Sick

Yesterday Aaron threw up at gymnastics. It was the last 5 minutes of class, and luckily he made it to the toilet. He came out looking white as a ghost. Poor kid. But then he was fine the rest of the day.

Today Sara threw up at Kindergarten. It was the last 5 minutes of class, and she did not make it to the toilet. She threw up right in her class. Poor kid. Scott picked her up and brought her home. She continued to throw up 4 more times throughout the afternoon. Tonight she seems to be feeling ok.

Which leaves me wondering....who's next?

Thirty-Five

Yesterday was my 35th birthday. It was a great day. Scott took the whole day off of work. After sleeping in, I strapped on my running shoes and went for a run. It was my first run since I had Owen. I went three miles, and although it was painful, it was so wonderful to be running again. At 1:00, we went to Savannah's spelling bee, and on the way home, Scott stopped at Subway and got me a sandwich for lunch (Subway sandwiches are one of my favorite things to eat). In the afternoon, I snuck out and did a little shopping at Old Navy and got a new shirt and some earrings. After I got home from shopping, I got some quiet time with my little baby while Scott took the older 5 kids shopping at Target for birthday presents for me. For dinner, Scott cooked Cod and Rice (a completely dairy-free dinner). After dinner I got to open my presents and then we had cake. Scott found a recipe online for a dairy free cake and frosting. It was delicious! I got some great presents from the kids. Savannah and Sara each gave me earrings. Josh gave me nail polish. Aaron gave me JellyBellies. And Nate gave me Skittles. And the best present of all came from my wonderful husband. He rented a house on the Oregon Coast for the week of Spring Break (the last week of March). He has seen how exhausted and stressed I've been, and decided that we all needed a good vacation. I cried--a lot. The kids are so excited. It's been 4 years since we've been to the Oregon Coast. We just have to make it through one more month, and then we get a whole week of vacation!

Sara and Owen

Lately, Sara has been a huge help around here. She jumps to help anytime I ask her. She has especially been eager to help out with Owen. I love how attentive she is to him. What a great big sister she is!

Goodbye Thrush!

After dealing with Thrush for 3 1/2 weeks, we finally kicked it last Friday. I did Gentian Violet for 6 days, and it cleared up Owen's Thrush, but mine was still lingering. So I moved on to Eliza's suggestions--Garlic and a Yeast Cleanse (consisting of things like black walnut). I started that on Wednesday, and by Friday my Thrush was completely gone. And with the healing of that, Owen picked back up nursing great. No more screaming from him when it was time to eat. In fact, he nursed for 4 straight hours on Friday morning. It was great! Of course I didn't get anything else accomplished that day, but that's ok. I am so happy that I get to enjoy nursing him for a while longer!

A Glimpse of Spring

On Monday, the kids were out of school for President's Day. We had snow flurries in the morning, but in the afternoon they stopped and the sun came out. So we bundled up the kids and went for a walk. We have been cooped up way too much this winter, and we (mostly I) needed to get out for some fresh air. Thanks to Aunt Jamie for Owen's cute little warm outfit!

Spelling Bee

Our last three Wednesdays have been spent at Eagle Elementary watching Savannah compete in spelling bees. She is such an amazing little speller. She was in the top ten of the third grade, and moved up to the fourth grade spelling bee the next week. That came with a new list of harder words. At the fourth grade spelling bee, she was once again in the top ten, and moved up the the fifth grade spelling bee, and a new list of harder words to study. The fifth grade spelling bee was today. for the first bee, Scott was busy with work, so I took the 3 little boys and went to watch her. The second time, Scott took off work and went to watch. Today we all decided to go--Scott, me, Sara, Aaron, Nate, and Owen. Once again, Savannah did amazing. She made it to the fifth round, and was in the top 17 of the entire fifth grade. She was the only third grader to make it that far. We are so proud of her! Great job Savannah!

Getting Better

I'm happy to report that nursing is improving. Within hours of my blog post, my sister-in-law called to offer help. She has dealt with Thrush more times than she would like, and told me about Gention Violet. You apply it to yourself, then feed your baby so it gets inside their mouth, and it kills the yeast in both of you. The only thing is, it turns everything purple and won't come off. So Owen has been sporting a little purple mouth for the last few days, but it seems to be working. My old roommate also gave me lots of suggestions of things to use for Thrush, and I'm thinking I'll try those things too to make sure the Thrush is good and gone (it has a habit of coming back if it's not thoroughly gone). And now that it's not so painful to nurse (and now that Owen no longer screams when I try to feed him) I'm just trying to nurse often to get my supply back up. Thanks Jamie and Eliza for your help!!

One Tired Little Boy

Nate doesn't take naps anymore...most days. But every once in a while, his little two year old body just gets too worn out trying to keep up with the older kids, and he crashes. This was one of those days.

Nursing

I have a feeling that my days of nursing Owen are coming to an end. So I just want it to go on record how hard I've tried to make this work. My first problem is that I just don't make enough milk to keep a baby growing and thriving. I always try in the beginning, then the doctor pronounces the baby as having failure to thrive, and orders me to start supplementing. Every time! I'm so envious of those women who have plenty of milk and have fat little babies on breastmilk only. But not me, I have to supplement. Bottles of formula with occasional nursing. And of course the bottle is faster and easier, so it's so tempting to just pull out a bottle when he's hungry. But instead I sit and nurse Owen for a good 45 minutes, and then have to do a bottle because he's still hungry (which takes all of about 5 minutes).

And then there's the whole milk intolerance. For three months now I have had no dairy. Nothing. No ice cream, no chocolate, no cheese, no anything with dairy in it. Every Monday night we have family pizza night (Papa Murphy's has a Monday night special of a large pepperoni pizza for $4.99). And every Monday I try to appease my insane cravings with a nice bowl of oatmeal (made with soy milk). I'd give anything for a nice cold glass of milk.

And then there is the Thrush. It's been two weeks now, and we are still battling it. The whole nursing strike for the first three days of Thrush really put a dent in my meager milk supply. And for these two weeks, it's been a real fight getting him to nurse. I try to feed him, he screams and refuses to latch on. I try harder, he screams louder. Then I finally break down and fix a bottle. Then when he's nice and full and happy, I get him to very lazily eat a little from me. My parents were here this last weekend and got to witness the fight to get Owen to nurse. I can't tell you how many times my mom said, "If you have to give up nursing, it will be ok--you've done everything you can".

And then there is more Thrush. Thrush is an overgrowth of yeast in a baby's mouth. And yeast likes to reside in warm moist places. So, when a baby with Thrush nurses, he passes it on to mom, giving her a very sore chest. The other night, after a midnight feeding, Owen spit up very brown milk (which is digested blood). I immediately panicked and my mind started racing through everything I'd eaten the last few days. I've had traumatic experiences with bloody spit-up (internal bleeding from milk). I knew I hadn't eaten any dairy. And then after I was thoroughly panicked, I realized it was my blood. I am completely raw and cracked and bleeding. Nursing him hurts so much. Every time I fight to get him to nurse, and sit there feeding him in pain, I ask myself why I'm putting myself through this.

So I really should just quit. Owen and I (and the rest of this family) would be a whole lot happier if I did. But this is my last baby, and I'm just not ready for it to be done. I love nursing. I love it. Even when it is a struggle like this, I still love it. I love holding this tiny baby in my arms and providing him with milk that comes from me. I love having him dependent on me. I love being tied to this baby because of nursing. Anyone can give him a bottle, but only I can nurse him. I just am not ready for this to be the last time I nurse a baby. But, I'm afraid that it's not up to me. I know that any day now, Owen is just going to decide that he's done. That's going to be a very sad day for me.

Sleep

Owen is finally sleeping through the night! For over a week now! I do a feeding around midnight, and then he sleeps through till 7:30 or 8:00. It is so wonderful! He still is sleeping in his swing next to our bed. And I'm sure we'll have lots of issues when we try to move him into his own crib in his own room. But for now I am just enjoying getting some sleep myself.

Buzz and Woody to the Rescue

This morning Owen woke up in his swing and started to fuss. Aaron decided to share his toys to help him feel better. I love how attentive the kids are to Owen.