Mouth Watering Monday (and a sweet potato allergy update)

So I am getting a jump on my mouth watering Monday here, but we just had this for dinner tonight and it was YUMMMM-AY. Plus I really don’t want to be on tomorrow very much.
My mother in law gave me a recipe several years ago for her chili. She made it when she came to visit us in Missouri and I later called her and asked for the recipe. I was slightly frustrated b/c her “recipe” was in her head and she tweaked it every time she made it. For a new “cook” like me, that was hard to do. But over the years I have learned to tweak it myself and I no longer use a referrence for it. It’s so simple and easy, and tweaking it to fit your cooking mood is fun! Enjoy!

1-2lbs of hamburger

packet of taco seasoning

two cans of petite diced tomatoes (sometimes I use the cans with onions and peppers in them)

one can of black beans

one can of kidney beans

one can of a white bean (garbanzo, navy, great northern…take your pic)

*sometimes I put in a can of corn or green chilies too, depends on my mood

two small cans of tomato sauce

one small diced onion

one tablespoon chopped garlic (or garlic seasoning, but real is better)

Seasonings: cumin, paprika, onion (if you don’t use real), garlic (if you don’t use real), cayenne pepper. Just season to taste. Jake likes spicy and so do I so if it’s just us I use a lot of cayenne. For parties I make two crocks, one mild, one hot.

In a skillet brown the hamburger meat, onions, and garlic. When thoroughly cooked, add in taco seasoning DRY (do not add water). Mix around and once fully cooked, add meat to crock pot. Add in beans and tomatoes and tomato sauce. If you want thicker chili, use tomato paste instead of sauce. Cook in crockpot on high for 3-4 hours. If you want it to simmer all day, just put it on low. Makes the house yummy smelly too!

To eat with dinner I either make cornbread or quesadillas. I know, totally opposite side dishes. With the cornbread I put the cornbread in a bowl and pour chili over it. With the quesadillas I put the chili in a bowl, top with sour cream and cheese, and dip quesadilla triangles in it. Soooo gooooooood.

Ya gotta try this dinner! It’s so yummy! And if you have more hamburger meat than you need for the chili, since it is already seasoned, you can save it for tacos another night. Let me know if you try it!

==========

So I said I would update about finding out about Owen’s allergy to sweet potatoes. Now mind you, a doctor didn’t tell me this. In fact, they weren’t too interested in the fact that I had JUST fed him sweet potatoes an hour before his episode. I googled “infant allergy to sweet potatoes” and came up with a lot of the same scenarios. Check them out for yourself. From now on, I am going to play it safe and NOT give Owen any sweet potatoes. Poor kid, won’t ever know of the yummy goodness of sweet potato pie! Here are the sites:

Click Here (scroll down a bit on this one)

and here

and here too

and don’t forget this one (more for allergy resource)

Okay that’s enough for now. If you google other combinations of “sweet potatoes, allergy, vomitting, infant” stuff like that, you get more sites. One site I found (I’ll have to find it again) showed a controlled study in a small group of infants that had a sweet potato allergy. So, I think we’ll go with “sweet potato allergy” just to be safe.

Now go make some chili!

God Laughs

My sister in law has this saying, "make plans and hear God laugh" and she is soooo right.

Kim emailed everyone from our link group asking for volunteers to host this weekend. I volunteered.

My sister in law is coming this tuesday to help me with stuff for moving. She is an organizational freak and I am lucky she is so willing to help me, considering she lives in Portland.

This morning, the boys woke up with green goo. GREEN GOO. Their noses look like they had green play doh shoved up there. Totally gross. Oh, and Owen is coughing a bit. Oh, AND he threw up last night. Projectile vomit across the couch. For about an hour or so afterwards I was in a complete panic waiting for "the other shoe to drop." It never did, thank God. Owen remained bubbly and happy and NOT passed out. ;-)

God is laughing at my plans I think. I had to cancel on link group :( and I emailed my sister in law telling her about the boys. If they are sick she can't come b/c she has a 3yo and my brother in law is self employed so he REALLY can't get sick.

I am really really hoping and praying they are not sick come Monday night/Tuesday morning.

I'm frustrated today.

I had a dream about moving last night. We moved into the most narrow house ever. It was a nice house, but it was narrow. Weird. Oh, and we made the drive in two days. That was sweet.

God, please don't laugh at our plans to move. ;-)

Oh and something really great: Owen is crawling. The kid is on the move!! It's amazing how fast they pick this stuff up. He is better today than he was yesterday. Every day he gets better and better. I love it.

I love my kids. I love watching them be creative. For Valentines I got them play doh sets. A play doh duffel bag of play doh stuff with cutters, and a pasta maker, and a roller. They each got one. And they each got a play doh tub. One tub is for picnic stuff and the other is for animals. They have played with those for HOURS. They love it. Especially Dylan. :D I thought I would not like them having play doh but they seem to be doing pretty well with it.

Today we are going to go through more stuff to take to the dump. I wish I could snap my fingers and have this done. I am seriosly contemplating moving into our trailer NOW and just coming to the house to do stuff for the move. That way what I get done stays done. I don't know. That seems extreme. But it also would simplify things for me. If my sister in law (she does have a name btw, it's Teresa haha) comes I think we'll do that after she leaves actually. That is what we were going to do after the movers take all of our stuff anyway.

Okay, off to do something productive. I promised Sean I'd blog about the sweet potato allergy thing, so I will for sure be back this weekend with that. ;-) Check Sean out. He has a baby on the way. :D

My sneaky sneaky husband!

<---- See that? THAT was my early Valentines present tonight, along with matching earrings. A few days ago Jake asked if we were going to go out for Valentines Day and I said NO b/c for one, Teresa and Kambrie would probably (hopefully) be here and for two, we NEVER go out for Valentines Day. We don't even celebrate it really. It's more of an annoying "dating" holiday I think. So for some reason he is really pressing going out for V Day which is odd, so we agree to go AFTER the actual day, either the 15th or 16th. Better that way anyway, avoid the crowds. I hate crowds. So tonight the boys went to my moms to stay the night. We didn't take them over there until about 8 b/c they took such LATE naps today. I normally wouldn't have put them down so late (3:30) but we had planned on going to church tonight and I didn't want them to be pills. Well, 5pm came around and they were STILL sleeping and I didn't have the heart to wake them. So, we didn't, and missed church. (sorry Deb! If you went)We can go in the morning. I am glad I didn't wake them b/c Dylan slept until almost 6 and Aidan slept until almost 7!! Normally I do NOT like them to sleep that late, but they played hard today and hadn't had a nap in two days. They needed it. So anyway, after we took them to moms around 8 I got in the shower b/c Jake insisted that we go out to eat since we were minus two boys. We kept Owen home with us. So, we go to Red Robin. Where the heck else would we go. I swear we should buy stock in that place! While we were sitting there, out of NOWHERE, Jake pulls this jewelry box from JCPenney out and and plops it down on the table and says "so, uh, I got a little somethin' here" and he kind of says it under his breath. He cracks me up. heehee I just BEAM and stare at it. I got all excited and asked what it was for and he says....VALENTINE'S DAY! hahaha! I said "It's not for another week" and he said "yeah but I wanted to give it to you ON that day, not after, so I'm giving it to you now" and I said "but it's still not ON that day" and he said "I'd rather give it to you earlier than later" hahaha! He is so funny! So, there it is. My pretty pretty necklace and matching earrings. LUCKILY I hadn't worn anything tonight. I just wore jeans and a long sleeve fitted black top so I was pretty bare and boring, but the necklace and earrings were the perfect touch! Thank you babe! I love them! :D oh yeah, and I love you too. ;-) heehee

<---- And this picture right here, that is how I ended my night. Isn't he cute????? This would be Owen, who you all prayed for. Such a beautiful and healthy boy!!! By the way, his problem, he's allergic to sweet potatoes. More on that later. ;-)

Have a great Sunday! :D

I think I should clarify....

....that blog before about vasovegal, I think I got carried away explaining that and just forgot to ALSO mention, that the other "cause" they are thinking of was just pure dehydration, which is also a trigger. They aren't saying yeah or neigh on the vasovegal. So at this point, we just don't know, but are so thankful he is okay now.
Just thought I'd clarify!

Vaso WHAT??

Okay so we went to the Dr's this morning and they really had no more answers for me at all. Dr. Hough was just stumped as to what it could have been. He was very happy that Owen was laughing and "talking" and seemed much more his normal self. Basically, we left with "well at least he's fine now" kind of summation about the whole thing. I asked Dr. Hough about what his wife had told me yesterday (also a dr, obviously) about the vasovagel syncope and he said that is the only thing that comes to his mind as well. I have now had three pediatricians tell me that. So, I guess that is what we are going with, which really still doesn't answer the question as to why he was vomiting. Here is a description of vasovagel syncope:

Vasovagal syncope is the most common type of fainting. There are a number of different syncope syndromes which all fall under the umbrella of vasovagal syncope. The common element among these conditions is the central mechanism leading to loss of consciousness. The differences among them are in the factors which trigger this mechanism.

Typical triggers for vasovagal syncope include:[1]
prolonged standing or upright sitting
stress
any painful or unpleasant stimuli, such as
giving a blood donation or watching someone give one
watching someone experience pain
hyperthermia, a prolonged exposure to heat
sudden onset of extreme emotions
hunger
nausea or vomiting
dehydration
urination ('micturition syncope') or defecation ('defecation syncope')
swallowing ('swallowing syncope')
coughing ('cough syncope')
abdominal straining or 'bearing down' (as in defecation)
random onsets due to nerve malfunctions
Pressing upon certain places on the throat, sinuses, and eyes.
High altitude

People with vasovagal syncope typically have recurrent episodes, usually when exposed to a specific trigger. The initial episode often occurs when the person is a teenager, then recurs in clusters throughout his or her life. Prior to losing consciousness, the individual frequently experiences a prodrome of symptoms such as lightheadedness, nausea, sweating, ringing in the ears, and visual disturbances. These last for at least a few seconds before consciousness is lost, which typically happens when the person is sitting up or standing. When they pass out, they fall down; and when in this position, effective blood flow to the brain is immediately restored, allowing the person to wake up.
The autonomic nervous system's physiologic state (see below) leading to loss of consciousness may persist for several minutes, so:
if the person tries to sit or stand when they wake up, they may pass out again; and
the person may be nauseated, pale, and sweaty for several minutes after they wake up.

Vasovagal syncope is rarely life-threatening in itself.

So I guess that does answer the passing out/unconscience part of the whole ordeal, although he was "out" for nearly 30 minutes. As far as the vomiting, who knows, but I'll surely never feed him sweet potatoes again! ;-)

Good things that came out of this:
Prayer. Lots and lots of prayer. Between our families, my myspace friends, and my blogspot blog, there was lots of prayer being lifted up for little Owen.
Faith. I had faith that God would take care of my baby and even though I knew that ultimately God could do whatever He wanted, whatever His will was for Owen, I had a peace that He would answer my prayers for a fully recovered and healthy baby....and HE HAS! It makes me choked up right now thinking about how awesome God is and how He gave me such peace.
Friends. I have awesome friends, and people I don't even "know" in "real" life were rallying with prayer. Thank you so much!
Blogs are awesome too! haha! :D
Not that I didn't already know it before, but it just really resonated in me how much I love my kids and how really, in an instant, you would trade places with them for anything. ANYTHING.

Off to lay down with my sleeping baby.

Back from the hospital with Owen!

Okay so we're back and just a quick update.....Still not sure what was wrong with Owen. His rotavirus test came back negative and that was kind of the only strand the doctors were grasping. We go in tomorrow to see his regular doctor and we'll go from there.

Tonight he is in good spirits and smiling and laughing and playing, THANK GOD. I am so thankful that he is okay but still wish we knew what it was that left my baby unconscious for nearly 30 minutes. Until we know more, I'll still be worried about it happening again. Until then, the kid isn't leaving my side! haha! ;-) He is still very sleepy and has slept a lot, poor guy has been through the ringer in the last 24 hours. :( I'll get to all of the emails tomorrow after I talk more with the doctor.

Thank you so much for your concern and prayers. I was absolutely overwhelmed at the messages I received. Thank you all so very much. Now stop making me cry! ;-) Thanks to Brent and Tammy who instantly made their way down to the hospital to talk and pray with me and Owen. That was so unexpected and thoughtful! And to Cheryl who BARELY caught us as we were loading up to go! Thanks Cheryl for taking the time! ;-) And thanks to Tara who came and kept me company the rest of the night and brought us home from the hospital so Jake didn't have to load up the boys!

Bran

Night at the ER with my baby

Just a quickie here....

Owen started throwing up last night (my exact timing is fuzzy) and then he became completely limp and unresponsive, his eyes were rolling around in his head and he could not make eye contact at all. Jake and my mom were both shaking him(more like jossling) and smacking his cheeks and all out shouting to wake him up. Meanwhile I was on the phone with 911, ambulance on the way.

Paramedics checked him out, couldn't get him to respond either, wanted to take him in.As I stood there watching them with Owen, I swear to you my baby looked dead. NO COLOR, NO RESPONSE, NO NOTHING AT ALL. You have no idea what you will think of in times like that, and all I could think of was "Did I take enough pictures of him b/c if he goes, I don't want to forget what he looks like. That is all I could think of as I stared at what looked like a dead baby. Even my mom said the same thing. The only one of us who didn't think that was Jake and that is b/c he got to hold Owen and feel the teeny tiny breaths he was taking. :( I was shaking and crying and just thinking "How did this happen? He was FINE ABSOLUTELY FINE 30 minutes ago"
Jake and I rode in ambulance with him to RVMC. Owen responded a little on the ride there, opened his eyes. My mom stayed home with the other two.

God and I had a serious talk on the way to the hospital and my nerves calmed as I KNEW He would take care of my baby. Still I was scared and worried for my child, but I had a sense that God would not take Owen from me. Thank you God!

At RVMC they tried TWICE to get an IV in, TWICE to get a blood draw, and TWICE to get a urine sample through a cathetar. Thank God he responded to all of that with crying. His eyes were still very uncontrolled and he was wobbly.

Urine came back fine, chest Xray came back fine, blood came back with too high of a white blood cell count. Wanted to keep us overnight. I stayed overnight with Owen while Jake went home to be with the other boys and relieve my mom.

This morning they did another blood draw, and his count had only gone down a little and was still considered elevated. They want to keep us the rest of the day, and depending on the blood results of yet ANOTHER blood draw later today, we could either stay or go home. We don't know. The doctors have NO IDEA why he basically became unconscience for a period of time. They are baffled, and worried.

Jake is there now with Owen, and his little helper Dylan. I came home with Aidan to take a quick shower and then I'll head back up for the rest of the day. Just wanted to post.

Thank you to Kim for coming down to check on us. That meant more than you know!
Thanks to my mom for her help and to Jake's parents for coming and checking on us as well, and for getting our truck to us.

If you felt like praying, that would be GREAT and muchly appreciated.

So sad how easily I am amused....

Tonight I was feeding Owen his rice cereal. I've been feeding this to him for a few days now and he's not all that great at opening his mouth. He just smiles. That's it....smiles and I try to slide the food right in. This has been a bit frustrating. Not nearly as bad as when Dylan was a baby.....the fact that he didn't eat right away when we started foods sent me into a tearful fit. I just KNEW I'd have an anorexic baby. And truly, to this day, he is still my pickiest eater. Aidan, on the other hand, ate ANYTHING and EVERYTHING. There was nothing he wouldn't eat. So now there's Owen. He seems to like what I'm feeding him, he just won't open his mouth. A perfect blend of Dylan and Aidan. We should have named him Daidan. Ha! Now there's a name.

ANYWAY, (man I get sidetracked!) tonight Owen OPENED HIS MOUTH! I know. Ridiculously lame to get THISEXCITEDABOUTBUTIAM! I was clapping and laughing and saying "YEAH!!" over and over again. You would have thought the kid stood up and walked across the floor. I loved it. It sent such joy straight to my mommy heart. I couldn't have been prouder.

So funny........ I crack myself up.

Catch-Up

*YAWN* Will this kid EVER sleep more? I am feeling at my wits end. I told Jake this morning that I am not sure how much more of this NOT sleeping I can handle. I have resorted to drinking coffe with just half and half.... SO NOT ME. It's helped keep my eyes open, but that's about it.
It's so nice outside today. I have been LOVING this summer. I absolutely hate HOT HOT HOT weather, so this year has been nice for me. I wish the boys would go outside today, but they don't want to, and I am too tired to round them up to take them to the park. Dylan has been watching his Nick Jr. videos this morning. I am too tired to protest.
The other day we went to my friend Angela's grandparents house for the afternoon. They have a big in-ground pool and Angela has a friend visiting from Germany named Nina. Nina takes GREAT pictures and she took a ton of the boys. They are sooooo good. I love them. Ange dropped them off yesterday morning when she was walking her dog and now I am trying to download them to an album. The boys had so much fun! Dylan mostly swam in the pool with Angela...Aidan was a bit apprehensive about it. I loved watching them though yesterday. They were having a blast! I was nervous though the whole time, even though I enjoyed hanging out and visiting. Angela and I MAYBE get together twice a year to visit so this was nice. I was nervous b/c of the pool (no fence around it) and b/c of the fish pond. Aidan was loving the pond and kept getting too close to it and he kept RUNNING towards the pool. Dylan ran by the pool once and I about lost my breath. They aren't used to being around a pool like that so they didn't understand why we kept jumping on them about it. At one point at the pond, Dylan teetered and I thought I would have a heart attack. While it is nice to visit and play around a pool, I am so glad we don't have one b/c I would be on pins and needles all the time. Overall it was a great afternoon though. I am so glad we got to spend time up there with them and visit. Angela's grandparents were home too and her mom and one of her brothers came up. They were like a second family to me growing up so it was so nice to catch up. :D
I just got off the phone with the nurse at the Ped's office and they want me to give Owen a suppository! OMG! =O This should be fun. He hasn't pooped in 2 weeks now. :( I just realized that this morning. I knew he hadn't pooped in a while but I didn't realize until today that it's been two weeks already. :( Poor little fella.
I was supposed to go shopping with Mom yesterday for baby shower stuff but I decided to stay home instead and do NOTHING and not feel guilty about it. Trying not to feel guilty about it. I mean NOTHING too. I did not cleaning or anything. I just wanted to veg. Last night we went to the PHIL WICKHAM concert at church. It was a cool concert and I really liked the guy that sang before him. Jake liked him too. The girl that sang before him had such a pretty voice too. She was cute. Kacie said she was younger than us too....that surprised me. After the concert I signed up for this thing called "MOCHA CLUB"..... basically another one of those deals where you send money to this organization to help orphans in other countries. What got me was the story this guy told about.....that the number one cause of death for orphans in this one country (don't remember which one) isn't disease or starvation, it's being eaten alive by hyennas b/c they have to sleep outside b/c the orphanage isn't big enough. UGH. I was instantly sick and started crying thinking about my babies. I told Jake "we are signing up, end of discussion." LOL You got to name your own "team" too (not sure why yet, I guess I'll figure it out later) and I named it DAO. :P I thought that was appropriate. Dylan, Aidan, Owen. :) Anyway.....
I was excited to get out without ANY of the kids for a while. I needed a break. :( It's funny b/c I feel like I need a break, but I LOVE doing nothing with them and just watching them be funny. I just love to LOOK at them. :) Even when we're all grumpy.
Dylan was sitting with me on the couch while I fed Owen and he was watching Ruby and Max, a cartoon about bunnies and they were dressing Max up like a baby and Dylan said "we don't have any babies HERE!" and I said "oh really, what is Owen?" and he said "Owen is a FAT baby!" AH HA HA HA!! heehee I couldn't stop laughing.
Tonight we are going to the races with Mom. We're taking Dylan and Aidan and leaving Owen with my grandma. I think the boys will like it. Mom is bringing McKenna too. Mom picked up ear muffler looking things for the kids to wear so the noise doesn't hurt them. It was too loud for me at some points, not all, but enough so that I don't want the boys to not be protected.
Tomorrow we are HOPEFULLY going to stop by Jake's grandparents anniversary dinner and visit for a few and then head to our Link Group BBQ. They happen to be within a half hour of eachother and we've been planning the BBQ for over a week and we didn't find out about the anniversary dinner until YESTERDAY! Sooo... let's hope the boys' nap times don't run over or we will have to skip that altogether. I hate last minute notices. Throws the whole day off.
Other than that we NEED to find some time to squeek in some yard cleanup. I have got to get down to business this week for the baby shower. I still have a ton to do. TAMMY:IF YOU'RE READING THIS....ARE YOU AND KASS COMING?? Anyway, that is all we have planned for our "exciting" weekend. :P Not much. Now I need to go put away about 5 loads of folded laundry. blech.

Here is a picture of Owen in the outfit from today...only 6 weeks after the first time he wore it (pic of that in post below).

My baby has out grown an outfit!!! :(

My baby has out grown an outfit already!!!! Current mood: nostalgic
Oh my goodness! My baby has already outgrown an outfit....and it happens to be my FAVORITE outfit on him! It's the one I put him in for his appearance on the news ("Baby Talk") which btw, airs on September 11 at 5:30. I can't believe it. :( I put it on him today and I could BARELY snap the snaps between his legs and it fits him snugly now. He will wear it today but then that's it. :( I'll have to box it up. And he's only worn it MAYBE four times. *sniff* I really didn't think he was that much bigger. I hate when they outgrow clothes so fast. :(
Here is a picture of him in it the first time he wore it. :)

FLUFF!

How Ruuuuuuuuuuuuude!

So tonight Mom and I went to Walmart for some odds and ends and we took Owen with us. The boys stayed home with Jake b/c we went so late....that way he could put them down for bed. While we were there we were looking at cards and I was standing at the end of the isle getting ready to turn into another isle and this guy walked by and RUBBED Owen's forehead!! I had him in the basket of the cart, so he had to reach down INTO the cart to rub his head. I looked up at him with my eyes wide and looked at the girl with him and just fumbled for anything to say....all I could do was STARE in a disapproving way and say "UUUUUUHHHHHHHH?!" and then they walked off. I definately was NOT smiling at them and they both just smiled at me and walked off.

I am NOT a quick thinker on my feet especially when I am caught off gaurd (as my friend Toni reminds me of all the time!) and I have NEVER had anyone touch my babies before! I have read on message boards about people complaining that strangers try to touch their babies, and honestly I always thought they were a bit anal, but that was until tonight. EW! Please don't touch my baby! Okay, I HAVE had little cute sweet old ladies who look older than Moses touch them on their arm or leg or foot, but never on their face! Them I don't mind so much b/c I know what is going through their heads, they are probably thinking about their kids when they were babies and I just think of that more as a nice sweet thing. But tonight just rubbed me, and Owen, the wrong way. ;o)

I saw once online that they have stop signs for strollers and car seats that say "Please don't touch me" and when I saw those I thought "WEIRD!" but tonight..... not so much.

Okay, now....am I being anal here??

Let's Give this a try....

So in an attempt to start a blog on here that is appropriate for people to actually read, I thought I'd create yet ANOTHER blog. I have myspace and I have a private blog on here, but I find myself being pulled into the public blogging world. HA!! Becaues I have nothing to say at the moment...here are a few of my latest blogs from myspace...... they will bore you to death. ;o)

Owen's Birthday Story......
Okay, so some of you have been asking for the detailed version of Owen's arrival, and I have really been intending to do it before now, but everytime I think about it my head hurts, and the farther from that day I get the more my head hurts to think about the fuzzy details. LOL Pregnant brain has now become Mommy brain, soon to return to normal brain in about 6 months....so I've heard.

So without further ado.....

Tuesday the 10th I went shopping all day with my mom and got the much needed baby book I had remembered the night before. We were gone for the better part of the day and got home around 3. I put the boys down for naps and got online. Around 3:30 I went to the bathroom and noticed I was bleeding. This happened with Aidan too..... means labor is coming SOON. I called my mom frantic b/c that was my gut reaction. She came over and I was on the phone with my OB and she said to just labor at home for a while until my contractions were around 4-5 minutes apart. Greeeeat. So, mom went home and said to call her when they start b/c at this point I had no contractions. About an hour later, 4:30 or so, I started having contractions. At 5:30 I started timing them b/c they were becoming worse. I called mom to come get the boys b/c I did not want to be laboring at home alone and taking care of them. She came and got them and then Jake got home a little bit later. Meanwhile I was finishing up some last minute things around here and making sure my bags were packed and at the front door, all the while being busy online too.
The bad thing is that my contractions weren't very regular. Some were 7 minutes apart, some were 15, they were really sporadic which was frustrating b/c they were increasing in strength..... just not in frequency. Finally I had about a half hour of contractions at 5 minutes apart and they were to the point where I could barely breath through them, so I opted to go in then. I did that b/c I needed to be hooked up to antibiotics asap b/c I was positive for Group B Strep. I needed at least four hours of antibiotics and I have quick labors. In fact the nurse kept saying she didn't trust my body to not change at the last minute and decide to spit out a baby b/c I was what they called a "multip mom" (multiple births already) with a history of delivering fast.
So anyway, we checked into the hospital at 8:30 and I assumed they would hook me up to the antibiotics right away but they didn't. They wanted to monitor me for a while to make sure I was in active labor. Well, wouldn't you know it but my contractions slowed down, but they didn't lessen in pain. That was frustrating. They talked about sending me home, something I did NOT want to do. I kept telling her that while they weren't regular contractions they were getting more and more painful and I that I knew myself and my body well enough to know that I would need an epidural SOON. She said they would monitor me for about 1-2 hours and then decide. Oh brother...that would mean it would be almost MIDNIGHT before they decided to keep me or not, and if they sent me home I would just have to go back in 6 hours anyway for my induction. Well luckily my contractions picked up and so did the pain. My nurse said she didn't like the way my body was acting and given my history, she wanted to go ahead and admit me. At this point it was around midnight. So, they admitted me, and I begged for the epidural. BTW, I have a love/hate relationship with the epidural. While I love what it does for you, I absolutely hate getting it. I was more fearful of the epidural than of delivering a baby! LOL
I got the epidural around 1 I think?? Exact timing is fuzzy to me now... but I got the epidural with the help of Jake enduring my fingernails in his shoulders, me stretching out the neck of his shirt, and a pillow at RVMC that probably still has my bite marks in it. I swear I am the most polite person in labor I think....I apologized before hand for any swearing that might be offensive to the nurse and anesthisiologist (sp?) and kept saying sorry when I screamed too loudly. What was funny is the anesthisiologist kept apologizing too... "I'm so sorry, my wife hates these too and does the same thing." That was actually a relief to hear. So, once we got through that ordeal, I laid back and let it take affect. I hate that part too..... I don't like feeling all of the control of my lower body leaving me. It's a strange feeling. I don't mind it once it's complete, but waiting for it to take full affect is creepy for me. Same feeling I get in an elevator....that's random.
So the epidural worked immediately on my right side but not so much on my left. In fact it never really numbed my left side at all. I could still feel the contractions on my left side...not as strongly as before, but strong enough to make me cry. While this was going on the nurse FINALLY hooked me up to the antibiotics I needed. I was supposed to have penicillian but b/c I am allergic to penicillian related drugs they opted for something else..... and wouldn't you know it, I was allergic to that. My right had and foot swelled and started itching horribly. At first we thought it was the epidural b/c that is one thing about the epidural, while it is numbing you, it itches a lot. But when only my hand and foot became inflamed and red and just NASTY looking, did we realize it was an allergic reaction. So, she pulled me off of that drug and said she'd ask the doctor what else to try. Around this time the anesthisiologist came back in to recheck my epidural since it wasn't numbing properly. He said that sometimes some women didn't numb evenly and there was no explaination for it.... that it was different for every woman. Well, the other two times I had one I numbed evenly on BOTH sides thankyouverymuch. So, I was left to feel the pain in my lower left abdomen and upper thigh. He left and the nurse left to get me more meds. I was worried at this point b/c it was already 3am and I was dilated to a 5. From the previous two boys, I knew I was on the downslope from here on out. I managed to doze a little from 3am to 3:20 and what woke me up was this excruciating pain in my left hip. It felt like someone was drilling a hole into my hip bones. I was laying on my left side too, hoping the epidural would make it's way down (they recommend doing that, saying it helps, but it never did) so at first I thought maybe it's b/c I've been laying here too long. But it got worse and worse, and it was more constant, not like a contraction. I knew something was not normal. Poor Jake had to be my punching bag and I am surprised I didn't break his shoulder. AND, come to find out the next day, the people across the hall could hear me screaming (Kacie happened to know them and they said to her "didn't your sister get an epidural? LOL). Niiiiiiice. Yes, screaming..... b/c remember my epidural was not so effective on that side.
I called for a nurse b/c I was getting scared at this point that something was wrong and my nurse was still MIA..... so the nurse that responded checked me and I was at a 10!!!!! After she checked me I asked her to lay me on my back b/c the pain in my hip was just too much. It lessened the pain a little, but not a lot. I told her I was supposed to have the antibiotic and I hadn't received it at all, and she looked concerned and said she'd call in the oncall doctor b/c it was time to push. At this point I started panicking b/c I knew I needed that antibiotic and I was worried about the baby. I was crying and talking about a mile a minute. Jake was trying to calm me down and then the doctor showed up. She said that my nurse earlier got called into a delivery and no one knew I wasn't being checked on. GREAT. I kept telling her about not getting the antibiotics and she didn't seem too thrilled about that which worried me even more. I kept saying "is my baby going to be okay?" over and over. She never said he would be, but she did say that 15 years ago when they didn't do the GBS testing that babies were fine, so why wouldn't mine be? I know that is what she had to say, and it really wasn't that reassuring. They did say they'd do bloodwork on him after he was born to make certain. That made me feel a little bit better, but just a little. OH yeah, when the nurse checked me and I was a 10 I had Jake call my mom and she almost beat the doctor there! In fact, right after the whole "GBS talk" my mom showed up I think..... at this point it was 4:45 or so?? So the doctor said she'd try to call my OB and see if she could get her in to deliver me and then she'd get back to me. So we waited a few minutes and she came back and said that my doctor didn't answer her page so she was going to have to deliver me. That was fine with me..... my doctor has never delivered me. She missed Aidan's birth too and then they only had a male oncall doctor and I threw a HUGE fit over that and insisted on a woman doctor, and they found a midwife at the other hospital who was willing to deliver me. So this time, with Owen, I was relieved that the oncall was a female so I didn't have to go through that again. I told her I felt immense pressure like I should push and she said "Well lets do a practice push and see where we stand" so right there she had me give one push and before I could even finish the push she said "STOP! His head is right there!" and my mom and Jake looked down and someone said "OH he has hair!!" and before I knew it the doctor was in scrubs and the bed was broke down and raised and she said, "Okay, when you feel like it, push again" and I said "Uh, I feel like it NOW!" and so I raised up to push and before I could even grab my legs.... he was out. It was unbelievable. I have heard women before say that they didn't even have to push and I always thought they were lying.... they weren't. I figure I sat at a ten for at least an hour fighting the urge to push, and couple that with the fact that I have had two babies before, I think he was just READY. The doctor said, "He's out!" and I said "WHAT?!" and looked down and there he was. I said "that was AWESOME!" heehee I can't believe I said that now. It really was amazing though.
The hardest labor I have ever had, but it was the easiest delivery ever.
So, he was born at 5:01am on 7-11-07.

My OB came in around 7am to check on me and I told her about the hip pain and she said that since he was face up, that was him turning at the last minute. She had told me at my appt that monday before that he was face up and that when he turned it would probably be extremely painful and feel like labor. She wasn't kidding. That was the worst pain I have EVER felt. I mean EVER. It even beat the pain of the epidural, if that's possible.
I also told her about not getting the antibiotics and she was NOT HAPPY at all about that. In fact from my room she went to talk to the pharmacist about changing my meds w/o her approval and then to talk to someone about why I didn't get the antibiotics.

Soooo, that's the story of Owen's arrival. The next several days in the hospital are an even longer story, which I may save for another blog. Don't want to bombard you with the details of the last 11 days all in one blog. Lord knows this one is long enough already, and if you've read this far....well, bless you then. LOL ;o)

Oh yeah....ALSO, all of Owen's bloodwork came back showing he was perfectly fine (thank you Lord!). And, for the first time ever, I didn't tear so that means no stitches. WOOHOO!!!! :o)

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My 12 Day Saga.......
Oh bother.... isn't that what Winnie the Pooh says when things seem like they can't possibly get any worse?? Now don't get me wrong.... I am in a "happy" point in my life and that is the only reason I can laugh off these last 12 days. If I were still pregnant and having this kind of luck I think I would have hit the fan by now. LOL I was telling a friend from church about it today over the phone and I was laughing hysterically and she was just in SHOCK as to the amount of bad luck we've and she said "well at least you're laughing about it!" Honey, that's all I can do at this point..............
WEDNESDAY (11th)/THURSDAY (12th) So Owen was born on a Wednesday morning after being up all night laboring. I didn't sleep at all Wednesday even though Owen did. I was too wired. I did finally get tired that night but Owen had other plans. He was awake from midnight to 7am..... I was exhausted. All he wanted to do was nurse. I had not slept since Monday night and it was now Thursday morning. I called Jake and said "GET. HERE. NOW. And bring the pacifiers that I forgot." He came and sat there with Owen and the paci while I slept for about two hours. I don't think I went to sleep until about 9 though b/c I had ordered breakfast and then of course a million nurses check on you in the mornings. So I woke at 11 and was up until 3. I slept again until 5 and then got up and ordered dinner and had visitors and all that jazz. Well nightime came again and again he didn't want to sleep. I fussed with until about 1230am and then called a nurse and said "I have NEVER put one of my babies in the nursery and I feel like a horrible mom but I have got to put him in there tonight. I am just too tired." Then she told me that the nursery was full. Suddenly I didn't care about being a horrible mom, I just wanted SOMEONE to take him so I could sleep. I said "Could YOU take him?" and she looked at my like "WHAT?!" and I said "don't you keep babies at the nurses station?? I have seen that before I think. Will you keep him out there?" and she said yes that they do and she would. So she took him out with her and she brought him back around 215 to eat. I fed him and sent him back out with her at 3 and I went back to sleep until 6. That was the last time I got to sleep for a three hour stretch. LOL
FRIDAY (13th) It is now Friday and I am getting my stuff together to leave and go home. Jake and the boys were coming to get me around 1 or so. They came, they got me, we left at 2 and were home by 230. That night Jake's family (mom, dad, bro and his family) were coming over to eat and hang out and see the baby. I suggested doing that b/c I really didn't want to go there and Nate and Teresa were only down for the weekend and I wanted to see them and I knew they wanted to see the baby. Sooo, everyone came over for pizza and they brought some salad. After dinner Nate and Dylan were wrestling and Dylan started crying really hard, and I knew by the way he was crying that something was not right..... long story short, Jake, Nate, their dad, and Dylan all spent 5 hours in the ER that night getting x-rays on Dylan's arm. The Dr's couldn't tell if it was fractured or not b/c his bones are still so little and not fully formed, so they splinted it anyway and said to take him to his pediatrician on Monday.
SATURDAY (14th) Teresa called to check on Dylan and offered to come over and watch the kids so Jake and I could rest or do whatever b/c Owen (AGAIN) did not sleep at all that night. I took her up on it and she and Kambrie came over. Jake left and went to put the plates on the trailer. While she was here I got to take my time taking a shower and getting dressed. That was nice. When I was done we got the kids all lunch and by the time they were finished Jake got home and then Teresa and Kambrie left. They kids got some good play time and I think Kambrie warmed up a little to the boys....it's funny to see them all together b/c the boys are so rough and loud and she is so calm and quiet. While they were building towers and crashing them she was trying to read. LOL So cute. :)
After that the boys laid down for naps and I dinked around here. At 230 Nate called to tell me something about the ER trip the night before and then MIL got on the phone to talk to me and said that they were having a BBQ at 5!!!! I told her that considering it was a LAST MINUTE invite it would all depend on the kids and naps and attitudes when they got up. To say the least I was annoyed. I just was frustrated b/c if I had known the night before when it was planned I could have planned my day better and anticipated it. We ended up going but not until 730 that night. I was glad we ended up going though b/c it was fun and the kids did really good and Owen slept through the whole thing. Plus it felt good to get out.
SUNDAY (15th) Sunday I had to take Owen in to the Dr to get his weight checked. When we left the hospital they said they didn't like the amount of weight he had lost and they were just barely comfortable letting him leave, so they wanted to recheck him two days after to see if it went up any. After that I went back over to Jake's parents (where I had dropped him and the boys earlier) to say goodbye to Nate and Teresa and Kambrie. After they left we went to lunch at Angelo's with his parents. After that we went back to their house to hook up the trailer to take it home since Jake and the boys were going camping on Tuesday. The rest of the day was pretty low key.... naps, dinner, down time. NOthing exciting.
MONDAY (16th) Monday I had to take Dylan to the Dr. to have his arm looked at again. They determined that it in fact was NOT broken and didn't need to be in the splint any longer. They tried to put it in a sling but he SCREAMED his head off like the night he hurt it. I asked if it really mattered, sling or splint, and they said no, so we put the splint back on. I think he was more scared than anything even though he said he still had a little pain in his elbow. The Dr. said that when he felt like it to just take it off and he'd be fine. So I told him when we left it was up to him, that when he wanted we could take it off anytime. From watching him, it was obvious it wasn't going to be anytime soon. Seriously that kid is a DQ (my mom calls me DQ for drama queen, so maybe I should call him a DK?? drama king?) LOL. The rest of the day was spent getting Jake and the boys ready for camping down at Shasta with my family. I was starting to be bummed I couldn't go b/c a lot of extended family ended up being there too. I couldn't go though b/c I had Owen's circumcision on Wednesday that I couldn't reschedule.
TUESDAY (17th) Jake and the boys left around 11:30 in the morning I think?? After that I got ready and headed out to go shopping. I was tired of wearing my maternity shirts still and STILL looking pregnant in them. BLECH. I don't care how ridiculous it is, I was not going to ride it out.... I decided it was worth it to spend some $$$ on a few new things to get me through until I can fit back into some of my old clothes. So I went to Target b/c a few weeks ago I saw these cute dresses that I thought would cover well. The only ones they had left were spaghetti strapped and I cannot wear those while nursing. NO SUPPORT at all and I think someone would have me arrested for indecent exposure. I did however find this really cute style of tank top that covered well and was light in fabric and would be good for nursing and would still look good after the baby weight was gone. It is not fitted at all, it's kind of flowy... so I got four of them in different colors. I got a pair of Bermuda shorts, a pair of capri's and a cute knee length baby doll hoodie with leggings. HOPEFULLY that will get me through since I don't leave the house much anyway. My cousin Krislyn had called and said that she was going back down to camping on Wednesday and she said she'd wait for me if I wanted to ride with her. I was so excited!!! I called and told Jake but told him not to tell anyone! I wanted it to be a surprise since most of them hadn't seen Owen..... in fact, only a few of them had. So the rest of Tuesday I spent packing, doing a few loads of laundry for the trip, and cleaning the house.
WEDNESDAY (18th) I got up and got ready for Owen's appt. I got there and we did his one week check up and then I left him with the Dr. for his SNIPAGE and I went back and hung out with my lactation consultant for a while. The nurse found me and brought him to me and said that Nancy (my LC) could check him in 30 minutes to give me the all clear to go home. So I went and joined the moms group she has at that time and chatted and nursed Owen and then Nancy checked him and we left. I called Krislyn when I got home and she was on her way over to get us. We loaded up and left. NOW HERE IS WHERE LIFE GETS EVEN MORE INTERESTING. On the way down to camping I had to stop to feed Owen. I noticed he wasn't nursing well when we left so I was glad he got hungry, only he didn't nurse well then either. I thought maybe it was because I was in the car. I kept trying all day to nurse him. I was kicking myself in the butt b/c I had forgotten my pump so I was getting very "FULL" and I knew that he needed to eat and wasn't eating hardly at all. I started getting frustrated and worried b/c I know from my history with Aidan that it would not be good for me if he didn't empty me with a feeding, and SOON. Well, sure enough, I had a 101 fever that night in the trailer, I was sweating and having the chills off and on. Luckily I had remembered my thermometer and Ibuprofen so I took 4 IBU and lived on that until we got home Thursday night. I had called my OB while camping and they called me in a presrcription so it was waiting for me when we got back.
THURSDAY (19th) So we packed up and headed home and got back around 5 ish. Jake picked up my prescription for me of dicloxicillian and the pharmacist said that if I am allergic to any penicillian related meds to not take it. So I called the oncall Dr and told her my allergies (there are a lot) and she said NOT to take it, she'd call me in something else. So I sent Jake to pick that up as well. So when he got home from getting that (8pm by this point) he gave me my meds. I said "is this it?" b/c it looked different than before (I have had mastitis four times) and he said yes so I took it. Well later I was looking at the papers that came with it and I had a question so I called the pharmacist and she said "look at the bottle and tell me what it says" so I asked Jake for the bottle. He pointed to it. I said "NO that's the bottle I might be allergic to, where's the other one?" and he said "THAT'S that one I gave you!" and then I lost it. HE GAVE ME THE WRONG MEDS!!! I totally started to panic after that. I was freaking out, crying hysterically, waiting for my throat to possible swell up, pacing the floor, I was a mess. I called the Dr and she said to take Benadryl to counteract any reaction. So I took the Benadryl and stayed up for four hours to make sure I wasn't going to die in my sleep. LOL Jake said "So you probably think I am trying to kill you now or something huh?" heehee Yeah, slightly.
FRIDAY (20th) All through the night Thursday and early Friday morning I noticed that my milk supply had gone down. I called my LC to find out if this was b/c of the mastitis. When I told her about the previous night she said "Oh! The Benadryl dried up your milk!" Greeeeeeeeeeeat! At this point I was thinking "could it GET any worse?! I mean really! What else could possible go wrong?" So we decided that I will start taking Fenugreek right away and start pumping after EVERY feeding to help bring my milk back up to par. Wonderful. Like I don't have enough to do already and like I'm not getting enough sleep already. Now after I take 40 minutes to feed and diaper him, I need to take another 15-20 to pump and wash the supplies. So by the time I am done diapering, feeding, and pumping, I can MAYBE get an hour and half of sleep in before doing it again. Maybe. So I opted to skip the wee hours pumping sessions and just try to do it every other time.
So the rest of Friday went pretty okay. I laid in bed ALL DAY LONG and went back and forth with the fever then the chills. That is so not fun. My whole body ached. It's worse than having the flu. That night Jake made noodles for some spaghetti sauce I had thawed out. Just as we were cleaning dinner up I heard Jake say "Aidan No nonononnoooo!" and I look over and Aidan has his finger up his nose! He had SHOVED hamburger from the sauce up his nose! He was screaming and holding his nose and saying "nose! nose! nose! owieeee!" I immediately started to worry b/c this kid can his finger all the way up his nose.... he is facinated with just sticking his finger up his nose and leaving it there. It's the strangest thing. It's obvious he is in pain. We try several things, nothing works. I call my mom and try a bath like she suggested (hoping the splashing around would make his nose runny) and that didn't work. He has been screaming now for about 30 minutes. I call the nurse, she calls back and says take him to the ER. So, Jake spent TWO FRIDAY NIGHTS IN A ROW IN THE ER!! I sat at home thinking "this is just great, someone is going to send childrens services to our house and investigate WHY we were there with our kids two friday nights in a row!" When Jake and Aidan got home sometime after midnight Jake said they pulled three chunks out of his nose, and one was the size of a dime!! And I guess they were really far up there. Good thing they went in.
SATURDAY (21st) Thankfully Saturday nothing too extremem happened. In fact Saturday was pretty okay. Jake and I went rounds that day. Between his lack of patience with the kids and my fatigue we were at each others throats. He wanted to go out that night too!! I got up Saturday afternoon after I realized that with all the screaming and kids running around I was not going to get to rest anymore. The house was trashed. I started picking stuff up and when Jake said he wanted to go out I said ONLY if the house resembled something picked up and somewhat neat by evening time could we go out. Well he hoped to it then. Mom came over and watched the boys (all three!) and we went to Red Robin for dinner and then to Walmart to pick up some wipes and cleaner and some household essentials. We were only gone about 2 hours.... I'm on a short leash with Owen for a while. ;o) When we got home the boys were in bed and Owen was ready to be fed again.
SUNDAY (22nd) Sunday morning I got up and looked to the side of my bed and saw the papers from my prescription that I had been reading the other night. I noticed it said there were only 20 pills in the bottle. I thought that was odd since normally there are 40. In the past, when I had it with Aidan, I had to take four pills a day for 10 days....40 pills. I had been taking four pills a day since Friday...so just for Friday and Saturday and I had already taken two by 8am Sunday morning. Every six hours.... that is the schedule I am used to with these meds. Naturally I just started taking them the same again. When I saw the amount was 20 I thought "hmmm, I must need to refill these" and I didn't think anything of it since it was a different pharmacy than normal. THEN, at 2:30pm when I went to take my third pill of the day, I noticed on the pill bottle that I was only supposed to be taking it TWICE a day, not four times a day!!!! SERIOUSLY!! Prescription medication is going to be the death of me, I swear! I called THE SAME pharmacist back and was in a panic, AGAIN, and told her the whole story. She said "not to offend you, but are you a LARGE person?" and I said "well no but I did just have a baby" and she said "well no, I mean if you were really large then MAYBE you would need a large dose but you don't" Sooooo, come to find out, these pills were double strength pills as opposed to single strength pills which is what I normally take. I asked her if anything was going to be wrong with my or the baby and she said no, but to really push the fluids. So after that phone call I started downing water like crazy!! She also said to not take any more and wait until the next day to take another one and just finish it out taking two a day.
The rest of the day was pretty low key and boring. I did a LOT of laundry. No one has done any laundry around here since the day before I went into labor. Niiiiice. Tonight Jake and I will be folding MOUNDS of laundry.
So that brings us to today........
Today was my first day alone with Jake back at work. This morning was a bit nutty and frazzled but I regained control with the boys. The hardest thing is going to be figuring out how to QUIETLY nurse Owen while I am home by myself with Dylan and Aidan. I think I am really going to have to bite the bullet and set up a seriously scheduled and structured day. Everything in me wants to rebel against that and I hate it with it a passion, but I know it will make things easier. That is my biggest goal in life right now, to just regain control over my house and stick to a structured schedule. That even means limiting my computer time and my phone time. The more I am distracted, the more they test me, and I lose my patience quickly lately. I hope I am disciplined enough to do this. I really want to.....
So that is a very long recap of the last 12 days. I think I am mostly caught up to speed. This is soooo long and I even left out the details. Believe it or not, this is the cliff notes version. LOL Oh well, now I can get back to my regular blogging. I had wanted too but knew if I started without posting everything since Owen's birth, I would never post any of it. So overwhelming.
Tonight the boys are at moms for their monday night with her, and Owen is spending some time with my grandma for about an hour until he needs to eat again. :) That should be nice for her. She loves them at this age. :)

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Okay well now that should be enough to get my blahg ball rolling..... let's see if I can keep this puppy up....