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Category Archives: Health & Well-Being

I feel like a horrible mom.

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OMG. Katie is driving me batshit crazy today. She is super cranky, screaming like she’s starving, but spits and sputters and won’t sit still to drink a bottle. Then she’ll drink for 10 seconds then spit it out. There are no burps in there and she’s in a clean diaper. Lather, rinse, repeat ALL DAY LONG.

And I know she’s not even being that bad…I just have a VERY low tolerance for this type of thing, and why I wasn’t sure about having another baby. If she ever gets colicky I won’t be able to handle it. Seriously.

I feel like a horrible mom. :'(

Failure at the dentist

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I had really high hopes for today’s visit to the dentist since it went pretty well the last time and now he’s six months older.

Ha.

Things started well enough—he went potty right after we got there. He had fun counting chairs and running around.

But then he started to have a meltdown because—are you ready?—he wanted to take his shoes off and I wouldn’t let him. I tried all my normal tricks to get him thinking about something else and nothing was working. I looked around. AHA! A water fountain. Something completely new. That got him excited, got his mind off his shoes, and kept him busy until we were called back. The front of his shirt was also soaked from trying to learn to drink!

He climbed up in the chair no problem so I thought things were going well. I told him to just sit back, relax, put his arms out, and say “Ahhhhh!”

Then he did really well wearing the lead cape (a superhero cape!) on the first x-ray (they put a piece IN your mouth and you have to stay still) and then it started to go downhill. He didn’t want to sit still and of course didn’t like the thing in his mouth…so that was the end of that. One of five x-rays. But it was one more than we got the last time so okay, fine, moving on.

The dentist had to look in his mouth (at his superhero teeth!)…which took some cajoling, but it was managed without much issue.

Then it was time for the cleaning, and that’s when the MELTDOWN started. He wanted NOTHING to do with ANY part of it—which was extremely frustrating because he did JUST FINE with the cleaning on his last visit. He finally agreed to touch the brush, but then still didn’t want it to come near him. He agreed to watch her use it on me, but again refused to let it near him. I tried to reason with him, but you can’t reason with toddlers, let alone one in meltdown mode.

So that was it. Pretty much a complete waste aside from the one x-ray and brief look by the dentist.

Good times. :meh:

We’re switching pediatricians.

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Thank you, pediatrician’s office, for LYING to me and telling me we could take Katie to get her two-month immunizations any time around her two-month birthday. Tom took her on base this morning and was told NO, it has to be ON or AFTER her birthday. C’mon, really? It’s six stinking days early. UGH.

So, now, you might be asking, What kind of pediatrician’s office DOESN’T do immunizations?

EXACTLY.

They told me it had to do with us having Tricare insurance, and that we had to go on base to the immunization clinic. So, not having any experience with this (this is our first pediatrician in the area), I assumed that was just how it was done and that was that. But when I was at my doctor recently, I asked about their children’s clinic and if they did immunizations, and she looked at me like I had sprouted a second head and said of course they do.

Interesting.

So, my best guess is that they’re just a really small office and don’t want to keep the stock? Or maybe there’s some sort of sign-up procedure that they don’t want to go through? Who knows. But long story short is I’m switching pediatricians because it’s stupid for me to have all of these monthly appointments for Katie and then still have to go on base to get her immunizations—because the point of going to a civilian doctor was to avoid having to drive on base all the time!

Owen and Thunderstorms

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We learned last night that Owen doesn’t like thunderstorms—he never used to be bothered by them so this is new. We had a whopper roll through last night, shaking the house, super loud lightning, etc… I got up to pee at 5 and saw his light was on so I went in and he was crying. šŸ™ He’s apparently very concerned as to where the sun is. šŸ™‚

He calmed down pretty quickly and let me cuddle him (which I fully enjoyed) but neither of us fell asleep as he kept chattering off and on about the storm, the rain (the sound of rain), his new cars, the movie Cars, etc.

I finally left him at 6, just as Tom was finishing with Katie…as I was laying down, I heard Tom in Owen’s room. Huh? I got up and they were in the bathroom trying to pee. Yes, in the two minutes since I had left Owen’s room, he had turned on his light again. He didn’t have to pee so was diapered and put down again. Ten minutes later I heard him get out of bed so I went back in there. I think we both finally fell asleep around 7 and got up at 8.

It’s going to be a long day.

My little helper

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Owen is SUCH a great helper.

I have him do little things for me off and on—partially because it really helps me out and partially to teach him how to follow multi-part directions.

For example, today I asked:

“Owen, can you please go upstairs into your bathroom and bring me the Baby B that’s in the sink?”

And he got it.

I also asked:

“Owen, can you please go upstairs in Katie’s room and get the two bottles that are on her crib?”

And he did that, too.

Both of these are impressive since he often has a hard time with (what we think are) simple/easy-to-understand requests. (For example, he asked me where something was, and I told him (while pointing) “It’s under that chair in the pink cat bed.” And he didn’t get it, even after I repeated it three times.) I’m not sure what the difference is between what he does and doesn’t understand.

But he’s learning and getting better and he’s awesome to have as a helper!

10 Things I Worried About Before Giving Birth That Didnā€™t Matter At ALL During Labor

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http://blogs.babble.com/b…l-during-labor/

Hilarious blog post that anyone who has given birth will surely appreciate. Click through the link for the whole story, but here are a few of my favorites (even though I personally wasn’t worried about them):

My water breaking
I was utterly frozen with fear that my water would break at the most embarrassing possible moment. Like, in the middle of a business meeting, in the checkout line at the supermarket, while having sex with my husband (although, of course, whoā€™s really having sex during the time in which they think they might be eligible for their water to break?).

As it turns out, when I was pregnant with my older daughter, my water broke at 2 in the morning when I was dead asleep and it took me four hours, three books, two calls to my obstetrician and, ultimately, a test in the hospital to determine that, yes, in fact, my water had broken and I hadnā€™t just peed the bed.

In retrospect, given that only something like 13 percent of pregnant women actually have their water break, it was a pretty silly thing about which to worry.

What to wear
What to wear? What to wear? This isnā€™t the prom, people. The jig is up. Iā€™m giving birth for chrissakes. What Iā€™m wearing is whatever the hell is going to get that baby out of me fastest and with the least amount of pain.

What Iā€™m wearing? Sheesh.

Everyone looking at me down there
I was all insecure at my vagina hanging out for so many people to see, what, with nurses and doctors and other strangers walking in and out of the hospital room.
When it came down to it, however, I was all, like, ā€œIf you staring at my vagina is going to get this thing out of me faster, then letā€™s make it the 8 p.m. showing at the local movie theater. Hell, letā€™s turn it into a freakinā€™ national release.ā€

Most challenging day-with-a-newborn yet.

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I really wish I knew what made babies spit up. We just switched to a new formula, and it seems that she’s spitting up more. But it’s not all the time after every bottle which makes me think it can’t be the formula. (For example, at her 4 AM feeding she drank 5 ounces, didn’t burp, and went to sleep no problem. The bottle I’m giving her now, she drank an ounce and spit up. She drank two more ounces and spit up again. Same formula.) Sooo frustrating.

That said, I think today is my most challenging day-with-a-newborn day thus far. And I know it’s nothing even bad or rant-worthy because it could be soooooo much worse… But all morning it’s been eat, spit up, eat, nap for 5 min, screech, spit up, spit up, eat, spit up, 10m nap, screech, eat, spit up, lather rinse, repeat since 7a.

I think it’s just feeling worse because I got so little sleep last night (the least amount of overnight sleep I’ve gotten since she’s been home)—she didn’t fall asleep until after 11, was up at 3:30, and I didn’t fall back to sleep until around 5:30 (the last time I looked at the clock it was 5:20), then she was up screaming to eat at 7:15.

Man, I did/do NOT miss this. She’s been spoiling us (me) for sure…

Katie’s one-month appointment

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Unfortunately, I wasn’t quite as enamored with the pediatrician’s office this time. Last time, I got in before my scheduled time. Today? Just over 45 minutes late. With no explanation or apology. :## I’m just hoping it was an off day, as one of the other waiting patients made a comment that they’ve never had to wait before.

So…Katie gained {one ounce shy of} two pounds in the past two weeks! She’s 10 lbs. 13oz.—95th percentile in height and weight, baby.

Lordy. Another Owen in the making…

Weight: 10 lbs. 13 oz!! (was 8 lbs. 14 oz at two weeks)
Height: 21-3/4″ (was 20.5″ at birth)
Head:

I like the pediatrician well enough, but she DIDN’T LISTEN to me today—not a big deal overall, but it was annoying. She asked how much Katie was eating and how often. I said 4-5oz every 2-3 hours EXCEPT at night since she sleeps through the night. So she does the mental calculation half out loud (24 hours / every 3 hours = 8 feedings at 5oz each) and says “So you’re feeding her 40oz a day? That’s too much.” With a definite judgmental-sounding tone.

Um, no.

I repeated that it wasn’t ALL day since she slept through the night. So I pulled out my handy dandy baby tracking app and told her the average daily feeding was 25.6oz, the most per day was 29 and the least per day was 22. Then she was happy. šŸ™„ So from now on I will just tell her the total average ounces. šŸ˜

But she said overall Katie looked to be doing really well and to just keep doing what we were doing!

Welcome to my neuroses.

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I am trying to figure out how to categorize/sort/label my Katie photos. Owen was easy—separate folders for Year | Month. But now that Katie is here, I’m at a loss. I started doing the same as Owen (Year | Month) but she’s obviously in pictures with Owen…so do the photos go in Owen, Katie, or a new Siblings folder? For the month she was born, I put Owen photos in Owen, Katie photos in Katie, and mixed photos in the folder of whoever seemed to be the main subject of the photo.

Then I figured that maybe I would just group them in a generic Kids folder…but there are times when I take a ton of Owen or a ton of Katie—that could really go in their own folder.

I thought about tagging, but I’m not sure how helpful that really is on my computer (Windows 7). (I know you CAN tag things, but I haven’t really used it or used it to search, so I’m not sure how beneficial it would really be.) I know people use Picasa, but I have tried using it in the past but all I remember is that last time I used it—and tagged EVERYTHING—my hard drive died (or something) and I lost all my work. So I don’t want to waste my time with that again.

Then there’s POSTING the photos. I upload monthly photos to Shutterfly. So, there are (obviously) 41 monthly folders of Owen. I started an album for Katie (currently one folder!)…but these should mimic what I do on my computer. Right? To keep the confusion to a minimum?

And don’t even get me started on this blog. I called it Baby. Now it should be Kids but I’m sure that’s a nightmare to change. And all the posts about Owen I want labeled as Owen but there is NO easy way to do that, so I’m just tagging Katie posts with Katie to at least differentiate that way. I get a headache just thinking about it.

WELCOME TO MY NEUROSES. :**:

Only one feeding a night…but I’m still tired.

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I love that Katie has only ever needed one feeding a night…but it’s usually at 5a, which means after I get done pumping it’s about 6a…at which point it’s nearly impossible to fall asleep again (because 1. it’s getting light out and 2. I know I have to be up around 7-7:30 to get Owen up and hopefully shower before Katie wakes up).

If I just had Katie, I’d generally get to sleep in until 8 or 9…but alas that isn’t the case. šŸ˜ So, since Katie usually doesn’t go to bed until midnight…I’m getting five hours of sleep (minus the two times I have to get up to pee). Which sounds like a decent amount of time, until afternoon rolls around and I can barely keep my eyes open.

So, I’m a different kind of tired this time around…

Two weeks old!

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Long story short, we no longer have to travel to the base hospital for appointments! When Tom went in to add Katie to our insurance, they asked if we wanted to change our PCM to someone in town and we said YES! (That’s what we initially wanted to do when we moved here but they told us we HAD to be seen on base. Ironically, Tom was dealing with the exact woman he dealt with before that gave him such attitude and she tried to tell him that he could have picked a PCM a year ago when we moved here. But anyway.)

So we only have to drive 15 minutes now and can park about 20 yards from the office (instead of driving 30 minutes and parking 200 yards from the office)…it really does feel like a HUGE difference. The office is small and a bit outdated (i.e. the scale they used to weigh Katie was an old-fashioned one where you slide the bars to get it to balance instead of the digital one at the hospital that takes three readings and averages them)…but the staff and doctor were nice and it was quick and easy and I’m glad we made the change.

So, Katie’s stats. For reference:

She was born 8 lbs. 1 oz.
She left the hospital at 7 lbs. 12 oz.
At her one-day check-up she was 7 lbs. 6oz.
At her three-day check-up she was 7 lbs. 11 oz.
At her two-week check-up…she was 8 lbs. 14 oz!!

I didn’t think about it until after we left that they didn’t measure her length or her head…but maybe they don’t do that until the one-month appointment. I just chalked it up to something else I don’t remember, and will make a note of it for her next appointment.

I don’t remember.

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I seem to be saying that a lot. About everything (trying to compare to Katie).

How much did Owen eat at one time when he was a week old?
I don’t remember.

When did Owen start spitting up?
I don’t remember.

When did Owen start holding his head up on his own?
I don’t remember.

When did Owen start using a pacifier?
I don’t remember.

None of the questions are life or death, but it’s SO frustrating that I can’t seem to remember ANYTHING from when Owen was a newborn!

Katie’s Birth Story

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July 9 » 4:00pm

As directed, I called Labor & Delivery to see if I was still supposed to come in at 6 and the charge nurse wasn’t available so I was told they would call me back.

4:30pm

We assumed we were still on schedule and dropped Owen and Maggie off at our friend’s house, then headed to town for dinner.

5:07pm

I called Labor & Delivery back since no one had returned my call. They said they had a few people admitted and deliveries going on, so wanted me to call back around 6:45 for an update. Since we were already in town with nothing to do, we thought we’d try to go to a movie but out of eight theaters nothing was even on at 5:30 so we just headed home to wait, keeping our fingers crossed that it would still actually happen. (We REALLY wanted to have her on the 10th, to match the birthday of her namesake, my Grandma Katie.)

6:44pm

The process is still on hold. The charge nurse is now with a patient who’s delivering and they said they would call me back soon…but they still hope to get me in tonight. This is sooooo frustrating.

7:59pm

Just as I was about to give in and call them back (again) they called and said things had calmed down and we could come in if we still wanted!

8:25pm

Here we go! Eating a last-minute snack on the way in since I won’t be able to eat anything once I get there and deliver.

9:44pm

Waiting to be checked now to see which induction drug I get…If I’m dilated at all, it will be Pitocin. If I’m not dilated, it will be Cervidil. An IV line is started and I am hooked up to monitors for me and the baby. Tom and I just hang out, prepping for what we assume will be a quiet night resting/sleeping waiting for the drugs to work and then a morning labor and delivery.

10:15pm

The midwife came in to check and see if I was dilated at all…and holy shit that was painful. I honestly don’t remember having my cervix checked before but Tom said “Oh, you did. And you screamed the same way before, too.” I said it felt like she was in up to her elbows…and he said “That’s exactly what you said the last time, too!” :meh: I was 4cm so they decided to start the Pitocin.

11:00pm

The nurse came in to ask how I was doing and I said “Fine, nothing is going on” and she laughed and said I’ve been having contractions for awhile now! Hmmm, that’s news to me but the machines don’t lie!

July 10 » 12am-2:00am

The contractions started off pretty tame and I actually tried to sleep (they gave me Benedryl in the IV but it didn’t even touch me). I couldn’t have slept anyway as the blood pressure machine kept going off every 20-30 minutes and I could hear the fetal monitor beeping. I had to get up and pee a few times and that was a chore since you had to unplug the two fetal monitor cables, the blood pressure machine, and then drag the IV stand along. Interestingly, we got to listen to a woman give birth in the suite next door (through the wall) and she was NOT having a good time. Really screaming and yelling—VERY much in pain—and I thought “Wow, I wonder if that’s what I sounded like when I gave birth to Owen?” and then as it became apparent she didn’t have an epidural I just kept thinking “Silly silly lady, why wouldn’t you get an epidural?” If only I realized the foreshadowing…

2:00am

I’m guessing this is about when my water broke (there was no clock and I didn’t have my phone out). I assumed this would be like last time my water broke (where it didn’t really have any effect on the process) so waited 5-10 minutes before I even paged the nurse. She checked and said that there was meconium in it (which means Katie pooped already) which wasn’t a problem at all except that at birth they would have to take Katie right away to make sure she was okay instead of being able to put her directly on me.

3:00am-ish

Still no idea what the actual time was, so I’m guessing… The contractions had started getting a little too painful—moreso than I remember them being with Owen when I got the epidural—so I paged the nurse and said it was time, then made one last trip to the bathroom. The anesthesiologist seemed to take his sweet time getting there and when he finally did arrive, it appeared he didn’t have ANY of the paperwork I had already filled out so he was going over every little thing and asking me a ton of questions and I was only half paying attention because I was having majorly painful contractions every few minutes and was just thinking GET TO THE EPIDURAL ALREADY. By the time he brought me the sheet to sign (of course, in the middle of a contraction) I was barely coherent and my signature was pretty illegible.

3:25am

Needless to say I never got my epidural. >:XX By the time he was done messing around, it really felt like I needed to start pushing—like it was going to happen with or without my consent—so the nurses and midwife told me to go ahead because it was too late for the epidural anyway. I seriously thought the process might kill me…the pain was SO much worse than what I experienced with Owen. I know I said “I can’t do this” at least 20 times and I know there was a lot of swearing involved overall…and I’m pretty sure I told them to just do a C-section and be done with it because otherwise this was going to kill me. And I pushed.

3:29am

Four minutes later (according to the paperwork I got at discharge) after only 2-3 pushes (according to my memory), she shot right out. Like literally SHOT right out—I could feel it clear as day and Tom said the midwife actually had to catch her. And it was over. JUST. LIKE. THAT. In four minutes. Of course they still had to deliver the placenta (which I’m guessing was the 12 minutes listed on the paperwork) which wasn’t comfortable but it was certainly easier and less painful than the birth. I was pretty incoherent as to what was going on around me—I was just glad it was over and completely stunned that I did it without drugs. I do remember telling Tom to at least go get a picture of her!

4:06am

Her stats and first official photo were posted on Facebook:
Katie Jean Hudson
Born July 10th 0329
8 lbs 1.4 oz
20.5″

4:10am

I did need a few stitches, but had asked the midwife if I could have some time to rest before we did that part and she said that would be fine. So I had some time with Katie.

4:45am

The midwife came in and shot me up with a bunch of lidocaine (at my request, as I had warned them I felt everything the last time I got stitched up). And it still wasn’t enough as I felt each stitch she put in. šŸ˜® :'( But then, finally, it was over.

5:40am

Tom was snoring away in the chair/bed next to me and I wanted to sleep but was wide awake and just watching Katie in the bassinet next to me. All of the recovery rooms were currently occupied (they apparently had six births that night!) so we were just waiting out our time.

OB Appointment…guess what happened?

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Short story?

Unless something happens on its own this weekend, I’ll be induced Monday night…

Long story?

My blood pressure was high at the appointment so the doctor was concerned that it might be pre-eclampsia (it hasn’t been high for a few months, but since I’m near the end, it was a worry). She also wanted an ultrasound to measure the baby (something I was apparently supposed to be having done every so often—NOT the fetal monitoring I’ve been doing, but an additional ultrasound—but hadn’t had in a while) so she walked me across the hall for that since she had an opening right then. On the way I told her that I was concerned that the last doc mentioned stripping my membranes today and possibly inducing labor next week and she said she wouldn’t do that unless it was medically necessary—so that made me feel better. Everything with the baby measured just fine (head, length, amniotic fluid, etc.) but the doc still sent me off for lab work to rule out or diagnose the pre-eclampsia. (On a sidenote, the tech guessed that the baby was about 8.5# but the doc said “Oh, the +/- on that is about a pound…” |-| So why even give a guesstimate that could be so far off?)

The lab work actually went amazingly well, considering I have the worst veins on the planet and it usually takes three techs and four pokes to hit a vein—the girl got it on the first attempt! Everything was marked STAT so I knew I’d have results fairly soon.

So, up in Labor & Delivery Triage, they hooked me up to the monitors (like I’ve been doing at my weekly appointments, just with another nurse) and my BP was fine and the baby’s movements were fine—and most of the lab work came back just fine…except the protein in my urine was __fill in the blank with whatever number was high enough to cause more tests but not high enough to be severely concerned__ and the midwife wanted me to do a 24-hour urine test. Uh, yuck. No thanks. Especially when she said that if the protein marker results were __whatever number high enough__ I would be admitted RIGHT THEN. As in tomorrow afternoon! So I half-jokingly said “Can’t I just skip it and agree to come in and be induced Monday?” And she was fine with that!!! So that’s the plan…unless, of course, something happens before then or I have any strange symptoms that might be cause for alarm.

So, no, I didn’t initially want to be induced…but since things went a little awry, it did seem like the best option. Especially since if things go according to plan…I’ll have Katie on her namesake’s birthday: July 10! (I’ll be admitted for induction at 6pm on Monday night the 9th and will likely have her sometime after midnight on Tuesday the 10th!) šŸ™‚

Phew, that was scary but I’m okay.

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Nothing much scarier then losing your balance/tripping when 8.5 months pregnant and trying to avoid landing on your child who is being obstinate and laying under you. šŸ˜

I’m fine—with no idea how I actually fell or what exactly caused me to trip or how I managed to land without hurting myself or Owen in any way—but I scared the crap out of Tom who was downstairs and came charging up to see me on the floor swearing and Owen just standing there like nothing happened. Of course Tom yelled (not at Owen but just in general) at which point Owen THEN burst into tears…

Hopefully Owen learned he needs to listen to me…I had asked him to get in the bath and he was refusing by laying down in the hallway. I had counted to three and he didn’t budge, so I was getting up to pick him up…when the drama ensued.

37 week checkup

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The doc said today that at my next appointment (38.5w) they’re going to check my cervix and strip the membranes if necessary…then would look at inducing on my due date if I hadn’t had the baby by then.

88| 88| 88|

I was too shocked to say anything (and then he was out the door)…but, um, NO. I’m letting this one bake as long as necessary on her own, thankyouverymuch.

I mean, why induce if there’s no reason to? And they haven’t given me a reason to. Which is why I’ll definitely be asking at my next appointment. They have casually mentioned I’m a bit on the big side but nothing worrisome.

Interestingly—when I was up in Labor & Delivery last week for my weekly fetal monitoring appointment—I saw a chart on a public bulletin board regarding a goal of delivering more babies between the hours of 8-5…which struck me as odd. So I’m guessing there’s a correlation there…

I could actually cancel my next appointment because the doc said “come back in 1-2 weeks.” Well, at this late stage of the game, there’s a big difference between one and two weeks—I mean, one week puts me at 38.5 weeks and two weeks puts me at 39.5 weeks! It’s not like we’re at 24 weeks here. So I opted for one week this time (I’ve been doing two) but I may just go with two. And let whatever happens happen.

It’s not all sunshine and cotton candy…

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I am so fed up with Owen and his non-eating habits. I try so hard not to let it bother me but some days I just want to scream.

Tonight we had Bulgogi—marinated flank steak. We’ve had it before and he LOVED it (granted, it was probably 1.5-2 years ago when he might still try new things) so we wanted him to try it again and he just flat out refuses. Shakes his head no, waves his hands in front of his face, growls NOOO at us…the whole nine yards. We used to be able to bribe him with a treat if he tried something and that doesn’t even work anymore. :**:

I’ve read all the things that are supposed to work and they don’t:

  • I put some [of whatever] on his plate with his other food…and he just ignores it.
  • I put out the same food (or just offer it) over and over and over and over in case it takes 20 times. He never tries it.
  • I can’t be sneaky and hide food in what he eats…because he eats nothing I can hide other stuff in (like mashed potatoes or Mac and cheese or meatballs or hamburgers or spaghetti).
  • I can’t fool him with toppings hid on pizza under cheese–he takes them off.
  • He notices smashed fruit in his yogurt and won’t eat it.
  • He didn’t even like the strawberry freezer jam I made—which had nothing hiding, it was just different.

I’ve pretty much given up reading articles on the subject because every one ends up being completely laughable to me.

I keep telling myself he’ll grow out of it, but it’s been so long already with no change in sight (and it’s actually gotten worse!) that I really have no hope. I keep thinking he’ll better understand compromise or bargaining as he gets older, but he doesn’t seem to have a clue.

Tonight we eventually told him there would be no iPad until he tried a new food…and that didn’t even work. And he LIVES for the iPad. Then I feel guilty for doing that…but I feel we have to try all sorts of options. But now I can’t give him the iPad because I cant give in. I expect tantrums.

In my pissed off moments I want to try the giving-him-only-what-we’re-eating thing again, as a take it or leave it meal…but then I feel guilty even thinking about doing that because what if he really does have some major issue with food that we just haven’t figured out yet?

Being pregnant and super emotional doesn’t help any of this, either.

I am just sooooo tired of dealing with this. Yes, I know it could STILL be worse, but as I said, there are just days when it overwhelms me.

A month or so to go…

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With a month or so left, I’m starting to get freaked out. Nothing is done so it starts this week…painting the nursery, putting the crib and dressers together, washing clothes, finding baby stuff in the garage. Tom is going to try and take Thursday and Friday off.

I just keep thinking it could be two weeks…it could be two weeks…!!!!!!!!! And to top it off, I’m more paranoid about this birth than the first one where I was completely clueless. I’m afraid of being early again (or even earlier). I’m paranoid of my water breaking somewhere inconvenient or at an inconvenient time (like having to call our friends to take Owen in the middle of the night). I’m paranoid I’ll have actual contractions and it will be worse than last time. I’m afraid the epidural will get screwed up again.

And on and on.

Classroom observation and speech evaluation

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Owen had his classroom observation and speech evaluation today. Long story short, neither the teacher nor the speech therapist saw any glaring issues—and both said he seems to be above average intelligence for his age and they see no academic issues at all. They said most of what we’re seeing will probably resolve itself once he starts hanging out with kids his age.

In more detail…the classroom observation went well according to the teacher. She said he didn’t really play with the other kids, but he watched—and towards the end of the time (an hour) he started to get closer to them. She said he talked to the teacher and no one had any problems understanding him. He listened when things were explained and understood how to use the toys he was being shown (a kid’s laptop-type toy). She said from her perspective, he was just fine academically—and possibly even a little advanced (seeing as how he just turned three). So, that’s good news. As a sidenote, she said she did cut the session short by just a bit because he was getting anxious about wanting to see me—which really surprised me, but also made me feel good!—he apparently kept asking about me but kept playing…but finally said he wanted to see me and was pretty set on it. Awwww. šŸ™‚

The speech therapist first said he is such a sweet little boy. And big for his age. And that she had to keep reminding herself he was just three because he seemed smarter than that. (YAY!) šŸ™‚ She said some of his speech issues were age-related—for example, certain letter combinations don’t fully appear until age 6 or 7. And she said that he was very conversational—she knew he had a cat named Charlie who he played with and he watched TV in mama’s room. She was impressed with his vocabulary (he was talking about propellers and alligators) and his hearing (saying he heard helicopters outside, noticing sounds in the hallway and asking what they were) and said that when he parrots back things you say, he’s not just making the sounds—he seems to really be thinking about it and understanding it. She said in all honesty—though she hadn’t tallied his actual test results yet—she has no worries about his speech at all.

The results meeting in two weeks to discuss if he needs any special education is pretty much just a formality to say no. Which is a good thing.

Phew.

Now I just need to find him a preschool (though they said the drop-in daycare would be fine for now, too).

Barfing boy.

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There’s nothing quite like walking in the door after eating dinner out…only to have your kid barf all over the living room floor. Not 30 seconds earlier outside…but at least not two minutes earlier in the car. šŸ™

I really wish I knew why Owen throws up when he does. He didn’t eat a ton. He’s not sick. He wasn’t upset. He wasn’t coughing or choking on anything…??

We ran one errand and then came home. Six steps inside the door he stopped and I knelt down to listen to him and he barfed all over me. I had him stay there to get some wipes and Tom came over…and Owen barfed again. Thinking that had to be it, I started undressing him when he barfed again, more than the other two times combined.

What. The. Hell?

He gives no warning. He doesn’t complain. He just barfs and is done.

Are other kids like this?

School screenings findings meeting

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Long story short, the school didn’t really seem to think Owen was in dire need of any special education—which, yes, is a good thing—but they did notice some areas in which he was on the lower end of normal (some language and social stuff)…but still normal (and said he was actually quite advanced on a lot of language stuff).

That said, we were able to request a more formal language evaluation (since that’s what we’re most concerned with) and classroom observation (his speech issues we’re concerned with might be better observed—or negated—by seeing him interact with kids for a longer time period)…so we are waiting to schedule those. Best case scenario, we are hoping that we can get him into a social situation (preschool) with other kids which will improve certain aspects of his language skills because he will learn from the other kids and also have to use his language to communicate with them (instead of with us who already understand him pretty well).

As a sidenote, these findings have NO effect on our ability to get the ABA (applied behavioral analysis) Therapy benefits through the military, so even if we don’t qualify for any special education programs through the school district, we will still get the one-on-one therapy.

Volcano, Take 1

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Well, we were going to have a “volcano” (fire) tonight with s’mores (Owen keeps asking about marshmallows)…until Owen was eating a marshmallow and didn’t quite chew it fully before swallowing…so he half choked and ended up barfing all over Tom. So that was the end of the volcano (good thing Tom hadn’t started the fire yet) for the night.

Sesame Street USO Experience

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http://www.uso.org/sesame/

Since its debut in July 2008, the Sesame Street/USO Experience for Military Families has taken its message to more than 248,000 troops and military families and performed 433 shows on 131 military bases in 33 states and eleven countries.

We learned tonight that Owen really doesn’t do LOUD. (We know he doesn’t like sudden loud noises and in general he doesn’t like loud areas…but I was holding out hope.) So, yep, the Sesame Street thing was a fail. But let me start at the beginning…

We were in the third row on the end of the aisle. I was excited because it meant I could get good pics of the stage and Owen would be close enough to see. The mom next to me said “You know they come down the aisles right?” obviously warning me. I said no I didn’t know, but we’d see what happened (if Owen liked it or was freaked out). I loved the Sesame Street sign.

He loved seeing all the kids waiting in line and in the auditorium (“Look at all the kids!”).

He didn’t seem to mind the noise level of the auditorium (the first big challenge).

He loved that he got an Elmo spinny light toy (he LOVES those type of toys).

He let me take a picture (that turned out awesome).

He did awesome waiting the half hour—playing with the spinny toy and my phone (and the mom next to us even commented on how awesome his behavior was, compared to her 2yo monkey who wouldn’t stop climbing and moving).

But…he started saying DONE before the show even started. But it was a calm DONE, like a polite suggestion. I figured once he saw Elmo, maybe he would change his mind. Well, the first thing that happened was a guy came out to welcome everyone and give thanks to certain people…and Owen was okay with that…and I learned he apparently really likes clapping when everyone else is:

Then there was a video of the First Lady and Elmo, welcoming everyone and setting up the premise of the show. And he was okay with that. (This is one of the videos we saw.)

And then Elmo came out and it was LOUD and they started LOUD music and dancing.

And that’s when he became more emphatic with his HOME, DONE, and pointing. He would be excited momentarily when each new character came out, but it was still LOUD songs and he was not a fan. I kept trying to talk to him to hopefully calm him a little and get him through the music to where there would (hopefully) just be talking…but he alternated between putting his head in my lap (trying to hide) and pointing and saying HOME. I thought we might make it, but then he started whining and almost crying, so I knew we were done.

So about five minutes in (before the thing really got started—they were still in the warm up songs) I decided it was time to go and moved to get out of my seat—and he was off like a shot up the aisle, weaving through all the little kids in the aisle who were dancing, not even looking back for me. As soon as we got outside, he was completely fine, playing with his spinny toy and having a ball.

On the way to the car he started saying “Great job, mama, great job.” ā“ He’s been saying that lately and I assume he’s just parroting me saying it (I say it A LOT) but sometimes it’s appropriate for the situation. So I just thanked him, and eventually he said “Great job, mama, seeing Sesame Street.” So to him, he saw Sesame Street and he was just fine. šŸ™‚

So in once sense I was disappointed (I kinda wanted to see the show—it wasn’t just for him!) but he was apparently happy AND we were out of there before it ended so we didn’t have to deal with the crazy traffic AND we got home in time for his bedtime AND at least we learned the lesson a cheap way (free tickets to something local), instead of traveling and spending $$$ on tickets for something in, say, Raleigh.

I’m guessing this is one of the areas we’ll be working on when we eventually start therapy. šŸ™‚

Chromosome test results

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I just technically got Owen’s chromosome test results. I say technically because the pediatrician read them to me over the phone—and of course it’s all Greek—he wasn’t even familiar with the exact result so he said he has to read up on it. I can’t even tell you what the exact findings were until I go pick up a copy of the report (it was too complex to write down over the phone).

That said, apparently it was recommended that Tom and I get tested, too. I’m assuming it’s so we know if we need to 1) watch Katie for signs and/or 2) get her tested early. If we’re clear, the mutation starts with Owen; if one of us (or both) have the anomaly, she’ll need to be checked because we will likely pass it down again.

For some reason, this is more disturbing to me than the initial autism diagnosis, even though it technically doesn’t change anything and there’s nothing we can do about it either way…it’s just knowledge.