~Meh..~

Well, it's not like things haven't been happening here..I just haven't had the drive to post it and I will get to that in a second. First I want to share that Madelyn is a full fledged speed crawler and loves the "I'm going to get you" game. She crawls away as fast as possible and laughs her head off. It's terribly cute.

She can also take some steps but she has to be held up by her torso (not her arms) and guided to do so..she actually isn't too keen on it and reaches to be back on all fours asap.

No teeth..just drool and chewing.

Ok..here goes. I am battling PPD. I started taking 50mg of Zoloft last week. It is supposed to take 3-4 weeks to take effect but I think some of it kicked in a bit already (either that or it's the placebo effect) and Scott has commented on how much less pissed off I am.

~Food, weight, and docs~

So Birth 2 3 came and did their assessment. As suspected, they did not find Madelyn eligible for their program. Woot.

We paid a visit to GI and was given the green light to not only take her off Pepcid but to introduce her to yogurt. She ate some of that yesterday and loved it and so far no adverse reaction. I also gorged myself on some Pineapple Greek yogurt as well, and man oh man..after not eating that for about 9 months or so, was it ever good.

GI is till concerned about her weight gain, or lack thereof, even though she has gained in the past few weeks...back to 17lbs. I am to give her more and more food, concentrating on fatty higher calorie foods. He wants me to cook her food when I cook them in butter (no..I give her olive oil thanks). Butter has added salt, ok I can go salt free fine, but it also is loaded with saturated fats..something I d o not think she really needs..maybe I am wrong?

I know she has to eat a ton, and frankly she already was eating a ton before GI saw her, but I am also concerned he is trying to make her a "fat" baby..not what I want for her. Rolls on a baby are good yes, but a fat baby is not. Gotta find a happy medium here.

~Blood test results~

I have gotten an overwhelming response both on the web and in person of people's concern for Madelyn. Thank you for all your good wishes! So seeing I was going to post the findings here anyways, I will do that instead of emailing the lot of you that have been asking as I will be here all day if I do that!

First off there was a miscommunication between the lab, myself and the Pediatrician; The Pediatrician told me Endocrinology would call me when lab results came in, however, what really happened was she blindly referred us to Endocrinology, then Endocrinology called me prior to lab results to ensure I was able to get an appointment within a reasonable time JUST IN CASE things were urgent. In hindsight, the Pediatrician was just being super proactive, all the while making me feel the need to visit the cardiologist!!

In a nutshell almost everything was stellar..which is great news..but still leaves the questions unanswered.

However, there is some concern with Madelyn's liver functions. She is showing she has 1 of the 2 enzymes elevated, the AST. The other enzyme level that came back normal is the ALT. The Pediatrician did not seem all that alarmed about it as she stated this could simply be due to her age and will eventually even itself out. She also said it could be the reaction of her body fighting off an infection of some sort which is completely normal for the liver to do such business and when the liver is doing that the AST will be elevated.

However, maybe Endocrinology will be able to shed some light as to why she eats as much as she does..(I think I'm going to take pictures of each of her meals today so you all can see what she polishes off..it's really pretty insane) and yet does not gain any weight. In fact her Huggies size 3s even seemed baggy on her over the weekend! My theory is she is going to have a runner's body..long, tall and lean..just like her two uncles..who top the charts respectively at 6 foot 5 and 6 foot 7. And no they don't play basketball; they are both avid golfers.

Only time will tell. In the meantime, we do have a standing appointment for Birth2-3 June 3rd, GI on June 7th, and Endocrinology on June 18th.

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/ast/test.html

~9 month check-up and band-aids~

Craptastic. That is how I can describe our 9 month check. On Friday we went from "you officially have what we refer to as a 'big baby'" to bugged out eyes, rechecking her weight and a referral to Birth 2-3.

Stats as follows:
Height: 27.25 (gained 1.25 inches)
HC: 45.5 cm (gained 1.5 cm)
Weight: 16.6 (LOST 3 oz)

She eats all her required food, and then some, like a horse, so I have no idea how on earth she lost weight. She does not crawl, creep, pull up, or cruise either. Lost.

So Monday we packed up and went to the CT Children's Medical Center to get some blood drawn to check on a few things, thyroid issues being the one that stands out in my head. She got her very first band aid, Garfield to be exact. Ya..big fat hairy deal. We should know the results by the end of this week so I'm pretty much on pins and needles for the time being.

Madelyn also has not rolled over since Lord knows when, so Birth 2-3 will be coming over to the house to check her motor skill development during the first week in June.

Waiting game. Gotta love it.


http://www.birth23.org/

~Huggies Pure & Natural~

"So this is love..mmm..mmm...so this is love..." (insert Sleeping Beauty singing here)

Wow. Where have you been all my life?

This is a great diaper. First off it is the softest diaper I have ever felt..way softer than Pampers "Blankie Soft" Swaddlers ever were, even when they were manufactured correctly. They fit around Madelyn's slim baby body like a glove and when they get wet the get squishy, not hard like the previous contenders did. This diaper also performs exceptionally well overnight. No leaks. They have a pleasant smell out of the wrapper as well. If I had to pick at one things I'd improve it would be the side tabs..they could stand to be slightly longer just for ease of parental use.

I highly recommend this diaper.

If you are going to consider this diaper, call Huggies, aka, Kimberly-Clark, and ask them for coupons. They sent me $8 worth. One of the coupons was worth $6 so as a result my first pack of these diapers, that I bought from Wal-Mart, ended up costing me $2.97. If you are not, call them anyways and get coupons..then send them to me, because I surely could use them!

I am so glad to be done with this diaper fiasco.

http://www.huggiespureandnatural.com/

~Hit a milestone..well at least to me it's a milestone.~

I'm in the kitchen, big surprise, on Sunday and I hear Scott yell from the living room, "Mommy..come look! Hurry!" I sigh, as I'm thinking, "Yes she is prolly doing something I have seen a million times, but I'll come anyways to humor you.."

I walk in and was pleasantly surprised to see her on her hands and knees. Wow! One step closer to crawling and the end of life as I know it.

~7th Generation~

First off, I'd like to give a big "THANK YOU" to Tara at 7th Generation for generously providing me with 1 size 3 and 1 size 4 to try on Madelyn's bum. She also sent me some coupons for diapers and other products as well.

Well, my initial impression when looking at this diaper was it seemed like a cross between a Pamper and a Huggie. Tabs and back elastic like Huggies and then the rest of it, like over all construction and feel was like a Pamper. This is where the comparisons ended. Tara did warn me that they ran small, so with that, I first put Madelyn in the size 3. It fit, but not very well, as it seemed to be a little too snug, as I expected thanks to Tara. No worries, I'll just let her use it and then see how it holds up to 2 hours of being a baby. The next day I decided to put her in the size 4. It fit her very very well, except it just seemed a little tall and the diaper looked as if it went halfway up her torso. Overall, I was pleased with the 4, so I went out and bought a pack with my coupon. We used them all this week and at night with no leaks. Fabulous. I did however notice that after they became wet, they became hard; a lot like the gDiapers did. Not a fan of a hard wet diaper.

Then yesterday I noticed Madelyn had 2 quarter sized red marks on her bum, what on earth...diaper rash in a 'natural' diaper? Really? I put some Desitin on it and it went away. Fine..I tried again without diaper cream. Nope..red marks came back. Wow. Not pleased.

Verdict is sadly a, "No". I do have some left, ok I have a lot left, so since they performed so well at night I will just use them on her at night until they are gone as we always slather her with Desitin at night anyways.

Next contestant; Huggies Pure & Natural.

http://www.seventhgeneration.com/

~gDiapers~

So over the past 4 days we tried out the gDiaper. I wanted these to pave the way for cloth diapering. I wanted to love them.

Babies R' Us said I could return them with my receipt if I hated them so swallowing the initial start-up cost of $30 for 2 gPants wasn't so bad.

In short, the g is a biodegradable flushable diaper that cantains no plastic layer, no chemicals, no perfumes, no inks or dyes and no latex. They sell flushie gRefills and gCloth too if you are so inclined.

They were very easy to lock and load, and after a few changes I became quite adept at the process, and found it really did not take any longer than changing a normal 'sposie. Plus I noted Madelyn looked seriously cute with that little "g" on her butt. They did break down and flush just like the company claimed, which was very nice, but since our pipes are from 1949, flushing them isn't the best idea around here.

What I didn't like is when wet they bunched up and became very hard, which I thought couldn't be very comfortable. Plus the wetness stayed in one spot and wasn't dispersed as it seems to be in the 'sposie. Madleyn's clothes fit awkwardly over them as they do have a larger mass than a 'sposie, and I noticed she had a harder time trying to crawl; not like she is crawling anyways, but there seemed to be much more expenditure of energy on her part to try.

Overall the concept is a good one, as it is a greener choice, however, they sadly did not work for us.

Next up; 7th Generation.

http://www.gdiapers.com/

~Diaper search...~

So in light of the recent hoopla that has surrounded the new and highly anticipated Pampers with Dry Max, in our case Pampers Cruisers with Dry max, we have decided to change diaper brands and have embarked on the Diaper Odyssey.

What is the recent hoopla you may ask?

Well the short version goes like this; Pampers rolled out an improvement to their diaper line called Dry Max. Essentially it is an inner core that can help prevent leaks for 12 hours and also creates a thinner diaper. It is noticeably thinner when put next to the older version and is also noticeably flimsier and not nearly as soft to the touch. Many moms and dads have nothing bad to say about this new technology, as it is working great for them, and I'm happy for them. Other moms and dads are not so happy as their children seem to be having an adverse reaction to the diaper after only 1 use. And I don't mean just run of the mill diaper rash, I mean Pediatrician diagnosed chemical burns that are causing their skin to literally peel off, blister and bleed. I don't think this is a parent conspiracy. This is for real.

But you may ask yourself, how is it physically possible for diapered children from breastfed newborn to table food toddler from all parts of the country to have this problem simultaneously? P & G states it must be something you fed your child..or your child must be teething..or it's no surprise this is happening when switching from the old Pamper to the new Pamper..as they were showed submitted photographs of these rashes/burns to Dermatologists that they compensated and those Dermatologist's opinion is those pictures do not show a chemical burn. Sorry, that's bullshit. The only change in routine has been this diaper with the new technology. Have we had any issue with the new diaper in this house? No..thank God, but the potential for harm is there and if I can avoid any harm to come to my child I will do that, and I can not give my money to a company that sits idly by their statement of "20,000 test subjects and 300,000 diaper changes" showed no signs of distress when using the new diaper. Maybe those kids didn't, or maybe some did and they are covering it up. Who knows? Only P& G knows and they aren't telling.

http://consumerist.com/2010/04/new-dry-max-pampers-causing-rash-burns-sores-boils.html

http://www.walletpop.com/blog/2010/04/23/pampers-dry-max-causing-rashes-and-burns-parents-allege/

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=725180830&ref=profile#!/group.php?gid=230956705705&v=photos

~BLW?~

Bah,..no matter how hard I try, Madelyn refuses to eat anything that remotely looks like real food. Bananas are stars in the jar, but once they actually look like a banana, she wants nothing to do with them. Watermelon, strawberries, avocados, egg yolks, blueberries, mangos..nothing.

I keep trying and I keep getting rejected...hard core! She makes this face as if she ate a lemon, shivers and makes this funny noise..then proceeds to try and spit it out or gag it out.

We did find these fabulous rice cakes at Stew Leonard's..they are made in house, that she absolutely adores. They melt faster than those Happy Baby puffs, and they are a great finger/practice food. Plus they are HUGE and are only 15 calories per cake..so it's really just crunchy air she is ingesting. So thanks to those she has gotten more adept at self feeding, but she can't live on rice cakes forever.

I did think about mashing up a banana and spreading it on the cake but those things fall apart just by looking at them so that won't work.

~Sugar!~

My mom came over this past Wednesday which was really a treat as she can never just swing by whenever she feels like it like MIL can. However, she did something that I felt was so out of character for her..I wanted to throttle her.

We were having a small dessert after our lunch, cotton candy - YUM, and she says to me, "What would you do if I gave Madelyn some cotton candy..just a little itty bitty piece?"
I said, "Don't you dare.."
She says, "But..it's just a little piece.."
I say, "NO."

Seriously??? What the hell are you thinking woman?? What if I wasn't home? She would have given it to her..omg..I know it wouldn't have killed her or anything..but it's pure 100% sugar! She is 8 months old! WOW. Makes me wonder what the heck she fed me at that age now. Is this why I have such issues with food because she fed me cotton candy when I was 8 months old chased with Cheez-wiz or something? Makes me want to barf!

~MIL and spending spree~

Why oh why do I stress so badly whenever my MIL calls and says she will be coming over? It's not that I am not grateful for her watching Madelyn, as errands can get done so much faster when you fly solo but I swear, every time she calls it feels like the DM is coming and the vacuum cleaner just broke, my merchandise hasn't come in for my floor plan and one of the registers was inexplicably $100 short even after looking through the journal tape 3 times.

Why do I have to constantly remind her to change Madelyn's diaper too? Even Scott told her to do it today as she called him so he could tell her how to turn on the tv. Score for Madelyn though seeing when MIL took off her diaper to change her (5 minutes before I got home from my 2 hours of doing errands mind you) she peed all over her! Muahahaha! Good girl!

I also dropped $136 at Kohl's today as I realized yesterday the little stinker had almost nothing to wear besides a few short sleeved onesies I randomly bought. For some reason we forgot all about that 9 month window..oops...and so that void had to be filled. Gotta love Kohl's.."You saved $99.90 today" Hell yes I did. So we got some workhorses (the 5 packs of Carter's onesies with the 2 packs of matching pants) and loads of other things.

And speaking of clothes..after this pee fiasco (giggle...) MIL brings Madelyn downstairs wearing a turtleneck..um..what..it's 65 degrees out you numb skull! By the grace of God she decided to have a drool fest (Madelyn, not MIL) so I was able to change her into something more weather appropriate without stepping on MIL's pride too much.

~Calling Esther Williams on set!~

Oh so we had out first Parent/Child swimming lesson this past Saturday and it went pretty well. It was at the High School and was taught by what seemed to be a member of the High School swim team. All it was really was an open swim sort of thing and the ages ranged from Madelyn at 7 mos to what looked like 3-4 yrs old. The class was open to any child who did not yet feel comfortable being in the water without a trusted adult. At first Madelyn seemed a bit unsure as the water was a tad chilly compared the the sauna like air surrounding us, but after a bit she relaxed and seemed to have a little fun. Little Miss Serious checking things out around her and cracking only one smile. Well, at least she didn't cry.

I have no idea how I would have pulled this off if Scott wasn't with me as bringing an infant to swim lessons is definitely a 2 person job.

~When I think I have heard it all from her...~

Seriously...

You think my radar would be up at Red Alert with this woman at this point and when I hear something "evil" I'd be poised and ready to strike, but yet I remain with shields down coasting along..maybe blindly hoping she will not say something derogatory and ignorant to me.

Alas, I am wrong. This might be the best MIL comment to date:

"I think if you have to go back to work after having a baby you shouldn't have had children in the first place."

Well..I guess since my mother had to go back to work after I was born I guess she never should have had me then, huh.

Oh, and I am a stay at home mom. Whew...glad to know she at least approves of her grand daughter's birth.

~Weight...~

I am a full time stay at home mom..and UGH..I had a horrible moment this past weekend when we went to the shopping outlets. I was in J Crew drooling over the cutest seek-sucker shorts with pink anchors on them, and when I asked about a certain size, they sales lady said, "We only go up to a 14."

..ok so I just weighed myself..I am 5 foot 4 and I am at 182 lbs..my BMI is 31..yup..OBESE.. Gross! I gave birth 6 mos ago, and the whole "I just had a baby" excuse is starting to sound feeble.

I was an on again off again "weight watcher" prior to becoming pregnant..that program does work if you stick to it..the problem is..when I was doing that I ate lots of dairy; fat free yogurt, string cheese, baby bell, cottage cheese..those were all great snacks and salad add ons..now I replace dairy with carbs carbs and more carbs! It's horrible. Not only that, those great microwavable no-brainer meals they sell, which I used to pair with a salad..no more..99% of them contain some kind of dairy. So when I am hungry I reach for some crackers, a slice of bread...not the usual yogurt and string cheese/apple combo..fruit alone does not do the trick either. I'll wolf down 4 healthy clementines and think, "Oh that was 8 points..I could have had a slice of bread with some jelly on it and a cup of oj instead..which would be less healthy but much more filling.."

I know I need to get more active..once the weather changes I will be able to, as right now I go to yoga (Baby and Mom Class) once a week..and that is all I can do because I can't get a sitter during the day to go to any more classes, and my Madelyn nurses exclusively so I can't go at night while Scott gives her a bottle. And I'm not pumping..it just does not work for me.

I need to make some food changes but I do not know how. I'd be happy to lose 30 lbs..thrilled to lose 40, but if I can't lose 40 I won't beat myself up over it either. I just do not know what to do.

~6 mos well-visit, car seats and more!~

So we had our 6 mos visit to the Pedi on Tuesday. She weighs in at 16.9lbs which puts her in "big girl" status according to the Pedi. And she is 26 inches long. I think we are finally leveling off...or not. No tooth buds yet, but we are acting like they are coming that is for sure.

We still have zero desire to roll over, but that is ok because now we are distracted with trying to sit up all by ourselves. We sit in the Boppy some days and some days we don't. Sometimes she does well, other times she is a complete weeble that does fall down. I bought her some stacking cups and she LOVES playing with those when she is practicing sitting. I think it takes her mind off of the sitting part, you know?

We also got ourselves a new high chair after observing the Fisher Price ones our friends had. After using it I will never use my full sized one again. Although we are keeping it set up for when small people come over and we need an extra.

Another thing we purchased recently was the convertible car seat. We opted against the Britax and went with the new Safety 1st Air Protect, and after all was said and done it came to $187. I knwo I know..Britax this and Britax that..well we have our reasons, and cost was not one of them, so I'll just stick to that.

Today we start our Stage 2 food..Pears and Mango..mm...who wouldn't want that for breakfast?

We are still a little stopped up, so Mineral Oil is on our daily regimin now according to the Pedi. I just mix a small amount into her food at each meal..trying to see what the minimum amount is we need to have a smooth move.

Saturday Mommy gets her hair cut..hallelujah! I have to get is short enough where it is semi-out of Madelyn's reach but long enough where it still looks feminine. She has this uncanny ability, as I am sure most all babies do, to grab on to ONE hair and pull on it with just the right amount of pressure where it still stays in my scalp but yet feels like it is about to come out any second. Very painful.

~Dead kittens and popp..or lack there of~

So this morning I looked down and saw with such dismay that there was what looked to be a dead kitten floating in the water of the shower. Then I realized with equal dismay that it came from my head. Gross. I'm finally at the hair loss stage of pregnancy..all that thick glossy goodness that was mine is now no longer and self sacrificing to the shower Gods. If I didn't know better I'd swear I was on the route to early baldness.

Now to the other end of the spectrum, as I am dropping from the top of my body Madelyn can't let loose from the bottom of her body to save her life. She was fine until she discovered how much she loved carrots. In fact she loved them so much she devoured an entire jar in one sitting. And me, being the ever dutiful pleasing mommy allowed her to indulged, happy she found a jarred food we both could depend on.

Nothing has worked to unplug the dam. Prunes, warmed pear juice, peas, peas and prunes together, all 3 together, pears, warm compresses, belly massage, warm baths, baby calisthenics, etc..I'm at a loss. I even cut out her cereal. The good thing is she does not seem to phased by this ordeal and in fact is in as good a mood as any, so things could be worse. Today we will try the prune/pea combo with warmed prune juice..if that doesn't work I suppose I will cut out solids all together and go back to straight nursing until she self-regulates. Although I must admit I'm a bit scared, as she has been eating peas in some combo for the past 4 days and what little does come out is still bright carrot orange...so the back-up when released will not be pretty. Any one have a Haz-Mat suit I can borrow?

~EDIT: Pedi just called a few minutes ago and told me to give her Mineral Oil 2 times a day and then if I do not see a poop in 24 hours I give her a lengthwise halved suppository..and NOT to stop feeding her solids. I was goign to make a Chiropractic appointment for her (and me) this week to see if Marla could help, but she is on vacation, so I guess I will have t wait until next week for some other kind of intervention if it is needed.

~MIlestones and mom-woes~

So we still can't seem to get the hang of rolling over. Madelyn gets ample tummy time every day and ample practice time with both mommy and daddy at different times of the day, but for some reason just can not grasp it. She did roll from front to back twice one morning, but that was it. Never to be seen again. Every morning I give her what I call "Diaper Time". Before her first nurse I strip her down to her diaper and plop her on the floor on a blanket belly down while I tidy up her room and get things started for the day. She tummy surfs and sways from side to side all while lifting her butt up and carpet swimming. She is definitely gaining more upper body strength as I caught her doing push ups yesterday, but no more rolling. Although she has no issue rolling when we give her a little jump start. Go figure.

We also began eating jarred baby food last week. We began our adventure with squash and now this week we have moved on to sweet potatoes. Honestly, the stuff isn't that bad and she does seem to enjoy it as she opens her mouth nice and wide to receive the offering, it just needs some salt if I was to be eating it.

Oh and when we have her in a sitting positions, as she can't sit unaided yet, she tries to get up and stand..lol..it is so funny because she gets SO mad that she can't. Oh how frustrating that must be!

Now my woe. My period. It is so heavy. I have no idea why and it sucks. I'm thinking though that this will be my life from here on out. It was never this heavy before I gave birth so I'm figuring this will be one of those things that is never the same again. I bleed right through super tampons in a few hours..thank God for panty liners. It's nasty when you can feel yourself bleeding, especially when you have a tampon in! So I went out and bought Super Plus tampons..dear Lord those things look like they can suck up Lake Superior. Let's hope they do!

~The ultimate Mom-Mobile~

Hoooo-leeeeey shit is all I have to say. I did it. I finally got what I think to be the holy grail if mom-mobiles. The Volvo XC70 AWD. I have been pining after this car for years, and in fact when I traded in my 1996 Volvo 850 to get my 2007 SAAB 9-3T we had looked at the XC70 as well but it was out of our price range. In retrospect I am glad we didn't buy it back then because the one we can afford now (thanks to my late grandfather's liquidation of estate) is 100 times sweeter a ride than that one ever would have been.

We got the 2008 Volvo XC70 as a Certified Pre-Owned and it came nicely broken in with a bit over 18k on it, which was fine with me seeing my trade in also had a wee bit over 18k on it.

As cute as that SAAB was, it was just too darn small (not to mention white leather interior..what?!), and I knew that from the day we bought it, alas my pleas fell upon deaf ears.

So with AWD, a ton of cargo space, integrated rear DVD players, heated seats both front and back and a slew of other cool options like the neat-o blind spot recognition sensor, I'd say I am finally able to cart Miss Madelyn and all her crap around (plus lots of mine) without missing a beat. I am beyond happy and excited and am hopeful that this car will last me well into the future as I do not see this household needing a new mommy car for a long long time. Now we have to work on Scott's ride....

~New things and and finally went through with it~

So I introduced Madelyn to the sippy cup and she is pretty good with it. She can't hold it very well (well at all really) but she gets the concept of liquid refreshment coming out of the spout. I put some water in it so she had something to practice with, and yes, more ends up all over her bib than in her tummy but that's ok..gotta start somewhere; and besides she is such a prolific drooler anyways what is more liquid at this point anyways? We are using these ones by NUBY that have a pliable spout rather than the hard plastic kind (thanks Amy!), and maybe that is why she is taking to it so well. I did have them out for abut a week prior just so she could see, touch, feel and play with them too. That way they didn't seem so foreign to her.

And as of yesterday I am no longer a post-partum virgin and this was done sans Peapod Delivery item thank you very much so I have nothing to report on THAT quite yet. Initially, yeah it fucking sucked. It hurt worse than when I lost my virginity, which when that happened, really didn't hurt at all. Um, so let's just say it brought tears to my eyes this time, but as Scott put it, "you got over the pain pretty quickly". Pfft..hush! And after all was said and done, he sat back, pumped his fist like a prize fighter and exclaimed, "I'm back in..WOO! Every night now and no excuses!" Um what!? I guess I'd better get back on the pill, eh?