Wednesday, July 18, 2007

old women

(i.e., old wives' tales)

they like to remind you that babies are "easier" to take care of while in the womb than after delivery. i say boo-hiss to old women! MY baby is certainly easier at this point - i have HELP, and i'm not SICK. and might i add i'm SO GLAD i'm feeling healthy, and have help!

i'm in a mood; been reading blogs of peeps also in moods, and it carries over!

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

gotta swing!

actually, a vibrator.

yeah, my first vibrator, and it's for my infant. something seems wrong here!

it's a bouncer seat, with a rocker bottom and a vibrator attachment. very soothing for the newborn. and it has kickstand to stop it rocking so you can feed baby in it. we got this instead of a swing b/c it cost less than half as much, and b/c my boys outgrew their swings so fast. this will still work when she could reach out and grab the swing leg.

she's a hoot and a half. after feeding, when i tip her up to burp her, she starts grunting, groaning, and making noises that sound like burps. is she trying to help, or trying to trick us into thinking she already burped? we're not sure. but it's funny as heck!

Saturday, July 14, 2007

more tickle button stories

the ookie belly buttons are both doing much better, thanks. the end of my stitches still pokes me, but the infection has cleared and no more oozing; angela's is all healed up.

the nurse at the dr's office told me how to triple-coat her heinie so her rash would heal (first zinc ointment, then A&D ointment, then powder), and it's much better, but wants all three all the time. johnson & johnson would get rich(er) off us if BIL didn't work for them and give us free stuff!

and angela has stopped screaming the whole time we change every diaper. her poor little monkey butt is red, but no longer raw.

watch this space for future edit, as time constraints and starving children insist i leave the computer NOW!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

i'd better start cussing more

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weight loss update

i put my wedding ring back on today! huzzah!

actually, it's my 10th anniversary band, but i haven't worn it in a good 6-7 months, so i'm pretty excited!

dressing alike already

last week, Angela and I had matching ookie belly buttons.

she had been crying so hard she flipped hers inside out, which broke the scab loose and it fell off a few days later. so lots of ookie left to heal.

mine turned red, then a few days later started weeping and oozing, so I got antibiotics from the OB.

in between, we had matching nasty owie raw belly buttons. what a coinkidink!

at this point, they're better, but her diaper rash is still evil. it's always something!

Monday, July 09, 2007

kids in church story

my big boys are completely in love with their baby sister - which is as it should be, of course!

our pastor does a "children's conversation" before the main sermon. all of the children come up and gather around him, and he has a short discussion with them about some topic related to church. he's given them a box to bring items in that he can relate to his discussions; they take turns with the box. it's pretty cool - they see God in everyday toys and such.


we took Angela to church yesterday. at the beginning of service, Gabe asked if he could take his baby sister with him to the children's conversation. i thought for about a second and said, that's appropriate, but told him we'd have to see if she was fussy when it was time to go up. she was sleeping.

so my proud little 10-year-old got to take his baby to the front of the church for the children's conversation. he got a wave of laughter and some righteous pride out of it. the pastor commented she was the youngest child he'd EVER had participate! (18 days yesterday.)

Gabe is strong and steady with carrying her, so i really didn't worry about him carrying her; holding her while sitting on the floor was a little more worrisome, but he did great! (many were amazed i let him carry her, but he's been doing then since about day one - at DH's instigation! since then i'm fine with it.) he says she calms him down, and i can definitely see that.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

stray thoughts...

1. when you have gestational diabetes, saddlebags finally prove their worth; they're the least painful place to inject insulin on your flabby body. finger sticks are hardly a sting, but insulin injections can be anywhere from no big deal to major stinging, and no warning which they'll be.

2. insurance companies suck. yeah, i know, i'm glad i have insurance. my two hospital stays were $15K, and we haven't seen Angela's bill yet. but my insurance company keeps changing my plan (they're in bankruptcy, they get to do that), and increasing my copays, and making up new reasons i can have MORE large copays. well, i'm in debt for life anyway, right?

3. Motherhood Maternity has really lost their place in my heart. they were the only source for good nursing bras with my previous pregnancies, but the ones i got this time are crap for support, and wearing out already (wore them from second month of pregnancy, to be fair). are there ANY other places to find maternity bras? DH bought me one from K-mart but it's like five sizes too big - marked the same size i've been wearing.

4. and it reeks that my "engorgement" phase only lasted 5 minutes this time around. i'm smaller up top than i was through the pregnancy already.

5. (but related to 4) which could be related to the fact that i'm down 34 pounds, 15 days after delivery, and i only gained 20. if we count the 25 i WAS up, i lost 5 in the last 10 days BEFORE delivery, so then i'd be down 39.

6. (but related to 5) there have only been two times in my life when stress affected me this way: when SHIT-for-brains (as his mother and i referred to him at the time) took off for California, and when my newborn daughter was in the NICU. every other time i gain weight; 50 pounds for a move to NC 5 years ago, in fact. i'm still carrying previous baby weight, and i'm just shocked that i've lost so much so fast. here's to keeping the trend! (guess i'd better stop buying dubl-stuft oreos)

7. (but related to 6) and here's to no more stress of the magnitude that causes me to LOSE weight for another 18 years. hallelujah, we have a clean bill of health, and things are looking sunny all over! (now, if someone would just buy my house...)

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

13 days old

we're smiling and posing, just as cute as a bug. i can see her little head growing already. she wants to sleep and nurse, and hates having her diaper changed (sensitive skin = nasty raw rashes).

i'm going to figure out how to post photos soon soon.

having a newborn sucks all of the energy out of the day. she is a power magnet! we forget so easily... so all the TMI posts i'd planned to make have faded out of my head. i should be able to retrieve one or two eventually, but getting to the computer takes a mighty effort!

we've had wonderful support from our church family; now i have the added stress of needing to write thank-you notes. :D

should anyone wonder what we need, i'm registered at target.com, jennifer erdosy, and will be happy to accept donations! i just filed my short-term disability claim so i'll be lucky to see any return from that before 7/15.