Slowly Getting Back to Normal

This past year has been pretty rough on us all. I think the foreseeable future will be much of the same, but I am finally starting to see a light at the end of this dark tunnel. At least for me. When Covid first became a thing in early 2020, I switched to working from home out of fear for James’ health. I didn’t want to risk catching it and bringing it home to James. Unfortunately, there was only so much work I could do working remotely, so I switched to working nights (11 pm until 7:30 am) when very few people were there. While it had its perks—very little traffic, getting a close parking spot, and being able to catch a sunrise—my body just could not get used to it. It also sucked that I had to sleep during the day while everyone else in my life was awake. For the past several months I have been working from 4 am until 12:30 pm so could still spend about half of my shift working without being around many people, and the second half of my shift catching up with colleagues on their projects and issues.

That light at the end of the tunnel I mentioned earlier? I got my second dose of the Covid vaccine on Wednesday, so I will no longer be working silly hours. I am taking some vacation time this week, and then will be going back to working a normal 8 am to 4:30 pm shift next week. Two or three of those vacation days will probably be spent trying to get myself back on a normal schedule. The remainder of the “vacation” will be spent hanging out with Stacy and James, and catching up on projects around the house.

I wondered if this time would ever come. If I’d ever be able to work normal hours again. or if I’d be stuck working nights for years while we waited for a vaccine against this virus. I know that vaccines have become a controversial subject, which really became apparent with the Covid vaccines. You are allowed to have your own opinions. Stacy and I both got all our vaccines growing up and we turned out just fine. After James was born, we had no reason to question vaccines so he, too, has gotten all the vaccines that are recommended. I will admit that I am a bit nervous about the Covid vaccine and the long-term effects. It just seems like they were developed so fast, but I am trusting the science over what others say. We haven’t completely decided yet if James will be getting the vaccine when it becomes approved for kids his age, but we’re leaning towards yes. I think we’re still a few months away from needing to make that decision.

More Respiratory Issues

This poor kid…and his mommy, too. In late November he had his usual bout of respiratory distress which normally happens around Thanksgiving. Nothing new there, except this time it lasted about six weeks until early January when he was finally able to get off oxygen. He was pretty stable throughout January and February, but mid-March he had another one of his respiratory episodes.

We have no idea what brought it on, but we rarely do. He just started having a rough time keeping his sats up. It was St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th. Stacy had bought James a shirt to wear to school for St. Patrick’s Day last year, but school had gone remote because of Covid, so he wasn’t able to wear it. Stacy was pretty bummed when he wasn’t able to wear it to school this year either because he was home sick with breathing issues. She put it on him anyway so at least she could get a picture of him in it to share on his Facebook page.

It took him just over a week to get over this latest illness before he was well enough to go back to school on the 29th. Stacy really has become a pro at nursing him back to health. I help out when I can, because this has to be tough on her mentally, but she is just so much better at it than I am. It also doesn’t help that I have been working nights for the past year, so I am usually sleeping during the day when they’re up and James needs lots of attention. He is usually fine at night when he’s sleeping in his bed, but that’s when I am at work. Next week I’ll finally be back to normal daytime working hours so at least I’ll be able to assist after I get home and before he goes to bed.

In addition to being an awesome (and grossly underpaid) nurse, Stacy has also become a hairstylist. Both Stacy and I are a bit jealous of James’ hair that seems to grow like crazy. We’ve been losing our hair since he was born and joke that it’s falling onto his head. In the picture below you can see how crazy his hair was in the upper right-hand picture; below that is mid trim; and the finished cut is on the left. Note that the picture in the upper right was taken the week prior when he was on oxygen because of his respiratory issues. He has been off oxygen during the day for the past week or so and only uses a little bit at night when he is sleeping.

Thank You

Just a quick thank you to those of you that made a purchase from the fundraiser Stacy had throughout March for Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month. In 2020 she raised $100 and while I was hoping she could double that this year, she was only able to raise $60 to donate to the United Cerebral Palsy Center for Disability Services. I know it has been a tough year on everyone with Covid, and the lockdowns, and people losing their jobs, but we are very appreciative that we were able to raise some money for this organization.

Easter

Guess what we did for Easter this year. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I’m sure many of you did the same. We thought about getting together with family since they had all been keeping healthy, but with James just getting over his latest respiratory illness, we didn’t want to risk it. Maybe next year.

James did have a couple of special deliveries, though. One of our neighbors dropped off an Easter basket for him. His aunt, uncle, and cousins also stopped by to deliver a basket. Thank you all for thinking about him.