New Reflux Meds - Continued

So "A" has been on her reflux meds for over a week now and they seem to be helping quite a bit. She is sleeping better and seems to be feeling better. Although she does have another cold. Last night I tried swaddling her again and she slept 8 hours. She was sleeping really well a while ago but lately has not been doing so well. She hasn't been spitting up like she was either.

I would even go so far as to call it a success, thus far. Although I still do not like the idea of her being medicated and would love to find some other option so any ideas are welcome. I hope that once she starts solids it will help as well.

Pumpkin Carving

Sunday we spent the afternoon carving pumpkins with the kids. "D" and "C" had a blast and their pumpkins turned out very well. Hope you enjoy. It was still fairly early in the morning so please don't mind the PJ's and messy hair.

"A" really enjoyed watching them while sitting in her Bumbo. Despite the look on her face...

"D" is very proud of his pumpkin that hasn't even been carved yet.
"C" is scaring me with that knife. Thank goodness "A" isn't in her seat anymore.


Sometimes Daddy has to help get the top off.

It was pretty slimy but they both enjoyed it.

"D" used Starfall.com to design his pumpkin.
"C's" work in progress.
This is the final product!

Hyland's Recall

So as many of you may already know, at least I hope so, some of Hyland's teething tablets have been recalled. I have been using them for "A" and they seem to work fairly well. The ones that we have are included in the recall so I will be contacting the company on Monday to get either a replacement or a refund depending on what the problem was. From the website it doesn't say what the problem was so that will decide whether I ask for a refund or a replacement.

I really like the idea of natural instead of Orajel and the likes. So if anyone has any other ideas I would love to hear them. She isn't into teething rings or the likes yet so these really seemed to be our best option.

Here is the link regarding the recall.

"FARE MAM"

I am so proud of "D". He is doing a phenomenal job at school. He is absorbing so much and thriving. I am so glad that he is in a place that is helping him to grow and learn so much. I was very worried and hesitant to put him in public school, although we cannot afford private I was very scared. But he loves it! He was sitting at the table tonight after I left for school waiting to get in the bath and drew a picture. It was a picture of a fire truck and he wanted to write what it was, so that there would be no confusion. Anyways he sat there and sounded it out, it was very close. He ended up spelling "FARE MAM" instead of "Fire Man" but it is amazing. He has been so resistant to me helping to teach him these things and was resistant at Head Start too but he just loves it now. Maybe it is the approach or maybe it is the environment. I don't know, but I am thrilled with whatever it is. He is also counting like crazy. He can count by 1's, 5's (usually missing 15), 10's and 100's. I know that he is a genius. :)

He is also doing his first fund raiser for school. He has his eye on the prize. He is so excited and wants to win a pen that has gumballs in it. He has to sell 35 items to get it. I am sure he can do it. We are going to be going around this weekend hopefully to family and friends and showing them the catalog so that they can see if they are interested in anything. Wish us luck!

My baby is growing up into such a wonderful young man right before my eyes. I am so proud of him!

New Reflux Meds

So we finally got the new meds for "A's reflux. I was really worried that it would taste worse than her Zantac did, yes I tasted it. But it actually reminded me of the taste of Amoxicilin. Which by the way I loved but am now allergic to. She took it like a champ and even waited the 3o minutes after to eat, although she wasn't exactly thrilled to do so, she did. It has to be given at least 1 hour after she eats and 3o minutes before she eats.

I sure hope that this will make her feel better. I hate seeing her screaming in pain. I especially hate it when she is in a deep sleep and she just starts screaming and is inconsolable. I feel so helpless and it breaks my heart.

Flats and Daddy

I am so proud of Carl! He is such an awesome daddy and he has taken to cloth diapering like it is nothing. He mainly uses prefolds and covers, instead of the pockets and AIO/AI2 that I bought mainly for him to use. But it is all okay as we still use those for out of the house and at night. Anyways, after I bought my Green Mountain Diapers prefolds and flats many of the flats were defective. They were uneven and basically unusable in the folds that I know how to do. So Green Mountain Diapers sent me a whole new dozen and these are perfect. So now I have over a dozen size large flats for "A" to use now and be able to use for a long time. Anyways, Carl decided that he wanted to try his hand at using flats and this is how it turned out.....

(Please don't mind her chunky legs, nothing is hanging out, just her chunkiness...)

Pictures

So I finally found my camera. It looks like we were enjoying ourselves to much to bother with taking pictures much. So here are a few of what we have. They are all of "D"

Here he is, on the train. He sure loves trains!

Here he is playing on the fire truck. He loves them too!

"D" sure loves his trucks! I am sad that I didn't take more pictures. I was too busy enjoying myself... There aren't even any of "A".

Pumpkin Patch

So Sunday we took a family road trip. We drove to Carnation to the Remlinger Farms Pumpkin Patch. It was totally awesome! I cannot believe that we haven't gone before. I think that we will make it a yearly tradition. It was expensive at over $15 a person but so worth it. They had all kinds of cool stuff.

We rode the train, which "D" absolutely loved. He still loves trains even though his Thomas ones don't get much use these days. "D" and Daddy rode the roller coaster and according to "D" it "tormented daddy" and he was dead serious. I am so proud of my little man, the other one he went on alone and hated it. I also got my first caramel apple and it was divine!

I wish that we had gone through the corn maze but that will have to wait until next year and we will take "C" with us. I think that she would have even had a good time, which is a high expectation for a 16 year old girl. "A" will also be big enough to enjoy it.

I am so looking forward to cutting our own tree this year. We will have to find a nice tree farm, maybe one that has other activities too... Any suggestions?

I will post pictures as soon as I can find my camera (yes I just used and it is already MIA)....

Dear "A"

Dear “A”:

I cannot believe that it has been four short months since you were born. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and knowing that you were on your way. I remember the dazed look on your daddies face as he followed me into the bathroom cleaning up after me. I remember waking your brother up and him being so excited that he would get to meet his baby sister. Then going to your NaNa’s house where your brother was while I was in labor and her being so excited as well. I texted Auntie Heather and we were off to the hospital. It was surreal getting there and telling them that I was in labor, that my water had broken. I felt like I was on cloud 9. I was finally meeting my baby girl that I had dreamed about so often since I was young. I just knew that you would be special. When we got up to the room, I was so excited that I could barely sit still, even after not sleeping and being exhausted. I was so determined to get you here safe and sound!

Your arrival was miraculous. It was just like I wanted. You came out and looked around. You barely cried. You were so aware and ready for life. Your dad was awesome! I could see the love in his eyes the moment that he saw you. Auntie Heather was also awesome. She was so helpful and her presence allowed your dad to get some much needed rest as he hadn’t got to sleep at all since the night before. After your birth things got scary. I am not going to dwell on it, I just accept that things were scary and complicated but we are here and healthy.

You are such an amazing baby. You have grown so much since then. You have almost doubled your weight and are growing so nicely. I look at you every day and cannot believe how much you have grown and learned. You are such a shining light for our whole family. You complete our family.

When I see your amazing smile and hear your adorable laugh it makes me smile from the depths of my soul. I see the way that you watch your brother and just imagine the day that you are able to get up and follow him around. I see you outside playing with him in the mud with trucks. I see you running around and playing with dolls, playing dress up and playing in your kitchen. I cannot wait until these days. But I am truly enjoying these days that we get to spend together. I am loving every minute of watching you grow and mature.

You complete our family like I could never have imagined and thank God every day that he has blessed us with your presence! There is so much that I want to show you, so much that I want to teach you and so much that I want for you.

Love Always,

You Mommy

Reflux

So we had to take "A" back to the doctor today because her reflux seems to be getting bad again and the Zantac does not seem to be doing the trick. Last night was horrible. She woke up in the middle of the night screaming and didn't want to nurse or anything. As soon as Carl sat up and held her she seemed to calm down and go back to sleep, but her screaming lasted quite a while. She has also been throwing up a lot more than she was since being on the Zantac. She is also not sleeping, she doesn't take good naps or sleep too long at night. She is on the maximum dose of the Zantac for her weight, so upping it is not an option. We decided that we needed to try something stronger for her, so she is going to be starting Prevacid.

One of the problems with Prevacid is that it has to be "compounded" from my understanding that is a process of breaking it up and mixing it with a solution to make it a liquid. This also makes it unstable and is only good for 2 weeks at a time. Another problem is that the only pharmacy that the doctor knows about that does this process is right by the office, which is about a half hour away from us. This is fine for doctor visits but now I would like to find one closer that does this.

On top of all of this I think that she is teething, "D" got his first tooth around this age. She is showing all the signs, a lot of drooling (which is common at this age anyways), shoving her hands in her mouth all the time (also common at this age), wanting to chew on everything, and she gets calm and enjoys when I rub her gums for her.

Even on top of that I think I am getting another darn sinus infection! YUCK!!!

Green Mountain Diapers Review

So I got my new diapers from Green Mountain Diapers on Saturday. They had very fast shipping, as I ordered them on Thursday and they came from Vermont! Anyways I ordered a dozen prefolds, red edge, they are a little bit too big on "A" but I couldn't justify the yellow edge when she is so large in the middle they would probably not fit there. I also ordered a dozen large size flats. I have recently fallen in love with flats! They are so versatile and slim fitting under a cover. I can decide where to put the extra absorbency and they are just awesome. Of course they are not for everyone, as cloth may not be for everyone either.

Flats and prefolds are what people typically think of when they think of cloth diapers, and they are what I was so hesitant about using in the beginning. It turns out that I love them. I love both prefolds and flats.

So I got done prepping them and was folding them to put them away and noticed that my flats are very uneven. It is almost as if they were hung by two diagonally opposite corners and stayed that way for a long time. The two corners are very stretched out. So I wrote to Karen, at Green Mountain Diapers and told her of the problem. She took one look at the picture of the defect and is sending me out replacements. I am so happy and thrilled with the great customer service that I want to tell everyone! The diapers are awesome.

I will definitely order from Green Mountain Diapers again for all my flats and prefold needs!

Pumping at School

Last night was the first night that I used my Medela Freestyle to pump after class. I had used my Medela Harmony to pump after class but it was taking way to long. So last night after class I put on my Easy Expressions Pumping Bra on right over my nursing bra. I got hooked up and started to pump. It was a little awkward sitting in my car at 9:30 at night in the school parking lot pumping but it had to be done. It took a little trial and error as due to my size the bottles hand a little low and I had to be careful that the weren't resting on my legs as then I couldn't get good suction. I usually sit on the edge of the couch to pump and don't have to worry about it.

I got done in 15 minutes, which is about half the time it took with the Harmony and got even more milk than I did with the Harmony. It may have something to do with the last time I fed her too but it was awesome. I unhooked it and cleaned it with the Medela Quick Clean wipes and put it back into the awesome bag and I was on my way home. When I got home I was able to nurse "A" to sleep and she was out for a few hours.

One of the best things about the Freestyle is that I can charge it at home and just take it with me. I don't have to worry about using a car adapter or anything. The suction is the exact same as it is when it is plugged into the wall. I will be buying a car adapter though because I am forgetful and I might forget to plug it in to charge and then I sure wouldn't be very happy.

P.S. I want to thank the people at Birth and Beyond in Seattle for the opportunity to win the pump. I really love it and am so glad that I won it! There was a contest a few months back for Wold Breastfeeding Week and they asked people to nominate a mom who needed a pump. I told them my story and why I needed a pump and I won. I now have this awesome pump that I cannot be more grateful for! That is also where we bought our first Ergo Sport, my nursing bras and my pumping bra. Their store is great and I love the people that work there. They are amazing and super helpful!

My love....

I really love my Ergo. Not so much for me to wear anymore, as "A" is not very comfortable in it when I am wearing it. I think that it has to do with my shorter torso and the size of my chest. When she is in it her face is smashed into my chest and she doesn't like that one bit. But I absolutely love it when Carl wears it. I cannot say enough how great it is to have a man who is not afraid to wear the baby.

When we went to my hematology appointment Carl wore her the whole time. Within just a few minutes she had fallen asleep and stayed asleep on his chest for the whole appointment. Then today after taking "D" to school I walk in the door and he is wearing her while he is making himself breakfast. It made my heart melt. I sure love him and how good his is with our children. The Ergo Sport fits him so well and it will fit me again with her. It is just in an awkward stage I think. I am going to try again in about a week and see if it fits better and she is happier.

We bought the Ergo when "A" was only 3 weeks old. We didn't buy the infant insert and instead swaddled her and froggied her legs when she was in it. This worked great. I was the main one wearing her and I loved it! I really love how versatile the Ergo is. I works great for new babies up until they are too big to be worn. You can wear it on the front, the back or the side. I highly recommend it and it is worth every penny. I consider it an investment in my sanity!

Diapers

I just wanted to tell everyone who reads this blog how much I love my diapers. I know that many of you around me have come to believe that I have an addiction to buying adorable diapers. I will admit that I do shop for diapers a lot and have a few, I do not believe that I have an addiction to them. I just love them. I love how well they fit "A" and how it is so nice to not have to run to the store in the middle of the night because we are out of diapers, and how much money they will save us in the end and how nice and fluffy her bottom is when she wears them!

Anyways, I was curious if anyone had any ideas about how to go about switching to cloth wipes. I have been using disposable wipes but I would like to switch to cloth as well. I am debating whether to buy actual cloth wipes or to either cut up some receiving blankets or buy some flannel and cut that up. If anyone has any suggestions just let me know.

Birth Story

Here goes my very long and late birth announcement.

My due date was June 17th from very early ultrasounds and those throughout the pregnancy. On November 30th I was diagnosed with a subchorionic hemorrhage, basically a blood clot, that was covering 3/4 the gestational sack and separating the placenta. I was told that the pregnancy most likely would not go far from there due to the amount of placenta that was detached. I was put on strict bed rest from that point, until it resolved about 6 weeks later and then I was on modified BR until the end of the pregnancy. I was given ultrasounds every 6-8 weeks until 32 weeks and then weekly AFI and monthly ultrasounds. I was also doing twice weekly NST's. Since the placenta had reattached everything was looking better but there were still many risks, including scar tissue from the clot on the placenta. My doctor and I agreed that going over my due date would not be in the best interests of either baby or I.

On June 15th we scheduled an induction for my due date, and she stripped my membranes again. I was crampy and not feeling well all day but nothing regular so I didn't think much of it. That night Carl and I were watching a movie and I just didn’t feel good so I went to bed. He came to bed later and within minutes of him coming to bed I got up to go to the bathroom. I was a little damp and felt a little funny so I just made a mental note of it and went back to bed. About 40 minutes later I rolled over and felt a huge rush of water and knew that I had either peed the bed or my water had broke. I told Carl and ran to the bathroom leaking the whole way there. When I finally go to the toilet it just kept coming and I was soaked and there was Carl cleaning up all the fluid that I had leaked throughout the house. I called the Dr and was told to head to L&D so I changed my clothes and within 10 minutes I had soaked through those too, so I just walked around to finish getting everything together with a towel between my legs and a pad. We got “D” up and ready. By this time it was about 2 AM. We got to L&D at about 3:40 and they confirmed that it had been my water (we all knew that anyways).

I had been planning on a natural birth so I started walking as soon as I could and got my hep lock put in. I walked and walked but my contractions would not get regular. They decided to check me at about 6:00 and I was only at 3 and 50%. I walked some more and when the new Dr came on she decided that we had gone long enough and started the Pitocin at about 9:30. It was okay because I could still walk with the telemetric monitors on. They stopped working and I was forced back into the bed due to the Pitocin. They thought that they had fixed the monitors and started the bath. I was at 5 now and 80%. The monitors were not fixed and I was in excruciating pain so I broke down and got a half dose of narcotics and that did NOTHING for me so I got an epidural. I was so heartbroken from not being able to get into the water. I had some issues with the epi and at one point had it turned off because I couldn’t feel my neck and got scared. At about 7:00 I asked to be checked and I was at 9.5cm 100% and she was at a +2. The Dr had to go back and see one more patient but would be right back. I had the epi turned off again so that I could push without it. I began pushing at around 7:50 and the doctor told me to stop pushing so that she could finish getting ready. That was the hardest part because I was burning and felt that I had to push but I waited. She was born at 7:59pm. She weighed 8lb 9oz and was 19in long, her head was 14.5 in. She was absolutely beautiful. She had no cone head like my DS because she went from being +2 to out in so little time.

After the labor was when things got super crazy. I ended up hemorrhaging and having to get 4 pints of blood. At the lowest point my hematocrit was at 17, normal is anything above 35. I got there and it was 34 so I was still low but nothing like that. At one point the Dr had to reach inside me and pull out clots and she filled a small bucket up with blood. They were changing my pad every 20 minutes and the sheets were getting changed every hour or so due to the blood. It was the scariest thing of my life! I was getting pumped full of narcotics because I was in excruciating pain from all the Pitocin and them trying to help my uterus contract manually but nothing was helping. After the Dr pulled out all the clots everything seemed to get a little better and I was able to get 2 bags of blood that night.

After everything else “A” was diagnose as being Jaundice and was taken to the special care nursery to be put under the lights and I was forced to supplement BM with formula because my milk was not in, and didn’t fully come in until around a week PP. We came home after almost 6 days in the hospital.

Birth Story

I am so sorry that I haven't taken the time to update everyone on the birth of our beautiful baby girl "A". You may notice that I have removed our children's names and replaced them with a letter. Most likely everyone reading at this point knows who I am talking about but I just don't feel comfortable with their names being on my blog.

Anyways, I am posting my birth story on the next post.