Grandma and the Fair

As of 9/27/12, Oliver has been in the arms of all four of his grandparents. He hasn't been held by or even met any aunts, uncles, cousins, or his great grandma yet.  My mom came up yesterday to spend several hours with us. We spent most of the time at the Bloomsburg Fair. The weather was gorgeous. We were unable to see the Big Cat show at 12:00pm (lions and tigers) because it was too crowded. We saw two other shows at 1:30 (high divers) and 3:00 (juggling, riding a unicycle).

The kids each rode one ride. Actually Nadia rode the ride twice due to the generosity of the ride operator letting her ride it again for free. Grandma rode it with Ian because he was too short to ride it alone. It cost $3.75 per child to ride ONE ride, which is why I only let them ride one ride. The handstamps were $20 each, which again was too expensive considering we were only going to be at the fair for 3.5 hours and were enjoying other things beside rides. We saw many cows, sheep, goats, horses, and pigs as well as a few oxen, deer, alpacas, etc. The kids enjoyed petting and feeding some of the sheep and goats. Most people equate going to this fair with eating lots of yummy food. I am probably one of a select few people as I lost one pound yesterday. We brought pb&j sandwiches (note the jelly on Ian's face in the picture below). After leaving the fair we made a quick stop at my university so I could return a laptop and retrieve some personal belongings from my office while my mom and the kids waited in the van.

On Wednesday I met a woman in a mall parking lot to buy a Medela pump she had listed on Craigslist. In 2005 I bought a new one for $200. I sold it last year for $40. This week I paid $75 for one that seems like it was made about 12 years ago! Oops! I guess I shouldn't have sold my (better quality, newer) one for only $40 last year. I wonder how many woman have owned this pump that I now own? I am using my own tubing, flanges, etc. so I feel certain it's sanitary as the milk only passes through the parts I did NOT buy from this woman. Now I need to get back on track with pumping. I only pumped once on Tuesday (because I sent the pump by FedEx that day), and I only pumped once today due to going to many yard sales this morning. This weekend is THE yard sale weekend in our town. There are 161 yard sales listed on the map, and many, many people don't pay to have theirs advertised so I am certain there are far more than 200 yard sales going on (probably more than 300). Oliver didn't nurse well on Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday. He nursed really well today and on Tuesday. Hopefully the good days will become the norm. I've had to dip into the frozen milk supply a lot more lately. I need to get back on track with pumping so that I'm pumping enough each day to fill the bottles he drinks.

 

 

 

7 Weeks Old

In honor of Oliver turning 7 weeks old today, I had my post-partum OB appointment this morning. If it weren't for the issue with the medical bills, I probably wouldn't have scheduled this appointment. I was in and out in less than an hour (which is very good for this clinic), but still from the time we left our house until we got back, a little over two hours had passed. Nadia and Ian had fun playing with other kids at Sarah's house for about 90 minutes. I gave a document I printed that showed the bloodwork this clinic had ordered that the insurance initially declined. If they will show the medical necessity, the insurance will pay. If their letter is successful, it will save us up to $2,921.12. I thought asking in person might be more successful. The OB said they would submit such a letter. Please pray they really do follow through, and that these efforts are successful in helping us get a refund (as I've already paid all but $135 of that sum). I told them that the MFM clinic wrote a letter that saved us over $2,500. Everyone admired Oliver, especially his tiny little toes.

He is getting bigger though! Last Tuesday he weighed 4lb 10.5oz, and today he weighed 5lb 0.5oz! Woo hoo! He's now gained 1.5lbs from his lowest weight in the NICU. What pleased me the most was that this means he gained 7 ounces over the past 7 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a HUGE relief!!! I actuallly had contemplated yesterday throwing in the towel as far as nursing goes. This encouragement couldn't have come at a better time. Also, when I weighed myself this morning, it showed a loss of two pounds over the last few days. Progress.

I returned the pump via FedEx after my OB appointment. I'll be trying the manual one this evening; if that doesn't go well I'll be buying an electric one. I cancelled my WIC appointment  for next week to borrow a pump because I cancelled Oliver and Ian's Medical Assistance coverage today because I received a letter yesterday saying we'd be charged $255 a month for it starting next month. I'd rather go without! I will only be getting two more paychecks (month of October), and Paul will only be paid through the end of December through PSU. Now is not the time to add on more monthly bills. Hopefully whatever job Paul gets in January will have health insurance for the family.

Paul talked with his advisor today and did ask for a letter of recommendation. YAY! This weekend we'll work on his resume, cover letter, etc. so that he can start submitting applications. His advisor said it's impossible for him to meet the deadlines to graduate in December.. This means he has until December to defend his dissertation. His offical graduation date will be May 2013 although he'll be done in December and won't be working with her after that point. He's planning to submit an article in the next few days to the Journal of Physical Chemistry which is THE top journal in his field. Way to go, Paul!

4.25 years old

Before I focus on our princess, I wanted to note that today (38w5d) was supposed to be when Oliver was born according to when the OB scheduled the c-section many months ago. In reality, Oliver will be 7 weeks old tomorrow.

Nadia is enjoying ballet and tap. She loves to twirl, spin, and dance when she hears music. She said her favorite song at ballet this fall is Twinkle Twinkle.

She'll be starting AWANA this Wednesday. I feel badly as she missed the first three weeks. Last year this AWANA program didn't start that early, and we got a post card about when it was starting. I was waiting for that to come, and then I checked their church's website and found it started Sept 5. Well as I said yesterday - better late than never I am trying to remind myself. She loves Cubbies!!!!

She'll be starting gymnastics next month. The current session started in August. I wanted to wait until life calmed down a little. We'll also resume our weekly trips to preschool storytime at the library at that time.

In some ways she definitely reminds me of myself such as: loves to sing, loves music, loves to get dressed up (I remember wearing heels and wigs and such when I was a child), loves books, loves chocolate, is prone to multitasking (ex. likes to look at a magazine or book while eating), and is very schedule/calendar oriented (there's no way she got that trait from her father, ha ha!). I don't recall this, but I'm sure if I asked my sisters or my mother they would say I was a bit bossy towards my sisters. I am sure there are times I tried to take on the role of "mother" rather than sister. Nadia is certainly guilty of the same with Ian. Nadia is an auditory learner like I am. We both can quickly memorize Bible verses and song lyrics.

In some ways she is very different from me. She's definitely a packrat. She loves to stuff five million things in her purse whereas for decades I've tried to keep as little as possible in my purse. She also collects and stuffs away random things in her room. Last week I found the balloon weights that we had been looking for in June. She had confiscated them from my bag of birthday supplies (paper plates and such). Also, I try to use as few paper products as possible. Nadia uses an insane amount of napkins and Kleenex every day. Although I am more of an extrovert than Paul is, Nadia is definitely more outgoing than I am. I don't recall ever being obsessed with princesses.

Nadia can easily count from 1-20. We're working on 21-40 this week.

She currently wears size 4/4T for pants, size 9.5 or 10 shoes, and size 4/4T or 5/5T for tops, skirts, and dresses.

The past two days she showed improvement witth eating her veggies at dinner.

I would have expected her first request for a pet to be a cat or dog. She asked for a cow!

She loves Oliver very much. It has been a much smoother transition going from 2 to 3 children than it was from going from 1 to 2. Both Ian and Nadia love their tiny little brother!

She's had a cough that will not go away the past few weeks, which means more throwing up and no milk for Nadia. The upside is that she's drinking a lot more water than usual.

She only took 2 naps in her bed over the past 3 weeks. She napped in the car several times.

Better late than never

 

Two weeks ago I was able to attend church for the first time in almost four months. Last Sunday I didn't go because Paul needed to stay home and do schoolwork and the Weego hadn't arrived yet. This morning I was trying to arrive by 9am (when Sunday School starts) but due to a last minute bath for Oliver (because he spit up and his hair and such was drenched in milk), we were 30 minutes late for Sunday School. It was so nice to be there. I know I've said it before, but there is something extremely special for me to sing praises in a worship service while holding a baby. My heart is filled with tremendous gratitude. It almost brings me to (happy) tears. Also, it was so nice to have many people who have prayed, brought meals, etc. be able to come over and see Oliver in person for the first time. I wish I could bottle those moments up to savor them again in the future! The sermon was on God's faithfulness (Lamentations 3) even when we are going through difficult times. I kept reflecting on my experiences this summer.

As today is the start of a new week, I was reflecting on the goals I wrote about last week. I don't plan to write an update on them every week, but as for the first week here is what transpired. The night time potty training for Ian was a total bust. I was putting a diaper over his underwear so that I wouldn't have a big mess to clean up, but he would have the sensation of being wet. Prior to this he had been waking up dry several days a week and hadn't pooped in his diaper for a couple of weeks. This past week he woke up wet every day and about half of the time he had  also pooped. I had bought some lollipops to use as the reward. For now we're taking a break. I'm open to suggestions! I make sure he doesn't have anything to drink after dinner and pees right before he goes to bed. That did the trick for Nadia (who was day and night trained before she turned two). I'd really like to get him night time trained before he turns 3 as he was day time trained 8 months ago.

His eating skills improived dramatically this week. He likes pears, grapes, and peaches. He struggles more over bologna, peas, carrots, green beans, pasta, and ground beef, but he ate all of those several times this week, which was a BIG step forward. Also his speed of feeding himself toast, applesauce, cream of wheat, and yogurt greatly improved. Meals with Nadia were not very pleasant, but she ate some corn, green beans, carrots, and peas this week. Raisins definitely help. This week I want to work on October's meal plan. Oliver did gain weight, and although it was less than what most consider to be a good amount, the Pediatrician was happy on Friday. I didn't lose any weight. Hopefully the scale will be kind to both Oliver and I this week and show a good gain for him and a loss for me. These trips to the playground I know will eventually result in weight loss for me, especially if I also cut back on how much I'm eating. I walked there 3 times last week. As for Oliver's sleeping habits, he's doing well during the day, but there is definite room for improvement at night. Most nights I am getting 3-5 hours of sleep total (not consecutive). I need more sleep than that if at all possible!

On Monday I printed out the Motivated Mom chore lists for the rest of the year. That's as far as I got with getting back into those routines, which isn't good because the last time the cleaning ladies were here was September 4 so the toilets need to be cleaned. It's not that I didn't do any housework this week. I did 3 loads of laundry, the dishes, swept the kitchen floor every day, etc. On Monday and Tuesday I finished sorting through Paul's books (there were many piles in the dining room and our bedroom). I put all the books in stacks (by topic) on the bookshelves. The project isn't done, but now it's in Paul's hands and at least the piles won't be bugging me. There are still piles of his papers in our bedroom (it would probably be about 8 feet high if it was all on top of each other). Who knows when he'll tackle that project. Another day this week Nadia and I tackled her room and closet, which were in very bad shape. I am open to any suggestions for how to store costumes. I used to hang the dresses in her closet, but she can't reach that high. For now the floor of her closet is where the princess dresses are stored. I did work with the kids a few times this week at teaching them to clean up, and we are definitely making progress with that. Hopefully this week I can do better at accomplishing the chores on the list.

I'm also hoping Paul will ask for some letters of recommendation this week. I found one more job he can apply for (a tenure track position that starts next fall), and what is exciting about this one is that it's the first that is in physical chemistry, and they said they prefer someone who is in computational chemistry, and that's exactly what Paul has been doing. He missed the deadline for the adjunct position that started in January. Hopefully there will be some other possibilities for that semester. Right now I'm hoping he'll apply for the three tenure track positions in the state of PA that he seems to meet the qualifications for (the rest are in other areas of chemistry such as organic, analytical, etc. so he can't apply for those).

Top 10 reasons I'm glad I'm at home

10. Our toilet paper is much softer, and I never need to use a bed pan or catheter.

9. I can take a nice hot shower (standing up) without needing permission or someone to put plastic and tape on my arm to cover an iv site. I'm never tethered to an iv or fetal monitor.

8. I can sleep in my own, far more comfortable bed (albeit I'm only in there about 3-5 hours a night due to Oliver).

7. I can shop online. There aren't any firewalls prohibiting me from visiting certain websites.

6. No adults are asking me about things related to going to the bathroom (these questions used to be asked multiple times a day).

5. I can be outside and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine!!!

4. I don't have restrictions on the amount of weight I lift or the work I do. Yes, it really is nice to be able to sweep the kitchen floor and mow the lawn. One might think it would be nice to have a break from doing things like that, but trust me it's sheer torture to see that things need to be done and not be allowed to do them.

3. I can drive a car and go places like the grocery store or church. It was hard to be dependent on finding people to take me places.

 

2. I can eat what I want, when I want. Little things like a peanut butter and honey sandwich are so special to me right now just because if I am craving something, I can have it!

 

1. I am with my family!!! This was by far the hardest part of being in the hospital. I felt like I was in solitary confinement. I missed reading to my kids, hugging them, kissing them, hearing them laugh, etc. I also really missed my husband. It is heavenly that we are all under the same roof again. Whew.

 

Of course my sweet little doll baby was worth all of this plus heartburn, a spinal headache, many bleeding episodes, etc. In the middle of it I was totally overwhelmed at the thought of ever being pregnant again. I kept wishing the new RE had allowed us to transfer 3 blastocysts in January like we had done in the past. Needing to have fetal transfusions done again didn't overwhelm me. There would be a 50% chance of that happening again. What scared me was the thought of being on hospital bedrest for many weeks again due to complete placenta previa. The risk of it happening again is MUCH less than 50%, but the risk does go up with age, with having had another c-section, with having had placenta previa again, etc.

 

When I was packing up the maternity clothes earlier this month, it hit me that I felt I could enjoy being pregnant again. Of course we have no idea what will happen when we transfer that final blastocyst. It may not even result in a pregnancy. If it does, maybe the pregnancy will go as smoothly as it did when I carried Nadia and Ian. Aside from them coming 4 and 6 weeks early, the pregnancies were extremely smooth compared to this last one. For now I am just very glad to be home, and I can definitely be very content if our family is complete as it was a very hard journey that led to Oliver joining us. For now I keep storing all of the things Nadia outgrows in case that next transfer results in a sister for Nadia. If that transfer doesn't result in a pregnancy (or if it results in another brother), I will be giving away most of her clothing and shoes. The things that Ian outgrows are being stored in Oliver's closet. I can't say for certain, but my thought is that if we got a bfn next time, it would be easier to handle than it was after our first embryo transfer in 2007 because #1 I already have 3 children and #2 this last pregnancy was very, very difficult. If we get another bfp, I'll be praying fervently for the placeta to be in a better location, but if the Lord's will is to go through this again, I'll just keep reminding myself that the baby is definitely worth it. We love Oliver very, very much!!!

Good News!

I intended to do a "thankful Thursday" post yesterday, but by about 6pm I had such a bad headache that I was also nauseous. I ached all over. I attributed this to #1 lack of sleep and #2 muscle soreness from walking to the park for the first time the previous day. I thought I was "over" the side effects from the 10+ weeks of bed rest, but I still am not quite back in the shape I was several months ago. I'm sure it won't take too many trips to the playground for my body to adjust.

 

1. Yesterday morning the company that provided the pump I rented in Harrisburg called to say they were running behind schedule. A driver was supposed to pick the pump up sometime before 1pm as we were leaving at that time for Oliver's appointment. She asked what time we'd be back. I said I wasn't sure because doctor appointments can be very unpredictable in their length. She said they don't come up our way very often so she'd send a fedex label instead. I was thrilled with this delay because it means I get to keep the pump a few more days. I have an appointment to get one at the WIC office on October 3, and if there is a cancellation next week I can get one sooner than that. If there is a gap in between when I ship this one and pick one up from WIC, I am planning to use a manual pump for a few days. Maybe there won't be a gap if I return this one on Tuesday and am able to borrow one from WIC that same day.

 

2. I lowered Oliver's oxygen to .025 yesterday morning, and his saturation levels were great when he was tested at 2:00pm yesterday. WOOHOO! It was an extremely short appointment. Walking to and from the van took far longer than the appointment. She said that on the morning of October 17 I am to take him off his oxygen completely and they will check his saturation levels that afternoon. If they are still good, then he'll stay on the apnea monitor for 2-3 more weeks (while not on oxygen), and if all goes well, then the monitor and oxygen tanks will be returned. She also told me that I only need to keep him connected to the monitor when he's sleeping in a crib. If he's awake or in my arms, he doesn't need to be connected. That was also good news!

 

3. Yesterday I got to spend time with two friends. I played in the handbell choir with them from 2004-2008. They watched Nadia and Ian while I went to take Oliver to his appointment. Since his appointment was so short, I was able to spend time visiting with them for awhile at Donna's house. I often go months between times when I sit and talk with a friend so it makes it very special when those opportunities arise. Donna has a granddaughter who is Nadia's age so she has lots of toys at her house. Nadia and Ian didn't want to leave her house!

4. I am so grateful for the Weego. It was expensive but worth every penny. I used it again today. Last night I still opted to do my grocery shopping alone (after Paul got home), and this morning I asked Paul to watch Nadia and Ian while I took Oliver to his 8:35am doctor appointment. I am planning to use the Weego on Sundays when we go to church.

5. I really, really enjoyed our trips to the playground on Wednesday and again today. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous (it was 75 degrees when we went today). It's my favorite kind of weather!

 

6. I had been really dreading today's pediatrician appointment. I was so very relieved when Dr. C was actually pleased with Oliver's weight gain. They said he weighed 4lb 6.5oz on September 4, and they said he weighed 4lb 14.5oz today. Most doctors say babies need to gain 1 ounce a day, and this represented a gain of 8 ounces in 17 days. At this clinic you never know until the doctor walks into the exam room which pediatrician will be seeing your child that day. I am already hoping that Dr. C will be the one who does Oliver's next appointment, which takes place in 3 weeks. I have decided I'm not going to weigh Oliver again until Tuesday - a full week since the last time I weighed him. I don't want to be so stressed about his weight gain. The doctor's attitude was a HUGE relief. His only suggestion was to have Oliver wear a knitted cap so he won't use as many calories keeping himself warm. Oliver loves to remove the hat from his head and the cannula from his nose, but if it will help him gain weight, I will put more efforts into keeping the hat on his head!

 

7. Ian is doing SO much better with eating this week. Two weeks ago it was taking 1-2 hours to get him to feed himself a container of yogurt. He can do it in less than 30 minutes now. At dinner tonight I had put some applesauce and some pasta on his plate. He asked me where the grapes and carrots were. I asked him if he wanted these, and he said yes and specified he wanted green grapes (I have given him both green and red grapes this week). Ironically he doesn't actually seem to like carrots, but he does like grapes. I had tried to get him to eat a grape many other times, but he never had until this week.

 

It does a body good

Veggies - I tried to start following some of the goals I posted on Sunday. On Monday I made chicken enchiladas, green beans, and carrots. The vegetables went over like a lead balloon with Nadia. She didn't even eat much of her enchilada (I had given her one half of an enchilada) even though she has enjoyed them in the past. She chose to sit at the dinner table all the way until bed time and had to finish the meal for breakfast Tuesday morning. Last night I served cheese ravioli and corn. Again although she likes ravioli, she didn't eat much of it because there was corn on her plate. We experienced deja vu as she sat at the table until it was time for bed and then sat there another 3 hours this morning before she finally finished the ravioli and corn. Hopefully she will start eating her veggies a bit faster in the near future. I'm considering using the feeding clinic's "plate a/ plate b" strategy with her. It's not one that has been used with Ian, but I observed it being used with many other children.

Ironically, Ian is doing a better job of eating his veggies. At lunch he had a few bites of bologna, carrots, and green beans in addition to feeding himself an entire container of coconut milk yogurt. At dinner he ate a red grape (first time ever although I've tried to get him to eat them many times before), a couple of carrots, and a few bites of bologna in addition to a decent size helping of applesauce. I was very, very pleased with his feeding skills today. Every meal took at most 30 minutes for him to eat. Considering meals were taking 1-2 hours each when Oliver was first discharged from the hospital, this is a HUGE step forward. Tomorrow I'm hoping Karen (OT) will give some tips on how to help him improve his skills of feeding himself with a spoon. It's a very messy endeavor at the moment, which bothers him more than it bothers me.

Milk - Dr. Williams was amazed yesterday at how quickly Ian can drink the EleCare. He certainly has mastered the skill of drinking from an open cup! He still likes it to be served warm (actually the word "hot" would be more accurate). I realized over the last few days how much milk Nadia usually drinks because we aren't going through the gallon nearly as quickly as usual. She still hasn't gotten over her cold. She has thrown up once a day the last few days from the phlegm. Thus I've only given her water or apple juice to drink, and I've been giving her oatmeal for breakfast (on the days she hasn't been eating her dinner for breakfast). This has greatly reduced our milk consumption! As for Oliver, I don't know what will happen with him. I wish he didn't have lung disease for many reasons - one of which is that it's making it harder for him to gain weight and therefore is threatening the future of nursing him. The pump is being picked up tomorrow. I have to decide whether to buy one or to wait until I can borrow one from WIC. All I have right now is a manual pump that the NICU gave me. I'll give that a whirl tomorrow before I decide whether I'm going to buy one or not. I have to pump three times a day to get enough to fill his bottles for the day. I wish I hadn't sold my pump at a yard sale last year. Lately I've only been pumping twice a day so I've been dipping into the frozen supply a bit.

Sleep - Nadia hasn't been napping this month. On Monday she surprised me and took a very long nap in her bedroom. This morning Ian kept talking about how he is scared of the dark - something he's never said before. It sounded like he had a nightmare last night as he kept talking about a "green woman." This turned into a disaster at naptime. I was on the phone with someone from SS regarding Oliver's Medical Assistance application, and he became hysterical. I left the door open (I usually close it) so it wouldn't be dark in his room, and he still screamed so much that he threw up in his bed. I had him nap downstairs on a couch instead (not in the same room where Oliver and I were). Some days (like on Monday) he still takes a short nap, but today he slept for more than an hour on the couch. I took down the room darkening shades off his window and put in a night light. Thankfully he didn't give Paul much trouble when he put him down tonight. Whew. Nadia never had a fear of the dark so this was a new situation.

I have been trying to help Oliver learn to put himself to sleep. During the night I don't care if I put him in his crib asleep, but during the day I put him down while he's awake so he can learn to put himself to sleep. He does much better sleeping during the day than he does at night. Every once in a while he has a good night, but many nights he is up much of the night. The good news is that I am handling the sleep deprivation FAR better this time than I did the last two times although I eagerly await the day when I can sleep through the night again. I don't change his diaper as often at night (during the night his diapers are almost always only wet whereas during the day almost every diaper is both wet and poopy), and the only light is a night light in his room.

Fresh air - This whole summer I spent only a few minutes outside. There were weeks in which I spent not even one minute outside. Today was the first time I went to the playground in four months. The weather was gorgeous. It was heavenly to be outside in the fresh air. I have had cabin fever this summer like I've never had it before. I carried Oliver in the Weego and pushed Nadia and Ian in the double stroller. We sang songs together and had such a great time. Bliss.

I have more I'd like to write, but as I said above, sleep does a body good and so I must sign off and go catch a few zzz's before the next feeding.

Six Weeks Old!

Sunday I would have been 36w4d, which is when I gave birth to Nadia - the farthest I've ever made it in a pregnancy. Tomorrow I would have been 38 weeks. This means it's time to start working on getting Oliver off the shield, especially since I received a letter from the insurance yesterday saying that they won't pay for the pump rental. I weighed him today, and he now weighs 4lb 10.5oz, which means he's gained 9 ounces since he was discharged, but they wanted him to gain 16 ounces in that time span. I am dreading what the pediatrician will say about that on Friday when they weigh him. I was hoping he'd weigh at least 5 lbs by Friday, but that seems very dubious right now. The Pediatrician will be wanting him to weigh about 5lb 7oz on Friday. There's no way that will happen no matter how wet his diaper is when they weigh him that morning. I wish he'd consume more milk when I nurse him. The boppy gets drenched with milk every time. He does now weigh a full pound more than he did at his lowest weight. It's hard to believe he's gained 16 ounces over the last few weeks because he still seems so very thin. I don't like seeing him without clothes on. I felt the same way with Ian when he was little.

The first time that Paul's mom held Oliver was on September 4, but I didn't get a picture. The first time Paul's dad held Oliver was on September 15 at Knoebels. My mom is the only grandparent who hasn't held Oliver yet. She's hoping to hold him next week. I did take pictures of both of Paul's parents holding Oliver today. Yesterday Sheri called and said she couldn't help out this week after all because she's having some health issues (blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.). I already thought Paul's parents deserved the "grandparents of the year" award for all their help during the time Oliver and I were hospitalized, but they have continued to come to our rescue the past 16 days. On 9/4 they came to help out when we realized the car bed wouldn't fit in our car, Paul's dad meet me at McDonald's last Wednesday when Sarah said two of the kids she was watching had had colds, and they helped out again today when we found out yesterday that Sheri couldn't help us out as planned. They watched Nadia while I took Ian (and Oliver) to an appointment with his psychologist today. I am very hopeful about the new feeding plan. Paul's dad also took Nadia to her ballet/tap class.

 

The Weego arrived in the mail today (after I left for Ian's appointment) so now I will be able to take all three kids out by myself. Being able to "wear" Oliver means I have my hands available for Nadia and Ian. I am still not sure I'll want to take all three kids to a doctor's appointment, but at least now I know I can go to the grocery store and church and such with the three kids. It will be much easier once Oliver is off the oxygen and apnea monitor, but I am getting better and dealing with that equipment.

2012 Goals Revisited

Although it's not a new calendar year yet, it's a new phase for me as a mom of three. I have been contemplating goals for myself and my three children, and here is what I have come up with for the next 3.5 months.

1. Get back to creating a monthly plan for dinner that includes new recipes and vegetables on a more regular basis. Work on getting Nadia and Ian to feed themselves a wider variety of foods without a fuss in a reasonable amount of time.

2. Help Oliver gain weight at a good pace. Hopefully he'll weigh at least 10 pounds by the end of 2012. Ideally, he will be nursing exclusiverly (without the shield or bottles), but if he has to have bottles hopefully we can at least avoid formula during this time span. Until that happens, I want to try to pump as much as he consumes by bottle each day.

3. Help Ian become potty trained at night.

4. Lose at least 15 pounds. To that end, I want to start regularly walking to the playground with the kids once the Weego arrives as well as watching what I eat.

5. Help Oliver develop good sleeping habits (day and night).

6. Continue to work with Ian on immediately following directions given by his parents and treating his sister nicely (no hitting, shoving, grabbing, etc.). I want him to be ready to join Nadia's gymnastics class in January.

7. Continue to work with Nadia on talking nicely (using manners, not whining, having a good attitude, etc.) and treating her brother nicely (not bossing him around, sharing, etc.).

8. Help Paul apply for jobs (an adjunct position starting in January and a tenure track position starting in August). Thus far the 2 tenure track possibilities include Lehigh and Lafayette.

9. Become more regular in having "preschool" with Nadia. Some parts (ex. calendar time and music) I want to do with Nadia and Ian together. In particular over the next 3 months I want to work on her cutting skills (scissors), begin the Handwriting without Tears curriculum with her so that she can learn to write her name, teach her to count to 100, and continue on the skills leading up to reading. I also want to get back to reading chapter books aloud to Nadia. I think Ian might be able to handle that as well because he can now sit through the 98 page Cinderella book being read in one sitting.

10. Follow the OT/PT suggestions to help Oliver achieve his developmental milestones. The NICU gave a referral for Early Intervention. For now, I have held off on that assessment. (Regina, do you know any reason why I should start that with him now?) He will still have OT/PT appointments at the hospital (not connected with EI).

11. Take extra precautions to try to keep Oliver healthy in light of his lung disease. I am going to ask the Pediatrician this week about Oliver having the Synagis shots starting in November to prevent RSV. I was told last week that he is eligible (they are very expensive).

12. Resume using the Motivated Moms weekly chore lists and stop using the cleaning service. Since Nadia has been resisting quiet time lately, I'm going to have her help me with a few chores during the week while her brothers nap. I also want to work with Nadia and Ian so that they can be primarily responsible for picking up their toys twice a day instead of me doing it myself.

 

13. Work on improving my photography skills when shooting in manual mode.

14. Have a regular time of Bible study and prayer even though I won't be joining a ladies Bible study group for a few more months.

As you can see from the pictures, we went to Knoebels yesterday. On our way home we stopped at OIP to have pizza for dinner. When the waitress was taking our drink orders, Nadia asked for milk. After the waitress told her that they didn't have any milk, she asked, "Do you have any water?". I smile every time I recall that verbal exchange. :-)