All's Quiet

I love to say that. Love even more to experience that.

Cade is sound asleep in his bed. Zane is sound asleep in his bed. Cade will hopefully be asleep until at least 6:30 tomorrow morning and Zane, well, hopefully until 10:00pm when he will want to eat again.

Tomorrow my older brother Josh is coming into town. Cade is sad that Brandon and Gabe won't be with him, but he is excited nonetheless to "rock out" with Uncle Josh. Cade will tell you that Uncle Josh is coming for "baptize". To put water on Zane's head. Not Caden's.

Many other friends and family are coming in for this special occasion. My Aunt Sue from New York, Jim's sister from Tennessee, my brother, Jeremy and his wife, Jenae who have agreed to be Zane's Godparents and Jenae's parents from California.

It is going to be a fun time--surrounding an important, blessed event!

Good For Something

Cade has now had two big attempts at potty training in underwear.

Neither one went really well, but we will get there eventually. In the meantime Cade has found a new use for his underwear. Accessories for all! Bracelets and head wear!

Medical Bills

The cost of health:

Ambulance ride to John C. Lincoln: $875.00
John C. Lincoln: $4,302.00
X-Ray: $200.00
Doctor services at John C. Lincoln: $920.00
Ambulance ride to St. Joes: 974.00
ICU Stay at St. Joes: $20,333

PCP visits for GI Issues: $260.00
Lab work: $200.00
Ultrasound: $625.00
GI Specialist: $570.83
Prescription: $70.00/month
New formula: $28.99/can

Having a healthy, happy baby: PRICELESS

(Having insurance so we have only paid about $500 of this: Priceless!)

Rejection

I know. That title seems unbelievable, right?

I mean, who would want to reject ME?

Apparently my own child.

After Zane was born, my parents and in-laws have been very generous and take Cade for a while so that all I have to do is focus on Zane. It has been nice to have some bonding time alone with my new baby and Cade basks in the attention from his grandparents.

I decided that I needed some time with my older son, too. To make sure he still felt loved and cared for by me--who has lately had to devote more of my time to his brother. So, I asked my parents to watch Zane for an hour or so tonight so Cade and I could do something fun. We got to my parent's house and Cade was ecstatic to be there. So much so that he didn't want to do ANYTHING with me. I couldn't even bribe him with the toy store. He volunteered his Granddad to go to the store with me and he was going to stay home with Nana and Baby Zane. Only after 20 minutes of playing outside with Granddad and me promising him pancakes at Cracker Barrel did he finally agree to go with me. I have never felt the sting of rejection like I did tonight.

We had a good time. It was really nice to have some one-on-one time with Cade. I think he liked it, too...once I got him in the car.

Reality Check

Ever since I went back to work after having Cade, my Mom has been baby-sitting for us.

It is an amazing blessing to have my Mom willing and able to do that for us. It made going back to work so much easier knowing that someone who loved Cade was taking care of him.

When we found out we were pregnant with Zane, I remember thinking that I would need to put Cade in day care because it wouldn't be fair to expect my mom to watch both kids. I mean, what if they both cried at the same time? My Mom assured me that she would be fine. However, in my worries about my Mom, I never thought about that situation for myself. I never thought about the fact that I might be alone with them and have them both crying or needing something at the same time. DUH! Welcome to my daily life. I would like to thank my friends and family that made having more than one kid look so easy. You could've warned me!

While the sleep deprivation from one kid waking up while the other one falls asleep makes me a little grouchy, Zane's weight gain makes me very happy! My neuroses finally got the better of me and I bought a baby scale. Everytime I take Zane to the doctor for a weight check, it costs me $25. And since things have been so tough for him and weight gain pretty much nonexistant, I have been pretty stressed about it. The pediatrician doesn't see him again until he is 2 months old and the GI doctor not for three more weeks. That is a long time for me to wonder if he is gaining weight or not. So I bought a scale. It was either that or stick him in the produce scale at the grocery store or sneak him into the post office at night for their scale. Anyway. A long explanation for a simple statement. According to my new baby scale, Zane weighs 7 lbs 13 oz. We are finally back to and past birth weight. That means Zane has gained 12 oz in about a week! That is more than he gained in the first 5 weeks of his life! Apparently the new formula and medicine are working! Yeah!

Where?

Most kids like to ask, "Why?"

My unique child, Cade, asks "Where?" Repeatedly.

It is kind of humorous and slightly annoying. Here are two examples of our conversations:

Me: Cade, did you have fun at Peter Piper Pizza?
Him: Where?
Me: The pizza place.
Him: Which one?
Me: Seriously? Where we had dinner.
Him: Where?
Me: Never mind.

Him: Where are we going?
Me: To the doctor.
Him: Caden's doctor?
Me: Zane's doctor.
Him: Oh.
We get in the car..
Him: Where are we going?
Me: To the doctor.
Him: Zane's doctor?
Me: Yes.
Two minutes pass...
Him: Where are we going?
Me: What did I tell you?
Him: What?
Me: Where are we going?
Him: Zane's doctor?
Me: YES.
And this repeats until we reach our destination...

It's Always Something It Seems...

It has been another interesting week with Zane.

He had a doctor's appointment last Tuesday to discuss his weight and his reflux. The doctor that we saw said that Zane needed to space out the feedings more to help decrease the amount he spit up. We also needed to make sure he was getting two ounces (no more-no less) at each feeding--which is impossible to know when you are breast feeding. So that meant pumping--and becoming closer to my inner dairy cow.

By Thursday I was alarmed at how much he really was spitting up. Especially with the bottles. I called the office Thursday night and Friday was sent to Phoenix Children's Hospital for an ultrasound. Zane's fourth hospital in his four weeks of life. The ultrasound came back normal.

We went back to the doc on Monday. His reflux had NOT improved and he had gained only one ounce. Now Zane is almost 5 weeks old and has not even gotten back to his birth weight. So, we were sent to see a gastroenterologist today.

The specialist we saw today was awesome. Very calm, understanding, supportive and knowledgeable. Everything you want in a doctor that is caring for your child. He said that the reflux is a problem and gave us medication for that. He said that there could be something going on with the anatomy of Zane's GI tract so he is ordering an upper GI. He also said that he suspects there is a milk protein allergy. That would explain all of Zane's symptoms. So, he ordered blood work and a new formula to try that is not milk based like the others.

Unfortunately for me, that means if I want to continue to breast feed I have to eliminate dairy products from my diet. Most of you know that I avoid milk like the plague (like Josh does green beans) but think about all the dairy products consumed other than milk. Ice cream, cheese, ice cream, yogurt, ICE CREAM, Starbucks lattes, ICE CREAM! DID I MENTION ICE CREAM? I guess to put it mildly this might be the end of breast feeding. Which does then open up my ability to drink caffeine and alcohol. There has to be an upside to this.

The biggest downside is the formula is super expensive and smells disgusting. But if it helps...

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