I just need to vent.

I was talking to my brother last night, and he told me that baby Audrey was already sleeping 4 hour stretches at night!!! Go girl!!! What a blessing...... which made me think about Tooter when he first came home from the hospital. He was such a good little sleeper. He had his days and nights worked out in less than a week, and almost never felt the need to play when he woke up for a diaper change or to eat at night.

sigh....

And then the eczema hit. And we have been battling it ever since. We've had good nights in amongst the bad nights. And I know that this is all but for a season - it will pass. But indulge a tired mommy for just a moment, and allow me to whine a bit. I am sooooo tired!

It is been in a flare-up lately. After the round of recent illnesses and the immediate onset of pollen season after that, in addition to his being able to play outside, there really isn't a clear spot on him. I so much want to try to avoid giving him any stronger medicines than he's already having to use. But it's just wearing me out.

Last night, he literally couldn't sleep for more than an hour without waking up to scratch. There were multiple times where he would grab for my hand, put it on his leg or foot, and have ME scratch him. I remember that awful feeling. Where you'd rather scratch your skin till it bleeds instead of feeling the itch. But for some reason, I was able to get mine under control so much more easily. Maybe because it came on later, so I was able to take care of it myself. I dunno.

Thing is, some of what is on his legs isn't eczema. It's just some allergic reaction to SOMEthing outside. Grass, pollen, who knows. But I can't treat him like the boy in the bubble. He's otherwise healthy, and I want him to feel normal. But so much of what he touches outside irritates him.

So, we're trying a combination of Zyrtec in the morning, and his nightime antihistamine before he goes to bed. Maybe we'll get it all under control. I dunno. I HATE having to give any kid this much medicine. But you should see the circles under his and my eyes this morning. We are just about to hit the wall.

waaah waaah waaah. I know he could have such worse problems than this. So, in a weird way, I'm grateful that this is the extent of his being "sick". But I'm so tired this morning that I can't help the whining.

But, maybe now that I've gotten this out of my system, I can go find my facial highlighter and good concealer, and hide the evidence. ::smile::