This is a marathon, not a sprint, as a friend said a few weeks ago. And she’s right, but it’s more like a marathon in reverse, where the famed Wall of pain, exhaustion, and self-doubt hits you first, then you slowly work your way back from it toward a place where you feel like you’re coping reasonably well and eventually even cruising along feeling great. We aren’t cruising yet, but we’re at least not at the Wall.
Titanium Girl still requires meds around the clock, though she dropped her tylenol doses since they didn’t seem to be doing much. The upshot, though, is that she (and we) get a few 3-4 hour stretches of sleep without the tylenol breaking things up. That doesn’t sound like much, but any parent of a newborn will tell you that’s a pretty nice run when you can get it.
School work is progressing, though I’m not sure it’s progressing fast enough. She catches on just fine, but being able to sit and actually work for more than a half hour or so at a time is a challenge. I’m having to be Mean Taskmaster Mom to keep her working on things. But she did much better today, knocking out some online math lessons and some reading.
Mobility in general continues to improve. Yesterday she squatted all the way to the floor to get something. I hadn’t thought she was ready or able to do that, and it took me a little by surprise when she did so. But she seems to have quickly mastered the movement all on her own, keeping her back straight and bending only with her knees.
Her weight and eating are still an issue. She gained a pound, then lost a half pound. We got her some Greek yogurt, which is high in protein, and some protein bars (she didn’t like the protein shakes). DH’s parents brought some home made chocolate chip banana bread, and friend C. and her mom stopped by with home made cinnamon bread, both of which have been very much enjoyed by Titanium Girl. Last night I went on a midnight Taco Bell run because she said nachos sounded good. She hadn’t realized Taco Bell is a 24/7 affront to gastronomy, nor that I had made many a late night Taco Bell run in my college and grad school days, so a midnight run was old hat. Today I told her since she can’t eat a whole lot at a time, she’s going to have to eat every 2 hours. This seemed at least feasible for her; hopefully the scale will show progress in the morning.
The excised ribs still bother her, and the right side feels like it sometimes moves in a way that she can’t describe other than to say it feels disconcerting. After she had lots of issues with rib pain this morning, I had to be Mean Taskmaster Mom and take her outside to walk a couple laps around our longish driveway; I suspect she’s laying too much and needs to walk more, and I reminded her that Dr. C. instructed her to walk walk walk. Interestingly, after her driveway laps, the rib pain improved. Her overall pain this evening seems better, too.
Honestly, I was feeling a little low today, because it seemed like there was a lot that Titanium Girl is still struggling with. But looking back, there’s plenty of positive. The Wall is still behind us…
