Julia must have stepped on a crack!?

OK, I didn't break my back, but it sure feels like it! Yes, I threw my back out yet again. Even after dealing with back problems for over 7 years now, it still gets me every time how easy it is to throw it out. My dad (who also has back issues) and I always joke about how we can pick up heavy objects and bend all different ways and not hurt our backs, but when we do something simple like pick up a piece of paper or bend down to put air in a bike tire (this happened to me once), our backs go out. My recent back episode started on Friday morning when I woke up. I had a slight twinge in my back (not sure from what), nothing major, but it just gradually got worse throughout the morning. I did a morning workout (stupid idea) and it didn't feel good at all after that. I thought the workout would help loosen up my back and help with the pain, but Mike said that was a dumb thought! By late morning, I was assuming the typical humped back, slouched over, poor attempts to walk position. I had to attend a local heart failure conference on Friday and that wasn't too bad. Sitting was the most difficult part of all. Sitting made my back extremely stiff and I could barely walk when I stood up. Once I got moving and walking, my back would loosen up and the pain would subside a little. Of course, I was sitting most of the day in lectures and this did not bode well for the back. When I got home, I couldn't walk, every step hurt, I didn't want to sit and stiffen up, and I was too tired to stand, so what did I do? I laid on the floor, on my belly with an ice pack on my back and played with Julia. Julia was definitely confused by mommy's position and extremely weird body contortions while trying to get up off the floor, move and even turn to adjust belly positions. When Julia would fuss, I had to call upon Mike to pick her up. Julia was not happy with this and again could not understand why mommy wasn't picking her up. Mike has had to basically do all the lifting and moving Julia around. Mike was having to carry her up the stairs to her room or to the changing table so I could change her. I was able to rock her to sleep, but I couldn't get out of the chair to put her in her crib. Mike had to take her and lay her down which of course made her mad and woke her up. This is the first time I have thrown out my back since having Julia and it is a totally different scenario when you have a small child to care for. Mike being the great daddy and husband has really stepped up to the plate and taken on many of the mommy jobs these past few days. Being on wafarin (coumdin) definitely limits my pain reliever choices. In the past when I threw out my back I relied on Aleve which always helped the pain. Since Aleve as aspirin in it, I can't take it because it increases the risk of bleeding. I can take some prescription pain medications, which I do have , but I try to limit those to when the pain is just unbearable and I know I will be laying down because they make me extremely drowsy. So, I can only take Tylenol. This works OK. It takes the edge off the pain, but doesn't work as well as Aleve or prescription medications. I know the drill to cure the pain...walk, walk, walk, move, move, move and ice, heat, ice, heat; throw in some Tylenol and it should be better by Monday or Tuesday (hopefully).



On Saturday my back pain was improving, but I was still struggling to get out of a chair and walk. I limited my sitting and purposely walked around the house and cleaned to make sure I didn't stiffen up. Julia's swimming lessons were in the late morning and I told Mike I still wanted to go. He thought I was crazy, but I knew being in the water would help my back and it sure did! The 30 minutes Julia and I were in the water were wonderful. The weightlessness was a great relief on my back and I was able to lift Julia in and out of the water and swim around with her without feeling one twinge in my back. Of course once I was out of the pool, gravity took over again and all the weight was upon my back again, but it wasn't nearly as bad of pain. The rest of the morning the pain was much better and I looked less like a 80 year old lady when I walked. Mike watched the swim lessons this time (I made him come with in case I wasn't able to walk or get out of the pool!)

Practicing floating on our backs


Now on our tummy's (mommy is blowing bubbles in the water)Taking a break in between activities

Our whole class in the pool

More floating on our bellies...practicing getting our faces wet

On Saturday afternoon after Julia took a 2.5 hour nap (swimming tires her out!), we did some grocery shopping and our monthly trip to Sam's Club. This helped my back immensely to be walking around and having the support of a shopping cart made the walking easier. The grocery bill and Sam's club bill was definitely painful though (we buy all of our diapers and most bulk baby stuff at Sam's).

I am beat after all that shopping (read Julia's shirt-it says "I drink until I pass out" with a pictures of a baby bottle). Thanks Uncle Jim for this cute onesie!

Tooth #5 has arrived!

Yes, Julia got tooth #4 last weekend, but she is sprouting teeth everywhere! She now has tooth #5 coming in on the top...finally a top tooth! We didn't think the teeth would start poking through this fast, but we think it might be because she has been eating so many solid foods lately and her body is just adapting to the fact that she is needing to chew (that is our theory at least). She has been doing pretty well. She chews on everything and we have been giving her some Motrin at night to help her sleep, toys to chew on and cool teething rings whenever possible. Saturday night wasn't so pleasant though. When a new tooth is breaking through, she does not sleep well. I ended up sleeping with her in our guest bedroom because when she woke up around 11:30pm she wouldn't go back to sleep in her crib. Of course she snoozed just fine next to me in bed. Her gums are full of little white nubs, so more teeth are on the way!

On Sunday, we attended a NICU reunion at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis. Now, you are probably wondering why we would want to go back there. Well, that place was a huge part of our lives for 7 weeks and we developed some great connections with nurses and other family members. We also wanted the staff to see how well Julia was doing and that she is thriving and growing very well despite the bumpy road at the beginning of her life and the fact that their great care and treatments helped Julia and us navigate through that bumpy road. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see as many people as we thought, but we did briefly chat with a doctor that cared for Julia.

Julia and Daddy at the NICU Reunion


Julia and Mommy at the reunion (they had cheese and crackers there and of course Julia loved the cheddar cheese!)

Now some random pictures...

One of Julia's new favorite foods....mac and cheese! Of course she loves it because it has cheddar!

Julia loves to stand with support and would rather do this than be on her belly. We think she is going to skip crawling and go straight to standing and walking.