It's the little things

Yesterday was not the best day. Miss Jade would not take an afternoon nap despite acting incredibly tired/cranky, so I did what any normal pregnant mama would do. Went on a walk. At two in the afternoon. With 2 dogs. When the heat index was over 100.

Bad idea? Most definitely. For the record, I was fine. Belle, unfortunately, was not. At the halfway point (a little over a mile in), I stopped to give everyone a break and give the dogs some water. Belle wouldn't drink any. When we started to walk again, she starting coughing. Almost a dry heave. Then she started acting like she was going to throw up. Then she spit up foam. All this in addition to some panting that was shaking her entire body.

I stopped. Pulled out the iPhone and checked the web. These were the early signs of heat exhaustion/heat stroke. Everything said to get the dog inside immediately. Only one problem. I was a mile from home.

We stood on the side of the path for 15 minutes. I called Chuck repeatedly- no answer. Not knowing what else to do, I called a friend who offered to come pick us up. I then pushed Jade in the stroller while walking Zoe and carrying Belle so that I could get to a place where my friend would see us. I wish someone had a video camera.

After a quick ride home, I filled up the kiddie pool and put Belle in it. She cooled down immediately and seemed fine after that.




She then proceeded to throw up in the living room twice. Once, Jade got to it first and played in it. Did I mention it was a rough day?

Needless to say, I learned my lesson. No more walking the dogs when it's that hot out. They can't handle it.

Now to the point of this post. This morning, I had a lot to do. The living room still smelled faintly of throw up so I needed to vacuum and Febreeze. We're leaving town Sunday and there is laundry and cleaning and packing to be done. But when I went to put Jade down for her nap, and she snuggled up to me and started to fall asleep, I couldn't just put her down. She so rarely sleeps on my chest anymore.

So for an hour, I sat there with my baby girl sleeping on my chest. I alternated between watching her and sleeping myself. It was wonderful. Did I get my housework done? Nope. Did I do what I needed to do? Absolutely. I felt better, more grounded, less stressed. I needed that time with my sweet girl.

It really is the little things.

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