Texas trip and the desperate need for mommy time

Sam and I have been away for the last couple of weeks visiting family and friends in Texas.  It was the first trip Sam and I took by ourselves.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Then again, it was only a 2.5 hour plane ride.  We had a great time.  I attended a wedding with my mom, took Sam to Fort Worth zoo, and met up with Benilda and her 3-year old daughter Elliana. Sam got to meet relatives he's never met before.  He saw his grandma, cousin John, and Auntie Bhel from Hawaii.  All in all, it was a good trip, but we were glad to come back and be with Josh after two weeks.

Here are some photos from our trip:

 The Inay family

 All dressed up at the wedding

 Sam and Uncle John

 Stuck in a hole at Nordstrom

 At Fort Worth zoo with Grandma and Great grandparents

 With Grandma

 With Uncle John 

 Having a laugh with mommy

 Big smiles!

 With Elliana

With Auntie Benilda, Elliana, and Nana

With the events of the past two weeks, some adjustments were again in order for Sam.  While in Texas, we had issues with eating, and right after coming back, we're having some woes with sleeping.  Sam has been through so many changes lately that, although frustrated, I can't say I blame him.  His environment changes so often, the place, time, and people around him seems different and new at least every month.  I haven't been able to give him the consistency and stability that he probably needs while growing up.  But that's the hardship we have to face since our families are in so many different places.

Tonight is the first night in a while that Sam's gone to bed before 10 pm.  It took an hour to get him to finally fall asleep.  In the past two months, we have been battling not only with him going to sleep early, but also to get him to sleep through the night in his own bed.  Needless to say, this mommy feels like she is taking care of Sam 24-hours a day.  I shouldn't complain because I know that all of these are short lived.  I know someday he will no longer want his mommy, much less need her.  However, I have noticed that not having a break or the time for myself has kept my patience short and my tolerance even shorter.  So tonight, I am grateful to have this time to myself to write this blog.  

I hope that in the next couple of days, that Sam will finally get into a rhythm and give his poor mommy a break before insanity kicks in.  I fear though, that it will also be short lived because we are bound to Hawaii again in July.  The joys of traveling.  Sigh.

Simply mom

My little boy has been generally healthy.  He had occasional sniffles, sporadic fever that accompanied his teething, and of course the bumps and bruises that comes with him being active, not to mention a boy.  Last night gave me a scare however.  He was fine all day until dinner time.  When he and his dad came in after an hour of playing in the park, he was fussy and refused to eat his dinner.  His dad gave him an early bath and got him ready for bed.  His dad said he felt warm though and when I checked his temp, it was 100.9.  We gave him some Tylenol, then rechecked it after 40 minutes.  His fever went up to 102.5.  It always concerns me when his fever goes that high so I called his pediatrician who recommended that we take him to the ER.  At the ER, his fever was 103.4, he was flush and very quiet.  If you know my son, he's rarely quiet.

They did a flu and strep test, which both came out negative.  They gave him some Motrin, which decreased his fever, then sent us home.  His fever was on and off throughout the night, and of course as a worried mom, I could not sleep.  He continued to have a fever until this evening when finally, it was gone.  Throughout the day though, all he ever wanted was to be held by mom.

As a healthcare professional, when you are looking at a patient exhibiting the symptoms that my son did, you do a full assessment and make treatment decisions from there.  When it's not your son or husband, you are not as worried.  Last night, I didn't feel like I had the training as a nurse.  I was just mom worried about my baby.  I had the presence of mind to give him medication, check his temperature, and call his pediatrician, but all the while, inside, I was panicking.  All I can think of was, what is happening with Sam?  Does he have an injury, is there a symptom that I missed.  Was it something that I did or did not do?  What do I do now?  When it comes to my son and his health, I am simply mom.  In fact, I probably panic more than my non-nurse counterparts.  

I am just glad he's a bit better now.  I hope the fever doesn't come back anymore and that it's just a 24-hour virus.  As for me, I think that I need to learn to be calmer when dealing with Sam's sickness.  Otherwise, i'll be a mess if he gets even sicker, God forbid.