Day +49: Date Night!

Date night tonight - woo hoo!!!

After last week's meltdown, I agreed with Jonathan that we needed some time out from looking after Sean and go and do something for ourselves. Most, if not all of the medical professionals I spoke to last week suggested, and strongly encouraged me to go to the movies with Jonathan and have some "us" time away from the little man. At first, I was reluctant to leave Sean alone, as he needed to be given a bolus of fortified formula at a certain time at night as well as certain medications, and needed to be hooked up to the milk pump when he went to bed, which were all too hard to try and train someone to complete the tasks. I didn't think it would be fair to give these tasks to someone else, even if the person was willing and able to perform the tasks. So I rejected the idea of Jonathan and I going to see a movie.

But, upon further consideration, I decided that, for my mental health, I needed a night off, or at the very least, a few hours off. I arranged for Penny to come and look after Sean, and found the session times for The Avengers at Top Ryde. Jonathan and I agreed that we would try and give Sean his dinner bolus of formula before we left the house, and we would give him his evening Cyclosporin A a bit later than usual, and hook him up to the milk pump when we got home. We were fully anticipating Sean to be wide awake and still running around the house when we got home, so it was fine for everything to happen a little bit later.

So it was all set. Penny would arrive at 5pm, so Sean would have time to warm to her before we disappeared. We would see the 6.30pm session, and be home around 9pm.

I spent the day doing very little in anticipation of my night out with my husband. Sean tried to help out by napping for nearly 4 hours, which threw out the feeding schedule completely. With Sean asleep for much of the early afternoon, I decided to make a huge batch of spicy lentil soup - half of which will go home with Penny as "payment" for looking after Sean, and the other half for us to have throughout the week. It smelled unbelievable! I hope Penny will like it too.

Jonathan was lucky enough to get an early mark, and has just walked through the door. Penny is running a little bit late, as she and Cody needed to move a couple of couches from their apartment onto the street for Council pick-up. Sean has just finished eating his dinner / late lunch, so we will have time to give him a bolus before we leave. Can't wait to see The Avengers in 3D tonight!!!

Updated at 11.15PM

The Avengers were AWESOME!!! So glad we went and saw it, and so pleased we saw it in 3D too. It was worth the extra few dollars to see the film in 3D!

It was an amazing film - funny, action packed, full of handsome actors with hot bods. What more can a girl ask for? I would absolutely go and see it again - it was so good.

Penny had no trouble with Sean. Sean did cry for about 30 minutes when we left the house, but stopped once he realised we weren't coming back through the front door any time soon. He started to get tired around 8pm, and let Penny know the same by laying down on the rug and pulling Nana's quilt over himself. Penny said she thought he was playing, but then he got up, picked up a teddy bear, took it back to the same spot on the rug, laid down and pulled the quilt to cover himself again. Penny got the hint then, and put Sean to bed.

We gave Sean his medication and hooked him up to the milk pump without waking him, and chatted with Penny for a short time before she went home. She enjoyed the lentil soup and I was happy to give her a huge batch to take home.

We always knew Penny would be more than capable of looking after Sean, and after tonight, we may well be arranging more date nights with Penny caring for Sean while we go to the movies. Jonathan and I did see a few movie trailers advertising upcoming features that we may wish to see at the cinemas, so we will wait and see about more time away from Sean when the movies are showing!