Rough Day!

 Today was one of those days.You know the kind. Nothing really major happened, just small things all day long. Our routine right now is based on food. Wake up, nurse Brenna, give Owen his meds, then take a little break to get the little ones diapers and clean clothes. Then make Owen's breakfast, make everyone else's breakfast, make a new recipe so Owen can have apples. Brief interlude for a shower and to dress myself, then back to the kitchen to make Owen's lunch, everyone else's lunch, then nurse Brenna and put her down for a nap. Then I have about an hour to do something( today was laundry, we're still catching up from being gone), and it's time for Owen's afternoon meal. The other kids usually want a snack then, so I have to try to find them something Owen doesn't like or get them to hide while they eat. Then another little break before I make 2 dinners.Then it's bedtime routine, nurse Brenna, put her to bed, and do Owen's bedtime med yogurt. Around 4:00pm Rod noted that one or the other of us had been in the kitchen ALL day long. Rod has 5 days straight of working all day starting tomorrow, so I guess I know where I'll be all week.

 Once we get used to the new diet, I know things will level out and become easier, but right now it's more than a little overwhelming. Today nothing went right. Owen woke up with a fever of 103.7. It went down fairly quickly with a dose of ibuprofen ( non-chewable, crushed and stuck in some of his med yogurt) and a trip to the cold wading pool. He has been a little stuffy, but no other symptoms leading me to believe it's just a case of post- hospitalitis. I can't remember a single incidence in which Owen went to the hospital and didn't get sick within the next week.

 The fever made him extra cranky though. He whined all morning about more apples. I'd been so excited to come up with a good tasting recipe that let him eat half an apple, but he didn't think it was enough. Then he whined the whole time the rest of us ate our pancakes, asking when he could have "real" pancakes. I finally thought we had all the ingredients we needed for Owen's meals and wouldn't have to make a grocery run, but forgot about things I needed to feed the rest of the family. I haven't been successful in convincing everyone else to stop eating until we have Owen's diet under control.

 We got all of Owen's meals done on time (he's supposed to eat at regular times and intervals), but got behind on dinner for the rest of us. Brenna was crying and getting into the refrigerator, so I threw together nachos. I wasn't even thinking about the fact that it's one of Owen's favorite meals and he'd eaten over an hour before. He threw a tantrum for almost an hour over not getting nachos, and I couldn't even offer him something else to eat. Well, actually we offered him the 3 black olives that are considered a "free" food on the diet. Amazingly, he wasn't any more impressed than I was.

 It is really hard to watch your child scream to be fed and not be able to feed him. I think it might be even worse for us because of everything we've gone through to get him to eat at all. We've fought for years to get him to eat and now, just as he's starting to eat without a hassle we get to put him on an incredibly restrictive diet. I know things will get better once we get into a better routine. I'll be able to plan meals out better so that Owen is eating similar things to what the rest of the family is eating and I'll have come up with time saving techniques so we can eat closer to the same times, but today was rough.