Still Sick

An hour after I posted the "Sickness Update" (see below) our babysitter arrived to watch sleeping Marianna while I took Birthday boy William out for dinner and a movie. I had to pop a couple of pain killers to mask the shoulder pain but couldn't resist a glass of Pinot Noir with my perfectly cooked duck. So when I started feeling woozy while we waited for the check I just blamed it on mixing pills with alcohol. I was thankful when William suggested we skip the movie as he was settling into a food coma after devouring too much lamb and chocolate cake.

I started to freak out when I got into bed that night and was shivering uncontrollably. For some reason I was convinced I was overdosing on a couple of Tylenol and a class of wine. 'Isn't that what killed Heath Ledger?' I remember asking William as he checked my temperature. 102 degrees.

It was all down hill from there. I spent all of Sunday unable to get out of bed. My temperature never dropped below 100 degrees. Thankfully Marianna was in a great mood and the weather was beautiful so William was able to entertain her all day. She did come over to the bed a couple of times, raise her arms and say "UP." Heartbreaking.

Monday, William took the morning off but had to go into work for a couple of hours to finish up an equipment check out. I was still feeling pretty crappy, all my symptoms felt flu-like, so I asked my babysitter (and friend) Meghan to come over and take Marianna to the park for a couple of hours and then to her music class so I could continue to rest. I knew William had a tough week starting Tuesday and taking anymore time off would be impossible since he had already missed so many days from the food poisoning ordeal.

William was home in time for dinner and bed-time and I was feeling much better. Sadly Marianna was not. She spiked a 102 fever at 6pm that evening and has been suffering ever since.

William insisted on taking today off and we spent the day caring for our sick little trooper. She managed to smile a few times and offered a game of peek-a-boo. You couldn't have paid me to pop out from behind my hands yesterday, so I was thoroughly impressed.

Apart from a dry cough I feel better. Marianna went to bed at 6pm this evening and hopefully the Motrin will help her get through the night. I'll update soon on her progress. Hopefully this is the end of our 3 weeks of bad luck.

Sickness Update

William has had a few easy days at work where he has been leaving home at 8am and returning at 5pm. So he has been around for breakfast and dinner which has been a real treat. He is feeling better and has been a huge help during bedtime and the couple of times Marianna has woken up in the night. She is definately sleeping better but her cold has moved into her lungs and in the last couple of days she has developed a worrisome cough. I'm planning a sick visit to to our Pediatrician on Monday if it does not get better before then.

My cold has cleared up but I continue to have back, shoulder and neck pain on the left side of my body. I can get through most of the day but it gets worse in the evening. I manage it with pain killers or wine. I know I should see a doctor about it but after having similar pain problems in my wrists, I'm dreading the run around. I'll probably have to do a bunch of stupid tests, see a variety of specialists and the outcome will be that I just need to rest, which is obviously impossible.

This too shall pass...

Sick and Tired

Food poisoning: Monday, night I put Marianna to bed and then vomited 8 times. I found her the next morning laying in her own puke. She was smiling. William took the day off to take care of us but spent the day with his face in the toilet.

A cold with flu-like symptoms: Wednesday, Marianna woke up congested. I woke up with a fever. Still not fully recovered from the poisoning we barely made it through the week. Exhausted.

Molars: The following week, Marianna refused to eat, refused to sleep and whined constantly. I forgot to eat, wanted to sleep and whined constantly. The pediatrician pointed out her swollen gums and I picked up a bottle of Motrin.

By Saturday we were all feeling better. We spent the day enjoying each others company and napping. Just what we needed after a tough 2 weeks.

A pulled muscle: Sunday (today), I suddenly lost the ability to use my left arm. I can't move my neck and my shoulder muscle is swollen.

Ahhh come on! Give me a break.

Happy Halloween 2009

I was afraid after we all got food poisoning from a batch of tainted sushi on Monday that Halloween would be a bust. We barely recovered in time to rush out and buy supplies to put our family costume together. This year we went as King Kong (Marianna), The Empire State Building (William) and damsel in distress - Ann Darrow (me).

Despite having only four hours to pull it off it was a success. Marianna was unsure about her Gorilla get-up at first but got into it as soon as we hit the Brooklyn streets and joined the Park Slope Halloween parade.

It was a gorgeous evening. 70 degrees and clear. The street lamps were glowing and candy was flowing. We could not have asked for a more perfect night to celebrate all things spooky.

We ended the evening with our favorite treat, Pizza. Check out more photos from our fun evening at flickr.

Pooh on the Potty

So I have started doing some elimination communication with Marianna. This basically means I pay attention to the signs she gives before she poops and then I react to them. The last couple of months her signs have become more and more obvious and she seems to be more aware of her bodily functions so when I'm feeling a little adventurous I take off her diaper and place her on the potty when I think she is about to poop. The first day I did this she actually did her business on the potty and was rewarded with applause and kisses. She got a real kick out of going to the bathroom and waving goodbye to her poop as we flushed it down the toilet. Unfortunately from that day on we have had nothing but wet puddles all over the house. That being said she does pat her butt when I ask her if she has pooped and if she happens to be in the bathroom when I am peeing she will applaud and wave goodbye when I flush. However I have decided to put potty training aside for now and have moved on down the list of things I would like to teach Marianna to do.


Things I would like Marianna to learn to do before she is two

1. Potty train
2. Be put to bed by someone else other than myself
3. Sleep in her own room
4. Take naps without nursing to sleep
5. Sleep in her stroller

Day Flight

Sorry I thought I posted this a week ago but when I checked the blog today it was not there.

We embarked on our Cyprus airways flight via Rome at 9:15am. Still a little foggy after a teary goodbye I almost left the diaper bag at the security check point. Marianna was due for her morning nap and I was thankful she passed out as I nursed her through take off. I usually stay awake for at least an hour into a flight no matter how tired I am. I am embarrassed to admit that I think that I need to remain completely alert during this formidable part of the trip as I believe I am controlling the fate of my flight through positive thoughts. However, sitting directly across the aisle was a nun. From the minute she took her seat she remained head bowed, hands clutching a rosary, furiously mouthing a silent prayer. Excellent, I thought to myself...she's got us covered. So I reclined my seat, skipped breakfast and joined Marianna in dreamland.

We spent our 2 1/2 hour lay over browsing the duty free stores in the Leonardo da Vinci - Fiumicino airport. I picked up a bottle of Italian red wine and then headed to check in. I was at first denied a bulk head seat and was instead placed in the middle of the aircraft. After a passionate debate at the gate I was moved to a bulk head seat. Unfortunately, the flight attendent was then left to deal with an angry southern couple who were furious that they were being moved to accommodate me.

The nine hour afternoon flight was packed full of Carnival cruise line passengers who were returning from a 7 day cruise around the Mediterranean. I was not expecting to get any sleep but all hope was lost when after take off the aircraft turned into a loud lounge area. People were hanging out in the aisles or laying over the backs of seats and chatting loudly to their neighbors.
I was sitting between two middle aged ladies. The one to the the right of me was also on the cruise and was enthusiastic to tell me about the most amazing meatballs she had ever eaten and her dream of visiting Morocco. The one to my left did not speak a word of English and spent the majority of the flight talking and singing to Marianna in Italian.

I was thankful that they both were very nice and patient during the 15 minutes of fussing that Marianna did before she fell asleep. Apart from that she was great. She played with her books and toys on the floor in front of me and slept a total of 4 hours of the trip.

All in all Marianna and I traveled well together. She was such a good sport and she kept me focused so I was a better flier. Now that we are back at home we are dealing with jet lag so we are both very tired and cranky.

Night Flight

Breakfast in New York, lunch in Milan, dinner in Cyprus

I could not have asked for a better first leg of the trip. Apart for having to say goodbye to William at the airport we made it all the way to Cyprus without a tear shed.

We flew Alitalia from JFK to Milan and we requested a bulk head seat and despite the full flight we were given the full row to ourselves. Marianna fell asleep 10 minutes before takeoff and woke up 20 minutes before landing. She even allowed me to lay her down in one of the empty seats so I had room to stretch out. Ironically in the row next to us a woman was traveling alone with a 13 month year old who cried non-stop for 8 hours keeping everyone on the plane awake, except for Marianna.

Our layover in Milan was thankfully uneventful even though we had to go through security and recheck in. We spent our 4 hours lounging in a cafe eating croissants stuffed with orange marmalade and sipping a cappuccino. Marianna made friends with a German fashion designer who was in town shooting a spread for Vogue.

Our 3 hour flight to Cyprus was a breeze as the flight attendants whisked her off from time to time to play in the back cabin. They even offered to change her diaper when she pooped. I declined but I appreciated the offer. I bet they don't get that in First Class.