EK in the ER

It was a late night/very early morning drive six weeks ago that allowed me to hold this precious jewel in my arms.  

And it was a late night/very early morning drive to the same hospital that gave me a sincere appreciation for her delicate life.  Its amazing to me the difference about those trips, but both of them were drives that made because I cared a lot about my daughter.  And both were really trips that required me to be at my best!

EK was having a rough day and it turned into a difficult night.  Our entire family was feeling unwell, but she was the worst.  She was not her usual calm self when we visited her paternal grandparents' home, but I thought it was due to overstimulation and the heat.  When we got home, I attributed that she was warm to the touch because we didn't have the air conditioner turned on yet.  However, when at 2:30 AM she was fussy and still so hot, I took her temperature and called the pediatrician's after hours line.  

My daughter had a high fever (for an infant) and the policy for babies younger than two months is hospitalization if temperature exceeds 100.2 F.  EK's was 101.4 when we arrived at the hospital! 

We arrived at 3:30 AM and were checked in moments later.  They gave her a hospital gown (too large) and a full work up. We spent the next six hours in the same ER room.  Because there was no obvious cause to her malady, she was tested and tested.  

Blood draws from the tops of her tiny hands (wails).

IV line in her hand.

Tiny cathedar in her bladder to collect urinary analysis.

Chest x rays.

Nasal swab for RSV.

The good news was that she was clearly not a toxic baby - she was highly reactive to these tests!  She hated them.  She had a lot of fight in her during that ER trip, and I think that is one reason why she wasn't required to stay 48 hours, per the policy, for observation.

That and the UA was negative, as was the RSV test and x ray.  

And because they said, "You are a good, thoughtful mother.  We can tell that you will be very attentive to her needs and take action if she becomes less healthy."

This was a really stressful experience for Elsa, and she rested most of yesterday and today.  We had a follow up visit at the pediatrician's office, where she did not show any signs of a serious illness.  She just has a baby cold.  She's nursing fairly well, coughing and sneezing, and generally doing as good as a person who doesn't feel so well can do.

I am thankful for her help and also the fantastic treatment/care she received!  I am more thankful that the hospitalization was unneccesary.  I am further still more thankful that we didn't have to go back to the ER last night and that I didn't have to watch any medical procedures done on my daughter today!

Kinda cruddy writing, I know.  I switched tenses and voices throughout.  However, I haven't made up for that totally sleepless night and am feeling exhausted still.  I've been a bit overwhelmed by how many things I could write about and share photos about to actually start doing it!  I  have also been so distracted by my children to really devote brain power into mentally composing posts when not online.  And another excuse... during the day, my son adores using the laptop to watch Disney's children's site, so he kind of claims the computer if its out when he's awake.  This gives me time to do other thinks like mop and think... but less time to invest in this blog and my personal reflections.

Stuff That's Happened....

- ER visit for daughter 3 AM - 9 AM Monday morning, 101.4 F... yuck.  No hospital admittance, phew.
- Constant wiping of son's dripping nose for three days
- Little Miss Haid met the oldest living Mrs. Haid and the other two Mrs. Haids were in the same room, too.  I don't think there is a greater density of female Haids anywhere, at least in US...
- Watching The Bachelorette and she reminds me a lot of Trista
-  Celebrated 6th wedding anniversary with silly comedy movie and BBQ meal as our date night
- My mom (and Oprah) retired
- Had another evening to hang out with BFF before she went to MS
- Still enduring a breastfeeding injury/malady of a duct problem... yipes.  Now I have more condolence for people who quit nursing since before I had no issues and thought those women were wimps.  Now I get it!

Mini Distraction Posting #2

Ow.   Breast pain due to clogged duct.  Or something else breastfeeding related.  (Yes, I googled it and called a friend and got her advice, too.  I am trying to remedy this!).


Yippee!  I found percocet from last month's delivery that is helping to cut the pain in half.  PHEW.  But not so wonderful to eliminate the pain and let me play volleyball or something.


I never had this terrible experience when nursing my son.  I dislike this experience so much that perhaps I am okay with EK going back to eating twice at night, rather than once or none at all (yes! she slept through the night Wednesday night!  I think that is the culprit).

She's a great little sleeper though.

Mini Distraction Posting #1

My mom couldn't find her phone the last few days.

It was in the freezer.

I come by this misplacing thing naturally!

Mini Distraction Posting All Day.

Tonight we are having company.  My parents, my best couple friends, and twin babies are coming over for dinner.

So that means I've got house chores to do.  Here's my list for today (for organizational purposes and for a distraction from those chores, of course!)

- Sweep. Mop. Probably sweep again after DHH eats lunch.
- Make the baked beans (already prepared the beans from DRY beans, 4 bags! Its been a long process this week)
- Complete laundry.  This is the hardest for me because I hate putting it away after folded!
- Prepare salad - heirloom tomatoes, cauliflower, carrots, avocado, iceberg, and spinach
- Decide if I will make baked potatoes in oven - yes, if ribs are made in oven
- Prepare meats for grill
- Clean front bathroom, including mopping
- Change bedsheets in guest bedroom
- Put away all items on surfaces in guest bedroom - this will be tricky - have baby's birth announcements and photos and etc scattered EVERYWHERE
- Prepare Mother's Day Gift for Ann, find card for gift
- Take down last of spring decorations, if time, make a Happy Summer! banner
- Vacuum living room
- Clear nursery floor
- Make bag of items for Ann to take home spare binks, bottles, etc

I will need mini distractions though.  So I will keep my iTunes podcasts open to listen to and maybe the Lady Gaga Pandora channel.

But because I actually enjoy distractions, will do a blog post after each item on my list is finished.   They will probably be mostly photos or funny things that happened instead of a really long thought provoking post.  Maybe this will help me with the shortage of blog postings for May!  Let's see how many I can write.

Note: It is totally UNnecessary to complete Operation Closet Clean Up for company.  We can shove everything in and close the door! And company will only know if they read this...

BOO. I Missed This! DHH at PBS Kids' Day.

Last week I missed an event that had been on our fridge calendar for two months.  PBS Kids' Day!  I did actually want to go to this event with DHH.  We've watched PBS at 7 AM for the last year together!  Curious George provides a great half hour of basic science process skills for DHH and a half hour of semi-snooze time on the couch for me (well, this only happens every now and then, but its still worth mentioning!)

 However, I needed to be home when a friend arrived and had some housework and baby feeding to do.  So my husband stepped in to fill the gap!  DHH is lucky to have such a patient father who is a good sport.

Because though they arrived ten minutes after the event started, the lines looked like this!

Overheard:
Parent: "Oh, sorry Bobby.  These lines are way too long.  Maybe next year."
Bobby: "Waaaaaaah!  Super whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!" (sob)

But my husband toughed it out and managed to navigate our son to the events he would enjoy the most.

Here they are with George and a very young man in a yellow hat.

And here is the other photo from the day.  Its DHH fleeing from Clifford.  Note: I forgot to mention to Husby that my mom warned me about the terror Clifford causes to her young students.  He was totally unprepared for DHH to react so strongly and decided to keep a closer tether on him instead of taking photos.

Its really neat to see this kiddo grow up and into his own likes and interests. So next year, I know I want to be there to see him interact with large storybook characters and do the informational booths with him.

Last Name Mistakes.

At the class reunion I went to, someone asked me to repeat my last name after I had introduced myself to another guest.  He said,"Wait... that's how you say your last name? I thought it was said: Hod".

And the other day Husby got an email in his work account that was addressed to Mr. Hair.   Hair!   Haha.

Just to review, its spelled in the German way, with second vowel as one that is heard.  So its like Hyde.  Not Heyd.

Sorry you'll have to spell both your first and last names, baby.  Both just aren't common!

Family Movie Time.

After church on Sunday, DHH was tired.  However it was two hours too early for his nap, so we popped in the Aladdin video (yes, a video!) a co-worker shared with us.  I thought it was too funny to see my family laying down watching it!

Its like we have a REAL family now, one that can do things like this together.  It makes me realize how far we've come since we met in college!

Hot Dee Nan Daids

Yes, that post title is gibberish! Its my son's typical pronunciation

of Mickey Mouse Band Aids, his new favorite thing at our house.

However, you probably wouldn't know he is saying that from what

actually comes out of his mouth... Hot D (or hot dididiggity) Nan

Daids.

I found these at his favorite store, Hi!!!!! Veee!!!! (HyVee) and

decided he might need them since he falls so often. He told me he

needed them for his immunizations earlier this week, which were

actually a few inches ABOVE his knee! (Sh --- ot! Ow! Shot! Ow!).

I am posting this sweet post about my son because actually, today he

drove me nuts. So much that I actually refered to him as BIRTH

CONTROL when checking in with my husband on the phone. I had to call

him today to request he bring home a Big Fountain Pepsi. He asked

what else he could bring, and I said, "Oh, birth control pills. No,

wait, I've got birth control whining at me right now!".

Its mean of me.

But I really felt that way during and after the rough morning we had

at home (waking up before 5 AM) and at an appointment (poor, poor

nutritional counselor and her wrecked office).

I bet I will not feel this way everyday.

I Didn't Freak Out About My 10 Year High School Reunion.

Hurray for me!

I can barely believe that I wasn't a bundle of nerves or that I wasn't preoccupied by this event for the last several months. Isn't that how class reunions are portrayed on TV and movies?  People get caught up in anxiety and do diets and major lifestyle makeovers in preparation for seeing their former peers, right?  I guess I just assumed I'd be nutty about this event because of how I've heard others get worked up for such events, and I am easily excitable!


This year I've just had too many other things to occupy my mind to be nutty about something like a dinner party with people I haven't spoken to in years.

Ten years, actually!  Ten years can really change people, right?
Or maybe not.  Proof:

The fact that I'd be bringing a tiny baby who would want to eat and I'd have to breastfeed in public did cross my mind and give me some pause.  I thought about how weird it was that I'd be using my boobs for that during an event with people I've known since I was five, but people I haven't seen since I was... well... barely a 34 B!  The nursing in public thing turned out to be not a big deal, as it rarely every is a big deal for me, actually.

She was a doll the whole time.

I also thought about that very few people from my hometown have met my husband.  I wondered if they would find him as wildly attractive as I do.  I also wondered if he'd feel comfortable there or not.  He isn't shy by any means, but he didn't know anyone there.  He also didn't attend his own class ten year reunion because he didn't really care to.  However, things went totally fine in this area, too.  He was cordial to everyone, didn't mind sitting apart from me during dinner while I chatted elsewhere, and held our daughter for quite some time.  He followed me around to talk a bit, but he was just as comfortable not mingling.  He is just a relaxed guy.

My dates to the reunion.

Only about fifteen of the one hundred twenty (perhaps 140?) people I graduated with attended the function, which was held early on a Saturday night at a local (fancy) restaurant.  Only fifteen!  Each did bring a spouse or date, however.  It was really neat meeting the significant others.  Several couples seemed extremely happy, and I am glad for them.  Most people married outside of our class (and town) and I find that an interesting fact!  Maybe people who spent so much time together kindergarten through senior year just don't want to get married to each other.

Notice the dress?  Its the one I tried from Target  back in April when I shopped for the shower dress  - and its BF friendly!

One spouse I was especially excited to meet is Jill.  She pretty much organized the event for her husband, Eric.  I am sure its because she is very helpful and a good party planner, not because he was unenthusiastic about the event.  But I could really tell her touches were in the decorations and the preparations!  I've actually been FB friends with her since she became engaged to Eric, and it was really nice to have a face to face conversation with her.  She's lovely.  He married up!

And she needs a little practice... she'll be holding her own newborn this fall!

Eric, Me, Shane.  We have always been friendly friends together.  Well, since 8th grade or something.

Overall, the night was really pleasant.  I had the chance to see people I hadn't seen since college.  Most of the conversations were pretty surface level - what job do you do now? how do you like the city you live in? what ever happened to so-n-so? - but they weren't too superficial.  At least the conversations I had.  I didn't do any showing off, and I noticed only a few people who had lots to drink show off.   Well, I take that back.  A few guys wore absurdly tight shirts.  I think that counts as showing off!

After the dinner, most people went to the downtown area that was designated as a beer garden for our town's  wine trail event.  We didn't go.  We're non smokers, and with BFing a newborn, alcohol isn't an option either.  Plus, I've dragged my husband to enough winery events in HIS hometown, and he doesn't need any more of them for a decade or more.  But, the wine from my hometown is pretty tasty, and so I wished I was going to go enjoy some Schoolhouse White or Velvet Red!

The event was held on Mother's Day weekend, and thus, a perfect time for a trip to visit my parents' who still live in my hometown.  I would have probably attended the reunion if it were on a different weekend, but this worked out so well!  I stayed for several days and attended my mom's end of teaching career with a retirement dinner.  It was so pleasant!

Considering a Buy Nothing Month.

Which will coincide with a Massive Purge of Home month.

A Buy Nothing Month was attempted once, a few Augusts ago.  September followed, along with several voyages to Target!  This time, I'd have to do a more conservative bounce back from the No Spending month.  Or I'd have to get just too disgusted by the amount of half used shampoos/number of flip flops/misc. etc that have made their way into our home because I enjoy buying things and having things.

It sounds and feels a bit like an Oprah episode problem.  Too bad its the last season so I can't have a personal life coach come cheer me through this!

We have SO MUCH stuff/so much STUFF (not sure which to emphasize!)

I need to put away maternity clothing or decide if I want to get rid of it.  Will I be pregnant in the same season again?  Did I actually like the clothes in the first place? Do they fit? Will they fit then?  Could I get some money from a consignment store to buy Post Pregnancy Celebration Clothing? Should I donate to charitable organization?

I've also got to go through our clothes from college.  Luckily, my husband has only two shirts that he is set on keeping from HIGH SCHOOL (when he was SIXTEEN and STILL WEARS), but we've got a ton of college free t shirts or team logo shirts that have seen better days.

And clothes that don't fit properly because I've changed sizes so often in the last five years.  Should I keep "larger me" clothes?  The "tiny me" clothes? I hate getting rid of things because they are the wrong size but the right style for me, but hate keeping clothes that make me think of when I was bigger or when I was smaller.  Maybe they can go in the attic.  But if they go in the attic... then its out of sight, out of mind.  I won't remember about them and will buy more clothes.

It would sure be nice to have a closet like one featured in a magazine.  That could be my goal!

Tonight (this morning?)  my daughter smiled up at me when I first picked her up for the middle of the night feeding.  It was a smile of recognition.  She grinned at me for about a minute, and I was so excited that I woke up her dad and made him come over to see.  I got a burst of motherly adrenaline (or estrogen? or some other hormone).

So that is why I am awake, online after 3 AM when I have two children under two and should obviously be asleep.  (That and I thought it was 5 AM when she woke instead of 2 AM.  Oops.)

Another Home Movie.

Warning:  its syrupy sweet.  That is kind of how we roll these days.

I Made Dinner Last Night!!

Which is something.  Usually there's been a lack of kitchen creativity.  Usually, as in... the last six weeks or so.

We've had a shocking amount of HyVee take and bake pizzas, bag salad mixes, and sandwiches.

That is fine and good, but something I enjoy is making totally new recipes.  I'd been so tired and grumpy before, so this was a nice activity for me!

But last night I prepared three items, all from scratch!  I almost photographed them, but decided against it because life was hectic enough in the kitchen.  I had raw beef on the counter and couldn't stop using Clorox wipes because I got paranoid of my daughter getting E. Coli O157 or some other terrible condition because I hadn't washed my hands enough.

I made lime and cilantro rice (the way I've seen it made behind the counter at Chipotle), thinly cut steak seasoned with soy sauce, sesame oil, and spices, and sweet and sour red cabbage.  Then I put all three foods into one dish and had this fabulous little bowl of tastiness.  It was really, really good.

My husband was out doing yard work.  Usually its difficult for me to have both kids around when I am getting  our dinner ready.  So DHH tags along behind his dad.  However, Husby was fertilizing the lawn, and I didn't want DHH licking the grass or doing other bizarre things he might do when there are toxins involved.

Sometimes I let DHH help me with dinner.  He can stir, wash vegetables, or lay out food on a tray for us.  Since I have never made any of these foods, I needed my full concentration, so I didn't allow him to help for this meal.

Instead. I gave him more screen time and crayon time.

DHH was watching his new favorite show... Jake and the Neverland Pirates, which he calls YO Ho!
EK is chilling in the bouncy, watching her brother eat some crayons.

The food was wonderful, and I think I am getting some kitchen MoJo back.

A Video Explanation of Why I've Been Otherwise Occupied from Blogging...

My little Elsa Kate is 4 weeks, 1 day old in this movie taken this morning at 7 AM, in a precious mother/daughter time.  She is just starting to smile or make happy faces and seems to really enjoy the time alone with me!

My Baby Is One Month Old!

I will probably write a flowery, poetic post for her baby blog .

But for my blog - less poems, less flowers.  Some hard-hitting truth.

She's lovely.
She's calm and cooey
She was an appetite like ... hm... a very, very thirsty teenage boy.
She sleeps better than I do.
She is precious to me.

And... she is crying and needs more food now.  She's a definite blogg-y interrupter!

General Talking Points

- Dancing with the Stars.... no notes today.  I was holding or feeding a baby and sorting two loads of laundry into piles (son's room, our room, and back to dryer because they are oh so wrinkled!).  But if I did take notes, I would have had lower scores than the judges.  They were Awfully Generous with 10s tonight.  The standards are just lower than when Mario Lopez, Krisit Yamaguchi, and Helio Castroneves were dancing I guess.  Also... did Bruno get bleeped? Did he make an obscene reference about Karate Kid?

Needed to do some writing first thing in the morning!  Love his new fish jammies!

- I had severe parent anxiety today.  It was the day for DHH's vaccinations.  He was a bit overdue for these, but we've been kinda busy lately!  I noticed that I chewed my nails and drug my feet getting out the door.  I knew that he would understand the pain more this time than any previous immunization.  I also knew I could not fully explain the vaccines in any way that would make sense to him.  It tuned out okay though.  I brought his two favorite binks and vowed to be super patient with his whining.

I agree, honey... this get up is a little much!

- My girl just met three new girlfriends who are just about her age.  Emma and Charlotte have visited two times now, and she had a quick peek at Ella.  Emma, Elsa, Ella... wow!  That could be tricky!

- Cloth diapering... doing laundry every day.  I have enough diapers to do laundry every three days, I bet, however, the sheer volume of soiled cottons piling inside the diaper pail is shocking to me.  And DHH is really wearing only 4 or 5 per day (and using the toilet some, too!).  I am considering selling away about ten pocket diapers and half of the newborn diapers, too to help organize laundry and make my life more streamlined.

Photo from class reunion last weekend!

-I have started posts about my mom's retirement dinner, my visits with my BFF and her twins, potty learning progress, the high school reunion I attended, breastfeeding and a possible milk protein intolerance my daughter is experiencing, post-partum emotions and physical well being... but haven't been successful finishing any of them.  I am a bit concerned about PPD ... I admit I am sporadically taking the medication, instead of faithfully doing so.  I also experience insomnia, fatigue, weight loss, and general lack-luster moods.  I am not sure that its really PPD or PPA, probably its a lot of the normal rough patches a woman could experience.

EK's first softball game experience.  She was not thrilled.

- My daughter will be four weeks old tomorrow.  It seems about right - time didn't pass too slowly or too quickly.  Well... as most new moms know, the days go very slow, but the weeks go so quickly.  But that's normal, I remember that being the case with DHH.  I survived the Three Week Growth Spurt Nursing Marathon, but just barely!  I am having a hard time enduring the evening cluster feedings, but I am relishing in the longer sleeps I get at night.  EK has had many nights of waking ONLY at 3:30 to nurse, rather than the silly 11 PM, 1 AM, 3 AM feeds he enjoyed.

Baby Announcement!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

 

I admit that instead of blogging, I've used the scant time I've had to be online to create a baby announcement card.  I played with the fonts and layouts and photos to make it PERFECT.  And I think it is!

I hope my daughter will enjoy seeing mementos like this from her birth as much as I enjoy them right now.

Planting Flowers For Mama - A Kind Favor of the Distraction Sort

A few weeks ago, we had a rough transition in our house.

We had a family of three with a perfectly happy only child.

Suddenly, we were a family of four.

The big brother was antsy in a home with a baby.

 And loud, curious, and forever wanting his mama's attention.

His daddy helped solve some of our one mom with two hands + two children = only one child content at any given moment dilemma.

DHH and his Daddy did yard work so I could feed (and coo over) New Sister.  

They bought mulch and spread it (with an shovel and a very small shovel).

While at Home Depot, they looked and smelled all the flowers.  Upon the suggestion on his father, DHH selected a flower to plant for his mama.

Of course, he hollered for me to watch him do it and was eager for my approval as he was digging his hole.

Daddy conquered our problems that afternoon - mama with too many activities, and son with too few activities - winning more love and affection from his wife and kid.