Son is asleep on the couch next to me...couldn't make it through the presidential candidate debate. I know I should move him to bed, but I love the warmth of his feet pressed against my leg.
Last night, he woke up with growing pains. My mom is staying over to help me while Husband is
I gave him some ibuprofen, then put him in my bed and tried my best to comfort him. I rubbed his legs and sang songs. Twenty minutes later, he was asleep.
I had growing pains, and I know that's what Son was experiencing, but the doctor in me went wild thinking of more unlikely, and scary, causes of leg pain. Osteosarcoma. Rheumatoid arthritis. Leukemia.
I realized, after an hour of stewing, that I would have those fears even if I weren't a physician. It's a maternal impulse to fear the worst. I'm just a regular mom.
Fat Doctor, every time you voice my own mother-worries, I feel so much better, and I think to myself: "Woo hoo! It's not just me!" :) Thanks for that.
ReplyDeleteYou're totally not alone, either - here's a post from my own blog to prove it: http://anesthesioboist.blogspot.com/2008/09/gashlycrumb-tinies-come-haunting-again.html.
Tell me about it. I'd have been a lot better off at my grandson's delivery if I hadn'd known the meaning of the decels on the monitor, the excessive bleeding (before and after delivery) and kid coming out (oh, God!) limp and not breathing. All turned out OK (apgar 7 and 9) but it was hair-raising. Luckily, the same knowlege/experience helped me stay calm so daughter and son in law didn't get scared, or at least not as scared as they might have been. Ignorance might really BE bliss....
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