"Growth-Chart Anxiety"

I am angry. I'm angry at my daughter's "Pediatrician"(it wasn't her normal one, it was the nurse practitioner) for scaring me so badly. I'm also irritated that some people didn't really take my fears seriously.  But back to the stupid pediatrician.  At Camry's 6 month appointment she came in right around the 10th percentile for her height and weight, 25 in, 13 lbs 3 oz. She had gained 3 oz and 1 inch since her 4 month appointment.  I had noticed that she wasn't gaining pounds since her last appointment, but she was hitting the milestones with no issues, right on time! So I figured that there wasn't any problem. Then the NP comes in, and tells me that if she hasn't gained 2 pounds in the next month, that I need to bring her back. She acted as if it were very urgent. She acted as if serious harm could be done to my child by her not gaining weight. She acted as if it would be my fault, that it was already because of her low weight gain so far.  She tells me to start her on solids immediately (I had to ask how often and what kind of routine. She would have just walked away if I hadn't and I would have been even angrier). 
So, I go home and start her on solids.  Basically, immediately, her poop goes from nice and mushy to adult poop.  And it HURTS her. She screams and cries and doesn't want to poop, and then constipation causes her more pain. And she isn't getting the proper amount of liquids because the dumb NP didn't give me any info about that.  So, I go back to the beginning and give her food 1ce a day and start giving her bottles of water and juice (it took us a bit to figure out that she does NOT like cold drinks or food).  And she gets much better about eating and pooping. 
Now it's been almost 6 weeks and she weighs about 14 lbs 9 oz.  If I were still worrying about what that stupid NP said, I'd be terrified because by now she should be weighing at least 16 lbs.  She eats 3x a day, gets water/juice 2-3 or 4 times a day and nurses twice. She is happy and healthy and teething (grrrrrrrr!).  But she's still under that weight goal the NP gave us.  How the heck can you expect a sweet little baby to gain that much weight like that? She's small, her parents are small. It has nothing to do with how she eats, she LOVES meal times, and lets us know if she wants anything to eat or drink, just like she always has.  She loves sweet potatoes and applesauce, and HATES green beans (which is hilarious to watch, but frustrating as a parent striving for a healthy diet). 
So tonight on twitter I saw this link to an article from BabyCenter called "Do you have growth-chart anxiety?".  And I read it. And it's awesome! It explains that there are actually 2 growth-charts, one from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) and one from WHO (World Health Organization).  The CDC one is 50 years old and focuses on formula-fed babies, while the WHO one is much more recent and focuses on breast-fed babies.  According to the WHO one, Camry is right on schedule.  I feel so much better! I'm angry that there is such a screwed up system in place. I'm angry that these people are allowed to scare new mothers into thinking that there is something wrong with their precious, perfect babies.  Because that is exactly what Camry is, petite, precious and perfect.  So for all you ladies out there who read this with petite posterity, have no fear.   Your baby is just as God intended.

5 month old baby, finally time to blog!

I haven't blogged in a very long time.  I guess having a baby either makes me busier (of course it does!), or I just prefer super easy updates that take 2 seconds, like posting pictures to Facebook or twitter.  So anyway, here's what's up with us.

Camry (since she's #1 in my eyes): She's 5 months old now. I know, crazy, right? My friend Liz just had a baby, and I swear Cam could never have been that small, but I know she was. She was actually smaller. She's about 14 lbs now.  She laughs and smiles. She's a sleep champion. I'm going to regret putting this on here because she'll decide to prove me wrong, so I'm not boasting.  For the past 3 nights, she's slept nearly 12 hours straight, from 7 to either 6 or 6:30. It's awesome! You realize that if I would go to bed at 9 or 10, I'd be getting 8 hours! But, I'm a loser, and don't usually get in bed until 11 or 12 (partly because I have to take showers at night, because she won't let me take them in the morning when K isn't here).  She's trying to sit up by herself.  She's very successful on laps, but on the floor, her legs get in the way and she tips.  She's so good at reaching out to take things from you (and immediately put into her mouth).  She likes touching (read: scratching) our faces.  She loves the cats, touchings, yanking, and watching them as often as possible. She gets that from her Mummy! :)  She has hilariously fat thighs, arms, and cheeks, perfect smiles, and gorgeous eyes!  I'm sure every parents looks at their kid and is positive that theirs is the cutest in existence, but I know that for sure mine really is and I say it multiple times a day. She can now roll both directions, which is helpful, because for a while she could only roll from front to back and she is not a fan of laying that way for any real period of time.  She loves music. Most of all, she loves the band One Direction. We've tested this.  She will be screaming in the car, and if I put them on and turn it up a bit, she immediately quiets down. Every. Time.  I'm okay with it. I like them, too.

Kenny (he's also #1): Not a ton has happened, I guess. He's hilarious and super sweet, as usual.  He's ready to move "home".  He loves and dotes on Camry.  He loves his truck.  He's excited about Summer, except the heat.  He's beautiful, amazing, and just plain awesome! He and I are going to start running (hopefully within the next week if we can), because we signed up for a 5k for November and we want to be prepared.  We need to be healthy anyway (his doctor actually told him to start exercising for his health) to be just happier, and to feel better about ourselves.  Also, we want to be good examples to our children and exercise is actually pretty darn important.  So, goal: Be able to run that 5k and keep up with our health and be happier!

Me (I'm #1 because I'm just awesome): I'm a stay-at-home mom.  I'm okay with that phrase.  I am also a home-maker.  I spend all day making sure Camry sleeps and eats, has clean diapers, is entertained, and safe.  She is so much happier when she has a routine (thank goodness, because me too!).  I keep the cats out of trouble. I watch "tv" and movies.  I clean, do laundry, dishes, cook dinner (K and I switch out), and craft. At the moment I'm in the middle of a blanket (crochet) for my sister, and a rope table for our new screen room.  I also got my wisdom teeth out last Tuesday (1 week ago).  I have been proving to myself that I have a pretty darn high pain tolerance.  I only took 1 lortab after they released me (it wouldn't let me keep food down, so to me, it didn't make sense to keep taking it, pain or not).  After that I took Tylenol whenever I felt like I might need it.  Now, the only pain I've got is from the fact that my mouth doesn't open very wide and they had to stretch it way out and so my muscles and the joints hurt. Also, I have a temporary crown (cap, whatever) in my mouth that hurts pretty darn badly! I can't chew on that side at all because any pressure makes the tooth ache for hours.  I'm supposed to be getting it replaced with permanent one soon (like in the next 2 weeks), but I haven't heard anything about it. I'm going to definitely mention that chewing is pretty darn important and if they don't fix it correctly, I'm going to be super darn mad!

So here's some pictures, I guess:

34 Weeks!

Hello 34 weeks.  How long I've been waiting to get to here and how long it still feels until the birth.  Sometimes it feels like the time has just been dragging along and then sometimes it feels like it was just last week that I saw those double lines.  Isn't it funny how it works like that?  Today, I had my 34 week appointment.  The doctor said I have NO room in my abdomen for me, to which I replied "I know."  I really like my doctor.  She doesn't make me feel stupid when I ask questions, and she lets me complain without saying "It gets worse." That phrase by far is the most irritating phrase I think I've ever heard... EVER.  I know, it's going to "get worse".  I have 6 weeks left and I have a 4 and a half pound (or so) person in my abdomen, taking up the space that I would love to use for my stomach, lungs, intestines, and so on.  I love to feel and watch her move around, but I'm ready to eat something and not feel sick when she kicks me in the stomach (yes, she is head down and enjoys squishing my guts and diaphragm with her feet and punching my hips, bladder, cervix, as well as sticking her little elbows into my sides so that I have to press them back in. She's got very sharp, pointy limbs.).  I'm ready to sleep on my stomach and/or back again, or not have to take a nap just because I heaved myself off the couch or bent over to pick something up.  I'm ready to wear normal clothes (shirts) again, because I only have a few maternity things (I don't need more, I would just like more variety).  I miss being able to dress up cute when I go out, instead of putting on my "cute" maternity clothes and then looking in the mirror to think to myself "Wow. That was not what I was hoping for, but I guess it's the best I'm going to get."  I'm ready to not bump my stomach into counters or chairs or to feel like I'm shaking the house when I trek to the bathroom to pee at night.  I'm ready to NOT HAVE TO PEE EVERY 2 HOURS AT NIGHT!!!!!  Also, I'm ready to meet this tiny person.  I don't really blame her or anyone for the aches, pains, griefs, or any complaints that I have.  They come with the territory and I'm not going to say "She'll make them worth it." because they really aren't that bad.  Hey, at least I'm not vomiting all the time, or on bed rest, or have Gestational Diabetes.  I'm pretty lucky, actually.  Pregnant women should just get to complain occasionally without someone saying "Well, you did this to yourself" or "It gets worse."  Also, when you see me DO NOT TELL ME THAT I LOOK TINY.  I know you think that.  Trust me, for me I am NOT tiny.  I am not huge.  I don't have to waddle unless my hips and pelvis hurt.  I don't have to throw myself off the couch to stand up.  But please realize that there really is a not-so tiny person in my uterus and the reason I look so tiny is because SHE IS TAKING UP ALL MY SPACE!!! So, no, I am not tiny.  If you tell me that, I will say something rude about you.  I am normal, measuring right on track.  Just tell me I look great, amazing, fantastic, radiant, (fill in with your own pleasing adjective).
Tomorrow is the last full day with all of the kittens.  On Saturday, 3 of the boys are going to live as "shop cats" for a lady that works with Kenny.  Her husband is a farmer and they have a workshop.  They also have another cat who lives there and will hopefully teach these boys to be great mousers.  The 4th boy will go to live with them in a couple weeks.  He would be going on Saturday, too, but Tuesday, we went to the vet b/c he was acting strangely, and we discovered that he had fractured a metacarpal in his right front foot.  It's really very pitiful to see this poor guy with this giant cast on his leg.  He's doing well today, getting around much easier.  I actually found him on the top of a couch earlier, and have no idea how he got up there. 

So tomorrow I will be having my sad times and that will probably last a couple days (thank you pregnancy hormones for heightening my emotions... mainly when I'm sad or angry) and then I'll be alright.  I will very much miss these things though:

So I have to keep Jackson (the boy with the sad leg) for another couple weeks, as well as keeping his mom that long too.  She developed anemia and pancreantitis and has been on medications since last week, as well as special food.  One of the meds made her pee smell very pungently fruity.  It was bizarre, but not awful because it's better than regular cat pee.  But that has been fading out, now.  She got a vitamin shot yesterday and the vet is impressed with her progress (although she refuses to stop nursing, which is what set off the whole problem to begin with b/c she has 5 10 week old kittens who do NOT need to be nursing) and she gets another shot next week and then the week after she can probably go to her new home.  The little girl kitten, Saylor, will be moving to Idaho at Christmas to be with her new family.  I will be glad when I don't have 9 cats in my house.  It's been a great joy to watch them grow up, learn, develop personalities, and socialize them, but it's also been stressful.  My house will be grateful when there are not 5 kittens tearing around it, climbing up curtains, scattering litter across the floors, chewing up boxes, and knocking nearly everything off the tables.  If anyone wants one of the boys who is going to be a farm cat, please let me know before Saturday and I will keep him for you.  I'm going down to Hattiesburg next week, so those people are NOT excluded.  The girl doesn't care if we give her all 4 or none at all.  She just wants them to help reduce the rodent population.

Baby Girl! 32 weeks.

Tomorrow, I'll be 32 weeks.  That is very exciting! Only 8 weeks left until due date and about 4 or 5 until full term! Which means only about 4 weeks and 2 days until Thanksgiving and the start of "The Holidays!" I'm so thrilled about that. Normally, I love the winter holidays, but this year they are even more exciting! Please, baby, come BEFORE your due date!

For people who aren't friends with me on Facebook, I have been fostering a mama cat and her 5 kittens for about 6 weeks now.  They are 8 weeks old this week, and I'm keeping them for another week or 2 (not past 10 weeks).  I have found homes for the mama cat (Macy) and the only girl (Saylor).  Macy is going to live at my Bishop's house as a barn cat and have another kitty friend.  She likes other cats as long as they aren't on top of her all the time.  She would do well as an outside cat, because I can tell she lived outside for a while before she went to the shelter, but she wasn't a stray, because she loves being held and carried around.  I still have the 4 boys without definite homes, but I think I might be getting that settled, too.  All will be to their new homes by the end of the 2nd week of November, except Saylor.  Her new family lives in Idaho and my friend Tricia won't be able to take her their until around Christmas.  So, Saylor gets to stay for a while longer.  All the kittens are extremely well socialized, and though they are still working on their litter-box training, they've nearly all got that down.  They love playing with the bigger cats, which is hilarious because, though they weigh only 1.5 lbs, they seem to think they are at least as big as Sammy, who weighs 11 lbs. 

My last baby shower is November 5th.  It's a joint shower with my friend Cristi, who is a month further along than me.  After this shower, I can get the last few things that I don't have and then start getting everything in order.  I'm very excited!  There really isn't much time left until she's here. That's amazing and slightly scary.
Isn't she beautiful?

I don't really have a good title for this one.

Tuesday, I'll be 24 weeks. :) Only 3 more weeks until 6 months/3rd trimester.  I am not huge. I know this. I know there are people the same amount along as I am that are much bigger than me. I get that. You do not have to tell me that I look small. You do not have to tell me that it's bad to not gain weight on purpose while pregnant. I've never been a person that cared much about how much I weighed. I just weigh what I weigh and it's never been unhealthy for me (except when I was underweight for a while, but that wasn't on purpose, that was because we didn't eat a ton of real food after Katrina and I lose weight way faster than I gain it). I am the perfect weight for how far along I am.  Considering the fact that I've never not had a relatively flat stomach, having this amount of bulge is really cool to me! So yes, I think I am big, but I know I'm not huge and I'm glad I won't have to be uncomfortably huge for long periods of time during this pregnancy. Please, don't comment on my body other than to say "You look great!" I may just get fed up and yell at you.  I am a bit more volatile these days and I don't really care if I offend you b/c most people don't seem to remember that pregnant women also have feelings and they are actually heightened.

That wasn't really where I was heading with this post when I started, but oh well. I had a Dr appt on Thursday and was told that all my blood tests came back looking really good. I do not have an increased risk for a child with Down Syndrome, or other problems.  I had an elective 4d ultrasound the week before. My dad, Kenny, Ken, Linda, and Julie were there.  Baby Jackson is adorable and awesome!  She is very strong willed and stubborn.  That might be a good thing in the long run for her if she is just naturally born with patience, but might be a not so great thing for K and I. :-/

I just read a message board post on a website I like that reminded me of something that I've always dreaded.  Toys that require batteries.  I'll just say it simply. I HATE THEM! They are creepy and never as entertaining to the child in real life as they seem to be on the box or on commercials.  Tickle Me Elmo = weirdest creep doll ever! Things that require batteries give me the idea that they may be able to do things on their own... like kill you in the night. I know I've been babysitting before and had a random toy just start talking at me when I know for a fact it hadn't been touched for hours. Those toys get put away where they may never be found again.  I am not okay with them.  I didn't grow up with talking, light up toys, and my kids won't either.  Heck, I'm fairly sure that I played more with my sisters (out in the woods, riding bikes, or just pretending to be animals) than I did with a lot of toys.  I think kids should be able to make up their own idea of the toy and it's previous and current life.  It's not a bad thing for children to use their minds and imaginations.  I found a home video a few months ago where, at lunch time when I was probably 3 or 4, I was crawling on the floor instead of finishing my food. When my mom asked if I was done and wanted cookies I shouted back (excited not angry or rude) "I AM A RACCOOOOOONNNN!!!" and she simply said "Okay well, raccoons don't get cookies." (short story shorter, I finished my lunch so I could have cookies.)  So basically, I will never get my kids toys that need batteries to work.  I won't give my kids toys that other people give us if they require batteries.  Sorry, but it's my house and you don't have to live there with the annoying awful sounds of these things. 

Kenny is home teaching tonight, but I think I'm going to text him to see when he'll be home.  I'm hungry for dinner now.  That bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream (only green! the other kinds aren't as good) at 5 pm is not longer holding me over.  Next time, I will put pictures on here of the 4d ultrasound.

5 and a half months and the Diaper Discussion!

Well, look at me being 5 and a half months pregnant. This is how the months work:
FIRST TRIMESTER
Month 1 = weeks 1-4
Month 2 = weeks 5-8
Month 3 = weeks 9-13
SECOND TRIMESTER
Month 4 = weeks 14-17
Month 5 = weeks 18-21
Month 6 = weeks 22-26
THIRD TRIMESTER
Month 7 = weeks 27-30
Month 8 = weeks 31-35
Month 9 = weeks 36-40

I'm 20 weeks 3 days today.  My belly is larger, but not huge. My back hurts, as does my tailbone.  I feel baby move everyday. I can still lay on my stomach, if I pull my leg up.  It's too hot to do anything all the time (increased blood volume makes me hotter and way sweatier... yuck). Spinach salad with ham, tomatoes, cucumbers, and slight amount of ranch (from Subway) is the greatest food ever, as is anything chocolate or sweet! Red meat is gross. I do not want steak, I do not want burgers, I do not want heavy foods.  Ice water is the greatest thing ever, and believe it or not, juice or Kool-aid is better.  Exercise is great, but it's sooooo hot that the motivation is not really there to get out to the gym with Kenny. But, it's okay because I decided to never be pregnant in the summer, again! Not intentionally.

So, on to the diapers part.   Call me crazy, but I have decided not to use disposable diapers.  I've already had one person laugh at me.  Just to let you know, laughing at a pregnant woman is an incredibly bad idea. Everyone knows how bad disposable diapers are for the environment.  Seriously. But cloth diapers are extremely confusing and depending on what type you decide to use, they can be really expensive (although in the long run, they are cheaper than disposables).  So, even before I was pregnant, I decided what I wanted to do.  And HERE it is.  They are called gDiapers.  They are hybrid diapers, which can either be used with cloth inserts, or flushable, biodegradable inserts.  I would totally and completely prefer to use the flushable inserts, but I know I'll get some cloth ones, too.  I'm just saying this, because I know I'll get some disposables from people, but I'd really prefer this kind (not that I'm asking).  I've changed a lot of diapers in my life already, and I'd rather have this in my house, instead of the gross disposables stinking up some room.

I haven't scanned my most recent ultrasound pictures.  Sorry. Nor have I uploaded the pictures of my gender announcement cake that I did for my sister and her BF.  We sent my parents and Kenny's parents flowers, supposed to be pink, with a note that was supposed to say "Looks like it's a girl!" (From the video, we're pretty sure it's a girl, but she was stubborn and shy, so we're going to recheck again soon).  Kenny's parents' flowers showed up red, but they got the idea.  My parents' flowers showed up the correct way, but the note said "Looks like it and #39's a girl!".  We have no idea what the "and #39" mean.  It was probably just a hilarious computer mistake. I'll have to upload the pictures when I can.

Hormones, weeks, cats, and movement.

I like to think of myself as a not so emotional or hormonal person, but lately, pregnancy has been making me eat my words. It's usually only when I get angry, but I also learned recently that if a movie MIGHT have made me cry before I was pregnant, then I should steer clear of it for sure now.  Today, I was trying to teach my Sunday School class (13/14 year olds) the lesson and I got so angry that they were refusing to cooperate, participate, or even acknowledge my existence that I had to leave the room for a couple minutes to calm down, because I was on the verge of crying. We got it all worked out later, so hopefully no worried.
This Tuesday, I will be 19 weeks.  I hate when people say "Yeah, but what is that in months?" I have no idea. Only the weeks make sense to me. I'll just put it this way. There are 40 weeks in a full term pregnancy, from your last period to the due date. Yes, technically that would equal 10 months, but you're not actually pregnant until you're 4 weeks along.  It sounds very confusing, but I get it (just don't care to explain it in one blog post, nor do people really probably care). If you're interested, there is a book called Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It's a really good book. It explains menstrual cycles, how to get pregnant, how to keep from getting pregnant, and just how not every woman is the exact same, which is obviously true. It really enjoyed reading it. It's so much more informative than any sex ed class I ever took (although in my school sex ed was mixed in with health and it embarrassed the teacher so he just barely skimmed over it. Kind of like how my 10th grade bio teacher refused to teach us about evolution b/c it didn't go with her personal beliefs.)
Our next dr. appointment is Thursday. I wish I would remember to ask exactly what was going to happen every time, because I only remember afterwards to ask what's going to happen the next day at the appointment when I'm called to confirm, but all they can tell me is "Well, I'm just a nurse and it just says 'appointment' on my sheet." Really? That seems like it would be a fairly common question. You'd think they'd maybe put a little more information on there like "Ultrasound" or something of the sort.
I've been cat sitting for my friend this past week and this coming week. It's a lovely girl kitty named Tita.  She didn't like the other cats much when she got here, but now they're warmed up to each other. She just doesn't like when they sneak up on her, or touch her, or when she can't tell if they're playing or trying to fight. It's kind of silly. I put up a pet gate in the doorway of the room designated for her. Normally, I would just leave it open, since the door is open all the time anyway (not the gate), but Sammy (my large male cat) has a bad habit of stealing other cats food. Tita simply jumps over the gate to get to her stuff, but Sammy just sits in the hallway staring into the room very forlornly. He's never been much of a jumper. Also, Tita's litter box is in there too and she doesn't use the same kind of litter that we do (although she is convinced that any of my cats using their litter boxes means they would like to be attacked) and it smells almost exactly like green kool aid.  Don't worry, I'm not huffing cat box fumes. Blugh!
Baby Jackson has gotten to the point where I can feel it kicking from the outside now.  It likes to do it when I'm sitting down (but not lying) and particularly if I have a book or cat on my stomach. So far, the only cat to kicked is Rosie and I don't even know if she noticed. I'll put my hand on my stomach and feel it and tell Kenny to come over to feel, but of course as soon as he puts his hand on my stomach, there will likely be minimal to zero movement. One day soon, Baby, I will prove you silly and you will big enough to feel much more often and much more definitely! You will rue the day you ever played these hide and seek games with us! (Also, side note, Baby Jackson will hopefully go from being an "it" to a "she" or "he" this week. Please vote on my poll (see top of the page on the right) and let me know what you think Baby J is. If the poll won't work for you (it may only work for registered users) please leave your vote in a comment either here or on Facebook.)