Christmas, Consitpation, and every other illness you can think of

Since I haven't written in a month, and as soon as the baby is born, I probably won't write for another month, I figured now would be a good time to play catch up.
We'll start with Christmas. Both my parents and Target Man's parents were able to come to our house this year, so the boys were in heaven. Target Baby is in love with my mother, which I think is pretty neat, because he still isn't really the most friendly kid out there and Target Boy loves Target Man's mother, since she will pretty much play with him 24 hours a day. So, I got a slight break from being highest priority on both their lists. Sadly, it didn't last too long, because Target Boy ended up getting pretty sick on Christmas.

He was so excited to come downstairs and see what Santa had left him, but the enthusiasm didn't last through opening presents. He received a bike from Target Man's parents, which he immediately gifted to Target Baby. Pretty much everything he opened, he gave to his brother. He kept climbing up on my lap, crying and saying him tummy hurt. Target Baby, on the other hand, was in heaven. Not only did he get to play with everything he opened, he got to play with all of Target Boy's stuff too.

We spent the rest of Christmas playing Rock Band (which we now own, thank you parents) in our jammies, doing a puzzle, I think we might have watched a movie at some point, and picking at the ham we made. I'm not really a huge fan of sit down dinner on Christmas Day, so we made a really yummy ham, some rolls, I think I made rice at one point, and we just kind of snacked all day long. It was really laid back and wonderful (minus the sick kid).
The Friday after Christmas, I drug my mother out of bed and got to Target when it opened. Its the first time I've ever hit the day after Christmas sales, and I will be back next year. I got about 40 rolls of bounty paper towels, Ziploc bags, and dishwasher detergent all half price because of Christmas themed boxes. I also did buy some lights, garland, cookie cutters, etc and stocking stuff for next year. It was fun, some may say crazy, but really fun and worth it.
After that, I took my lump of a sick child to the pediatrician's office and found out that not only did he have a severe ear infection (a secondary problem, not the one he was complaining about) but he was severely constipated to the point that his tummy was visibly distended from across the room. After being pretty much completely potty trained, he stopped pooping in the potty a few months ago. Apparently, he has been holding his stools (I know way to much info) and has what they call encopresis (warning this link does talk about poop and pretty much only about poop). Anyway, now with daily doses of Miralax, we are seeing some improvements and he is no longer in pain. And that pretty much wraps up Christmas.

For New Year's we did what we always do...take care of a sick Target Man. Last year, is the only year that Target Man has not been sick for New Year's. This year was probably the worst. For the first time since I have known him (seven years), he stayed home from work! I woke up the Tuesday before New Year's Eve to find him curled up in a ball on the shower floor (a fantastic feat considering our Master Bath shower is tiny). He got out and got all dressed for work, but never made it down the stairs. I think he had a temp of 104, was so weak, and hadn't slept or eaten, so I made him call work. He hunkered down in the darkness of the cave we call the boys bedroom and slept pretty much the entire day. He did go into work for New Year's eve, since he was the only one scheduled to close that night and didn't want to ruin anyone's plans, but just barely survived. Luckily, he was off the next day. I think it took him about a week and a half to fully recover, but Happy New Year's to us, he did get over the nastiness without anyone else getting it!

That brings us to January, which has been quite busy with both the boys in swim lessons at the YMCA (which we finally joined, which makes Target Man really happy), my Choir rehearsals every Tuesday night, Target Boy's first county gymnastics class on Saturdays, and my twice weekly trips to the OB for NSTs, blood work, and doctor's appointments. Throw in Target Man's work schedule, Church Meetings on Sundays and Wednesdays, a baby shower/girl's night out and this month has flown by. I'm glad I filled this month with stuff, because its defiantly not dragging like I was afraid it would.

We now have 4 1/2 weeks till my due date, but my OB has said he will induce at 39 weeks at the latest, because of the risk involved with ICP, so really 3 1/2 weeks. Right now I am itchy, not crying, going insane itchy like I was when diagnosed with ICP while pregnant with Target Baby, but itchy enough to search out the cold parts of the sheets in the middle of the night to make my feet feel better. My labs show that my bile acids are increasing, but they are still in the normal range, which makes me feel much more relaxed. Every Tuesday and Friday the baby has looked good on the non-stress tests, and I've been really happy with the care I am receiving from my OB.

The only other things to report are that I was released from my calling as nursery leader and now have been called to be the Relief Society Pianist. This means, no more crawling on the floor for my very pregnant body, but lots of piano practice, cause I really can't play. And since, this whole post seems to be a list of the various illnesses of our family, Target Boy was diagnosed with Fifths Disease yesterday. For him, no big deal, just a rash with a little itchiness. For me and the five other pregnant women he has been in contact with, a blood test to check for immunity. Because really, the lab people don't see me enough already! Oh, I also warned my OB, because I think at least 3 of those pregnant women are his patients.

So that's the update, hopefully it won't be as long before I post again. And if you actually read all of this, really I'm grateful and impressed!