What goes around, comes around

I have not forgotten about my blog, but we've been dealing with this virus for weeks now. Katie came home sick from daycare and, within days, Andrew was sick. Luckily, I felt fine and was trying my best to take care of both of them. Well, wouldn't you know it...I picked Katie up from daycare on Tuesday and was sweating and feeling dizzy in the car. I was hoping it was just a hot flash (HAH), but no such luck. I'm assuming we all had/have the flu and I'm trying to get over it. I've been in bed for a couple days and feel so weak, I can't even lift Katie. So much for all of us getting the flu shot, right? Apparently the flu shot did not protect against the strain that everyone is getting this year...go figure. Hopefully my next post will be full of healthy, happy news.

Sick babies are not fun

Katie is going through her first (of many, I'm sure) sickness. I'm pretty sure she caught it at daycare since the other baby went home sick last week. She's got a hacking cough, lots of messy diapers and the worst part, she won't drink. This has been going on for about 5 days now and so I had hopes that things were getting better...until this morning.

Hubby was feeding her and I heard "uhoh uhoh, I need help". So I ran upstairs and it looked like she has spit up most of her bottle. I thought it was just spit up, so we cleaned them BOTH up and I waiting about an hour before feeding her again. I gave her ONE ounce and then she sat up and threw up down the front of herself, all over my jeans, shirt and couch. I felt so bad! I don't even know what she has in her to throw up, since she isn't eating much.

Luckily, she is still in good spirits...laughing and smiling. I hate seeing her throw up all over and then smile at me. So far, we've tried, baths, sitting in the bathroom with steam, humidifiers, and giving her warm bottles. I just hope this virus goes away soon! :(

Five months and "eating"!

First off - Happy birthday Mom Mom!

Katie also had a "birthday" yesterday...5 months old! Unfortunately, we did not celebrate with cake, but had our first meal of rice cereal. It was the first time we used her new highchair and (so far) we love it and it looks great in our kitchen! It is the Graco Contempo chair in the Hemmingway pattern.

-3 position recline

-6 position height adjustment

-dishwasher safe tray

-easily folds in half for storage (collapses to only 8 inches wide!!!)

She did not quite understand why I was putting a rubber spoon into her mouth and she wasn't sure what to do with it. The first few tastes resulted in a sour-puss face, but eventually she discovered the big, plastic, pink bib and that was VERY amusing. We fed her Beechnut Rice cereal and prepared the recommended 1 TBSP mixed with her formula, in a bowl. You are probably thinking, just 1 TBSP? We thought the same thing...until it took us about 30 minutes of feeding to get through half of it. Once she understands to open her mouth and swallow, we will start with some veggies. I can't wait!

4 month milestones

Before Katie turns 5 months old, I thought I better post her 4 month pictures! I don't know where the time has gone, but I just realized I hadn't posted in 3 weeks. Oops!

Katie is doing great. She's 14 pounds, 9 oz and 26 3/4 inches long. She has outgrown almost all her clothes and now wears 9 to 12 month outfits. We've started using her exersaucer now. She is amused for about 10 minutes and then wants to be held, of course.

We're going to start her on rice cereal at the 5 month mark and then veggies a couple weeks after that. We hope that she takes to them better than her bottle, which now bores her. She rarely finishes her bottle and blows raspberries (or cries) until we take the bottle away. What Collins/Lamken doesn't like to eat? We need to train her apparently!

She's sitting up really well (with help, of course). Her new "trick" is pulling her head up in an attempt to sit up herself. She can't do it but strains her neck trying...we hope that she starts sitting alone soon before her poor neck falls off. My little baby is getting so big :(

The Business of Being Born

On Friday night, I went to see a viewing of The Business of Being Born at NOVA's Loudon campus. The documentary was put together by Ricki Lake after she had 2 very different birth experiences - a hospital delivery and a home birth. Having a traumatic delivery myself, I wanted to see what this film was all about...so I got preggo Melissa and headed to the film.




The film describes the most recent trends in giving birth. America has the highest newborn mortality rate in developed countries and spends 3x more money on mother/baby care. So, what are we doing wrong? According to the film, there is too much hospital beaucracy and intervention. Women are brought up to understand that we can't labor on our own and need the drugs, hospitals and in some cases, surgeries. During most births, the body is not allowed to follow its natural way of doing things. Instead, we are admitted to the hospital, given an IV within minutes and "tied" to a bed with fetal monitors that restrict movement. If you aren't progressing fast enough, you are sure to be given Pitocin.

As for c-sections, I was shocked to see the statistics. In 1990, the c-section rate was in the mid-teens, then it rose by about 10% in 1995 and now they are estimating it around 40-45%. The midwives at the lecture told us that some area hospitals are actually in the 50%s. I also learned that the most common time for a c-section delivery is 4pm (so they can get home before dinner) and 10pm (so they aren't up all night). OB/GYNs are trained surgeons and are good at what they do, but how do we know whether it is in the mother and baby's best interest?

The point of the film was that all the modern invention is taking away a woman's empowerment from childbirth. We are made to think we can't do it. It made me think a lot about my experience. I labored most of the day and all night, making it to 8cm by 8am. I got the epidural around 9-9:30 and was taken to surgery at 10:45. Did the 1 hour of epidural really "help" me? If I made it that long, why didn't anyone ask if I wanted to try to make it another centimeter? Obviously, I could have spoken up...but hindsight is 20/20 and you aren't exactly thinking straight when you are in labor.

I really like the idea of midwives now. They aren't the stereotypical woman in braids and hippie clothes. Most of them are trained nurses or have apprenticed for years. They really play the part of your advocate during birth and will be by your side the whole time. I think I'm pretty set on having one for the next baby, although I will still have a hospital birth. Either way, the movie wasn't made to solely promote midwives or home birth. It served its purpose in educating the audience to the "business" of births and the loss of the full birth experience. It was very moving...I highly recommend it!

Our future Duke

Thanks to Uncle Mikey, we're already pressuring Katie to go to JMU. Afterall, she was partially named after the school, so it is only right! I do think purple is her color...

3 month appointment

Katie had her 3 mo. checkup last week, but she is really closer to 3 1/2 months. She had another Hep B shot and was not a big fan. Luckily, she fell asleep after a few minutes of crying and didn't wake up for an hour. Below are the stats for our little string bean:

Weight 13 pounds, 3 ounces (63rd percentile)
Height 25 1/2 inches (95th percentile!!!)
Head 16 1/4 inches (75th percentile)

At the same age, I was the same weight and an inch shorter, so maybe she'll be 5'9. I'm still sticking with my supermodel prediction (lots of money so she can take care of Mommy and Daddy)!