When it rains, it pours

I have been busy with the new baby, keeping things running in my home, and trying to come up with a new routine/schedule that works around nursing. When I am not busy, I am sleeping. Since the birth of Elisabeth I have not had much energy for doing extra things. Even some of the basic house cleaning has been slipping. My wonderful husband does help out in the evenings after he comes home. This past week and a half has been especially rough.

Rueben had all four of his wisdom teeth removed a week ago, so he was sleeping and not feeling well. I miss his help. Usually when things get out of hand I can count on him to get a child or two out of trouble while I take care of another situation. I try not to interrupt his school work too much, but it is great to have some back up when I’m busy with one and someone else has an emergency.

Yesterday he went back to have his follow up appointment. His left side is infected, and they lost his chart. He had to get antibiotics for the infection. I am glad my mother-in-law was able to take him. He was there over three hours already, but that is what you can expect from government run health care.

The day after Rueben’s surgery, Abby woke up complaining of a headache. I didn’t take her seriously at first. I thought she was trying to get attention like I was giving to Rueben. I had plans to take all the kids to the local museum which has a great play area for toddlers. I tried to encourage her to get her chores done so we could go, but then she threw up so I knew she was serious about not feeling well. She spent the next two days laying on the sofa and throwing up anything she ate. I did what I could with natural remedies to help her feel better, but I was trying to help Rueben remember to put ice on his cheeks to reduce the swelling, and get him to eat.

About the time Abby was starting to feel better Robert started complaining about a headache. He had it only one day since I had figured out what helped Abby, I started Robert on it right away. Believe it or not teething tablets helped them with the head ache, and a bath with a few tablespoons of ginger helped the fever. Then the “Baby Love Toy Trains” DVD kept them entertained or put them to sleep. Watching toy trains go around and around with classical music, is a great way to fall asleep. It always does that to me, but the kids only fall asleep if they are sick.

Josiah woke up this morning crying with a fever. I gave him his cup with mint tea and teething tablets. By 9:00 he was feeling fine and asking for “moat-meal”. He is the one who is still cutting teeth. He has been having “teething” symptoms for a month now. I did get him to open his mouth so I could check his teeth. I had Abby and Robert open their mouth so I could “count” their teeth, then Josiah let me “count” his, too. I saw one tooth part way through, but he still has another tooth to cut.

Not all has been bad, but it seems to have come in one big bunch. And I believe we are through the toughest part of sickness and teeth problems.

Elisabeth is almost one month old. All the kids love to smoother her with attention. When she is awake she enjoys sitting in her swing or seat and watching the activity around her. She is healthy, eating well, sleeping well, and growing.

The kids are waking up from their naps, so my quiet-time for writing this post is over. :)