Don't mess with an angry mom!

I am writing this blog today more to vent my anger and frustration for what has happen today for my boy. So, let me start by giving a background story. Noah has had a cough for at least three months now. We've been through the ringer trying to determine the cause for this cough. At first we thought it was just a cold and it had to run it's course. After ten days of it not going away Noah's pediatrician had us come in for an appointment. He listened to his chest and lungs and said he sounds clear and it may be a virus that has to run it's course and if it wasn't better by the end of the week to call back. Well, it wasn't better, so he called us in a prescription for an antibiotic, a week later, we tried a different antibiotic. Still no better. Then the doc said possible allergies. It was the end of April, beginning of May so it was allergy season. So when we went for his six month check up last month I begged his pediatrician to refer us to an allergist. They don't typically do allergy testing on babies until they are a year old. I just couldn't imagine waiting waiting that long to get my boy to feel better! I thought maybe he was allergic to our dogs. That would have been terrible, but we wanted to know.

It took three weeks to get in with the allergist and we just saw him last Friday. Dr.Watkins, in Salisbury. GREAT doctor! He's the same doc that stitched up Dave's eye brow last year when Dave passed out, fell off his medical table and slammed his face into the tile floor. (That's a great story if you haven't heard it yet). So, my mom went with me since Dave had to work and I figured this was going to be a great visit. Get Noah tested, find out what he's allergic to, get an allergy medicine for him, and he'd be better before we knew it!

Well, 16 pricks in his back later, no allergries!

                                            Poor baby, he was so good the entire time too.

  I couldn't believe it. So what's wrong with him then? Well Dr. Watkins wanted to do a chest X-Ray. This suprised me as I just didn't understand what he may be looking for. He explained ito me that there were a few things that an x-ray would cancel out right away. One of them being pneumonia. Other things he was looking for were posisble valves that may be squeezing his asophogus to tight causing a restriction in the air flow and causing coughing. If that was the case we would have to do surgery. Also, possble heart issues...none of this sounded good to me. I was so scared! Here we are at an allergy appointment and now we're talking about possible heart, and lung problems!? Not what I was expecting. But, Dr. Watkins reassured me that he truly thinks Noah has a sinus infection that hasn't been treated properly and a good strong antibiotic will most likely do the trick.

Anyone ever had to get a chest x-ray on a baby? Not fun! Let me try to explain it to you. They put noah on the little seat that looks like a bicycle seat where his legs dangle below. Then they take his arms, hold them up over his head, strap a halo around his head so he can't move it, and smush him inbetween two pieces of plexy glass. Not easy to watch! Noah was screaming and was so scared! I know the machine didn't hurt him but he was just so scared, it broke my heart. I am so thankful my mom was with me, because I was unable to hold back the tears. Thank God for Grandmothers!

Well, after a long weekend with no results, I called the doctor's office on Monday, still no results. Called this morning, no results, and finally got a call this afternoon from a nurse. Noah has pneumonia. I can not believe it. My poor boy has had pneumonia for three months now, and who thought to order the chest x-ray? The allergy doctor! I can not tell you how angry I am at his pediatrician I'm sorry, i've tried to be understanding, but this is a big mistake if you ask me. I understand that doctor's are not always going to make the right calls, and of course they're going to make mistakes. They're human. But I can not tell you how many phone calls and check ups I have had with this pediatrician and he has not done enough if you ask me. he always shrugged me off like i was an over-reacting mother scared of a single cough. I couldn't have been more clear to this doctor about his cough. Everytime we saw him or I called his office I told them he still had the cough. I had to beg him to let me take Noah to the allergist to get treated for this...what he thought was allergies! Thank GOD (as always, he is the great doctor!) this allergist didn't shrug this off too. He very easily could have just said, "nope, no allergies! Have a nice day."

I am very greatful that we know what is wrong withNoah now and can treat this and get him better. I know I need to move on and let go of my anger, all I can say is...i'm

                                     Even with pneumonia he has been all smiles.  What a good boy!

Oh how I loathe teething!

When I first suspected that Noah showed his first signs of teething he was only three months old, but he was drooling a lot, and sticking his hands in his mouth.  I asked the Doc about it and he said "The teething process has started, but don't expect any teeth till about six or seven months."  Well, that was just bad advice by the doc!  Noah popped his two bottom front teeth at four months!  And I was completely blind sighted by it!  I had no clue!  My poor sweet boy was waking up several times during the night and I just kept nursing him or giving him a bottle thinking he was hungry!  We had a two week stretch that was pretty bad where Noah was up every night crying.  Dave and I were walking zombies!  It was bad!  And the entire time, I'm researching online about sleep regression, and I'm adding cereal to his night bottle thinking gees this boy is so HUNGRY!  Nope, that wasn't it!  He was teething!  UGH!  Poor little guy!  All he needed was some orajel or some tylenol and he would have been fine!  Duh!?!?!

So I was a little more prepared when he started to cut what appeared to be the other two bottom front teeth.  You could see the gum was getting white and he was drooling like crazy (he lives with a waterproof bib on).  And even at Noah's six month check up his doc said "Yup, it looks like two more bottom teeth are coming through soon."  HA!  Wrong again Doc!  After four weeks of teething and numerous nights awake with my boy so cranky he finally cut two TOP teeth!  Out of no where!  Here I am putting orajel on the bottom and he cuts the top two!  This is ridiculous!

I am still pretty sure that he's working on two more on that bottom row so he's been cutting four teeth at once!  No wonder he's been so cranky!  Poor guy was so bad for a week, he had a low fever and would not let us put him down!  He had to be in our arms or he was not happy.  And it's not easy carrying around a 20 lb baby all the time! 

So my question for all of you experienced mom's and dad's....IS IT LIKE THIS FOR EVERY TOOTH!?!?!?  Please say no!

                "How about I use daddy's expensive remote as a teether?  I'm sure he won't mind!"

                                      There's the bottom two teethers on my chubby munkey!

Rested and Rejuvenated!

I got some good feedback on my breastfeeding blog.  I'm glad I have readers, and even more glad that I'm not boring those readers!  I wanted to do this blog as a way to keep family and friends updated on what's going on with me and my boys (hence the title) since some family lives too far away to stay in touch.  Thanks to my good friend Kristin for the idea, as she does one for her family and I totally stole her idea!  But it's funny because my blogs haven't really been about me and my boys that much!  I guess I've had a lot on my mind as of recently.  So this blog I am going to actually write about me and my boys!

This weekend was crazy for us!  Dave and I celebrated our two year wedding anniversary this weekend.  Our Anniversary was June 13th, but we were too busy that weekend to get away and spend anytime together.  So we did it this weekend.  Two years isn't that long at all, but when I think about how much we've done in the past two years it's alarming!  We have certainly been on the fast track over the past two year!  But it's been fun.  I'm looking forward to slowing things down this year and enjoying each other and our little man over the next year.  I'm not sure if things will really slow down as our little man certainly keeps us busy!

For our one year anniversary Dave got us a room at the Holiday Inn on 16th right on the boardwalk.  I was almost four months pregnant with Noah so we didn't do anything spectacular.  But it was just what I needed.  We acted like tourists for the night!  We walked the boards, ate thrasher's fries, bought fisher's popcorn and played in the arcades all night!  It was great!  I loved every moment.  So when we were trying to figure out what to do this year I wanted to do that all over again!  Dave and I both have been working really hard this spring and now summer.  And with Noah it's been a lot more work and a lot less time! We really needed a break and this was the perfect opportunity!  My mom was happy to watch Noah overnight even though I was quite nervous I knew he was in the best hands! 

Oh what a night away!  It will seem so simple to you when you hear what we did, but it was perfect to me, and just what we needed.  We dropped little man off at my mom's at 4 and headed for the hotel.  We decided to go to the pool bar at the hotel and have a drink.  We made friends with the bartender who bought us a shot, and then Dave and I realized that we don't drink anymore and needed to put some food in our belly's and very soon!  We still had two hours before our dinner reservations so we ordered to appetizers and had them delivered to our hotel room and we sat on the balcony and enjoyed some bruschetta and coconut shrimp and just relaxed!  Oh what a concept! 

We went to Bombora's for dinner, it's the new restaurant in Phillips Beach Plaza on the boardwalk.  I've been wanting to try this place out ever since it opened.  It is a unique restaurant featuring contemporary world cuisine infused with Asian and Latin flavors.  Can you say yum!?  And we do not have any other restaurant's like that around here.  It was a nice change from the usual seafood and steak menu's.  I can't wait to go back and try something else.  We happen to be friends with one of the Chef's there who treated  us to an appetizer and an amazing dessert.  Cory's a great guy and truly spoiled us with such an amazing meal.  If you haven't been I highly recommend trying it out! 

After dinner we walked all the way to the inlet to buy some fisher's popcorn making a few stops on the way into some familiar stores.  Dave and I did not have on the best shoe's for walking 20 streets on the boardwalk!  Our feet were killing us!  So on the walk back to the hotel we kicked our shoes off and walked barefoot.  Not something I recommend doing on the boardwalk, but my feet hurt so bad, there wasn't really an option!  While walking back to the hotel it started to rain, it just didn't matter to me.  It's funny how relaxed I was...nothing mattered.  I knew Noah was in good hands, and I was enjoying my night with my husband and wasn't going to let a little rain get us down! 

We woke up the next morning feeling so rejuvenated and refreshed.  What a great feeling.  I missed Noah like crazy and couldn't wait to see him, but feeling so refreshed was so worth it.  It's amazing how much good one night can make.  If you have a little one I highly recommend letting a grandparent help you out for one night so you too can reset your mind and body.

Sunday was Father's day and we were delighted to come home to a houseful of family!  Dave's mom and step dad were there along with his sister Connie and her husband Rob and most importantly their three week old baby boy, Tripp!  It was the first time Dave and I got to meet him and he is just so precious.  We really enjoyed our time with them and holding our new nephew was just perfect!  Can't wait to do it again soon! 

To Breastfeed or not to Breastfeed?

That is the question!  So I know my blog is called "Me and my Boys" but this blog is for me and all my momma friends out there who have either been through it, are going through it, or are about to go through it! 

Even before I got pregnant I always thought I would try breastfeeding.  I knew it was the best for my baby, and I also knew from other friends it was the quickest way to lose that extra baby weight!  And I am all for getting that weight off ASAP!  Now when we found out that we were pregnant and the reality of breastfeeding was soon to set in I was scared, not to mention nervous.  You hear some pretty bad horror stories about how painful it is, cracking, bleeding....eek!  None of that sounds like fun!  But I was still determined to at least try.  I told myself and Dave that I really wanted to do this, and I really wanted support because I felt it was really important for Noah and I was willing to tough it out.  Secretly inside my head, I didn't think I'd be able to hang with it.  I didn't think I'd be strong enough to do it.  Well seven months later, I'm still nursing!  I have to thank my husband, mother, and some of my close girlfriends who have already been through it for all of their support and guidance.

I have to admit, the first couple weeks of nursing pretty much suck.  The lactation consultant will tell you it shouldn't hurt...it shouldn't hurt, it shouldn't hurt.  OK, whatever, I guess her definition of hurt is different then mine.  She says you may be sore but it shouldn't hurt....well if I'm sore, then it's gonna hurt!  HELLO!?  The good news though for all of you new momma's who may be starting soon the pain does go away...stick it out.  I nurse now and really don't feel it at all (unless he bites with his new found teeth, I'll get to that later).

When Noah was about 10-12 weeks old I came down with a terrible virus.  Oh it was BAD!  It hit me in the middle of the night, and I'll spare you the details but I was throwing up all night and all the next day.  And Noah was still getting up atleast once at night.  So there I am on the bathroom floor at 2AM feeling like death when I heard the famous "WAH WAH" from Noah's room.  So as any good momma would do, I drag myself off the floor, go get my lil man and nurse him, and put him back to sleep to shortly end up back on the bathroom floor feeling like death again!  By morning time I felt so bad.  I hadn't slept, and I knew I was severely dehydrated.  Try getting sick for 24 hrs on top of constantly nursing and you will get dehydrated quick! 

So my wonderful Hubby took Noah to daycare and came home, took one look at me and said "We're going to the ER, you're too dehydrated."  I spent the next five hrs hooked up to an IV getting fluids pumped in me.  The fluids really helped.  I was better a day letter.

My biggest fear while being so sick was giving it to Noah.  The last thing I ever want is for my sweet boy to be sick.  I think any parent would take an illness on themselves to spare their child.  So should I nurse when I'm so sick?  Is it going to make Noah sick?  We weren't sure.  So I called Ellen, the lactation consultant at our hospital.  I was so surprised to hear her answer.  She said nursing when you are sick is the absolute most important thing you can do for your baby!  Did you know that before you even realize that your body is infected with a cold or a virus your body has produced the antibodies your baby needs to protect themselves from getting your illness?  How crazy is that?  Tell me that isn't God working in his finest.  I always say God has designed a flawless system but we constantly choose to mess it up!

So, needless to say I am a fan of breastfeeding.  I do think it is what is best for baby and for momma without a doubt.  With that said, it definitely comes with it's downfalls.  There are days and times where I am so over it and want to quit!  Noah cut his first two teeth at four months.  The first two teeth are certainly the scariest...is he gonna bite me now that he has these nice new sharp teeth?  Well, the truth is, he might!  Noah did...oh holy crap it hurt!  And I was not expecting it at all.  When it happen I was like, there is no way in hell I'm keeping this up.  I'm also afraid to tell you new mommy's who haven't experienced this yet what it feels like...so i'll let you find out for yourself (i hope you never find out though!).  I ended up giving Noah a bottle that day too scared it would happen again.  The next day every time I nursed I sat so tensely awaiting the first nibble....but it never happen again.  Well, that was until this Monday.  He's cutting tooth number three right now, and they seem to bite more when they are cutting a new tooth.  I've learned to make sure he is seriously hungry before nursing so all he wants to do is nurse and that seems to help.

Then on top of the biting, here it is summer time and I can't really wear any of my awesome summer tops from my summer wardrobe as they are mostly strapless or halter tops requiring a strapless bra.  Hard to nurse with one of those on!  So I can only wear those when Noah's not with me...then again, if I have to pump a tricky shirt and bra will certainly make it more of a tasks then you want it to be!  Oh what a pain in the rear! 

With all this said I almost threw in the towel this week.  I still think 7 months is a great amount of time to nurse.  I'm proud of myself for doing it this long.  I haven't thrown in the towel, but I did decide I'm not going to let breast feeding stress me out or hold me back anymore.  If  I miss a pumping session...all well!  If I don't get to nurse Noah as much as I'd like it doesn't matter.  He doesn't care if he's attached to me or the bottle.  It's really me that cares.  So with this new found freedom I have realized that I can keep this up but I'm doing it on my terms now.  Taking the stress out of it has made it easier. 

So, in conclusion if you are a mom-to-be I hope you do try.  It's really a great experience for you and for your sweet little one.  If you are breastfeeding now and wondering how long you should continue I hope this helps you decide.  As my girlfriend Dana told me, you have to do what works best for you and your family.  I use to stress about what would other mom's think if I quit.  Would they think I was lazy?  Or that I didn't care about my child as much as they cared about theirs?  Well maybe, but every mom's situation is different.  Some who may be stay at home mom's might find it easier to continue nursing then mom's who have to go back to work.  Whatever you decide don't feel guilty for it.  Do what you feel is best for you and your family!

My oh my how life has changed...

So, I should have started this blog when we first brought Noah home, but I'm a first time mom, and I just got my Barrings back!  Adjusting to life as a family now instead of it just being Dave and I has been interesting and oh so different!  It's so funny how you go from being all about yourself and your husband to not even hardly caring anymore about yourself and putting all your efforts into this tiny new creation.  I can remember complaining that I never had enough time before we had Noah.  Now all I can do is laugh at myself because I had no idea what it was REALLY like not to have enough time until I went back to work full time after having Noah.  I now, can honestly say I do NOT have enough time, but I don't care!  I have learned not to sweat the small stuff!  No one (besides me) cares if I haven't vacuumed or swept the floors recently.  I can assure any house guests that their sheets are clean and the toilets bleached!  The rest, well you're just gonna have to deal with it!  I am now a full time working mommy and my priorities have drastically changed.  My evenings were once spent typically having a happy hour with girl friends or a nice quiet dinner with my wonderful husband.  Now it's typically a microwaved stauffer's lasagna (if dave's lucky that night) and eating in shifts while the other plays with our sweet boy and keeps him happy!  Sitting down at the table doesn't really happy anymore, I tend to eat standing up over the kitchen Island while I multi task doing several other things.  And after dinner we spend the rest of our time playing with our sweet boy until it's time for the three B's: Bath, Bottle, Bed! 

It's very interesting how quickly you adapt to your new life as parents.  Sometimes I feel like I'm a completely different woman, and I think in ways I am, but the old Michelle does pop out from time to time.  Normally when friends come to visit or the occasional night on the town my Hubby and I get to share when Grammy graciously watches our boy.  Before Noah I really can't imagine sitting at home on a Friday night doing NOTHING!  We were always on the go!  Dinner and drinks with friends, movies, traveling!  Always something!  And we do still go out from time to time, but never as late and not normally as wild....and the traveling part....well, we hope to get there again, but right now it just seems impossible.  We are hoping maybe this fall to try a short trip possibly to Hatteras or maybe Maine to visit my family.  We think a trial run with the boy is in order before we pack our bags for a trip to San Diego or Costa Rica!  But we sure hope to see foreign land in our future!

Another thing that I have noticed has changed about me and Dave is what we buy.  The days of $200 polarized Ray Ban sunglasses are GONE!  I better take good care of the pair I have!  Oh and those awesome shopping trips to the Reho outlets to my favorite stores consisting of BR, JCrew, CK, A&F....yup not so much of that anymore either!  When I do buy for myself, which is rare these days it's from Marshall's!  The majority of our shopping is now done at Carters, OshKosh, or Children's Place.  Nothing but the best for our boy!  He rocks out in camo pant's, Hurley sweat suits, and only the cutest and best outfits around!  The funny part about this is, Dave and I would rather spend our money on him buying those outfits then on ourselves!  I think as parents you really do care more for your child then for your own needs!  Who cares if I'm still wearing last summer's clothes!  They work just fine!

Probably the biggest change for me has been the sleep!  I am someone who really needs good sleep to function well.  I just am not at my best without good sleep.  And let me tell you, broken sleep is not as good as uninterrupted sleep.  My body has adjusted to needing less sleep these days but it did take me awhile to get to this point.  Noah hasn't been the worst sleeper, but he certainly hasn't been the best either.  There have been some pretty brutal nights, and then some nights where we don't hear a peep for 12 hours.  Oh how I love those nights!  Noah's been doing good lately with the sleep.  I think he's given me three nights in the row without interruptions until about 5AM.  Not too bad! 

But with all these changes I, nor Dave could ever picture our lives with out him now.  We were incomplete.  He's such an incredible gift.

This is Noah, 3 Months in one of my favorite outfits, that no longer fit him!

6 Months and 2 Weeks

6 Months and 2 Weeks ago I gave birth to our sweet boy.  It's crazy how time flies.  The past 6 months have flown by!  My little boy in six months has gone from 7 1bs 2 ounces and the 25th percentile in growth to 20 lbs and the 80th percentile!  HOORAH!  I can tell you he certainly doesn't miss a meal these days!  He absolutely loves food! 

I'd like to start by sharing our birth story.  This story is something that is very special to me and I hope that it touches lives and helps people to learn to listen to God and not question what you feel he is telling you to do. 

We were due on 11/27 and our Doctor really wanted to schedule an induction and had picked the following Monday (the 29th).  David and I were both unsure if we wanted to be induced as we felt like Noah might just want to come on his own.  There are risk both ways.  If you wait too long then he can be too big to delivery vaginally and it could result in a C-Section.  Over due babies can also have their first bowel movement in utero which can cause major issues for them.  But if you get induced, there's a chance that you don't dilate fast enough and it can cause too much stress on baby, causing his heart rate to drop, and causing a C-section.  I was very against having a C-section, I really really didn't want to go that route.  So David and I prayed the whole week before on which way to go...do we wait or do we not?  I went back and fourth all week, and just didn't have peace about either way.  The day before my scheduled induction I prayed for God to give me peace one way or the other.  I put all my faith in him to help me decide which way to go.  And he did just that.  I suddenly felt overwhelming strong about going in to be induced the next morning.  I told Dave and he agreed.

So, we headed to the hospital the next morning arriving at 7:30 AM.  They set us up in a labor and delivery room, hooked me up to a fetal monitor and started getting all the paper work signed and registering me into the system.  Then all of a sudden Noah's heart rate significantly dropped and in fact disappeared for a moment.  Then next thing I know I have ten nurses on me, on oxygen mask, and they are telling me we are going straight to the OR for a C-section as something is wrong with the baby.  I am in shock!  We haven't had any pitocin yet, and everything has been fine my entire pregnancy, his heart rate has always been strong!  Then all of a sudden his heart rate comes back and it is stronger then ever.  The nurses tell me he may have rolled on his cord or something, but they had already called my Doctor and were going to wait for her to decide what to do.  When Dr. Pernal arrived she said everything looks good, but to be safe they would monitor me and baby for an hour before starting pitocin, but she was optimistic that everything would be just fine.  15 minutes later Noah's heart rte plummeted again, and I had ten nurses on me once again.  This time they tell me, they are not taking any chances and that something is seriously wrong with him and they have to operate.  So, C- section it is!

We find out in the delivery room when they pull him out that his cord is wrapped around his neck and shoulders.  They tell me he never would have been able to handle contractions, and never would have been able to deliver vaginally.

If we hadn't decided to go in and be induced we could have lost him.  I thank God so much for guiding us in the right direction.