Friday, June 22, 2007

Finally an update

Tomorrow Baby A will be 4 weeks old. Hard to believe ain't it? What's harder to believe is that my maternity leave will be over in 6.5 weeks.

We're adjusting......I can handle all 3 for a few hours at a time if needed, but we still haven't gone anywhere further than 1 hour from our house. And even that trip we had to stop on the way home 'cause Baby A was hungry.

Am I the only one that sees traveling with an infant who is breastfeeding as a disadvantage? Seriously here....if she was bottle fed you can just keep driving and plop a bottle in her mouth...not so when breastfeeding. Well, guess I could but then I'd have to pump in the car and that seems just as annoying as stopping and feeding her straight from the boob.

I'm very surprised how well breastfeeding is going this time around. Seriously folks.....yeah we've got our latch on issues, but I actually seem to have a pretty good supply going. The only thing that has me worried is that she'll be up for 3-4 hours at a time (taking maybe 2-3 15 min cat naps in there) crying acting like she's hungry. I get her on the boob - which lasts just until letdown starts and then she pulls off and doesn't want it. Mostly does this to the right boob.....but will do it to the left as well. She does this about 3-4 nights a week.

I'm just afraid she's still hungry or has gas or something else weird is going on. We have her 1 mo check-up next week so I can ask then, but until then I'm trying not to worry as she's still having the recommended number of wet/dirty diapers a day.

Now I just need to start working on getting her days and nights in sync with the rest of the known world and all will be good. Having her sleep in her own bed at naps and night time would be nice too, but right now not having her awake for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night is all I'm asking for.

Monday, June 11, 2007

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TYLER!!

Day late.....but better late than never....plus his party isn't until this coming Saturday.

Can't believe the biddy boy is 2 already. It's only really hit me since A's birth how much of a big boy he really is.

LOVE YOU T-MAN!!

HOLY COW!!

Okay - embarassed to admit this but I started my pregnancy with Addison weighing 237lbs. By the time I was diagnoised as gestational diabetes I'd only gained 7lbs....244lbs. Well by the time I gave birth I was down to 233lbs. Now, I was not trying to lose weight, but I was strickly sticking to the diet so Addison would have less blood work done once she was born.

Well - now that most of the swelling is gone I decided to weigh myself this morning.......the scale read 211lbs!!! Yes!!! I thought I'd eventually weigh in around 225lbs....never did I dream of 211lbs.

I'm still sticking to the GD diet (have been horrible about checkin my blood sugar levels) as my hormone levels are still elevated as I'm breast feeding, but hopefully this will help me lose all this extra weight I've been carrying around the last 3 years. Anyhoo - my goal by the end of my maternity leave is 200lbs and by my birthday in March I want to be down to 180lbs....and eventually I'd love to be around 160lbs. This would put me about a size 12-14.

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Cute Stories

T: The day of A's birth I couldn't have anything to eat until I could stop throwing up. Finally I was able to get a nice liquid dinner. K & T were there, and when the nurse came in with my meal he started clapping. It was the cutest dang thing and the nurse said she wished she'd get that kind of reception from all of her patients.

S: Informed me the day before A's delivery that he wanted to see her being born. I had to tell him that they only allow K in there, but he will come up with Grandma Sue later in the day to see her and me. Oh, and when I call A Addy I'm informed that her name is Addison, not Addy.

R: Kept asking her name, and when we'd tell him he'd repeat it and act like he got it.....but then 5 minutes later would ask again. He'd also would tell anyone he say that A was his baby.

Things I've learned you can do while breastfeeding

1. Goto the bathroom....this includes pulling my pants up and down and yes, even wiping myself
2. Getting T outa his crib...helps the side does go down
3. Playing WoW....hard to do one handed, but it can be done
4. Writing posts on my blog and a bb that I read
5. Along with #4 - answering emergency e-mails from work
6. Fixing a basic lunch for either myself or the kids or both
7. Reading a book, magazine, or other reading material
8. Trim the baby's finger nails
9. Pump one boob while the baby feeds on the other
10. Give/receive a hug from one of my boys


There's more, but sleep deprivation is making it hard to think. Now once I get my sling ordered all of this plus more will be a little easier.

Well - I survived.....

.....this weekend with out K. He left Friday morning at 5am to go race his R/C cars about 2.5-3hrs away for the whole weekend. He won't be back until this afternoon (Sunday) until 3 or 4pm. He didn't carpool with the other guys he went with just in case he needed to come home in an emergency so at least he was realistic about that aspect.

I should mention that S & R are at their other parents house, so that only left me, A and T this weekend. Grandma Sue and Poppie were great at taking the boys (S & T) on Friday afternoon, and yesterday Grandma Sue helped out for most of the day. She'll be over around 10am today and will head home once T's down for his nap.

Also helps that most of my swelling is gone in my feet, and my incision doesn't hurt as much (just down to the ibuprofen as needed). However, I'm in desperate need of sleep. Little Miss A has decided to be picky about which boob she wants, and when......apprently during the middle of the night the left boob just isn't good enough. Mom and K both asked me if they were different flavors or something.

Oh well - at least I survived without breaking down in tears, and it has been nice to have the bed all to myself (well A slept with me most of the time) for the last two nights.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

1 week old

Yesterday we had A's 1 week check-up. Already back-up to birth weight which means Mommy's producing enough breast milk to get A fat & happy. She was down to 6lb 15oz when she left the hospital.

S, of course, is doing great with her and has stepped up to the plate to be an even better big brother to T. T is being surprisingy gentle with her, and only really gets upset when Mommy can't hold him. That's more to do with the incision pain than me holding A all the time.

Overall the first week has gone pretty good.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

The smallest things that can make you happy

In my case....it's Addison not having that tarry poo....but cottage cheese poo.

For the uneducated....now that her poo looks like cottage cheese it means that the billirubin is out of her system and we won't need to go get blood work on Monday.

Saturday, June 02, 2007

The details

Mom made it to our house at 5:20am, and we were off around 5:40am. Got to the hospital around 6:15am. Around 7:30am they had me walk over to the OR. Got my spinal and they got me situated before having Keith come in a little before 8am.



Took them a few good pushes on my belly to get her out, but out she did pop. She was bloody and blue - which kinad freaked me out, and I think that's why Keith had to leave. He felt sick to his stomach - and having very little sleep, no food, and only coffee probably didn't help either. The Nursery Nurse took her to get her warmed up and suctioned out, and they continued to put everything back and due the tubal. Most of the OR staff thought it was funny I thought at 7lb 8oz she was small......until my doc informed them that until her my smallest was 8lb 8oz.



I was back in my room at 8:45am, and as soon as I was comfortably in bed they brought her to me. Took her a few tries, but she latched on and wanted the boob. Unfortunately none of my kids latch on correctly, so we're working on that. For those that care we're using a nipple shield until the owies I have heal and we can wean her off of that.

Due to my gestational diabetes her blood sugar levels were low, but after 24hrs she was within normal and no more tests. And just so she wasn't out done by her brothers she decided she wanted to be jaundice as well, and spent a good 24 hrs under the lights. I got up every 2-2.5hrs to nurse her whether she was hungry or not, and after 24 hrs her levels went from a high 13 to a low 9. Only needed it under 12 to go home, but the lower the level was when we went home the less likely we'd have to come back in for more blood work on Monday.

I really need to send up something nice for the nursing staff at the hospital. They all were great, especially when she was under the lights and knew I just wanted someone to talk to. I'm thinking we're (aka my mom) gonna make up some cinnamon rolls, etc and take up there next week.

Almost forgot - the boys (all 3) were able to make it up to see me and Addison. We did it in shifts, and it worked out great. S & R are pretty excited to have a new sister, but T's still making up his mind. I do know he's not happy that mommy can't pick him up whenever he wants....but that's more because of the surgery not the fact that he has a baby sister.

Overall we're getting settled. It may take most of my maternity leave.....but we'll get there.

7lbs 8oz 19 inches 8:09am May 30th 2007







Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Here I sit. . .

. . .in front of the computer typing this up. I have hair color on my hair, topless, and dying to take a shower, but even then I know I won't be able to sleep.

You see....the Bean will make her arrival in 11 hours. Of course I'll be up at 5:15am and out the door at 5:30am to be at the hospital by 6am. Why it takes two hours to prep me for a c-section I'll never understand.

I know I won't be able to sleep....especially with K lying next to me snorring away.

Anyhoo - don't get outa the hospital until Friday or Saturday, but I'll definitely have plenty of pictures to share.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

I think he's in DENIAL. . .

. . . and I'm not talking about the river in Egypt.

When I found out I was pregnant K and I were both thinking "Oh, shit". We hadn't really decided if we were done or not, but getting pregnant when we did was the last thing on our "to do" list.

We discussed all of the options, and we both agreed that the only thing we could live with would be to have the child.

He seemed to be okay with that up until we found out it was a girl. Even then he seemed okay as he knew there was a chance the sonogram tech was wrong. However, for the last 6 weeks I've been having a weekly sonogram to check my fluid levels (this is due to the gestational diabetes) and the tech has been kind enough to confirm the gender each time.

She is definitely a SHE.

Within the last few weeks K has become more distant. Even to the point of when I talk about the Bean and her arrival he seems to tune me out.

I'm really hoping tonight we can talk as I can't go through this emotionally alone. I mean I know he'll be there physically, but I'm not sure about emotionally right now.

Procrastination CAN be a good thing

While going through all of our receipts, statements, etc this past weekend so I could get our checkbook, etc caught up before the Bean arrives I found a 1099 from 2006. I confess it was no small amount either.

Anyhoo - we'd procrastinated on getting all of our tax stuff together so our tax person had to file an extension for us. (This only really worked since we were getting a refund for state and federal.) So, rather than being completely screwed up the a$$ w/o a reach around we'll at least get the reach around. :)

Don't know the extent of the damage yet - but at this point I'm just thankful we don't have to pay back a portion of a refund and we saved ourselves from getting audited by the IRS.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Another one bites the dust . . .

I've been in my current job for 17 mos. At the Bank for 12.5yrs though. In March one person quit and was finally replaced 3 weeks ago. Now someone else has quit.

Unfortunately my boss just can't see why everyone wants to bail......maybe because you stink as a manager. Yes you know your job, but when it comes to managing others you stink.

Oh well - 2.5 dys left of work and I'm outta here!!!

Oh, and should I mention that maybe tomorrow we'll have a temp starting to cover my duties while I'm out? Like that gives me a whole lotta time to train someone.

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Some days it's not worth it to get outa bed. . . .

. . . .starting around 8pm last night everything has just gone to shit. K's grandparents borrowed my car since it gets better gas mileage than anything they have and they were driving to Chicago. They still have it as they're heading back, but last night 'round 8pm they called to tell us they locked my one and only key in the car. Luckily I have remote start and access so I just drove up this morning to where they left my car and unlocked it, retrieved the keys and dropped them off.

However, last night after getting home around 9:30pm I was carrying the T-man into (S was wtih Daddy) the house. I step on a toy and trip and fall. Landed on my knees, left elbow, and right hand. Biddy Boy was more scared than anything, but trying to do the splits when almost 37 wks pregnant on one's knees is not a good thing. Slept like crap last night so I came into work late.

Once at work I had to officers complaining about how things were being paid even though their own managers (and my boss) had told them I was doing it correctly. Then I went to get a Diet Sprite and the machine dispenses bottled water instead. Now I can't print from one of the applications I use, my Outlook (e-mail) has died, and Excel is now starting to freak out on me.

Oh, never mind the $50 it took to fill-up the minivan. I'm about to say f-it and head home even though it's 4pm and I usually work until 6pm.

I'm hoping this is just a 24hr Bad Luck bug....and my 8pm tonight everything should be back to normal. Well, normal as my house/life can get.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Still waiting on someone to train

Well, my boss informed me yesterday (8.5 working days left before ML) that they're going through a temp agency. Okay, great. However, not sure when this person will get here and they may not even be hired by the time I go on ML.

Seriously - I told my boss when I was only 7 weeks pregnant, and now were down to 7 working days left and I still have no one to train. Does this tell you what type of manager I'm dealing with?

Guess I'll just wait and see, but seriously after May 25th it ain't my problem or concern.

Adventures in registering your child for Kindergarten

We live in a small town (approx 6-7,000 residents) and apprently we do things at our own pace. Two weeks ago we went to a "Kindergarteners to be night" at the elementary school. At this time we got a tour of the school, the kids got to see the K classroom's, and we got a packet of forms to fill out. Then we got to sign-up for K Round-up day.

Well, I signed up for this morning at 8:30am. I thought to myself it couldn't take longer than an hour......was I wrong. We were there for 2 hours listening to all of the stuff we'll need to have in place, etc while the kids got to experience a couple of hours of Kindergarten.

It's amazing all of the crap you need to have filled out....plus with S's tree nut allergy I have extra forms to fill out for each of his emergency meds as well as two doctor's appointments to make for this summer to get the Doctor's to sign all of the forms and get refills on the expired drugs. Good thing I'm on maternity leave this summer and can make appointments at my leasure. :)

So, maybe by the time he actually starts August 20th I'll have all of this crap together.

FINALLY - A Picture of my Boys



Okay, in order of appearance: T, R & S. :)

We were having "quiet time" since they all refused to take a nap, so they were watching a short video in the big boy's room.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Ahhhh.....Mother's Day

So far so good. Got to sleep in until 8am. K made coffee and got the boy outa bed. Haven't done much, but veg and play with T. K called in Chinese and I just got done pigging out. However, now that T's down for his nap, I'm now off to go play WoW. Can't get much better.

Later today I get S back from his dad's and we head out to my parents for an early dinner and let the boys play outside.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Poop, Poop, and more Poop

Well, those of you with kids know that occasionally newborns will poop in the tub as they have no control over anything quiet yet. However, as they get older this will happen less often......supposedly.

Anyhoo - T never did this as an infant, neither did R or S. However, once the boy turned 18mos this has happen, not once, not twice, but FOUR times. The latest was last night. He's 23mo as of yesterday.

Last night T pigged out at dinner, and of course food was everywhere. Got the bath water going while he finished eating, stripped him down and let him run naked to the bathroom. The boy loves baths and tries to get in the tub before I'm even half way there. He's in the tub and starting to wet him down, and just started to shampoo his hair when I noticed he was going poop. Probably should mention he was squating in the tub as this time. That's just his stance when I wash him down.

Anyhoo - call K for help, and drag the boy outa the bath with soap in his hair. While trying to clean-up the tub & the boy the stinker squats and proceeds to poop more. Fine, clean that up, finish cleaning out the tub but by that time he was in the hallway and pooped again. K cleans that up as I and the boy head to our other bathroom to finish his bath. Make it too the kitchen when he not only poops again, but pees everywhere. Oh, and I should mention it was mushy poo.....not nice formed solid poo.

By this time we've had enough - quickly wipe his cute little butt with a diaper wipe and slap a diaper on. Waited a good 30-40 minutes before we attempted to complete his bath.....and yes, this whole time he had shampoo in his hair.

K tells me later that that was the only time he'd gone all day. GREAT. . . . explains the quantity though.

I can laugh about this now.....and actually we laughed about it after the poopin' machine went to bed. I'm just glad I'm not the one that has to sanitize the boy's bathtub this morning. :)