Jamieson had his 2-month doctor appointment this past Thursday. It was supposed to have been on Wednesday, but we discovered what happens when you mix one Toyota Prius, an empty gas tank, and two sleep deprived new parents. Note to self: Never ever accidentally let the gas tank run dry. The electric engine only gets you so far.

It was almost comical, actually. I noticed that the “get fuel, you idiot” light was on (as it had been for the last three days) as soon as I started up the car, but since we were running late, decided to fill up after Jamie’s doctor appointment. This, as it turns out, was a bad idea. Halfway there, I realized that I wasn’t getting much acceleration. I’d push on the gas and pretty much nothing happened, unless I was going downhill. The “maintenance required” light on the dash was on, and I thought, great, there is something horribly wrong with the car. Perfect. We have to take it in to the dealer this afternoon. Fantastic. $$$$$$.

About a mile from the doctor’s office, Doc noticed that we had no “bars” on the battery meter on the dashboard display, AND we had no gas. The car gradually slowed to a halt. Luckily, Walnut Hill Lane over White Rock Creek is wide and has a shoulder. At Doc’s urging (because I was confused as to what was happening), I managed to pull the car off the road before it completely died. Jamie was hungry and had begun to cry heartily in the backseat. I climbed in the back and fed him while Doc walked about a mile down the road to a gas station. I hoped that nothing would happen where we would need to call each other since I had forgotten my cell phone. I also hoped that no police officers stopped by, since the car was three months out of inspection. (My plan to get out of that ticket was to cry and explain that I was a new mom and sleep deprived and had completely forgotten about getting the car inspected. No, I have no shame anymore.)

Doc returned with the gas can (my hero!!) and we tried to start up the car again. No luck. And now, all the horrible emergency warning lights on the dash had come on. So we called our roadside assistance and prepared to wait an hour for the tow truck to arrive. I took Jamie in his carrier out of the car and stepped over the guardrail onto the rocks and underbrush to wait (in case the car got hit, it would be safer for us to be not inside of it).

But then — Doc got the car started! I’m still not sure exactly how, but we think he pressed the ignition button twice and that maybe “reset” it. We waited a few minutes for the battery to charge up a bit, then hightailed it to the nearest gas station to fill up. We cancelled the tow truck, the warning lights on the dash began to blink off one by one, and the battery level indicator crept up to normal levels again.

Later that afternoon, at the Toyota place where we got our inspection and oil change done, Doc asked the technician what would, theoretically, happen if the gas tank ran dry and the battery fully depleted. He said that the battery COULD be recharged, but there was only one guy in the region who could do it, and he’d have to be flown in from Houston with his special recharging equipment, and it would take more than 24 hours and cost us more than $2,000. Which, frankly, seems a little far-fetched to me, but the point is that we will NEVER EVER  LET THE GAS TANK RUN DRY AGAIN.

So. Back to the baby. He now weighs 12 pounds 3 ounces and is almost 24 inches long. This means he’s put on 3-1/2 pounds and grown 3-1/2 inches since he was born! I guess my milk is good. The pediatrician thinks that since the Prevacid isn’t working as well as we think it should be, that acid reflux may not be his problem. And she doesn’t think that he’s allergic to milk proteins either, although she wants me to stay off of dairy for another week.

Oh yeah, I’d forgotten to mention before now that I’ve been dairy-free since Thursday, February 5. Jamie’s poop has had a sticky texture (and at least once, it was FOAMY coming out — think cappuccino froth or dish suds); the advice nurse thought it might be a milk allergy and had me go off dairy. If you know me, you know that I love cheese, ice cream, butter, and all things cow in origin. It has been pretty hard for me to eschew milk products completely, but I would do anything to help my baby feel better. What I have found most surprising, though, is that the hardest part of this hasn’t been my cravings for cheese or ice cream — in fact, I haven’t been craving them much at all. The hardest part has been finding things to eat that DON’T include dairy products.

Anyway, the pediatrician thinks that he might just be plain old colicky. Hopefully, he will start to outgrow it in a few weeks.

I think he’s beginning to get his days and night straightened out. When I feed him in the middle of the night, I can usually put him right back down to sleep in his bassinet (after burping, changing, and reswaddling, of course). That doesn’t happen during the day. I have to wonder if part of it is due to our consistent practices in keeping the room dark and quiet at night — no TV, no lights except for a nightlight, no loud talking — and playing the ocean waves.

We are also beginning to try to figure out a plan for building up my milk supply and our frozen milk storage. I go back to work in a month and need to have at least 3 or 4 feedings ready for Jamie, per day.

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 14th, 2009 at 10:23 pm and is filed under Baby, Car, Doc, Jamieson. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.