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Monday, April 28, 2008

Under the Weather


I guess it's not a mommy blog 'til you post about poop, so here goes. Consider yourself warned.

Jo's been having diarrhea since Saturday. When the pediatrician was talking to us early on about diarrhea as a symptom, we asked how we would know if he had diarrhea since breastmilk poop is so, um, liquidy. She said, "You'll know." She was right.

He is in good spirits (despite the photo; it's not from this weekend) and clearly hydrated. Let's just say the kid has good aim. Co spoke to a pediatrician at our practice today (Cakie's doctor, as it happens) who said not to worry, diarrhea can take a while to resolve for those on the all-liquid diet.

I have been under the weather as well, with similar difficulties (and Cali's sick too, can we pass this thing from blog to blog??). Thanks to the joys of state testing, I can't stay home any day this week, either. Fortunately, tonight Co made matzah ball soup and fresh bread. Perfect.

And another weather complaint: it's been raining all. day. and my weather widget suggests it's going to keep it up all week. I cannot take a week of indoor recess.

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I was a huge fan of the now-cancelled Li.fetime original Strong Medicine. The premise of the show: scrappy, smart-mouthed (and extremely hot) Lu Delgado (Rosa Blasi) runs a free women's clinic. When she is offered the chance to base her clinic out of a wealthy local hospital, she must work with former beauty queen Dana Stowe (Janine Turner) who treats rich women who want procedures like vaginal tightenings. Later in the series she gets to work with Patricia Richardson, who is an Army doctor. Comic relief characters include a male nurse who does tantric yoga and one of the twins from Sister, Sister. I do not still watch this show in reruns because of clever writing or skillful character development. I have my Buffy for that. No, Strong Medicine is for the involved, attentive, holistic medical care fantasy I developed in my 30s. Lu follows her addict patients into their drug dens, trolls the streets with a megaphone when there's a formula recall, goes to jail to protect her patients. A house call is just part of her regular day.

In our midwives, I have finally found my Lu. Co and I have both switched over to them for gyn care, so today I had my first appointment as their official patient. It was wonderful and despite tummy troubles and testing, I left the office in a much better mood than I'd been in for several days. How often can you say that about your gynecologist??

Midwife Strawberry didn't hurt me when she did the internal exam, said she didn't think my weight would have a huge impact on fertility, signed the medical form for the 2nd parent adoption (our regular doctor wanted my thyroid checked first; she doesn't believe, I guess, that I can gain weight all on my own without any assistance from my thyroid). Both midwives oohed and aahed over how gorgeous Jo is, and are excited for me to get pregnant (which will not be anytime soon). I love them.

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I also had a great conversation with Midwife Strawberry about this whole working mom thing. I've been doing a lot of thinking about my identity as a parent/mother, and how that meshes with other aspects of my identity. Specifically this: I like my job. I like to work. I don't like time spent away from Jo, and if I had my absolute "druthers," I would work part-time. (That is not a financial possibility, nor would I be effective in my particular position if I were part-time, I don't think.) I still need to be the rest of who I am, in addition to being a mother. Midwife S. said she thinks she'll be the same way. I know there are lots of moms out there who love their kids and their work, but I've had a lot of internal churning as I figured this out for myself. I've also had trouble finding other moms with whom to have this conversation, I'm not sure why.

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I'll close with a Jo anecdote. He has a new favorite pasttime: grabbing an object with both hands and flapping it up and down. This works best with soft items, like burp cloths, diapers, and clothing, which he grabs whenever he gets the chance. We gave him a floppy stuffed bear for this purpose and he's been flapping it madly. I'll try to get some video up on flickr.

6 comments:

Unknown said...

WTF does your weight or your thyroid have to do with your ability to be a loving parent?! Give me a break! I am mad at your doctor. And glad you have such a great midwife. (end rant).

I hope all of you feel better soon!

Anonymous said...

Ok, that photo is the first in which Jo looks more like Co than he looks like you. He looks like her! Cutie.

Anonymous said...

"I know there are lots of moms out there who love their kids and their work, but I've had a lot of internal churning as I figured this out for myself. I've also had trouble finding other moms with whom to have this conversation, I'm not sure why."

I'm having that churning this time around, though I'm in a different position than you because I've been the SAHM and also a working one. I am nervous about going FT, especially with a preemie on my hands, but I think it will be a good decision for me. I love my work and my kids, but staying home all the time? Not so much. So if you ever want to talk about it, I hear you loud and clear.

Also, thanks for your blog support and latest comments- Co's too. You both are so kind.

FosterMommy said...

I'm totally with you on the desire to have Lu as my doctor (both for the health care and the eye-candy factor ;). We're looking for a new baby vet for Squeak and it's a tough row to hoe. Doctors, in general, suck. i want to feel happy after a gyn exam! Yay for your midwives.

art-sweet said...

I suspect that if I had that conversation with you, I'd be nodding my head in vigorous agreement all the time. I am quite convinced that I am a better mama to P'ito because I work outside the home. That's not a blanket statement - it's just what works for me.

Oh, and I just about spat all over the computer screen from the filling up and spilling over reference...

*G* said...

So sorry you two are under the weather! It's SUCH a pain to be a sick mom taking care of a sick baby! At least Co doesn't have it, too! Seems like since Mater started daycare, we've just been passing things back and forth between the three of us. We asked the nurses what we could do to help J and I from getting absolutely everything she brings home and they suggested 1000mg of Vitamin C every day. Hope you all feel better soon!