Reflections of a mother at the hospital...

This post is a reflection of the world and also a memoir of my gratefulness during a small challenge in our family...

My spunky 3 yr old is at the hospital because of a stomach flu. I should be sleeping right now, because I got maybe 4 hours of sleep last night. But my heart is full and I need to jot a few things down....

Yesterday we had breakfast and headed to swimming lessons. It was such a great morning. Bia is now able to lift her head to breath. She is so eager to swim by herself without her little floaters that it took her about a week to be able to do that and get rid of them....She is developing so well, and I know she will catch up to Isabelle in now time. She's fast!!! :)

At lunch time she looked tired so I put her down for a nap....before I did I tried feeding her and she did not take anything. So I gave her some milk so she wouldn't sleep with an empty belly after so much exercise. Turns out she thew up the entire cup of milk. So down she went to a nap. 

After waking up I tried giving her some coke. Later I found out it's a myth that coke helps you with a stomach bug, so we are definitely never drinking it again....by the time I tried giving her coke I already thought it was gastroenteritis. She threw up the coke....then she kept trowing up nothing, because the last time she had been able to eat was during breakfast. So I took her to the hospital. I was worried because she couldn't keep water down!!! I took out little popcorn bucket ( I don't think I will be able to use that for popcorn ever again) in the car so she could use it in case she felt like throwing up again. She was such a trooper. Threw up twice, but was so fast at grabbing that little bucket of hers. Later on we found out the doctors were fascinated with my idea to bring the bucket along with us....I am still wondering what's so fascinating about it :) lol

Once we got here the doctor tried to give her medicine by mouth and she didn't take that one either. Threw up the entire thing....so and IV was the only solution to keep her hydrated. Did I say this little girl is a trooper?? She made one peep when they were poking her and then never said anything else. Everyone was fascinated, and I knew she must have been feeling pretty miserable, even though she is my tough child. (she did the same thing when she had to draw blood a while ago and cried only after I told her it was ok to cry...poor baby)

Docs tried 2 different medicines, plus the hydration which took forever...but nothing worked. Every time she took a sip of juice, or any food, she threw up. There was a time where we thought she was gonna keep some food in and we were gonna be discharged, but the doc told me to take a walk down the hall with her, to see if the motion would startle the vomiting again, and sure enough....she puked on that popcorn bucket :)

So after talking to the docs, she told me it was best to keep her in. Children can often go downhill fast, and dehydration can be pretty serious. She came in a little dehydrated already, so I actually felt pretty good about staying in even though Bia was already sick and tired of being in the same room for so long.

It was so said when we moved to the observation area. There was a MONTH OLD BABY with an UTI. The mommy came to talk to me and started to bowl....boy howdy, do I remember being scared and insecure as a first time mom??? YOU BETCHA!!! I wish I could have talked to her more, but the doctor called her and we parted ways. I know she is on the same floor I am, so I'm gonna look for her today and see if I can give her a hug....poor woman must be terrified. First baby, 1 month old....not a good combination!!!

But my sadness did not stop there, every time I look at this AMAZING hospital and it's amazing facilities I can't help but wonder that about 80% of the brazilian population or more doesn't have access to such a hospital. I mean, it's pretty amazing.  I hear it's one of the best in Latin America. I wonder how many families ache because they don't have decent medical care for their children. I wonder how many children die because of it too...and it breaks my heart!

I saw a couple of children with cancer, and ohhh my gooddness....I don't know how mothers find the strength to deal with that. I know you just have too, but it just melts my heart to see those cute little bald heads around the pediatric unit. I feel like hugging and loving them. I know God is with them and their parents too.

So my heart is really touched to be here, and I am humbled and grateful that my child can have good medical care. I feel sort of guilty though....because of everyone who has the same right as I do to receive competent medical care and doesn't. So my prayers are directed to those people today. I hope they know and feel that God is watching over them.

On a side note, I briefly heard about the shooting at the Elementary School in the US and even though I don't know much about it yet, my heart goes to all the parents of little children. Having children in such a blessing, but it can also be incredibly painful to see them suffer or die. I can't even imagine it, but I can cry with all of those parents, and that's what I will be doing today.

cheers for a better world....

On motherhood...

So it has been too long since I gathered courage to write here....Julie is now 3 months and such a joy! She smiles and smiles,especially when she wakes up. I have to be really grateful for happy kids in the morning because that is something I have to work so hard on....Julie melts my heart with her chubby face and huge teeth-less smile!!!!!

It's also been very long since I had some alone time. The baby is asleep and Mat took the kids on a daddy-daughter(s) adventure today. I'm supposed to be cleaning up the house, ironing shirts and getting ready for the day tomorrow, and instead I just felt completely and utterly exhausted from life and decided to write about it.....

I read a post about the joys of motherhood today and that gave me a nice "lift". This week I started a good routine with the girls: I wake up at 6, get some scripture reading in before they wake up, have my breakfast and then try to just clean up anything that needs done around the house, before I get them up and dressed. We all venture to my mom's house where I exercise for about 1 hour and then it's time to get the kids wild. We play at the playground, swimming pool (mostly every day) and anything we can think of at her condominium....then I get the kiddos bathed and we head home for lunch and then kids take a nap, or one of them do...
I have been exercising for over a month every day now, and it's been only a week I got to really get that routine done. Can you believe that? I learned that change needs to come little by little in my life...there's no overnight-becomeing-disciplined-kinda-deal...
Needless to say the new routine was extremely hard on me. But after much thought and consideration for about a month I decided that I needed to give up those 2 extra hours of sleep to have a balanced life. So now I am working on going to bed early....and that has also been a huge challenge, not because I am not dead tired by the end of the day and could crash at about 8 pm, but because I have so much that still needs to be done....

I gave up on facebook. My husband and I got in way too many fights because of it...and really, I don't think anything good has come out of that crap....so now I am checking it once a week for emails....and not losing any of my precious time with it....and it feels GOOD!

So now on motherhood...I have been having discussions in my head about what I should be doing, how I should be doing it. I am my biggest critic....at night I endlessly review my day and think about what I could have done better and I plan better days....I think of activities to stimulate the girls motor skills, brain, muscles, etc etc etc and I think about what I should have done for homeschooling. OH BOY, homeschooling has been tough on me.
The girls are young and they are in no rush do read...but I can't stop thinking about how much more planned the day should have been. I am learning to be a pre school teaching when I never envisioned that for myself. I just caught myself flirting with the idea and then becoming pretty dead on about how I wanted to do that for my family....
I also have endless materials that I read here and there and have almost ready to go with the girls....between playing with them and taking care of the house and food I never really get a chance to see them through....then I feel like an idiot for not focusing more on their education and less on other aspects of life....but really?I have gotten to the point of where I think I work on the bare minimun. What else can be changed???....by the end of the day between wiping little bums way too many times (Bee has decided she wants to use panties, and she barely has accidents however she is constatly going to the bathroom), wiping noses, changing diapers, breastfeeding, playing with the girls, changing dirty clothes and cleaning up messes, going to the playground, separating fights and putting the girls in time out....the day is gone and I haven't cleaned and I have cooked half of what I was supposed to do.

HOW DO PEOPLE DO IT???HOW TO FIND BALANCE???

In the end, I think the answer is: I am way too hard on myself....I am constantly kicking myself on what I can do better and how I can stay on top of things, and how I can homeschool (and getting dirty looks by it), and do fun things with the kids, and make sure I am a good wife and mom.....and then.....after a WEEK, a FREAKING PETY WEEK of my new perfect life I crash on saturday because I am so exhausted and tired of so much activity and schedule.....I have become the schedule nazi! and this makes me laugh out loud!
You know what is sad?there are not pijama days in this house, and mainly (and this is going to be the ugly truth here fellas) because I am TERRIFIED of giving up on exercising yet again. This has been such a battle for me my entire life, and I LOVE how amazing and much more energized I feel. Forget the infinite pounds that I still have to loose and look like Beyonce. I FEEL GOOD when I exercise therefore I need it soooo I must wake up early to get it done before lunch time AND I need to have a routine and follow it to the tee to make sure all the other aspects of my kids lives are taken care of....I am NOT letting go of exercise this time....it keeps me sane....and it's one thing I know I am doing right....

Motherhood is just so much harder than I ever envisioned (and so much more joyful too)....not because I don't look as good as I did a few years ago, or because I don't have a job that fulfills me, because really? I feel no need to have a career. I get to learn harder and more satisfying things at home and see my kids grow meanwhile. I don't feel like I disappeared at all. I found myself in motherhood, I have learned to be less egocentric and a much better person with the help of my children. I have learned lessons that by knowing myself for 26 years I understand I would not have learned by going to a job every day. I needed a little person that was a piece of me and much more important to me than myself to make me learn certain things in life. With all of that said and done: It's just mentally and physically exhausting!

A lot of people say that....I know...but I FEEL it more than ever in my life!!!I feel the pressure I feel the dispair and I feel the responsibility of doing everything wrong with these little beauties I have at home to take care of.....mostly if they become horrible people it will be all on MY shoulders.

So what helps you at home? what makes you and your kids happy? are you a routine follower? do you get crazy like I do? what do you do about it???

Would love to hear and write more about motherhood....because to be honest...that's all I think about these days....I've tried to be smarter and worry about world problems....but there are 3 bums that need to be cleaned, 3 mouths that crave food all day, and 3 minds that totally depend on me....so I don't think I want to add issues that involve 6 billion people on top of that.....besides....I'm the only one really giving those 3 attention right??if I let go....who will catch them? :) ;)

cheers