Sick of the sickness...

It’s been a month now since everyone in the house has been generally healthy and it’s starting to wear on me.  Back on July 1^st Lillian had a high fever and just didn’t feel good, on the second the spots in her mouth appeared and she was diagnosed with Hand.Foot.Mouth. 

On the 6^th I started feeling like crap and continued to have a sore throat, cough and loss of voice for the next 5 days.  

On the 14^th Laney came down with what I think was my cold.  After a week of her coughing and news of a whooping cough outbreak in the area, I took her to the doctor.  4 days of antibiotics and she was doing better. 

We had 2 days of a “healthy” family (B had a little cough but nothing major).  Then all of a sudden Friday morning Lillian woke up with a horrific cough, sore throat and barely a voice.  Saturday I took her to Urgent Care (UC) since our Doctor’s office wasn’t open.  But before we got there she had peed her pants 4 times and even ran to the bathroom to go again while she was changing her clothes from one of her accidents “it hurts to pee mommy”.  Great!  She went to the bathroom right before we left and by the time we got there she had to go again, it was maybe 15 minutes.

So rather than just putting down, cough and sore throat, I added possible Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).  The admitting nurse looked at me like I was crazy and asked what made me think that.  So I explained the morning and she acted as if she was going to blow it off as her just not feeling well, but she did suggest that I ask the UC receptionist for a pee hat because they’d probably test her urine.  Lillian was going to the bathroom every 10-15 minutes while we waited.  I never realized what a work out I could get by trying to hold Laney and help Lillian go to the bathroom.  

We had a very nice doctor who seemed to share my beliefs in not giving medication unless it’s absolutely necessary.  She was diagnosed with croup (again) and mommy was right, a UTI.  So she did end up with antibiotics for that.  Today (3 days later) she still refuses to take cough medicine and I can’t seem to get the mucus out of her chest so she coughs and coughs.  Of course she likes taking the antibiotic though so that’s good.

As that was going on, B managed to get a hernia and the next morning his knee was swollen and sore again.  He tried working yesterday, but he was in a lot of pain when he got home last night so today he will be making a trip to the Urgent Care.

Plus Delaney has been having more spit up and crying episodes again.  At first they seemed to be generally at night so I just chalked it up to a typical infant fussy time.  Well, then the sitter called and said she was acting strange there (apparently she’d never done the back arching, no you can’t sit crying fit) there (that was back on the 13^th).  Then yesterday, T, Lillian’s sitter was watching her and said she hadn’t really been sleeping, she was fussy all day and it was the worst after eating.  She was also still spitting up 2.5 hours after eating and doing her arching of the back.  So this after noon we are off to the Doctor again…

I’m getting worn out, I don’t know if I can take much more whining and crying…

A New Sitter.... AKA a long rant

I have been becoming more and more frustrated with Laney’s sitter over the last few weeks.  She is a really nice lady, kids love her, she takes good care of them, but she just doesn’t seem listen to me.  I don’t think she blatantly ignores what I tell her, but I think she just doesn’t get it.

My biggest problem is with her feeding Laney.  She has been watching Laney for 14 weeks now and I have had to tell her to only feed on demand 4 times already.  Really I should have only had to tell her once.  But no, I’m having to tell her like every 3 weeks.

Friday she infuriated me when I learned that she purposely fed Laney at a certain time “so she’d be ready for me”.  Well really no, she wasn’t because she eats so much at your house that she doesn’t want to nurse for 4 hours or more after I pick her up!

After the first time she started constantly drinking 4 bottles at the sitter I looked at the book and realized most times she was finishing a bottle just before I got there at 4.  So I asked for her not to feed her after 3 unless it had been over 2 hours since her last feeding (this was when she was still eating every 2 hours).  The next day she woke Laney up from a nap just to make sure she had her 4^th bottle before 4!  Umm no, feeding on demand means you feed her when she’s hungry and my theory is to never wake a sleeping baby to eat unless they have a medical need for it. *And maybe a few other circumstances that may warrant it, but not just so she has the bottle*

After finding this out I told her, “just feed her on demand, when she’s hungry.  If I am going to be here to get her in the next 20 minutes or so, try holding her off so I can feed her.” *which I have to drive some where to do because she doesn’t think her son would be comfortable with me nursing her there, insert exasperated sigh and huge eye roll*

Anyway, this was working for a while, until last week.  Last Monday I told her that 1 of the 4 bottles I sent was 5oz instead of 4 because I just had some extra so not to worry if Laney didn’t finish it.  I also told her that the whole week I was exclusively nursing she was eating maybe every 3 hours, sometimes 4.  So the rest of the week when writing down what and when Laney ate, she wrote down 5oz for EVERY feeding!  This isn’t a huge deal, but irritates me because it means she wasn’t even looking at the bottles.  On Thursday she said “she really downed those bottles today.” So I told her “well maybe tomorrow I will send all 5oz bottles and maybe they will fill her up more.”  She said to me “You mean they haven’t been?  I thought you’ve been sending 5oz bottles.”  HELLO??? LISTEN!

So Friday after all week she’d been having 4 bottles a day I said “I’m not sure what you are using for hunger cues, but I always wait until she starts to whine at least and shake her head because he thumb doesn’t give her milk.”  Laney is a good self soother and sucks her thumb a lot, plus she’s teething so sucking and chewing are NOT signs of hunger.  That day she also called me at noon saying something was off with Laney and could I come check on her during lunch.  Of course I went and it was nothing more than her normal nightly discontent with whoever holds her sitting and what I think is a belly ache.  I got her to sleep and also called the Dr and made an apt for her cough (whooping cough is going around and her cough hadn’t gotten better in a week) anyway, I told the sitter I’d be back at 3 to get her.  She called me at 2 again and asked me if I wanted her to wake her up and feed her.  Um NO, if she isn’t hungry don’t feed her!  That day was the first day in a long time she slept over a half hour 45 minutes at the sitter.  And guess what, she only ate 1.5 bottles!

And last but not least, yesterday when I picked Laney up, she asked if I sent 5 bottles.  I said no why?   She said “I know I fed her 3 times today, but there is still 2 bottles left in the fridge.”  I knew then that she had only fed her twice because I knew that I had sent 4 bottles.  One was left from the day before and the other 3 were what I had pumped the day before.  I didn’t defrost milk and I never have more than needed any more.  When I got home and looked in her book tough, she had written down that she fed her 3 times.  This irritated the crap out of me.  What is she doing, filling out the book before she even feeds her?  Feeding her on a schedule which I specifically asked her not to do?  This morning I said to her “Did you find any empty bottles last night, if not you must have only fed her twice.”  She said “No, she must have slept through the 12:30 feeding.”  I said that very possible.  On Sunday she ate at 11 and then napped 1 to almost 4 and didn’t eat til after that.  I’m fine if she only eats twice as long as she’s only eating when she’s hungry.”

Today I’m sending out for information from a daycare center…

I hope this made sense, I don't have time to proof read at the moment

A Few Favorites...

So Comfortable!

My little girl is a Tom Boy
Helping Daddy shave the pig before cooking.

My model

Watching the sun set with Daddy

She wanted to be held like sissy

Nursing

With Lillian I loved every minute of it.  OK, that's a lie.  There was a two week period after she started bottles that I loathed it and almost gave up.  But my determination pulled through.  This time, it's different.  I don't know if it's because with 2 children there is more stress and I want to "relieve" that stress (aka consume massive amounts of alcohol).  Or if it's because I'm even more upset about being a working mom and having to pump more than I actually get to nurse.  If it's because I barely pump what Laney consumes (which I think is because the sitter over feeds her) or something else that I can't even think of right now.

Either way, something changed last week.  I don’t know what it was.  Most times I’m upset I can’t drink and B can because I have to drive, work, feed, don’t have a pump, whatever.  I went on vacation last week prepared!  I had enough frozen milk with me to feed her all week if I wanted to.  We didn’t have a microwave or hot water so I would have had to heat the bottles on the stove, but it was completely doable.  

Guess what; while I did indulge in maybe 6 drinks all week, I nursed Laney 100% on demand the whole time!  I didn’t even really have the urge to drink.  Maybe because I felt like crap the first 4 days we were there, maybe because I HATE pumping, I don’t know.  The one night I thought about indulging, the thought of having to get up to heat water on the stove for her 2am feeding was enough to make it not worth it.  I enjoyed every second of it too.

It didn’t really seem like a big deal, just like it didn’t seem like a big deal for B and Lilli to stay over at another family’s cabin by the fire while I took Laney back for bed.  I had the video monitor, but I normally just stayed, mostly because I didn’t feel well and went to sleep too.

What sucks, is this week, being back at work, only getting to nurse her maybe 3 times a day (including her midnight feeding), and having to pump.  I HATE pumping.  My breasts are tender and nipples too.  Not to mention since feeding her on demand for 9 days straight, you’d think I’d have no problem pumping what she consumes at the sitter, but no.  If I didn’t feed her on one side and pump the other in the morning, I’d never pump enough.  I don’t know if the sitter feeds her just because she starts sucking on her thumb or if she’s mistaking teething signs for hunger, or if Laney drinks the whole bottle just because it’s there, but something is off.

One of my favorite things about nursing is when
she falls asleep with her hand gently resting on me.
Obviously I covered myself up before taking the picture!

The Last Few Weeks... In Pictures!

The last few weeks have been quite busy so I'm basically doing a picture dump from my phone...

A quick rundown:

7/2 - Called in to work, took Lillian to urgent care, diagnosed with Hand foot mouth disease

      - Aunt Pocca's Birthday, Uncle Harry arrived, Had birthday dinner with the family.

7/3 - Worked, was supposed to go to Mom's camp, but didn't since Lillian was sick

7/4 - Decided to go to Mom's camp, even with Lillian, she had been fever and meds free for over 24 hours, sores healing and using sanitizer every 10 minutes.

7/5 - Spent day with family and came home to work the next day

7/6 - Worked til 1.  Felt like crap, went home and packed for our weeks vacation

7/7 - Felt worse, finished packing, went to Wal.mart for essentials, left for vacation

7/14 - Came home to a hot muggy house and besides work I've pretty much spent all my time in my air conditioned bedroom since we got home!

Lillian came down with Hand Foot Mouth Disease...

My Uncle Harry came to visit from Florida...

Lillian helping Uncle Harry make Lasagna, she did great!

Delaney loved Uncle Harry, he got lots of practice
for his grandson that is expected in 12 short weeks!

 My Uncle Tommy and cousin Alex came to visit...

Meeting Delaney for the first time

Lilli and her "boy"  She's been in love with Alex since Thanksgiving
according to her he even has a room at my mom's where he stayed last time.

Napping while the adults played corn hole

 We stayed in a cabin at a campground for a week with 2 other families.

Lilli and Kia get buried in the sand

Lilli and Daddy make a castle

 Lillian spent maybe 5 minutes in the water, the rest of the time was spent playing in the sand.

Laney refuses to nap at the beach

Morning cuddles, they love each other <3

Spending time with Daddy

So tired she couldn't hold her eyes open, but refused to lay down.
If I didn't know better I would have said she was drunk!

Daddy taught Lillian to fish

Lillian caught her first fish just minutes after telling daddy
"I can do it myself, I don't need your help!"

Love

Mommy and sissy watching Lilli fish...

I'm glad to now be home to relax!  My house is a disaster, but I'm in no rush to get things in order, it's been to hot and muggy in my house to even care.

4 Months

I’m  only a couple weeks late writing about this…

Delaney turned 4 months on July 3^rd.  It was a pretty busy time for us between her aunt’s birthday, her great uncles coming to visit and her sister having hand foot mouth disease.  I will post on all that stuff later though.  This post is for my little girl…

Stats:

Weight: 15lb 3oz (87%)

Height: 26 inches (95%)

Her growth seems to be slowing some and it doesn't bother me one bit.  

She seems to be such a content little girl most of the time.  Happy to just sit there and watch as the world happens around her.  Only one week after she turned 3 months she started rolling over, but even now, a month later she only rolls over when she feels she has the need.

This month we got out the exersaucer.  I wasn't sure her back was ready for it, but honestly my arms were starting to get tired holding her in the standing position.

She loves it!  I'm happy to have something to put her in that doesn't put her to sleep like the swing does while I make dinner or we eat dinner.


We also tried cereal this month at the suggestion of her pediatrician because she is still spitting up and having some reflux pain.  

She didn't seem to mind the oatmeal and did quite well eating it, but her poor little belly just isn't ready for it yet.  For the two night she ate it, she had horrible, horrible gas pains and left both of us with little sleep.  We'll try again in another month or so and see what happens.


I love having my own little model for some of the stuff I've been crocheting, but when I can't find my camera it makes it hard to get some really good shots.  My phone doesn't do too bad capturing her cuteness though!

She also started laughing just a few days after turning 4 months, its just the cutest sound, of course I said the same thing about her sister's laugh too!  Her face was adorable when she realized the noise was coming from her.

She of course loves to blow bubbles and babble to herself all the time, but I don't have a good video of that yet!

One of my favorites