Well, we had a few good weeks there. But this week has brought a high fever and a little bit of nasal congestion, so Curly has stayed home from daycare the last two days. He’s not really showing any other symptoms, and the fevers are responding well to ibuprofin. He’s sleepier than usual (as if that were possible) and a quick trip to the pediatrician gave him a diagnosis of: a virus. Hopefully he’ll be better after this weekend.
On a lighter note, we thought it might be a good time to share one of the crazy things that parenthood has done to us- hallucinations. Mine are primarily auditory, whereas Strawberry’s are visual/physical. Starting from the very first night we had Curly home, I’ve been hearing him cry or scream sometimes when he’s completely silent. I’m certain this was exacerbated by sleep deprivation and hormones early on, but I can’t really blame it on that now. It can wake me from a deep sleep, but I’ve learned not to trust my ears. When we are downstairs and he’s in his bedroom, I can double check the lights on the baby monitor (we keep it silent) and Strawberry will catch me doing it and reassure me. When we’re upstairs asleep, I sometimes get out of bed and stand at his door to make sure he’s not crying.
Meanwhile, starting very early after his birth and lasting a few weeks, Strawberry would have occasional nightly episodes where she was frantic that Curly was in our bed and suffocating in the blankets. I would wake up to her throwing back the covers and patting the bed (and me) looking for the baby while only half awake. This is especially odd because we never had him in the bed with us, ever. He was in the pack n’ play bassinet for the first 3 weeks and then in his crib. There were 4 or 5 episodes like this which subsided. But just two nights ago, I was startled from a deep sleep when Strawberry smacked me repeatedly on the chest. Apparently her dream state had convinced her that Curlywas choking so she thought she was smacking him on the back.
Parenthood has obviously turned us into paranoid psychopaths. Anyone else experience similar craziness?
1 In Vermillion 