Doctor's Rounds

After AY was born and with everything else going on, I kind of fell behind on my doctor's appointments. I still did the well-visits with the pediatrician but some of the other stuff got put on the back burner.
After Pessach, I decided to work on my ever growing list and  started scheduling appointments at the rate of about one a week. I also scheduled myself for some way overdue visits.
So far I took M. and A. to the dentist, then Y to the dentist on a separate trip, myself to an internist for a physical and today, Y went to see the ENT. Next week AY has a well-visit and then Y is due for one at the end of June when he turns 7 (!!).  In addition, I scheduled a dental cleaning for myself and also want to see an ophthalmologist and dermatologist.
It feels a bit overwhelming.  Most visits take the whole morning and by the time I am done, it is already time to pick M up from pre-school. It definitely cuts into my free time and the time I use for errands and other stuff that needs to get done. But I am trying to just do one appointment at a time.
 I figure by the time I am done with all the visits, it may be time to schedule new ones :) I am especially trying to prioritize  my own doctor's appointments. Taking care of four little ones takes a lot out of you and in order to care for them effectively, I need to be functioning well. That is also why I finally started taking the multi-vitamin I was supposed to have been taking for months.Slowly, slowly, we are making progress.

House of Sick

It has been quite an eventful ten days on the illness front. We were lucky enough to have had a pretty easy winter with the kids, but now that it is spring, the germs are flying full force.
It all started on Shabbos, the last day of Pessach. After a sleepless night of A. crying and screaming that her ear hurts, the doctor diagnosed her with strep. The antibiotics worked their magic and within 24 hours she was feeling better.
 A few days later, on Tuesday, we had another sleepless night, this time with Baby AY. A visit to the pediatrician the next morning yielded a diagnosis of an ear infection and yet more antibiotics. The poor baby was so miserable and had a high fever that Tylenol would not bring down. I spent almost a full day wearing him in the ergo, as he whimpered and slept. The antibiotics did the trick for him too after about 24 hours.
I thought we had finally made it through, when Y. fell asleep at the dinner table on Sunday night at 5 pm, which was unusual. Even though he felt warm like he had a fever, he was nice enough not to cause us another sleepless night.

Y asleep at the dinner table

The next morning he told us he was sick and could not go to school. I was a bit skeptical that he had anything serious beyond a cough and runny nose, but off we went again to the pediatrician. I jokingly asked them if they have a "pay for 2 doctor's visits, get the third one free"-offer. Alas, I had to pay the $25 co-pay again. I left the doctor with yet another prescription for amoxicillin to treat strep throat. It was kind of funny to see how dramatic A was about her sore throat, whereas Y was pretty chilled out and barely complained. In general they have very different temperaments.
I am pretty amazed that M has not caught anything yet and I am kind of holding my breath to see if he develops anything over the next few days. I myself had a nice cough and lost my voice for a few days, but I am feeling better. I guess this kind of thing is inevitable in a large family. We do wash our hands and use hand sanitizer but there is only so much you can do.
Now I am trying to keep all the pink bottles in our fridge straight and  am seriously hoping that I do not need to go back to the pediatrician anymore this week. Wish me luck!!

Medical Update

Apparently we were wrong about Y's finger. His cut was pretty bad, according to the surgeon. He had to put in several stitches on the finger, as well as having to remove the finger nail and stitch up a laceration there as well. He wrapped a big bandage around Y's wrist and finger so that he can't bend it. We need to keep it clean and dry and come back on Friday to change the bandage.
It took quite a while and for about 40 minutes an office assistant, my husband, and I had to hold poor Y down so the doctor could properly suture him. We tried to get him to cooperate with the help of an iPad and promises of ice-cream but most of the time he was crying "don't hurt me" and that he wanted to "go home". To say that it was not pleasant is an understatement. Thank goodness for this amazingly talented and patient plastic surgeon. And a shout-out to my supportive husband who took the morning off to help out at the doctor's office. I am not sure how we would have done it without you!
When we  finally finished, we decided to skip school and give Y the rest of the day off, so we came home where he had his promised ice-cream and spent the rest of the day hanging out on the couch, watching too many videos. I felt like I deserved a reward too, or maybe an alcoholic drink. I made do with lunch and some ice-cream later on in the afternoon.
Kids are pretty resilient and Y seems to be doing alright, although he does not want anyone going near his hand. We did have some drama at bedtime though. He did not want to take his shirt off or put on his pajama-top, because it involved pulling the hand in and out of a sleeve. Eventually it got done.
He will also be going back to school tomorrow. He uses his right hand for coloring/writing so I am hoping the bandage won't be too limiting. And that, my friends, was my exciting morning...here's hoping tomorrow is calmer.
On a more somber note: Yesterday, the 18th of Cheshvan was also the first Yahrzeit of Jenny Morhaim, Ruchama Shaindel bat Henya Gittel Miriam, a former roommate and friend who died tragically and suddenly last year at the age of 27, leaving a husband and three children behind. Here are some thoughts I posted about her last year. May her neshama have an aliya and her memory be for a blessing.

Marriage is good for your health

That's what the NY Times claims anyway. The article quotes several studies that show that people in happy marriages have lower rates of heart disease, heal faster and are generally healthier. They compared married people to people who were single and divorced in their studies. The key is obviously not just to be married but to be happily married.
I find this fascinating because it reinforces yet again what we intuitively know and is now slowly being proven- how strong the mind-body connection is and its effects in many realms, particularly relationships. Being in a healthy relationship will affect your physical well being. So will your level of contentment at work and many other aspects of your life.
Similarly, in childbirth (admit it- you knew I was going to go there..) our state of mind is very important. If a woman feel confident in her ability to birth, supported by her partner and doula and generally calm, it will affect the physical aspect of her labor. Her body will respond positively to the positive messages her brain is sending. Makes sense, no? That's my brilliant thought for the day. Check out the article- it's interesting and worth a read.

Taking care of myself so I can care for others

I have to admit that my eating habits need some work at the moment. While I love salads, fruit and other good stuff, both the mommy and doula lifestyle often necessitate a "eat and run" kind of diet. Or the "snack all day" diet. Neither of which are particularly healthy. And I am starting to feel the effects. I gained a few pounds. Last week I had a splitting headache that pretty much killed an entire day. I think I was dehydrated. Another day I had a stomach cramp probably due to an overdose of chocolate. My body is telling me to stop abusing it :)
I have decided to listen. Not just for my own sake but for others as well. The day that I was sick, I had to cancel Y's therapy sessions and find a last minute sitter so I could sleep.
I can't be the patient parent I want to be, unless I am well rested and well fed. The same thing goes for working as a doula. To be able to truly be there for a laboring woman, I also need to be feeling well and have energy. Not energy from a sugar rush but energy that comes from drinking water and eating all the good green stuff. So that's my resolution for February- drink more water and watch my food intake. I'll keep you posted.