I have been super busy trying to get some of my volunteer GS stuff done (I had a LOT of stuff hit me all at once), and I'm starting to set my sights on getting my co-leader(s) caught up before I can "drop out". Last Friday, I put on the Fun Day for the local kindergarteners and first graders. 45 crazy 5 to 7-year olds. I planned it well, and I think it went off great. I am trying to get out of doing it next year, but so far no one is stepping up. ugh.
THIS Friday I get to take Izzy's GS troop to THEIR fun day. This one is busier, crazier, and includes CAKE. But at least *I* didn't have to organize it! Ha!
Anyway, I'm trying to wrap up the rest of the GS year, and everything else is getting in the way. Too much to do--not enough energy to do it. You'd think I'd get more done being unemployed, but the sapped energy (typical SADD-like symptoms on top of Growing-an-extra-Human symptoms) get the best of me. I'm forcing myself to do a little bit at a time, but my self isn't liking it one bit!
In addition to this, all three kids have had major reports to do/due this month. We have two down, but we still need to get one done. At least there was a BIT of an overlap, but really, Local School System, couldn't you time these things better? Yeesh!
And, in case you're wondering, so far Cinnamon the Pig seems to be doing GREAT. I was a little nervous because after all her meds and most of her mush-food was gone, she still didn't seem to be eating a lot on her own. I just kept giving her grass and carrots and I did wean her down from the mush so that she wasn't having to go back to eating her "kibbles" cold turkey after being hand-fed for almost two weeks. After a few days (and a LOT of grass and carrots), she gradually started eating more and more of her own food. Mary and I did a little dance when we discovered that her food bowl and water bottle were actually EMPTY the other day. And the pig has even taken to jumping up on top of her house again (really funny to see, especially after the last LAZY piggy we had), and she now squeals more often when *I* walk into the room than John or Mary. Yep, she's MY baby now! Tentatively hopeful that whatever was ailing her is out of her system now, and we can go back to "normal" pig care. Whew!
Keith and Izzy are well on their way to passing their current books in their viola/cello lessons. Keith is to the point where he's practically teaching himself, and the instructor has pretty much given him free rein. Izzy does NOT like to be interrupted from play time to take time to practice. She is still managing to keep up, tho. Mary has discovered that they no longer do the Suzuki program in middle school--they just work on orchestra. She is fighting this change and never brings home her instrument or her music, and she's able to use her busy swim schedule and mom's distractedness to basically never practice at all. The biggest problem is that she doesn't like her orchestra teacher. We keep telling her that life will continually hand us teachers/bosses/people we don't like but still need to work with, but she just rolls her eyes and continues to find ways NOT to practice. I fear her violin-playing days are numbered.... My last hope is to tell her that next year she'll get a different teacher, so maybe things will get better. AND that she can continue to work on her book AT HOME and Mom and Dad will pass songs for her. We'll keep trying, anyway....
John and I are trying not to panic about the possibility that he may not have a job much longer. This isn't really the time for him to become unemployed and lose health insurance! He is hoping he'll be OK at least through the summer. This bad news about his company we've really been expecting for quite a long time, but NOW, universe, NOW? That's just COLD!
So, if anyone knows of any technical writing/editing jobs....?
OK. No more depressing stuff! I am posting a new belly pic up at the baby blog! Go! Enjoy!
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Monday, January 09, 2012
Baby Bonding
So towards the end of the holiday break, my husband and I put our heads together and realized we had made the same discovery--Mary's guinea pig was not acting normal.
Every night when John locks the house up, he also checks the animals. We realize that we have children as their care-givers and food/water just might get forgotten every now and then. Again.
Anyway, he and Cinnamon have a neat routine. Cinnamon has gotten so used to John walking in and then handing her a handful of grass that now every time she hears his footstep, she starts squealing for it (um, even when it's NOT grass-feeding time). So...John noticed that she wasn't squealing anymore. And she wasn't eating the grass anymore. And I noticed that she seemed lethargic. And she only took one bite of the carrot Mary tried to give her. And then we noted that the food/water was full and asked, and no, Mary hadn't had to fill them for AGES. And...yeah, THIS can't be good.
So I called around and found a vet who saw guinea pigs and eventually got her in. While waiting, John and I googled everything guinea pig and discovered that a) we'd been using the wrong litter forEVER (which, we had JUST changed to the proper kind, coincidentally) and b) not all of Cinnamon's symptoms really seemed to exactly fit in any of the typical pig ailments, and c) chances are, we would have to start feeding the pig by hand. With a syringe.
The vet was very alarmed at Cinnamon's condition and wanted to keep her there. Um, I'm sorry. We LOVE this pig and all, but we can't possibly afford to hospitalize her! I told the vet that I was willing to do whatever care the pig needed and then bring her back, but a few days' stay at the vet was just not doable.
Anyway, after examining our squirmy pig, the vet determined that a) it's definitely a SHE (even the vet had difficulties figuring it out!), b) she had guinea pig LICE (breed-specific, so no fear of kidlings or myself getting it--and she probably has had it all along and got it from the pet store), c) it was no OBVIOUS ailment (it's possible Cinnamon had already been sick and gotten over something but was now so weak and lethargic due to the fact that she stopped eating and was STARVING), and d) Cinnamon had SOMETHING weird and brown and icky stuck in her mouth.
The vet tried to remove the glop out of the pig's mouth, but getting a pig to cooperate with something like that is a chore, indeed. Even with myself and two techs helping, the vet was only able to pull out part of it. It appeared to be a hunk of litter. Oh, you mean the litter that is the PROPER kind to use for guinea pigs???? Um...???? Anyway, the vet was obviously quite stressed and frustrated and almost looked as if she wanted to cry since she could not keep the piggy there to anesthetize her and try to get the rest of the glob out of her throat. Really. I'm sorry, lady. But I'm unemployed. (And I don't even want to get into the scary possible future of my husband's job while we have a surprise fourth kid on the way!) And we're a bit tapped out right now due to the holiday after-math. And...really, it IS just a $20 pet store guinea pig. (Oh! The guilt of not having the money to hospitalize my poor daughter's pig! But REALLY, the poor pig is lucky we decided to put some money into taking her to the vet to see what we could do in the first place!) But yeah, the hunk of litter may have been the key to ALL of this--it's kind of hard to eat when you've got something stuck in your mouth..... GUILT, WRACKING GUILT!!
Yeah.... So, I accepted and got sent home with a treatment plan for our poor Cinnamon. I have to syringe feed her this mashed food three times a day. She is getting some other med--I think like a pedialyte--twice a day. And an antibiotic once a day--which must have been a five day treatment since we just ran out. (Vet: I'm being over-cautious here. I don't see any signs of an illness, but we've had pigs die before, and when the bodies were checked [wow--pig autopsy?], one was found.) They also dumped a ton of fluids into her and even sent me home with some lice/critter killing medicine to use for FREE (it was part of a dosage not needed for another tiny animal).
So since last Wednesday, it's been like having a baby in the house again. Sort of. I'm having to mix food and feed this pig three times a day and give her meds, and I'm watching her pee/poop. And she looks at me with her cute little brown eyes while I'm feeding her (baby bump makes a nice, convenient shelf), and Oh, am I going to be sad if this little girl doesn't make it after all of this!
The good news is that we can tell she's feeling a bit better. There is definitely more pep in her step (and more pee/poop in the cage!). She has even squealed a bit over her grass. The bad news is that she's still not eating her regular food and while she has been eating tiny carrots, it's still not with the vigor of before. And she doesn't eat nearly the amount of grass she used to.
*sigh* Poor pig. All I can say is that she's lucky she's so darn cute!
Every night when John locks the house up, he also checks the animals. We realize that we have children as their care-givers and food/water just might get forgotten every now and then. Again.
Anyway, he and Cinnamon have a neat routine. Cinnamon has gotten so used to John walking in and then handing her a handful of grass that now every time she hears his footstep, she starts squealing for it (um, even when it's NOT grass-feeding time). So...John noticed that she wasn't squealing anymore. And she wasn't eating the grass anymore. And I noticed that she seemed lethargic. And she only took one bite of the carrot Mary tried to give her. And then we noted that the food/water was full and asked, and no, Mary hadn't had to fill them for AGES. And...yeah, THIS can't be good.
So I called around and found a vet who saw guinea pigs and eventually got her in. While waiting, John and I googled everything guinea pig and discovered that a) we'd been using the wrong litter forEVER (which, we had JUST changed to the proper kind, coincidentally) and b) not all of Cinnamon's symptoms really seemed to exactly fit in any of the typical pig ailments, and c) chances are, we would have to start feeding the pig by hand. With a syringe.
The vet was very alarmed at Cinnamon's condition and wanted to keep her there. Um, I'm sorry. We LOVE this pig and all, but we can't possibly afford to hospitalize her! I told the vet that I was willing to do whatever care the pig needed and then bring her back, but a few days' stay at the vet was just not doable.
Anyway, after examining our squirmy pig, the vet determined that a) it's definitely a SHE (even the vet had difficulties figuring it out!), b) she had guinea pig LICE (breed-specific, so no fear of kidlings or myself getting it--and she probably has had it all along and got it from the pet store), c) it was no OBVIOUS ailment (it's possible Cinnamon had already been sick and gotten over something but was now so weak and lethargic due to the fact that she stopped eating and was STARVING), and d) Cinnamon had SOMETHING weird and brown and icky stuck in her mouth.
The vet tried to remove the glop out of the pig's mouth, but getting a pig to cooperate with something like that is a chore, indeed. Even with myself and two techs helping, the vet was only able to pull out part of it. It appeared to be a hunk of litter. Oh, you mean the litter that is the PROPER kind to use for guinea pigs???? Um...???? Anyway, the vet was obviously quite stressed and frustrated and almost looked as if she wanted to cry since she could not keep the piggy there to anesthetize her and try to get the rest of the glob out of her throat. Really. I'm sorry, lady. But I'm unemployed. (And I don't even want to get into the scary possible future of my husband's job while we have a surprise fourth kid on the way!) And we're a bit tapped out right now due to the holiday after-math. And...really, it IS just a $20 pet store guinea pig. (Oh! The guilt of not having the money to hospitalize my poor daughter's pig! But REALLY, the poor pig is lucky we decided to put some money into taking her to the vet to see what we could do in the first place!) But yeah, the hunk of litter may have been the key to ALL of this--it's kind of hard to eat when you've got something stuck in your mouth..... GUILT, WRACKING GUILT!!
Yeah.... So, I accepted and got sent home with a treatment plan for our poor Cinnamon. I have to syringe feed her this mashed food three times a day. She is getting some other med--I think like a pedialyte--twice a day. And an antibiotic once a day--which must have been a five day treatment since we just ran out. (Vet: I'm being over-cautious here. I don't see any signs of an illness, but we've had pigs die before, and when the bodies were checked [wow--pig autopsy?], one was found.) They also dumped a ton of fluids into her and even sent me home with some lice/critter killing medicine to use for FREE (it was part of a dosage not needed for another tiny animal).
So since last Wednesday, it's been like having a baby in the house again. Sort of. I'm having to mix food and feed this pig three times a day and give her meds, and I'm watching her pee/poop. And she looks at me with her cute little brown eyes while I'm feeding her (baby bump makes a nice, convenient shelf), and Oh, am I going to be sad if this little girl doesn't make it after all of this!
The good news is that we can tell she's feeling a bit better. There is definitely more pep in her step (and more pee/poop in the cage!). She has even squealed a bit over her grass. The bad news is that she's still not eating her regular food and while she has been eating tiny carrots, it's still not with the vigor of before. And she doesn't eat nearly the amount of grass she used to.
*sigh* Poor pig. All I can say is that she's lucky she's so darn cute!
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