Redefining MommyhoodJourney of a mom whose son is overcoming hypotonia

I am stressed out enough with my Mommyhood duties with Luke, but things got more stressful yesterday.

My cat of 9 years, Poopsie got very sick and was throwing up. He has done this in the past and was fine, but he seemed much sicker this time. It started on Monday morning, but by Tuesday morning he wasn’t any better. I racked my brain to try and figure out what he could have gotten into to make him so sick. The only thing that came to mind was my beautiful Anniversary flower bouquet that my sweet hubby got me. I immediately Googled “flowers poisonous to cats” and sure enough, Lilies are on the list! They are highly toxic to cats and can cause kidney damage and failure in a matter of hours. We already have one cat who has kidney disease and almost died, so I called the vet and dropped Poopsie off on our way to mommy & me class. They did some bloodwork that came back ok, which was a relief. If he had gotten into the flowers, one of his levels would have been way too high, but it was normal. The doctor said she wanted to keep him overnight on IV fluids just to be on the safe side. She also took an x-ray to make sure his kidneys, pancreas and stomach weren’t inflamed. She re-checked his blood this morning and said he was good to go. She doesn’t suspect that he ate any flowers since he seemed to be getting better.

Luke and I went and picked him up this afternoon and brought him home. Luke was so cute, he kept saying “Poopie, sick, night-night”. I told him yesterday that Poopsie was sick and had to stay overnight with the doctor. Today when he got up, he noticed our other 2 cats, looked around and said “Poopie, sick, bankie?”. I had put a towel in the cat carrier and Luke thought it was Poopsie’s bankie. So cute!!

Poopsie was fine for a few hours tonight, but then threw up all over the laundry room. He did drink lots of water after though, so hopefully he was just getting the rest of the yuck out of his system and will be ok. Poopsie is Luke’s buddy and he was my first “baby”, so we want him to make a full recovery and stick around for awhile longer. Please send Poopsie some hugs and prayers!!

I think that floral shops should be required to post a list of which plants and flowers are toxic to household pets. I never would have guessed that Lilies are on the list. We will never get them again!

Yet another mommy myth. I love how every mom you meet always says things to you like “oh, it gets easier.” Well, that one thing you are currently struggling with may get easier, but it’s replaced by another struggle, sometimes two or more.

Why do mothers not want to share the truth? Do we forget once we are past that part of mommyhood, or do we not want to scare mommies?

I’m here to hopefully be truthful to any mommy who is brave enough to listen.

Here is another mommyhood fact. There are certain things you are no longer able to do by yourself. Here is a partial list:

-Go to the bathroom
-Take a shower, do hair etc..
-Eat a meal
-Load the dishwasher
-Exercise (which explains the sweaty morning walks)
-Housework (this could come in handy later when he can help)
-Grocery shopping

Ok, here is one of the not-so-fun parts of mommyhood. Constipation and blowouts! Luke is chronically constipated because of the hypotonia. His hypotonia is mainly in his trunk and legs so constipation is a side effect.
He has been to a gastroenterologist and is on Miralax daily to try and combat the problem, but dosing is always a guessing game. He still gets constipated, so we up the dosage, then two days later……boom!!! A huge blowout!
The doctor seemed to think that he may also be withholding since his early bouts of constipation (pre-Miralax) were so traumatic.
I’m so excited to start potty training. Can you sense my sarcasm?

My name is Tilly and this is my first attempt at blogging. I am a 33 year old stay at home mom (SAHM) to a wonderful 20 month old son named Luke.

Luke is a normal toddler in almost every way. He is not walking yet, which makes him different from most toddlers his age.  He has gross motor delays and a condition called hypotonia.

This blog is to share the story of our journey together. I hope to make more people aware of hypotonia and to hopefully offer some support to others in our situation.

I will also be blogging about other mommyhood issues that any mom can relate to.