General update

What have I been up to lately, you ask? Well, mostly I've been walking around in a sleep-deprived fog, trying to keep everyone fed, clothed and diapered. Since the FM and CFS are acting up, even the smallest thing takes a pretty big effort. But we're surviving.

Good things are happening this week.

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On Monday, the girls started ballet classes. DH researched and arranged it all, and I dropped them off and went home to fix dinner while he stayed with them to watch.

We had thought that maybe MM would enjoy gymnastics more than something like ballet, since she enjoys things like running and turning summersaults more than precise dancing. But both girls were insistent that they wanted to take ballet lessons, so signed them up. We went Sunday night and bought ballet shoes for them. They were thrilled.

At the class Monday night, AJ was absorbed in learning how to point her toes, stand up straight, bend her knees and cross her ankles. MM refused to take part. All she wanted to do was stand at the window and watch the gymnastics class in the next room. So DH arranged for her transfer to the tumbling class next week.

Yesterday we had an appointment with the naturopath. She gave us some remedies for our trip to Mexico next month, to guard against and treat tourista (a.k.a. Montezuma's revenge) and other bugs. We also got a one-dose homeopathic remedy for each of the girls that will hopefully help with MM's wandering pains, irritability and tiredness, and AJ's anxiety and moodiness. She also advised us about our diet, and gave us some suggestions that will be a lot easier to follow than the rotation diet we were trying to do. The basic thing is cutting out dairy and soy for the whole family and just trying to get a good variety of other foods, with lots of whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Today, I'm going to my midwife to check out some strange symptoms I've been having. She'll probably run some tests and theen I'll call and discuss it with the naturopath. If the two of them can't figurre out what's going on, I'll see my regular MD.

I am really hoping they'll find something easily fixable that will help with the discomfort, random spotting (but no AF), constant PMS-like symptoms, dizzy/weak spells and excessive fatigue I've been experiencing the last couple of weeks. My guess is that it's a systemic Candida inflammation similar to (but milder than) what I had several years ago when the fibromyalgia symptoms were at their peak.

Of course, getting more sleep may help. DH and I finally teamed up to help encourage cajole attempt to make Baby E sleep more than an hour at a time at night. She's healthy and very chubby, so we really don't think she needs the all-night-long smorgasboard.

So far, our approach is to hold her and keep her close as much as possible during the day to meet her tactile needs. Then I feed her and we put her to bed in the dark, with some white noise. (She seems to have become a very light sleeper, with any noise or light waking her.) When she wakes up about 45 minutes later, I stay out of sight and DH goes to her. He does what he can to make her comfortable, offers her some water, and tries to get her to go back to sleep. If she's not asleep and is acting hungry by the time it's been at least 2 hours since I fed her last, then I'll feed her again. Then she goes back to sleep, and about 30 minutes to an hour later we do the whole thing over again.

The first night she fussed for an hour and then when I fed her she didn't want to go back to sleep. But when she finally did go back to sleep, she slept for a four-hour stretch before waking for the day. That was progress, and I felt better already after a 4-hour block of sleep.

Last night, she woke up twice in the first couple of hours after going to bed, but DH was able to put her back to sleep without my feeding her. She slept for a long stretch and woke a couple of times in the early morning to nurse, going right back to sleep.

So we must be on the right track--hooray! Right now it's involving a lot of bed-juggling. I'll go to bed in the guest bed while DH gets her to go to sleep, then he'll join me until she wakes up again. He lies down with her until she goes back to sleep, then he comes back to the guest bed. Then Baby E will sleep for a longer stretch, and when she wakes up I'll join her in our room for the rest of the night. I'm not sure whether we'll end up in separate rooms or all together when all is said and done, but at this point it doesn't matter. We're finding a way to get some sleep, anyway. :)

On another note, we've been working on getting our clothes sorted and organized, organizing in the kids' room, and starting to pack for our trip. I've also been doing some sewing, and yesterday I started learning how to use a serger. My success at designing my own pattern for a fitted diaper with gussets gave me confidence. Now I'm creating waterproof training-pants-style diapers with an elastic waist and side closures for MM to use at night. If they turn out well, I'll give some away as gifts to a few potty-training parents. Maybe eventually I'll offer a few for sale to my moms' group.

Yesterday, I made Baby E a SPOC (simple piece of cloth) wrap, similar to a Moby wrap. I found some midweight, sturdy knit fabric for $1 a yard at Walmart. I cut it in half to make it about 30" wide, with the stretch going across the width. The 4.25 yards they had left on the roll wasn't quite long enough for my favorite way of wrapping (although 2 yards is plenty for some carries), so I cut long triangles off each side of the ends, sewed them together and attached them to make long, tapered ends on the wrap. It worked wonderfully. The knit wrap is so much better than the non-stretchy woven SPOC I was using before.

This is by far the most comfortable and versatile baby carrier I've tried so far. I can distribute the weight on both shoulders and support the baby's weight evenly on my shoulders and back. It's easy to change her position, pull one side of the wrap over her head in the rain, and nurse discreetly while keeping my hands free. Our favorite carry so far is the front cross carry (as shown in this video at babywearing.com). I still like the pouch-style sling for less bulk and a quick, easy way to wear the baby. But the soft-stretchy fabric, more secure hold and more even weight distribution make the SPOC much better for long periods or while doing housework or other activities besides just walking around.

Uh-oh! I just realized it's almost time to leave for my appointment and I'm not ready yet! Maybe one of these days I'll actually learn to watch the clock.