When it rains...

It really pours.

So the Baby had his tongue clipped on Monday. It was horrible. I cried the whole time, but the Baby was just fine. He was given stuff under his tongue to numb it, so he really didn't feel a thing. It was the doctor holding his mouth open so he could actually clip the frenulum that made he cry. As soon as he was done, he stopped crying.

He was 3 weeks old yesterday. He is latching on a bit better. But the damage was done. I am still so sore, so it still hurts. But not as bad as it did...if he gives me a break and naps. This Baby is just cat napping and wanting to nurse SO often now.


On to the pouring part... yesterday when the Baby finally took a 2 hour nap and I was able to lie down for about an hour and get some rest. The Kid was watching TV in the living room. I woke up to him crying. I called his name but he didn't come into the bedroom, so I went out to him. I found him in the foyer with his pants around his ankles, crying because he had wet his pants. I went to hug him and he felt all warm. I got him in a shower to rinse off and cool off and then took his temp and it was 101.7. Later last night I took it again and it was 102.7. He didn't even remember me giving him a shower when I told Hubby when he got home from work. He was so delirious from the fever. We gave him some Motrin and hoped after a good nights sleep he'd be better in the morning.

Well, today he sounded like he was talking with a mouth full of saliva or like he just got out of the dentist and was slurring a little or something like that and still had a fever over 102. So I looked into his mouth and he had red spots in his mouth. So off to the doctor again. Even though the doctor took a strep test to see if he'd need antibiotics, it was exactly what I feared. The Kid has Coxsakie virus (Hand,Foot Mouth Disease). Friken wonderful. Luckily the spots in his mouth don't seem to be bothering him at all, I am hoping it stays that way and PRAYING that the Baby doesn't get it too.

Who needs help?

I DID!

I was talking to a neighbor of mine about my nursing problems. She said she had the same problems with her son, who is also 4 like the Kid. But she didn't know why until she brought him to the dentist at 3 years old. She ended up quiting nursing at 6 weeks because the pain was too much for her. It turned out the dentist found that he had a short frenulum...also called a tongue tie.

I told Hubby about it and he remembered that one of his best friend's kid had that AND had it clipped. And another friend of mine said her son has a slight one, but not enough to be clipped. I never heard of that before and now in 2 days I knew of 3 kids that had it, so I started to do a little research online. It turns out that we have MOST of the signs of a short frenulum; pain throughout the nursing session, the frenulum (the little piece of skin under your tongue that holds it down) is really close to the tip, there is a small indent in the tip of his tongue, a white line across my nipple from where he was trying to nurse, but actually biting...the list goes on and on.

I knew from day one that something didn't feel right...but I, thinking I am an "expert" breast feeder and breast fed the Kid for 19 1/2 months, figured we could work through it and he'd learn how to latch better. Well, it wasn't the poor baby's fault, or mine. He couldn't get his poor little tongue over those bottom gums to nurse correctly so he really was just biting me.

I've been pumping around the clock to keep my supply up and to let the girls heal and to give him my milk and not have to supplement so much, so hopefully after our appointment at the ENT (Ears/Nose/Throat) doctor today the frenulum will be clipped (they do it right in the office for babies) and we can start re-learning how to nurse together.

I have been so heart broken thinking that I wouldn't be able to nurse my baby for the first year of his life. I was not enjoying leaving the room and sitting attached to a pump for 20 minutes at a time every 3-4 hours. I enjoyed nursing so much with the Kid and I didn't want to 'short change' the Baby. Plus...the economy being the way it is, I was just cringing at the thought of having to buy formula for the next year. Breast feeding is an unbelievable savings.

I guess the moral of my story is...even if you think you know what you are doing. Don't be too proud to ask for a little help. If I had gotten a little more help and actually told the lactation consultant at the hospital I thought something wasn't right instead of telling her about my over 19 months experience and that we'd work through it, this may have been taken care of in the hospital and I could have saved a lot of tears.

Bad Bullets and Good Bullets

I have no idea how I am going to fill you all in on the last 48 hours or so. It's been Loooooong. I think I'll try some bullets.
Here is the sucky/pain in the ass stuff:

• New van: Had to drop off the new van to the dealership yesterday morning to get the hitch that we ordered installed. Took much longer than we thought it would, so we were stuck with a loaner van and couldn't get out there to pick up our van until this morning.
• New phones: Hubby and I got new cell phones. Another ordeal. We went to 2 Verizon stores because the first one was rude as could be. The Kid set off the alarms in both stores by pulling the phones from the wires (fun). And we left there over $200 poorer. Yea, nice 2 year deal my arse. You still HAVE to buy the hands free and car charger and all that extra crap since they keep changing the phones. The real kicker was Hubby's phone didn't work when we got home and had to stop there again after we picked up the car this morning (at least we were in the area of the same store). They were such a pain in the ass and took SO long that Hubby got a free memory card out of it! (Both the dealership and the Verizon store we went to are around 25 minutes away from our house.)
• New shed: May not happen. We may be out about $600 deposit. The asshole zoning guy in this town (the one where you need a permit to fart) denied us our little 10x12 beautiful Amish built shed that we ordered over 6 weeks ago. As you know, we live in my grandparents house now and my GREAT grandfather started an electric company about 60-70 years ago and it has been run out of this house ever since. There is just a small office and a 2 car garage that holds the 2 trucks and material. Well, that means this property is considered for commercial use and they won't let us have a shed for our bikes and kid toys because there is the 'chance' that it would be used for business use. UGH!

Here are some good points about the last few days:

• OB appointment: I only gained ONE pound the last 2 weeks! Wow! I am very excited about that. Now I am into my weekly appointments. I had my strep test yesterday. I was negative with the Kid and hoping I am again. The doc gave me a quick ultrasound and I got to see all the boy bits in their glory. Good thing, because I was starting to have dreams that I had this baby and it was a girl! LOL! Heart beat was great and my blood pressure was normal, as usual.
• My engagement ring: I got a couple stones tightened on it and picked it up yesterday (between dropping off the car and going to the 2 Verizon stores.) It is so beautiful now since the jeweler cleaned between each stone, it kinda makes my wedding ring (with half of it wrapped with tiny diamonds) look like crap! LOL! I should have left both to be cleaned.
• Inspections: We passed the rough plumbing and rough electrical AND the framing inspections this week!! Now we can have the insulation people in early next week for sure and we should have walls up by the end of the week. There is an end in sight!!
• The Kid having fun: Wed. after I picked him up from the Little Gym we went over to my dad's cousins and took a nice dip in her pool. It was a beautiful afternoon. Last night we went to my mom's for an awesome steak dinner. We were able to stay a little later since the Kid actually fell asleep in the car on the way home from the Verizon store. Then today we went to the boards and went on some rides with the friend that was supposed to come down Wed to go to the beach, but she wasn't feeling well, so we changed it to today...again, beautiful day.

Now we are moving into the best weekend of the summer. Labor Day weekend. This is the last weekend that we will have to sit in SO much traffic to go to the store/beach/anywhere! September is my favorite month. There are still so many nice days to come and we can sit on the beach and find parking! Don't get me wrong, I know we need all the bennys (tourists) to come here and spend money on our little towns, but we are all SO happy when they are gone. ;) And since the Kid will be starting school on the 8th and getting out by 11:45 I am sure I will have a few more beach days before the baby comes....which by the way, is only 3 more weeks! I think we are getting close to the time Hubby has to go to storage and get my that 0-3 month bin of baby clothes so I can start cleaning them. At least I have an extra dresser here to put them in.

Trying to Keep Cool

• Yesterday was much lying around doing nothing. TOO HOT! Our pathetic little a/c units do not keep the whole house cool, but at least they are at least 15-20 degrees cooler than outside.

Closest shot you are going to get of me in my bathing suit.

We basically sat in the pool all afternoon again, and then went to my MIL to visit and have dinner. They have central a/c, very nice.

• Today was the Kid's 2nd to last day of school *tear* and we hit up McDs and some playtime in the airconditioned playplace of germs and came home and went back in the pool. This was day 3 of the pool water, so it was a tad slimey on the bottom. We emptied it out and will fill it back up tomorrow.

• I am so happy my friend is letting me borrow her big curved body pillow! I have been flopping around this last week with a pillow between my legs and another behind my back. I happened to mention to her today that I was going to order one and she said "I have one!" I am so excited to go to bed tonight...and Hubby has nothing to do with it! hahahaha

• This baby boy is being very stubborn already, just like his big brother. When you last read that the Kid felt the baby kick for the first time it was the only time he has felt the baby. Everytime I call him over and put his hand on my belly he just runs away and says "I already felt the baby!" And then, when the one other person in this house that wants to feel the baby puts his hand on my belly the baby totally stops moving. So Hubby has yet to feel the movement.

• Tomorrow we have the cable people coming to see why we can't get the Disney Channel in our bedroom. There is a box, but it's just a black screen. And since it has never really worked well in the living room (3 boxes later) that was the only place he could see his beloved Higgly's. And then...I have my wonderful 'drink the nasty sugar water' glucose test. Yeah! Good times. At least the doctor's office will have a/c. That is a requirement of where ever I go these days.

Is It Really Friday Now?

Wow. I really lost track of days this week. When I sat down at the computer yesterday I totally thought it was Friday when I posted the Friday Funnies.

The Kid went to his new doctor yesterday morning and all was well. The lumps have gone down so much they are almost gone. The Kid said the doctor was really funny and liked him. So I think we'll be happy there. And the big plus is that he is about 3 minutes away.

Did I mention that I also had an OB appointment on Wed?? Didn't think so. It was good. Good heartbeat, good blood pressure and I only gained about 2 pounds. Not too shabby. I also got to pick up my script for Rho Gam. For those of you who have positive blood, you are so lucky you don't have to worry about that. I have to go to the hospital between 26-28 weeks and get a shot, since I am O-. I have no clue what blood type the Hubby is, but the Kid is O+, so I have a god chance that the new kid could have + blood too. And if he is + then I have to get another shot after birth.
I also got my yummy orange sugar drink to chug before my next appointment next month. I am hoping all will be well again with the glucose test. I only had to do the 1 hr with the Kid, so I am praying I never have to do the 3 hr one.

It is a rainy crappy day here. Tomorrow (for real - Saturday) there is a cute fishing contest for ages 3-13 in a local pond and I am hoping the rain eases up a bit so we can go.

Doctor visit at home

So the big brother is already getting impatient for this baby to come out. Whenever I tell him that the baby can hear him the only thing he says to my belly every time is 'baby, what time you come out?'

Yesterday he decided he was going to take matters into his own hands. He went around the living room and collected up stuff for his doctor's kit and announced that he was going to get the baby out of my belly.

First he pulled out his winter hat and gloves and put them on.

Then he pulled out his bungee cord that he is allowed to play with (b/c it is plastic and not metal) with the hooks on each end...then he pulls out his toy SAW!

I don't know what they are playing on Noggin these days, but I think it's time to cancel the cable.