Mason's First Crush

So, we on Westgate have had quite a week.
 

It started last Tuesday when I took Mason to visit Cousin Sue. I was carrying him into her house and when I put him down on the floor to run around, I felt a little twinge in my back. That little sign that, those of us with chronic back pain will recognize as you did something small but will likely pay bigtime for later. I felt mild discomfort over the next few days but it's something I've come to live with (my back typically goes out about once a month, more often than before probably because I've had to carry big boy around over the last year and a half).
 

Sunday, on our way to visiting Cousin Sue again (and I'm sure it's just a coincidence!), I dropped Ben and Mason off at the park so I could do some quick Farmer's Market shopping. I called Ben when I was done to arrange a meeting spot and he told me that Mason had hurt himself. Probably the scariest four words I could hear. Apparantly, Mason wanted to go down a slide that was too big for him so Ben decided to take him down with Mason riding on his lap. I do it all the time but this slide was too long and went too fast and somehow Mason wedged his little foot or knee in between his dad and the side of the slide. Both boy and daddy felt absolutely horrible. Mason couldn't put any weight on his leg and Ben, of course, blamed himself even though it was a total accident. We opted to go on to Sue's house, hoping that the rest in the car might make Mason well again. We got to the Palisades, put him on the floor in their house and he shrieked in pain. Paged the doctor who told us to take him home, dope him up with Motrin and if he still couldn't walk after his nap we had to go to the ER because toddlers injure differently than adults and he was in danger of affecting his growth plate (whatever that is). So, we left Sue/Marcus' in a cloud of nerves and drama, did what the doctor ordered, hoped and preyed all during his nap that he would wake up fine. He woke up, tried to walk, stumbled to the ground in wails and tears.
 

Headed to the ER where he had to endure pokes, prods and X-Rays. Thank goodness, all the xrays turned out negative, no breaks or fractures and we were told to continue with the Motrin and to see if he gets better on his own to avoid a visit to a pediactric orthopedist.
I think the stress of all this took my mild back pain to what became possibly the worst spasm I've ever had. Sometime over night it my entire back knotted up so that I woke up Monday in horrible pain. If only I could pop a couple of pills I would have been over it in an hour but, thanks to the joys of pregnancy, I couldn't do it.  Luckily, Mason woke up walking fine which of course was the biggest relief of all.
 

Tuesday, yesterday, my condition had worsened so that I couldn't move. I was laid up in bed... couldn't walk, couldn't get comfortable, couldn't do anything. It was about this time Mason decided, 'Hey! I gave them a break for a day. Why don't I now get the stomach flu?!' So, I'm in bed, Mason's heaving in the bed, Ben's freaking out that his family is going down the river fast. Roberta called in sick to work so she could help, we called our cleaning lady (who's more a member of the family now) to help and then my mom came down, too. The doctor wanted to see Mason so, Barb, Roberta, and I (who had to lay flat in the car and could barely get from there to the dr. office) all went to be told he probably just had the flu. Well there's an hour we'll never get back. He then managed to barf again, all over the car, all over my mother who was riding next to him in the back seat. And then he managed to do it again all over the couch in the living room.  You get the picture-- it was like, the Exorcist, calcutta and an alien invasion detox ward all at once.
 

The worst part, other than being in hideous, horrible pain, was the fact I couldn't care for my boy while he was sick. It was so frusterating and it made me feel for Sonny who probably felt the same way being stuck in the hospital while Sue was recuperating.
So- now it's Wednesday. Mason is doing better, I'm doing a lot better... Ben's exhausted from it all but happy we're doing better.
 

That's about it from here... oh, and Ben got a new job: he's the new Land Acquisitions Manager for the Larwin Company (a big real estate developer). He's really excited about it and will start in 3 weeks. Hopefully we can all stay in one piece until then!
Hope you all are well... stay healthy and strong!
 

xoxo,
Lilli

March 1, 2006