Mumps

i jumped out of bed this morning at 8:00 a.m. i had some coffee and a yogurt and nuts and half of my pomegranate. i quickly got dressed and ran off to my yoga class. i really didn't feel up to it but i went anyway. i got back in time to walk over to the neighborhood clinic with my daughter- in- law to get the baby his second vaccination. he was so fussy after the first one that i dreaded going through it again. the nurse was from the 'old' school of medicine and gave gal a lecture against breast feeding on demand. it seems that she believes a four month old baby should wait at least three to four hours between feedings. she also said that the baby should learn to adjust to a schedule and told gal to hold off nursing for another two hours. as soon as we got down the street near the park sahar started crying. thank goodness, gal fed him. he was still upset and wouldn't be quiet in his carriage, so gal held him while i pushed the empty stroller.

when we got home i made a nutritional lunch for gal. i'm on a mission of late to feed her good, substantial, food. i made whole wheat spaghetti and used up my can of diced tomatoes.(shachshuka sauce). i also cooked up a small sweet potato and poached two fish fillets. i figured she'd be doing a lot more nursing after the baby's vaccination. on friday morning, i made her a small molasses cake with apricots and cashews. i also bought plenty of dried apricots and prunes for her. i'm also trying to get her iron up to par.

gal asked me to sit in the late afternoon. i agreed to stay home because i was waiting for the vet to come over. i put the baby in his carriage and took him outside for a little stroll. he was absolutely hysterical and wouldn't calm down. i cradled him in my arms and rocked him, but he only cried more. when i stood up and walked with him in an upright position, he settled down a bit. i simply, didn't have the strength to keep it up. after all, the boy is over 15 pounds already! out of desperation, i sat down in my rocking chair with him in my arms, and started to rock. i was preparing to put on a music video for him when i noticed that he had fallen asleep. i placed him back in the stroller and he slept soundly for about three hours. i was beginning to worry because i couldn't remember the last time that he slept that long. i checked up on him several times to make sure that he was still breathing. when i finally saw his hand move, i felt more relaxed. i was getting ready to wake him up when i heard him stir. before he could utter a sound, i had him in my arms and back up the stairs to his mother. he seemed really mellow. he was chattering away and kicking up his heels in the middle of her bed.

the vet never showed. i'll have to call her tomorrow. my sister called to let me know that my niece has the mumps. for a moment i panicked and got scared. i was with her yesterday and i thought that i might have compromised my grandson's health by carrying the disease. i ran back to 'google' to read up on the mumps. apparently, everyone born before 1956, when they gave the first vaccination against mumps, is immune. how that works exactly, is beyond me because i never had the mumps. i can't imagine that i could survive, having them now. they don't seem to vaccinate babies against the mumps until the age of 15 months. they claim that babies don't get the mumps before the age of 2. who really knows? i just hope that my married niece isn't pregnant because it can harm the fetus. anyway, it's all in the hands of the Lord.

i heard from a good friend, who is in the country now, that she will be coming up to zefat for shabbat. we have been corresponding for years and haven't seen each other for over a decade. i can't wait for the reunion!