Papaya Mom

put my baby girl in the hospital overnight….

but back to the start;

After a 10 hour trip from Virginia to our In Law’s farm in NY State…Papaya was sick. At four a.m. she woke up wheezing wet and unable to catch her breath. We tried everything we could and eventually took her to the ER.

She tested negative for RSV but positive for Strep and the chest Xray showed Croup. She took two breathing treatments, a steroid shot for the croup and a antibiotic shot for the strep in the ER and is admitted overnight at Lewis County General Hospital (all two floors of it). I am co-sleeping with her in an oxygen tent on the bed and everyone seems breastfeeding and cosleeping friendly.

They expect to let her out mid-day tomorrow, and say that she should sound and feel better by dinnertime tonight when the steroid shot kicks in.

then, an update;

We checked in and had supper, and lots of play “camping” in the wet tent. She was okay with the tent for about 30 minutes at a time, then she would get sick of it and want out. Her oxygen levels were in the upper 90s which is good, so she could come in and out.

After a visit from Grandma/Grandpa/Dad and Auntie she and I settled in to sleep. I nursed her down in the crib which was set up as a cosleeper, then inched out onto my bed and zipped her in.

She slept until 2:30 a.m. when she woke up for a cuddle. Since I knew the nurses let us sleep through the midnight check, I rang them to allow her to have her vitals checked. She was good on the vital check and had another breathing treatment as I nursed her in the rocking chair. She went back to sleep in the tent until 6:30 a.m. then in the drier bed with me until 8 a.m.

At wake up we ate breakfast (she liked banana and cheerios, with a few teddy grahams mixed in) and got her dressed. She was bubbly, happy, and not very wheezy at all. As we walked up and down the halls she greeted her Dr. coming to check on her; “is THIS the sick girl?!?!?” he asked. Needless to say, he listened to her chest and wrote her discharge orders.

From the time we woke up it was 90 minutes until we were in the car driving away, we even made it to church this morning! She is much happier and still slightly fleghmy which they say can take weeks to go away. They say she is no longer contagious for the Strep or Croup so we will be ready for next weekend’s gathering.

Today we went to a girls lunch after Church and soon I’m going to go nurse her down for an afternoon nap. As soon as we get home I’m writing a letter of great priase to the hospital, it’s the nicest experience I’ve yet had at any hospital. She’s on amoxycillin and pregnazone for a bit longer, but after that….she’s just good ‘ol Papaya.

We took portraits in the back yard and a nap then Adventure Dad came home from his hike of Giant Mountain in the Adirondacks today. We are all happy for an evening at home with family and good food. Tomorrow, we drive home to Virginia.

The happy girl:

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On the way home from Date night I brought up the ONLY thing I “have” on Adventure Dad….once, when we were dating, he had drink with another woman while in DC. I later saw an eMail from her and kaputzed that.

Well, we jokingly call this the time he “cheated” on me.

As we joked about it tonight I poined out that we were exclusivley dating at the time. “Oh no” he says, “the only thing that made us exclusive is that we were both only dating each other!” He smiles, like he’s “got” me.

Funny funny. I was the only sober one in the car. My parents thought it was SOOO funny.

I just think he gives great quotes.

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Okay, all that cute stuff you get in eMail forewards is true.
Yes, I feel mushy for her and my life will be forever changed.

But what else?

I feel a connection to other Moms; my own, my ancestors,
I wonder how they felt when their child was this age, etc.

I give unsolicited advice to other Moms all the time,
yes, with my [b]whole 15 months[/b] of experience.

I get to watch my husband fall in love with another girl,
and enjoy it rather than plan his untimely demise.

There are moments when all I want to do is stay in bed all day playing with her,
but there are others where leaving this house is imperative to both of our survival.

I love my body more for all it’s done and is doing for her,
but my tummy (oh who am I kidding - ALL OF ME) will never be the same.

I’ve found my gentle side,
I use my planning side to make her life as fulfillng as can be,
and I still take time for me, much more than I did in the first year.

I’ll keep thinking on this one.

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Papaya and I made soup tonight. Not the grown-up edible kind, no no,
the kind where you take all the wooden food your Mother has bought
you and bring it to her one by one as she stirs an empty soup pot.
Let me tell you, she was very proud of her corn/potato/broccoli/
carrot/blueberry combination and heck - in real life, it might not
suck too much. Except maybe the blueberry, that might not work.

Adventure Dad also came home at a reasonable hour, for him, around 6 p.m.
After a long day out with friends at the Sugarloaf Craft Festival,
Papaya and I were pooped and agreed to sit on the couch with him and
watch Finding Nemo. This is an exciting night at Chez Petzoldt, and
I was not going to mess with that.

Tomorrow, my parents come to town. I’m very excited to show them
“my” new town and to have two weeks of company. Papaya gets bored of
me, and sometimes (don’t tell) I of her. It is always fun to be able
to have others to interact with and I’m sure they will be impressed.
Papaya will wake them up with a bright “hello!” each morning and over
breakfast she’ll tell them about her “daa dee” and such, later we’ll
spot all “dawgs” out there and make sure to parrot any words others
might say. Each time we leave something she’ll remind them with a
happy “buh byeee” and they will know that, if nothing else, their
grandbaby has manners! Oh what fun it will beeee

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