1/15

Tunnel fun.

Sick boy mug shot :(

Watching the Super Bowl with Daddy.

Cousin Jimmy and the New England Patriots are #1. Congrats, Jimmy :)

Happy Birthday, Steph!

Friday night, my longtime friend Allison and I went out to celebrate the 31st birthday of our other longtime friend, Stephanie. She always hosts a little get-together at Lincoln Karaoke in honor of her birthday. Since I've had a head cold all week, and am due pretty much any day now, I only stayed until 10pm, but it was still fun to sing some Train songs with some of my best buds.

Summer Cold Virus

Two weeks ago, Kyle was really sick (104 temp and sore throat) with what ended being some sort of virus. As soon as he got better, I took over. I haven't had a fever, but my throat has been sore for over a week. I finally went to see my doctor yesterday, and she told me to drink plenty of tea, gargle, cough drops, etc. (simple home remedies). Last night, while watching the season finally of the Bachelorette, I took her advice and had plenty of decaffinated tea in one of my gramma's old Swedish mugs - one of my favorites! Warmed me right up :)

This morning we entered Kyle in a hospital photo contest. Contestants need to post pictures of their child with their favorite get well pal. Winners are rewarded with a zoo membership. Check out Kyle with his Big Baby, Little Baby, and Go Illini blanket. We'll see what happens.

Vote Daily through 8/22: http://www.advocatechildrenshospital.com/ach/getwellpals/

Sick Boy

After a week in the 100+ fever range, loads of coughing, a million runny noses, and a round of chest x-rays at the hospital, Kyle was diagnosed with bronchitis last Friday. Antibiotics, steam room bathrooms, and plenty of sleep, liquids, and Woody/Buzz have helped make him a happy boy again.

Laundry Time!

I've had a 102.4 temp since Tuesday afternoon, as well as a throat infection. Ugh. It's no fun being home sick, especially when you have a little one who depends on you so much. Luckily Chris was home with me on Wednesday, and my mom was here yesterday. While she was over, Ky helped her do a little laundry while Mommy kept her distance and tried to get better. It looks like the two of them had way more fun than I ever have doing laundry! Maybe Ky will have to help me out more often ;)

Well, I'm on antibiotics now, so I'm going to suck it up and go into work today. I hate using too many days because you never know when you'll really need them ...

Sick Boy :(

Last night, just as we were getting ready to pack up Kyle and head out to dinner with cousins Sean, Kelly, and Ryan, Kyle surprised us by throwing up for the first time ever, pretty much out of nowhere, pretty much everywhere. We held him over the sink, as his last meal came pouring out. Chris called the on call doctor. She told him that since Kyle didn't seem to have a temperature, we should not give him any medicine. She diagnosed him with the 24 hour stomach bug that's been going around. He must have caught a dash of whatever all his Loyola friends have had all week. Not fun at all. Sean, Kelly, and Ryan were nice enough to order pizza to go. They brought them over and we had a nice dinner in instead. Kyle seemed to perk up as soon as they arrived, making it look like he wasn't even sick at all. That loveable little stinker. Glad to see he was all smiles for company ;)

Play Time

Since Ky's been a little sickie this week, we've been pretty housebound, just trying to have as much fun as we can hanging out in our living room, sitting in our big boy chair, smiling for the camera ;)

Sick Chick :(

Since about last Monday, Kyle's been a little under the weather. No fever, but plenty of sniffles, congestion, and little runny noses. Poor Ky Ky. Since we've witnessed that famous lower lip of his surface more than normal this week, we decided it was as good a time as any to bust out his elephant humidifier to help soothe our little guy and get him back into tip top shape. Feel better Sweet Boy!

Chickie sure is One Cute CUC!

I can hardly believe it's been 30 weeks already! Sometimes it feels like I've been pregnant for years, and other times it feels surreal that my little cucumber will be fully cooked and ready to play with everybody just 10 short weeks from now! 10 weeks is still a lot of time - over 2 months - but it definitely feels good to have made it this far and to know that we're in the home stretch. This week was a little off for me. My mom and I went shopping on Tuesday at THE CUTEST baby store in town (which I really do enjoy, but won't name here, and you'll see why in a second). Strange enough, while I was bent over looking at some awesome Ergo Babies, a whole shelf of something heavy came toppling down on the back of my head. My usual clumsy self didn't even touch any of it. The store owner was very nice and rushed over to make sure I was okay. I didn't want to cause any trouble since she had been so nice, so I ended up buying this beautiful black and camel Ergo (which I LOVE), but left the store more than a little shaken up.

After an hour nap on my parents' couch I felt better, but that night brought on THE WORST migraine ever! I couldn't sleep more than 10 minutes here and there because I can't lay on my stomach these days and the back of my head was killing me. From about 1 am - 5 am, I came out to the living room and laid down on the couch with packs of frozen veggies literally surrounding all sides of my head. I finally caved and took a couple of Tylenol around 5:30. The Tylenol really seemed to help ... that and a nice hot shower, some Mickey D's for lunch (thanks Robo and Gramma!), a few hours of "Property Virgins", and free pie Wednesday at Baker Square with Sean ;) My head still hurts a little bit here and there, but it's very VERY minimal compared to how I felt Tuesday night. I have my next doctor's appointment this coming Tuesday, so if my head still hurts at that point, I'll probably ask if there's anything else I should be doing.

And now for more fun Chickie Updates!!! ...

• Chris and I opened a savings account for Chickie! Maybe, with any luck, a semester or two of college will be in Chickie's cards by 2030 ... :)
• Chickie's book recommendations of the week: Goodnight Moon and Elmo's Guessing Game (*both books received 5 solid kicks ... the highest rating there is!)
• In fact, Chickie is continuing to kick all the time, especially when I'm lying down.
• Chickie's somewhere around 3 lbs (which means that at least 3 of the extra lbs I've been carrying around lately is NOT me! really it's not)
• Chickie's brain is really starting to take shape and is even capable of regulating body temperature.

Sick Chick :(

Sometime between Thursday and Friday, Chickie and I managed to catch that 24 - 48 Cold/Flu that's going around. At first I thought it was just my allergies acting up, but yesterday, struggling to get through 8 hours of work was probably the very pit of my pregnancy thus far. I had constant chills and sweats, my nose was itchy and stuffed all day long, my legs and lower back ached to the point that it was painful to walk, and my eyes had to fight to stay open. I pretty much spent the day counting down the minutes, and when the bell rang at the end of the day I jumped in my car, stopped at Dominick's for some OJ and diet 7 UP, and literally wrapped myself in a blanket and crashed on the couch. Chris had an event after work, so when his train came in around 8:20, I met him at the Walgreens near the station to buy a thermometer and Tylenol. Both times I took my temperature, it was around 100.4, so I decided to call the on-call doctor. She confirmed that I probably did catch the bug that's going around and that as long as I wasn't experiencing any stomach pains or bleeding I should take two regular strength Tylenol, drink plenty of fluids, and get plenty of rest. Although I was very hesitant to take the Tylenol since I hadn't taken any medication throughout the first 28 weeks of my pregnancy, she explained that they recommend Tylenol to pregnant women all the time, and that the best thing for me to do would be to break the temperature so that Chickie doesn't overheat. I followed her instructions and did get a pretty good night's sleep last night. So far this morning I still have a stuffy nose and some sweats, but my legs and lower back feel better, and I haven't had any major chills yet. It doesn't seem like I have a temperature right now so I'm going to hold off on taking any more Tylenol. Last night I had only liquids and canned fruit for dinner. The very thought of anything else made me completely nauseous. Thankfully my appetite seems to be back today. I'm sad that I'm missing out on this beautiful holiday weekend, but hopefully Chickie and I will be back to our normal selves by Monday!