Today it's -20 in Halifax.
No, not Antarctica. Halifax.
Miley is sick with croup. She woke up Thursday morning with a fever over 101, and a barking cough. She sounds terrible, and she is miserable. There has been a lot of holding, rocking, fresh air, homemade bathroom saunas, humidifiers, popsicles, soup, and children's tylenol at our house the past few days.
Poor Mi Mi. She's so sick.
Luckily in Canada we have the 811 hotline. It's a nursing service available 24/7 we can call with any questions or concerns, and the nurse will tell you what to do. I love it. I call it all the time. With two little ones there is always a reason to call. And, of course my neighbor Jaclyn who is a walking encyclopedia of motherhood, and is ALWAYS there to help me when I need her. Day or night. We love Jaclyn.
We saw the doctor on Friday morning and she told us it is best to expose Miley to cold air. She said to open up her bedroom window, or bundle her up and take her outside.
So, afternoon sleigh rides it is.
Dr.'s orders.
Sometimes I wish the 811 Nurse hotline could help me organize Scotlin's daytime sleep. He won't usually nap longer than 40 minutes at a time. Resulting in 4-5 catnaps during the day and a super early bedtime. Instead of 3 solid naps a day and a regularly early bedtime. Sometimes it takes me 40 minutes to get him to sleep, so when he wakes up shortly there after I'm just thinking "are you serious?" I really should not complain. He is an absolute angel baby. He is so easy and delightful. I would not really mind that he takes brief naps if he woke up well rested. The problem for all of us is he acts pretty sleepy after just waking up, and it always leaves me wondering when I should try to feed him again. The strange thing is he sleeps really well at night. His nighttime patterns are predictable and routine. I should be grateful his daytime sleep is unorganized rather than his nighttime sleep.
I asked the Doc when we took Miley in if she could explain it to me and she said it's an actual condition where the baby is simple termed "Wakeful." I had to smile when she joked and said it should be titled "My baby won't sleep during the day, and I'm going crazy..." instead.
I don't feel like I'm going crazy, but the sympathy was nice.
The good news is the Doc says his sleep patterns should organize by six to eight months, and that is completely fine with me. All I want is a happy baby.
Has anyone out there ever dealt with this before? ( just FYI, this is different than what some call the '45 minute intruder').
It's the weekend, so Justin is home. I always love it when he's here. I love the extra help, and I can tell the kids are happy to have him here. Every morning Miley will ask "Da Da? Da Da?" and I'll tell her "Daddy go to school..." she'll respond "Daddy kool"? and I'll say "Yep., Daddy's cool." When Just is here Scotlin will just stare at him and study his face. He always gives his dad big smiles just for looking his direction.
He is so loved.
Sometimes I feel bad for him because he has such a demanding day to day schedule, I would like it if he could just be home on the weekends and relax, but unfortunately, being a member of our household just doubles the exhaustion.
Now here we are with the weekend almost finished. It all just goes too fast.
18 comments:
Man, -20?! Yikes! Makes me appreciate my sunny California weather. Sorry Miley is so sick-no fun! It's so hard to have a sick baby-there's not too much you can do. Logan was the same as Scotlin. He would only take max 45 min naps at a time. And there wasn't really a set schedule, which made things pretty tough. He started taking a bit longer naps after I started night "sleep training" him at about 5 months. Then he started improving a lot and having a lot better routine at about 9 months. And now he takes one 2-3 hr nap everday...I love it! I remember thinking though-why don't you sleep like other babies sleep all the time? He would act so tired and uncomfortable after too. All I can say is, he will get the sleep he needs and he'll eventually learn to get deeper, longer sleep.
Good luck!
-20? Yikes! Miley looks so cute in her little snow suit. I'm sorry she's miserable! And I'm jealous of the nurse hotline. I called the nurse hotline our insurance has and the lady was zero help. She wouldn't tell me what was going on or what to do or even suggest what NOT to do. Rrrrr.
Good luck with little Scotlin and sleep. I just barely decided I'd had enough of Knightley's all over the place sleep schedule and started sleep training her. And, um, she's NINE MONTHS OLD. Where is my brain, Jess? Where??? Why didn't I do this months ago? At least at five months. Good grief. I have no advice. Just trial and error with the kids I have. I'm sorry!
oh no, poor miley!
kings has a cough too!
ps - kings started sleeping on his tummy today, so stinkin cute eh.
you are such a beautiful, wonderful mom Jessica! I love reading all your posts and seeing your absolutely adorable kids! And did I tell you how much I love love love Scotlin Prince's name - it is just awesome. Will you be coming to America for an extended break over summer?? I would LOVE to see you! xoxoxo
Oh no, Miley Pie, I am so sorry she is so sick. My heart breaks for a sick little one. Obviously they feel sick but I wonder if they get confused too, like "why do I feel so weird? what is going on?" Poor girl, I sure hope she gets feeling better soon. I wouldn't complain about sleigh rides though, fun. That picture is sticking cute, no surprise.
It sure is frustrating when you don't know what is going on with a baby's sleep. Scotlin will get the hang of it, sound like it just might take a while. Hang in there Jess, you're amazing.
I also enjoy the weekends, or should I say Sunday. J spends every Saturday on campus studying, which just makes the work week seem long and the weekend seem short. Some day we'll be 'regular' or 'normal' wives with a working husband and not a student husband.
Enjoy the Journey right?!
-20!!!!- I had no idea it got so cold there!!! I would just die.
I also had no idea the cure for croup was cold air..... I would have thought humidity! I am learning so much today.
I also learned there was a TERM for 45 minutes nap- how funny is that. I am happy he is a pleasant baby -
it is pretty darn cold today! Neither one of my kids are the greatest sleepers so i can't help you there...I wish Karington would sleep through the night and she's almost 16 months! Good luck!
Poor little thing. I hate when my kids are sick. I have the same sleigh for my kids and we love it. Many neighbourhood walks have been had with it. Hope she gets better soon.
I sure do hope Miley gets feeling better soon! I hope to see you all soon. We miss you guys!
I wish DR. R. would tell me to go outside and play:). I hope Miley feels better soon.
Sounds like we're both having some crazy times. That is so sad for Miley to be sick - I hope she gets better quick! You're a trooper!
Jessica,
I feel like you are repeating what I had to deal with, with Parker. I will tell you what, I found this amazing information that you must read about sleep training. I, like Jill, figured this out a little later than I should have. It's so useful. Here is the website.
http://community.babycenter.com/post/a5417415/how_to_successfully_teach_a_baby_to_sleep_-_3rd_ed.
I find all my useful tips from babycenter. I love it! Like Scotlin, Parker was overtired & upset with only 30 minute naps 3-5 times a day. Now he sleeps 12-13 hours at night, uninterrupted, & takes 2-3 naps lasting 1-1 1/2 hours long. It's still not the long 2 hour naps, but 1 hour is amazing compared to a mere 30 minutes.
The article seems long, but I learned a TON I didn't know about how to put a baby down to sleep. Also, if you are wondering, I can't remember if they tell you in the article, but CIO means cry it out & Non-CIO methods are for people who think that's a harsh method to use. There are methods in between that are also very useful, b/c if you're like me, it's hard to let them cry that long, but you want them to figure it out on their own.
Good luck & let me know how it goes.
I will no longer complain that it is 20 degrees here. I can't believe it. How do you stay warm?
Poor Miley. I hope she starts feeling better. I remember when Abbi had croup and I would be outside with her at 6 am with the students walking by thinking I was a terrible mother.
Sounds like you guys are missing daddy as much as we do here.
Whoah small world! I was on Jill Inkley's blog and saw your name and thought could it be?? How do you know Jill? We live in Memphis with them and go to church together. Anyway your kids are darling and it's good to see you're doing well!
Kayla was one of those non-napping kids too but slept great at night. I totally understand the frustration. It would take me a long time to get her to fall asleep and sometimes she would only nap for 20-30 minutes. It was just a couple of weeks ago that she started doing the two-naps-a-day thing (although the first one is still only about 40 minutes long...). So hang in there with your little guy. It will eventually get better!
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