Nursing Strike

Just checking in ; )

I'm sad.  My baby is on strike.  A nursing strike to be exact.  He hasn't nursed since Monday morning around 9am.  Two and a half days now!  I was in horrible pain yesterday, but today is better.  It's hard to walk this fine line of pumping (yuck!), but not pumping too much..since at ANY moment, he might decide he's hungry!  But, so far?  Not happening.  I've never had a baby do this before.  I think he's weaned.

I bought formula (I'm feel like such a cow for saying how it stunk..it feels like fate!), juice, yogurt/juices, a couple more sippy cups, and he's taken all my milk.  I might get one more good pumping, but I think that's it.  Pray for me as I come off this crazy oxytocin hormone high.  And start to gain weight!

(Yes, it could've been the different body wash I switched to, the bite *and yelp* from me at the last feeding, the antibiotics I'm on..the list is nearly endless.  I've reshowered, pulled old nursing pads from the trash, been incredibly encouraging..but to no avail.) (It reminds me of miscarriage.  You rethink the last eighty things you've done to find a reason-and sometimes?  ..there just isn't one.)

Ches had a spot on his arm removed last Monday, and it was cancer.  This Monday he had a large section of arm (down to bone, through muscle) removed, and it had to be cut from a blood vessel.  He has a large 2.5-3 inch section of crude stitches.  He's not in as much pain as he was..but it's not good.  He didn't have the best experience, no pain medicine, so he's looking for a new dermatologist.  Like, for this week!  He's had lots of spots frozen or under watch for years, but this is a new category.  You can keep his pain level and healing in your prayers. : )

Mary Claire has now grown 3.5 inches in the last 6 months!  She's within 3.5 inches from me!  (not saying that much ; )  Her a1c was the same as last time, so even with all the puberty-spiked blood sugars, we are hanging in there.  We've nearly doubled the ratios and basal from what they were even two years ago!  We just kept seeing high blood sugars, so I kept raising her basal.  Now we are fine-tuning her bolus ratios for meals, and I'm working on finding the breaking point from breakfast (1 unit: 13 grams food) to lunch (1 unit: 23 grams food).  I have a middle-ground ratio..but it's not perfect.  I think when she sleeps in on the weekend, we get messed up! ; )

She's so sweet and just goes with the flow.  I'm so thankful she takes it in stride.  She is still convinced there are kids who don't know she has diabetes, doesn't want to talk too much about it with strangers, and has begun to hide her pump/pump pouch under her tank top, inside her jeans, with a shirt not tucked in over the top.  Never shall it see the light of day!  Makes me sad for her.  She is special for a reason, and it's brought some of the best friends.  I can be thankful even in the suckage.

Carter is standing alone (ahhhh!), and still has six teeth.  Those last bottom two are taking their sweet time.  He is starting to stick his tongue out repeatedly, kinda like a frog!  Super cute.

Ethan is minus his two front teeth, and it's my favorite sweet look for him.  He's precious.  He got some candy at church tonight, and he was making up games for us to play to win the candy.  I had to not talk, but make him laugh.  I won a Reese's pb egg..YUM!!

Clay had an awesome trip Saturday to the nuclear power plant in Conway, and then got to meet with the forestry commission (and brought home 14 trees to plant!).  Afterwards, he begged to go to the lock-in at church.  He had the longest day ever-but had a blast!  I'm super thankful that he has some great church and boy scout friends and some kids to look up to also.  They are some really good kids, for reals.

We are waiting on a big ice storm tonight.  It's the first time we've waited it out at home.  We usually head for Dallas or Houston (or Birmingham).  The problem is the ice is heavy, and it snaps trees and busts our power lines and/or poles.  We lose power!  It is much more difficult to travel with four, and Carter is not a fan of the car seat.  

We will just weather the storm here, since the ice should only last a day.  Ches has reserved a room at a local Residence Inn for tomorrow night (we can cancel till 4pm!), just in case we lose power.  He looked at generators this morning..but we'd have to store it, keep the gas, buy more extension cords, then move it..just not the best option for our family.  We love the idea, but it's not our best plan.

We have a gas fireplace, and it really heats up one room.  It's just hard at meal time and with a baby!  We'll see how it goes.  We just lucked out that last year we got away without a big power outage. ; )

Our home is still under contract, but we are planning to list it.  We have used this time to pray for some guidance, and we feel like we should definitely move (even if this contract comes to a close).  The new house would just be down the street, but it would fit our family life a little better.  We will lose money, but building prices are lower, so we'll be okay.  This has become a cleaning week, a packing-up-extra-stuff-week (I got a storage unit, so we are *motivated*, and I love the storage manager lady!  I've already given her a bunch of stuff she's taking to the Women's Shelter, and she has a unit she lets us put big trash and old furniture in..bonus!) (and I have a friend who has boxes from her move to share!), a snow-family week, and a planning-for-our-future-week.

So..you who've been to my house.  What do I need to change?  The hot pink breakfast room?  The lime green dining room and bedroom?  The deck furniture?  Can we be honest with one another?  That would just be supremely helpful.  Honesty just doesn't get a fair shake these days! ; )


Hope you have an honest friend or two.  And one to hug as your hormones crash. ; ) Hugs from hog country!

Painting and Friends!

So..I've learned you don't go to the pediatrician..unless you really need to.  (Even to the well visits!)  Guess what lives there?  MORE germs than what you have at home!!  The only place Carter went last week with me was to the doctor's office.  And who got a virus with icky poop last week?  Only Carter.  Poor thing.  We are just about done, I think.  (I mean..how do you know?)  (umm..firmer?  stinkier?  colored darker?  It's hard to be sure!)


We were supposed to have a play date with a couple friends, but appointments then virus intervened. : (  I did however have a super fun playdate with MY friends!  We had a surprise party for my friend Tiffany at Painting with a Twist Saturday night and a wonderful dinner at Noodles.  It was just nice to have the girls together and to talk over dinner.  Moms are such great friends, they understand your excitement (over good poop maybe?) and your troubles (bad language was a common thread, haha!).  A lot of the girls are younger than me (well, I was the next to oldest!), but we have kids the same age. ; )  I think there is a lot of same-same.  Anyway, I came away with a great painting (I'll promise to try to get a picture!), and I hope Tiffany had a great birthday celebration.  She sure deserves it, she's an amazing person!  (but she'd never tell you that, since she's so humble!!)

Mary Claire has been working on her science fair project..which fingernail polish lasts the longest.  And I was amazed.  I (and she!) voted for OPI.  However, it was Sinful Colors from Target.  Like..lasted five times as long.  And it doesn't even have tolulene or formaldehyde!  Now I know why my polish doesn't last as long as it could.  We took pictures after every dishwashing (to simulate showers and handwashing), and we were amazed.  I think I'll keep washing the plate to see how long it actually makes it.  (Just for me to know!)  Here are the ones she sampled:

This is the before, all painted and labeled. ; )

..and the after.  Only one hanging in there!

And now..dum, da-da, dum.. Lots of pictures since I uploaded my camera! : )

Ethan's sixth birthday party at the Little Gym!

The first birthday party E.V.E.R. where I got to sit and talk..they entertained, led activities, and took pictures!

how my baby looks through the window...

and what he does with a window!  Thanks to Brady's mom for capturing the slobber! ; )

Happy Birthday, sweet boy!  He was getting tired.

They even helped him stand at the front door to hand out goody bags and say thanks for coming!

..and here is my Love Bandit! ; )

I got all ready for Valentine's day..I removed the garland, and changed my chalkboard.  'Cause I'm so detailed like that. haha!

And this year, I took the time to pick out Easter clothes for the kids!  I usually get all the boys matching shirts, and I know it's kinda lazy..but it's easy.  But I found all these cute ties, and pink..fun!  and yes, they've seen the pink, and they approved. ; )  I can't *WAIT* to see them all dressed.  Little Carter in a BOW tie!

Hope you have a fun birthday coming up, some sweet pink to wear, or just a slobbery Love Bandit to smother in kisses!  And heck, if not..just paint your nails with some Sinful Color.  I mean..it's more fun than icky poop.  We try to look on the positive side.
Hugs!
 

Definitely Unbalanced

So..I just have to take a minute to write a few things down.  Maybe so I can remember in a few years when I wonder what it was like to have four kids.  And one of them tiny in diapers. ; )

Ethan has had a fever since Friday, so he's in bed.  We knew last night that he'd need to stay home today since he was sick plus feverish.  He obviously feels pretty good since he was standing on his bed, slamming his door this morning.  He was looking down into the kitchen..and another slam.  I had to have a talk with him, and I put a book between the door and the jamb.  This way...hopefully no slamming.  

Mary Claire woke up with the same symptoms Ethan has had..sore throat, not so good.  She is also in her room (they are confined to their rooms now that there are two..and it must be contagious!).  They have televisions we've moved in there from other rooms (they normally don't have tv's in their rooms!), and I got a couple videos today for them to watch.

Carter had a well-visit (9 months) today, so I had to wake him up this morning, try to fill him with milk so he'd weigh a few ounces more, change him, and race to the doctor's office.  These days I'm always late.  It's really tough to plan for myself and for the kids.  There just isn't enough time in the day.  (Especially right before an appointment.  Time speeds up before appointments, and slows down those five minutes just before dinner.)

When I got there, they told me he didn't have an appointment.  Yep, I just randomly added a 9:10 appt. on the blue bears side onto my calendar for the fun of it!  Not.  So..they rescheduled us for 11:20, and they wanted to go ahead and sign me in (umm..I have plenty of other things to do for the next two hours!  ..so I came back home).

I made the kids some turkey and dumplings (since there was just a little bit of Christmas turkey left).  I used frozen dumplings since I thought it'd be faster, but then the layers all stuck together while my broth was getting hot, and I got so frustrated.  I was stabbing between the little sheets with a steak knife to try and separate them.  The cardinal rule is that they can't be two-thick or they make super tough dumplings.  I worked at those for a while while Carter got into Ches' bike (..and into the bike chain) (..and into the bike grease) (..and in his new shirt, the "Love Bandit" ready for the doctor's visit).  (It's super cute with a little gray raccoon that's wearing an eye patch with a heart on it!)

I got this new vacuum, the iRobot Roomba for Christmas, and he was cleaning up the floors and entertaining Carter while I was soup-making and opening windows since we are experiencing a miracle 70 degree day in January.  I visualize the fresh air sweeping out the nasty viral germs plaguing my kiddos.  Somehow, I know it's just in my head, but I love open windows.  Except when Carter digs his fingers into the "window gutters" where all the dirt, dust, and dead bug carcasses live.  I have to turn my head and visualize germs flying out the window.

Two hours later, we had this déjà vu experience.  We were back at the doctor's office..only this time?  We had an appointment.  Miracles.  I took him to the restroom to change his poopy diaper.  While I had him ready to change, I  heard the nurse call his name.  Lovely. ; )  I went on out there, and she processed us: strip him to his diaper, head circumference, length, and went out to weigh him (I'd already told her he needed to be changed!).  What's the worst?  Laying your poopy baby up on that scale.  I wiped and wiped, and put on a fresh diaper.

He is still in the lowest percentiles... Dr. asked about nursing, my milk supply (still fine, thank-you-very-much, I guess he's forgotten the two-month appointment when he told me to feed him less.), and told me that it wasn't criminal activity to give him formula if I wanted.  I told him I think formula stinks.  (like..as in it smells bad.  would you drink it?)  He said it's not unusual for moms to supplement if it helps them nurse longer.  Two things.  Formula will end up decreasing your milk supply since there is less nursing/demand.  And how will that help you go longer?  (Has he not read all the books/pamphlets/websites?  You nurse more to make more.)  I am obviously willing to consider it since I bought some ready-to-drink formula at the store afterwards (I do usually wean around a year..and he only nurses well at home).

But the more I think about it..I don't think I'm ready to stop nursing quite yet.  I have to say eating all the extras would definitely come to an end.  I can enjoy steak with bacon on top (Saturday night), a brownie (Thursday), pasta (Friday night), and have relatively no regrets.  If I stopped..all those calories are mine alone!  And also?  I like being able to feed him late at night or early in the morning, all cozy, just us.  No bottle, no extra five minutes to make him something.  Just us.  And I like when he goes to sleep on me all comfy, with his fingers curled around my shirt.  He just relaxes right into peaceful sleep.

We went to the store after his appointment since I needed a few things (more tissues, cough drops, drinks, some lotion for eczema on his back.. and my first formula purchase.  boo.)  Maybe I'm worried formula means I can't do it all. (*Newsflash!!*)  Must investigate self further.

Anyway, he has no interest in nursing if we are out in public (in the van, in a restroom, dressing room, around friends, etc.), so he wouldn't eat when we got to the store.  I gave him some baby food, and we had a good shopping trip.  Except for the apples and chicken I discovered on my pants in the store.  And the green ink pen he lost on the fruit aisle.  I'd say it was still successful.  He stayed mostly inside the cart, the food stayed mostly inside the cart, and neither of us had tears. : )

I'm still learning to:
a.  use the restroom with a baby not in a car seat.  (They have to sit on your lap..then 
       what?)  And I couldn't wait any longer.
b.  wash one hand at a time.  dry one hand at a time.
c.  b.r.e.a.t.h.e when they wake up after a twenty minute nap, and I'm worn out from the
       last six hours!
d.  take care of two upstairs, sick, and one downstairs, well.  keeping all separated for
       their health.  and pray for the well one at school, that he remains well!
e.  balance my life.  I want a clean house and clean laundry, but I can't have it while
       meeting everyone's needs.  Every day there is a new priority.  And sometimes, it's
       just to make someone feel loved and comfortable.
f.  accept it when the pediatrician tells me I'm doing a good job, he can tell I'm an
       intentional parent, but now he can tell I'm more comfortable, and I've relaxed.
       Umm..so what was I the last three times?

I'm super-imperfect.  Really trying to figure out four.  Well, trying to figure out life with four with some balance for me and marriage..and maybe manage some friends or down-time too?  I have learned it crystallizes what's important.  There is no more time for the frivolous or meaningless.  I'm fall-on-my-knees thankful for my health-I couldn't do it any other way.  Maybe I'm doing something right!

Hug your babies, ya'll!  These days don't last forever.

Brakes? Who needs brakes?

I have a free minute, heehee!  Well, it's after bedtime..so that's why.

It's super normal here..except for my van's brakes going out on Wednesday!  Just so you don't think our life is too perfect (SOOO far from it!), these things happen.  I was headed out on Wednesday morning, and I sat at a stoplight.  Slowly, my van started to creep forward.  Then, I pushed the brakes harder.  Then..it went a little farther.  You know, when you are actually distracted, and the vehicle is moving?  Well..it wasn't that!

I thought I was crazy, so I kept going.  Then, it kept happening!  I would push it slowly to the floor at every light, until I decided someone had cut my brake line!  (You know, being all dramatic and everything! haha)  I called Honda and told them I needed some help.  They asked how soon I could get it in (being all trying-to-avoid-death-and-lawsuit and everything!).

First, they were going to drive me home..  But I was all four-kids and lots-of-errands and it's-why-I-keep-a-new-vehicle to them..  Then, they were going to loan me a vehicle (a really smoky one!)..  Finally, I got a new loaner car.  Thankfully, it still had vinyl-lined floor boards since it was a misty-rainy kinda day.  And I have the three kiddos climbing in and out!

So..then I had to take Mary Claire to the doctor (HIGH blood sugars after ending an antibiotic the day before, changing her site, AND her insulin..no dice.), and since flu is really bad here now, and I couldn't find a babysitter, the boys sat in the car.  Then we got a new (the THiRD!) prescription for her ongoing ear infection, and took the kids to PRE.  Ches and I shared some dinner with Carter, and I had ..wait for it.. a girls' night!  We are super wild and crazy and shared some hot chocolate and coffee! ; )

It was really nice to just sit and talk and catch up with the bible study girls since we haven't all seen each other in a long time!  

Anyway, I lived, and got the van back with a repaired master cylinder (I talk like I know all about them).  And?  bonus..it stops! (oh, and stays stopped!)  Yes, I totally researched the lemon law.  Don't worry, I got this. ; )

K, got a crying little one.  It's only midnight..party's just getting started!  Hugs, ya'll!