The O'Hara Family

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T16:33:00.000-05:00

Allison is One!

2012-01-25T21:22:00.000-05:00

Last week was her birthday, and on Sunday we had a party to celebrate. I need to figure out how to connect my new camera to the computer to upload photos! Here's a couple from just before her birthday.

Mommy and "baby"

Can't forget my little man!

Showing off her funny teeth!

Allison is definitely turning into more of a toddler every day. She is walking quite well now, and is saying a few words. Mama, Dada, Ball, Baby, Kitty, Hi, and Balloon(or at least I think that's what she's saying-she's looking at the balloon when she says it!). She's in 12-18 month clothing now, and she's thinned out quite a bit. Still a little chub, but not the ham hock she was before! She is such a little sweetie and loves to cuddle. She loves to nurse, and has taken well to solid food since I stopped trying to give her purees and just started to give her bits of what I'm eating. She and Colin both go to the doctor on Feb 7th so we'll see how big they are then! I'm hopeful that the fact we haven't seen Colin with hives in awhile means he is outgrowing his allergies. Either that or we've become so good at managing them he's been fine.

Jumping on the Bandwagon

2012-01-06T09:10:00.000-05:00

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-13T14:28:00.000-05:00

This year we are lacking a bit in holiday decor. We were on vacation/at a wedding the week of and weekend after Thanksgiving (when I normally decorate), then I came down with the flu and strep throat. I'm very excited to say I'm feeling way better (though still on amoxicillin). However, with less than 2 weeks to go until Christmas, I'm not feeling the decorating. We put up the tree (Jim and Colin did), threw some garland and stockings on the stairs, and some lights outside. I also hung my apple garlands on the window box. Other than that, I'm done. I feel sort of badly, but not that much. There's always next year! The kids are little still anyway.

I'm basically done with my shopping-I need some cards, a couple gift cards, and to make the charitable donations I give as gifts to most family members. Now I just need to clean out my ~~junk~~ dining room so we have somewhere to eat on Christmas morning. We are going to do brunch again, like last year. It works well for us to have the grandparents come to us and I make breakfast. Colin is SO excited about Christmas. Allison doesn't seem to know what's going on, but she does like to try to eat ornament hooks.

Speaking of Allison, she's turning into a toddler! The 3rd tooth appeared while I was on my death bed (thank you a million times to my inlaws for watching the kids), and she's been taking more and more steps. Now we just need to get her to sleep! At her appointment last week she was 27.5" long and 19lbs 10oz. I forget what her head measured-I think 17.75". The physicians assistant was a bit concerned that she's dropped to the 50th percentile (she was way huge before) but she was born at the 50th so she's not too upset-yet. If Allison is anything like Colin though she will now continue to drop until she's barely on the charts. We will have to see what happens. Fortunately she hasn't showed any signs of food allergy so far. She's slowly learning to eat solids.

Colin is such a little person these days. He says the funniest things and he speaks so well. He also has an excellent memory, which has proven to be a double edged sword. Unfortunately he has some temper tantrums and random moments of "bad" that I have trouble dealing with. Just last week we walked to the house and he said "come back for me" down the porch stairs (I was carrying Allison). We've done this many times so I said ok and went up to open the door. The darned kid took that opportunity to run into the road! I about had a heart attack. All I can think of now is what could have happened. We need a garage!

In case I don't get to post, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas full of love and cheer.

Happy Tuesday!

2011-10-04T22:17:00.000-04:00

Today was a lovely day off with the kiddos. We went for a ride to visit my mom at work (ice cream store on a farm-Colin likes to see the cows!), then stopped at Target to get The Lion King on DVD and a couple house items. When we got home Colin chowed down some lunch and watched part of his new movie. Then my grandparents came for a visit! It was great because despite the fact that they only live about a 40 minute drive away, we only see them every few months. They like to visit the casino near us, so they stopped on their way. The best part (other than seeing them, of course): they brought us fruit! It wasn't organic, but beggars can't be choosers. I'm so happy they decided against TOYS as gifts and brought some nutritious things that Colin (and the rest of us) can enjoy. Allison was terrified of them at first, but she warmed up and gladly sat on their laps after a little while.

Another awesome part of today: one of my friends had a baby! Head over to Our Small Tribe and congratulate Kirsten on her new little one!

This is a photo from Saturday. This was the 7th year we've participated in the local Light the Night walk to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

And a couple from yesterday!

A Somewhat Proper Post

2011-09-29T22:04:00.000-04:00

It's been a crazy house as usual. I can't get Allison to sleep in her crib...ever. So I haven't been able to do anything after she goes to sleep because I need to be next to her. The last couple nights I've had Jim hang out next to her in bed and read or whatever while I clean up and do stuff, so I have 5 minutes to update! Here are some photos from the last few days.

Allison is now 8.5 months old, and Colin is 2 years and 8 months. AAAhhhh!!! Where did the time go? Allison (finally!) got her first 2 teeth to erupt in the last couple days. Colin has turned into a little person. He's definitely more preschooler than toddler most of the time, save the diapers and tantrums! It's hard to believe that 2 years ago he was Allison's size, just crawling around and babbling sounds.

Update!

2011-09-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure why I put an exclamation point, because this is in no way an exciting post. My spending freeze led to a few weeks of super bargain shopping rather than not shopping. I guess when I tell myself not to spend money it makes me WANT to spend money even more. So I got some awesome bargains, but still spent money. Oh well. Let's try for October.

Allison is now 8 months old and that's crazy! She is such a big girl. I'd love to do a big post about her.

I will hopefully also be reviewing my cloth pads and Diva Cup in a week or 2!

Spending Freeze: Week 1

2011-09-03T18:15:00.000-04:00

I'm going to start with Thursday, when September actually started. Wednesday was a day at the outlets with a dear friend so we do NOT want to count that :-)

Thursday I had to drive through McDonalds for some extra caffeine on the way to work. That's $2.96, unnecessary crap but mentally helpful! Unfortunately I got hit up to buy from my coworker's daughter for school fundraisers and couldn't very well refuse! I avoided the $9.00 wrapping paper and stuck to candy. Mmmm.

Friday was a quick trip to the grocery store and Dunkin Donuts for some caffeine (seeing a theme here?). Didn't get much so my total was under $25. I did spend almost $30 on postage but it was for wraps I sold, so I still made over $200 on the sales. It was also pay week so that was good! My only purchase today was more McDonald's beverages. If I could kick that habit I'd be a lot healthier!

September Spending Freeze

2011-09-03T13:49:00.002-04:00

I'm a shopaholic. I spend money on anything and everything. I try to shop sales and get a good deal, but I still spend money! My goal for September is NOT to spend money on anything that isn't a necessity. I'm hoping you'll all hold me accountable! We are trying to save for a new house and I need to reign it in!

Baking with Colin

2011-08-25T11:09:00.000-04:00

I promised Colin we'd make muffins today, so we did! They're almost done baking as I type :-)

My helper

1/4 cup Crisco, 1 cup sugar

My other helper

Crisco and sugar all mixed!

1 cup mashed banana, 1/4-1/3 cup applesauce

How to use up the rest of the applesauce

The chef

The help fell asleep

Mix well!

1.5 cups flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/2 tsp baking soda

What it looks like when it's mixed

My clean-up man

All ready to bake! Colin put the liners in all by himself!

A shot of the hood on my mei tei!

What We're Up To

2011-08-22T23:56:00.000-04:00

I Have 2 Adorable Kids

2011-08-13T22:32:00.000-04:00

And this post isn't about them at all.

I've been feeling very cruddy the last 2-3 weeks. Weepy, bitchy, mood-swingy, sore armpits, antsy, crampy, you name it, I had the PMS symptom. I'm pretty sure I even felt mittelschmerz a few weeks ago. I knew it was coming, but I was hoping I was wrong. Nope. Yesterday, at not even 7 months postpartum, that stinker came to town. After Colin was born it was 9.5 months, so I was hoping for an even longer break this time, but to no avail. Now I get to deal with all the joys of womanhood again :-)

With that said, my hunt for some eco-friendly, busy mom-friendly products resumes. I was looking into mama cloth and the Diva Cup just before I got pregnant with Allison. I just purchased my Diva Cup and some mama cloth from Homestead Emporium on Hyena Cart. I figured I'd get 3 to start and see how I like it. I feel like my gross-out factor with this is high, so I don't want to spend too much only to let it sit. For some reason poop and spit up aren't that gross to me, but the menstrual cycle has always skeeved me out. I will update with my feelings about these things when I can!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-08-03T21:10:00.001-04:00

Babywearing

2011-08-01T10:01:00.000-04:00

I discovered babywearing shortly after Colin was born, but didn't have the means or patience to do it much. I purchased a Moby wrap when he was 7 months old and used it until he was just too heavy for the stretchy wrap. Then I got a Connecta and used that until I was too pregnant to comfortably use it (around September 2010). I had purchased a few woven wraps but once I was curious enough to get into using them, I was too pregnant and tired to bother.

Fast forward-now Allison is here! I didn't do much wearing for the first few months, but now I'm getting back on the bandwagon. I sold one of the wraps I got and I've got 2 more for sale now. I purchased a few new ones and a different type of buckle carrier. Here's a few photos of our attempts:

Menu Plan Monday

2011-08-01T09:39:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had a surprise dinner, since we were planning to go to my parents' house and be gone during the dinner hour. Well surprise! They took a weekend trip and weren't home. So I threw together some pasta and garlic bread. We were pleased with how it turned out, and Colin slurped it down, too. The night before he ate the chicken I made, as well as rice and peas. I'm pleasantly surprised. Now for the rest of the week:

Monday: Buffalo chicken sandwiches, french fries, salad
Tuesday: Shrimp scampi over pasta, more garlic bread, salad
Wednesday: Ribeye steaks, corn on the cob, green beans
Thursday: chicken pot pie
Friday is the rehearsal dinner for one of my good friends' weddings, and Saturday is the wedding, so no cooking here!

6 Months!

2011-07-21T08:20:00.000-04:00

Tuesday was Allison's 6 Month-Day. It's hard to believe she's been here for half of a year already! The time is absolutely flying.

The little stinker is trying SO hard to sit and crawl. She can get in the crawling position, where she rocks back and forth. Then she drops down and shoves herself around, sort of in an army crawl. She's also the master of rolling. No teeth yet, but boy is she working on them. Her sleeping has taken a horrible turn lately. She rarely naps for even an hour at a time, and nighttime is awful.

I went back and forth with the solids for awhile. I wasn't sure if I wanted to start at 6 months or wait. If I wanted to start with purees or do baby-led weaning. Ultimately I decided that Allison was beyond ready for some food in her tummy and she is thrilled with it. I also decided to start with purees. I know myself and I would be too anxious about her choking with baby-led weaning. I'm crazy like that. So I'm making my own purees from the start this time around. With Colin I made a few attempts at it and he never liked it. He also doesn't like a lot of veggies in their natural form STILL. So this time around I'm DIY-ing Allison's food. Our first food is avocado. I mashed it with a fork and thinned with water. It's slightly chunky.

Car Show Sunday

2011-06-27T12:37:00.000-04:00

Every year my family (and a slew of volunteers) organize and put on a car show in memory of my sister. The Calli Memorial Car Show celebrated our 7th anniversary yesterday! Hard to believe we've done 7 already. Even harder to believe my sister has been gone almost 8 years. We do the car show to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, as well as Camp Dost, and other projects throughout the year. We've donated to local families in need with sick children, and every year for Easter and Christmas my parents (and whoever else wants to go) fill Easter Baskets and Christmas Stockings with goodies to take to the kids in our local hospitals. It's always sad to see the kids and families having a rough time, but it's awesome to bring a hint of brightness to their day. Unfortunately the only photo I got yesterday was of Colin eating a sno cone because I spend most of the day registering cars, but we had a good time and a good turnout! Here's to many more years :-)

The Kiddos

2011-06-23T21:46:00.000-04:00

5 Months Old!

2011-06-22T17:39:00.000-04:00

Allison turned 5 months old on Sunday. She had her (late) 4 month checkup today with the pediatrician. She's 25.25", 17lbs11oz, and her head is 16.5". So she's right in the middle of the curve for height and head and right at the top for weight. Chubbo!

Here are some things she's doing:

*Putting her hands together and using them to bring things to her mouth
*Grabbing things with one hand
*Pulling to sit with our fingers
*Rolling over both ways
*Eating her toes
*Scooting around when we put her on her belly
*Blowing raspberries
*Trying to chew on everything
*Sleeping through the night-sometimes over 10 hours!
*Napping inconsistently (some days very well, others not at all)

I'm sure there are other things if I had time to sit and think of them! I love my little Chubs and watching her and Colin together is so cute. I'll have to try and get a pic of them holding hands :-)

Busy as Usual!

2011-06-21T15:20:00.000-04:00

These days it seems I never get on here to blog! I still keep up with my blog reading, but usually it's a quick scan on the Blogger reader thingy and that's it. I am trying to get time to get on here, but it's so hard with kiddos that only sleep the same hours as me!

4 Month Photos

2011-05-26T07:34:00.000-04:00

When Colin was a baby, we got photos done every 3 months. That's what my mom did with us, and I decided to continue the tradition with my kids. Then I had to work 50 hours a week. Oops. So Allison's "3 Month" photo shoot got delayed a month. Sue me. I'm sure she'll have more things to call me a bad mom for when she's older. Allison refused to smile, so we have many open mouthed photos :-)

This one is my favorite of the day:

As you can see, she is a chubbo who likes her milk! She also refuses to smile for the camera. I took the kids myself so I couldn't really focus on trying to get her to smile either, since I was busy trying to keep Colin from throwing huge blocks at the lights and smashing them! He was jealous and wanted his pictures taken, too.

Meal Plan Monday (on Wednesday)

2011-05-25T13:32:00.000-04:00

Just a bit late here! I'm always looking for new recipes and I love to find them on other peoples' blogs (hint, hint). My menu this week is pretty simple, but here goes!

Monday: Eat out for our anniversary.
Tuesday: cheeseburgers and fries
Wednesday: Chicken parmesan with egg noodles and green beans
Thursday: Spicy tilapia, roasted potatoes, broccoli
Friday: Crispy beef with broccoli and rice
Saturday: pizza and salad

Tour of My Home (Downstairs)

2011-05-20T11:21:00.000-04:00

Inspired by one of my favorite blogs, Scottish Twins, I decided to give you all a tour of my home. Why, I'm not sure. It is kind of embarrassing how terribly disordered. Maybe this will give me the motivation to clean up a bit. I've already actually done a teeny bit since these photos were taken. This is what a real home looks like for me when I've got 2 small children, working 50 hours a week, and just trying to stay afloat.

Upon entering the front door, you'll see our steps. Steep, slippery, most likely not up to code.

To the right you'll see our humble living room. Small, disorganized, and very blue.

The other half of the living room. Colin had to pick up his choo-choos.

This is the kitchen. Very much updated since we moved in. I need to organize obviously, but all that needs to be done in here is the laminate floor. We plan to install tile this summer.

View of the kitchen from the stove.

This is the beautiful hallway. I'm trying to get photos on the walls. Note the stroller and easel just waiting to trip us.

This is Jim and Colin's train room. It's basically lined with junk, with a closet full of junk, and a train layout on the floor. And by junk I mean totes and boxes full of trains. I imagine this room has more money in it than anywhere else in our house.

The ugly blue bathroom. That blue bag on the door is the wetbag holding the stinky diapers you've been smelling as you wandered throughout the downstairs. To the left is the tub where my drying rack is.

And finally, the "dining" room. AKA the room full of crap I have no time/space to put elsewhere. This room is truly awful. I'm slowly getting rid of things and putting them away, but it's bad.

And there you have it. The reason I want to start anew!

4 Months

2011-05-19T12:53:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe Allison is 4 months old already! Life with 2 kids is challenging but so much fun. It's great to see them interact. Allison stares at Colin and smiles at him, even when he isn't paying attention to her. He usually likes to show her things, but if she looks at him or touches him when he doesn't want her to-watch out! Last night the two of them fell asleep in our bed around the same time. It was so cute to watch them lie there together, breathing in sync. I thought I'd never have children and here I am with two!

Aren't those juicy lips to die for?

Sorry for the crappy quality-this was taken on my phone.

(Kudos to Amanda for the cute outfit!)

At 4 months, Allison is:

     *Smiling
     *Talking like crazy! The girl is LOUD.
     *Rolling over sometimes
     *Scooting around
     *Sleeping at night very well most of the time (up to 11 hours!)
     *Learning to use her hands quite well
     *Around 16lbs and 24 inches (this is my own rough estimate based on my scale and measuring tape)
     *Wearing 6-12 month clothes
     *Melting our hearts

Things Are Settling

2011-05-12T12:24:00.000-04:00

Finally, life is starting to take on a semblance of normalcy. My coworker is back doing half days, so my work week is back under 40 hours. I'm brave enough to venture out with the two kiddos myself, and I'm ready to take on our house. We've always wanted to build a house, but everyone seems to be encouraging us to buy. I'm not sure if this is an area where I need to dig my heels in and do what we think is what we want, or listen to the more experienced ones! They were right about the dog, after all. I guess we'll need to do some serious thinking (and saving!) before we make up our minds either way. For now our energy is going into de-cluttering, decorating, and maintaining this home. There is so much junk in our house! I never felt like I had the time or money to decorate, so it's still pretty bare bones on the walls. Then there's the maintenance. This house is over 50 years old, and it was sort of slapped together. We desperately need a new front door. The downstairs windows need to be replaced. The kitchen floor and entire downstairs bathroom are screaming to be updated. The yard is...dead. That's the tip of the iceberg!

I will definitely have to work on some posts from the last month. Lots of new pictures!

Long Time, No Post (What A Surprise)

2011-04-17T14:00:00.000-04:00

Life has been kinda hectic lately. I returned to work part time a couple weeks ago, with the intent that I'd be doing 22 hours one week and 17 the next. Things never go as planned, of course. I worked 30 hours last week, 26 this week, and am now going to be working 50 hours a week. My coworker had to have a D&C the first week of April, and she had a hysterectomy Thursday. So lucky me gets to pick up the slack. It will be good for our wallets and savings/loans/all that garbage, but it stinks for the kiddos. I miss my family already and I've not even worked a 50 hour week. Not to mention what will happen to the house. Oy. I was so stressed on Wednesday I almost had a panic attack. I was seriously questioning whether or not I had postpartum depression. I felt better when I went to bed that night, but I awoke around 2am with a plugged duct and the beginnings of mastitis. Blah. I feel much better now, but it was rough on Thursday.

So I'm ruining my run of positive/negative post rules. But I just had to vent! I went to a bridal shower yesterday and left the house 2 hours after I'd intended, only to forget a couple things and lose the bride's card. I drove in the pouring rain, hydroplaning all over the place, to a tiny, winding road an hour away to attend the shower for 2 hours, then do the same thing in worse rain on the way home. I was so grateful to arrive home safely. If you are ever driving on the NE extension of the PA Turnpike in the rain, do yourself a favor and find another route. AWFUL.

Anyway, there's a bright side to all this. I'm learning to cherish the time with my kids and husband, instead of taking them for granted. I'm getting better at time management, earning money to pay off bills, and learning to be a real pharmacist. I graduated 2 years ago, but my actual experience has been pretty limited. Nothing like learning by being thrown in the fire, right?! I hope everyone has a great week. I probably won't be around much at all.

Blah

2011-04-16T08:45:00.001-04:00

1. Return to work
2. Teething
3. Mastitis

Need I say more?

Colin's Kitchen

2011-04-05T14:00:00.001-04:00

Last year, Jim and I ventured to King of Prussia for an overnight trip before baby #2 came. It was fun, but strange without our little buddy. We hung out at the mall, went out to eat, and then retired to our hotel around 8pm and watched Antique Roadshow like old people. Seriously.

On the way home, we decided to check out the Ikea in Conshohocken (did I spell that right? sheesh.). We'd neve been before, and heard how awesome it was. I think we spent at least 2 hours just walking around. We got 3 things for Colin, which I believe I posted about in the past. One of them was a kitchen set, and another was a set of table/chairs. The kitchen was put up around the time Allison was born, and it's been living in the hallway ever since. The table and chairs were in our dining room. There just wasn't anywhere good to keep them.

Now that the dog is gone, we can put toys in the kitchen! And nobody will eat them! Or rip them off the fridge and eat them! (This is in reference to the alphabet magnets that the dog would pull off the fridge and chew if they were low enough). Below are some photos of the new setup. Colin's kitchen (minus the top part-I'm afraid he'll pull it over) and his table/chairs are in the kitchen, next to our little kitchen table. And yes, he is eating lunch in his pajamas. That's how we roll.

Perhaps the most obvious thing from these photos is the messy state of my home and the desperate need to replace the laminate floor. However, Colin seems to like to play with his kitchen while I'm actually doing things in mine so this works out well. It's also nice to not whack my leg off the kitchen when I'm walking in the hallway!

Meal Plan Monday

2011-04-04T10:45:00.000-04:00

Well it's not going to be a healthy week by any means, but here goes:

Monday-Spicy tilapia, roasted potatoes, broccoli
Tuesday- Minute steaks, some variety of Knorr/Lipton side, peas
Wednesday- Chicken & cheese quesadillas, salad
Thursday- Old Bay shrimp, rice, salad
Friday- Bertilli's Chicken Florentine with Farfalle
Saturday- Steaks, mashed potatoes, salad or green beans

I'm working Weds, Thurs, Fri so I needed quick & easy! I try to do that every day really, but I need even quicker & easier when I don't start dinner till 7pm!

Peanut Butter

2011-04-03T18:29:00.000-04:00

No, not the food. Our dog. I wanted a dachshund for a looooong time. When Jim and I were getting married, I started pet "shopping" to make our home seem less empty. I stumbled upon a local breeder of dachshunds, and I knew I had to have one. The pups were SO cute. Jim agreed that a dog would be nice and so we chose one from a litter born in April 2008. He was going to be old enough to come home in June, but since I was on pharmacy rotations until July 3rd, we paid the breeder to keep him until then for us. Here are the pictures the breeder sent me as he grew:

We visited him the day after our wedding-we joked that it was our honeymoon. Here are some pictures from that meeting:

Little did we know that 3 days after these photos were taken, I'd find out we were expecting our first child. I was due in January, which meant I'd still be doing rotations. This meant I had to work out a new rotation schedule-one which did not include the expected 6 week break in July/August. We didn't know what to do. We'd already paid for the dog and found he'd wormed himself into our hearts. How could we just tell the breeder to keep him and sell him again? We figured we'd make it work, though everyone warned us to just give up on the idea of a dog.

As you can see, we didn't listen. Here are some photos taken in the first few days after we brought him home.

It was rough having him home. He chewed constantly-usually preferring the kitchen chairs or our hands to the toys we bought him for that purpose. PB wasn't housebroken, so we were constantly taking him out and cleaning pee/poo off the kitchen floor. He whined at night. I was pregnant, exhausted, and nauseated with zero patience. We were gone much of the day so it was difficult to find time to work on any sort of training. Our dream became a nightmare quickly.

Fast forward a few months and things were going more smoothly. The constant chewing had ceased, and PB was somewhat housebroken. When we were home we let him run around the living room too, so he could hang out with us on the couch in the evenings. During the last 3 weeks of my pregnancy with Colin, PB slept on the couch with me all day long.

When I went into labor and had my c-section, we were gone from Thursday afternoon until Monday morning. In that time, my father-in-law went to the house to feed and take PB out, and Jim went home a couple times too. The dog took that time alone to chew everything he could get his teeth on and use the kitchen floor as his personal bathroom. After that, things were different. PB was already a high-maintenance dog, and in the displacement as our "baby," he became awful. The barking, snapping, etc were NOT a good time. He was annoying at best, a danger at worst. As Colin got bigger and started moving around, I was terrified PB was going to bite him. Nothing we did seemed to matter. Finally, with Allison coming, I knew Something Had To Be Done.

Now, I'm not talking about drowning him here. As much as he ticked me off, I'm not a murderer(although sometimes he made me feel like I could be one). We weren't going to take him to a shelter either. I wanted to find the dog a new owner. It wasn't his fault that we were sucky owners who couldn't make him into a great pet. I asked around and had other people ask around too. Didn't SOMEONE want a free dachshund? It seemed the answer was no. In a moment of desperation, I posted a classified on Petfinder. The ad was all set to expire the next day when I received an email from someone interested in PB. It was so exciting!

After much emailing back and forth and a meeting, this man wanted PB. It took a few weeks to get everything in order, but yesterday PB went to his new home. It's been bittersweet. We don't really miss the dog because it was really just too much for us. On the other hand, he was in our family for almost 3 years and in that sense, he's missed. I do think this was the best decision for all involved, though. After finding a skin infection that had been there for who knows how long, I realized we were verging on neglect for the poor dog. Now we can have guests without fear of the dog snapping or barking at them. I don't have to worry Colin's going to get bitten. I don't live with the stress of finding dog poop on the kitchen floor at random times. I'm just living with overwhelming guilt, missing the life that could've been.

Farewell, Peanut Butter. I hope you're enjoying your new home and getting lots of loving attention.

Great Day

2011-03-30T07:59:00.000-04:00

Despite my TWO complaining posts, yesterday was a really good day. Allison slept for 7 hours before briefly waking to eat, then sleeping 4 more hours. Colin woke around 7 but then climbed on me and cuddled for an hour before getting up for the day. I can't remember the last time he did that! I loved it. We had a nice relaxing breakfast and the kids let me shower. We ventured on up to see my mom at work and make a Mary Kay delivery for her coworker. I even stopped at the grocery store for a couple things on the way home. Allison cried briefly after we left my mom, but that was the only time she really cried all day. She slept a LOT yesterday, so I managed to actually get some stuff done. I played with Colin and he didn't really throw any tantrums. We had a blast! He went to bed without any major problems around 8pm. Allison even went down around 10pm, which is early for her(especially after sleeping all day). I got to hang out with my husband! Maybe my complaining did something? LOL. Anyway, I just wanted to show some appreciation for a great day :-) Maybe I'll actually post something useful someday soon.

Back to Work

2011-03-29T17:03:00.000-04:00

In the beginning, I thought I couldn't wait to go back to work. I wanted to get out, speak to adults, and get a small break from my children without feeling guilty that there was no reason. I need the paycheck, so it's not like I have a choice. I started working again last week. Only 13 hours, broken up over 3 days. It sucked. Mind you, the stupid computers went down two of the days, so perhaps that's part of the problem. I had no time to pump and all I could do was think "What if I kill someone?" I'm hoping that as I work more, it will become easier. This is sort of a rude awakening. My last 2 jobs were not busy AT ALL and when I've worked here in the past, it was almost always with another pharmacist. And working computers. So hopefully things will get easier as I go. I can't imagine they won't.

As I'm looking at my schedule, I realize I'll be alternating weeks. One week I'll work 17 hours, the next 22. Wash, rinse, repeat. These hours are broken up over 3-4 days. So at least 3 nights a week, I'm not going to be home until around 7pm. That means super easy dinners that are quick to make. I'm thinking I may have to start freezing meals again, like I did before Allison was born. It's so nice to go to the freezer and have something all ready to take out and pop in the oven. Any ideas? I'd love to hear suggestions for things that I can freeze or super quick/easy recipes!

Busy Times, Busy Times

2011-03-29T14:05:00.000-04:00

I seem to be constantly busy these days. I knew I'd be busy with 2 kiddos (heck, I was busy with one), but I didn't think it would stress me out so much! There's always another load of laundry to wash (I'm pretty sure the laundry procreates overnight), a sink overflowing with dishes, crumbs all over the floor, diapers to change, a hungry kid to feed, groceries to buy, etc. etc.

I'm trying so hard to find a balance between being a mom/wife and keeping us all fed and clean. It seems either the house suffers or relationships suffer. Forget Jim and I. We hardly see each other, much less get to hang out. We'd like to institute date night, but it seems like with me back to work (and him on his usual work schedule), we hardly get to see the kids as it is. I told him I think even if we do one hour a week we need to do something. I don't want to be one of those couples who finds they don't know one another anymore once the kids are gone.

Sorry for the blah but I needed to get it out and I don't know where else to do it!

Patience

2011-03-28T11:33:00.000-04:00

PLEASE GOD, give me some. That is all.

4 Days in Photos

2011-03-19T14:48:00.000-04:00

While I haven't been much for photos the last few months, I have been making an effort the last few days to do so! With that, here we go:

Friday 3/18

My child, showing off how she sleeps (minus being crammed in the corner-usually she's lengthwise the other way.)

My other child, napping on the couch with his kitties.

Thursday 3/17

My little Irish cutie, eating an allergen-free cupcake

We went for a walk since it was nice out!

Allison slept briefly before waking to scream some more.

So cute!

Mommy's Lil' Charmer

Wednesday 3/16

I decided I should get in a photo for once.

Building with choo-choos and lincoln logs.

This is what we made.

Fixing the roof.

Tunnel!

Tuesday 3/15

Allison and I had some quiet time together.

Showing off her chubs in a Fuzzibunz one-size diaper on the small setting.

Showing off the gross bubbles he keeps making.

Eating some pizza.

2 Months! (Almost)

2011-03-14T21:38:00.000-04:00

Today was Allison's 2 month well-visit. We decided to vaccinate with HiB only today. Unfortunately the one the office stocks contains aluminum (the one normally combined into the Pentacel vaccine does not). So I have to decide what we'll do next time. Anyway, her stats are: weight-12lbs12oz (the midwife's scale said 13lbs2oz on Friday so I think one of them at least is a bit off!) height-22.25" head-15". So her head and height are right around the 50th percentile, and her weight is just about 95th percentile! What a chubbo :-)

The doctor is very happy with her physical development and was impressed with the way she pushes up on her hands. He was mildly concerned about her social skills and her basic lack of cooing/smiling. It's very rare. At this point it's not a huge deal, but it's something to watch. So now of course I'm freaked out that my perfect baby is delayed. I'm going to have to make more of an effort to spend time talking to her and make sure it's not just my spending too much time with her big brother and holding yet ignoring her.

On another note, I made a yummy beef stew type thing in the crockpot yesterday! No real recipe, but it was some sirloin steak from the farm where we get our meat, red potatoes, baby carrots, green beans, stewed tomatoes (thank you grandparents for teaching me to can them!), beef broth, and some random spices (rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaves). I threw in some barley at the last minute to make it thicker. Jim has been afraid to try it but Colin and I gobbled up a bunch of it for dinner tonight! Colin kept asking for more meat and "ba-wey." It was cute :-)

Here are some photos of the cuteness! I wish I took more/better photos, but such is life!

Thumb sucking

Mooooooommm!

This would've been better if someone hadn't messed up the camera...

Cheesey cheeseball

Daddy and his babies :-)

Interview with Dr Suzanne Humphries - NaturalNews.tv

2011-03-12T10:11:00.000-05:00

Interview with Dr Suzanne Humphries - NaturalNews.tv

What I'm listening to right now. This is yet another source of information that has me so torn over what to do with Allison's vaccines. Colin is fully vaccinated on schedule up to the point of the 12 month shots. We finished his Prevnar and DTap after that but have so far not done Hepatitis A, MMR, or Varicella. We've never done the flu shot. We've decided to do a more delayed/alternative schedule with Allison but I'm still trying to figure it out. She has her 2 month appointment on Monday and I'm not sure I want to give her anything yet. This is so hard! There are things like Colin's food allergies and my cancer that *may* have been caused by vaccines. There's not enough research to show either way that they were or weren't. However, there is some research to show that there is a link, and that small amount of research worries me. I'm worried by the logical, rational, well-educated physicians and other professionals who are questioning the vaccine schedule and certain vaccines. It's not just Jenny McCarthy and autism, as many vaccine proponents say. There is a LOT more to it than that. My favorite was my original pediatrician's response "People a lot smarter than you or I have created this schedule for a reason." Really? How do you know they're smarter? They have financial interest, yes. Have you actually done any research? Or just listened to what they told you in medical school? I can tell you that some of what they taught me in pharmacy school is crap, so who's to say the same isn't true for medical school?

All I can say is, this mama is freaked out, confused, and stressed!

Cloth Diapering a Newborn: Hindsight

2011-03-04T14:42:00.001-05:00

A while back, I posted about my newborn diaper stash. I planned to use disposables (we got Seventh Generation newborn size) for the first few days to avoid meconium, then go straight into cloth and never look back. While we started on that path, I soon learned that things weren't so easy. First, while the fitted diapers I bought had snap downs for the cord stump, the covers did not. This means that each time Allison wore a cloth diaper (except for the awesome for newborns yet outrageously expensive Lil Joeys), her cord stump was being pushed and rubbed by a diaper cover. After a week of being shoved by the diapers, Allison's stump was bloody and hanging on by a clear thread. I was horrified. It wasn't TOO bad but by 10 days her stump was off (and not really ready). We were lucky that there were no complications, but I was so disappointed that my refusal to use disposables led to this. It can't have been too comfortable for her. Blah.

Another downside of all the nice fitteds I bought is that they lack absorbancy and my bebe is a super soaker, much like her brother before her. I wanted to change her every 2 hours (or after a poop) like I did with Colin, but that was apparently not enough. Short of changing her every 30 minutes to 1 hour, this was just not going to work. The newborn prefolds were more absorbant, but too big for the XS covers, so I guess preemie prefolds would've served better, but we still would've had the cord problem. All this to say: I wish I'd just stuck to some disposables in the beginning. Even with buying more expensive Seventh Generation it would've been cheaper than what I spent on the newborn cloth, and it would've been a lot easier on Allison's cord.

Now that we're past the newborn phase, I've been using the Thirsties Duo size 1 (we started with them snapped down but now they're unsnapped) with the newborn prefolds and some size small Bum Genius all-in-ones they had on clearance. For some reason the Bum Genius leak occasionally(and randomly), but the prefold system is working great. I just fold it up and put it in the cover. The only problem here is if she poops, it gets on the leg gusset and that cover has to go into the wash. I have 6 covers, but if she poops 4 times a day that's not enough to last 2 days + drying time, which is how my diaper system currently goes. I may get a couple more.

Overall, if I had to go back in time I'd use disposables for the time baby had the cord stump. Then I'd go to newborns with Thirsties Duos, with a handful of all-in-ones or pockets for other people to use (like Jim or our parents). It would've saved much money and aggravation!

What's For Breakfast?

2011-03-03T11:28:00.001-05:00

I decided to try something new today for breakfast-for Colin. Usually I either make some buckwheat pancakes, a Nature Valley waffle, some toast, coconut yogurt, fruit, or any mix of the above. I found a recipe for allergen free french toast here. I'm not sure if the fact that I used coconut milk instead of soy milk was the problem, but I didn't get toast. I got mush. It wasn't pretty. I could barely scoop it with the spatula, even when I barely dipped the bread. So Colin got some plain wheat bread with dip. Then he decided to just eat the dip mixture with a spoon.

This is what he was eating.

Mmmm coconut/vanilla/cinnamon applesauce

I like it!

See-food anyone?

I'm A Healthy Mama!

2011-02-26T13:14:00.000-05:00

I had my annual appointment with my oncologist on Thursday. Things are looking good! He asked me if I wanted to continue to see him or just follow up with my primary care doc, since I'll be 10 years cancer free in April. I in turn asked him what he normally does, since he's the doctor here! Apparently I'm his first 10 year survivor. He was a pharmacologist for awhile before going to med school, so he's only been in practice for 8 years. I had seen pediatric heme/onc docs before him and was transferred to his care when I got too old for them, so I get to celebrate a milestone at the same time as him! Anyway, we decided to make an appointment for next year and if I choose to cancel it he will have no problem with that.

Another positive at the appointment was my bloodwork. I was quite anemic after Allison was born and I hemorrhaged. My hemoglobin was 9.6 when I was admitted to the hospital and was down to 7.4 the next day (Lisa thinks that was falsely low due to fluid overload, so who knows). It is standard practice to do a CBC with differential at my appointment, so I was anxious to see what my hemoglobin is now. I'd been taking Floradix twice a day (absolutely disgusting) for the first 10 days or so of Allison's life, before switching to Proferrin ES(a form of heme iron supposed to be easily incorporated into your blood without GI problems) 1 to 3 times a day. This is a tablet and SO much easier to take. I'd also been trying to eat a salad most days of the week and up my red meat intake. Apparently all of this paid off, because my hemoglobin was 13.6! We all thought it would take many months to get back to normal, and it took 5 weeks or less. How amazing is that?!

I can't tell you how thrilled I am. Thank God for being so good to me :-)

Lovely Day

2011-02-23T15:26:00.001-05:00

I realize I'm a complainer. I'd like to change that. Unfortunately, it's easier said than done. In an effort to help myself along, I'm going to try to have at least 2 neutral to positive posts for every negative one. Reasonable goal? We'll see!

Today has been pretty great so far. Allison let me get some sleep last night, and Colin slept until almost 8am this morning so I woke up fairly rested! I got my coffee going early so I had some false energy. Colin played nicely both with and without me while I did a few loads of laundry and dishes. There were no tantrums, and very few boo-boos, all of which were fixed with a couple kisses from Mommy. I didn't have to yell at the dog for anything at all. Both children have been asleep for 2 hours now. It's wonderful! I even have the pizza dough for dinner rising and ready to roll for 4pm when Jim gets home. The TV has remained off for all but the news (30 minutes) and some Sesame Street/Barney (about 30 minutes together). Unfortunately the TV is, for now, the only way I can get Colin to nap. It lulls him to sleep. I even showered today!

Anyway, Allison is waking up and I'm sure Colin will follow. I hope the good day continues!

Food Allergies Suck

2011-02-22T16:41:00.000-05:00

Colin had his 2 year check-up with the pediatrician a couple weeks ago. On the plus side, he's grown! The poor kid is still a shrimp, but he's at 32.25" and 24-25lbs (he weighed 25 but his sheet says 24 so I'm not sure what the difference is, but whatever!). So he's still between the 5-10 percentile, but at least he's still on his own curve. We did a blood test for a CBC, lead, and some RAST tests for allergies-chicken, peanut, egg, and dairy. The blood test was interesting because his arms appeared vein-less to the phlebotomists. They found one in his left hand, but the blood didn't even make it to the tube before the vein gave way. We were paging the doctor to change the order to just CBC/lead since they can do a fingerstick when the long-time phlebotomist managed to find a good vein in his right hand and went for it. My buddy was awesome the whole time-he didn't cry or fight at all. He sat on my lap and wiggled slightly, but he was soooo good. I couldn't believe it!

Fast forward a few days and Colin's allergist called. The results of the bloodwork were in and they weren't too exciting. Still severely allergic to dairy and egg. He said the peanut allergy scored a 16, which isn't too bad, but he still wants to wait to try a food challenge. The chicken scored a 2, and he said as long as it's not bothering his eczema it's fine to continue feeding him. I was expecting these results, but I can't say I'm not disappointed. It really sucks trying to feed Colin. It's so hard to find recipes that either don't have his allergens in them or are adaptable(at least in a way we'll all eat). The poor kid eats the same things all the time, and while he doesn't seem to mind, I struggle with it. He can't be getting adequate nutrition. The allergist did note that Colin is slightly anemic, so we are trying to get him to consume more iron. I didn't think to ask what his actual hemoglobin was to assess if I should try to get him to take a supplement, but I have to call and find out. Anyway, it was a huge downer.

My HBAC: Reflections

2011-02-20T11:51:00.002-05:00

At my first postnatal appointment, Lisa asked if I could do it again, would I. I told her I wasn't sure, but I certainly don't regret doing it. With my current perspective, I would absolutely do it again. I won't if I have another child, after the hemorrhage, but I would do the one I did again! I really can't explain how very important it was to me to have a successful VBAC. It never would've happened if I'd been in a hospital. Between the interventions, the constant offering of drugs, and the factors in my labor(long labor, broken water for awhile, long pushing), I never would have been allowed to VBAC with the local doctors. And I would've bent easily in that state of pain.

Breastfeeding with Allison is a million times easier than it was with Colin. I credit this to the immediate nursing and lack of drugs. I didn't get to even hold Colin till he was 2 hours old, when he was ready to sleep. Then he was given a pacifier, which I believe screwed up his latch. It took a good 2 months of tears (from both of us), pain and frustration to get into a good nursing relationship.

Recovery from the VBAC has been SO much better than the c-section. At 4 weeks out with Colin, I still couldn't stand for more than a few minutes without severe pain around my incision. By a week postpartum this time, I was able to walk perfectly fine and do all sorts of things. By around 2 weeks I could sit and do my usual things no problem (except for lifting heavy things-like Colin). I'm still more sore around my abdomen from the stupid c-section scar than I am from my vaginal delivery, and that scar is 2 years older!

When I was in labor, and for a few days afterward, Jim and I both expressed the desire to be done with childbearing. I said I'd be willing to adopt, but not give birth. I've since changed my tune, and even Jim has said he'd especially like another little boy to play with. So give us a few years and I'm sure I'll be trying to conceive again :-) I'm not sure what sort of delivery I'll go for - repeat cesarean or vaginal- but most likely vaginal. I have a few questions to ask my midwife first.

Those questions are mostly around my labor/delivery. I'd like to know if she thinks my physical features are what made it so difficult. She told me that during pushing she almost cut an episiotomy. She NEVER cuts an episiotomy. She actually only had 2 clients tear requiring stitches last year. And here I was with a 2nd degree tear, despite all the support and such. My main questions are if she thinks I in fact have a small pelvis, and what sort of tear I would have had without the support I had. I always said the only thing that would have made me choose a c-section was if I knew I'd have a 4th degree tear. That TERRIFIES me. I know she can't predict that, but I can see what she knows about the difference. Allison was a half pound bigger than Colin, but I think she had a smaller head. So in hindsight, I am wondering if possibly my c-section was actually necessary. I don't think it was necessary at the time they did it, but being that she was anterior and I had such a hard time, and Colin was posterior (and possibly with a bigger cranium), I wonder if Colin ever would have come vaginally. Obviously this is a question I'll never have answered, but I almost feel better about the c-section after my VBAC. I know I CAN deliver vaginally, but I'm now unsure if I could deliver a much bigger baby that way.

At my first checkup 2 days after the birth, Lisa told me she should have made it clear that she doesn't sugarcoat things. That if the situation is bad, she'll say so. She said at the time, I was stable. Things may have progressed after that, but for the time, I had been ok. So I guess I didn't need to endure that hospital trip. Even though it sucked, I'm still glad I went. The passing out was scary for Jim and I and even if I was ok, it didn't feel like it for either one of us. So I guess I should've made it clear to her also that we weren't ones to play around, either.

On a random note, my leg still hurts where I got the pitocin injected into my thigh. It's sort of numb yet painful at the same time when it's pushed on. I should probably find out if that's normal :-)

I may add more reflections over time, as I think of them. Overall I'm so glad I chose a homebirth. I'm not entirely sure how Jim feels, but he's proud of me and I think he's glad we did it too. He told me he would've freaked out even if we were in the hospital and I hemorrhaged, so I suppose it doesn't make a difference. He said he may have freaked out more there because it would've been a bigger display of insanity most likely-especially if they booted him out of the room.

If and when we do have another child, I will be giving birth in a hospital (or in a birth center in the unlikely event one opens around here) with an OB (or with a midwife in the unlikely event we get some locally and they deliver in a non-home environment. I will be better informed about the process and have had experience with both kinds of delivery. I will not be bullied, I will have a doula, and I will know my OB/midwife and his/her plans inside and out. I will be empowered.

My HBAC: The Aftermath

2011-02-19T12:00:00.006-05:00

I was upset to be transferring to the hospital, but I was also relieved. I thought I needed IV fluids to get some blood volume back and help my blood pressure regulate itself. The ambulance drivers were very polite about the whole thing-they were probably just relieved they didn't have to actually deliver the baby. The ambulance ride sucked. I got an IV and almost a liter of fluid there, but it was so cold and uncomfortable. Lisa had shoved whatever clothing she could find on me so I was wearing capris and a nursing top. Not very warm! Once I got in the ER I had a blanket. One of the nurses there was nasty, but I only saw her when I first got there. I think she was just curious and had to butt her nose into my business, because she wasn't assigned to me and I didn't see her after that.

I had to pee sooooooooooooo badly but couldn't go. My uterus was displaced because of it. Lisa had said I had a nasty tear but she hadn't yet looked to see how bad. I was scared they would stitch me up without numbing me as some sort of punishment. I was finally transferred to labor & delivery. Just my luck, the doctor on call was the one Jim has often referred to as "Bonnie the Butcher." Now imagine my feelings!

Fortunately, this doctor was so nice. She was friendly, asked all sorts of curious questions, and even showed the midwife what she was doing. She was rather rough with the lidocaine injections and stitches (2nd degree tear!), but at least verbally she was pleasant. My nurse wasn't friendly but she wasn't unfriendly either. She gave me a nice catheter (I kid you not-it hurt so bad but I was excited to get rid of the have to pee feeling) and I must have had a ridiculously distended bladder because she filled about 2 of those "hats" with urine. She estimated I had over a liter (actually close to a liter and a half)of urine in there. I don't know how my bladder didn't bust. It just kept coming out. Afterward I thanked her because I felt so much better.

It was my decision whether to stay overnight or just go home. While we were deciding I had to pee again-but worse, I thought I had to make a #2. I was nervous, but I didn't want to use a bedpan, so I buzzed the nurse and we went to the bathroom. After I finished my business (much less painful that anticipated), I got really lightheaded again. The nurse immediately pulled the "help" cord and two nurses rushed in with a wheelchair. At that point Jim and I decided I should stay overnight. We didn't want to risk me passing out at home.

The hospital was very accommodating. My nurse on the maternity ward even called her supervisor at home to ask if my baby could stay with me to breastfeed. She agreed, and a nurse from the nursery wheeled in a little bassinet with all the supplies (diapers, wipes, linens, etc). I had to sign a waiver that the baby wasn't a patient and I was responsible for her care, but I didn't mind at all. We got no sleep that night, but we didn't mind. I was feeling much better and we were looking forward to the 11am discharge time posted on the wall.

Unfortunately, the next day things were different. The nurse immediately started asking me a bunch of questions about my birth. The doctor on call had changed and excuse my language, but she was a bitch. Of course I was alone with my baby when she came in-Jim had gone to eat lunch. I was lying in my hospital bed holding her when this OB walked in. She proceeded to lecture me on how risky HBAC was, how she couldn't believe a licensed CNM would do a VBAC at home, how Allison's middle name had better be "Lucky" after what we did, and spouting off ACOG's VBAC guidelines. I informed her that I was aware of what the guidelines were and that Lisa was not in fact a CNM but was a direct entry midwife. She stalked out, and I thought she was preparing my discharge orders. Wrong.

A while later the nurse returned. She asked if we were going to give her a name. So I told her we'd decided to name her Allison. She looked at me like I had 2 heads and told me she meant the midwife's name. I was pretty shocked and asked why and she said the OB wouldn't discharge me without a name. She left the room and told me to page her when we were ready to give a name.

Jim and I were stunned. We hadn't done anything wrong, and neither had Lisa. So we paged the nurse and gave her her name. We also gave her phone number and website. I didn't have her business card or anything else on me to give an address, but I told her the city where she lives. She asked if there was "anything else I wanted to tell her." I asked what else she wanted to know!

Later on she returned saying the doctor had looked up the website and couldn't find it. She asked if we were sure that was her name (like we let some stranger deliver our child). I guess they were confused because Lisa has the same first and last name of a family practice physician in the area. I told them they were completely different people. My midwife is not a physician. We went back and forth for hours like this. Finally the nurse called Lisa and spoke to her directly. She got more information from her and requested copies of my medical records. It was RIDICULOUS. I was ready to sign out against medical advice but was afraid the OB would call CPS because I'd heard of that happening to people. So I stuck it out. FINALLY, around 4pm, after many tears and much anger, I was discharged. I had been close to sending Jim home with Allison in case CPS did show up or something. It was an extremely unpleasant day.

We arrived home and immediately called Jim's parents to have them bring Colin home. We were finally all together, as we'd envisioned. Despite it all, I don't regret having a homebirth. The funniest part of the hospital stay was the way my last nurse kept telling me that I didn't have to have had a homebirth because they were so patient friendly. I'm pretty sure I almost busted a stitch laughing at her. Gosh, they were just so friendly that day, weren't they?! It makes me wish I'd come there to birth(gag).

My HBAC: Part 4

2011-02-18T12:00:00.001-05:00

So obviously I was all freaked out about the 6cm. I knew then that this would NEVER have happened in the hospital. I'd have already been sectioned and my baby would have been born on the 18th. Maybe a different hospital, but not this one. Not with my former OB group, at least. Moving on :-)

After this, I really don't even know what was going on. I was on the toilet, in the tub, just wishing it was time to push already. Finally, around 4am Lisa had me go to the couch for another internal exam. I was at 8cm. I couldn't believe it. I was only at 8. This was worse than with Colin. It hurt more and was lasting forever. I kept saying "I don't know how people do this for days." I probably sounded like a broken record. This was in between my mooing.

After this check, Lisa told me to lie down on the couch and rest for a while. She sent Jim up to our bed, while Faun camped out in the hallway Lisa spread out on the floor next to me. I dont' know how anyone got any rest with me being so loud, but I guess they did. I started to feel a little "pushy" during my contractions, so at 5am, Lisa had me go upstairs and sit on the chair by the bed again. I told them that if it wasn't for the car ride to get to the hospital, I'd be begging them to take me for an epidural or c-section.

I almost immediately had an uncontrollable urge to bear down after that. I thought I had to poop, but she told me it was the baby. So we got the bed and birth stool all set up. I sat on the birth stool and pushed when I had to. Of course I pooped! Not as much as I anticipated though. Anyway, I pushed on the birthing stool and the bed for about 2.5 hours. I also tried the toilet but it wasn't as comfortable as I'd thought it would be. I didn't feel the urge to push with every contraction, which I thought was weird (Lisa later confirmed that yes, this was very unusual). When I did feel the need to push though, there was no way I could avoid it. If someone would've been directing my pushing in the hospital, I'd have laughed at them.

After a while, the baby's head finally appeared. There was a tiny bit of amniotic fluid left above the head, which was pointed out to me. I touched the head and was weirded out by how soft it was. Each contraction started with a feeling of pressure in my nether regions, followed by the pain in the uterus, then the gripping sensation in my back. I was upset that I still felt the pain in my uterus! It was sooooo nice to be at the pushing stage though. I could dilate past 8-9cm! My baby wasn't stuck up in my ribs! I kept commenting on how surreal it was to be pushing my baby out next to my own bed, in my own home.

At last the ring of fire appeared. It was a sharp pain for sure, but not as bad as I expected. The contractions were way worse. At least this meant the baby was almost out! After much pushing, the baby's head finally came out. Lisa told me to reach down and catch my baby and I told her no way! I just wanted to grip that stool and push. So on the next contraction I pushed with all I had and the shoulders popped out. THAT hurt. Turns out that's when I tore. I was holding the baby, rubbing it with the towel and saying hi. Then Lisa asked if we had a boy or a girl. I hadn't even looked! So I pushed the umbilical cord aside and said "It looks like a girl to me!" as though I doubted my ability to discern between the sexes :-) Then I yelled that something was coming out and the placenta plopped out, followed by much blood.
The next thing I know Faun was standing over me and I was gagging at the smell of smelling salts and Lisa was frantically searching for her syringe. I got 2 shots of Pitocin in the thigh and was put on the floor in shock position. I was so sleepy-I just wanted to go to sleep but they kept telling me to talk to them and stay with them. I knew it was bad, but all I cared about was sleeping. Finally I got a little bit more lucid and immediately my concern went to Jim. He was trying to help get the baby to nurse to help with the hemorrhage a bit. I wasn't bleeding anymore but my body wasn't feeling too hot. I got lightheaded when they tried to sit me up. Lisa tried twice to start IV fluids on me but my veins were shot so she gave up. I drank a ton of fluid but then I couldn't pee. Lisa told me I had a pretty nasty tear. It was like my nice homebirth turned into a nightmare. Then I got really lightheaded while lying down. So Jim made the executive decision to call an ambulance.

My First Baby is Two!

2011-02-17T09:38:00.001-05:00

I'm a bad Mom, because Colin's birthday was January 30th. So I'm a little late here. Oops!

This is the choo choo cake my mother in law made him.

Acting silly

First gift of the day. He'd been looking at this wrapped gift since Christmas time.

Getting sleepy-but no nap of course!

Little sister on big brother's birthday

Little man and Daddy-both in need of haircuts!

Birthday Banner

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Blowing out candles

Eating skittles from his cake

This was his favorite gift. It's a crossing gate for his Thomas set.

We celebrated with a party on Colin's birthday itself. We kept it small, with just immediate family this year. We still wound up with a lot of people in our tiny house! My 4 grandparents came, along with my great-grandma. Then we had our 4 parents, each of our siblings and their significant others, and ourselves. Somehow we all fit. For food we kept it simple with pizza, cake, and ice cream. I knew I wouldn't be up to catering a party, so we did a nice unhealthy variety of stuff. I think Colin had fun, and that's the most important part!

My HBAC: Part 3

2011-02-14T17:05:00.001-05:00

After dinner, I sat on the yoga/birth ball for awhile. During this time, the AquaDoula was filling. Lisa and Faun were boiling water on the stove to add since it wasn't the hottest pool. Lisa had removed the heater after it melted the foam on the pool-seems like a fire hazard to me! I'm glad she did. Once the pool was filled, I got in. I had been cold up until that point-even wearing my bathrobe over my sweatclothes. I had also been appreciating backrubs during contractions until around that time. I no longer wanted to be touched. The pool was HOT. The boiling water must have really been hot because I was boiling in that tub. The contractions also picked up a lot while I was in there-I went from breathing through contractions to moaning. I was basically yelling "ooooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh" but trying to keep it low rather than high pitched. I knew I was supposed to keep my lips relaxed, but I had to say "oh" for some reason and that's hard to do without pursing your lips.

After every contraction I had a hot flash. Poor Jim had to mop my head and neck with a cold washcloth-but not too soon! He had no idea when I was having the hot flashes and got yelled at a lot during that time. I eventually started rocking my hips around in the tub to try and relieve some pain. Nothing seemed to help. Every position hurt. Nothing made it feel any better. After a few hours (it may have been around midnight at this point) I got out of the tub and Lisa did her first internal exam on me. I knew I wasn't yet at transition, but had some hope I was near. 6 centimeters. All that labor and I was only at a 6. I barely felt any pain before 7cm with Colin! It was like cake up until that point with him. Now I was in what felt like agony and I was only 6cm.

My HBAC: Part 2

2011-02-10T17:18:00.001-05:00

My labor with Colin, before the cesarean was decided upon, was pretty fast. I dilated 4cm (from 4cm to 8cm) in about 2 hours once I was admitted to the hospital. That's when things "stalled" for me-8 to 9cm. So Lisa and I thought my labor this time would be pretty quick. I was afraid she wouldn't make it in time. Obviously that wasn't the case.

When Lisa arrived at 5pm, my contractions hurt and I was breathing through them. In hindsight, they were not bad at all. I got out of the tub shortly after she arrived because the water was cold and shivering wasn't pleasant. I got all cozy in sweatpants and one of Jim's T-shirts and climbed into the bed. Of course I couldn't sit there nicely and watch TV-I was reminded that this wasn't a good idea immediately. Since baby had been hanging out on my right side (referred to as ROT), it was important that we get this child to turn anterior for birth! I think my biggest problem with Colin's "failure to progress" was his posterior position. We agreed that moving to my hands and knees was a good idea. I piled up some pillows, rested my head on my arms, and maintained that position as long as I could. Lisa made me a snack of PB and crackers and brought me some water, since I'd been kind of avoiding food and drink all day. During this time, her assistant Faun arrived.

After hanging out on my hands and knees for a while, I asked if I could move to a chair. Jim brought our computer chair and put a pillow on the back of it, resting on the footboard of the bed. I leaned on that for a while longer. I had no concept of time, and the contractions were getting stronger. I thought for sure it couldn't be much longer (it was probably around 7pm or so at that time). Then it was time for another position change. So, off we went down the stairs. I was convinced that eating dinner was a good thing, so I decided that some noodles with butter would be edible enough and Faun cooked it for me (Jim added some sauce and made his own dinner!). I was encouraged to move around so I paced the kitchen while Faun cooked and tried to squat when a contraction hit (not comfortable AT ALL). I ate my noodles between contractions and sipped on the Emergen-C they mixed up for me. It was really salty and made me thirstier, so I switched it up with water now and then.

I lost my mucus plug in bits and pieces during the morning's contractions, and had been experiencing little squirts of fluid afterward that we assumed was a slow leak in my amniotic fluid. When I was eating, there was a decent gush and the rest of the amniotic fluid soaked me. When I stood up, I looked like I'd wet my pants. At that point, I had to change my pants!

My HBAC: Part 1

2011-02-09T16:56:00.001-05:00

My due date was January 21st. I had been having tons of Braxton Hicks, increasing in intensity and frequency, over the previous weeks. They were quite uncomfortable, but nothing that ever felt like a "real" contraction. I had been working occasionally, and hoping that would put me over the edge and I'd go into labor. I worked on January 17th(a Monday) for 5 hours and everyone kept telling me they thought I'd have had the baby over the previous weekend. Sorry to disappoint! On my way out, I told them it had better be the last time I see them before I had the baby.

Around 6am on January 18th, Jim was getting ready for work and I started to notice that my Braxton Hicks were accompanied by a different feeling. Could it be...pain? I thought so, but they were really far apart and it wasn't really that bothersome, so I continued to doze by Colin and didn't mention the feeling to Jim. As the morning continued, I woke up with each contraction, but didn't feel the need to time them yet. We were up around 8:30am, and I attempted to eat some breakfast and go about the day as usual. At that point I was sure this was labor, but I knew it was early and I needed to rest as best I could, so I spent much of the day on the couch while Colin played with his train table. I started timing the contractions late in the morning, around 11:30 or so. They were ranging from every 10 to 50 minutes, so still quite irregular. I emailed my midwife around 1pm to let her know I was contracting, but it wasn't anything serious yet. I took Colin upstairs to try to get him to take a nap-I wanted one too!

What is labor, Mommy? I just want to play!

Unfortunately, someone had other plans. Colin refused to nap, and my contractions started to pick up around 2 o'clock. They were on the every 1-5 minute pattern I had with Colin, out of the blue. I was breathing through some of them. I didn't think I would be delivering too quickly, but since the midwife(Lisa) lives an hour and a half away and we were in the middle of an icy snowstorm, I thought I'd give her a call. She told me to call her back in a half hour and let her know how things were going, and she'd plan to leave her house then. I called Jim at work to let him know I wanted him to come home. I was kind of freaked out and on the verge of tears. Jim arrived home around 3 and entertained Colin while I tried to get last minute things in order and eventually ended up in the tub. That's where I was when Lisa arrived around 5pm.

Obviously I Had My Baby!

2011-02-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

Allison Calli O'Hara arrived on 1/19/2011. I will write a birth story eventually-probably in bits and pieces as I remember it. It was certainly and interesting experience, and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to homebirth. My VBAC would NEVER have happened in a hospital. Here are some photos from her first few days-the oldest is at the end (a bit graphic-there's blood from the birth and I'm nursing but no illicit bits are showing). Colin was not too happy at first, and then we all had the flu (except Allison) for a week, so it was an interesting start. We are getting more used to our new life though, and we couldn't be happier!

I'm in Labor...

2011-01-18T15:30:00.001-05:00

and miserable! Colin and PB are driving me crazy. Jim is shoveling the stupid ice. I cannot wait till this is over! Let the sleeplessness begin.

Hello January

2011-01-15T20:54:00.000-05:00

It is FREEZING outside! And it has been for days. Colin and I have been sort of hibernating. He went to Jim's parents' house 3 days this week(!) while I worked and then when we ran errands on Thursday. He loves going to "Pop's house." He likes to hand me my cell phone and say "Gamma-call her-go in-Pop's house" and I drool over his adorableness and brilliance (hello primitive sentence!). Don't tell me this is normal for a 2 year old. I'm going to continue to believe my child is a genius anyway :-)

Pretend play has begun. This week Colin took pieces of a clementine and was sort of bouncing them forward and saying "walkin" then he had them on their sides and was pushing them saying "choo-choo." He's also been pretending to take the baby out of my belly and put it in the infant seat. I know there are a few other things that again, make me drool, but these are the couple my fried brain remember right now! He keeps saying "no baby" so I hope he's not mad when baby comes anyway. Oh well, he will just have to get over it! No turning back now.

On the topic of baby, I wish it would come out! I know I'm only 39 weeks, but that's plenty of time for baby to stew and bake in there. Just today I feel like I've "dropped." I know 2nd time moms usually don't drop until they're in labor, but I'm pretty sure I never did drop with Colin. He was in my ribs even during labor. I never made it to 0 station before the c-section, despite being at 8-9cm. It's hard to describe the feeling-it's just like there's something...in there. If you know what I mean. And no, I didn't put anything up there. I'm also peeing literally every 20 minutes, which is quite annoying and makes for some uncomfortable bits & pieces. I may have to start using Colin's wipes instead of toilet paper.

I've been trying to get the house in order so it's a seamless transition when baby arrives and I'm not rushing around when I'm in labor, trying to do things. We also really need to figure out where we're going to put the Aqua Doula, and I suppose it would be a really good idea to figure out the hose is adaptable to our faucets. Ahhhh!!!

39 Weeks (Almost)

2011-01-12T19:29:00.001-05:00

Friday will mark 39 weeks. I can't believe it! Here are the last 2 pictures I have, taken at 37 and 38 weeks:

I sometimes feel as though I'm going to burst. Like I can't physically stretch anymore! But when I look at my pictures from my pregnancy with Colin, I guess I can. This is the last picture I had with him, at 41 weeks:

I guess it's not really that much bigger, but I feel like it was! It was definitely a different location-this one seems lower in my nonexistant torso :-)

I did manage to get all the items crossed off my to-do list. The cleaning part didn't get done in as much detail as I'd like, but I honestly just don't have the energy and I don't care. I just have a few small projects I'm working on (organizing type stuff) but it won't be a big deal if they don't get done before baby comes. We'll see what happens! Maybe I'll be posting in another 3 weeks, bemoaning my misery :-)

Progress

2011-01-02T12:37:00.000-05:00

No, not the cervical kind :-) That's kinda personal, don't you think? I'm not doing internal exams anyway-they mean zip and they hurt like hell so forget that! I'm talking about preparations. Yesterday I got the birth kit together and laundered all the towels, so that's ready to go. I have a couple more freezer meals I want to make, but I'm not frantic about getting them done since I did so many already. The baby's diapers are all prepped and ready to go. Christmas decor is all taken down and mostly put away. I've begun scrubbing the house to an inch of its life :-) Today I've been in the kitchen all day, scrubbing things like the top of the fridge, the stove, etc. It's hard to do when I keep having to take breaks! I still have to clean the inside of the fridge, the sinks, the floor, and the non-kitchen stuff that's in the kitchen (like the computer desk!). That just leaves every other room in the house! Good thing it's a pretty small house. I do have a couple belly pictures from last week, I just have to upload them already! The camera is upstairs and I keep forgetting to bring it down. I still didn't even put the Christmas pics on the computer. Bad mommy!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T08:05:00.000-05:00

This is going to be an exciting year! We have a baby coming pretty much any day now. Three of my friends are getting married this year, and I'll be a bridesmaid in 2 of those weddings. Many friends are expecting a child in 2011, and I hope I can add more to that list! My new job will be starting (only the 3rd part time job since graduating less than 2 years ago...hopefully this one will stick!) either right before or right after baby comes. Colin will be turning TWO in less than a month. I'm praying that when we do his RAST testing in February or so, at least one thing will come back negative and we can add to his limited diet. We are also planning to start getting serious about saving for our forever home. This one is getting a bit tight!

Happy New Year to everyone! I wish you all health, happiness, and a great year.

Baby is Coming Soon!

2010-12-28T19:10:00.001-05:00

I will be 37 weeks on Friday. Which means full term. Which means baby could pretty much come anytime. Now, Colin didn't want to come out. I had 3 due dates (1/20, 1/25, and 1/30) with him, and he was born on the 30th. So at the earliest, he was 40 weeks. Chances are this baby will stick in there for awhile longer, especially since it seems to want to remain posterior like big brother. That doesn't mean the nesting isn't killing me!

I've got a few big projects on my to-do list. 1 is to complete the birth kit. Mostly I just need to gather a few things from around the house, but I need towels desperately. We still haven't told our parents, so I think I'm going to wind up buying the darned towels. I just wish I could find them for under $4.00/towel. I want to try the Salvation Army first.

Number 2 is to get all the baby stuff washed and ready to go. I dragged it all out of the attic so I'm slowly going through it and washing it. I will have another load of clothes once baby comes, depending on if it's boy or girl. I just don't want to cut tags/wash stuff and have it ready to go if it won't be used, so I am going to rely on our few gender neutral items for the first day or 2.

Number 3 is freezer meals! I started with some muffins/breads this weekend. Today I did some baked ziti and beef/broccoli. I still have chicken/broccoli, minestrone soup, chicken spaghetti, lasagna, meatballs, chicken rice wraps, pizza, chicken pot pie, chicken & cheese quesadillas, chicken parmesan, chicken & rice bake, salsa burgers, french breakfast puffs, cinnamon rolls, and banana muffins on the list. Most of the stuff is in the fridge/cupboards, it's just a matter of finding time to do it (and energy!).

Number 4 is the packing up of Christmas decorations. This shouldn't take too long, other than packing up all the ornaments from the tree. Most of the other stuff I just kinda throw into totes and then into the attic.

Number 5 is a monumental cleaning task. I want to scrub this house from top to bottom. I want spotless!

Chances are I still have 3-4 weeks before baby is going to come. But I could only have a few days. So we will see what happens I guess! My parents are coming down tomorrow to help me get some stuff done, so hopefully I can knock a number of items off the freezer recipe list and finish baby wash. Wish me luck-I need it!

Christmas is Coming!

2010-12-21T20:57:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe Christmas 2010 is in 4 days. This is such a magical time of year. I love the music, the lights and decorations, and the sense of anticipation. As a child, I couldn't wait for that day when I would wake up and know Santa arrived. It's been quite a few years since I believed in the jolly fat man, but I still have that major anticipation. On Christmas Eve, I love to look at the sky and try to find the biggest, brightest star. I try to imagine what it would be like to know you are carrying the Son of God, and to give birth in a manger. Ridiculously incongruent. The whole thing fills me with wonder and awe. It is truly overwhelming to think what has been done for us. And what many have reduced this holiday to. I try not to venture out in the last week or so before Christmas because all the miserable hustle and bustle breaks my Christmas cheer and puts me in a bad mood. And who wants that?

In the world of Colin, we visited the allergist a couple weeks ago. We are doing the RAST testing around his 2nd birthday for milk, eggs, and peanuts. I'm really hoping that something comes back negative. In that case, we will do an in-office trial of the food in question. I made Christmas cookies this year that are allergen-free for the little guy. They're not that delicious, but he seems to like them ok enough. I'm just so happy he can eat something, even if it is a little different from the sugar cookies everyone else is eating.

We've also apparently entered the world of the terrible twos. Colin does not listen to a word I say. He says "no no no no no!" all the time and it is driving.me.crazy. At least I'm getting some time to adjust before baby arrives, I suppose. He's been such a great, well-behaved kid up until now. He's still good most of the time, but boy is he temperamental! Hopefully it won't get much worse!

I will be 36 weeks pregnant on Christmas Eve. My midwife will deliver baby anytime after that. I am hoping for an earlier baby this time around-maybe 38 weeks instead of 41? Haha. I could use the time to prepare, but the sleeping is becoming more difficult and I really don't want to be chronically exhausted when it's time to deliver! I suppose baby will come whenever it's ready though-I could theoretically have a February baby. Only time will tell!

Christmas Decor, 2010 Style

2010-12-13T14:45:00.000-05:00

I was all inspired last year by The Nester's Christmas Tour of Homes, and thought I'd join up this year. After seeing what I've gotten done and what most people showcase on the Tour, I'm not so sure how I feel about it! Maybe if I bury my link in the middle nobody will see it and it won't matter :-)

Now, don't everybody be jealous of the awesome pictures. We can't all have my amazing photography skills! (Gosh, I'm feeling sarcastic today!)

This is the top of the TV-some Christmas lights, some Hallmark things, and a Grinch setup.

More Grinch and random items atop the DVD cabinet

One end table-please forgive the flash covering my adorable monster's face.

The tree, looking ridiculous in the flash.

Dining room centerpiece, surrounded by crap.

Little tree in Colin's room

Window behind the baker's rack

Closer pic of the top of the window and some more Hallmark snowmen

My Willow Tree nativity set, a generous gift from my husband and his family for my birthday last month!

The area around my kitchen window.

The stockings hang on the stairs, since we don't have a mantel. We also stick our Christmas cards here.

So obviously, I didn't photograph every last thing. And my photography skills are seriously lacking, as are my decorating skills. But really, the house feels cozy and ready for Christmas. It is so cute to see Colin point at the nativity and say "Jesus" every day. He loves the tree, and doesn't really bother it. He also hasn't bothered with the wrapped gifts under the tree. I guess he's still not really into them. Maybe when he opens one and sees a train on Christmas day he'll be a lot more interested. For now, we're enjoying our decor and preparing for one of the most important celebrations of the year!

Miscarriage

2010-12-12T19:41:00.000-05:00

Not mine, Thank God. A friend who has been trying to conceive for about 3 years finally got pregnant on the first round of IVF. She was about 2 months along, and she lost the baby. I am devastated for them. The couple is able to do 2 more rounds of IVF before they give up. They can't afford adoption, and they can't afford to do IVF without insurance. Keep them in your prayers please!

Just Breathe...

2010-12-09T14:58:00.001-05:00

As y'all know, I'm planning an HBAC(homebirth after cesarean). I switched to a midwife at the end of September, and I couldn't be happier with her. I called my former OB's office in early October to ask about transferring my records and billing my insurance for the appointments I'd been to. I dropped off my request to transfer my medical records on 10/7, and received my bill for copays at the end of October. As of Tuesday, 12/7, my midwife STILL hadn't received the records. Mind you, PA gives you 30 days to transfer. So this was 60 days, well over the limit. When I called yesterday to see what was going on, I was told they never received my request to transfer my records. I told them I DROPPED IT OFF MYSELF on October 7th, I know they had to receive it. So yesterday I hauled Colin and myself to the office in the below freezing temperatures and filled out another form. Those incompetent fools are lucky they got their act together and my records were ready this morning, because I am NOT happy with what I read.

The operative report for my c-section lists lots of things, from the reason for cesarean to the baby's condition to the sutures. The reason they give for my c-section is failure to progress. Those assholes told me my baby was in fetal distress and they wanted to get him out, so I signed the form. Now I'm more convinced than ever that they needed my room for another laboring mama. Failure to progress when your baby is occiput posterior, you're tied to a bed, and only given a couple hours is NOT a feasible diagnosis. I am so mad I could spit. I am also mad they only did a single layer closure with sutures, which may increase the risks of uterine rupture. Also, Colin's Apgars were 8 and 9. So what are the chances he was truly in fetal distress? I am so happy I found my midwife, and I'm hoping this birth is healing to me. I love my little guy and I'm so glad he's healthy, but I will always wonder "what if" about his birth.

Christmas Photos

2010-12-08T14:58:00.000-05:00

Last week, we made an attempt at a Christmas photo shoot. Last year for our Christmas card, I dressed Colin up in a Christmas-y sleeper, threw a sheet on the couch, and gave him some Christmas-y stuffed animals to play with. He slept through half of the 100+ photos I took. This year, I knew that wasn't going to fly. So we made a makeshift backdrop out of 2 different rolls of wrapping paper (totally obvious in some of the photos), threw some white stuff on the ground, and added our little Christmas tree that lives in Colin's room this year. At least his Christmas outfit has a train on it (Thank you Target!) so he didn't freak out over that part! Taking photos was a lot more challenging, and I took less than 20. Below are some of the outtakes, combined with the ones that actually made it on the card for 2010. Some of the photos would've looked much better if we remembered to wipe his face off before we took them! This year's Christmas card theme was "good enough."

33 Weeks and a Party!

2010-12-05T14:43:00.001-05:00

A Mary Kay party, that is. See, not only am I a pharmacist, but I moonlight as a Mary Kay Independent Beauty Consultant (ie. salesperson). Now, I am NOT a salesperson like you'd expect. Tomorrow I am doing my first REAL party since I became an IBC last summer. I did one at my mom's for my aunt/cousins but I don't count that. Surprisingly, I'm not that freaked out. I basically have to read off a flipchart. While I may not get the highest sales, I don't really care. I think the women will have fun just hanging out with one another-I'm just there to make their skin look and feel great! If I make some money, that's a plus! I'm lucky enough to have an awesome director who helped me out with things, too. One of the things I do enjoy about MK is the company I keep (when I actually make it to the meetings!).

On another note of business, I'm 33 weeks pregnant already! I never seem to post these on the "exact" date, but the due date is never the exact date baby comes anyway, so I'm really not that concerned. I am starting to nest and doing things around the house, to the point that I tire myself out. Not good, really. I've been crashing with Colin when I put him to sleep at night. I'm just happy if my teeth get brushed. All this nesting is good for one thing-our house! I'm hoping to get a lot more done by Thursday. The appraisers are coming to re-appraise the house for our mortgage refinancing we're hoping to get done soon. We bought right before the bubble burst, so our interest rate is higher than makes sense given our credit histories and the current market. We should've done it earlier in the year when rates were even lower, but it took me awhile to persuade Jim, whose name is actually on everything. Oh well.

Hopefully I'll post soon with pictures of Colin! We did our Christmas "photo shoot" last week, and I want to join The Nester's Tour of Homes next week, so that should bring at least 2 posts of photos :-)

32 Weeks

2010-11-29T15:10:00.001-05:00

This is what I looked like yesterday, at 32 weeks & 2 days. Yes, that is our hideous blue bathroom, I am wearing sweatpants, and those are diapers on a drying rack in the tub. Back to me. Is that belly ridiculously low or am I imagining things? That's what tall pregnant people look like! I'm only 5'. I didn't look like that last week. Now I'm wondering if baby has "dropped" or if my uterus is just sticking straight out. Either one would explain the awful pubic bone pain. For comparison's sake, here's what I looked like at 32 weeks with Colin:

It's a totally different shape!

Christmas Wish List

2010-11-24T07:00:00.004-05:00

I haven't done one of these in a while! But with the holidays coming up (and everyone in the family asking for my wish list!), here are a few things I've been drooling over.

A Willow Tree Nativity Set. I could be appeased with the creche and the Jesus/Mary/Joseph figures, but eventually I'd like to go all out with the animals, wise men, etc. I love Willow Tree! Too bad Jim hates them, with their lack of faces.

These amazing pants from Old Navy. I have a brown pair and a black pair, but I think I could use about 30 more. They DO come in 10 colors, after all. They're super comfortable, and with only working 2 days a week, I dress like this most of the time (gasp!)

A prenatal massage. Jim will rub my back or legs/feet for a little while if I ask, but I want a full on massage. I promised myself after I had Colin that if/when I was pregnant again, I'd treat myself to one of these babies.

So there we have it! What's on your Christmas List?

Christmas Gifts

2010-11-22T21:35:00.000-05:00

I started my Christmas shopping last month-in October. I thought I'd get a head start and be all done long before the holidays arrived. Now it's just about Thanksgiving and I'm not even halfway done. I keep remembering people I need to get gifts for, and being unable to come up with ideas for said gifts. My pregnant brain just wants to crawl into a corner and hide!

With that said, here are some things I've gotten for my little man so far.

A set of pots & pans for his kitchen

The Wiggles CD

The Wiggles DVD

Melissa & Doug Fishing Game

Veggie Tales DVD

A kitchen set from Ikea

A table & chairs from Ikea

A pack of Thomas the Train books. This isn't exactly what we got-it's a 4 or 5 pack from Sam's Club.

A Crayola Color Wonder Book

I'd also like to get him a booster seat for the table, since he prefers to sit with us and not in his high chair. I also want to get some play food for his kitchen. We will probably split these into birthday and Christmas, since the kid will be overwhelmed. He definitely doesn't need all this for just one holiday!

Newborn Diaper Stash

2010-11-21T09:00:00.001-05:00

I did a tiny bit of research while pregnant with Colin, and thought I'd give cloth diapering a shot. I bought an XS Bum Genius all in one, 10 prefolds (5 each Indian and Chinese), a Kissaluv fitted size 0, one XS Thirsties cover, and some snappis. Fast forward to his arrival: I think I tried the Bum Genius and Kissaluv once each. That was it. I used the prefolds for burp cloths, since Colin puked a lot. Then I gave up until he was 4 months old when I made the investment and set out determined to cloth diaper. We've been in cloth full time since then (except now we use a disposable 7th Generation at night, since he has yeast/rash problems if we use a cloth one for that long). I decided to take the plunge and cloth diaper the new one from the start.

I did a bit of research, mostly on thebump.com, diaperswappers.com, and a couple blogs I read, mainly The Eco-Friendly Family. I wash Colin's diapers every 2-3 days, so I figured I should have a newborn stash to last approximately that long, with extra for drying time(I hang dry on a drying rack in my bathroom). I decided that I should have at least 36 diapers, so I'd have plenty. I had a couple from Colin's newborn trial (if you can even call it that!), and I bought the rest new and used from various sites. Here's what I ended up with:

Sorry for the crappy quality. It was taken with my old, piece of junk cell phone. I need to get a new one, but I'm not ready to invest in a Droid, and I don't want to buy anything less!

Top row: 2 dozen Green Mountain Diaper newborn prefolds. These were seconds quality, mainly because they had dirt spots. They're perfect now that I've prepped them.

2nd row, L-R: 2 Fuzzibunz size XS and their inserts. I've heard these are big on brand new babes, so they may not get used immediately unless this baby is a chunk. Thirsties covers (3 duo size 1, 4 XS size). All new from different stores.

3rd row, L-R: 4 cotton/hemp Kissaluv doublers, 6 regular Kissaluv doublers, 11 regular Kissaluv size 0, 4 Bum Genius bamboo fitteds. Most of these were used, bought from Diaper Swappers.

4th row, L-R: 1 Bum Genius XS all in one, 1 newborn Muttaqin baby fitted, 1 Thirsties fab fitted size XS. BG was new, fitteds used.

Bottom row, L-R: 6 Rumparooz lil' Joeys (cutest thing ever), 1 newborn prefitted from GMD, 4 Kissaluv cotton/hemp newborn fitteds.

So I think we're set! The only thing I can think is I may need a few more covers, but I can easily buy those and have them in a couple days if I seem to be using them before the diaper wash is clean/dry. I may also need a few snappis, but I think I have 2-3 for Colin that I never use because trying to get a prefold on him is harder than diapering a bucking bronco. I'm hoping that by the time baby outgrows these in February or March, Colin will be at least partially potty trained so they can share his large stash of one size pocket diapers. Wish us luck!

31 Weeks

2010-11-20T09:15:00.002-05:00

How far along: 31 weeks

Baby's size: Approximately 11.2 inches long, 3lbs 8 oz (according to pregnancy.emedtv.com)

Symptoms: Fatigue! Also, the SPD is starting. Oh how lovely.

Sleep: Eh. I could use some more of it! At least better quality.

Weight gain: Around 18lbs

Maternity Clothes: Already outgrowing them!

Best moment this week: Feeling the baby kick Colin when he was poking my belly:-)

Movement: Lots! This one is a lot gentler than its big brother though. It just discovered my ribs this week, whereas he was in them from the start.

Food cravings: Apples and caramel apple dip.

Gender: Not sure.

Labor signs: None yet.

What I miss: Being comfortable.

What I'm looking forward to: Holding our baby. Seeing Colin meet his baby brother or sister. Cuddling them both together in our bed, after the midwife leaves.

Milestones: The baby can apparently see; it has eyelashes and eyebrows as well.

Weekly Wisdom: The non-important stuff can wait. I'm trying to hang out with my little man as much as I can (and my hubby!) before we become a family of 4.

Emotions: Really excited for baby. Nervous about having a toddler and a baby.

Here I am at 31 weeks with Colin:

And with Baby #2. Bigger, no?

My Little Crazy Boy

2010-11-19T15:36:00.000-05:00

The little monster is growing up! I'm still sad I have no Halloween pics to post, but when he freaked out as the costume came near him, I didn't have the heart to force it on him for a few pictures. Now it's time for Christmas photos! This weekend the plan is to drag out all the Christmas decor and get a bunch of shots to choose from for our card. We'll see how it goes! Hopefully I'll get at least one good one.

Colin seems to be having a growth spurt (at last!). We've been dressing him in 18 month clothes since the spring, but they finally fit! Most of the pants aren't too long/don't fall off (at least not too badly) anymore! He has also been wearing a size 4 shoe. We had him measured last week and he's a 5.5 now! So yesterday we made a trip to Target and got a couple new pairs of shoes. I'm so excited my boy is growing! His height and weight (with our not-super-accurate measurements) seem to be around 31-31.5 inches and 23lbs. This is an improvement over his 30-30.5 inches and under 22lbs that he's been maintaining since he was a year old.

I've been trying to get more protein in his diet, including chicken. I decided to re-challenge the allergy/eczema on that one, since he has always seemed to like it. It seems to maybe aggravate the eczema a tiny bit, but it's not really an issue. At least not right now. Of course, it's hard to find a way to prepare the chicken that he'll actually eat it, but we try different things. So far his favorites are chicken I coat in fajita mix and these nasty chicken tenders I buy frozen at Wegmans. They're not organic, full of the crap they inject the things with, but he will eat it. The organic chicken ones I bought him, not so much. So I'm stifling the disgust and feeding him the chicken in the hopes that the protein will allow him to grow enough until he decides he likes other chicken. He is a toddler though-I'm just happy he eats anything at this point.

One of the things we did for fun lately is break out the finger paint. It's not an ideal activity, since it's so messy! At first, my OCD, everything must be just so, child wouldn't touch the paint. It grossed him out I guess. Then when I dipped his foot in it and spread it around the paper, he liked it. When I pushed his finger in and spread it around, it was on. The kid had a blast. The picture isn't yellow, green, blue, or red, but brown. Here are some pics:

Obviously they go in reverse order.

In other news, apparently today is Oprah's Favorite Things! I do NOT like Oprah but I'm very excited about this episode! Also for my new Glee Christmas CD :-)

So Much To Do, So Little Motivation

2010-11-16T15:07:00.000-05:00

I have the mental desire to do all this nesting stuff, but very little physical desire to get off my butt and actually do it. These days it's all I can do to keep the house in decent shape. I HATE vacuuming because the stupid dog barks his brains out and I end up screaming at him every.single.time. I don't get much chance to clean (or do anything, really) because Colin has become clingy and wants me to play with him (or at least be by him) all the time. It's not looking like my goals of things to do before baby comes are going to happen.

Worst Blog Poster Ever

2010-11-07T15:17:00.000-05:00

That's me! I want to update so badly but I've basically been just trying to get through the day! I have very little time to get on the computer, and I spend most of my "free" time resting. I'm only at 29 weeks, but I feel more like 35 weeks right now. I'm hoping for an early January baby, but if this one is anything like Colin it will overstay its uterine welcome. Now my computer time will probably be overwhelmed with internet shopping for the holidays, so maybe I will squeeze in a holiday post. Later!

Jobs

2010-10-26T17:02:00.000-04:00

After working out our budget, we basically came to the conclusion that I HAVE to work. The only other option is to defer my student loans, which total about $900 per month. Which is about how much more we spend per month over Jim's salary. There are little areas where we can cut things, but not $900 worth.

The job I'm at right now is a disaster. The owner is a terrible businessman, and with independent pharmacy that equals doom. I honestly cannot believe the man hasn't shut the doors yet. He keeps going on about cutting costs-to me the most obvious place to begin is to cut me and my salary. A pharmacist isn't cheap! It's only 14 hours a week, and I doubt it is going to make or break the place. But it certainly would help him out to save the money he's paying me and work himself. Yet somehow I'm still employed.

Enter the job search. I've been unhappy at this place pretty much since I started. It's a 45 minute drive each way, and the business doesn't follow the ethics I like to practice. So I've been halfheartedly searching for a job that doesn't exist since I started. In August, I heard from the place where I worked throughout college. They are splitting into 2 pharmacies and they need pharmacists! Woohoo! It was basically a matter of when I could start. I got a call today that it looks like December. So I may be unemployed briefly, depending on how things go with the current place, but I will have a new job before baby arrives. Yay!

Getting it All in Order

2010-10-21T07:00:00.000-04:00

Our lives, that is.

We sat down on Sunday to make a rough budget. Basically, we learned that I have to work. Thank you, student loans. That is what pushes us over the limit. Even with consolidating and making lower payments, it's still too much. Blah.

On the bright side, our house got insulated this week! It is now a huge, dusty mess, but I'm doing my best to get it scrubbed. I did the upstairs first, since we sleep there and Colin especially is very susceptible to allergens. The insulation we got was the cellulose stuff they blow in through a hole in the wall. Unfortunately, all the upstairs stuff was done via a hose that came through Colin's window. So his room was especially dusty. No fear though, mom was on the case! I did a bazillion loads of wash-some of it was necessary due to the dust, the rest I just did as a final hurrah for the year (like pillows and curtains). Sort of the spring cleaning I never did. I'm still working on it all, but we're getting there! Then we can focus on decluttering/decorating/organizing. Again. At least we are now the proud owners of some nicer rugs than before, after my buying spree this summer! The downside is that most of our tax return has now been spent, so we're pretty much back at our budget lifestyle. If only we could bring ourselves to eat non-organic/grassfed meat and dairy, we'd save a lot of money!

Today Jim is off, so we're hoping to finish cleaning and organizing much of the house. He really wants to get the garden in shape (ie. pick everything out for the winter), but every time he has a day off it rains! Oh well, it'll get done eventually. Here's to a weekend of making money (unless I get called off of work last minute) and getting things done!

Big Boy and Big Mommy

2010-10-20T17:16:00.001-04:00

It's been a long time since I made a blog post with pictures in it! I figured while Colin's napping on Jim and I have a minute, I'd catch up on some cute ones.

Here's the big guy, eating "papes" aka grapes, and giving big grins!

Giving his "look" on his big boy bed

He loves to brush his teeth!

Going for a ride on Daddy!

Colin is a ton of fun these days. He has some miserable times, thanks to his 2 year molars trying to pop through. At least they're the last 4! I just hope they come before baby arrives so we have only one "baby" at a time. He's still not eating much. It seems like he only likes certain things and he won't eat anything else. He knows how to ask for stuff by name too, so he knows what he wants and asks for it. And of course won't eat other options I present. I'm still trying to figure out what the heck to feed the poor guy.

My belly is growing! Baby is measuring at almost 29 weeks (yikes!) but I'm just about 27 weeks along now. I suppose this means I'll be bigger than I was with Colin, which is terrifying! Oh, the spiderweb my stomach will be. If only I were a fan of plastic surgery...

I forget the exact weeks/days, but this was around 19 weeks.

And this was around 23 weeks. I'm not taking nearly as many belly pics this time around-poor baby #2 gets remembered only occasionally!

Ergo Baby Giveaway!

2010-10-17T21:44:00.000-04:00

As a mom to a 20 month old and a soon-to-be mom to a newborn, I'm always looking for ways to make my life easier. One of these is babywearing. There are many options available, from wraps to slings or pouches to soft structured carriers. A popular option is the Baby Bjorn. I hate the Baby Bjorn and actually just sold mine. I do own a few wraps and slings, but my favorite is a soft structured carrier I keep in the car to carry Mr. Colin around. I've been dying to own an Ergo carrier, but unfortunately it's just not in the cards right now. However, today I stumbled across a blog giveaway to win one, and I couldn't resist! I know I'm not the only babywearer here, so head on over to Life with My Littles and enter to win an Ergo carrier of your own!

Time to Make a Budget

2010-10-14T15:41:00.000-04:00

I've been bugging Jim to sit down with me and make a budget for...a long time. As in, years. We both just sort of spend money on whatever, without caring where it goes. We don't have credit card debt, so it hasn't seemed to be a problem. However, we're not contributing to savings and we are just flat out being irresponsible. With baby coming and me being off work for 6 weeks (possibly longer if my job ends very soon, which I am kind of expecting-when there are no drugs or vials, it kinda makes you wonder if the place is going to be open much longer!), it is TIME to figure this all out.

I've read about making budgets, I've looked at budgets. I just don't know how to do it. No amount of reading seems to prepare me for when we sit down and look at everything. How do we account for stuff that happens once a year? Or every other year? How do we set a food budget? What about emergencies? Should we refinance the mortgage?

I feel like I'm spinning. I know we need to sit down and start somewhere-I just don't know where that is! Any tips?

Diapers

2010-10-13T15:44:00.003-04:00

I am currently spending my free time researching/buying newborn diapers. I'm also trying to sell my woven wraps I bought, since they are getting no love in Colin's closet. This is occupying all my free time, with the internet so slow! At least today it's going faster.

Why I Want a VBAC

2010-10-07T14:43:00.001-04:00

With my first pregnancy, I had no idea what I was doing. I figured the doctors and nurses would tell me what to do and that was that. I had done some “research” but it was really just reading the message boards on thebump.com and hearing what other pregnant women had to say. We took a weekend long Lamaze class and I went into childbirth thinking I’d see how it went and be happy for an epidural if I wanted one. I knew I didn’t want any sort of IV drugs because of how they’d affect the baby (and me! Who wants to increase their chances of vomiting?). I was wary of the epidural because of how it can lower your blood pressure, and I have fairly low BP to start with.
I was set to be induced on 1/31/09. I was given the option of that day or 2/4/09. According to the last due date the OB was going by, I was due 1/30/09. I had also been due 1/20 and 1/25, but apparently those were no longer accurate? I have no idea. Anyway, we set the induction date but I went into labor all by myself on 1/29. I’d had my OB appointment on 1/27 and was 2cm dilated, 80% effaced. After that I had contractions every few hours, but I barely even noticed. I certainly didn’t think they were real contractions. On 1/29, around 11am, I started having these contractions every 15 minutes. I already posted my birth story, so I don’t want to get into too much detail, but suffice it to say things progressed rather quickly up until the end, when the whole thing ended in a c-section.
At first I was slightly disappointed but just glad it was all over. Except it wasn’t. The more I read and learned, the less certain I was that the major operation I had undergone was necessary. When I learned that babies born via cesarean are more likely to have breathing problems after birth, I thought that was probably why Colin had a hard time transitioning and I couldn’t see him for a few hours after delivery. Then I learned that babies born via cesarean are shown to have a higher incidence of allergies and asthma. Colin doesn’t have asthma (at least not yet), but he has crazy allergies. Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but if this is something that could’ve been prevented or even lessened with a vaginal birth, I’m pretty upset.
Having had a c-section also puts me and my future babies at higher risk for many things than people who haven’t had a c-section. I am more likely to have problems with my placenta or uterine rupture. If I have another c-section, there are more risks for complication, including hysterectomy. My baby is also more likely to be at risk due to these and other complications.
ACOG, along with pretty much every other organization and individual under the sun with half a brain, recommends a trial of labor after cesarean(TOLAC), with the goal of vaginal birth after cesarean(VBAC) because it is overall safer. This has been researched and researched over and over, and there are very few women who do not qualify under their guidelines. Even women pregnant with twins or who’ve had 2 prior cesareans are included in their newest guidelines. The thing that makes VBAC difficult to attain for many women is the ACOG’s recommendation to give birth in a hospital with 24 hour preparedness for emergency surgery. In my neck of the woods, this isn’t a problem. Here, the problem is doctors who won’t do VBAC. They may say that you can do one, but they have either never actually had someone do a VBAC or it was by pure accident (the woman went into labor at 39 weeks, dilated quickly, and pushed that baby right out without a single deceleration in baby’s heart rate). Rather ridiculous. The hospitals are no better. They strap you to a bed, bound by fetal monitors, blood pressure cuffs, and IVs. Even for a normal healthy woman! The only real risk with VBAC that everyone goes on about is the extremely rare uterine rupture.

After becoming thoroughly disgusted with the options for hospitals and OBs in the area, I decided to look outside the area. I called around and most options were too far for me to be comfortable with, or not covered by insurance. Finally, I decided the only way this was going to happen was homebirth.

(Please forgive the random/lack of thorough citations. I've done tons of research with real articles, but don't have time to find/link everything here in a coherent way right now.)

Pregnancy, Toddlers, and Life

2010-10-05T13:44:00.001-04:00

Well, well. I haven't updated in forever. Shocking, right?

We did a lot of researching after my last OB appointment nightmare. That resulted in the decision to go with a midwife, and a homebirth. Something we both thought was crazy a year ago has become a hopeful reality for us. The only decent hospital options are too far away for me, and many of them aren't covered by our insurance. So basically that brought us back to the beginning, which is where I wanted to be in the first place. I showed Jim more research and discussed the idea with him, but ultimately told him that this was really our only option. Thankfully, after meeting with a few midwives, he completely came around and is entirely supportive and excited to do this! For once I'm not stressed about giving birth, but rather excited. I had my first prenatal visit with the midwife and her assistant yesterday and it was awesome. This morning I fired my OB. I also ordered my birth kit! Woohoo!

In Colin's world, things have changed! He is such a big boy now. He is a LOT more verbal than he was, saying 2 and 3 syllable words, and putting phrases together. I downloaded some activities for him from an awesome homeschooling blog that I'm sure I'll eventually write (and rave) about. He is very good at matching shapes. I feel like he's a big boy! I'm also extremely excited that some of his 18 month clothes fit. He has been in them for a while, but they were a little big. Now he seems to be finally growing into them. He is doing well on his allergy meds and his diet, though we're still trying to sneak in more protein (and veggies because the kid will not eat them!).

I've been rather sad the last 2 weeks because I love to hang my laundry outside, and the weather is not cooperating at all. It's rained nearly every day. I finally gave in and started to use the 800 year old dryer because I can't have 20 loads (or more) of wash waiting for a nice day. The house is starting to (sort of) come together in terms of organization/decor. We still have a long way to go, but at least I have a lot more stuff in the room where I want it. Right now I'm stuck with the upstairs because the insulator is supposed to be coming to insulate the house soon, and I have to empty the attic. So I don't want to make the upstairs all nice and organized, only to fill it up with all the attic crap. Oh well. I have enough other things to do! At least it is upstairs, where most people don't see.

I will try to update soon with a few pictures of Colin, the cat & dog, and my belly! I'm off to enjoy a cup of red raspberry leaf tea.

Blah

2010-09-22T22:08:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry I've been a terrible blogger. I'm on a crazy nesting spree, and the internet here is acting funny. So basically by the time a page loads there are red X's all over or some sort of error message and I give up. I'd rather spend my brief spurts of free time cleaning or organizing things that I should've done a long time ago. So with that, I'll be back eventually!

A Few of Colin's Favorite Things

2010-09-07T13:29:00.000-04:00

The Wiggles

This is a recent love. Colin has taken a liking to their music and dancing. I can't say I blame him-those songs are very catchy! I actually tried to find a CD at Target this morning, with no luck. So instead we're using YouTube and singing and dancing on our own.

Trains

Jim is a huge train lover, and it seems Colin has caught the fever. He loves to play with Jim's trains (when he is allowed), look at all his train books, and he has also started his own collection of Thomas the Train items. He also has some toy train videos, which he'd watch all day if I let him.

Coins

Another of Jim's passions, Colin loves coins as well. He likes to look at them and get them all over the place. His favorite thing to do is dump one of Jim's large boxes of neatly organized coins all over the floor and spread them around.

Animals

Colin loves animals. At least when they're in pictures or on TV. He was terrified of the farm animals when we took him to a county fair, but he loves the animals when they're far away. He even moos at cows, as long as he's far enough away. He loves to go to the pet store and look at the fish, birds, and rodents.

Ice

Colin is, of course, allergic to dairy. So he can't eat the real ice cream. Fortunately, Wegmans carries coconut milk ice cream in the Nature's Marketplace section of the store. Colin also loves italian ice, whether it be Rita's or any brand we buy at the grocery store. He would eat ice all day if he could!

Jelly

Another sugary food, Colin would eat jelly on anything and everything. Usually I limit him to one piece of bread with jelly per day. I don't know what grandma allows, but that's what we do. Usually he makes me open the fridge, then says "jelly" over and over while pulling out all the jelly we have in there.

Blankets

Perhaps Jim wasn't far off when he suggested we name him Linus. I vetoed the name quickly, but Colin certainly has the personality and characteristics of Linus from the Peanuts. He carries his blankets around everywhere, and can't go to sleep without one (even when it's 100 degrees out). He has quite a few, ranging in weight and characters. His favorite is "Percy" which is what he calls Thomas. I'm not a fan, seeing that it's summer and not really heavy blanket time. He also has a very soft Carter's blanket with a puppy on it that he likes.

So there you have it! I wish the list was full of apples and peas and long division, but I guess my child is somewhat normal after all. Have a good day all!

Anatomy Scan

2010-09-02T07:55:00.001-04:00

Monday was our "big" ultrasound. Most people find out the sex of the baby, which we didn't, but the main purpose is to make sure all the baby's bits and pieces are in working order. I had 3 ultrasounds with Colin over the course of my pregnancy, all at my OB's office. This time, however, I was sent to a maternal fetal medicine specialist. Why? I still don't know for sure. The OB told me it was because I want a VBAC and they need to measure my scar and check on the placenta. When I was visiting with the MFM doc, he said it was because of my history of lymphoma. Why, then, didn't the OB send me with my FIRST pregnancy?

Anyway, the baby looked awesome. I got a very detailed ultrasound, and there were many pictures taken. I think the whole thing was more detailed than the 3 I had with Colin combined. The tech even switched to 3D at one point and we got to see more detail! The baby even gave a little smile at one point-so adorable. The only negative point was that they baby has a choroid plexus cyst-a small fluid filled sac on the part of the brain that makes the cerebrospinal fluid. The doctor assured us that this is very common, occurring in about 1 of 30 pregnancies. In the absence of other characteristics or markers, the baby is perfectly normal and we have nothing to worry about. I've avoided googling the subject because I know I'll come up with some horror story and really, what good will that do?

I did get a change in due date, from the OB's stupid wheel that goes off a 28 day cycle, to one that corresponds with the baby's measurements and my chart. So my official due date is now January 21st! That's the day after Colin's original due date. He was also due the 25th and 30th. Geez.

After the scan, the doctor talked to us for a few minutes about lymphoma survivors and pregnancy, and VBAC. He said basically there is absolutely nothing he's seen or read that makes him worry about my history, and in fact they actually have a patient with lymphoma who is pregnant right now. He also said based on my first delivery, chances of a successful VBAC are 60-70%. I'll take that. He said if my OB has any questions or concerns she can give him a call and lay them to rest :-) That made me feel a lot better. We kind of sensed he felt the same way we did-WHY are we here? We felt bad that we were wasting his time, but it was certainly reassuring. I will be going back around 32 weeks for a growth scan, but other than that everything looks good.

Baby's right foot

Profile with hand over mouth

Profile

A tiny smile

After watching our baby move around, and especially after seeing its face, we both think it's a little boy. I really don't care either way-I'd be sad if I never had another little boy. I will also be sad if I never have a daughter. But I can't imagine a little girl with that face! It looks like a Colin junior. Now we have to start looking at names.

A Day of Amusement

2010-09-01T15:42:00.000-04:00

On Sunday, Jim and I took Colin to Knoebels. It's a local family amusement park, and it's amazing for a whole bunch of reasons. 1) You don't have to pay to park OR for admission-you can either purchase a wristband or tickets for rides. 2) They have really good food 3) There are plenty of rides, games, etc for people of any age 4) It's very shaded by all the trees and it's not covered in blacktop, so you don't sweat your brains out!

Jim's parents and sister drove down with us, and we met my parents and brother there. We took turns taking Colin on rides. My family went on some rides on their own, but we didn't. Actually, I don't think Jim's parents or sister went on anything. We all had fun though! Colin didn't know what to think with the large amounts of people. He didn't seem to love the rides, but he couldn't wait to get on the cars or trains! I think he enjoyed himself. Here are some pictures from the day:

This is when we first arrived-with my mom; Hiding in the barrel maze

Riding helicopters with Daddy

Clinging to Mommy for dear life on the carousel

Riding the first train with Daddy

Sharing ice with Daddy; riding the antique cars with Mommy and Uncle Bud

Second train ride

Sitting on the stationary train before we left

What a Busy Week!

2010-08-26T11:09:00.000-04:00

I've been a bad blogger, but I've been quite busy! I worked Friday and Saturday. Sunday Colin and I went to my grandparents' house to can tomatoes. It was my first time and it went pretty well! We got 2 dozed quarts and there are still a lot more tomatoes ripening. I may just dice and freeze the rest of mine.

Monday I worked at my old job (the place I worked in college) in the morning/early afternoon. I went to the store on the way home, and then Jim, Colin and I all took a nice nap. Tuesday I took Colin to The Crossings (outlets) and we met up with one of my best friends for a nice lunch and shopping. Yesterday we got up super early and I kind of hung out on the couch and did some light cleaning while Colin entertained himself with his new choo-choo DVDs (I Love Toy Trains! It's a lifesaver). At night, the dump truck we rented came and all the parents came over, along with my brother, to help load it with all the old carpets and stuff in the basement. Mold be gone!

Today I'm doing mountains of laundry that have been building up since it's been rainy all week. I have some more cleaning and grocery shopping to do, and I want to do some baking/food prep. It would be awesome to get a nap in but I doubt I'll have time. Maybe it will be an early to bed night, since I'm working tomorrow and Saturday, then going to Knoebels on Sunday! I told you we were busy!

Eco Friendly Cleaning

2010-08-20T15:00:00.001-04:00

When I started to learn more about all the awful chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis, I had to research better ways to do things. One of them was cleaning. I've narrowed down my cleaning to very few items that clean pretty much everything. They do a great job and I feel like my house is cleaner than ever before!

This isn't exactly what I use, but it's the same thing. Microfiber cleaning cloths. I use them to dust and they do an excellent job! Better than Pledge and a rag any day.

Vinegar + water +/- baking soda can clean almost anything, from countertops to mirrors to toilets to showers! (I don't know why the baking soda won't center next to the water-and no, I'm not using bottled water or brand name vinegar or baking soda)

My Dyson vacuum. I know there are others that are supposed to be better, but this does a great job and we all love it-except PB the dog.

For mopping the floors with an old fashioned mop or scrub brush, I use a mixture of castile soap and hot water.

I can't say I love the Shark steam mop, but it does a decent job. I find it works better (and I feel the floor is more clean) if I mop first with my castile soap/water with a regular mop or scrub brush.

The only place where I have not gone eco friendly for cleaning is with my toilet cleanser. I have a Clorox toilet wand for that. This is because I detest toilets with a passion and I can't stand to be near them to clean them. You obviously aren't any closer with a regular handle on a toilet brush, but when you let the brush sit in its bowl it tends to form a little pile of...stuff under it. *Gag* Maybe someday I will overcome my fear of the toilet brush but for now, Clorox wand it is.

Thankful Thursday

2010-08-19T08:57:00.000-04:00

Today, I am thankful for a lot of things. I will focus on yesterday, when I had a relaxing and semiproductive day thanks to my husband!

I am thankful for a husband who let me sleep until 10:30am. I have been super exhausted this week and desperately needed the sleep. Jim was off and was gracious enough to allow me to sleep in waaaayyyy longer than either of us have in a very long time.

I am thankful for a child who (finally) took a nap around 2pm, allowing me to bake some sweet potatoes and puree them so I can make his sweet potato pancakes! I also got to do some laundry and process/freeze some of our earliest tomatoes.

I am thankful for a nice day that allowed us to go to the county fair and let Colin see a lot of cool farm animals! Unfortunately, he was terrified of them all and cried when we went anywhere near them. I guess they're a lot scarier in person. Oh well, at least it was nice to get out for a change!

All About Allergies- Continued

2010-08-18T08:00:00.003-04:00

I never paid much attention to food labels. I am lactose intolerant, so I have to take a Lactaid pill if I eat ice cream, drink chocolate milk, etc. However, that's really not a big deal. This allergy thing was new to me.

I'm not sure how many people actually pay attention to the stuff they're eating, but it's really really really difficult to find pre-made food that doesn't have dairy, egg, nuts, or sunflower in it. The sunflower hides in everything. It's crazy. So I've mostly had to make Colin's food, which isn't entirely a bad thing. It helps us keep unnecessary preservatives, chemicals, and pesticides out.

With Colin's limited diet comes challenges. He can't have dairy or most meat, which is where most of our dietary fat and protein comes from these days. I can't even substitute egg or nuts since he's allergic to those too! The next two things that come to mind are tofu and beans. However, every bean I've given him has made him gag and throw up once he feels the skin. I guess he has texture issues. Tofu isn't so terrible, but the fact that soy is similar to estrogen in chemical structure makes me very uncomfortable(this is why soy isoflavones are often used in menopausal women to help with hot flashes). I don't want my little man loaded up on mock estrogen!

This is the structure of estradiol, one of the 3 types of estrogen:

Now here's a picture of soy isoflavones:

Setting aside the estrogen factor, I don't want to feed ANYONE in our family a lot of soy, simply because I dont' want to support Monsanto any more than I absolutely have to. I try to buy only organic soy, cotton, canola, and corn products for this reason.

Next there are rice based products. Great, right? Wrong. Rice contains high levels of arsenic. This isn't a giant problem for most of us in the US, who don't eat a ton of rice. But for me to substitute Colin's forms of dairy with rice just doesn't sit right with me.

So, what's a child to eat, you might ask?

Pregnancy Update

2010-08-17T20:17:00.002-04:00

How far along: 17 weeks, 3 days

Baby's size: An onion
From The Bump

Symptoms: All that I really have is fatigue and heartburn. Nothing major, though the fatigue is a killer some days. I haven't had any nausea in a few weeks, and I snuck by with no vomiting!

Sleep: I can't get enough. I normally go to bed around 10pm, since Colin goes down around 9 or a little later and I like to do a couple things before I crash. I normally wake up to pee once, then spend 5:30-6:15 in a sleepy haze as Jim gets ready for work. I fall back asleep until Colin gets up, anywhere between 6:30 and 8am most days.

Total Weight Gain: 2 pounds

Maternity Clothes: I'm at that in between stage, where maternity is still too big but my regular clothes are still too small. I hate my bella band so I usually try to wear dresses or stretchy waisted clothes.

Best moment this week: Feeling the baby move from the outside!

Movement: I've been feeling it for about 2 weeks. The baby isn't super active, at least that I can feel. After Colin, though, anything will seem like a more docile child.

Food cravings: pizza. Can't get enough.

Gender: I have no idea. Probably another boy. I really want a boy and I really want a girl so it doesn't matter!

What I miss: nursing Colin to sleep. I still get skeeved out at the thought of him sucking though, so I guess the weaning had to be done.

What I'm looking forward to: feeling more movement and seeing baby on the ultrasound in a couple weeks!

Weekly wisdom: ?? I'm really not sure what to put here. I'm just trying to enjoy this pregnancy and learn more about VBAC so I can try to be successful at it!

Milestones: Baby has fingerprints!

Emotions: I'm a blubbery mess! Everything makes me so emotional.

All About Allergies-The Back Story

2010-08-15T15:21:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, this isn't a fun post. I'm going to talk about Colin's diet and allergies. Now, I'm no nutritionist, but I KNOW the poor kid isn't getting all the vitamins, minerals, fats, protein, and so on that he needs to grow into a big, healthy boy. I have to wonder if this has anything to do with his lack of major growth in the last 6-9 months.

Colin started off as an average sized newborn: 7lbs, 6oz, 19.75 inches long. Given my size, I was actually kind of surprised by how big he was. Then again, I was grateful he was nowhere near the birth size of his his almost-9 pound father and aunt. He had the skinny, old man look that most newborns do.

Here's my big boy! Just a few hours old!

Colin lost some weight in the hospital, as is to be expected with newborns-especially those that have been pumped full of fluid thanks to mom's IV. I was also nursing and my milk hadn't come in. When we left the hospital, Colin was down to 6lbs 10oz-exactly 10% of his body weight. This is the number the docs don't like to exceed. At least they didn't push formula. Or maybe they did and I resisted strongly. I honestly dont' remember, but we were NOT doing formula. I'd read enough to know that this was completely normal and we needed some more time.

The day after we were home, a home health nurse stopped by to check on Colin and me (thank you Blue Cross!). He had gained 3oz already, since my milk had come in hours after we got home and he was eating every hour. My big boy! We had a checkup a few days later, when Colin was a week old. He was officially back at his birth weight. He didn't even need the 2 weeks they allow!

Over the next few months, my little man nursed like a champ. He got huge and was in the upper percentiles for height, weight, and head. At 5 months, Colin weighed 17lbs, 2oz and was 25.5 inches long. He was fat, earning him the nickname "Tubba." He also had some eczema which we originally thought was cradle cap. However, cradle cap doesn't ooze and it was just...different. The pediatrician didn't even care though and this was my own diagnosis. Poor little man also developed patches of it on his skin, mostly in the folds of his elbows, ankles, and knees. It was awful.

My little fatty at 5 months. Look at that round head and those wrist rolls! (And please pardon the toilet)

A few weeks after Colin was 5 months, we celebrated the 4th of July at my grandparents' house. My mom works at an ice cream store and always brings a large ice cream cake for everyone to enjoy. She insisted on giving Colin a small taste, and I thought, what could it hurt? Here's the aftermath:

Poor little guy with hives all over his face.

This was our first indication that he had an allergy. We thought the eczema was a sensitive skin issue and never really thought about it any further. Once the hives developed, I realized Colin had at least one food allergy. Being that the cake was strawberry, I couldn't be sure if it was a dairy or berry allergy. He still hadn't started solids so I had not tried either of these foods with him. I thought when the time came, we'd play it safe with both foods and see what happened.

A month later, it was August and time to start solids! We went with the traditional rice cereal. The first few bites were met with weird faces, but Colin soon developed a love for his cereal. He liked all the foods we tried, except prunes (can you blame him?).

First bites: What IS that? That's not my milk!

Hey maybe this stuff's not so bad! I want more!

Unortfunately, since Colin was into the second half of his first year, teething was upon us. I bought some nice, dairy and soy free teething biscuits for him. Most of the ingredients seemed pretty harmless, so I thought they'd be a nice treat for him to bite on. Boy, was I wrong. Shortly after he started chewing the biscuit, he got hives. This quickly progressed into swollen lips. Needless to say, I was completely freaked out. I knew the wheat wasn't a problem because it was in his Puffs, which he'd eaten without difficulty many times. After reading the ingredients and discussing with the pediatrician, I came to the conclusion that the likely culprit was the expeller-pressed sunflower/safflower oil.

Cause

Effect. This was after a bath to wipe off as much of the biscuit as possible. You can still see a largely swollen lower lip and a bunch of hives.

I was distressed. My poor kid was now allergic to not one, but two foods. And sunflower oil as one! What on earth else would he react to? I was pretty terrified to try any new foods, but the pediatrician said to just go ahead and watch him. So we did.

Colin didn't have any more reactions until a week before his first birthday. I decided it was time to try some scrambled eggs! I used his soy butter, since I didn't want to use dairy, to prepare the pan. I cooked the eggs and let him have a couple bites. He had maybe 3 tiny bites, equivalent to the size of a thumbnail in total. I was excited-here was protein! Colin didn't seem to love the eggs, but he ate more than one bite. That was a good sign for him.

About an hour later it was naptime. The little man didn't want to go to sleep, and as I looked at him and touched him, I noticed he looked funny and felt different. His forehead was all bumpy and his eyes looked weird. At first I thought it was his eczema/tiredness, but I turned on the light anyway. Wouldn't you know it, the kid was covered in hives and he had swollen eyelids, ears, and lips. This reaction was slightly more delayed, but ever so obviously present.

A week later I was presented with the challenge of making a birthday cake for Colin. It couldn't have eggs, dairy, or sunflower. I managed to find a gluten-free, dairy-free cake mix at Wegmans. I also found an icing mix. I bought rice milk to make the icing with. Unfortunately, after making it I discovered the rice milk contained sunflower oil. So Colin's cupcake got the icing cut off.

(sorry but this one won't center for some reason)

Eating the dry, gross cupcake.

At Colin's 1 year checkup, he was determined to be not quite 21 lbs, and he was around 29 inches tall. The pediatrician was pushing me to start Colin on cow's milk, despite my repeatedly telling him about Colin's allergies. All he seemed to be concerned with was getting Colin's vaccines in and getting his money. So we were done with this doctor.

Colin's next appointment was at 15 months. We saw a new pediatrician and I fell in love. He was extremely thorough, agreed with our (numerous) concerns, and referred us to an allergist.

The allergist appointment was in June. Colin was 16 months old and he hadn't grown much since his 12 month checkup. He was just over 21lbs and about 30 inches tall. I think his favorite part of the appointment was standing on the adult scale :-) Anyway, the doctor went over everything with us and did a skin test on Colin's back for a number of environmental and food allergies. He tested positive for dog, cat, molds, dust, etc on the environmental tests. Basically everything. The food test was more scary. He was allergic to dairy, egg, fish, beef, peanuts, sunflower. The only things he didn't react to were wheat, soy, shellfish, and tree nuts.

After a lengthy discussion, we were warned that though some of the things (like beef) didn't show up as hives, they were probably causing Colin's eczema. We'd been using triamcinolone cream (a steroid) without much effect for months. The food allergies made sense as a likely source, so we agreed to alter his diet. We were told to watch with chicken. He wasn't tested but due to his egg and beef allergies, there was a strong possibility he'd also react to chicken. We were not to try tree nuts or shellfish, just to be safe, since he did test positive to peanuts and regular old fish. We left with a prescription for an EpiPen, Xyzal, and Nasonex in case Xyzal wasn't enough.

Bits and Pieces

2010-08-12T14:46:00.001-04:00

I desperately need a new camera. My current one is malfunctioning, the memory card is full, I need a new flash drive to back them up before I delete them, and I don't want to buy a new memory card when I don't intend to use the camera much longer. Problem is, I'm not sure what to get. I see all these really nice pictures with D-SLR cameras, but I am NOT a photographer. Are they easy to learn? I like my piont and shoot, but the pictures are so horrible due to my not knowing how to use the camera and not knowing how to take pictures. Plus the camera itself isn't the highest quality. So I have a conundrum. I'd really like to take more pictures of Colin before he's all grown up on me, and I want to be able to take nice pictures of the new baby when it arrives. I haven't even taken any belly shots yet because I hate the darned thing so much.

In pregnancy news, I had my latest OB appointment today. The baby's heartbeat is in the 150's, as it's been pretty regularly. Colin was always a little faster-usually in the 160's. However I believe the old wives' tale says that faster heart rates are girls, so according to that I suppose this is a boy! The Chinese Gender Chart says girl, but being that my temperature rise was on May 1st (indicating ovulation), I may have actually ovulated in April. This still shows girl, but I can't be sure I'm calculating my "Chinese age" correctly. I may have a Pharm.D but that's more complicated than this girl can handle. We will find out in January! Maybe as I get a little bigger I'll do some more old wives tales and see how they turn out. I've also whipped out my Prenatal Yoga DVD that I bought about 3 months ago (oops!) and finally did it. Boy am I out of shape! I could barely do any of the stretches and I cannot squat to save my live. Good thing I have 20+ weeks left to get this figured out if I dont' want to be strapped to the table like a beached whale full of anesthesia again.

These are some of the (few) recent photos I've taken of my little man.

First haircut! WHAT are you DOING to me?

After the haircut and not sure if he believes we're finally taking him for his "ice" at Rita's.

Mom I wasn't ready to wake up yet!

My nesting is so much stronger this time around! With Colin I was on rotations and pretty much did school stuff all day, every day. Now I'm home a lot more and I have an intense desire to get this place in shape. I'm moving things around (more than I should be, probably), purging all the garbage/donations/etc. I'm also cleaning, reorganizing, in general being a nut. I have a huge bag to go to the Salvation Army, stuff to Freecycle, and a 1 ton garbage truck coming next week to haul all the nasty moldy stuff that was in the basement away. I've spent about $600 on home items in the last week (the stuff I showed in my last post, plus a new rug today!). Here's the rug:

It's quite bold compared to the ones I just bought in the beige family for the living room, but the hallway is so boring with just walls and picture frames. I'm hoping this will bring some liveliness to it (and not be ugly!).

OK so I'm done babbling on for today. On to more organization and cleaning!

Home and Life

2010-08-11T13:17:00.001-04:00

I've been busy doing a lot of stuff...and a lot of nothing, all at once. Last week I purchased these 3 items for our living room:

This storage ottoman matches our couch almost perfectly. I bought the khaki color.

This rug is a big area rug for the general living area.

This rug was purchased on a much smaller scale, for the tiny entryway at the front door.

Now I'm on the search for a runner around 6' long, stair carpet treads, and a hallway runner around 13-14' long. I think I've chosen one for the hallway. I'm so excited to finally get our house somewhat in shape. It's so ugly and unfinished and we've been here over 2 years. It's just not excusable if you ask me. Wall decor is the next step after I get all the floors nice and organized. I need end tables too, since using TV trays is pretty ghetto. I've also bought a toddler bed for Colin, but it's still in our room in its original box. All the reviews say how hard it is to assemble so I'm kind of dreading that!

In pregnancy news, I've started to feel baby moving over the last week or so! It's so awesome to feel it poking around in there. On that note, I hate calling baby "it." It's just not very appropriate for a living baby in me! For that reason, I've taken to calling the baby "he" when I'm talking. Everyone assumes this means that I know it's a boy but really I just think it probably is and it's better than saying he or she all the time. So if that carries over here, don't be confused! We are team green and plan to stay that way up until January when baby makes HIS or HER arrival :-)

Hey There! Me Again!

2010-08-02T18:12:00.000-04:00

What's that? Another post this week? Even though they're thrown together in 2.5 seconds, yes! The best result of moving the desk/computer is that the modem is connected to a different outlet and THE INTERNET WORKS. It is so nice to be able to walk over to the computer and look up a recipe or directions again, and of course get my quick fix of facebook, blogs, etc.

Today Colin and I went to the Farmer's Market. I am so bad at picking food because I've only recently begun to delve into the world of veggies. So for now I stick to basic broccoli, green beans, cauliflower. Things like that. Occasionally I'll get a zucchini or some peppers. I wish there were more fruit places, but I guess it's not really a good location for fruit. I did get a nice cantaloupe and some nectarines though. Colin was flirting with all the women ane babies there. A little girl about his own age came up to him (in his stroller) and tried to take his mum-mum. I doubt he would have minded much, but her dad came and took her away.

This is a picture of my cutie, all grown up! He loves his hat and his giraffe.

Posing as a tiger at Claws N Paws.

First big swim with grandpa!

Tomorrow Jim is off so the day will be full of craziness, as usual. I'm sure there will be lots of yardwork and playing :-) I need to go to the store but what else is new. I'm also going to apply for a new job at Walmart tomorrow-wish me luck! I will probably be amongst 1000 other applicants but I don't care how long of a shot it is-I really want a new job!

Changes

2010-08-01T09:11:00.001-04:00

This pregnancy has brought on a major nesting mode. I am cleaning, getting rid of things, and organizing like never before. Thursday I took it upon myself to move our entire computer and desk set downstairs. It wasn't THAT heavy but it probably wasn't too smart. I also filled 5-6 trash bags in the basement (and there's still more). I'm in the process of ironing all the tissue paper I've saved for reuse over the years. I bought a ton of totes and shelves and things for organizing and storage. It's crazy.

The belly has made its appearance. Hello, baby bump. All of a sudden yesterday it's like I popped at 15 weeks. I will have to get some pictures (and of Colin-he's such a big boy!).

Almost 18 Months!

2010-07-27T21:00:00.000-04:00

This Friday my little man will be 18 months old! Hard to believe it's been a year and a half since I was sleeping on the couch all day with the dog on my side, moaning and groaning every time I moved. I was so scared, yet excited to meet my baby!

A year and a half later, Colin is a big boy! Well, he's really quite petite, but compared to that newborn he's a big boy. He hasn't grown much and is still a little over 21 lbs and 30 inches. I'm hoping for another growth spurt soon.

Little man has been weaned for about a month. He doesn't seem to miss it anymore and doesn't ask to nurse at all. He has been eating a lot more since weaning. I like it!

We've had a huge vocabulary burst recently and he repeats a lot of words. He also says a lot of words that we don't understand, but he does! I keep reminding him to use his words when he wants something. Usually he just says "di-di" or "aye-aye" repeatedly until we say what he wants. Then he repeats it. So we know he can say the words, he just chooses not to when he wants it!

Bedtime has become a struggle. He was going down nicely and now it's a challenge every night, and sometimes for naps too. The tantrums are ridiculous. Hopefully we're getting the terrible 2's early so by the time baby comes they'll be all out of his system. A girl can hope, right?

Anyway, I have no new pictures, again. I really need to get my phone pics loaded because that's the only place I take them anymore. My camera is malfunctioning lately. I want a new one, but I want a GOOD one this time. And good = expensive. Also, more complicated. Since I know nothing about photography, it would probably be good to learn some stuff before I go buying a big old camera. Unfortunately, there's no time. Maybe I can find some.

Busy Days

2010-07-20T13:09:00.000-04:00

I have been busy doing a whole lot of nothing lately. The internet has been out a lot so the limited time I had before to get online was cut still further. I've been napping during Colin's naps most days, and I recently had a terrible eczema outbreak. Really bad. So bad I freaked out and got myself a nice case of hives to top it off.

Colin has gotten 2 more teeth and his yeast infection is back. I bleached the dipes but I guess that wasn't good enough so I'm searching for a solution.

Baby #2 is currently the size of a peach, and tomorrow starts the 2nd trimester already. Crazy how time flies.

I am trying to clean/organize our house with little success. We have too much stuff and not enough places to put it all. So I'm getting creative. Maybe one day the house will be nice and I can post pictures.

I am preparing to call my boss to "discuss my schedule" and I'm not excited. Hope I come out alive.

17 Months!

2010-06-30T15:47:00.000-04:00

I cannot believe that the little blupper kicking me to death from the inside is now 17 months old. It's crazy how time flies. Next thing I know he'll be walking down the aisle for his own wedding and I'll be sobbing my brains out.

Colin at 17 months is a teeny peanut. His last pediatrician appt was at 15 months and he really hasn't grown since. He is about 21 pounds and 30.5 inches tall. Jim and I were both quite small our whole childhood. Neither of us is particular heavy, and I am still rather short at 5'0". So hopefully the little man will sprout up like his daddy when he's a teenager. For now I'm getting to actually use a lot of his clothes more than once so I'm not too upset :-)

Colin has quite the personality these days. He likes to yell out duck sounds when we're in public and it's quite hilarious. He's saying more words than I can even remember these days, and he's starting to attempt some 2 and 3 syllable ones. He is into everything and climbing like a monkey.

Our biggest issue is food. Colin is finally taking interest in actual food. The problem is he's allergic to so much. We had our first appt with the allergist on Monday and the poor guy was covered in little red bumps after his skin test. Food allergies include: dairy, egg, sunflower, fish, peanut, beef, and probably a few other things I cannot think of right now. I think of the 8 or 10 foods they tested the only ones he DIDN'T react to were wheat, soy, and shellfish. Thank God for that at least. Trying to find stuff without soy is almost as hard as finding stuff without some sort of corn based product. I'm having a hard time coming up with things to feed the poor kid. The allergiest said he didn't test for chicken but be careful with it due to the egg allergy. Apparently his eczema is mostly caused from the food I was eating and he was getting in breastmilk, because it has cleared up a LOT now that we've finally weaned. 17 months was long enough for me.

Poor buddy also has a bunch of indoor allergies, including dust, dog, cat, and a few different molds, including penicillium. He's never taken an antibiotic so I don't know what kind of reaction he'd have, but I think if he does ever need one we'll be going with an alternative to amoxicillin type products. Just because we now own an epipen doesn't mean I want to have to use it. Colin is also now on Xyzal, an antihistamine. It knocks the poor kid out.

I don't have any new pictures, unfortunately. I really need to get the photos from my phone uploaded to the computer because that's what I use most of the time!

Thankful Thursday

2010-06-24T15:15:00.002-04:00

I guess it's only fair that I balance out my Wishlist with some things I'm thankful for, huh?
Here goes.

1. My napping child.
2. The baby growing in my belly.
3. A wonderful husband who is putting up with my mood swings.
4. Great friends and family members who are gathering this weekend to raise money, all in memory of my sister. If you're in the NE PA area, come check it out!

Wish List Wednesday

2010-06-23T19:48:00.000-04:00

This Wednesday I want more time. That is all.