I didn’t mean to not publish many blog posts this week, but you know how that goes.
This week has been rough. And I mean really freakin’ tough.
I mean, it hasn’t been the worst week by any means, but it’s definitely been the most challenging week of this very-new (motherhood) season of my life.
So I really just need to tell you about it.
But first, here is a gratuitous picture of Clara Jane.
On Sunday, we got back from St Louis and I started feeling crappy. Like, sore-throat-runny-nose-run-down crappy. I passed out at 8pm and slept for what felt like ever with the exception of waking up a few times to feed Clara.
I woke up Monday feeling even worse, which was not convenient timing because Tim had to leave for Denver (for work) that day. UGH. I struggled through Monday by spending a lot of couch time with Clara. I honestly don’t even know what I did but in the evening my brother brought me soup, which was very nice. I could barely sleep that night because it was my first night alone with Clara since she was born and I was an anxious ball of nerves, plus I could barely breathe because my nose was so stuffy/runny/disgusting.
On Tuesday I forced myself to leave the house and go to my New Moms Group, which was awesome, per usual. I spent the rest of the day packing so that I could head to my mom’s house for the remainder of the week for some company and to visit with my aunts, who were coming into town for a few days from Ohio.
My first mistake was leaving for my mom’s house at the beginning of rush hour (4:30) but my second mistake was listening to Google Maps. I knew the route we normally take to drive to the suburbs, but Google Maps told me to take a different way (it was the faster route, because of traffic) and after a few minutes I realized I was heading into a not-great-area of town. Then suddenly I was driving through a not-great-area of town and realized I needed to get out of it and onto the expressway. Of course, this entire time Clara is screaming (because her pacifier fell out of her mouth).
She cried for 40 minutes. And then she fell asleep.
I drove for almost 2 hours and finally got ‘home’ to my mom’s house. The whole drive should have only taken me about 35 minutes, but traffic is traffic! I actually don’t mind sitting in traffic, but I had to keep turning the radio up to drown Clara’s cries out. This is a ‘normal’ mom thing to do, right?!
I was so happy to get to my mom’s house. And I was so, so exhausted. I ate soup for dinner and just wanted to pass out. But of course, I couldn’t, because Clara stays awake until 12am-1am every night before she goes to sleep for the night. (I would mind this more if she didn’t sleep for almost 7 hours per night!)
On Wednesday my aunts came into town and I still felt under-the-weather but not that bad. We had a relaxing day of visiting and walking around the neighborhood in the sunshine.
Thursday was the roughest day. We started out great. Clara woke up and was her usual smiley, happy self and spent the whole morning smiling at everyone. Then we decided to walk around the downtown area of town, and that’s when things started going badly.
First, we couldn’t figure out how to get her car seat base in my mom’s car, and my car was too small to fit everyone. After trying (and failing) for a few minutes, we gave up and tried to put it in my aunt’s car. Thankfully, that worked, but it was still frustrating that it took three of us trying to wrestle with this car seat and it still wouldn’t work!
Then, we drove downtown, found a parking spot, pulled out her stroller, plopped her in, and started walking around downtown. Within 2 minutes, Clara got stung by a bee. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT. Seriously. I saw a bee fly away from her, then I heard her scream and saw a stinger with a bit of the bee attached to it in her finger (thank goodness it was a big stinger so I knew what had happened). We took it right out but Clara wouldn’t stop screaming at the top of her lungs.
Poor baby.
We immediately took her out of her seat to comfort her, but nothing worked. People on the street were seriously alarmed by how terrible she sounded. Then my aunt and I ran into a tea shop to get some tea leaves to put on her, which seemed to help. Then we found a man smoking outside a restaurant, so we asked him for a cigarette, took out some tobacco leaves, wet them, and put it on the sting. Clara immediately calmed down and went to sleep.
Did you know tobacco leaves were great for bee stings?! Thank goodness my aunt knew that, because we continued on our walk calmly and I was able to buy some ice cream and some shoes!
When wine isn’t immediately available, I settle for ice cream to calm myself down after traumatic events.
Of course, we eventually returned back to the car and I couldn’t figure out how to collapse the stroller. You know, something I do semi-often. We were late and in a rush and I couldn’t get the damn stroller to collapse.
After Clara woke up, the rest of the day was a mess. She couldn’t calm down, she didn’t want to be held, she didn’t want to lie down, I couldn’t tell if her finger was hurting or if she was just gassy or what in the world was going on. It was the worst, the absolute worst.
The only thing that helped was a bath that she wanted to stay in for hours. I am so happy this little lady likes the water.
Around this time, I texted Tim, who informed me that he was sick with a cold (probably the same one I had earlier in the week). I mean, seriously?! I was looking forward to Tim coming home to help and now I may have to take care of two unhappy campers!
Eventually, after a lot more crying, and a few glasses of wine (enjoyed by me, obviously) Clara went to sleep at midnight (which is early for her) and slept until 6:30am and then went to sleep again until 9am.
This morning, life was good.
Now Clara is happy & I am happy. And right now she’s sitting next to me in her bouncy chair, staring at plastic elephants and grinning from ear to ear.
Today was a much happier day for everyone!
Thank freakin’ goodness. Seriously.
She must know it’s Friday and that her daddy’s coming home tonight! I have her in an adorable outfit and we are ready for some happy times!
Lessons I learned:
// Do not blindly follow Google Maps into rough neighborhoods on the west side of Chicago.
// Do not drive to the suburbs during rush hour.
// Nasal spray is the greatest invention ever.
// Wet tobacco leaves takes the sting and swelling right out of bee stings.
// I need to practice using all of our baby ‘tools’.
// Life is easiest when Tim is around and easier when anyone is around to help. I do not know how single moms do it!
Cheers to the weekend and a fresh start next week!
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