The last stretch

This past weekend was very long, very dramatic, and very exhausting. Franklin has always been a late teether. His first 2 teeth caused a lot of trouble with playing peek a boo and teasing us. His canines, all 4 of them at once, are giving him (and us for that matter) more trouble than the rest of his teeth. He ran fevers all weekend. He'd been waking up in the middle of the night since last Wednesday. Finally, Friday night, poor Stephen is at his wits end. My pains had picked up with a vengeance Thursday night so between Franklin and myself, Stephen is worn out. I told him that the first time Franklin wakes up, just bring him in bed with us.

Friday night was still very long. Franklin would get upset when I had to get up to visit Mrs. Murphy (my Grandma Reed's name for the toilet, always would make me laugh, she has hilarious names for all sorts of things). Saturday wasn't much better. He was burning very hot. Because he had no other flu symptoms I didn't take his temperature. Sunday was hard for both of us. My pains have been making me writhe in pain that the only thing stopping me from going to the hospital was the fact that Franklin hasn't been sleeping well, and he was already in bed. So Monday I spoke with my sister about my dilemma. Franklin slept better with us on Monday night, and he had fewer fevers at that point. We're still struggling to get him to eat solids, but most of you know how hefty he is so we're not too concerned.

So yesterday Stephen and I headed over to our hospital in the afternoon with Franklin in tow. We had packed a bag for him, and a bag for me, just in case and Greta was on stand by to come get him in case we were going to be there a while. It was so wonderful to be listened to, and be taken seriously. They did some tests, and an exam. I am at 34 weeks, and dilated to 3 cm (don't worry, it doesn't mean I'm going to have this baby anytime soon) and I have a bladder infection. Other than the pain from the infection there isn't anything they can do about the rest of my pains, obviously.

Last night was better; less pain, and even though Franklin woke up 3 times, he would put himself back to sleep within minutes. He stayed in his own bed all night, that made us both happy. We are determined to make it at least 2 more weeks for me, and then I'm ending my bed rest. I see my doctor next week for my regular check up, and we'll keep you posted on any changes for me. Franklin hasn't had a fever yet today, and Stephen is able to catch up on sleep again as well.

A "Two Fer"...

We got two teeth coming in at once, and its about time! On Saturday we were all over at the White's house (Greta, Adam and family) and in the evening Franklin was eating an apple. He kept managing to get little chunks off at a time, so I had to keep fishing them out of his mouth. At one point I rubbed his gums and felt a tooth. Later that night I wanted to look at it, just to see how far it's come out, and discovered a second one just a little less out. Then during the night he woke up screaming. I was out cold due to some cough medicine, so Stephen told me all about it. He gave him some teething tablets, tylenol, and also had to rock him a little bit to calm him down (it's been a while since we've had to rock him). Last night it happened again, but not as bad.

Franklin has also figured out how to pull himself up, but not quite standing yet. You can tell it's just a matter of days before he figures out how to pull himself all the way up to standing. He's also crawling very quickly. Good thing our place isn't very big, he's easy to keep contained, or at least keep an eye on. I also discovered today that he turns on the music to his mobile in his crib. I used to think it was Stephen turning it on, untill he did it today, while Stephen's at work. It seems that all of a sudden things are happening with him all at once. There's no getting used to one thing before the next step happens.

Rizzo and Franklin are also best pals. Rizzo loves giving Franklin things to play with. It's way too cute! Rizzo will bring a toy to Franklin and just sit and watch as Franklin plays with it. Rizzo doesn't reach for it at all. Once Franklin has put it down then Rizzo will pick it back up and continue playing with it. Blain told us the first night we had them over at our place, "Who needs a dog when you have a cat like this!" But at the time they only knew about Rizzo playing Fetch, this is a new thing that started last week. It happens pretty often too.

For Mother's Day Stephen made me a picnic and we went to a park to eat, and then afterward we went over to a pond to see the ducks. We got a special treat while there. I'm not sure exactly what kind of animal it was, but we called it a ground hog. He was adorable! He kept coming out of his whole, and going to get grass. After his mouth was full he'd leap back to his whole, and then come back out to collect more grass. He did it the whole time we were there. When I finally got a video of him, we also caught him diving into the pond because a balloon passed by overhead and scared him; what are the odds of catching that on film! I kept taping thinking he'd come back out, but he didn't.

I got sick this week, and on Friday Stephen took off work to come help me at home. I slept almost the entire day, and it made a huge difference. The next day I woke up feeling like a million bucks (but with a very deep voice) and we went to the Primary activity, and afterward we went to Greta's house. Sunday I woke up with Stephen surprising me with breakfast. So needless to say I had a very great Mother's Day weekend, even with being sick! I hope all the mothers reading this had a very wonderful Mothers' Day as well.