Category: Totally Tatum

One of the challenges of motherhood or really any new endeavor is the gray area. Our nature wants roundness; smooth edges; closure….ANSWERS! Yet, when there is no absolute yes or no or  an exact black or white, frustration builds because why? We are not GOD! (pride issue of course!) So, with Tatum, it is the ultimate test. I cannot control every little thing and I cannot understand every little thing. Perhaps it’s pride or just the need to know, but whatever it is, it darn near drives me bananas. Such the case with this last week. Every day, same thing. Wake up. Take her temp. Calm her fussiness. Calm more fussiness. Pull out my hair (sight unseen)…and shake my head in wonder. Just five days ago, Doc said it was just a flu that needed to work itself out. Her ears and throat were clear. So…. what then!!??? This is when Google gets its run for the money. Every possible question goes in the search box..and I get a million answers and various blogs.

Finally, after 6 days, I called the doctor again. She went in only to find out she did have an ear infection AND blisters on her throat. He said that her symptoms were viral or were due to the ear infection, and he could give her meds to clear the ear! I was actually thrilled to hear this because I got my round answer to complete my circle of questions. Now, she is on the mend after only two doses. And me? I’m relieved.

Last night, she woke up constipated and let me comfort her. It made my night 🙂

 

And so it goes….. This was not the usual “get together with the family and open gifts and eat” day. A simple day. A day to truly remember the reason for the season…not gifts…not the tree..not the decorations, but sacrifice and togetherness. My mom, Tatum and I spent the day resting and just being. Poor darling still had a fever waning and waxing from 99-101.

I put her red riding cape on and took Coti and her out for a little walk…just to get some fresh air!

Mom had delicately put out some gifts for Tatum which she enjoyed for a few minutes.

Curious George made her wince and more curious as he popped out of his steel box.

The rocket car had her rolling around, albeit backwards, but rolling! We said, “It goes Vroooom.”

and she actually said, “Vroooo” Hee!

Once I turned her around, she was raring to go!

Sadly, about 1:00, the fever kicked up again and she was making it apparent with her fussiness. I put her down for a couple hours and that helped for a bit. It was a trial and error period for the rest of the day of what could make her feel better. This was getting harder, and I know it was just frustrating for her.

After a stab at a bite for dinner, or a spoon actually, she came out…my Tater! She makes me crack up. Coti would drop the ball at her and she would pick it up and give it to him! Adorable! They were playing catch hand-to-me style. Then Coti would thrash his head with the ball and Tatum would copy him shaking her head and making herself laugh. Hilarious!

So, our Christmas with the family is postponed until Saturday. Although, today was great to just spend with my mom and Tatum. Tomorrow, I will call the Dr. and see if there isn’t something I am missing. I just know she is ready for this to be over, and so is her mommy and grandma!

Merry Christmas! Jesus was born today to remind us that His love and His presence are the true gifts; He was born to die for you and for me and thus pay for the forgiveness of our sins. He was born to die on the Cross that we might be reconciled to God. Thank you, Jesus. 

 

Plans? Out the window. Having a child now, I see how I cannot make plans that are penned; they must remain in pencil. Friday, the last day of school before the Christmas break, I got a call from Temple Chai telling me to come pick up my fevery child. I was really looking forward to enjoying that last day with the students and then doing a wee bit of Christmas shopping. Nope. However, being with her and comforting her was definitely more rewarding and necessary!

Saturday rolls around and my plans were of course cancelled for the day, and Tatum decided to turn her fever into vomiting, fussiness, and more fever. This led me to call the Dr. and get her in to check for something more serious. So we waited. And waited. And waited….Of course I forgot to bring her armory of toys so first, let’s try Dr. Seuss.

That lasted about 5 minutes. Then I searched the office for something to play with. Swabs, cotton balls and sanitizer dispensers did not cut it. Cups! Oh joy. We made confetti out of one cup and she put this in and out of the other cup. Then we nested them inside each other. Brilliant! Finally, Dr. came in and checked her out. Just a fever and nothing else. The rest of the day, she held nothing down, so I tried giving her some Gatorade and this helped her sleep.

Sunday, the fever subsided for a bit, but, she was just non-stop fussy. I hoped she could go to Temple Chai on Monday for just a few hours so I could get to my dentist appointment. When I put her down for bed, she seemed pretty fine. Had a small dinner and was stable. Then, about 8:30, I heard her cry just a bit, and I had this gut feeling something was wrong. Yep…the bed was soaked with the contents of her stomach. And…it was all over her. NO fever though.

The next morning, she was feverless and seemed pretty happy. I took her in to Temple Chai, and no less than an hour later they called and said she had a 99.3 fever. What!? So, no dentist. When I brought her home, she was so warm and her temp soared to 103.7! EEK! Dr. said it was just a virus that needed to work itself out. This little Tot was miserable. She wanted to be held, then not held; wanted to bed, then no bed. Nothing made her stop crying in between the coughing bouts. It was miserable…for her too! By the end of the day, I was exhausted and realized that this Christmas was not going to be the same.

It’s Tuesday now, Christmas Eve, and I realized something. If this would have happened while I was in school, I would not have been able to take off this much work…it was a blessing in timing. Plus, she is going to be better by Christmas and for the rest of the break. God has great timing. Currently, after no Tylenol for 3 hours, she is feverless and emptying her toy basket, intermittently checking to see if I’m right here.

Will it be over now? No matter what, I know that this little sweet girl is worth all the hours of worrying, sleepless nights, medicine questions, frustrating unworkable thermometers, sticky Tylenol droppers all over the place, Coti eating her peas, broken plans, smelly sheets and liners, interrupted phone calls and texts etc…

I can’t stop smiling

My favorite cousins Nyla, Morgan, Levi and Kelly 🙂 They put the Merry in Christmas.

  

She works all day, that little Tatum. She starts the day with LaLa’s and MaMa’s. I’m a sucker for this…

This along with “Hiiiieeeeee” when prompted by a wave from another. This “Iiiieeeee” accompanies her want for crushed ice pieces! Yep, she loves these little popsicles and claims it when she sees me sip a drink. So her brain buzzes with moving neurons the minute her eyes open, but this is trumped by her body wanting to GO!!! Put me down, Mom!

The second she is put down…..BAM! She’s off! Freedom! Then, to a stand; one mississippi; two mississippi…step..Kaboom! She’s so close! But, we celebrate that step anyway…clap clap clap

I realized I was not feeding her enough calories because she switched to milk which has far less calories than formula; but this particular day, she just wanted to sleep.

As said before, she works so hard, that little Tatum!

Hard working, hard sleeping, and hard smiling! 🙂