Natalie Update

I was going to just post about Natalie's last swim meet that took place last Sunday (Patrick's birthday), but so much more has happened to her besides that. First of all, she said her ear hurt some time Friday night, when we wouldn't be able to get a doctor's appointment. For the last week or two she had complained about not being able to hear out of her right ear. Patrick just thought it was because she didn't clean her ears, so we got some drops for that. When she started having the ear pain, though, it seemed like something else. On Sunday morning, after I got her up to go to the swim meet, she said that she had not slept well because of her ear pain. She also said that it hurt whenever anything touched that ear--including her swim cap. Great. The bad thing when your child doesn't complain is that you don't realize how serious it is until it's serious.

So, the swim meet was rather interesting. Natalie almost didn't warm up because of her ear hurting, especially when she did the breaststroke. Of course the 100 and 50 yard breaststroke were two of the events she was going to be swimming in that meet. After warmup she was to the point of tears, saying that she didn't want to swim in the meet. Luckily I listened to my experience instead of listening to what she was saying because she ended up wanting to swim after all. After discussion with Coach Anderson, who was covering for her coach, we decided to let her swim the two breaststroke events and just skip the last event, which was the 200 yard IM. She automatically looked relieved after we made that decision. The ibuprofen Patrick had given her before we left home probably had something to do with it as well.

She also complained about her head and stomach hurting. This has been an ongoing complaint before each of the last three or four meets. Natalie says it's nerves. I still can't believe that after a year of competitive swimming she is just now starting to have the physical manifestations of feeling nervous. A friend mentioned that maybe she feels more pressure now that she has been doing it for a year or maybe because she turned 11 and the time standards are more stringent. I hope she learns to cope with this if she is to continue swimming competitively.

As we expected, she didn't do well in her events. Her seed time in the 100 yard Breast was 1:37.72 but she ended up adding time with a time of 1:40.29. In the 50 yard Breast she had a seed time of 44.31, and she actually had the fastest seed time in the meet, but she came in with a time of 44.51. Patrick wasn't there because he had to take Eric to church school from 10-11am. The meet was running just a little ahead of schedule and he got there with Eric just after Natalie raced in her second and last event.

On the plus side, she clearly started feeling better before she swam in her events. She was sitting with her friend Maddie and I was sitting with Maddie's mom Jen. Jen said she knew right away when Natalie started getting really chatty--her normal self. Natalie was really disappointed with her times, but she handled it well. That was a sure sign that she was feeling better.

Patrick took her to the pediatrician on Monday, and sure enough, Natalie had an ear infection--Swimmer's Ear, her first ear infection ever, that I recall. She has antibiotic ear drops now and her ear pain is slowly going away. She still had some pain this morning, so no swimming until that is gone.

It is just as well that Natalie has to stay home from swim practice, because she had her Winter Band Concert last night also. I didn't bother bringing my big camera as she keeps trying to hide from me anyway. I was so thankful that I was able to get this photo of her before the concert. I tore Eric away from playing Angry Birds on the iPad, so he wasn't happy either. At least he can still smile on command. Natalie can only muster a non-frown. She played on the xylophone first then the snare drum then the big bass drum last. The entire "Beginners Band Concert" was only about 15 minutes. Thankfully for the parents, they were the first ones to perform and then we were allowed to leave so that the next set of parents could come in and sit down for their kids' concerts. That was just as well too, because Patrick had to leave right after the concert to pick up Alex late from his soccer practice.

I also have some other miscellaneous Natalie facts. Last night when I was about to take the picture above, one of her band directors walked by and said, "Is that your brother? He looks just like you!" Several people have said that to her in the past and she usually makes some face showing her dissatisfaction. Eric looked pleased. She started using my pair of black slouch boots this weekend and the boots have not made it back into my closet. Apparently she's been wearing them to school every day since then. After the swim meet, I was ordering a AAAA sweatshirt and T-shirts for me and for Patrick (AAAA is her swim club). She asked for a Texas A&M sweatshirt and T-shirt so she could wear it on Fridays when they are allowed to wear college gear at school. Patrick commented that he could have gotten her a Rice University sweatshirt (our alma mater) instead. I think Uncle John has successfully brainwashed her and her girl cousins (Texas A&M is his alma mater).