PlayMania

Daddy talking her into trying the slide..g

AIRBORNE!

A nice squishy landing in the foam ( the foam was her favorite part)

Jumping on the giant trampoline/runway

My cameras batteries were dying so the pic quality isn't very good, but you get the idea.. she has such fun at Playmania! It is an hour long, we are usually 15 minutes late, and we still feel like 45 minutes is PLENTY of time! She gets SO worn out when she is there, there is all sorts of fun stuff to play with! So she at least gets out once a week to just do fun Raegan stuff.. we let her run around and do whatever she wants, only interveining if she is stealing someone elses toy or needs help on an activity.. otherwise she gets free time. The floors there are this THICK squishy jelly foam stuff, so she can fall all she wants, she'll just bounce. She is still very shy, but you can tell she is so interested in the other kids! She spends a good portion of time watching them from a distance with a BIG smile on her face... slowly she will inch closer so that by the end she is playing with them on something. Good times!

 

It's DONE!

Ah HA!! I've cut the grass! I've probably killed it as well, as I wasn't able to strong-arm the stupid setting on the mower... so it was cut pretty short... but if it's DEAD* I don't have to mow as often.. so WIN-WIN!!!

Of course, I got a charlie-horse for all my efforts.. so the full mower is sitting in the garage waiting for Matt to come empty it. Not lifting it. Backyard still a jungle.

Wimp here.


Kidding. Not dead. No worries Davinie!

31 Weeks and Counting

Went in for our 31 week checkup today. Little Man's heartrate was around 156, and he was VERY active for Dr. B. I've only gained 3 pounds... which you should know was a complete SHOCK, as I have been eating REALLY poorly this last month. I was prepared for a lecture on overeating/poor nutrition and everything. Imagine my surprise! This puts me 4 pounds under my weight at Raegans 31 week appointment. YAY!
Because of the frequency and strength of my BH contractions, Dr. B decided to go ahead and do the Fetal Fibronectin test to see if pre-mature labor is a possability. We'll know in a couple of days the results. More then likely I just have an active uterus which would ALSO be a shcok, considering how extremely lazy I am in all other ways. I mean, today must have been National Mow Your Lawn day, and I didn't even dust off the mower.... It will get mowed before National Stone-Your-Neighbor-For-Their-Safari-Yard day comes.... maybe.

Well How-de-Do!

Grandpa Jerry

Grandma Karen

 

A Switch-e-Roo

In my distaste of the regular and ordinary, I decided that our home MUST be completely re-arranged.....so we moved the family room. Yes. We. Did.
The formal living room, the smaller room in the front of the house, gets the best sunlight. It is also adjacent to the dining room, alternately known as my scrapbooking area. Plus... smaller room, smaller mess, right?

You gotta love Matt. He knows he is in for a workout when "I" want to re-arrange things.

So, I did my part and emptied the fish tank. Only some of it ended up on the floor ( which we shampoo'd.... don't worry Davinie!) I had to put all the fish in bags and clean the tank myself , and they all rolled out the window onto the eves, into the bushes, across the street and VOILA! into the ocean.... Oh wait... Ignore that last part.....

Matt dismantled his computer desk and components, hauled around two couches and a cedar chest, moved the TV armoire, and in general did everything.

I helped add water to the fish tank when he was done.

Any-Hoo... I like the end result much more then the original. It's NICE having a bright sunny room, and Rae and I play inside quite a bit, so the cheerful sunny-ness of it all has been positive so far.

Here's the picture... Ignore the messy floor. It always looks like that or worse, but I would like y'all to pretend that I am as tidy as I'd like you to think I am. K'?

The July page... I don't love it, but I'm glad it is done and in her book... I have since typed some journaling onto vellum and put it under the "4" 

A Crappy Update ( mom junk that only moms want to read.. and even then....)

Poor Raegan. Her little hamburger'd bum is on fire.

We've managed to somewhat stop the vomiting... only one episode yesterday, YAY! She has been eating a few things.. some crackers, banana, and a few shred's of chicken. Oh.. and pickles. She loves her some pickles. She isn't eating near as much as she should be, but her drinking is ok. Maybe 20oz a day... mostly Pedialyte or water. Her fever is mostly gone.. a little high in the evenings (99.6 yesterday).

But the diarrhea. My god, the diarrhea! This poor child is filling a diaper with poo-water every hour at least. Very little to no urine since Saturday. Bag balm... check. Buttpaste... check. Sensative wipes or watered paper towels... check. Neosporin.... check.

Nothing helps.

She hasn't sat down for 2 days.. she is either standing resting her head on the couch or Mama, or laying on her stomach. Last night she screamed bloody murder when I sat her in the bath. Naked time is a waste of time... unless she is slathered with Bag Balm she walks like... well, like her bum is on fire and it hurts. She spends most of her time curled up like a peanut laying on the floor, face squished into her boo-ee... Occasionally she'll find comfort draped face down over Mama's big belly. She wants to be held and comforted all the time, but I can't... If I pick her up, I'm touching her bum somewhere... and that hurts. She just cries. All the time. Imagine the pain and screaming that accompanies each and every diaper change.

Please, please let this clear up some time soon! I don't mind changing the endless diapers... I don't mind the super clinginess... Heck, I don't mind puke all over myself and my house.

But make her stop hurting.... Please.

Sick babies are the WORST!




~

Update-a-Rama

Day Number 211

30 weeks
(gestational age: 197 days / 28 weeks)

69 days remaining

Someone has lodged his feet under my ribs and his head under my pubic bone.

And it's not Matt.

I'd Rather Change a Poopie Diaper Anytime

Yesterday I woke to find Raegan sleeping in a crib covered in vomit and a PJ's soaked with diarrhea. And I mean soaked.. as in head-to-toe pooling-in-footies soaked. After 3 more vomit sessions I was pretty worried. After changing a VERY pungent diaper filled with poo-water ( imagine a trendy tea stain) we were off to the doctors office. Morgan was picked up by her daddy to go home with her new baby ( after being hosed off with antibacterial spray/wipes).
There were 3 people in the waiting room ahead of me. I checked in, paid my co-pay, and we waited. 45 minutes later Raegan threw up all over me and herself. Off came her shirt. Another 45 minutes later and Daddy had arrived from work with a new shirt for her and Raegan had vomited yet again... but luckily this time I caught almost all of it with my collar, and her boo-ie caught the rest. The receptionist "kindly" offered us a trash can for Rae to throw up into. Yes, because 1.5 year olds have aim, and all of that. Forever later we were called back. They first asked to weigh Rae, to compare with her weight on Wednesday when she was in for her appointment.. I'm in the process of taking off her clothing when they stop me "Oh no need for that, we're just looking for some sort of loss in weight". I think.. how accurate can this measurement be if she is fully clothed now and previously she was completely naked? She was down 4 ounces.. so I wonder what the difference would have been with clothes off...
There are no pediatritians on call that Saturday morning. We are shown into a regular check room, and we wait for another 20 minutes. When the doc finally does come in, she doesn't even check Raegan. She just looks at the short chart, says it is a stomach virus, try to keep her hydrated. Um, OK....

"What virus is it?" There are several going around in this area, and a few, like Rotovirus, can be potentially fatal to Little Man if I am exposed for any length of time..

"Oh, it could be Rotovirus, but really we wouldn't know without sending her to a lab. Just keep her hydrated."

"She throws up minutes after anything gets in her stomach. Other then Pedialyte, what would you suggest we do?"

" Well...... just keep her hydrated. Offer it to her every 15 minutes or so. Here's a recipe for hydration fluid if you want to make it yourself!"

"OK... should I be concerned with the clear diarrhea?"

"Oh, did she have diarrhea too? Well, just make sure she is hydrated, and if she has really chapped lips or skin that tents a bit, bring her back in."

"Um... OK...." Raegan is crying now, clinging to me, doing the pre-vomit cough-hiccup.

"Well, here's that recipe for the rehydration fluid! Hope she's feeling better!"

Then she left.

What did I learn... what did I pay these people $250 to learn?

Why, I learned that if your child is sick and you really need help or information, don't take them to the doctors office on the weekend!

Next time we'll go to the ER, pay a little more, and actually get a doc that will be somewhat helpful. Even if it is just a run-of-the-mill stomach virus, I could have gotten better medical advice, information, and empathy from my next door neighbor.

What, exactly, are these doctors for if not to care for the patient... and guess what, if it IS just a simple stomach virus, I am the patient... and I should not be treated like a complete ass. Keep her hydrated? Oh, I was just going to shove dry cheerios down her throat for the next 24 hours and buy her her very own tube of chapstick. What, you mean I should encourage her to DRINK??? Well, I never could have figured that out on my own!

OK, say CHEESE!!!

Morgan had fun while she stayed at our house!