Week of 8/13

[mrsgoontz]

SO MUCH GOING ON!!

shauni27 you are just such a bad ass. I know it's tough and frustrating especially when you're in a bit of limbo not knowing exactly what the future H job situation holds. I can't imagine how tiring and overwhelming it can be at times and I just want to say that I hope you're giving yourself enough credit because you're super mom.

Also - if you don't mind me asking - how/why did you decide to put S on lactose free milk? I suspect a dairy sensitivity in C and I'm nervous about introducing milk. Did you introduce cows milk first or go straight to lactose free?

cactuscookie that is a lot! I'm sure things will settle down as you're home for a bit longer. All of you with kids older than C make me realize the things I just never considered would be things I'd have to deal with. Like the public toilets...I bet those are terrifying for a young kid! Annoying...but terrifying none the least lol.

I remember being really nervous for my anatomy scan too katespade but I also went to a more high-risk office to have it done and I was so glad my OB recommended that. I was a lot more at ease afterwards.

3rd tri is so exciting turboteal! Like Shauni said - those kicks and movements are just the best. Even as painful as they can be sometimes. I miss it too.

Congrats on the new house thoseareradishes. It's got to be great to see E get to play in her new surroundings.

Nothing much going on in the Goontz household but I am ready to be back home. I'm in San Fran this mon-wed for work. C is soooo close to walking, I know he could if he wanted but he's being cautious. I don't think I'm really ready for what a truly mobile kid means, eeek!

[shauni27]

oneslybookworm THAT IS SO EXCITING! I love love love it. Go G, Go!

mrsgoontz, S was on sensitive formula all along which is lactose free. We also happened to only have lactose free WCM at home because that is what G drinks. So that is naturally what we gave him. Daycare only keeps regular WCM there, so that is what they gave him. They were commenting that he had been really fussy with them since starting on milk so they made a switch and it just stuck from there.

Is C on formula or BF? I cannot remember. If he is already on formula, look and see if it is regular or lactose free. That will help me determine my answer of how I would proceed

[shauni27]

going off of oneslybookworm, S has been chatty and "saying" things for a bit--hi, no, up, mama, dadda. Mostly he just says them because he likes to say them, he does not know what they mean or anything, other than dada.

But just now G brought S to my office to say hi and he picked up a basketball from the kids corner we keep here and just kept walking around saying 'ball!" "ball!" lol. It was the first time I heard him say something correctly, haha.

[mpc]

My son (5yo) has wet the bed 3 times this past week. Ugh. Maybe it's just nerves? He starts Kindergarten tomorrow, and has said he can't wait, but I could see him being nervous too. Then this morning he was saying his tummy hurt and crying like he was in terrible pain. I didn't think it was real, but part way into our drive we turned around and took him back home. He said he couldn't walk and the pain was in his penis now. I made him pee right away then (we had forgotten that morning so he hadn't gone since getting up). He peed so long and then seemed a lot better after. So maybe it was just a full bladder and we got duped into saying he could stay home this morning? BUT then a couple hours later he pooped his underwear and it was diarrhea. I have no idea what is going on. Is he sick? Is this just stress/anxiety? Poor kid. He's had a kidney issue since before birth so I always wonder about that too, but it's never been symptomatic or caused any problems. We actually just saw the urologist last week and he said DS looked so good that he didn't need to see him again til he's 9. I just feel at a loss as a mom today. I don't know what's real or what I should push him through.

[shauni27]

mpc, that is really tough. I am SURE it is not kidney related (I mean, not for real sure, but I would assume it is not that, especially with his clean bill of health appointment last week) and would chalk it up to nerves. Even the diarrhea part. Whenever my husband gets really nervous he throws up.

I would be nervous about kindie tomorrow just because I would not want him to have an accident at school, but I would send him, send extra clothes and make it clear to him that it is ok if he has an accident and that if he feels really sick to go see the teacher so she can call you or comfort him. I would also talk to the teacher about it ahead of time. But regardless, it would stress me out and I would be nervous.

You are doing an incredible job raising those kids and this future baby girl is going to be just as lucky as her big brother and big sister to have you guys as kick-ass parents.

[loira]

I'm sorry, shauni27. It's so rough to be the only parent all the time. I wish you lived closer so we could have playdates.

I'm really sad today. Found out my boss from my old company (the lovely French one I worked for in London) died over the weekend. He was such a lovely man, and his wife who owned the company with him and managed the accounting department is such a great woman. I imagine her life is hell right now, and I'm honestly not sure what will happen to the company. Most employees who work there have been there forever - 1 has been there over 25 years! He took his family on a big trip to my island one year and loved the area so much he wanted to buy a house here. I will be thinking of him next time we go to the beach.

[shauni27]

Oh loira I am so sorry for your loss.

[loira]

Well it happened yesterday. Totally out of the blue, A asked for a baby sister. Wtf do I say to that? She only wants one because her daycare friend has a baby sister - I'm pretty sure she probably doesn't really know what a baby sister is or does. We are 99% OAD.

[ivy]

Aug 15, 2018 9:51:22 GMT -5 loira said:

Well it happened yesterday. Totally out of the blue, A asked for a baby sister. Wtf do I say to that? She only wants one because her daycare friend has a baby sister - I'm pretty sure she probably doesn't really know what a baby sister is or does. We are 99% OAD.

Wow, our girls are the same age and I can't imagine my DD asking for a sibling! DD most certainly wouldn't know what it means at this point. In your situation, I would ask her if she said that because so and so just had a baby sister. And talk about how great that is for them and how all families are different. 

I'm also very sorry for the loss of your former boss. That's really tough news. 

[cactuscookie]

Aug 15, 2018 10:58:58 GMT -5 ivy said:

Aug 15, 2018 9:51:22 GMT -5 loira said:

Well it happened yesterday. Totally out of the blue, A asked for a baby sister. Wtf do I say to that? She only wants one because her daycare friend has a baby sister - I'm pretty sure she probably doesn't really know what a baby sister is or does. We are 99% OAD.

Wow, our girls are the same age and I can't imagine my DD asking for a sibling! DD most certainly wouldn't know what it means at this point. In your situation, I would ask her if she said that because so and so just had a baby sister. And talk about how great that is for them and how all families are different.

People always ask me if we've told H about her baby sister yet, and I'm like, sure, we talk about it all the time...but she has no real concept of what it means.

Hugs, loira . Sounds like a tough week.

[shauni27]

loira, I have no idea when S eventually asks about this since we are for sure OAD.

S just had his one year well child. He is 22 lbs and is 50th percentile and for height he is 2'8", which is off the charts still. Poor kid had to get his shots and a blood draw. It took TWO GD HOURS because they were short staffed. Ugh.

[mpc]

DS told me that after this baby we need to have one more that's a boy. I told him first off, you don't get to pick, so what would he think if it was another girl. He was pretty horrified at that, lol. Then I think I just told him that this is it and we won't have any more babies and he didn't really push it.

[mpc]

Kindergarten drop off went so well this morning! DS was all excitement, no nerves. No tears for me because as long as he's happy, I'm happy.

I had an appointment with MFM later in the morning. Everything is fine with me but baby girl's kidneys are looking more like her brother's. Looks like we might have to follow up after birth. DS was on a daily antibiotic for the first 5 weeks of his life til we had a bladder X-ray done. I hope we can avoid that with her.

[Mushe]

I’m way behind here!

mpc, your DS looks so happy! Glad pick up went well. I hope baby girl’s kidneys are okay.

shauni27, I’m so upset for you about G’s schedule. This seems to be the way of the future, that there’s never any off time.

[Mushe]

I’m having a bit of a rough week. There’s so much to do to get the au pair set up, but I feel all this pressure to be at the hospital, and to be spending time with DS. DD had a step back the past few days on eating, and had her NG tube reinserted. It’s really stressing me out! I am so fried, and just want to be at home with her. 😥

[thoseareradishes]

I'm so sorry for your loss loira.
Glad things went well today with your DS mpc! FX baby doesn't need antibiotics.
Hug Mushe. I remember how frustrating feeding was with E, it just dragged on and on until I got fed up and told them they needed to come up with a plan to get her home (we finally went home 2 weeks past her due date). But I was glad that the doctors didn't push to have her home before she was ready - I read so many stories about feeding issues on my facebook micropreemie group, stuff that could have maybe been avoided by staying in the NICU a bit longer and having proper followup care.

E is a whiny butt today. I don't deal with the clinging and whining very well. Also, she was quite put out that I dared give her milk in a sippy cup instead of her bottle.

[shauni27]

Mushe, ugh, girl. You have been handling this all so incredibly well. You are bound to have a break at some point, especially when it feels like (as you wrote on the blog) one step forward, two steps back. You were just starting to plan for DD to come home and could see the end of the tunnel and now every little road block feels monumental (rightfully so!!). I wish I could hug you and snap my fingers and make everything all organized for your whole family.

[Mushe]

Thanks, guys. thoseareradishes, I appreciate you sharing. I was really worried that they’d gone too quickly on feeding, so it makes a lot of sense that you’re saying this comes up in the preemie groups. They jumped from 15ml to 40 or something with no time in between. I don’t want her to have an aversion to eating.

[thoseareradishes]

Mushe, E's main issue was she didn't wake up for feedings a lot of the time. She would probably have slept through the night if they let her! She just needed time, plus she was taking 80ml near the end of our stay and I had to ask them to stop upping her feeds. When she was awake, she got tired often before finishing, and while we were willing to give her breaks, the nurses couldn't and they didn't want her eating actively for more than 30 minutes anyway. E has no issues eating now - we did feeding therapy after the NICU (she went home with an NG tube that we pulled after 5 weeks) and had appointments with the feeding clinic and gastroenterology for a few months. Your DD will get there - you're doing a great job being there for her care times and that will help get her home sooner!

[katespade]

I don't even have words for how relieved I am.

Anatomy scan was perfect. She was dancing around and doing back flips the whole time, her heart rate was 147 bpm, she has everything she's supposed to have, everything measured the size it's supposed to be, everything is exactly where it's supposed to be, and my cervix is a million miles long (> 5cm). I'll still have a couple of extra growth scans between now and full-term, but we get to graduate from MFM and have the rest of the monitoring done with the regular OB.

[grover]

TW...... Need good thoughts and prayers for the babies right now. Waiting on oncall Dr to call me, but I'm bleeding.

[mpc]

hugs grover. It could be nothing. I'll be thinking about you today, I know how scary it is to see blood! I hope they can get you in for an ultrasound to check on things.

[mpc]

K day 2 drop-off was great. This time we went earlier and dropped him at the before school care. I made him stay with me while I talked to the woman doing checkin to get an idea of how things work and he was pulling on my arm saying mom can I go now?! lol, guess he wasn't intimidated. This is so unlike my shy, reserved kid. I'm so happy he seems to be embracing it. I won't keep doing daily updates, thanks for humoring me this week.

[shauni27]

grover I am thinking good, positive thoughts for you. Huge hugs.

[pooh8402]

Praying for you grover!

[ivy]

Thinking about you Mushe . I know NICU life will be a distant memory soon, but I can only imagine the day to day challenges and struggles it presents. You're handling it all like a champ! Big hugs.

Keep us updated grover . I had a lot of bleeding last week. It's pretty common in twin pregnancies from what I read. It was a SCH for me and everything else was perfect. I hope you get some reassurance and good news!

mpc, I'm so happy to hear your DS is transitioning well! I'm sure that's a huge load off your mind with the other transition coming up for your family!

[luv2rn4fun]

((Hugs)) Mushe. So sorry things are overwhelming and stressful right now (rightfully so). You are an amazing mama! Hang in there- praying B is home with you all soon!

Praying for you grover. I hope both babies are ok.

[icedcoffee]

Hugs grover. I had a lot of bleeding with my first pregnancy. It's really scary. I hope it's just a SCH and no big deal.

Mushe I hope you can get her home soon. You're doing great!

[Mushe]

(((grover))) my thoughts are with you!

[katespade]

grover - Huge hugs! Sending good thoughts and prayers your way.<3