She's Back!

*Warning- this post contains some details about #1's bathroom habits... if that's TMI for you then I would advise skipping.*

#1 has been home for about 3 weeks.  In that time she has gone from sweet baby to Miss Ornery pants.  She is currently being treated for GERD, and that's cool.  But it only seemed to be helping a little bit.  In the past week #1 has gone from being ornery for an hour a night to 5-12 hours a night.  It didn't matter what Hod or I did, she just wasn't going to be happy.

Add in the fact that Hod is now living 52 miles away because of his new job and I am packing up our apartment and then going to join him.  This was making the ornery daughter thing much harder.  I had no one to give me a break.  EVER.

A few days ago I realized that #1 wasn't having wet diapers as often as she should.  She wasn't eating less... she was just getting rid of it less.  I figured it was because when she would cry and scream for hours on end, she would get really hot and sweaty.  So that's where the liquid was going.

Then today, #1 had her first blowout diaper.  And it was a mess!  I have never seen such a wet, messy, blowout diaper.  Seriously, it was the most disgusting diaper ever. My sweet girl turned ornery had some major diarrhea.  This was very new to me, so I called the Dr.

I was told to give her Pedialyte on a somewhat regular basis.  Oh, and to change her formula.  So, on my way to Wal-mart I went.  Not so fun when you have an ornery, sick little girl!

I got the stuff I needed, and as I was leaving the baby section I saw something.

Now, I have been wondering if #1 had a touch of colic.  I just had no answer for why she has been so unconsolable!  She wouldn't sleep in her own bed, and she would scream for hours and hours.  Someone had recommended to me that I try giving her Gripe Water to help with the colic.  As I was leaving the baby section at Wal-mart I saw some.  I've been beyond tired and desperate to do something to help.

And MAN does it seem to be helping!  Since giving her some 5 hours ago, she has been sleeping!  AND she has been sleeping in her own bed.  AND when she wakes up, she does it without screaming! It's like heaven.  I can't even tell you how happy I am about this whole situation.  It may be temporary, but for now, my girl is resting, I'm happier, and my sweet, un-ornery girl is back!

I sure missed her!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Well... it's been about 5 months since I talked about big changes.  So of course that means its time for more changes in my life!

Here is where we are now:

Hod got a promotion!  This is great!  We should actually be able to be contributing members of society now.  With this promotion comes a move.  Yep, for the 3rd time we are moving.  Only this time, we are moving with a newborn.  That is a bit stressful.  Want to hear what makes it more stressful?

Hod is moving tomorrow.  I don't get to move til Dec 15th.  That means I am packing up the entire apartment by myself.  Well... myself and any poor sap who I can convince to help me.  So much to do!

But this is good.  We have been hoping for this for a very long time.  And now it is here!  So crazy!

But #1 is doing pretty well.  She has some GERD, but we're taking care of that.  And she's super cute.. so who can complain!

Aw, Man!

Hod is pretty fashionable.  And being stylish is quite important to him.  Apparently a very popular stylish look for men is jewelry.  Specifically leather bracelets.  As long as I have known Hod, he has had a leather "cuff".  (I guess that's a thick leather bracelet?  I don't really know.)

Now, something you should know about me, if you don't already, is I didn't really grow up with boys.  My dear brother L1, has lived 1500 miles away my entire life.  I was raised with 3 great sisters... but they are severely lacking in man-ness. My Dad didn't even wear his wedding ring while I was growing up.  That would be the construction man in him.  It just wasn't safe.  Then in high school I started to become friends with some boys... and my best guy friend then was totally into mechanics and such.  So, he didn't wear any sort of jewelry either.

As a result of all of this, the idea of a guy wearing bracelets was just strange.  But Hod loves his cuff.  I used to REALLY hate it.  I mean, it was masculine and all that, but it's so big!  I don't do big jewelry, so why should he?  But he wears it with attitude, and pulls it off.  However, Hod is quite aware of my dislike of this cuff.

Today, Hod was running late for work.  Right after he got to work, he called me to tell me that he lost his cuff somewhere outside, and he wanted me to go look for it.  So I did.  And I didn't find it.  And now I have guilt. I just need to learn to never complain about something I don't like.  Cause now that it's gone, I feel like it's my fault.  And I should be sad about it, cause Hod loves it, and yet... I'm kind of glad.

But now, it could look like I "lost" it.  That is such a bummer.  Blast!

Here's A Little Secret

Back in the day, sometime when L1-L4 were young, my parents were financially strapped.  As a result, for their Christmas Eve treat they could only afford hot chocolate and toast.  The next year, things were better, and my Mom tried to make a fancier treat.  However, the damage had been done, and my older siblings revolted asking for the "tradition" of hot chocolate and toast.

And thus the tradition was born.

Every Christmas Eve, this is something I look forward to.  (Yes, I know Christmas isn't here yet... just go with me.)

When Hod and I were married, we were given a gift card to a kitchen specialty store.  We decided to use that gift card on pure fluff.  We just wanted something fun.  We narrowed our choices down to an ice cream maker, and a Coco-Latte.  The Coco-Latte won.  It is pretty much amazing.  Though, I do think it makes the hot chocolate a little too hot.

Enter something I learned from my Mom.  On Christmas Eve, she would have evaporated milk* for us to use to cool down our hot chocolate.

Today, Hod and I tried the evaporated milk trick.  And this is what I learned.  1st, if your evaporated milk isn't chilled, it doesn't cool off the hot chocolate.  2nd, evaporated milk makes even really cheap hot chocolate extra creamy, thus making it seem gourmet for a poor girl's budget.

Who knew?  I will now no longer be sad when I buy cheap hot chocolate, cause I can make it taste great!

*(why is it called evaporated milk, when it is still liquid?  I've never understood that.)

Now I Get It

I've come to realize something.

New Moms don't have a hard time getting things done because newborns are super labor intensive and demanding.

They (I) have a hard time getting things done, cause who wants to fold laundry when you can sit with a beautiful baby sleeping on your chest who pulls faces as she dreams.  Why would I want to miss that?

The temptation is just to great.

But, really... how can you not love this kid?

Luckily, Hod has the same problem, so he doesn't get mad when I'm not as productive as I could be.

*Sigh* Life is pretty good.

It's The Little Things

Just a few happy thoughts:

1. I put on a pair of my old jeans today.  I can't say that all of my old jeans would fit well, but it feels good to be wearing real cloths again!

2.  I love the way the world sounds when it snows.  It's so quiet and peaceful.  And beautiful.

3.  I love to go out to get soup when I know it will be a plastic spoon.  I don't know what it is, but I love using those lame plastic soup spoons.  It brings me great joy.

4.  We put #1 in a little hat today, 'cause it was snowing outside.  She is so stinkin' cute!

5.  #1 is showing great improvement.  This gives us hope.

6.  Hod is obsessed with the brownies in the hospital cafeteria.  It makes me laugh how much he loves them.

7.  Today is my Mom's birthday.  She is pretty much the rockin'-ist mom ever.  You may think that your mom is cool... but my Mom is the best!

Life is getting better!  

Life As We Know It

Hey, Yo's.

Here's a quick update on us.  We are living at the hospital.  Literally.  Hod an I are sleeping on an air mattress supported by couch cushions and a few foam pads.  This allows me to go and feed #1 at all sorts of odd hours of the night.  It's a mixed blessing.

#1 will be able to come home once she can gain weight by eating orally.  She currently has a feeding tube.  This is because she couldn't eat enough to give her enough energy to eat enough, to give her enough energy to eat enough... and so on.

Because #1 is so tired, it takes her quite a while to eat.  As a result, I get to sleep for 90 min intervals.  This results in a very tired Paily.

But we have made some new friends in the NICU.  And we love some of #1's nurses.  And someday, I'll be able to sleep in my bed again.

Thanks for caring!

Oh, and just so you can see a face... Here is #1.  This picture was taken when she was 4 days old.