We attended the viewing/visitation for our friend Chris last night at church. It was good to see how many people came out for it and to hear the things they were saying about Chris' testimony and strong stand for Christ. It's so comforting to know that he is with his Creator and we only mourn for the loss we feel. He will be greatly missed.
I had my first day alone with Audrey and Samuel yesterday. It went fairly well. Naptime came later than I would have hoped, but I got a good hour of sleep in before the neighbor's car doors slamming woke Samuel up! Samuel had been looking for Daddy all day, so he was glad when Brad got home (so was I). Audrey was pretty restless all day, but she slept during the viewing and then actually slept for almost a six hour stretch last night! I am sort of afraid to post that, because I don't want it to change, but I'm not too superstitious. :)
Audrey's two week check-up is this afternoon, so it'll be interesting to see how much she weighs. Samuel weighed 10 lbs at two weeks, and I'm pretty sure she's not that heavy. Of course, she sleeps more now than he did at six months (again, knock on wood)! I always thought he was a "good baby" except for the sleeping problems, but I think after having Audrey I can say that she is definitely closer to the definition of what most people consider a "good baby." I love them both so much, though!
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Too Much Excitement
We had a good scare shortly after arising yesterday morning. I was getting dressed and Brad came in our room and while we were talking, we heard a loud bang/crash/thud noise from the kitchen and Audrey started screaming. We ran into the kitchen and Samuel had toppled the bassinet with her in it. Obviously she did not lose consciousness, which was the most important thing, and it seemed after a few minutes that she mainly started crying because she was scared. She had been sleeping soundly until Samuel entered the kitchen. Anyway, it scared Samuel, too, and he was sobbing, and of course I started sobbing as soon as I saw Audrey on the floor. Samuel "fell" out of our bed/I dropped him when I was feeding him in the middle of the night when he was exactly 8 weeks old, but those extra 6 weeks make a big difference in my mind. They probably do in reality, as well! Anyway, I really did not want to go to the emergency department with Audrey, which we did do with Samuel at the time, so we waited it out. Like I said, the fact that she didn't lose consciousness was the most important thing, and I know how to monitor for neurological dysfunction if things were to deteriorate. Praise the Lord they didn't.
Some of favorite cousins from my Mom's side of the family were visiting and we got to spend some time together on Friday night and yesterday. We learned to play a new game that my cousin Mark brought with him, and we introduced them to a new game that Joel bought for us for Christmas. We had a good time visiting and just enjoying making memories together. They make me miss living in Minnesota all the more. Brad enjoys playing basketball with them and discovered at this visit that Paul enjoys some of the same video games he does, so I suggested that maybe that could tip the scales in favor of us going up there permanently! :)
We made it to church for the evening service tonight, and I'm so glad we went. I was missing the fellowship and worship and pretty much everything. Samuel even seemed glad to be back, and he had a good time playing with his buddy Avery in nursery. Audrey didn't do as well as Samuel did at his first church service, but she didn't do too badly. I'm so thankful for our wonderful church family and the love they've shown us and our precious children.
Some of favorite cousins from my Mom's side of the family were visiting and we got to spend some time together on Friday night and yesterday. We learned to play a new game that my cousin Mark brought with him, and we introduced them to a new game that Joel bought for us for Christmas. We had a good time visiting and just enjoying making memories together. They make me miss living in Minnesota all the more. Brad enjoys playing basketball with them and discovered at this visit that Paul enjoys some of the same video games he does, so I suggested that maybe that could tip the scales in favor of us going up there permanently! :)
We made it to church for the evening service tonight, and I'm so glad we went. I was missing the fellowship and worship and pretty much everything. Samuel even seemed glad to be back, and he had a good time playing with his buddy Avery in nursery. Audrey didn't do as well as Samuel did at his first church service, but she didn't do too badly. I'm so thankful for our wonderful church family and the love they've shown us and our precious children.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Trial Run
Yesterday Brad went to work for about 4 1/2 hours, which left me alone with both kids for the first time. I wasn't too scared, and it didn't turn out that badly (I am, however, scared about being with them by myself all day). My main concern was trying to get some sort of nap in at some point. Audrey slept most of the time, only waking up twice to eat. Samuel had fallen asleep in his high chair before Brad left, so that messed up his normal nap routine. He only ended up sleeping for maybe 45 minutes and he woke up as soon as the garage door opened for Brad to leave. We had a fun time together, spending most of it working on his new ball popper. He put a ball in it that was just big enough to fit in the opening but too big to come back out, and I couldn't get it out for the life of me. I took everything apart that didn't require a screwdriver and considered going the next step, but Brad managed to knock out a ball that had been lodged in it when we bought it, so I told Samuel we should just wait for Daddy. He was fine with that, but he still wanted to work on it himself and proceeded to do what he could by banging on it with his fists and making various frustrated grunting noises. It was quite cute. He probably did that for a total of two of the hours that Brad was gone. He also helped me with some laundry and I eventually convinced him to cuddle with me and read his favorite book, "Llama Llama, Red Pajama." We read it about 4 or 5 times and then he finally fell asleep. We napped for about 45 minutes before Audrey woke up, and then Brad called to say he was headed home. I was still pretty sleepy, but of course, you make it somehow.
We received a yummy supper from a sweet lady from church, but poor Audrey vomited all over herself and me while Diane was dropping it off - that pretty much eliminated any chance that she would want to hold her! They quickly left so we could get cleaned up - the saddest part was that I had literally just put those clothes on, fresh from the dryer, because I don't have that much that I can wear right now. So is life with a newborn! At least it was on the couch this time, and not the bed or all over Brad, which were the other locations for vomiting this week. The couch is easy to clean thanks to Scotch Guard (yay 3M!). We enjoyed the delicious meal and then got to watch the season premiere of our favorite show, The Office! Even Samuel enjoyed it, and he used to just scream and scream every time he heard Michael Scott/Steve Carrell's voice (back when he was a little older than Audrey is now). We got some pretty good rest - I didn't have to wake Brad up for help even once for the first time - and we're going to have one last family outing before Brad goes back to work full time on Monday. I love family time.
We received a yummy supper from a sweet lady from church, but poor Audrey vomited all over herself and me while Diane was dropping it off - that pretty much eliminated any chance that she would want to hold her! They quickly left so we could get cleaned up - the saddest part was that I had literally just put those clothes on, fresh from the dryer, because I don't have that much that I can wear right now. So is life with a newborn! At least it was on the couch this time, and not the bed or all over Brad, which were the other locations for vomiting this week. The couch is easy to clean thanks to Scotch Guard (yay 3M!). We enjoyed the delicious meal and then got to watch the season premiere of our favorite show, The Office! Even Samuel enjoyed it, and he used to just scream and scream every time he heard Michael Scott/Steve Carrell's voice (back when he was a little older than Audrey is now). We got some pretty good rest - I didn't have to wake Brad up for help even once for the first time - and we're going to have one last family outing before Brad goes back to work full time on Monday. I love family time.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Family Adventure!
We had our first "major" family outing yesterday. Brad wanted to hit the mean streets of Alabaster for some errands, so we finally headed that way around 11:15, after coming back inside about 10 times for things I had forgotten! By the time we got to 459 I realized that I had forgotten my shopping list for Wal-Mart - great. Well, stunningly enough, I managed to remember every single item on it by the time we actually went shopping! Sadly, I forgot to actually get one of them, which would've been a big help - a fridge lock. Samuel figured out how to open the fridge and realized the existence of our central vacuum in the same night last week, and we've been struggling with him trying to get in the fridge ever since. I spent probably at least 1/2 hour shredding chicken the other night, and the next morning he got into the fridge anad dumped half of it on the floor - what a waste of time! Anyway, I hope I don't forget it again next time we go!
Our first stop was the Alabaster thrift store, where I always enjoy trying to find a gem or two for our family. I fed Audrey in the car when we first got there and Brad and Samuel went inside to look around - a car pulled up across from us and only the driver went in, and the lady in the backseat basically stared at me the entire time I was still in the car. I thought, "Go ahead, it's really not that interesting." I put Audrey in the sling, and I'm starting to think we should've gotten a bigger size, because even though the sling is an appropriate size for my non-pregnant, non-breastfeeding state, I did not have much room to accomodate little Audrey and I felt like she was being smushed the whole time. She definitely generated a lot of comments, though! Brad didn't really find anything before we went inside, but I managed to find a nearly complete Mr. Potato Head set for Samuel for $1.48 and later found an intact Playskool Popper for $1.98. I found three others with parts missing and another intact one for $2.98, but we got the best deal! We also found some other things we needed, like long pants for Samuel for this fall/winter, and Brad bought a Nintendo 64 for less than $10. We had a 10% off your entire purchase coupon from the Enjoy the City coupon book, so we saved even more! It was a good trip, overall.
We headed to the Colonial Promenade and Brad "ran in" to Game Stop while I sat in the car with a sleeping Samuel and wide awake girl. Samuel woke up as soon as we pulled into Full Moon, where we ate a good lunch. Audrey's first trip to Wal-Mart went smoothly as well, even though we have to use two shopping carts to complete our trips now (at least when both of us are there). We finally got a piece of plywood for Samuel's toddler bed, and he likes it at least in theory. Getting him to sleep on it is another issue.
We came home and had a fairly uneventful evening, and then Audrey actually slept for a 4 1/2 hour or so span! I couldn't believe it when I woke up at 1 AM and she had been asleep that entire time! She did really well with eating and sleeping last night - probably the best since our first night home, although we had a glitch around 3:45. I was changing her diaper and apparently she had been holding out for me to do so, because she sprayed me with a large amount of baby poop immediately when I removed her soiled diaper! I quickly woke Brad up to help, and she managed to pee all over herself and the bed before he could get the next diaper on her! I was literally covered in poop, so after getting her a little bit situated, I ran downstairs to soak the dirty clothes - I think that's the first time I've started a load of laundry at 4 AM! Nothing was still stained when I finished the load about an hour again. I'm definitely a little skittish about changing Audrey now! Quite a day.
Our first stop was the Alabaster thrift store, where I always enjoy trying to find a gem or two for our family. I fed Audrey in the car when we first got there and Brad and Samuel went inside to look around - a car pulled up across from us and only the driver went in, and the lady in the backseat basically stared at me the entire time I was still in the car. I thought, "Go ahead, it's really not that interesting." I put Audrey in the sling, and I'm starting to think we should've gotten a bigger size, because even though the sling is an appropriate size for my non-pregnant, non-breastfeeding state, I did not have much room to accomodate little Audrey and I felt like she was being smushed the whole time. She definitely generated a lot of comments, though! Brad didn't really find anything before we went inside, but I managed to find a nearly complete Mr. Potato Head set for Samuel for $1.48 and later found an intact Playskool Popper for $1.98. I found three others with parts missing and another intact one for $2.98, but we got the best deal! We also found some other things we needed, like long pants for Samuel for this fall/winter, and Brad bought a Nintendo 64 for less than $10. We had a 10% off your entire purchase coupon from the Enjoy the City coupon book, so we saved even more! It was a good trip, overall.
We headed to the Colonial Promenade and Brad "ran in" to Game Stop while I sat in the car with a sleeping Samuel and wide awake girl. Samuel woke up as soon as we pulled into Full Moon, where we ate a good lunch. Audrey's first trip to Wal-Mart went smoothly as well, even though we have to use two shopping carts to complete our trips now (at least when both of us are there). We finally got a piece of plywood for Samuel's toddler bed, and he likes it at least in theory. Getting him to sleep on it is another issue.
We came home and had a fairly uneventful evening, and then Audrey actually slept for a 4 1/2 hour or so span! I couldn't believe it when I woke up at 1 AM and she had been asleep that entire time! She did really well with eating and sleeping last night - probably the best since our first night home, although we had a glitch around 3:45. I was changing her diaper and apparently she had been holding out for me to do so, because she sprayed me with a large amount of baby poop immediately when I removed her soiled diaper! I quickly woke Brad up to help, and she managed to pee all over herself and the bed before he could get the next diaper on her! I was literally covered in poop, so after getting her a little bit situated, I ran downstairs to soak the dirty clothes - I think that's the first time I've started a load of laundry at 4 AM! Nothing was still stained when I finished the load about an hour again. I'm definitely a little skittish about changing Audrey now! Quite a day.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Further Thoughts
I seriously don't expect anyone to read my entire post from earlier - like I said, I just wanted to this in order to document our family history.
Throughout the course of the morning some more thoughts came into my head. When I was pregnant with Samuel, my first and at the time, only pregnancy, I was trying to be an informed health care consumer and good advocate for myself and my baby. In doing so, I spoke with my OB about labor and delivery issues and the things that concerned me. WARNING: "Female issue" content follows. For instance, I was very concerned about the frequent and apparent unnecessary use of episiotomy and wanted to know what he considered my "risk" to be for needing one. I love my OB, but he is "old school," having started practicing 20+ years ago, and he was pretty sure that most first-time deliveries would require one. I had read extensively that tears heal better and carry fewer future risks than episiotomies and made it quite clear that I would rather have to deal with the former than the latter, but of course that didn't become an issue when Samuel was born because he didn't actually come out the correct way, although he came close and it might've been a possibility had a different OB delivered him (he wasn't delivered by my OB). Anyway, I spent most of my visits with this pregnancy talking about VBAC issues and the associated risks I would be facing. I didn't think a lot about the other issues because I figured it was known that my previous feelings still stood. Well, because Audrey was born on the weekend late in the evening, the OB who delivered her wasn't even one my OB's partners - he's a part of the main practice, but not their group. Everything went so fast that I didn't think to state my opinion on episiotomy, and of course, when the possibility presented itself, Brad and I had about 0.0001 seconds to say anything before the deed was done. Now I have been reading more and more about how much worse episiotomies are versus tears for future deliveries, and it makes me quite sad. Why do they continue practices that have been shown to be outdated and worse than the alternative? And why do I continue to have to be the "victim" of them?
I got my "wish" in a major part of Audrey's delivery because I did not want Pitocin - I refused it outright, but they didn't call it that - and everything progressed fine without it. I didn't want my water broken because the combination of breaking my water artificially and upping the Pitocin most definitely was what put Samuel into the "late decels" that ended in a c-section, which ended in wound dehiscense and twelve additional weeks of OB visits and wound care. Despite that request, the delivery MD insisted that my water needed to be broken because they needed to put in the internal monitor in order to make sure my scarred uterus was okay. I agreed to it, and Audrey was born less than an hour and a half later! That's why I previously referred to the fact that everything went so fast with Audrey - I went into labor around 4 PM, we got to the hospital at 8 PM, and she was born at 10:51 PM! I went into labor with Samuel at 1 AM and he wasn't born until 1 PM, and of course that was by c-section! I know that he was my first one, obviously, but I thought my body might consider Audrey to be like my first one because I never got to complete Samuel's delivery - I just pushed for a couple of hours before they said he was in danger. People have commented that we'd better go straight to the hospital when I go into labor with our next one - I hope I have a couple or more years before that day comes!
Throughout the course of the morning some more thoughts came into my head. When I was pregnant with Samuel, my first and at the time, only pregnancy, I was trying to be an informed health care consumer and good advocate for myself and my baby. In doing so, I spoke with my OB about labor and delivery issues and the things that concerned me. WARNING: "Female issue" content follows. For instance, I was very concerned about the frequent and apparent unnecessary use of episiotomy and wanted to know what he considered my "risk" to be for needing one. I love my OB, but he is "old school," having started practicing 20+ years ago, and he was pretty sure that most first-time deliveries would require one. I had read extensively that tears heal better and carry fewer future risks than episiotomies and made it quite clear that I would rather have to deal with the former than the latter, but of course that didn't become an issue when Samuel was born because he didn't actually come out the correct way, although he came close and it might've been a possibility had a different OB delivered him (he wasn't delivered by my OB). Anyway, I spent most of my visits with this pregnancy talking about VBAC issues and the associated risks I would be facing. I didn't think a lot about the other issues because I figured it was known that my previous feelings still stood. Well, because Audrey was born on the weekend late in the evening, the OB who delivered her wasn't even one my OB's partners - he's a part of the main practice, but not their group. Everything went so fast that I didn't think to state my opinion on episiotomy, and of course, when the possibility presented itself, Brad and I had about 0.0001 seconds to say anything before the deed was done. Now I have been reading more and more about how much worse episiotomies are versus tears for future deliveries, and it makes me quite sad. Why do they continue practices that have been shown to be outdated and worse than the alternative? And why do I continue to have to be the "victim" of them?
I got my "wish" in a major part of Audrey's delivery because I did not want Pitocin - I refused it outright, but they didn't call it that - and everything progressed fine without it. I didn't want my water broken because the combination of breaking my water artificially and upping the Pitocin most definitely was what put Samuel into the "late decels" that ended in a c-section, which ended in wound dehiscense and twelve additional weeks of OB visits and wound care. Despite that request, the delivery MD insisted that my water needed to be broken because they needed to put in the internal monitor in order to make sure my scarred uterus was okay. I agreed to it, and Audrey was born less than an hour and a half later! That's why I previously referred to the fact that everything went so fast with Audrey - I went into labor around 4 PM, we got to the hospital at 8 PM, and she was born at 10:51 PM! I went into labor with Samuel at 1 AM and he wasn't born until 1 PM, and of course that was by c-section! I know that he was my first one, obviously, but I thought my body might consider Audrey to be like my first one because I never got to complete Samuel's delivery - I just pushed for a couple of hours before they said he was in danger. People have commented that we'd better go straight to the hospital when I go into labor with our next one - I hope I have a couple or more years before that day comes!
First Post
Inspired by several other people, I've decided that blogging would probably be a good way for me to document memories our family makes. Due to the fact that we've recently grown exponentially (as far as children go), I feel that it's even more important for me to do so. My title was inspired by my Uncle Craig, who upon hearing that we were expecting another child comment, "You know it's multiplication, not addition, right?" I thought there was probably some wisdom to that and boy was he right! Although we've only been home with Audrey for a few hours short of a week now, it feels like we have way more than two children around this house. Somehow the work and stress have gone up by a factor of at least three, even though we only added one child! That being said, I hope it's not too weird of a title. I was attempting to be creative.
I previously had a different blog, but obviously didn't keep up with it. Starting fresh with this one seemed to make sense, since having a/another baby changes everything and you basically start over with the way life goes. Also, because I'm doing this mainly as a way to document our family history, I apologize if it's boring.
I think it's interesting how we've learned from our mistakes with Samuel when he was a newborn/infant and have (so far) been able to avoid some of them with Audrey. The major area this applies to so far is in feeding/sleep patterns. For the first three weeks we had Samuel at home, I remember a lot of screaming on his part and a lot of feeling like we were losing our minds in the middle of the night on our part. Also, because he was (and still is) such a bad sleeper, he slept in our bed with us for the better part of two months, if not more. I assumed such might be the case with Audrey, but we actually successfully moved her into her bassinet after two nights. My reasons for putting her in our bed those first two nights were two fold - I assumed that I would be up most of the night and having her right there would make it easier to get to her/I could quiet her down quicker and therefore hopefully avoid waking Samuel, and she seemed so "young" compared to how old Samuel was when we brought him home and I was afraid to have her even five feet away from me in the bassinet. Ridiculously long sentence, I know. Anyway, our first night home with Audrey was amazing compared to the same one with Samuel. She only woke up around every two hours and went right back to sleep after I fed her - it felt like a dream! I felt great the next day and was hopeful for the future. With both of these munchkins, we had to go to the pediatrician the day after we were discharged from the hospital. For Samuel, it was because they couldn't check his bilirubin at the hospital before we left, because the machine was "down." It was quite disappointing to hear that, since they stuck him twice for the sample before discovering that fact. Being a new mom, I was unaware that getting his bilirubin rechecked was the entire reason for his "required" pediatrician visit, and I willingly scheduled his appointment for the next day. Bad idea. I got maybe 30 minutes of sleep at a time because the child acted like he was literally about to starve the entire night. We barely made it to the pediatrician's office intact, definitely no showers had by either of us, and I fed Samuel in the car while Brad waited in the waiting room. The pediatrician thought Samuel looked great and commented that we definitely did not need to recheck his bilirubin because he had gained back to his birthweight before we were even discharged from the hospital - take a second to imagine how often I was feeding this child in order for that to happen - and the whites of his eyes were perfectly white. Well, DUH! I could've figured that out without the subsequent charge to my insurance and $20 copay on our part! Anyway, back to our visit with Audrey. We had a great night, I obviously couldn't drive yet, so we all loaded into the Pilot for the first time and headed out. Brad and Samuel went to Best Buy while I was at the pediatrician with Audrey, so as to avoid our "wrecking ball" of a kid destroying everything in sight. I of course was there for an hour and heard almost exactly the same thing about her that was said about my five day old Samuel. On top of that, they put me in a room where Samuel had previously received a rocephin shot (to no avail) for one of his many ear infections during his first year, and being in the weepy post-partum state I was in, I immediately started to bawl and was desperately trying to pull myself together before anyone came in the room so as to avoid being asking if I was "okay." The icing on the cake with the visit for Audrey was that our pediatrician had forgotten to report off to the pediatrician who was supposed to be rounding in the hospital the day we were discharged, which prompted our visit to the office. We waited all day at the hospital for a neonatologist to come check her out, and he made us "promise" to take her for a visit because we were being discharged early (before she was 48 hours old). Good thing he let us go, because I had been a literal basket case all day due to missing Samuel and wanting to come home. Oh - rabbit trail off of the many I'm already on - we were pleased to receive a separate bill from the neonatologist's office a couple of days after getting home because they bill separately than the hospital, and one of them came to see our child while we inpatient. I am very tempted to call that office and let them know that they can call our pediatrician's office for all of the insurance and working information they are "requiring" of us, since our pediatrician's office is the one who made the intial referral. It seems that we cannot get out of the hospital without some kid of ridiculous and life-altering "glitch" occurring. I was just thankful that Audrey passed her hearing screen right off and that she (obviously) didn't have to be circumcised. Samuel had both done in succession and no one told us until the night before discharge that he had failed his hearing screen on his right ear three times - they use the term "referred" and of course I knew exactly what they meant by that, having had a baby two days earlier and being without sleep for three nights! We definitely had a much better hospital stay this time overall, since I didn't end up having an emergency c-section, and the aforementioned things went more smoothly, but home birth is starting to make more and more sense to me, except for the lack of opportunity for pain relief in the form of medication/epidurals.
Anyway, the next two nights were increasingly bad, but we got back on track Friday night. I don't know if Audrey exactly has her days and nights mixed up - it seems more like she has the right idea, because she's so sleepy at night that it's nearly impossible for me to get her to eat well and then she wakes up hungry in about an hour. During the day, she stays awake and eats really well, although she definitely sleeps a lot between feedings. The worst time is between about 1 AM and 5 AM, but I'm definitely taking it all in keeping in mind what a much more difficult time we had with Samuel. She is just waking up, somewhat fussing, and eating frequently, not screaming for hours on end without relief! I realized after we arrived home last Tuesday that my greatest fear about nighttime was that she would be like Samuel and he would end up being awake all night, too! On our worst night to date, last Thursday, he did wake up when she was crying around midnight, and it was not a fun time. I was so upset because I felt badly for him, plus I didn't know how we were going to make it through the night or any other night that ended up being like that, but we did make it. I was Psalm 30:5 personified - weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes with the morning! Subsequent nights have been much quieter, although I won't deny that I have struggled to stay awake at times! I am looking forward to getting out of the house a little more in the future - the only other time I've left the house since the pediatrician appt (which, by the way, the office is maybe 2 miles from our house), is to go to Chick-fil-A with our good friends the Kennedys on Saturday evening. It was a very enjoyable outing for me, although it did get a little stressful when Samuel lost it because he had to leave the play area! Anyway, it was worth getting out! We're making baby steps of progress. With Samuel, I ended up having to go back to my OB so often due to my incision dehiscing and all of the subsequent issues with that that I didn't feel like leaving the house for any other reason and was a little "down" for quite a while - I think I lived off of double stuf oreos for two weeks - that really helped with losing the baby weight (and probably with the wound healing as well)!
Since having Samuel, my opinions on healthcare and especially pediatrics have evolved quite a bit. Obviously I work in pediatrics, although in a specialty area, and I have never been one to think that you (as a parent or a health care consumer) must do exactly as any health care provider/physician directs you, simply because they say so. I have always believed that physicians merely have educated opinions on things that we do not necessarily deal with as commonly as they do, and you should take what they say and consider it as valuable information as you make a decision. For instance, in my specialty, pediatric oncology, I do not think that any parent is obligated to allow their child to go on a study or be given a prescribed treatment course merely because it is recommended by their child's physician(s). God gave that child to you and therefore it is your responsibility to make an informed decision to the best of your ability as He guides you. We have not had to deal with anything like that in our family at this point, but I am almost starting to get resentful of pediatrics and their whole "schedule" of when you need to bring your child in for "well" check-ups and the like. I did as I was told with Samuel and we ended up going in probably at least twenty times in his first year, due to the combination of well child check-ups and his many sick visits. I never strongly questioned anything until Samuel had his second ear infection at four months of age and the word "tubes" started flying out of the mouths of seemingly every person I encountered. I had absolutely no desire for my child to be placed under general anesthesia for even a "minor" procedure at less than six months of age! I started doing some reading - thank you nursing school and grad school for helping me perfect the art of a literature search - and found that tubes have not been shown to improve any developmental outcomes (hearing and speech) in children who get them when compared with those who do not. Chronic "serous otitis" is not going to make your child deaf or even delay language skills. All we hear about at work and in nursing is "evidence-based practice," that is, basing the things you do (practices) on proven methods that are effective and necessary, shown via research (evidence). Well, the majority of recent evidence I read showed that tubes are not necessary and this was the approach I took when discussing the topic with others. Everyone acted like I was a total nutjob, including our pediatrician, who I know has only been in practice for fewer than 10 years and I feel should make recommendations based on current evidence! We had this "fight" for several months, while we went through three rounds of antibiotics for the second ear infection (one including three days of rocephin shots, which did nothing) that lasted for five weeks, and then a third one that wasn't quite as bad but during which I was convinced to "try" rocephin again and again it did nothing! After all of this, wasn't I pleased to read in the headlines that exposure to three or more rounds of antibiotics in the first eighteen months of life increases ones risk for developing asthma exponentially? I was especially pleased about this when Samuel developed his first wheeze and had to be placed on two inhalers when he developed the flu - two weeks after completing his "required" round of flu shots! I know that the flu shot only "covers" one strain and he likely developed the flu from a different strain, but it certainly made his suffering seem for naught. We didn't get to see our pediatrician for the visit when he was diagnosed with the flu, and actually have only seen him once for a "sick" visit, but the pediatrician we did see, who recognized that I am educated on the matter, mentioned something along the lines of, "Have you discussed the possibility of asthma with your pediatrician? You know..." and I finished his thought, "Yes, I know that there is a correlation with ezcema (which Samuel has) and subsequent asthma development and he's also been on many different antibiotics, but no, we haven't discussed that." I think I kind of made a face that let him know I wasn't interested in discussing it, either. So, yeah, after all of that, I (kind of subconsciously) decided that we were no longer going to the pediatrician for sick visits, unless it was a matter of life or death. We were supposed to take Samuel in for a recheck in a couple of weeks, but of course he got sick again and I wasn't interested in putting him on anything for it, so we layed low at home and he eventually recovered. When we went in for our next well child visit, our pediatrician commented that Samuel's ears were "still" a little red and he gave me a prescription to fill at my discretion, since he said he trusts my judgment on whether Samuel actually has a full blown ear infection or not. I definitely did not fill that prescription, after further research revealed that not only do multiple rounds of antibiotics increase your risk for developing asthma, but they have not reliably been shown to get rid of ear infections - i.e., most of the time your kid's ear infection is probably cleared up because of his own bodily defenses given to him by God, rather than medication. That pretty much eliminates any reason for me to take him in when he's sick, since I trust my own ability to assess and "treat" him for minor things. So, yeah, when I knew we had another one on the way, I started thinking about well child check-ups and realized that it sort of offends me that I'm supposed to take my child in at these specified intervals in order for an "expert" in childhood illnesses (not even really child-rearing) to make sure that I haven't screwed him or her up too badly? As I started reading, I came to realize that most of the well child check-ups center around vaccinations, and it's sort of just an excuse to bring you in at all. I, again, feel that God gave my children to ME and therefore it is my responsibility to make decisions on their behalf that are in their best interests. He did not give my children to the CDC or to the Federal government, so they are not in a position to tell me what is best for my children. After seeing how sick my poor Samuel got after several of his rounds of immunizations (not necessarily related to the specific vaccines, but moreso to the fact that getting them occupied his immune system and other illnesses were given an opportunity to thrive), I realized I wanted to back off on the "schedule" the CDC recommends. He has not been "sick" a while now, and I don't want to go back down that road again! I also don't want to go back down that road with my new baby - I would hate for her to be sick for that long - it felt like Samuel was sick continuously from the day after I went back to work (3 months) until around this April or so (16 months). Not fun. So, yeah, I decided that I really don't want Audrey to even get some of the vaccinations that Samuel has already received until a later date - I am not opposed to vaccination, I just want to slow down the pace at which my children receive them. For instance, the Hepatitis B series for which you receive the first shot shortly after birth - I started thinking - what would put my child at risk for this disease? It is blood and bodily fluid-borne and I do not have it, so that eliminated her need to receive it right after birth (according to current recommendations). I'm pretty sure she won't be a health-care worker in the next few years, and the "risky sexual behaviors" better not be an issue, so I would think it's okay to wait until she's at least school age to do that one. I talked with a friend at work about this and she pointed out some interested things - Rotatec, which is supposed to prevent Rotavirus, is it really necessary? The major risk with Rotavirus is extreme dehydration due to excessive diarrhea - am I going to let my child get that sick before taking her in to be seen or at least get some fluids? No! Also, Prevnar, which is supposed to prevent ear infections, probably actually contributed to the development of a couple of Samuel's because it put that "thought" into his body. The insult of the immunization could have been just enough to lead to a full-blown ear infection. That really helped my Mom-guilt. I don't want Audrey to get either of those - I just don't see a need. Even the Varicella vaccine - the major risk with the chicken pox is encephalitis - again, am I going to let my child get that sick without seeking care for her? No way! In addition to these things, the major point of vaccinating children in the US (supposedly) is to reach the point of "herd immunity," where those who are vaccinated cover the "gap" left by those who are not. The news and those in pediatrics definitely don't reflect that supposed purpose. I mentioned to one of the nurses at Samuel's last check-up that I wanted to hold off on more shots, and she said, "Well, you don't want him to get behind, because then he could get really sick!" Well, sorry lady, but my child's already been pretty sick several times, and that was while he was getting everything "on time." So, I actually went against my pediatrician's advice, and Samuel hasn't gotten any shots since he was 12 months old. It is sort of a coincidence that it's been that long, because he was "sickish" at this 15 month check-up and I somewhat forgot about the 18 month one because we were ridiculously busy, I was very pregnant, and he was doing well and I didn't see the need to take him in. I am thinking about taking him in for a check-up when we go to Audrey's 2 week check-up, but I wonder if our insurance will cover an 18 month check-up when he's 21 months old? I guess we'll see.
I previously had a different blog, but obviously didn't keep up with it. Starting fresh with this one seemed to make sense, since having a/another baby changes everything and you basically start over with the way life goes. Also, because I'm doing this mainly as a way to document our family history, I apologize if it's boring.
I think it's interesting how we've learned from our mistakes with Samuel when he was a newborn/infant and have (so far) been able to avoid some of them with Audrey. The major area this applies to so far is in feeding/sleep patterns. For the first three weeks we had Samuel at home, I remember a lot of screaming on his part and a lot of feeling like we were losing our minds in the middle of the night on our part. Also, because he was (and still is) such a bad sleeper, he slept in our bed with us for the better part of two months, if not more. I assumed such might be the case with Audrey, but we actually successfully moved her into her bassinet after two nights. My reasons for putting her in our bed those first two nights were two fold - I assumed that I would be up most of the night and having her right there would make it easier to get to her/I could quiet her down quicker and therefore hopefully avoid waking Samuel, and she seemed so "young" compared to how old Samuel was when we brought him home and I was afraid to have her even five feet away from me in the bassinet. Ridiculously long sentence, I know. Anyway, our first night home with Audrey was amazing compared to the same one with Samuel. She only woke up around every two hours and went right back to sleep after I fed her - it felt like a dream! I felt great the next day and was hopeful for the future. With both of these munchkins, we had to go to the pediatrician the day after we were discharged from the hospital. For Samuel, it was because they couldn't check his bilirubin at the hospital before we left, because the machine was "down." It was quite disappointing to hear that, since they stuck him twice for the sample before discovering that fact. Being a new mom, I was unaware that getting his bilirubin rechecked was the entire reason for his "required" pediatrician visit, and I willingly scheduled his appointment for the next day. Bad idea. I got maybe 30 minutes of sleep at a time because the child acted like he was literally about to starve the entire night. We barely made it to the pediatrician's office intact, definitely no showers had by either of us, and I fed Samuel in the car while Brad waited in the waiting room. The pediatrician thought Samuel looked great and commented that we definitely did not need to recheck his bilirubin because he had gained back to his birthweight before we were even discharged from the hospital - take a second to imagine how often I was feeding this child in order for that to happen - and the whites of his eyes were perfectly white. Well, DUH! I could've figured that out without the subsequent charge to my insurance and $20 copay on our part! Anyway, back to our visit with Audrey. We had a great night, I obviously couldn't drive yet, so we all loaded into the Pilot for the first time and headed out. Brad and Samuel went to Best Buy while I was at the pediatrician with Audrey, so as to avoid our "wrecking ball" of a kid destroying everything in sight. I of course was there for an hour and heard almost exactly the same thing about her that was said about my five day old Samuel. On top of that, they put me in a room where Samuel had previously received a rocephin shot (to no avail) for one of his many ear infections during his first year, and being in the weepy post-partum state I was in, I immediately started to bawl and was desperately trying to pull myself together before anyone came in the room so as to avoid being asking if I was "okay." The icing on the cake with the visit for Audrey was that our pediatrician had forgotten to report off to the pediatrician who was supposed to be rounding in the hospital the day we were discharged, which prompted our visit to the office. We waited all day at the hospital for a neonatologist to come check her out, and he made us "promise" to take her for a visit because we were being discharged early (before she was 48 hours old). Good thing he let us go, because I had been a literal basket case all day due to missing Samuel and wanting to come home. Oh - rabbit trail off of the many I'm already on - we were pleased to receive a separate bill from the neonatologist's office a couple of days after getting home because they bill separately than the hospital, and one of them came to see our child while we inpatient. I am very tempted to call that office and let them know that they can call our pediatrician's office for all of the insurance and working information they are "requiring" of us, since our pediatrician's office is the one who made the intial referral. It seems that we cannot get out of the hospital without some kid of ridiculous and life-altering "glitch" occurring. I was just thankful that Audrey passed her hearing screen right off and that she (obviously) didn't have to be circumcised. Samuel had both done in succession and no one told us until the night before discharge that he had failed his hearing screen on his right ear three times - they use the term "referred" and of course I knew exactly what they meant by that, having had a baby two days earlier and being without sleep for three nights! We definitely had a much better hospital stay this time overall, since I didn't end up having an emergency c-section, and the aforementioned things went more smoothly, but home birth is starting to make more and more sense to me, except for the lack of opportunity for pain relief in the form of medication/epidurals.
Anyway, the next two nights were increasingly bad, but we got back on track Friday night. I don't know if Audrey exactly has her days and nights mixed up - it seems more like she has the right idea, because she's so sleepy at night that it's nearly impossible for me to get her to eat well and then she wakes up hungry in about an hour. During the day, she stays awake and eats really well, although she definitely sleeps a lot between feedings. The worst time is between about 1 AM and 5 AM, but I'm definitely taking it all in keeping in mind what a much more difficult time we had with Samuel. She is just waking up, somewhat fussing, and eating frequently, not screaming for hours on end without relief! I realized after we arrived home last Tuesday that my greatest fear about nighttime was that she would be like Samuel and he would end up being awake all night, too! On our worst night to date, last Thursday, he did wake up when she was crying around midnight, and it was not a fun time. I was so upset because I felt badly for him, plus I didn't know how we were going to make it through the night or any other night that ended up being like that, but we did make it. I was Psalm 30:5 personified - weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes with the morning! Subsequent nights have been much quieter, although I won't deny that I have struggled to stay awake at times! I am looking forward to getting out of the house a little more in the future - the only other time I've left the house since the pediatrician appt (which, by the way, the office is maybe 2 miles from our house), is to go to Chick-fil-A with our good friends the Kennedys on Saturday evening. It was a very enjoyable outing for me, although it did get a little stressful when Samuel lost it because he had to leave the play area! Anyway, it was worth getting out! We're making baby steps of progress. With Samuel, I ended up having to go back to my OB so often due to my incision dehiscing and all of the subsequent issues with that that I didn't feel like leaving the house for any other reason and was a little "down" for quite a while - I think I lived off of double stuf oreos for two weeks - that really helped with losing the baby weight (and probably with the wound healing as well)!
Since having Samuel, my opinions on healthcare and especially pediatrics have evolved quite a bit. Obviously I work in pediatrics, although in a specialty area, and I have never been one to think that you (as a parent or a health care consumer) must do exactly as any health care provider/physician directs you, simply because they say so. I have always believed that physicians merely have educated opinions on things that we do not necessarily deal with as commonly as they do, and you should take what they say and consider it as valuable information as you make a decision. For instance, in my specialty, pediatric oncology, I do not think that any parent is obligated to allow their child to go on a study or be given a prescribed treatment course merely because it is recommended by their child's physician(s). God gave that child to you and therefore it is your responsibility to make an informed decision to the best of your ability as He guides you. We have not had to deal with anything like that in our family at this point, but I am almost starting to get resentful of pediatrics and their whole "schedule" of when you need to bring your child in for "well" check-ups and the like. I did as I was told with Samuel and we ended up going in probably at least twenty times in his first year, due to the combination of well child check-ups and his many sick visits. I never strongly questioned anything until Samuel had his second ear infection at four months of age and the word "tubes" started flying out of the mouths of seemingly every person I encountered. I had absolutely no desire for my child to be placed under general anesthesia for even a "minor" procedure at less than six months of age! I started doing some reading - thank you nursing school and grad school for helping me perfect the art of a literature search - and found that tubes have not been shown to improve any developmental outcomes (hearing and speech) in children who get them when compared with those who do not. Chronic "serous otitis" is not going to make your child deaf or even delay language skills. All we hear about at work and in nursing is "evidence-based practice," that is, basing the things you do (practices) on proven methods that are effective and necessary, shown via research (evidence). Well, the majority of recent evidence I read showed that tubes are not necessary and this was the approach I took when discussing the topic with others. Everyone acted like I was a total nutjob, including our pediatrician, who I know has only been in practice for fewer than 10 years and I feel should make recommendations based on current evidence! We had this "fight" for several months, while we went through three rounds of antibiotics for the second ear infection (one including three days of rocephin shots, which did nothing) that lasted for five weeks, and then a third one that wasn't quite as bad but during which I was convinced to "try" rocephin again and again it did nothing! After all of this, wasn't I pleased to read in the headlines that exposure to three or more rounds of antibiotics in the first eighteen months of life increases ones risk for developing asthma exponentially? I was especially pleased about this when Samuel developed his first wheeze and had to be placed on two inhalers when he developed the flu - two weeks after completing his "required" round of flu shots! I know that the flu shot only "covers" one strain and he likely developed the flu from a different strain, but it certainly made his suffering seem for naught. We didn't get to see our pediatrician for the visit when he was diagnosed with the flu, and actually have only seen him once for a "sick" visit, but the pediatrician we did see, who recognized that I am educated on the matter, mentioned something along the lines of, "Have you discussed the possibility of asthma with your pediatrician? You know..." and I finished his thought, "Yes, I know that there is a correlation with ezcema (which Samuel has) and subsequent asthma development and he's also been on many different antibiotics, but no, we haven't discussed that." I think I kind of made a face that let him know I wasn't interested in discussing it, either. So, yeah, after all of that, I (kind of subconsciously) decided that we were no longer going to the pediatrician for sick visits, unless it was a matter of life or death. We were supposed to take Samuel in for a recheck in a couple of weeks, but of course he got sick again and I wasn't interested in putting him on anything for it, so we layed low at home and he eventually recovered. When we went in for our next well child visit, our pediatrician commented that Samuel's ears were "still" a little red and he gave me a prescription to fill at my discretion, since he said he trusts my judgment on whether Samuel actually has a full blown ear infection or not. I definitely did not fill that prescription, after further research revealed that not only do multiple rounds of antibiotics increase your risk for developing asthma, but they have not reliably been shown to get rid of ear infections - i.e., most of the time your kid's ear infection is probably cleared up because of his own bodily defenses given to him by God, rather than medication. That pretty much eliminates any reason for me to take him in when he's sick, since I trust my own ability to assess and "treat" him for minor things. So, yeah, when I knew we had another one on the way, I started thinking about well child check-ups and realized that it sort of offends me that I'm supposed to take my child in at these specified intervals in order for an "expert" in childhood illnesses (not even really child-rearing) to make sure that I haven't screwed him or her up too badly? As I started reading, I came to realize that most of the well child check-ups center around vaccinations, and it's sort of just an excuse to bring you in at all. I, again, feel that God gave my children to ME and therefore it is my responsibility to make decisions on their behalf that are in their best interests. He did not give my children to the CDC or to the Federal government, so they are not in a position to tell me what is best for my children. After seeing how sick my poor Samuel got after several of his rounds of immunizations (not necessarily related to the specific vaccines, but moreso to the fact that getting them occupied his immune system and other illnesses were given an opportunity to thrive), I realized I wanted to back off on the "schedule" the CDC recommends. He has not been "sick" a while now, and I don't want to go back down that road again! I also don't want to go back down that road with my new baby - I would hate for her to be sick for that long - it felt like Samuel was sick continuously from the day after I went back to work (3 months) until around this April or so (16 months). Not fun. So, yeah, I decided that I really don't want Audrey to even get some of the vaccinations that Samuel has already received until a later date - I am not opposed to vaccination, I just want to slow down the pace at which my children receive them. For instance, the Hepatitis B series for which you receive the first shot shortly after birth - I started thinking - what would put my child at risk for this disease? It is blood and bodily fluid-borne and I do not have it, so that eliminated her need to receive it right after birth (according to current recommendations). I'm pretty sure she won't be a health-care worker in the next few years, and the "risky sexual behaviors" better not be an issue, so I would think it's okay to wait until she's at least school age to do that one. I talked with a friend at work about this and she pointed out some interested things - Rotatec, which is supposed to prevent Rotavirus, is it really necessary? The major risk with Rotavirus is extreme dehydration due to excessive diarrhea - am I going to let my child get that sick before taking her in to be seen or at least get some fluids? No! Also, Prevnar, which is supposed to prevent ear infections, probably actually contributed to the development of a couple of Samuel's because it put that "thought" into his body. The insult of the immunization could have been just enough to lead to a full-blown ear infection. That really helped my Mom-guilt. I don't want Audrey to get either of those - I just don't see a need. Even the Varicella vaccine - the major risk with the chicken pox is encephalitis - again, am I going to let my child get that sick without seeking care for her? No way! In addition to these things, the major point of vaccinating children in the US (supposedly) is to reach the point of "herd immunity," where those who are vaccinated cover the "gap" left by those who are not. The news and those in pediatrics definitely don't reflect that supposed purpose. I mentioned to one of the nurses at Samuel's last check-up that I wanted to hold off on more shots, and she said, "Well, you don't want him to get behind, because then he could get really sick!" Well, sorry lady, but my child's already been pretty sick several times, and that was while he was getting everything "on time." So, I actually went against my pediatrician's advice, and Samuel hasn't gotten any shots since he was 12 months old. It is sort of a coincidence that it's been that long, because he was "sickish" at this 15 month check-up and I somewhat forgot about the 18 month one because we were ridiculously busy, I was very pregnant, and he was doing well and I didn't see the need to take him in. I am thinking about taking him in for a check-up when we go to Audrey's 2 week check-up, but I wonder if our insurance will cover an 18 month check-up when he's 21 months old? I guess we'll see.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
