Archives: health

Brain is focussed on stomach again, which this morning is feeling gripey. Bah. Feel run down a bit; too many things to do & wanting to try to cram too much into the day. Mornings (writing on the morning train) are not the best time of the day for me at the moment.

Bah

Louise hosted an ‘NCT’ meeting at our house yesterday. It’s not an official ‘National Childbirth Trust’ meet, more a group of mothers, but still… It went well to all accounts. Eve was not phased by all these people descending on the house, & there were a lot of babies, to which she exclaimed “‘Nother Baby!”

Another Eve saying at the moment is “Parpy bottom” (A self-descriptive term).

Naaah

It doesn’t look like I’ll polish off that room this week. I took a night off & did no decorating last night. I decided that I wanted to put up a ZUM!& review… so I did. We also have Caroline coming up from London to visit us – which will be good! It would be a bit rude of me to do the decorating while she is here tho…

Eve woke at about 10:20 late night – rather upset. She has not woke at this time for quite some time (she sleeps rather well for at least the first 4 hours of the night, as does Jack). She would not settle either, so Louise took over comforting, & still she would not settle. It’s a bit distressing when this happens, as there is plainly something amiss. She was not comfortable… Stomach ache – possibly just trapped wind though as she did a few class farts. It did take her just over an hour to settle down again. She went off to sleep in our bed, me already drifting off & Louise trapped in her daytime clothes as she was not going to let her go. There was no recurrence in the night, so we can but hope that it was wind, & she is over that. She has got some ‘bug’ at the moment as she threw up her tea again last night. It would have stayed down save for the fact that Jack upset her again, & her upset spiralled into distress & puke. This has happened a few times of recent… & Jack has been warned about such foolish behaviour at teatime. Teatime is not going as smoothly as we would like at the moment. It did not help that I was very late home yesterday… the trains going a bit pooh on me, & all that.

Sigh… My stomach still remains my main obsession. After feeling
so cocky & confident I over did it with Louise’s rather
splendid mushroom & quorn risotto last night & ended up
with a dicky tum. Not a painful one, thankfully, but certainly an
uncomfortable one; the lingering of which still nags.
Jack was in a ‘push it to the limits’ mood last night – going out
of his way to do things that would be annoying. What seemed to work
was picking him up & plonking down on the sofa. He was crying
& protesting at not being allowed to be doing whatever it was
he was doing, but I was keeping him there for a minute &
speaking to him asking why he was being so silly & telling him
the reason that he could not move for a moment was because he was
being so silly. Seemed to actually work as he conceded a little,
then a hug & then a little attention & he instigated an
‘eye spy’ game as he lay atop me. For a good hour or so he was good
as gold, but miscreant behaviour started to exhibit again before
bedtime.
Basically he was over tired. He gets like that when he is over
tired, but why he was so, is another thing. He has not had any
disturbed sleep of recent (he lets us know if he is awake). He
could be off colour… I don’t think it will be the stomach bug as
he is eating ok at the moment & is exhibiting no discomfort in
his tum. If he was feeling under the weather it does explain his
fragile fractious nature.
A neighbour returning from hols commented that I looked like I had
been ill to Louise, yesterday. I protest! She would have known I
have been under the weather & just made an associative jump.
She also told Louise that she knew of someone who has had the same
bug as ourselves. Aha! At last evidence that there is a bug going
round. Until recently although Louise had heard someone tell there
was a bug going round, but none of the other mothers at playgroups
& soon actually knew of anyone else who was afflicted. The
neighbour also mentioned that this other person said that there was
a name of the bug – not unidentified as the Dr I saw hinted. It
would be nice to have a name for it, but then, as with the
infection that I had last year that knocked me down for a week of
so, the name was told to me but by the time the sentence was
finished it had evaporated from my brain.

The Stomach update: I ate no tea last night. Did not feel so bad
yesterday, but coming home took a turn for the worse. Hunger &
griping pain all together, a general feeling of unsteadiness. For
example, walking home, I was worried that people might think I had
been drinking, as I kept losing my equilibrium; a little stumble,
speeding up walking & slowing down as I determined that I would
maintain my normal walking pace, but had to concentrate to do so.
Tea was pancakes for the kids, which, seeing as was a feature of
the last tea I ate before this bug got ahold of me, it was not
something I felt I could partake. Nipped out after the kids were
asleep to get some chocolate milk, & stock up on Lucozade &
water. Louise had a bad night too; no tea (to speak of) & bad
tum. All the more worrying for Louise as she is pregnant.
I was determined last week if this continued, that I would make a
Doctor’s appointment, but I feel pensive about it now. I shall have
to see if I can ‘remember’ to do it during the day today. Louise is
going for a scan next Thursday (I have booked that day off work
well in advance) so she feels that would be the best time to rise
the matter if it still persist with her.
I am getting exceedingly bored with being ill. There was scant
novelty there anyway, & I distinctly dislike any sort of
gripes, pains & aches in the 1st place.

Ate some tea last night. Louise had cooked a meal for the kids
& I had a go as well. Very nice. Stomach was a little
surprised, I think as it did protest a bit later on, but there was
no searing gut rot as before. Hopefully that corner has been turned
& normal service will be resumed as soon as possible. Did wake
this morning with a great stab of pain, but it soon subsided &
turned to… hunger. Cautious breakfast. This all does not feel
right, but it’s noticeably better.

Louise’s visit to the doctors confirmed, as thought, that she has
the same as be. As she is more on the ball that me, she got some
advice regarding what is good or bad to eat. The main one to avoid
is fat – it seems, but a bit of added sugar is good as it gives the
bug something to … oh… I forget – something to do or something
to attach to? Whatever. Live yogurt is classed as good… oooh…
all right then.
Poor Louise has had a couple of very bad nights in a row. Not
sure, but I don’t think last night was as bad as the previous. The
main problem with sleeping is actually getting comfortable as the
pain is a bit all consuming (esp at night) & very constant.
Trying to get into a comfortable position is impossible, & you
need to be at least getting comfortable to sleep, as a rule.
Being tired & hungry has the effect of making you a bit more
irritable as well. This has not worked well for Jack as he has been
taking disappointment very badly this weekend. Granted, he is
likely to have been tired over the weekend – late to bed &
early to rise on Friday to Saturday. He has gone in or shouting
& crying at seemingly inconsequential things. You have to
remind yourself, at 4, these things are not inconsequential – they
are “not fair”. Going down to the cycle track at the park, only to
find that as you get there, the skies open. Shelter for half &
hour or so & as the rain dies down we head back home instead
(as there are things to be doing) of playing with the promise of
coming back tomorrow. Jack did not like that. He created for a lot
of the walk home. We did go the next day. If we say we will do
something we will.
One of the real annoyances of this bug is not being able to eat
what you want to. No fat means – shock horror – no chocolate or
crisps for me! Such a staple of my daily indulgence snatched away
from me. Fat holds so many foodstuffs together.. sigh. Taste is
limited. Fortunately :) chocolate milk seems to be universally made
with skimmed milk – joy! On the whole, I am certainly getting
better. I’ve taken a packed lunch to work with me, although not my
normal one, & my stomach does complain, but not to the extent
it seemed to do previously. Mind you, I am being a lot more
cautious about what I eat. I’m not sure when my diet will return to
normal. For instance, I have not dared have a hot drink in 7 days.
I must be effectively decaffinating my body – such a strange
thought. All this sounds outrageously healthy, whereas it is
anything but.
Homeward bound. Called Louise to see how she was doing today. She
sounded a bit jiggered. Lack of sleep & lack of food takes its
toll. Jack, as usual, wanted to say hello, so I had a quick word,
which ran something like:
“Hello Paul”
“Hiya Jack”
“… I love you Paul”
[aaaawwww :) ] “I love you too, Jack”
“I wish you did not have to go to work”
[aaaaawwwwww] “…Mmmm, so do I”
“Hang on a minute” [Jack drops the phone – there a little
confusion he says something else & eventually I ask to speak to
‘mummy’ (I gotta get back to work & too long on the phone at
work would be frowned on) & Louise comes back on the phone to
say goodbye]
Kids, eh? Have a habit of cutting to the core
sometimes…

Bad news – Louise has also fallen prey to the stomach bug I now
have. At least she knows to avoid eating solids, so should not
encounter any more ‘stomach cramps’. In a way, she was lucky that
she 1st got it in the afternoon (was suffering bad when I got home
yesterday) as it subsided enough to let her still have a reasonable
night’s sleep.
Led to an odd evening last night. Eve was tired, as she had not
managed to get a sleep during the day. She eventually was tipped
into total upset by a very slight thing; Jack attempting to coax
her indoors from the back yard as it was starting to rain. Floods
of hysterical tears & she wanted only “mummeee”. Eventually she
fell asleep (most likely with a sob) on the sofa, curled up with
Louise. Louise took to bed upstairs as she was not well – & I
attempted to move the sleeping Eve into her cot upstairs. Jack was
a little too willing to help, & she woke up – thus went into
our bed with Louise. This left Jack & I on our own. I made his
tea – just teacake with melted cheese (my… the thought of cheese
even now is infuriating, as I can mentally taste it – but fear
reprisal from my stomach for eating it). He scoffed a lot. He
chattered a lot, I was lazy enough to try to veg in front of the
telly news, but got roped into playing with Lego (duplo) bricks
& building towers. Louise came back downstairs & we popped
out late to get some supplies from the shop. He went in the
pushchair as he was a little tired & it would have been a bit
much carrying bottles of drink & him on my shoulders. As having
a bath would have disturbed Eve he just got changed him into ‘jamas
when he got back & read to him for a bit downstairs. As he was
showing little sigh of actually going to sleep (it’s just that
little bit exiting being read to downstairs) I took him upstairs to
his room & he was off to sleep with 10 minutes reading up
there. Aw…
Hmmm this morning’s train has either a foolhardy driver or the
brakes are not working properly. He is consistently overshooting
the platform. The conductor has to announce that people wishing to
depart the train go to the rear of the train. To add to farcical
flavour of this morning’s journey the conductor periodically
announces that his ticket machine is not working, & thus to buy
tickets from “the appropriate booking office”. So we have seen
nothing of him this morning either.

Homeward: Been shopping in town & have a bag loads of
groceries. Impulse buy today has been Tabasco sauce in anticipation
of eating again. Food is starting to be tempting, but the fear of
pain wins out. I am looking forward to feeling better. Lucozade
& chocolate milk are losing their appeal.
Louise will have been to the doctors as well with this stomach
complaint. Perhaps she might have gleamed more information as to
what it might be? Perhaps not though, as the doctor I saw is noted
for being basically up front. It would be nice to have some sort of
‘life cycle’ for it though… sigh… knowing my luck “as long as
it takes” & I do not feel confident that my health is back to
itself.
Bother.
Have the kids had it? It’s difficult to tell… we hope so, as we
wouldn’t want them to be afflicted by it. As previously said, Eve
had a couple of bad days last week, & Jack was off his food in
general for a few days before that as well. Such things could also
be interpreted as the usual run of events with kids. They don’t
really understand feeling ill so much at that age & just get on
with things for the most part (albeit grumpily). If you were to ask
Jack if he was feeling alright at the moment, he would say that he
has a stomach ache, but this is purely out of empathy for Louise
& I.

(Workward train)
Well, that didn’t work yesterday. The Ricicles I had for breakfast
had vengeance & caused considerable pain. I lasted until @
10:30 before I concluded that work just was not … working, &
left for home. Got an appointment at the doctors & found that
there is in fact a bug doing the rounds in town & I am yet
another victim. No real mention of what it actually is, but stay
off solids, drink frequently & have some paracetamol &
another tablet to keep stomach acid down… sigh.

(Homeward train)
Hmmm thinking about it, I seem to have 30 days worth of
prescription… I sincerely hope that this is precautionary. I
would rather not live on fluids only for a month!
So, there is no other diagnosis than ‘bug’. You have to wonder
from where you’ve caught it. Well – the kids were off food for a
period last week & Eve had a particularly bad day last Thursday
(Louise confirms that as the day she did rather a lot of nappys).
They are better now, I am on day 4. So did I catch it from them…?
I dunno really. I’m inclined to think not. The lads in the office
are not enthused by the thought I have a ‘bug’. Cotangent? Who
knows… heh – well, we’ll find out, I guess. If everyone else if
off, then that might force some reappraisal of the staffing levels
we currently suffer work under.
Today’s been one of those days – as we have ceased an old phone
number – where I constantly put the phone down & immediately
pick it up & also every so often have my ear chewed by an irate
customer. sigh.
As I managed to get home early yesterday & Louise was out with
the kids for a bit, I managed to get some time for potentially
useful things – which I filled with sleeping. I had terrible
gut-rot remember? When Louise got back I was a little surprised to
see that she had no Jack. This was a relief really as I was as well
not having him there to crawl over me. When Eve woke she did her
best at that, but was not so difficult (or heavy) as Jack in that
respect. I was able to loll on the sofa for the most part.
Jack had gone off with Leila & her mum & dad) for the day.
Leila lives a fair bit further from the centre of town than we do
& was apparently missing the lack of social activity from
school. When Jack came back he was happy & Leila said that she
did not want him to go (aw!). All was amicable tho on leaving – no
protestations & Leila’s mum said that Jack had been as good as
gold.
The kids have had haircuts recently by the way. Eve has had her
1st haircut – which was really just a fringe trim. She needed it
really as her fringe was forever getting in her eyes. Having a
straight fringe is odd though. It changes the aspect of her face a
little. She is still a pretty little thing, but her mischeviousness
is even more evident. It shines through those grins of her even
more.
Being off in the afternoon also gave me leave to read the
newspaper. There were articles on child safety & parental
supervision. There has recently been a court case in the UK where
the parents of a girl who was killed (with her friend) playing on a
railway were found guilty of her manslaughter due to ‘gross
negligence’. This has sparked a few articles hand wringing on the
subject. It makes you more paranoid. At the moment Jack is enjoying
a certain amount of freedom on his bike. Just round the back street
& cul-de-sac where we live, but nonetheless he is not visible
to us at all times. He is usually with the other kids who are on
their hols at the moment – most of which are older than he (up to
at least 9 years for one of the girls, I guess). They seem to look
after each other well, but occasionally Jack will come back crying
(usually as he has fallen over). The thing is, you ask yourself,
“Am I supervising him enough?”. Well, no in that you do not now
exactly where he is (but you do basically) & yes in that you
are assured he is basically safe. It would be foolish to be
‘spying’ on him all the time as the other kids (& he) would
resent the intrusion, but kids are kids – so the compromise has to
be to just ensure you eyeball him every so often to ensure that you
know what’s going on. The balance between freedom &
responsibility – eek!

Feeling better? Hopefully. Still went to work yesterday as well,
but sleeping on the train seemed the most important thing to do as
the night before was such a bad night for sleeping. I had had some
tea, not much & upped the stakes on the gut rot, was sick even.
Could not get comfortable in bed & eventually fell asleep on
the sofa downstairs. Weird. Yesterday I opted for liquids only
& although I went to bed hungry, I had no pain to keep me
awake, so slept quite well. I’ve tried a little breakfast this
morning, but not my usual repast with huge tea swilling. I still
have something of a headache & dullness, but my walking pace
has picked up from being a crawl, so hopefully I’m feeling better
in general; still do not feel quite right, but improving.
There was me, thinking on Friday night that now that Big Brother
had finished it’s summer run I might get back to being more
productive on an evening, or at least getting to bed at a decent
time. Well… I have been getting to bed early the last couple of
days – essentially weaving to our bedroom to flop after reading the
kids to sleep.
Hmmm… Trains are playing silly buggers again. Yesterday was OK,
but Monday’s didn’t turn up. Today we change at Rochdale for some
reason…
Still waiting outside Rochdale station to pull into the platform,
so there could be summat up with the line, this morning, I guess –
sigh.

Really feeling shite this morning.
Would rather be doing nothing, but on the way to work as usual – sucker!
Anyone else would be on a sicky. Blasted work ethic.
Got gut rot yesterday evening, which has proved a little, more persistent than your usual. Sleep early, which was as well as it was broken over the night. Feeling a general lack of enthusiasm for anything. Bah.
Saturday was a good day. Got a lot done even pushed myself into doing some wallpapering in the evening. Only 2 stripes over the polystyrene – but a good start on that wall. Needs to be done to stop the kids marking up the polystyrene that’s there.
Train starting – an old boneshaker – so I’m stopping.