A trip to the ER, and other fun ways to meet your neighbors....
First let me say that everyone is fine, and this time it wasn't Corey (or Mason) who needed to go to the ER, thank God. It was their mommy! I get the gold star! No I didn't hack my finger off while preparing yet another meal. I did nearly faint, though, while driving Mason home from a little outing, and let me tell you, it was the most terrifying event of my life. With respect to my own health, I should say. Corey's ordeals were significantly more traumatic, but yesterday I thought for sure I was going to crash the car and kill myself and Mason. I was absolutely frightened out of my mind.
To elaborate, here is the chain of events. Mason and I dropped Corey and Damian off at the pool, and then we headed off to do a little shopping and running around together. My sweet pea and I had a great time pushing every automatic door button we could find. As we were driving home, I began to see black in the edges of my vision. Then I started getting dizzy. Then my hands started to tingle and go numb. And then I started to panic.
At this point, we were on 95, and I thought about pulling over on the side of the road. That seemed terribly dangerous, though, so I continued on, trying to breath and trying to pray that I would get us home. I tried and tried to call Damian, but since he was splashing in the pool, his cell phone wasn't in his pocket. I drove on with Mason giggling and kicking his feet in the back seat of the car. Please God let me just get my baby home, I thought.
And I did. But once I tried to stand and get out of the car, I nearly fell down. I opened Mason's door and left him in his car seat. I called Damian again. And then, as I was sure I was going to black out, I called 911. As I was on the phone with 911, my neighbor, Dr. Doug, who I'd never met before but just happens to be an ER doctor at Hopkins (lucky me!), came over, sat me down on the curb, and started taking my vitals/checking my blood sugar/etc. He kept me fairly calm, and conscious, as we waited for the EMTs to arrive.
After that, it was a blur of sirens, ambulances, EMTs and police officers. I was shaking and still terrified, but glad that Mason was alright and I was hopefully going to get help. They loaded me into the ambulance and took me to Howard County's ER. While there, I had a blood panel, urinalysis, and a CT scan of my chest to rule out a pulmonary embolism (since I'm on the pill). After many hours, a liter of fluid via IV, and two giant horse pills, they found only that I was dehydrated and my potassium levels were low. The low potassium levels apparently caused the numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, and once I'd taken a giant dose of it (and been rehydrated), these symptoms subsided. The rest of it was probably due to a panic attack once my hands started going numb.
Never a dull moment around here! I'll follow up with my GP, but hopefully lots of bananas, oranges, and black-eyed peas will help set me straight. Oh, and water. Lots of water.
Fixing things
This morning Mason got his hands on a marker, and before I noticed, he'd made a serious attempt at eating it. By the time I wrestled it out of his pudgy little hands, he had black all over his hands and all over his mouth, including his teeth and tongue. He looked like he'd been eating tar and pitch. Had I not been so freaked out by the sight of my painted up baby, I would have grabbed the camera. Instead, I grabbed the baby wipes, then I grabbed Mason, and I spent the next couple of minutes frantically swiping black from him as he screamed bloody murder.
To Corey this scene was clearly me torturing Mason. Because Corey, whose favorite phrase these days, mind you, is "Don't let Mason get (fill in the blank)!", started yelling at me, "Mommy! DON'T DO THAT TO MASON!" There's nothing like that kind of decibel level to motivate a person to finish up a task quickly. Once I was done, I apologized profusely to Mason, and then I gave him my car keys. He loves my car keys. I told him, as I handed them over, "Don't get used to it. When you're 16, it won't be so easy to get those from me." In response, he pushed the "panic" button and set off the car alarm. I guess that's toddler for "bite me", or perhaps, "wanna bet?".
After the morning chaos ended, and the boys were napping, I decided to read. So I pulled out my glasses and, lucky me, one of the lenses popped out in my lap, along with the world's tiniest screw. Lovely. So I retrieved my eyeglass repair kit and set about fixing my glasses. As I was pathetically attempting to manipulate this ridiculously tiny screw into this ridiculously tiny hole, I had two thoughts. First, thank God the boys aren't here to "help" me do this. Second, how is anyone supposed to see a hole and screw this small without actually wearing the glasses they are trying to fix? I gave up and watched TV.
On a more serious note, it looks like Mason has decided to follow in his brother's footsteps, in that he (like Corey at his age), is not talking at all. I realize how behind he is when I am with my niece, Sydney, as she is talking more and more each day. For example, yesterday at a picnic she let me know that she wanted "hot dog", which she repeated until she'd eaten an entire hot dog (go big girl!). Mason, on the other hand, just points and grunts, and thus is often frustrated when nobody knows what he wants.
Mason has met with a child development person, and he will be meeting with a speech pathologist as well soon. Unfortunately it won't be Jen, who we already have a relationship with, and who clearly helped Corey tremendously, given that Corey never stops talking for more than 30 seconds anymore. But I am hoping that the process will offer Mason the same help that it did Corey. I'll post again when there is more news.
Peyton visits!
Our nephew, Peyton, came from California for a visit. And oh yes, his parents, Dave and Jen, came along too. But we were less interested in playing blocks with Dave and Jen. Once you've had a baby as cute as Peyton, you no longer get top billing. Hopefully they're getting used to essentially being invisible as people light up, reach past them, grab Peyton and kiss his chubby cheeks.
Now that Corey talks non-stop, I find it difficult to get a word in edgewise, and thus I too sometimes feel invisible. Perhaps I will dye my hair fire-hydrant orange so that I am less easy to ignore.
But back to Peyton's visit. My brother, Dave, was actually officiating a wedding, and that was the purpose of the visit. Yes, that's right, Reverend Dave tied somebody's knot! I tried to talk him into wearing some priestly robes beforehand, but no sale. Luckily Dave, Jen and Peyton were able to work in quite a bit of fun with everyone while they were here, and while we did have some rain, all-in-all the weather was good, everything was lush and green, and we were all able to enjoy that. We even made it out to visit with Shawn, Amanda, and Sydney, and all four kids got a chance to run around and play together. Words like "zoo", "circus", and "chaos" come to mind, actually, when I think about the entire crew together, but it was fun, nonetheless. Especially since the kids seemed to really get along very well.
The Californians have returned to the other coast, but they've promised to come back and hang out with us at Hatteras this year. We are looking forward to that.
Before I sign off, I have two cute items to share. First, Mason has recently taken to hugging with gusto. He'll throw his little chubster arms around your neck and squeeze for all he's worth. It absolutely melts my heart every single time, especially since Corey has never been so demonstrative with his affection. Second, while in the car the other day, I said to Corey, "When we get home mommy is going to fix dinner, ok?" Corey pondered for a moment and said, "Is dinner broken, Mommy?" I guess that's a matter of opinion.
Mason does and Corey says....
Mason still isn't talking at all, though I could have sworn he said, "No no no!" the other day. Although he lacks speech, he is very personable and fun (which is actually my nice way of saying sweet with a large helping of wild and crazy). Even if he won't/can't talk to you, he'll sign for you (mostly "eat" and "more"), giggle and flirt with you, and bring you books to read him. He particularly likes to bring books to his Papa. Get on the floor, though, and expect to be steam-rollered and have your hair completely rearranged, and not for the better.
This weekend we visited my Aunt Vicki and Uncle Bruce for a lovely afternoon of play, conversation, burgers and vino. The day couldn't have been more spectacular, and the boys had a fabulous time. Mason discovered that dogs like to be fed Cheerios, and he also discovered that they'll lick your baked-bean covered hands clean for you after dinner. All to his giggling delight. The boys also fed the koi in the koi pond - another event which has warranted continuous commentary from Corey.
And now for a few more funny moments in Corey's speech. Recently Corey went to a special Thomas the Train exhibit with his Nanny & Papa. He loved it, and if you dropped by today, he might still tell you all about it. Mason was too young to go, so he stayed home with me, which was actually very nice for us. But when Corey first left, Mason flipped out. Later, upon his return, Corey asked "Did Mason have a total cow when I left?"
This afternoon I had my first conversation about the birds and the bees with Corey. At three. Oh God. Here is our little chat:
Corey: "Mommy, was I in zoo belly long long time ago?"
Me: "Yes you were!"
Corey, pondering, "Mommy, how did zoo get me in zoo belly?"
Me, stifling a grin, "Um, uh - well, daddy and I worked really hard together to get you into my belly."
Corey, "Was there anything else in zoo belly when I got in zere?"
I dissolved into laughter at that point - I couldn't help it!
Finally, I've made an appointment with the speech pathologist for Mason. She'll be here next week, and hopefully she can help me steer Mason in the same direction she steered Corey. And then I'll be sorry. Or maybe I'll just buy some of those helicopter headphones. Hmmmm......
