Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Happy Holidays!

 First off I would like to say Happy Holidays to anyone who may or may not be reading this!!!! So far it honestly does NOT feel like December in Virginia. Its currently in the mid 50's and raining. We had snow so far once this year and that was before Halloween go figure!!    Go figure my first post in forever will be a Debbie Downer one -   We found a tumor on our dog last week , and she had it removed yesterday. We are currently waiting for the rest of the labs to come back and sadly things are not looking good for her but we will take things as they come and enjoy her smashing around the house in her "cone of shame" for now!  So please pet owners - take care of your fur critters , groom them regularly and if things come up call your vet! This came on very fast it was not there last tuesday when she was groomed and was the size of a ping pong ball by Thursday - we are hoping that its something simple and that we will be able to amputate her tail and be done. just imagine a German Shepherd with no tail ( its amusing).

Meanwhile in good news : the littles are doing great. The Mancub has started kindergarten this year and absoloutely LOVES it!  The Drama is doing great and the ninja baby turns one in just over a week - where oh where does time fly?   Once things mellow out I'm hoping to get more crafting done and finish up the massive to do list for the holiday season!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I'm Alive!!

So in true horrible blogger fashion I disappeared for a while! Life happened and things got crazy there for quite a while , however things are on the upswing again!   So I plaon on doing the quick updates on whats been going on AND then I'll update on a normal basis finally!!

Lillian had her ABR , the results at first were exactly as we had expected - nothing , there was just no response. The audioloist pulled the tubes out and behold on BOTH tubes on the ends there was soemthing clogging each one (insert shocked face here) she said it could have been any number of things but that we should prbably do it again because obviously nothing was getting down in there. She did it again and *drumroll please*    Lillian heard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   there were a few pitches that were not within normal limits but they may or may not come to her in time we will have to have her tested again. The first 2 days afterward were acctually rather miserable anything above a high whisper had the poor girl crying hysterically , I called the audiologist and our dr and both said more than likely it was a bit of sensory overload but that it would get better and my goodness it has.  We also found out she has abnormal curvatures in both ears so she more than likely will never be able to pass the OAE testing but we are ok with that. No matter what the results would have been we would have been ok with them.I'm also not going to lie - we are THRILLED she can hear.   



On to my other princess - Miss Haley!!  Miss Haley has just finished her school year , and had a good last week of school. I can not believe how time flies! It seems like yesterday she was Lillians age , and now I'm just wondering where my baby went! She manages to amaze me daily , in so many ways. I am very very blessed that her stepmother and I have a wonderful relationship and I get pictures almost daily and updates when she is not here. She will be up here for the summer this weekend and I can not WAIT!!! She is pretty excited to be going into 3rd grade in the fall , and already told me this summer she wants lots of bike riding , book reading and animals. The girl LOVES animals , and honestly is smarter than i am when it comes to most of them. Nothing like seeign a commercial and having your 8 yr old pipe up with " hey that cant happen those animals dont live there they live ( insert place here) "  She is wonderful! and SO grown up now!!!


The Mancub Lucas - oh my my what a handful he is!!! He turned 5 in April and apparently that makes him a grown up! He "graduated" from preschool back in May , it was an adorable event all the way around. There is always the one kid who runs up the aisle straight to the teacher for a hug because they dont like the crowd , then there is the one kid who walks down struttin- I'll let you guess which one he was LOL . He has also gotten into the transformers and building phase - I am pretty sure that at any given point in time we can find a lego or transformer creation somewhere in the house. He has also entered the whiniest phase of his life so far, I am really hoping he outgrows this by the time school starts, otherwise I'm sure I will be at the school a few times a week to pick him up early and I would really rather not!!! However he has also gotten into a very helpful phase , be it feeding teh dog or playing with the baby long enough for me to get dishes done or even better - finish a though! I love it. and I love my little man!  and here is Mr Cool  himself getting ready to head off to his graduation!



The dog is still the dog , barks at random stuff , is always laying just where we want to walk and snoring. Micaiah however is now officially licensed as an EMT in the state of Va - I couldnt be prouder of him!! He also has a newjob that has him commuting like crazy, job isnt bad at all just the drive. I could really do without the up by 3:30 and out the door by 4:30 to be at work! We have talked about moving closer down to work at some point , we will be waiting to see what happens since the cost of housing gets so much higher down there but I have a feeling it will even out since the drive wont be nearly as far or as long!!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

WHAT kind of diapers ARE those???

What kind of diapers ARE those? This question was asked of us Friday evening by a friend of my sister in law. We had gone down to my father in law's house about an hour-ish away for an early birthday cook out for him and my sister in law ( they share a birthday) , and a friend of hers was there. Time came to change the baby and she had no clue what we were putting on our poor kid! So I told her " oh they are cloth diapers" she looked puzzled and replied with " but there are no pins and it looks like she wont leak through them?!"   Thats right cloth diapers are no longer what our parents and grandparents used. Actually they are rather easy to use , less expensive than disposable( in the long run) , better for baby and better for the planet ( if you are into that kind of thing) oh and they can also be really stinkin cute! ( see photo below!)



How did we first find out about cloth diapers? I'll tell you, Lucas was normally a very happy baby , however when he hit about 6 months old he started getting these really weird diaper rashes- we took him to the dr they said oh its just a little diaper rash keep the desitin and frequent changes up it should clear up , then it was yeast , then it was something else , we had countless dr appts and countless otc and rx diaper creams we went through until Lucas was about 15 months old. At that time we had switched doctors ( thankfully - we now have a WONDERFUL dr) and the first time we went in for an appointment about this never ending horrific rash our poor baby had he took one look and said " well its not really a rash as much as it is an allergic reaction and looks like chemical burns"  WHAT?!?!?!?!?! Dr did some labs that day in the office and recommended we switch to cloth diapers , at first I was confused about pins and plastic pants ( and scared I did have a rather active toddler!) and he explained that they had changed and ended up giving us our first 3 "pocket" diapers- I was in love found some online and got to ordering. Meanwhile within a week that rash had cleared up and NEVER came back- turns out our son was allergic to some of the ingredients used to make disposable diapers. So we made the switch to cloth.

Now some people may be freaked out at the idea of poop going in the washer - however it really doesn't I'm sure at one point or another any parent has dealt with a "diaper blow out" poop on the clothes yes its gross but hey poop happens! Well the thing with cloth is the poop gets dumped into the toilet- or rinsed before it goes to the wash. NOTHING different from disposables. Yes with disposable diapers you ARE in fact supposed to flush the "solid waste" in the toilet!  ( It says so on most packages!) So really its nothing worse than what goes in your washer anyway , and if you follow proper washing instructions the heat from the water and heat in the dryer sanitizes the diapers.

So when we found out we were expecting again ( surprise!!!) we made the choice early on - we were using cloth diapers no questions about it. Cost difference is amazing , and its healthier the reasons go on and on. Now I will say - cloth diapering is NOT for everyone , its a choice that one makes for themselves. Same thing can be said for breastfeeding , different parenting styles etc.

 Now types of cloth diapers out there - There are prefolds and flats ( similar to what most people think of when they hear cloth diaper) that can be pinned or "snappied" , used with various types of covers or that just lay in a cover.  There are also contours  again used with covers , fitteds that are used with covers, there are also pocket diapers - that come with a pocket in them that you stuff an insert in that basically have a built in cover ( love these!), there are also All In One ( or AIO) diapers that you just put on and go no stuffing , pinning or covers, and All In Two diapers , that are pretty much the same as AIO's but have an extra snap in or velcro in piece. Then you can get into sizes they make from preemie well into toddler or "trainers" (think pull ups) or you can get OS or one size diapers that generally fit from birth until potty training. The options are honestly endless - but that's an entirely different post.

Back to the main reason we chose cloth - our sons reactions to chemicals in the disposable diapers here are just a few with some brief descriptions.

  • VOCs - One oft-cited study, conducted by Anderson Laboratories in 1999 and published in the Archives of Environmental Health, found that conventional disposable diapers do release chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including toluene, ethyl benzene, xylene and dipentene. All of these VOCs have been shown to have toxic health effects with long-term or high level exposure.
The researchers also discovered that mice exposed to the chemicals emitted by disposable diapers were more likely to experience irritated airways than mice exposed to emissions from cloth diapers. The authors suggested that disposable diapers may cause "asthma-like" reactions and urged more study into a possible link between diaper emissions and asthma.

    *SAP - The main absorbent filler in disposable diapers, sodium polyacrylate (SAP), could cause respiratory, as well as skin, irritations in occupational settings where exposures are at much higher levels than occurs with diaper use.
 
*
Dioxins - Most diapers, whether or not disposable, are bleached white with chlorine. As a result, there have been claims that diapers may contain trace amounts of dioxin, a highly carcinogenic byproduct of chlorine bleaching.
 
 
Others? Without an ingredients list, products can vary. But, according to an article in the CBC News, “Diapers can also contain polyurethane, adhesives, inks used to create the cartoon images found on many disposable diapers, and lotions used to coat the diaper liner. These lotions often include petrolatum, essentially the same substance as Vaseline, which has the potential to be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), cancer-causing chemicals found in crude oil, according to the U.S. Environmental Working Group, an organization that devotes itself to educating consumers about health hazards posed by a variety of products. Other common diaper substances include lotions containing almond oil or Jojoba, which can also lead to skin reactions in allergic children. Many disposables also add fragrance to their diapers to mask fecal odors or chemical odors, which in many cases contain phthalates, the class of chemicals known to disrupt the endocrine system. That's the strong smell that diapers often give off when newly opened.”

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Soooo what comes next?

So my late late update - Holidays went great , a couple hiccups in the road but eh it happens! The kids had a blast , got way too much stuff as usual and loved it all.. ( I think each present was their favorite as they opened them!) We had the baby home on Dec 29th which was great , although we knew we were facing a whole mess of appointments and follow ups for her.

 Her cardiology went wonderful and that is a door we got to shut. Her Audiology - that is another story. Most states now require a newborn hearing screen in the hospital , not a big deal my two oldest kids had it when they were in the hospital both passed with no issues so I honestly though nothing of it this time around - I should have. Lillian didn't pass her newborn screening in the hospital , and they said not to worry alot of preemies do not pass it the first time around , or there could have been too much noise in the room etc etc , so they re-did the test in the hospital and she failed again. So upon discharge the nurses (who were wonderful by the way) reassured me that she would more than likely pass on her follow up since well most babies do with no issues ok great. Meanwhile we get home and something in the back of my mind kept eating at me - the baby never startles to noises , not the dog barking , not the vacuum nothing hmmm well we'll see. Enter our first nightmare of an audiology appointment. We get there and my husband already didn't even like the look of the place , honestly we should have just got back in the car and left then , we go through with the appointment and deal with the rudest medical professional we have EVER dealt with. Once again we leave without a pass , and that was all we were told ( I wont go into the details like the audiologist using the wrong size probe and saying she would see if she could "just get it in there anyway" I think not lady) other than oh yeah come back in 2 weeks and we will test again when her ears are bigger. NO WAY. So I call back up to the NICU and talk to them about somewhere else to be seen , as well as an awesome girl from the state dept of health. We find somewhere else to be seen but the wait it horribly long , or so we thought we ended up getting in much earlier than expected with a last minute cancellation!!!! So we make the drive down hoping for more answers and I gotta say BEST decision we have ever made - the staff was wonderful so was the audiologist , they did the test several times JUST to make sure they were getting the same numbers and sadly they did and she did not pass this time. However this time we were given alot more information , as to what is going on with her hearing (or lack thereof) and we know what is coming next. As it currently sits she is "profoundly deaf" in her left ear and slightly less so in her right - we will have a better idea to the exact severity after the next step in this new journey we are on. So what is coming next?  Next we will be going down to UVA ( University of Virginia) for ABR and ASSR testing and after that we should have our definite answers and from there it will be determined if she could possibly have enough hearing to benefit from hearing aides , and if so we should actually be able to have those by mid April! Meanwhile I am finding that ASL classes are few and far between in our local area other than at the colleges but its being looked into and I may have found someone to possibly work out a deal with for some private lessons!!

Luckily my oldest child is one of the smartest people I know and catches on to things very quickly and loves to learn , I think she is going to have a blast learning a "new language" and being as my 4 yr old wants to do everything his big sister does well we are covered. I have had SEVERAL people ask me if I am just absolutely heartbroken or devastated that the baby can not hear- no I am not. Does it suck? Yes. Will it make things more difficult at times? Yes. Does it bother me that my voice from across the room cannot comfort her? Yes.     Could things be worse? ABSOLUTELY - she was a preemie , she could have had sooo many serious health problems that she simply did not have. Hell any baby can have serious health problems. So if her being a non-hearing child is the worst we have to go through I consider us to be very very blessed. If anything I am trying to see the positive in the fact that things may not be as bad as we are being told at this point we do still have more testing to go through , and hey if everything has been right so far, ok we get to expose ourselves and our older children to a new language and entirely new culture and community of people and that's not a bad thing at all.

And to answer some question I keep getting alot - YES we do talk to the baby as if she were any other baby , just because she may not hear us or hear us well doesn't change how we would talk to her.  NO "it" can not be fixed, her hearing may be assisted with hearing aides possibly or cochlear implants when she is much older ( that will be another post though!) but nope we can do nothing to fix it.  GENETICS - are what they think have "cause" this. NO she will not "outgrow" her hearing loss , it would be nice but the chances of that are slim to none closer to none (unless of course all of our testing so far was wrong!)

Now that's all out - I do plan on updating this more often. Just not tonight , tonight I am going to go curl up and watch a movie and try to sleep in 2 1/2 hour blocks while the wee one does until its time to be up for the morning!