Update and a soapbox

Today was my first day back at work... My boys missed me terribly, as evidenced by how they acted completely normal when I left and when I came home and all of the time in between. I know it's all a front. My boys are so thoughtful.

Me, however... Not so tough. Anyone have any old, rich uncles they're not using? I'm fresh out. I never wanted to be a stay-at-home mom until I had children. Maybe when they grow up and move away we'll be able to afford it.

I heard from the hematologist today and everything is good. She ran three tests on Ty's blood, and everything looked fine. One of his results was slightly abnormal so she wants to repeat that lab in a few months just as a precautionary measure, but she said that if there was any real problem with his platelets the results would have been very abnormal, not just slight. Big sigh of relief, and prayer of thanks.

The hematologist couldn't believe that Ty is only 6 weeks old... She kept repeating that he is very "mature" for his age. Might have something to do with Ty sitting up without assistance when she walked in. Not really that exciting when you realize he can only do it because his fat rolls hold him up, but, hey, we take what we can get.

Oh, and he can roll from his belly to his back, too. And he didn't even need months of therapy for it. (I think maybe Dax is getting all of his therapy out of the way when he's little, whereas Ty will probably end up spending most of his adult years there. Different types of therapy, yes, but in both cases I guess they can blame their mother. Lucky me.)

I was telling a friend today how fast Ty is developing, and she told me that it's an old wives' tale that babies who learn fast are a sign of another baby soon to come... A statement which I then repeated to my husband... And I'm not 100% sure, but I'm fairly positive I heard his testicles hail a cab out of town. Adios, dear friends! See you at the vasectomy!

And finally, I'm going to end this post on my soap box. I haven't climbed up in a while and it's time.

This particular irritation reared its head last week when I was hauling the demon in for his impromptu appointment to check his blood and rule out leukemia. Little known fact: I'm a tad bit high strung at times (okay, so maybe it's more of an established fact), but I was keeping positive and just ready to get some answers from the doc. I grab Ty and his things and proceed as I always do, through the back door of the pediatrician to the desk area so they can place us in an exam room to wait.

For those of you who aren't familiar, doctors will often allow the parents of medically fragile children bring their kids in through the back door to avoid them waiting in an area populated by the germy little monsters in the waiting room. This is to minimize the risk of the medically fragile child catching something that could potentially lead to hospitalization or worse. So I belong to the oh so exclusive "Back Door Mamas" club, which is not nearly as exciting as it sounds.

At any rate, I smile and walk to the desk and this nurse I have never met rudely asks me if she can help me, and I tell her who we are and who we have an appointment with... Then she asks in a very disapproving tone, "Did they tell you to come in the back door?" and I say yes, still smiling but biting my tongue. Still not satisfied, she glares at me like I'm a big fat liar and says "Why?"

My tongue became unbitten. I had several things I really wanted to say, but instead I began to fill her in on Dax's medical conditions and she had us placed in an exam room before I finished.

I get that people have jobs to do, and maybe I was the 17th person who had come in the back door that day, and the first 16 were not supposed to. I don't know. What I do know is that I would give anything to be a Front Door Mama. I'd love to have children that can go to the mall and Chuck E Cheese and the doctor's office and touch things and people and get colds and bugs and all the other things that kids do. But I don't. I have a child who absolutely can't, because a cold could land him back in the hospital for days or even weeks, and we have his brother who absolutely can't, because what he gets he could easily pass to Dax. This phase will pass, but for now and the remainder of the cold and flu season, we live in a sanitized bubble... And we can live with that... And I don't expect everyone to understand our feelings and actions. What I do, expect, however, is for medical professionals to be polite and respectful and assume that I'm doing what's right for my children without first knocking my block off. Just a thought.

So that's that. More to come later!