Just how far can I turn without actually turining over?

Say "hello"............

to the neediest cat around! Moe is usually never far from me during the day - unless he's sleeping. I trip over him, he rubs up aginst my legs, he's trying to sit on my lap while I'm feeding MTE. I love him - but, gee whiz, I need some space! :o)

You're hired??!!

I am thankful to say that I have a job! It's the job that we were anticipating - prn(as needed) night shift at the local ER. I don't have a lot of details - frankly,it's been quite an odd experience.

I submitted my application for the position last week and the ER guy, Mark, called me that AM to ask me when I could come in for my drug screen. I figured that everything else would be contingent on those results. When I got there - I ended up getting fitted for my mask, a TB test, watching the back care video and filling out paperwork.

When I went this morning to get my TB test read - the employee health nurse took me to personnel to get my ID badge and they wanted my driver's license, nursing license and social security card. I said "whoa" - didn't know about this - I hadn't taken a shower yet - meaning - hair in pony tail, no makeup etc..(I had brushed my teeth, though :o))this was just a quick trip so Mark could get to work. Anyway, they wanted all of that so that I would have my badge done for orientation Monday and Tuesday in Little Rock! I'll be going in next week for all of that stuff.

Well, I told them that I couldn't go up to LR on next week b/c of Mark's classes - but could go the following week. With that said - I guess I start orientation the first Mon/Tues. in May. It sounds like I have a job - it's like everyone knew what was going on but me. I'm not complaining - it's just been a weird experience.

And, yes, most importantly, God is changing my heart. No, I would prefer not to work, but this will be the best option for our family. I'm sure that I will learn a lot! I never had the desire to work ER - I liked ICU because - sure there are emergencies - but you usually knew it was coming.

You can only do what you can do!

I don't know if you've seen the latest "concern" on the news the past few weeks - it's about a chemical - BPA. Apparently, it's in those Nalgene plastic water bottles and - guess what else - baby bottles!!

Some studie show that it can cause several things in adults - the one I remember most is obesity - now I know what to blame my weight on - haha. In children, I guess the concern is that it can cause premature puberty, among other things??

We use the Avent bottles - and it's in there - as well as most other bottles. So where does that leave us? I looked on a site for non-BPA bottles and most of the options are expensive - for us anway. But, the good news is that there are a couple of brands that you can purchase at WalMart/Target/Meijer,etc... Evenflo and Nuby are the ones.

At this point, considering all that we've been through with MTE eating issues the past three weeks, we're not making any major changes now. We'll see what happens when he grows into the next nipple flow rate size.

We do understand that ultimately, God is the One who protects MTE - but, we are the stewards of his little life and want to do our part to keep him safe when we do have the choice.

Four months old

I'm four months old today! This has been a busy month for all of us. I've rolled over once - back to front and front to back. I've had my first laugh. I've had my first "big" trips to Little Rock and Hot Springs. Gandma and Grandpa H came to visit. I grab and reach for things. I can sit in my Bumbo for a while without help. I like to put everything in my mouth and I like to touch Mommy's face. It took Mommy and Daddy a few weeks to figure out that I wasn't hungry when they were trying to feed me - it's not like I wasn't telling them to stop - but I'm glad they finally caught on. I usually go to bed around 7pm and get up for the day around 7 or 7:30am. Oh, and I like to bounce on knees. I talk a lot - usually after my naps. There's just so much to look at!!

Bumbo time

Matthew's able to sit in the Bumbo a little longer these days. :o)

Another big achievement today ---- I got a real belly laugh while I was tickling his belly with my nose.

***These weekend posts are for Grandma E. to look at while she's working this weekend :o) We love you!!

Another rollover!

Matthew rolled over from his back to his front this morning!!


On the eating front - after talking with Sherrie and suggestion from Mom - I decided to hold off on feeding MTE for a bit yesterday - to see if he just wasn't hungry. Sure enough, he ate much better. We were trying to "force feed" him as much as he had been eating. We were accustomed to him eating 4-6oz at every feeding that we assumed that that's what he needed - also the APA book that I have said that he should be taking in about 30oz/day by four months. Sherrie thought that maybe he had been having a growth spurt and has just tapered off and is just not as hungry anymore.

Ughhhhhhh! Like everyone says, just as soon as you get used to one thing/routine - they change. That's the truth! Now we're trying to adjust to spreading feedings out a bit more, being okay with 3oz at a feeding - I have to remind myself - as well as Mark - that as long as he is pooping and peeing - and gaining weight - 3oz at this age is okay - that's probably the most challenging part to remember.

Thanks for the prayers and encouragement! I had NO doubt that this parenting thing would be a humbling experience! And to think that people actually laugh at me when I tell them that I pray every day that God will protect Matthew and keep him safe - despite us! :o) God IS good!

A few pictures from yesterday :o)

This was too just cute to pass up posting!!



This is why we don't have a lot of pictures of Matthew smiling - they're either blurry because he's moving around in some fashion or part of his head is cut off because he's moving. Funny guy!

Our International Man of Mystery

Well, we're still trying to figure out this little guy! I called our doctor's office today to see what was next on the agenda - things had not improved - and, of course, the doctor that we had been talking with on Monday was off today. So, this doctor had us switch MTE to a soy formula - off to WalMart, again.

I'm confident that the other doctor would have just changed his reflux meds - but, I guess I should be thankful that this doctor wants to find out if the milk based formula is causing the distress. She said to give it a week - well, if there's no significant change in the next day or two, I can assure you that Mark will be calling much sooner.

Except for nighttime, I feel like we have a two week old baby all over again - when is he going to eat, is he going to eat, etc... His naps are messed up because - guess what - he's hungry.

Anyway, I do have a small victory which I will claim for the day. We had a somewhat fuss free feeding at noon(off schedule, of course). He ate 4oz while I held him in the kitchen. That seems to be the most distracting place - looking at the lights, the magnets on the fridge, etc... I guess standing and holding a 16# baby for over a half an hour will be a good enough workout for my left arm - I'm just going to have to switch to the other arm this afternoon. :o)

My wonderful husband is good about reminding me that this is only temporary - worst case scenerio - he has to go to the hospital for IV feedings for a few days - he made it sound so easy - but if that's what it comes to - then it will be okay - he will get his nutrition one way or the other. I love Mark!! (and Matthew, of course)

A new day

Well, we survived yesterday. I think the problem with the pedialyte was that Matthew isn't used to water like consistency - we put rice cereal in his formula. So, I wonder had we added some Thickit to his bottle - would that have helped? Anyway, after I finished on the computer, I checked on Mark and Matthew - Mark decided to go ahead and give him formula. He said that MTE just wore out - so he was able to feed him pretty easily - he ended up eating 6oz. I know that he ate at his evening feeding - again, he was half asleep. And he ate for Mark at 10pm - again, half asleep.

He started in on his new norm - aversion to his bottle - this morning when he was awake. I confess that I - either lazily or selfishly - didn't want this to be a behavioral issue that we had to deal with. I realize that this is a "welcome to the next decade and a half of your life" scenerio - I just didn't want to have to start dealing with it at three months. To be honest, I really was hoping it would be an ear infection or thrush - something that we could just "cure" and he would go back to eating well.

So, we started with the "hands down" while eating so he doesn't push the bottle out. He did pretty well with that. With lots of firm encouragement, he ate just about all of four ounces. He wasn't very pleased with the situation - but, I know that it's not my job to make him like me, it's my job to love him through his struggles and help him develop self control.

If we're still struggling with this issue, we will call the doctor again. He just wanted to max out this drug before starting a new one. Maybe a new drug will be "the fix" and things will smooth out, obviously, that would be the easiest way. I just have to realize that if there is no "fix" I am still responsible to help MTE deal with this.

Rough days!

We're having a rough patch with Matthew. He doesn't want to eat - if you feed him while he's asleep, or just waking up - he'll do okay - until he "wakes up" and realizes that he's eating and then he's just done. Distracting him was working but not so much now. I tried a different bottle - didn't make a difference. He's on the formula that he was on before we tried to switch him. Other than eating, Matthew is fine. Every feeding is a struggle for all of us.

I took him to the Dr. today and he thinks it's his reflux. (He checked his ears and his mouth and his belly.) So, he increased his Zantac dose and has us giving him pedialyte for 24hrs and then restart his formula tomorrow. Mark and I are not encouraged in this. He's been at more of an appropriate dose od Zantac since Mark called him on Saturday and it hasn't helped a bit - we really don't think that one more 0.1cc will make that much of a difference, but, we'll see. The doctor said if this doesn't work, he'll switch his meds.

As I sit here writing, I hear Matthew screaming while Mark is trying to feed him the pedialyte - it's not very pleasant as you can imagine.

If you think of it, you could pray for patience and compassion for us parents - it's tempting to be angry with Matthew when you know he needs to eat - he would be much happier in the long run. Mark is certainly looking forward to the day when we can reason with Matthew. Mark is quite amazing - patient with Matthew(even though I know that he is frustrated) and compassionate toward his worn out, emotional wife. I'm soooo thankful for him.

We do love our little guy, we just wish that there was some magic switch that we could flip and know exactly what's going on in that "little"(16#3oz) body.

For the Grandparents :o)

Garage sales wear me out!

Achievements!!!

This is a picture of what Matthew looks like waking up - we're so happy that he's a happy waker upper :o)

The BIG news is - he rolled over yesterday!! After his nap, he was arching his back and up on his hands to look at the mirrored toy attatched to his crib. I scooted him over so he could have a closer look - when he raised himself up to check it out, he just rolled over onto his back! It didn't really phase him - I think he was just happy to have his hands freed up so he could put them in his mouth! :o)

Another thing Matthew is working on is grabbing his feet - I just noticed that today.



On a side note, Mark and I had been trying to switch him over to a different, cheaper formula for the past couple of weeks. With the switch, his feedings have become increasingly difficult - so much that I was dreading them - esp. the late evening one. He was fussy, not eating as much and I was back to working with him for an hour or more just to be patient with him so he would eat more. Also, he's been having looser stools.
Well, I just couldn't go through it all again today. Mark is in Chicago today and tomorrow, I didn't sleep more than two hours last night because the rain hitting our bedroom windows is like water torture - seriously, it sounds like your microwaving popcorn. Anyway, after him refusing to eat after only an ounce of the new stuff, I gave up and gave him the last four ounces that we had left of the old stuff - and what do you know - he drank it just fine. So, I loaded him up and we went to WalMart to get more formula(his first trip to WalMart). His last feeding with all of the old stuff was easy-peasy compared to the last couple of days. Poor little guy. I'm glad that we tried the other stuff - I would have been very happy to use it if it would have agreed with Matthew's system.

POLLEN

I don't know if you can see it by looking at the roof of my car - but this is pretty much the way everything has been looking lately. All of the pine trees are blooming or whatever they do this time of the year and that yellow pollen is EVERYWHERE.
I should have taken a picture of our balcony, the pollen is caked on everything, I swept off the floor, our furniture out there, the grill, etc.....
The only good thing that I can see about all of this rain is that it washes away much of the yellow stuff.

attitude of gratitude

Thought it was about time to share these.......

A couple of times in the last few weeks, I've had to go through literally piles of new and gently used clothes for Matthew that have been given to us - various sizes up to 2T. Let me just say that it was quite a humbling experience! Friends and family have been so generous with us - we are so thankful - not only for the clothes - but more importantly for those relationships!! We wish that we were closer to our loved ones so all of you could meet MTE in person - Lord willing, that will happen, though.

I'm so thankful for a wonderful, godly husband who not only helps in the caring for MTE but in so many other ways, loves me the way that I am, yet, gently challenges me to grow and see things from a different perspective.

I'm so thankful for our sweet little boy. I've always loved him - but sense that I am falling in love with him as he grows older and more responsive to us.

I can also say that I am truly thankful for the convenience of a small town - basically everywhere I need to go is five minutes away. Note that I said NEED - I do concede that Target and Starbucks are not needs :o)

It looks like the local hospital will be making a spot for me to work prn(as needed) in the ER. Knowing that they are going to let someone go who hasn't worked in a few months makes me feel a bit indebted to them (the head nurse in the ER goes to our church and he's been joking around with me since he found out that I had 10 years of critical care experience about working there). So, we'll see how that goes - whenever that happens. We are so thankful that I won't have to commute - any commute would have been at least 40 minutes away. I'm thankful for a sensitive hubby who knows that I've been dreading this whole night shift thing - but has reminded me that it's only one or two nights a week at the most.

Possible good deal

This may be a good deal for you - depends on how many coupons or sales you can get otherwise.

Diapers.com is a site that has all of your normal babystuff - diapers, formula, wipes, etc........ If you spend over $50 - shipping and handling is free.

The good deal comes when you put in ONESTEP2 as a promotional code for first time orders over $50 - then you get an additional $10 off.

The prices honestly don't appear to be any better than WalMart - but with the additional $10 off and free S&H - it worked for us - at least this one time.

Just thought I'd throw that option out there - this isn't an April fool's day joke either :o) Also that extra $10 off is good through the end of July.