Personal Post: Sephie's Sick, Dad Visits, I Cook, Savannah Heals
There's so much to update about. I'm not sure how organized this entry will be, because I have so many things to do tonight but I really felt the need to commit a few things to memory.
First, Sephie had her first bout with illness. She's had other instances where she's been under the weather somewhat, but this was the first actual, "I'm totally miserable and don't feel well" kind of experience. It bothers me because we didn't know. She had a low grade fever, clingy-ness, and stopped sleeping through the night. I honestly thought it was teething, then I thought it was gas. But last Thursday night, she slept from about ten until midnight, and then refused to be put to sleep again until six in the morning. I'd nurse her to the point she'd usually fall asleep, but this night, as soon as her head would hit the Snuggle Nest, she'd immediately cry to be picked back up. It had been bad for a few days, but never THAT bad.
I ended up making an appointment to see her back-up physician, who concluded that she was, in fact, teething. Thanks for stating the obvious, right? But when he took off her sleeper, he showed me the faintest rash criss-crossing her little body. Since I haven't introduced any new clothes or soap lately, he told me that it was indicative that she was getting over an infection. I felt horrible that I didn't know, but he reassured me the wonders of exclusively breast feeding include many illnesses passing by undetected because they don't take hold as firmly as in babies that are formula-fed, and so babies get over them with fewer symptoms, fewer tears, and in fewer days.
Dad came and stayed with us for a few days, much to my delight and that of my in-laws, who just adore him and vice-versa. He loved every moment with Baby Sephie, who eventually got used to his facial hair and took a real shinning to him as well. It turns out we have some relatives in my immediate area and we tried to go find them, but with no success. He's scouting some possible business ventures in nearby states, which could potentially mean relocating just a few hours from here. Maybe I can count on seeing him twice a month, rather than twice a year.
I've been doing better at taking care of myself, including cooking. I still can't quite get into breakfast, despite my best efforts, but I'm really on the ball as far as lunch and dinner. Last night's dinner consisted of two pieces of salmon steak, herb and cheese cous cous, and mixed vegetables. Today's lunch consisted of a can of tuna mixed with a tablespoon of mayonnaise, a few slices (cracker-sized) of Dubliner Irish cheese, and sliced Roma tomatoes. Dinner was a salad made from baby spinach, strawberries, walnuts, sun dried tomatoes and shredded salmon in fat-free balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Yum. Seriously, YUM!
Savannah's treatments for her pain are finally OVER. Well, at least until next month. We're switching vets because of how much they've been charging for everything. I except vets to have a certain amount of mark-up on medications, for example, because even though you know they probably receive them at a discount, they have to make up some of their costs somewhere. OK, cool, I get it. But I sat down and calculated that Savannah's medications has a mark-up of well over 50 percent. To give you an idea, her Adequan injections have been costing $58 each session. Through 1-800-PETMEDS, we could be getting an entire bottle to supply her for two years for $110. They're ripping us off, and after speaking to Lesslie, I found out they did the same to her. Now that the injections are down to monthly, I'm going to call different places in the morning to find a more reasonably-priced vet.
Work is going well. I've seen a decline in recruiting which is somewhat concerning, so I'm open to any suggestions people might have about expanding the business. Takers? I've decided I'm going to start sending Marji an accounting of what I do each day, just as a way to hold myself accountable for producing a decent work-day. My self-esteem really suffers if I feel like I'm not doing as much as I could possibly be doing, and I see this as a way to get around that. Maybe by offering up an itemized list to someone else, I'll be able to appreciate precisely what I accomplish each day.
First, Sephie had her first bout with illness. She's had other instances where she's been under the weather somewhat, but this was the first actual, "I'm totally miserable and don't feel well" kind of experience. It bothers me because we didn't know. She had a low grade fever, clingy-ness, and stopped sleeping through the night. I honestly thought it was teething, then I thought it was gas. But last Thursday night, she slept from about ten until midnight, and then refused to be put to sleep again until six in the morning. I'd nurse her to the point she'd usually fall asleep, but this night, as soon as her head would hit the Snuggle Nest, she'd immediately cry to be picked back up. It had been bad for a few days, but never THAT bad.
I ended up making an appointment to see her back-up physician, who concluded that she was, in fact, teething. Thanks for stating the obvious, right? But when he took off her sleeper, he showed me the faintest rash criss-crossing her little body. Since I haven't introduced any new clothes or soap lately, he told me that it was indicative that she was getting over an infection. I felt horrible that I didn't know, but he reassured me the wonders of exclusively breast feeding include many illnesses passing by undetected because they don't take hold as firmly as in babies that are formula-fed, and so babies get over them with fewer symptoms, fewer tears, and in fewer days.
Dad came and stayed with us for a few days, much to my delight and that of my in-laws, who just adore him and vice-versa. He loved every moment with Baby Sephie, who eventually got used to his facial hair and took a real shinning to him as well. It turns out we have some relatives in my immediate area and we tried to go find them, but with no success. He's scouting some possible business ventures in nearby states, which could potentially mean relocating just a few hours from here. Maybe I can count on seeing him twice a month, rather than twice a year.
I've been doing better at taking care of myself, including cooking. I still can't quite get into breakfast, despite my best efforts, but I'm really on the ball as far as lunch and dinner. Last night's dinner consisted of two pieces of salmon steak, herb and cheese cous cous, and mixed vegetables. Today's lunch consisted of a can of tuna mixed with a tablespoon of mayonnaise, a few slices (cracker-sized) of Dubliner Irish cheese, and sliced Roma tomatoes. Dinner was a salad made from baby spinach, strawberries, walnuts, sun dried tomatoes and shredded salmon in fat-free balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Yum. Seriously, YUM!
Savannah's treatments for her pain are finally OVER. Well, at least until next month. We're switching vets because of how much they've been charging for everything. I except vets to have a certain amount of mark-up on medications, for example, because even though you know they probably receive them at a discount, they have to make up some of their costs somewhere. OK, cool, I get it. But I sat down and calculated that Savannah's medications has a mark-up of well over 50 percent. To give you an idea, her Adequan injections have been costing $58 each session. Through 1-800-PETMEDS, we could be getting an entire bottle to supply her for two years for $110. They're ripping us off, and after speaking to Lesslie, I found out they did the same to her. Now that the injections are down to monthly, I'm going to call different places in the morning to find a more reasonably-priced vet.
Work is going well. I've seen a decline in recruiting which is somewhat concerning, so I'm open to any suggestions people might have about expanding the business. Takers? I've decided I'm going to start sending Marji an accounting of what I do each day, just as a way to hold myself accountable for producing a decent work-day. My self-esteem really suffers if I feel like I'm not doing as much as I could possibly be doing, and I see this as a way to get around that. Maybe by offering up an itemized list to someone else, I'll be able to appreciate precisely what I accomplish each day.