Well, with some very helpful advice from our pediatrician, and a multi-fronted, concerted effort by Getalife and myself, it looks like we've been able to take a significant edge off the colic. Here's what we've done so far:
So the words "out patient" just make me think that recovery is pretty darn quick but it really just means you get to recover at home. I get that now. I was pretty much zonked out all day after surgery - yes, I did expect that. I didn't expect to be so out of it today. The pain meds just weren't agreeing with me. I've cut the dosage in half and the pain is very tolerable. Now I think maybe I just hadn't had enough food before I took the very strong drugs.
The surgery itself went fine. I have pictures of it and everything! I remember being rolled into the operating room and hearing music. I can't remember what was playing. It wasn't my favorite but I didn't mind it. I suppose I just want the surgeon happy and in the zone right? I just remember commenting that it wasn't kiddie music.
The staff at the hospital was really awesome! Everyone was super nice and I was once again complimented on my veins. That's good right?
My lovely daughters were thankfully sleeping when I got home so I was able to just scoot into bed. My husband, mommy, and mother in law took care of the girls. They spent the morning at the library and then outside getting all muddy in the puddles that had formed just outside the garage. Of course they had a blast so that's what matters! They spent most of the afternoon making spaghetti and other play doh meals. They absolutely LOVE the super dough my BFF gave them! We just have to work on keeping the stuff contatined in a certain area but I'm ok with it if it is helping my babies cope with mommy having to lay down so much.
They caught a glimpse of the pictures I uploaded of their buddies K and C and they want to play with them. Yep, even baby C. Sofia and Natalia didn't really play with the baby but apparently they thought she was cool enough to want her back over. Sofia still isn't sure about sharing her high chair with C but she didn't flat out say no.
Ok, I can feel the pain meds telling me I have to go to sleep so I shall be good and pay attention.
I've spent a lot of time on my blog and other places online talking about Ed and Fru. I was thinking about it a while ago and I realized that I rarely ever come out and talk about just Isis, even though she's a huge part of my life. In the last year or so, she's played an even bigger role in my happiness.
When I first got Ed and Isis, I remember being disappointed about how unattached I felt with them. I wrote a blog post about it here and I got a lot of great feedback about how loving pets can take time sometimes; it's not always instantaneous. Everyone who said that was right and I'm really thankful for their help. Isis is one of those kitties that took a while to warm up to me-- much longer than Ed. And in all honesty, the wait was completely worth it.
Shawn, Beth, and I noticed that there was something a little "off" about Isis when she first came to live with us. She was terrified of everything. Even for a kitty, the horror in her eyes every time someone walked past her seemed excessive. We all watched her carefully and then came to the conclusion that she was most likely abused by one of her previous owners. As far as we knew, she had at least two previous owners, but there could have been more. The way she ran away from people and ducked her head whenever anyone would make any quick movements made me feel like she had once been struck by someone-- most likely a male since she's always had a greater fear with them. I know that not all kitties are warm and cuddly (I've been around a lot of cats in my life), but the feeling I got when I saw the fear in Isis' eyes told me something extremely bad happened to her in her past. Knowing this made me determined to help her feel comfortable in her new life.
I first started noticing a change in Isis when I took her (and Ed) to the vet for a checkup about two years ago. Ed was pretty calm, but as usual, Isis was terrified. I gently picked her up and held her the entire time she was there. It was the first memory I have of her clinging to me because she felt protected and safe in my arms. I remember how I couldn't stop smiling. Shawn even mentioned that Isis and I were having a "bonding experience." Ever since that day, I've felt a deep connection with Isis.
Since then, she's been slowly becoming more loving. I took advantage of that change and started to "work" with her more often. When she was really young, she wouldn't let anyone hold her and would claw her way out of a person's arms. (I have a scar to prove it.) I decided to take baby steps with Isis to help her understand that being held was a good thing. Every day, I would slowly pick her up and take her over to a window where we could watch the streets outside. I would talk to her in a very soft, soothing voice (very non-threatening) so she knew that I was still there with her. I figured that the movements on the steets would distract her enough so she wouldn't concentrate on the fact that I was holding her. Sure enough, Isis became used to being held by me. After a while, I was able to hold her for an infinite amount of time. In fact, I'd have to say that she now gets sad when I have to put her back on the floor after holding her.
These days, Isis is very relaxed. She's still afraid of almost all strangers (like a lot of kitties are), and most men. However, her attitude and mannerisms have changed to an enourmous extent with the people she's familiar and comfortable with. Isis no longer runs away when people are walking towards her. She doesn't duck her head quickly if people around her are moving their arms or moving objects around her. When Shawn and I walk in the door after being out for a few hours, she stays asleep in her kitty bed in the main room. If anything, she might look up at us to acknowledge our presence... but she doesn't run to a hiding place.
Whenever I'm asleep and Isis sees me curled up under my comforter and another very soft blanket I always use, she hops up on top of my stomach and falls asleep there. A few days ago, I woke up and was able to get off the couch without waking her up-- she stayed in the same spot, sleeping, for over ten hours! Most of the time, she's purring happily whever she's sleeping. And if I don't cuddle with her in the morning, which has become a routine for the two of us, she comes up to me later in the day and gives me sad mews to let me know she wants some cuddles.
Having two kitties who are so different from each other is amazing. Ed is friendly with everyone and is very sociable. Isis has grown into a kitty who chooses who to love, and if you're chosen, you feel like you are the most important person in the world. That's exactly how I feel whenever I'm with her. It was difficult for a long time for me to grasp the idea of Isis being calm and loving, but seeing her so happy every day has made her overall happiness a normality. I couldn't be more grateful for her and the fact that she's overcome whatever pain she experienced in the past. Her ability to move on and be happy has made me happy.
Just something I keep meaning to post about because I don't want to forget. I've been trying to give the girls the sign of the cross before bed time. I remember my parents used to do it to me and I liked it and wanted to pass that on. We still don't go to church but this is something I wanted to do.
Picking out the tree last year wasn't particularly fun for the girls. They were cold and hungry and tired and that is never a good combination. There was a fun wagon ride with horses but that was about all they liked about it. Still, we gave it another shot this year.
"The absolute holiness of God should be of great comfort and assurance to us. If God is perfectly holy, then we can be confident that His actions toward us are always perfect and just. We are often tempted to question God's actions and complain that He is unfair in His treatment of us. This is the devil's lie, the same thing he did to Eve. He essentially told her, "God is being unfair to you" (Gen. 3:4-5). But it is impossible in the very nature of God that He should be unfair. Because He is holy, all His actions are holy." Jerry Bridges, The Pursuit of Holiness
so. Wow. This is Colic. It's one of those things you hope is just an urban myth. Then it moves in with your new baby, and wow, is it real. Our little lady currently has two modes: asleep and pissed. When she's asleep, all is well. When she is awake, she's crying almost all of the time. I'm trying to time her feedings to be at least 2.5-3 hours apart, so that I'm only feeding her when she's actually hungry, and not when she just needs to be pacified. When I overfeed her, predictably, it comes back up on my shoulder. The only time she sleeps for extended periods is when she is strapped to me in the most excellent sling my brother gave me (un porte-bebe de Maman Kangourou), at which time she can log three of four hours of sleep. Otherwise, she pretty much refuses to sleep in any sustained way. I saw the pediatrician earlier this week for a scheduled check-up, and she gave me some very helpful advice, which I had not heard anywhere else. Unlike all the books and devices that promise to help you get rid of colic (not that I've been reading, I've digressed to a pre-literate stage) she basically said that colic happens, and the best we can do is try to get her awake, and getting all her colicky needs to cry and scream met while I don't mind being awake, and then hopefully she will sleep during the night (not through the night, just during the night). We had had a few bad nights where she was up crying and inconsolable from 3am onward. One night I finally just strapped her into the sling and slept sitting up on the couch. She did sleep for three hours then, but the doctor and I agree this was both unsustainable and dangerous. We came up with a plan to shift this awake time to the day time, with the use of gentle means of keeping her awake, such as giving her a bath. The most difficult part of any plan, of course, is carrying it through, and I find myself letting her sleep just for the peace and quiet. I'm going to let her sleep another half an hour, and then wake her for a feed, and then give her a bath if she doesn't stay awake, and then let her do her crying and screaming while I indulge in some mindless TV.
It is well known that I tend to be a stuffer when I clean. As long as there are empty closets and baskets, I'll shove stuff in 'em and forget about it. However, there always comes a time when there are no longer places to stuff things and the house never looks clean because there is an abundance of stuff.
