Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Poor sick baby.
Gryffin went almost an entire year without so much as a stuffy nose. Then he got sick 2 days before his birthday with his first ever fever. He got over that virus after about 5 days. He kicked anemia in about 6 weeks. Then his first week at the baby sitter's house he got a cold and has had a stuffy nose and congestion for almost 3 weeks straight. Now he has the Roseola virus! I had to go and pick him up early yesterday because he had a red rash all over his trunk area. Took him to the doctor and after I told her he had a fever most of the weekend, she said she was certain in is Roseola. He had a fever friday, saturday and a really mild one sunday night. I thought it was from his molars coming in. The doctor said Roseola presents as 3 days of fever then a rash for anywhere from a few hours to a week. Well we are on day 2 of Rash Watch 2012. It is covering his entire body, including under his hair. The good thing is, it doesnt seem to itch or bother him at all, the bad thing is that I can't take him to the baby sitter's until it is completely gone. He has been playing fine, just a little more tired that usual. I enjoyed the extra cuddle time today but I really hope he is better at least by lunch time tomorrow so I can get back to work and he can get back to normal. Roseola is also referred to as the "three day measels." It's just a virus that kids get between 6 months and 2 years and there isnt anything that can be done about it. I'm so glad I kept him home for 13 months, seeing him covered in a rash is hard enough now, I don't know how we would have handled it at 6 months!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
5
I wanted to update my blog but couldn't really think of a topic, so here are 5 random things from today.
1. Gryffin had a check-up today to see where we are with his hemoglobin, and it is up to 11! That is normal! So no more anemic baby. He has gained 13 oz in 3 weeks and has completely regained his appetite. So thankful!
2. My biggest pet peeve right now is this: when talking about my breastfeeding relationship with Gryffin and the amount of time that he nursed, please do not tell me "you are so lucky" or that I should be "grateful that it worked out." Would you tell someone that recently lost a lot of weight that they are lucky? Or would you tell them good job and congratulate them on a job well done? Yes. Having a successful, long term nursing experience is not luck and it doesnt just happen. I find it very rude when people write off my hard work and determination. I wanted it to work and so I did everything in my power to succeed. Don't rebound your own issues on to me and demean my efforts. I have never worked so hard or sacrificed so much as I did in order to successfully nourish my child for 13 months in the safest and most natural way possible. Ok, end rant.
3. I have been taking a women's multivitamin for a little over a week now and feel amazing! I wonder what I was missing that had me dragging for so long...?
4. Watched Wanderlust and The Woman in Black over the weekend, the first one was hilarious, second one has a seriously crappy ending.
5. Since I started working, I have been making our breakfast for the week on sunday nights.
mini omelets: whip up eggs, splash of milk, salt, and pepper, and pour into greased muffin tins.
add whatever omelet toppings you like, I add sausage crumbles, baby spinach,
and pepperjack cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Bam! You have super
tastey, and portable egg muffin thingys for breakfast. I put them in a ziploc and just
throw one in the microwave each morning. Good way to start the day with protien.
-R
1. Gryffin had a check-up today to see where we are with his hemoglobin, and it is up to 11! That is normal! So no more anemic baby. He has gained 13 oz in 3 weeks and has completely regained his appetite. So thankful!
2. My biggest pet peeve right now is this: when talking about my breastfeeding relationship with Gryffin and the amount of time that he nursed, please do not tell me "you are so lucky" or that I should be "grateful that it worked out." Would you tell someone that recently lost a lot of weight that they are lucky? Or would you tell them good job and congratulate them on a job well done? Yes. Having a successful, long term nursing experience is not luck and it doesnt just happen. I find it very rude when people write off my hard work and determination. I wanted it to work and so I did everything in my power to succeed. Don't rebound your own issues on to me and demean my efforts. I have never worked so hard or sacrificed so much as I did in order to successfully nourish my child for 13 months in the safest and most natural way possible. Ok, end rant.
3. I have been taking a women's multivitamin for a little over a week now and feel amazing! I wonder what I was missing that had me dragging for so long...?
4. Watched Wanderlust and The Woman in Black over the weekend, the first one was hilarious, second one has a seriously crappy ending.
5. Since I started working, I have been making our breakfast for the week on sunday nights.
mini omelets: whip up eggs, splash of milk, salt, and pepper, and pour into greased muffin tins.
add whatever omelet toppings you like, I add sausage crumbles, baby spinach,
and pepperjack cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350. Bam! You have super
tastey, and portable egg muffin thingys for breakfast. I put them in a ziploc and just
throw one in the microwave each morning. Good way to start the day with protien.
-R
Monday, August 20, 2012
Working, Weaning, and Winning.
My big baby boy is 13 months old today! The last set of lab work showed a huge improvement in his hemoglobin and platelet levels! So we are quickly getting back to normal and I couldn't be more relieved. In other news, I started my new job at Everlasting Granite. I am actually really excited about this job. I will be working with some great people and with the recent buyout, it is seriously the best company in town. The benefits are wonderful! I was pretty worried about how Gryffin would handle going to the babysitter, since he has only ever stayed with my parents. When we dropped him off this morning he immediately started playing and was not the least bit concerned with us. They said he did great the entire day, which was such a relief to hear! I am so thankful that the babysitter is right behind our house, so we are able to get him at lunch and still have our family meal time in the middle of the day. It is still so important to me to be with Gryffin as much as possible, I hate the thought of handing him off to someone else, but I know the babysitter we have is wonderful and it is a home environment. More baby news: apparently Gryffin has decided it is time to move on from breastfeeding. I always said that I would nurse him as long as he wanted to, and I guess 13 months is his cutoff. He has not nursed in almost 48 hours, and has shown no interest in it. I am not having any pain or discomfort, so I guess my body was ready to stop too. It is a little bit heartbreaking that this part of our relationship is over, and I know I will miss it dearly, but I have solace in knowing that the bond we created will always be there. I can't believe that my baby boy is running around the house (literally), and talking, and going to a babysitter, and has weaned himself! Time really doesn't cut us a break. I am just very thankful and overwhelmed with the beautiful life I've been given. <3
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Anemia
well yesterday we found out that Gryffin has anemia, caused by an iron deficiency. The anemia test is standard at the 1 year check up, but before we even got to that point at his check up yesterday the doctor knew she wanted a full panel workup done on Gryffin's blood.
About 5 weeks ago Gryffin fell and hit his chin pretty hard and has had a nasty bruise ever since, that combined with some bruising on his hips (lots of tiny broken capillaries) and the fact that he has lost weight signalled some warning signs. Up until now, Gryffin has been above the 90th percentile in weight and above 80th in height at each check up. This visit showed only a 1/2 inch growth in height and an 11 oz drop in weight in the last 3 months. The dr said that she actually isnt extremely concerned about the weight because he was very sick last week which made him basically not eat for 3 days, and she also said babies tend to stop gaining or even lose weight when they start to crawl. The fact that I am working on weaning him may also be playing into his weight loss.
What she was mostly worried about was his bruising. So, after a really crazy day, 3 shots, 2 toe pricks, and 2 blood draws in two seperate arms, we now know that he is pretty severely anemic. She said that for his age his hemoglobin should be at or above an 11, usually when she sees an anemic kid they are at a 9, and Gryffin is at a 7.
The good news is that his white blood cell count and his platelets are perfect. So there is absolutely nothing else going on. She said that she and the tech both looked over his results and the tech actually looked at his blood under the microscope and there were zero "bad" cells and everything else was in normal range. So this problem is purely nutritional. Anemia in breastfed babies this age is not uncommon. The iron stores that a baby is born with begin to run out around 6 months, so after that they should be getting their iron from other food sources. Well, Gryffin is a notoriously bad eater so that explains most of the problem. Also, any iron that he should be getting from my breast milk, is honestly probably not there. I do not eat much iron rich foods (no red meat for me, thanks) and the dr was actually concerned that I may be anemic also; and that is not the first time I've been told that....I bruise like an old peach.
What we have to do now is give him an iron supplement daily, up his iron rich foods any way we can, offer food all day long instead of just meal and snack times, and give him pediasure milkshakes to increase is iron, vitamins, and weight gain. He took the supplement really well today and really loved the strawberry milkshake he had at lunch. I think most of the weight loss happened last week while he was sick. He was feeling so bad he wouldnt even nurse, and that is one of his very favorite things.
The dr seemed really pleased by his blood work and we are all relieved because anemia can be fixed, the alternatives that we were looking at were much more serious. I am trying to not completely freak out because I know he is a super happy little dude. Despite the lack of physical growth over the last 3 months, mentally he has grown leaps and bounds. Every day he is smarter and more intune with what is going on. He has several words now including, "bye, hey, mama, daddy, ok, up, go" and he shakes his head "yes" and "no" when we ask him something. And he is crawling around the house figuring things out like putting his toys up and getting things out that he wants to play with. He is also a huge mimic, which is hilarious.
I just hope we can turn this around as soon as possible and get him off the supplement and back to 100% healthy. For now, I will just be thankful that it is "just" anemia. God has blessed me with a healthy life thus far, and a healthy happy baby boy.
About 5 weeks ago Gryffin fell and hit his chin pretty hard and has had a nasty bruise ever since, that combined with some bruising on his hips (lots of tiny broken capillaries) and the fact that he has lost weight signalled some warning signs. Up until now, Gryffin has been above the 90th percentile in weight and above 80th in height at each check up. This visit showed only a 1/2 inch growth in height and an 11 oz drop in weight in the last 3 months. The dr said that she actually isnt extremely concerned about the weight because he was very sick last week which made him basically not eat for 3 days, and she also said babies tend to stop gaining or even lose weight when they start to crawl. The fact that I am working on weaning him may also be playing into his weight loss.
What she was mostly worried about was his bruising. So, after a really crazy day, 3 shots, 2 toe pricks, and 2 blood draws in two seperate arms, we now know that he is pretty severely anemic. She said that for his age his hemoglobin should be at or above an 11, usually when she sees an anemic kid they are at a 9, and Gryffin is at a 7.
The good news is that his white blood cell count and his platelets are perfect. So there is absolutely nothing else going on. She said that she and the tech both looked over his results and the tech actually looked at his blood under the microscope and there were zero "bad" cells and everything else was in normal range. So this problem is purely nutritional. Anemia in breastfed babies this age is not uncommon. The iron stores that a baby is born with begin to run out around 6 months, so after that they should be getting their iron from other food sources. Well, Gryffin is a notoriously bad eater so that explains most of the problem. Also, any iron that he should be getting from my breast milk, is honestly probably not there. I do not eat much iron rich foods (no red meat for me, thanks) and the dr was actually concerned that I may be anemic also; and that is not the first time I've been told that....I bruise like an old peach.
What we have to do now is give him an iron supplement daily, up his iron rich foods any way we can, offer food all day long instead of just meal and snack times, and give him pediasure milkshakes to increase is iron, vitamins, and weight gain. He took the supplement really well today and really loved the strawberry milkshake he had at lunch. I think most of the weight loss happened last week while he was sick. He was feeling so bad he wouldnt even nurse, and that is one of his very favorite things.
The dr seemed really pleased by his blood work and we are all relieved because anemia can be fixed, the alternatives that we were looking at were much more serious. I am trying to not completely freak out because I know he is a super happy little dude. Despite the lack of physical growth over the last 3 months, mentally he has grown leaps and bounds. Every day he is smarter and more intune with what is going on. He has several words now including, "bye, hey, mama, daddy, ok, up, go" and he shakes his head "yes" and "no" when we ask him something. And he is crawling around the house figuring things out like putting his toys up and getting things out that he wants to play with. He is also a huge mimic, which is hilarious.
I just hope we can turn this around as soon as possible and get him off the supplement and back to 100% healthy. For now, I will just be thankful that it is "just" anemia. God has blessed me with a healthy life thus far, and a healthy happy baby boy.
Monday, June 11, 2012
discipline
I was watching an episode of Super Nanny the other day and the mother in on the show repeatedly "spanked" and "popped" her 2 year old and 4 year old children. This got me really thinking about how people chose to discipline their kids. I really dont get the whole corporal punishment thing with children. When you really stop and think about it, the parent-child relationship is the only one in which it is ok to hit someone. It's never ok to hit your spouse, your friends, your siblings, you coworkers, you cant hit your parents or anyone else. But when a child does something you don't like, go ahead and hit them...it doesn't make any sense to me. What exactly is the lesson with spanking? When you do something wrong, you'll experience pain? There is no reason or logic to it. At any other point in your life you don't receive discipline in the form of physical pain. The look on a child's face when they are physically hurt by a parent is always the same, they are confused and also emotionally hurt. We teach our kids to tell on someone if they are hurt by them but then we turn around and become the ones hurting them. It seems to me that this is the lazy way of dealing with a child. I know that Adam and I will not be taking this route with Gryffin. I don't want anyone to spank me when I make a mistake so why would I do it to my kid?
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Update :)
I have been seriously neglecting my blog! A little update on my sweet baby Gryf:
He has 4 precious little baby teeth, the 4th of which is being stubborn and keeps dissappearing into his swollen gums. He is a crawling MANIAC! He is everywhere all the time. He even wakes up in the middle of the night and tries to crawl across the bed. He turned 10 months old this past sunday and seems like such a big boy now. He is more like a little kid and less like a baby everyday. He pulls up on everything and has started to try to stand up without holding on to anything. We have good days and bad days when it comes to eating though. If his teeth are bothering him he just wants to nurse but if we are lucky and get a pain free day, he eats like a champ! We have gone the Baby Led Weaning route with solid foods, so he gets small chunks of whatever we are eating, and he loves to feed himself. He wants nothing to do with being fed from a spoon! I do keep some organic baby food puree's around just to amp up his fruit and veggie intake. I buy the Happy Baby and Plum brand organic pouch food and snack puffs only, no GMO's for my baby boy. Gryffin is also turning into a little talker. He jibber-jabbers all day long, and usually ends his stories with "da-da-da-da-da-DY!" like his is telling me something about his Daddy :)
In other news, I may be going back to work soon! I am really excited and really nervous about it. I planned to stay home with Gryffin for his first year. I think it is so important to develope a secure bond and attachment, and the first year of a baby's life is SO important, who better to see them through it than mama? Well, we are approaching Gryffin's birthday pretty quickly so I am looking into opportunities to go to work. I am so thankful that I have such an amazing husband who has worked so hard to make it possible for me to spend this year with Gryffin. It is also very comforting to know that financially, me working isn't necessary. So I dont have to feel rushed to find something. But, Gryffin and I are bored and a little stir crazy. I'm ready to get up and going everyday and I know he is ready for a change of scenery. He loves to play with other kids, so I know he will really enjoy the interaction with the other babies at the daycare we have lined up for him. I am really happy with who is going to be keeping him, and so grateful that he won't have to go to a big "school" type center, that is just not for us.
I am also really happy to report that we are still nursing away! I dont think Gryffin will be near ready to wean at a year old, which is fine, but I am starting to introduce milk to him throughout the day now. He doesn't drink from a bottle at all anymore and hasnt taken a paci since he was 4 months old, so we dont have those habits to worry about breaking (thank goodness!). He drinks really really well from a straw cup, he has no use for regular sippy cups. Also, we only give him water to drink. There is zero need for him to drink anything besides breastmilk and water. I dont understand why so many people think there is any reason to give a child juice. It is much healthier to give the actual fruit rather than the juice, which is loaded with sugar and who knows what other junk (several reports of high Arsenic contamination in juices lately). We definitely try our very best to give Gryffin only healthy food that will establish healthy eating habits. I hate when I see a toddler snacking on a Little Debbie cake and juice/sweet tea/ soda. That is not doing anything but setting everyone up for a fight later. You can't give your kids that junk to eat and then wonder why they wont drink water or eat fruit later.
Gryffin is waking up from his nap now, so Mama's gotta go!
<3
He has 4 precious little baby teeth, the 4th of which is being stubborn and keeps dissappearing into his swollen gums. He is a crawling MANIAC! He is everywhere all the time. He even wakes up in the middle of the night and tries to crawl across the bed. He turned 10 months old this past sunday and seems like such a big boy now. He is more like a little kid and less like a baby everyday. He pulls up on everything and has started to try to stand up without holding on to anything. We have good days and bad days when it comes to eating though. If his teeth are bothering him he just wants to nurse but if we are lucky and get a pain free day, he eats like a champ! We have gone the Baby Led Weaning route with solid foods, so he gets small chunks of whatever we are eating, and he loves to feed himself. He wants nothing to do with being fed from a spoon! I do keep some organic baby food puree's around just to amp up his fruit and veggie intake. I buy the Happy Baby and Plum brand organic pouch food and snack puffs only, no GMO's for my baby boy. Gryffin is also turning into a little talker. He jibber-jabbers all day long, and usually ends his stories with "da-da-da-da-da-DY!" like his is telling me something about his Daddy :)
In other news, I may be going back to work soon! I am really excited and really nervous about it. I planned to stay home with Gryffin for his first year. I think it is so important to develope a secure bond and attachment, and the first year of a baby's life is SO important, who better to see them through it than mama? Well, we are approaching Gryffin's birthday pretty quickly so I am looking into opportunities to go to work. I am so thankful that I have such an amazing husband who has worked so hard to make it possible for me to spend this year with Gryffin. It is also very comforting to know that financially, me working isn't necessary. So I dont have to feel rushed to find something. But, Gryffin and I are bored and a little stir crazy. I'm ready to get up and going everyday and I know he is ready for a change of scenery. He loves to play with other kids, so I know he will really enjoy the interaction with the other babies at the daycare we have lined up for him. I am really happy with who is going to be keeping him, and so grateful that he won't have to go to a big "school" type center, that is just not for us.
I am also really happy to report that we are still nursing away! I dont think Gryffin will be near ready to wean at a year old, which is fine, but I am starting to introduce milk to him throughout the day now. He doesn't drink from a bottle at all anymore and hasnt taken a paci since he was 4 months old, so we dont have those habits to worry about breaking (thank goodness!). He drinks really really well from a straw cup, he has no use for regular sippy cups. Also, we only give him water to drink. There is zero need for him to drink anything besides breastmilk and water. I dont understand why so many people think there is any reason to give a child juice. It is much healthier to give the actual fruit rather than the juice, which is loaded with sugar and who knows what other junk (several reports of high Arsenic contamination in juices lately). We definitely try our very best to give Gryffin only healthy food that will establish healthy eating habits. I hate when I see a toddler snacking on a Little Debbie cake and juice/sweet tea/ soda. That is not doing anything but setting everyone up for a fight later. You can't give your kids that junk to eat and then wonder why they wont drink water or eat fruit later.
Gryffin is waking up from his nap now, so Mama's gotta go!
<3
Thursday, April 12, 2012
milestone!!!!
Today is a big day for Gryffin and I!
Gryffin was born at 38 weeks and 1 day. Today Gryffin is 38 weeks and 1 day old.
That means, that as of today, my body has sustained and nourished my child on the outside for the exact same amount of time as it did on the inside. Gryffin has thrived beautifully on exculsive breastfeeding, with zero "formula."
Nothing has ever made me feel more proud of myself and my body than this. Knowing that I have given him the very best nutrition there is makes me feel so confident and sure of my body and it's ability to care for my child. It may not be the most beautiful or perfect body out there, and it really isnt even in the best shape that it could be, but it has served it's purpose wonderfully.
It is not news to anyone that I believe breast is best. And in all honesty, I find formula to be repulsive. I am not trying to make formula moms feel guilty, everyone is intitled to their opinions and I really do see the pros to formula feeding (I just personally wouldnt want to drink the stuff, so why would I make my baby drink it?). There have been tons of times in Gryffin's life where I really, really want some one else to feed him. I want to be able to go out without worrying about pumping a bottle for him, or where I will be able to discreetly nurse him. However, I know that what he truly needs is breastmilk, and dispite my own selfish desires, I have stuck it out.
I dont talk about nursing near as much as I used to because I have found it to be a very hot topic. People have been down right rude and hurtful to me when I express my joy and pride in my nursing relationship with Gryffin. But today is a day to celebrate.
We have worked through sore, cracked, bleeding nipples. We made it through almost constant nursing (Gryffin nursed every hour, on the hour for the first 7 weeks of his life). We worked past 2 supply drops where I thought I would never be able to produce enough to satisfy him. I have learned to develope a thicker skin when it comes to comments and negative people. I have kept my mouth shut when someone told me that "nursing is the same as formula, you arent doing anything special."We made it through horrible Post Partum Depression, which made the sound of Gryffin's cries drive me insane and the thought of holding him to nurse made my skin crawl. And here recently we are learning how to nurse with teeth...and biting...very hard, scream inducing biting. I would have chopped my own arm off if I needed to, in order to insure we make breastfeeding work. All this may seem trivial to some, but I am proud of us. Very proud. Gryffin is getting the best of the best and breastfeeding is a gift that lasts a lifetime. I could go into the science of it, and all the amazing things that breastmilk does, but I wont because that is not the point. The point is, that even when it was rough, we kept going together. There have been very few things in my life that make me proud of myself, so I am not going to miss the opportunity to express my happiness at this milestone!
Gryffin was born at 38 weeks and 1 day. Today Gryffin is 38 weeks and 1 day old.
That means, that as of today, my body has sustained and nourished my child on the outside for the exact same amount of time as it did on the inside. Gryffin has thrived beautifully on exculsive breastfeeding, with zero "formula."
Nothing has ever made me feel more proud of myself and my body than this. Knowing that I have given him the very best nutrition there is makes me feel so confident and sure of my body and it's ability to care for my child. It may not be the most beautiful or perfect body out there, and it really isnt even in the best shape that it could be, but it has served it's purpose wonderfully.
It is not news to anyone that I believe breast is best. And in all honesty, I find formula to be repulsive. I am not trying to make formula moms feel guilty, everyone is intitled to their opinions and I really do see the pros to formula feeding (I just personally wouldnt want to drink the stuff, so why would I make my baby drink it?). There have been tons of times in Gryffin's life where I really, really want some one else to feed him. I want to be able to go out without worrying about pumping a bottle for him, or where I will be able to discreetly nurse him. However, I know that what he truly needs is breastmilk, and dispite my own selfish desires, I have stuck it out.
I dont talk about nursing near as much as I used to because I have found it to be a very hot topic. People have been down right rude and hurtful to me when I express my joy and pride in my nursing relationship with Gryffin. But today is a day to celebrate.
We have worked through sore, cracked, bleeding nipples. We made it through almost constant nursing (Gryffin nursed every hour, on the hour for the first 7 weeks of his life). We worked past 2 supply drops where I thought I would never be able to produce enough to satisfy him. I have learned to develope a thicker skin when it comes to comments and negative people. I have kept my mouth shut when someone told me that "nursing is the same as formula, you arent doing anything special."We made it through horrible Post Partum Depression, which made the sound of Gryffin's cries drive me insane and the thought of holding him to nurse made my skin crawl. And here recently we are learning how to nurse with teeth...and biting...very hard, scream inducing biting. I would have chopped my own arm off if I needed to, in order to insure we make breastfeeding work. All this may seem trivial to some, but I am proud of us. Very proud. Gryffin is getting the best of the best and breastfeeding is a gift that lasts a lifetime. I could go into the science of it, and all the amazing things that breastmilk does, but I wont because that is not the point. The point is, that even when it was rough, we kept going together. There have been very few things in my life that make me proud of myself, so I am not going to miss the opportunity to express my happiness at this milestone!
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