March - 22 Days of "Quarantine"

Welcome to April! Let's recap March because it's been quite an adventure!

On February 29, 2020, the CDC reported the first death in the US from COVID-19. We have been hearing about this virus for a few weeks now, but it started to get real at the end of February. Of course, we went about our normal lives (why wouldn't we?) for the next week.

["Food Play"]

[Theo leading "Circle Time" at Toddler School with his Feeding/Speech Therapist, Diane]

[Working hard at PT] 

[More "Food Play"] 

On March 4th, Theo and I went to see his Pediatrician for Theo's 2.5 year check up. Let me tell you something: Theo really does not like doctors! He started freaking out the moment the nurse approached him and he didn't calm down until I gave him his Paci. 

[It has to be attached to his shirt and he has to put it in his mouth all by himself]

[Making sure it's properly attached]

[Yep, it's attached] 

His check up went fine and we made an appointment to see the Pediatrician again in August for Theo's 3 year check up.

I've been running 5 days a week with Tommy Rivs. I've been doing a 5K training program. It's training not to be able to RUN a 5K, but to be able to RACE a 5K. It's challenging, but I love it!

I found this table online and decided that my goal was to run a 5K in under 30 minutes. I finished my training on March 6th, and ran my 5K on March 7th.

[Our morning routine consists of cleaning up A LOT of dirty diapers]

[It's so true]

[It's he the cutest?!]

 [YEP!]

[My cute guys!] 

Like I said above, I ran my 5K (in my basement) on March 7th. I finished in 28 minutes, 39 seconds! YAY ME!

Next, I will be doing a 10K training program with Tommy Rivs. Again, this program is training you to RACE a 10K, not just RUN one. Wish me luck!

[UGH! Theo! Why don't you want to sleep?! AND why is Daylight Saving Time still a thing?!]

On March 8th, I went and saw Onward (SO CUTE!) by myself and then I went to Costco. Josh and Theo hung out at home. Little did I know, that was going to be my last trip to Costco for a LONG time.

The next day (March 9th) Theo started coughing on our way to Toddler School. I thought it was just acid reflux, but I told his teacher anyways so she could keep an eye on him. Theo coughed all the way home from school and he seemed like he wasn't feeling well. UGH! I honestly just thought it was acid reflux! I feel horrible for taking him to school!

I cancelled his therapy for the rest of the week, made an appointment with his Pediatrician, and decided to stay in isolation until Theo started feeling better.

On March 10th, Theo and I went back to Ottawa to see his Pediatrician. The Dr listened to Theo's lungs and said he was wheezing a little bit. He then did a flu test (negative) and then told us to go home and use the nebulizer on Theo twice a day.

[Theo with his humidifier]

[Poor kid HATES the nebulizer]

As the week progressed, the COVID-19 pandemic started to creep closer and closer to home. We were being warned by the government to stay home as much as we could and practice "Social Distancing," which was easy for us.

On March 12th, Disneyland announced it was closing down. This is when things got really real!

Universal soon followed suit and I knew my multiple trips to Orlando next month  (one with my dad and one with Josh) were most likely going to be canceled. 

Josh is still working, but he is working in northern Indiana. It sucks that it takes him an hour to drive to work and he has to do it through south Chicago (along the 80), BUT he is working right next to our favorite bakery and pizza place! He swung by Marilyns Bakery and Tomato Bar for Pi Day!

[Pi Day Snow!]

[Theo and I have been watching the daily White House Task Force Briefings]

On March 16th, the President issued Social Distancing Guidelines, which are meant to keep us from spreading COVID-19. We are being asked to stay home, stay 6 feet away from everyone, and WASH YOUR HANDS! All non-essential businesses will be shut down, which means restaurants are only doing take out or delivery.

[Memes will help us through this]

[People started hoarding toilet paper, paper towels, hand sanitizer, and Clorox wipes]

[Tom Hanks caught COVID-19 and we have all been very worried about him]

More funny memes: 

[This is NOT a meme. This is real.]

[Also real]

[Since we are being stuck at home, I updated Theo's daily to-do list] 

[He LOVES his ball] 

[And here's a super cute picture of Ryan and his youngest son]

Theo has been getting better about sitting in my lap and holding his head up.

[Utah has an earthquake and Moroni loses his trumpet. That's not a good sign.]

Since there is a shortage of supplies I decided to donate to some of the ladies in my local FB group who were in need.

[We are doing "porch pickups" so we can still observe "Social Distancing." But I had to keep on eye on the Clorox wipes just in case a "Porch Pirate" came by!] 

[He loves his dad!] 

[More Star Wars memes] 

[I bought this for our condo in Orlando. What do you think?!]  

Theo LOVES his dancing robot! And I love how surprised he looks when he sees me watching him!

We participated in the "Cowbell Challenge" with a real cowbell that I found in Nevada when I was an archaeologist.

Our neighborhood is also doing a daily scavenger hunt (aka window walk). 

[Shamrocks]

More memes:

  

We got an email from Theo's doctors warning us that since he has VOGM and CP he is considered "High Risk" even though he is not immunocompromised. So I put this on the door just to be safe:

On March 20th, IL joined a few other states and our Governor ordered a "Shelter in Place" for our entire state (in addition to the WH "Social Distancing" orders). Here we go!

[Theo working on his vision]

[Good thing I have a nice gym, so I can still work out during our SIP.]

[Yeah... so... my eyebrows are looking a little scary!]

  

[Josh's eyes are bothering him. I found these glasses in my car. I think he looks handsome 😁]

Theo was sick with that cough/croup for TWO WEEKS! UGH! He kept having mucous come out of his right ear. It was so gross. Poor kid!

[Box sitting!]

[March 22nd, last snow of the year?!] 

[Theo wanted to come into the basement with me while I worked out]

[Sitting up big and tall]

[PLEASE STAY HOME]

I bit the bullet and bought the Push Chair base for Theo's Special Tomato. 

Pretty cool, huh?!

[I bought Theo this adaptive wear online. It has an opening at the front for his g-tube and the sides are stretchy so it'll grow with him. I think it's pretty cute!]

Daily scavenger hunt (aka window walk): Animals

ANNNNNNDDDD our trip to Orlando is officially canceled!

Daily scavenger hunt (aka window walk): Quote

[Vision therapy]

Josh is up on the Iowa/Illinois/Wisconsin border working until the job down here starts. It sucks having him gone, but we are very grateful he is considered an "Essential Worker" during this pandemic. 

  

[So cute!]

[Paci n Prunes] 

[We are able to to OT once a week via video chat] 

  

[Working on holding things in his left hand]

[Having a serious talk with Mr. Pig]

[And it's severe weather season... UGH!]

😩😭😂

I went through our 72 hour kit after the tornado scare and discovered these mask and gloves. I donated them to the local hospital.

[Paci n Prunes]

[Standing up big and tall!]

[My cousin came home from his mission so we sent him these pictures]

[ALL DAY EVERY DAY!]

[Theo's to-do list]

[Sitting up!]

[All by himself on March 31] 

  

So, to sum it all up:

-On February 29, 2020, the CDC reported the first death in the US from COVID-19

-I ran a 5K (in my basement)

-Theo got sick (not COVID-19)

-The President order us to follow “Social Distancing” guidelines

-Our Governor ordered a “Shelter in Place”

-Josh is still working because he is an “Essential Worker”

-My trip to visit our condo in Orlando with my dad on April 2nd was canceled

-Josh and I had planned a trip to Orlando on April 15th. It would have been our first trip without Theo. We were going to Disney World for two days and to Universal (with my friends). I cried when it got canceled.

-Please wash your hands and stay safe!

March 25th is Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day

💚💚💚💚💚💚

Here's a few pictures of my little warrior:

💚💚💚💚💚💚

Isolation - Special Needs and COVID-19

Parenting is hard. I knew it would be. But I never thought it would be like this. For Theo's toddler years I pictured daily walks to the park, play dates, spaghetti messes, going to the library for story time, tantrums in the middle of Target, jumping in puddles, daily hugs and kisses, and the joys of potty training.

Our daily, weekly, and monthly schedule keeps us extremely busy and, at times, overwhelmed. Theo has therapy, Toddler School, and doctors appointments almost every day of the week (most days we are double or triple booked). We are constantly driving 40 minutes west to Toddler School, or 20 minutes north to PT, or 25 minutes south to OT, or 2 hours southwest to the hospital in Peoria. We are interacting daily with therapist, teachers, doctors, and other Special Needs parents, but I've never felt so alone. 

We don't have any family or friends nearby. It's so hard to even justify leaving the house because it's hard to get Theo packed up, in the car, and to our destination before we have to give him meds or feed him. And neither of those task are easy. Feeding him requires a lot of space, supplies, and time (it takes 30-45 minutes to feed him and then he needs to "rest" for about 30 minutes before we can move him). It causes a lot of anxiety.  Do I have time to feed him before we have to leave? Should I feed him when we get there? What about his meds? Is he going to need his gabapentin while we are gone? If so, then we need to pack a syringe in an ice pack.

I have a hard time leaving the house unless it's for Theo. 

I can barely take him to the grocery store without having to time it out with his schedule. And even if we can make it work (time-wise), I can't get much because we can't use a shopping cart. Theo has to sit in his stroller and I can only get what can fit in my reusable shopping bag.

If we are on the road then things get a little more complicated. We need to either find a Starbucks or a Chick-fil-A, since they will let us set up camp for an hour AND they won't give us nasty looks about it. Even in 2020 a lot of restaurants are not set up to accommodate a large stroller. And what's even more bothersome is that some places aren't willing to accommodate us. It would be so much easier (and a lot less time consuming) if we could just roll through a drive-thru and I could just throw some fries and chicky nuggets at him and we could be on our way.

[Tag we got for the stroller. It doesn't help. People don't take us seriously because Theo just looks like a big kid in a stroller, not a handicap kid that HAS to be in a stroller.]

Needless to say, we don't go out much. Trying new restaurants is hard because we don't know if the stroller will fit. And forget trying to find a babysitter. You see his schedule? It's a lot and can be a bit overwhelming. We do have a very reliable (and awesome) babysitter, but she lives far away, is in grad school, and has a daughter to take care of too.

My family had been planning a reunion in Idaho this summer where we would rent a huge house outside of Yellowstone for three days. Sounds fun, right? Yep! It does! I haven't been to Yellowstone in a long time. It would be fun to go back and spend time with my extended family. I can't go. There's no way. I can't fly by myself with Theo. I don't know how I would carry his carseat, his diaper bag, his rolly suitcase with all of his medical supplies, and our luggage AND push him through the airport in his stroller. I don't have enough arms. Even if we were able to get to the house outside Yellowstone, what would we do then? I can't ask people to make their schedule around Theo. "Oh, hey guys, can we stop ever hour so I can feed Theo or give him meds?" "Looks! It's Old Faithful! Can we stop here for an hour so I can feed him?" "Okay, so we need to leave now or Theo will get hungry in the car and we'll have to stop and feed him." That's a lot to ask of people. "Please have your life revolve around me and my child, since it's all about me anyways, right?" So, leaving the big house would be too hard, so we would just stay at the big house all day. We flew all the way to Utah and drove hours to Idaho, just so we could stay inside and not do anything? I can do that for free here.

I'm a burden. We are a burden. It's not fair for me to ask other people to accommodate us. 

It's hard for us to make the trip to see family and friends and I can't keep hijacking their summer vacations and asking them to come and visit us here in Chicago. I hate this. I hate being such a burden on people. I use to be so independent. 

I knew being a mom was going to be hard. I knew being a mom of a child with Special Needs was going to be hard. But it's the isolation that is really starting to affect me. It's getting harder as Theo gets older. It's easier to just stay inside and avoid all the problems that come with trying to go anywhere.

But hey, the timing of this post is perfect, right?

As of 5:00 PM today the entire state of Illinois is under a "Stay at Home" order  due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

All schools, bars, restaurants, and "nonessential work places" are shut down until April 7th (or longer). All gatherings over 50 people are banned. So, that means Theo's Toddler School is shutdown for the time being AND all of his therapy services (through EI) are canceled. I am a strong supporter of this. We need to "Flatten the Curve" and this is the best way to do it. I'm not saying it won't be hard, it will, but if we all participate in "Social Distancing" then we can help save lives.

 It's already hard to leave the house and now we are being asked not to. 

Win-win, right?

We actually started our own "quarantine" on March 10th when Theo got sick and I canceled all of his appointments. I'm looking forward to warmer weather so we can at least go on a walk around our neighborhood.  

Stay home, stay safe, stay healthy.