3/11/07 Migraine Madness

It was a spectacular day outside today.

While sitting outside holding Katrina and talking on the phone, Gabriel came up to me with some wilted oxalis flowers and said, "Here Mom, these flowers are for you," and then with a second handful, "and these are for Katrina." Moments later, Julian followed as well with flowers for us. Awww. My boys.

Then it got "too quiet" and I had to go investigate. Turns out, the boys were out front collecting more flowers in the dump truck. They're not allowed out front by themselves, but my sternness instantly melted away when they looked up at me with innocent eyes and said they were just collecting flowers for me and Katrina. I'm such a sucker for a good line!

I tried to do some things in the garage while Katrina happily hung out in the stroller and engaged in her favorite activity: watching her brothers' antics.

Unfortunately, migraine pain took over. Even outdoors, where I can usually overcome the pressure, I couldn't function. Standing, talking, moving -- just being hurt too much. I begged Dave to put off his afternoon chores and watch over the kids (who'd since scattered) so I could rest. Even 20 minutes would make a huge difference.

There's a lot that suggests that my migraines are hormonal, but it's never that simple. Yesterday, Kristi put a bug in my head to pursue food allergy testing. This builds on other suggestions and exploration I've been doing lately anyway, such as Steph's mother-in-law's success with kicking headaches with diet changes. Since Steph has been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, I've been thinking a lot about food and what I eat, and sometimes challenging myself to model my diet after her ultra-strict one, and attempting to educate myself along the way. Though I now see my Starbucks scones as a huge indulgence instead of a daily entitlement, so far all I've done is confuse myself.

Trouble is, when I don't actually have a migraine, I don't even want to think about them. And when I do have one, I can't think at all.

Sleep report check-in: Katrina's been waking up once or twice a night lately, partly because she has a slight cold. But last night, a first occurred: I didn't nurse her at a wakeup. She'd nursed 3 hours earlier, but she's 5 months old now and hardly starving. That wakeup was not for hunger. And indeed, after picking her up, trying to calm and cuddle (futile, as usual, as she responds with a rigid back and flailing limbs), making sure there was no spitup or diaper failure, I put her back down and she went back to sleep. That was a lot better than being awake for 15 minutes nursing. No more nursing for wakeups that aren't hunger wakeups.

I managed to squeeze in some photos of all three kids today.















Then a few closeups of Katrina. She isn't photogenic at all -- she's even cuter in real life! (just kidding, these really are pretty good shots of her).



Which one do you think is the cutest? I could spend all day looking and deciding.


3/11/07