Molly comes home

Things were a little up and down with Molly today. This morning the vet told me that she still hadn't urinated, her hind end was flopping over when they tried to stand her up and they were concerned about some other internal or neurological injury. Well by early afternoon those issues has resolved themselves and Molly seemed to be doing as well as a dacshung who met an SUV could be doing.

But she was eating, and drinking, and urinating..so the vet gave the go ahead to see how she did at home tonight. She is going to be my constant companion in her laundry basket bed for the next few days, because she is completely unable to move herself. (Doxies just don't do well on 3 legs) And she needs alot of care...but within 2 weeks he expects she'll be able to get around (carefully) again.

We are all so happy to have her home!!!

Luckiest dog around

They say cats have nine lives... let my introduce you to my little dacshund Molly. Molly has had more close calls than I can count. As a tiny puppy she was a champ at wiggling under the fence, and we always were able to catch her before she got hurt. She's prone to a horrible condition called HGE (hemorrhagic gastroenteritis) We've almost lost her a couple of times to that condition. A year and a half ago she leapt off a bed and ruptured a disk in her back. That could have paralyzed her, but didn't.

Well today was her closest scrape ever. This morning around 11 am I answered the door for a gas company representative who was scheduled to do some work. He said "There a young lady sitting down the road here holding a dog who's just been hit. She seems pretty upset...do you know if it might be one of your neighbor's dogs?" I said I'd go see what I could do.

I walked, barefoot, across my yard and across my neighbors yard, and since I didn't have my glasses on, all could see was that she was holding a small brown dog. The college aged girl was crying and said "Do you know who's dog this is? It's a dacshund." I said "Well, my neighbors have 3 dacshunds, and I have one." But in my mind I had ruled out the possibility that it could be Molly because she was in the house..or so I thought. My mind was whirling with the fact that I didn't have my neighbors cell phone numbers, and how would I reach them if one of their dogs had been hit. It never occurred to me that when S let them out to use the bathroom,only moments earlier, our two very bright dogs might have knocked down a gate and escaped the yard.

When I got closer I saw that it was Molly. I said "Oh my God! Molly... oh...hold on!" And I ran back to the house. (Well, I hobbled fast) and began shouting at children to get their shoes on and telling Doug (who was on a business call) to get off the phone. I grabbed the baby from the crib, slipped on some shoes and hurried back out. After buckling the baby in the car, I hurried back to Molly and the waiting woman and gently wrapped her in a towel. The young lady was crying and apologizing profusely, and I was choking back tears and thanking her profusely for staying with Molly. She said never even saw Molly..she just felt a thump and heard yelping. (I cringe as I write that!) I do wish I had gotten her name or had some way to contact her. I'd like to tell her that it wasn't her fault..and we in no way have hard feelings towards her. It was our fault that our dogs escaped the yard.

Molly was very alert, and very happy to see me, but yelped everytime I shifted her. Her hind leg was hanging at a funny angle and she had some deep gashes. We jumped in the car and headed to the vet. The vet sent us home after they got her set up with an iv and so forth because evaluating her would take a good bit of time, but he seemed optimistic.

After wringing my hands all day, waiting for an update, I finally got one. Miraculously, there are no broken bones. Her hind ankle was dislocated, but popped easily back into place. Her cuts and wounds have been cleaned and stitched and her hind leg is in a cast. She was alert and very happy to see us later in the afternoon when we went to check on her. If she eats and drinks and goes to the bathroom tomorrow, she can come home tomorrow afternoon. And getting our old wooden fence replaced with chainlink is now top priority. And until it is..dogs are walked on leash.

Dear sweet Meredith

Just as I feel like I'm picking myself up and moving forward again, new details get released. http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/03/22/hilton_0323.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab


Now I feel sick. I want to vomit. My chest is heavy and I can't breathe. I am so angry, sick, disgusted...and amazed at Meredith's strength and bravery all at the same time.

Meredith, you are truely my hero. Rest in peace my friend.

Quickie Update

Just a quick post, because it's late and I should be sleeping. :)

D LOVES gymnastics. He worked hard in class, and despite being the smallest (and least strong) he worked very hard and I was very proud of him.

We are all doign well. S is very excited about an upcoming overnight field trip to an underground lake in TN. J has morning activites 3 days a week and so we're keeping busy, and then fun and playing wears him out for a good long nap.

I'm doing well too. Feeling tired and like jello again tonight becuase I had a good water aerobics class. My food hasn't been so good the last week or so. When I discovered I had lost 22 kbs I loosened up with my eating too much and some of the weight crept back on. Why do I do that? It's silly..but I always have! Once I start to be successful I feel like I can slack off, and I wind up shooting myself in the foot! Refocus, Kathy, refocus!

Next week is spring break forthe kids, and I'm greatly looking forward to being in Athens with DK and spending the week together as a family.

Lack of sleep

Two nights ago when all was quiet I wrote a letter that I've been sitting on since Meredith's memorial...a letter to her family. Afterwards I couldn't sleep, and found a friend on line, and we chatted and cried (think I was doing most of the crying though) until 3:30 am. Well just as I was settling in to sleep at about 4 am, Baby J decided it was morning. And well, that was that. I caught a 2 hour nap when he napped later that day...but that was all. I seemed to be doing alright on such little sleep, but I was silly..so so silly. The boys thought it was great..and I must admit I was enjoying myself.

It caught up with me today however..I've been wiped all day. So I skipped water aerobics and I'm trying not to feel too guilty about it. I hav extreme irrational paranoia that the weight will come back over night if I loose my focus. Well, actually, based on past experience, that fear may not be so irrational. Today, I did however take baby J to a playgroup for toddlers that was fairly active, I took him to a playground, and then chased him all around the kids school at pickup time..so maybe I got my exercise in anyway...

Tomorrow D begins Gymnastics and boy oh boy is he excited!

Weightloss. Gymnastics, and toddler antics

I've officially lost 22 lbs since about the second week of January. I'm going to water aerobics religiously and semi-following the south beach diet. (well I'm mostly following it) Yay me! 22 lbs is sort of a drop in the bucket in terms of what I need to lose overall, but it's a good start.

My middle monkey, D (the 8 year old) wants to begin gymnastics. There's a place near our house that offers boys classes for 8 and up, and he's psyched. I can't imagine a kid more built for gymnastics than D. He's lean, wiry, and has vast quantities of energy to burn. He does random things like shimmying up a climbing wall effortlessly....so perhaps the rings will present him with sufficient challenge.

And lastly, I took Baby J to a Le Leche League toddler meeting today. I don't particularly need the breastfeeding help, considering J is my third baby, but I am starting to feel like he needs the social interaction. He didn't quite know what to make of all the little people his size. This is a completely new experience for him! And he was rather uncertain about the little girl his age who was determined to put a hat on his head. J would toddle away, and she'd follow holding out the hat. Wherever he went, she was right behind, reaching for his head. Whenever he would pause to look at something, she'd assault him with the knit cap. He was rather unsure of her (and the hat) and she was determined!

Overheard

I overheard the following exchange at Earthfare last night between two boys who looked like they were just out of highschool.

"So what's this Marcy was telling me about you claiming to be half American?"
"I never said I was half Amercian...what are you talking about?!"
"Marcy said you said you were half American..."
"Dude! I said I was an AFRICAN American!"
"Oh...."

Just made me giggle...

Jello legs, Busted lip, and Gecko Eggs

It's quiet and all the monkeys are sleeping....whew.

Today I returned to my sleep apnea doctor, and he wasn't terribly impressed with my progress because I'm still exhausted most of the time. So he wants to see me in another 3 months. I walked away with a new type of mask however, which may help.

I went to water aerobics again this evening, and man oh man, do I feel like a lump of jello after that class. The funny thing about water exercise is you don't realize how hard you're working, because you never break a sweat. That is, until later, when you feel like jello...

So then back at home, baby J is toddling down the hall, and D (the 8 year old) decides to stop him and bring him back the room that we were all sitting in. But instead of stopping the toddling monkey, D accidentally tripped him. Baby J hit the hardwood face first. I heard D scream, and about two seconds later I heard the baby scream. You know a child is hurt when initially you hear nothing, the babe's mouth open wide in a soundless scream with a purple face...then comes the deep breath and the shrill scream of pain that says I REALLY got hurt this time. Blood was all over his face and it took me a few minutes to determine where it was coming from. The older two were panicking, and kept saying "he's bleeding...he's bleeding!" Thank you captain obvious! I do have to say that S was a tremendous help once I began giving him orders. "Grab a wet paper towel! Hold his hands so I can look!" All his teeth were intact, but he had busted his lip pretty good. Poor baby, and poor D. He was really hard on himself, despite the fact that it was a total accident.

And in other news, S's female leopard gecko, Sarah, appears to be about to lay eggs. Apparently she was impregnated by her cagemate, Ken. Some of my readers will find this very very humorous.

Sleep tight

Even bouncing baby monkeys fall asleep eventually. *yawn* I'm exhausted today...

Chest Pains and Sprinting (though not together)

Once again, it's late and quiet. Except for the 15 month old monkey bouncing around in his crib... but at least the big monkeys are asleep.

I think I'll be able to adapt to this lifestyle for the next few months. Not that I like it or anything, but I'll make it through.

I talk to DK several times a day, the boys do too. I have worked out a regular routine with our sitters...they'll come over in the evenings and wrestle the monkeys while I go out and have some time to myself. I intend to spend most of this time at the Y, getting back in shape. I hit water aerobics tonight and had quite a scary experience... I was pushing myself to my limits, which considering how overweight and grossly out of shape I am, isn't alot. When I got a terrible pain in the middle of of my back. I inhaled deeply and it got sharper. I made my way to the side of the pool and hung on, terrified.

My internal mental dialougue went something like this: "I'm having a heart attack in the deep end of the YMCA swimming pool. Who's going to take care of my kids? Who'll know to contact the sitters and call DK? I should have lost this weight years ago. Stupid stupid...now I'm having a heart attack and my kids won't have a mom! How could I do this to myself, to the kids, to DK? Wait... *stretch* oh... *stretch*....it's just a muscle spasm between my shoulder blades..."

Then I just stretched it out and resumed exercising. But yeah, loosing weight is priority one.

And an unrelated topic: Baby J actually sprinted today. The days of wobbly toddling were certainly short lived. This evening he began fiddling with a power outlet, trying to remove the safety covers and I said sharply "Baby J, NO!" He jumped, startled, and sprinted clear across the room. S, my almost 11 year old, and I burst out laughing. Evidently, he thought no one was watching...