Pampered

I am childless today (not counting the burgeoning belly that continues to make its presence known more and more every day). Shawn dropped off both Jamie and Clare to his mother's in Maine today. This is the first time I have had an entire day to myself since Clare was born (and she will be 22 months old next week). To top it off, Shawn informed me yesterday that he also booked me an appointment at my favorite spa for a super-duper pedicure. It has been a rough few weeks, both with getting more uncomfortable pregnancy-wise and worrying over Clare. Shawn is an amazing and astute husband that notices these things. (Maybe it was the fact that yesterday morning, as he turned around from making his coffee, he discovered me crying into my bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Just a rough night and day.) I was nervous sending the kids off this morning, though. I knew Jamie would be fine. He has gone to Mimi's many times without Mom or Dad and loves it. Plus Uncle Brian was going to be there, and he is one of the few people in this world who loves superheros more than Jamie does! It was Clare I was worried about. She has never been away from me for this long before (hospital stays do not count and, even then, she was zonked out). I know the apron strings have to be cut at some point, especially since I will be in the hospital myself in a few short months, but it is still hard to let go. However, I admit I am enjoying every minute of my day so far!

I actually have an early update on the Clare versus food situation. We went in yesterday for a weight check (17 lbs, 11 oz, so she did gain - hooray!), and we got to see her pediatrician for the first time since she was 18 months old. As I mentioned earlier, he was out due to a broken foot since before Christmas, when the eating strike began. It was such a relief to finally touch base with him. It reminded me why he is such an awesome pediatrician. He is always ready to go to bat for us. After an hour and fifteen minutes of talking, we have a plan. (Yea!) He believes Clare may have silent reflux going on and started her on Prevacid. He increased her appetite stimulant dose to the max for her weight since we have not seen a result yet. He is arranging to have a nutrition consult and swallow specialist come out to the house to evaluate Clare (something which was last done in early 2006 when Clare has just begun eating pureed solids). And, depending on all those new things we're doing, he may order a barium swallow in the hospital as well (which could definitively diagnose reflux and/or swallow issues). We are going to follow-up with him again in a month and see if any of these made a difference.

P.S. For all of those who enjoyed Shawn's story about Jamie and the paper towel dispenser, he comes by it honestly. Last weekend, at Borders Books, I wanted to do a search on the computer they had available for customers to use. The screen had a couple choices on it, so I was pushing with my finger on the screen the button for a new search. After touching the screen a couple times with no results, the friendly Borders employee who was watching me suggested with a smile, "Try using the mouse." Oh, yeah, that antiquated thing.