Think What You're Trying to Accomplish

I have gotten more sleep in the past 3 nights than I have since May 28, 2010 (that night I didn't sleep at all - or the night after, either). This is partly my fault and partly Lydia sleeping better.

Sunday night, Lydia went to bed by 7:30 and I was in bed by 9:30 (yeah!). I woke up around midnight to check on Lydia, since she hadn't woken up yet. She was still fast asleep, so I went back to bed. I next woke up at 3:30, amazed at how well Lydia was sleeping. I looked over at the monitor and realized it was turned off! I quickly turned it on and could hear Lydia babbling to herself in her crib. I leaped out of bed, wondering how long she had been awake, how long she had cried, and how I could have possibly turned off the monitor! She was facing the opposite way I had put her into the crib, her socks were off, and her hair matted a bit from her tears. My poor baby! I never let her cry for very long. Amazingly, she forgave me, nursed, and then slept until 5:30, so I brought her in bed with me and she slept again until 6:15.

Monday night the monitor stayed on all night. Lydia was in bed by 7:30 and didn't wake up until 12:00. I let her cry for 5 minutes (she was just whimpering), then sent Brian in there to turn her over, put the pacifier back in her mouth, and pat her a few times. She was out in a second and slept until 2:00. I nursed her, put her back in bed, and she slept until 5:30.

Tuesday night, Lydia was in bed by 7:30. I turned the monitor down while Brian and I watched HOUSE on the laptop in bed. I never remembered to turn the volume back up on the monitor. I went to bed at 9:30 and didn't wake up until 4:30. I looked over at the monitor to see the orange lights flashing! Lydia was crying! How could I have done that again?! Luckily, she forgave me, again, and I nursed her and put her back to bed and she didn't wake up again until 6:30.

I want her to start sleeping better, but I never liked the cry-it-out theories. I hate hearing my baby cry. I do want her to be able to go back to sleep when she wakes up at night, but we'll work on that gradually. I have heard that the CIO theory works and may only take a few nights...but I just can't do it to Lydia. Of course, if these two monitor accidents cause her to sleep better, than that's fine...but I didn't do it willingly!

Despite the fact that I'm sleeping longer stretches at night (6 whole hours straight - amazing!), I'm still exhausted in the mornings. I hate waking up at 6:15. I'd rather cuddle with Lydia in bed for the whole morning. I've recently realized that I'll be waking up this early until all our kids are out of the house. And by then, I'll probably automatically wake up this early! Brian says we'll force ourselves to stay in bed late. At least Brian also wakes up by 6:20 - I don't like seeing him sleeping in late while I have to get up early.

In other news...we will hopefully close on our house by early November! Yeah! The owners have accepted our offer and we are just waiting on USAA with our loan-stuff. Very exciting! We'll be in our very own home before Thanksgiving! We are planning trips to Big Lots and IKEA to look at potential furniture. And I can't wait to decorate my own home! I'm sure Leah and Jessie are just as excited.

Lydia is going to a new pediatrician on Friday for her 4 month check up (a bit late). I got tired of her previous doctor's office not being able to find us on insurance. Hopefully this pediatrician is helpful and informative. Lydia has been eating rice cereal for 2 weeks now. She is not really interested in it because it probably doesn't taste all that great. I want to add fruit to her cereal, but will consult the pediatrician first. Lydia loves snacking on banana cookies and graham crackers. She watches me eat my food and I can tell she wants to eat it too! 

Brian and Lydia sleeping when Lydia was only a few days old.

Oh, Wouldn't It Be Lovely

Brian and I are now proud owners of iPhones. We went to the AT&T store last Saturday, and after an hour and a half, we finally came out of the store with two brand-new iPhones. I was amazed at how much add-ons the sales guy at the store wanted us to get. But, Brian was really good at turning the guy down. 

As soon as we got into our car, I took my iPhone out and started playing with it. The first person I called? My mom. Of course, she didn't answer since I have a new phone number, but it was still exciting making a phone call on my new phone. We went to Best Buy to buy covers for the phones and then spent the rest of the day playing with them. The only app (or is it ap?) I have bought is Angry Birds - very addictive. I'm not very good at it, but it's something to do when I'm bored. I have been taking a ton of pictures of Lydia on the iPhone and they look really good. I even figured out how to text message a picture to Brian so he can see what Lydia and I are doing while he's at work. These phones are awesome!

In other news....Lydia was supposed to have her 4-month check up on Thursday, but once again the office couldn't find her on the insurance. I was very frustrated, made a new appointment, called Brian and told him to fix it - again - and left. Lydia and I went to University Hospital (where Lydia was born) to pay our huge hospital bill. My insurance didn't cover any of the hospital charges because they found out I was in a car accident and let the car insurance company cover it all. Amazingly, AllState (the insurance the driver who hit us had) paid for the ENTIRE bill and gave us a pain and suffering check. My bill for the emergency room (which includes several x-rays, MRIs, ultrasounds, pain medications, etc), plus my delivery and hospital stay totaled up to over $19,000! AllState paid for it all, plus over $5,000 in pain and suffering. I practically had Lydia for free - except I didn't really want to go about it that way.

Despite not having her 4-month check up (I'm changing pediatricians - tired of this insurance stuff), I bought Lydia some rice cereal today and she tried some (mixed with breast milk) tonight. We set up her space saver high chair and she looked so tiny sitting in it! I made the cereal nice and watery (or milky) and let her try it. Most of it was spit out, but she enjoyed having it in her mouth. Plus, this is just practice for her to get used to eating solids. I think she'll be a pro soon! She already likes to suck on French Fries (I know, I'm bad) and banana cookies. She likes to watch us eat and I know she wishes she could have some, too.

I'm so excited that our little family will finally have a house of it's own! We have been approved for a loan from USAA (with a good interest rate) and the owners of the house accepted our offer! My parents have been awesome and are putting money towards the house - so we'll be co-owners - to ensure that we get the house we want and to help us afford it. Brian and I are looking forward to living in our own house and are already thinking of ways to decorate it. I have enjoyed living with the Carabajals for a year and a half now, but can't wait to be on our own - and I know they can't wait to have the house to themselves. We'll most likely be able to celebrate Thanksgiving in our new home!

And Conquer It You Will

This started off as an easy, almost "vacation-like" week for Leah and me at the daycare. N would be gone all week, B was off Monday and Tuesday, J would be gone Thursday and Friday, and C might be gone either Wednesday or Thursday. We would have, at the most, 3 babies at once! However, C came in on Monday with diarrhea, after having had the stomach bug on Friday. We didn't think much of it. She only messed her clothes a few times, nothing too horrible. She came in again on Tuesday with diarrhea, but only in the morning. 

Then, it happened. A threw up during her nap, then again at the table while she was drinking water. We sent her home. J threw up during nap, and then again after almost falling asleep in Leah's arms (luckily she had just put him down). Oh no! Two kids sick from the same thing after going months with never having a sickness in our class! The good thing about only having the same kids every day is that there is no illness. There may be a runny nose or two, but nothing bad that lasts a long time. In a big daycare, kids always have runny noses, are always getting fevers, diarrhea, ear infections - everything. The teachers also manage to catch whatever is going around. Sickness spreads like crazy at big daycares. But, in a contained daycare, hardly anything happens. However, C visited her cousins, who's daycare class was spreading the stomach bug. And then C brought it to us.

I thought for sure Lydia would avoid the bug. She was breastfed. Breastfed babies don't catch things like that. But, at 3 am Wednesday morning, after nursing and putting Lydia back in her crib, she threw up! Lydia's throw up is not disgusting - it's all milk - but it's still very messy! And I felt so bad for her! She would cry afterwards and look so sad. She was exhausted and slept all the time. She barely moved around and rarely smiled. She was not herself at all. It just broke my heart.

I called the doctor, since she wasn't able to keep anything down and I was worried about dehydration. I was told to bring her in. J and A weren't coming in that day, and we told B to stay home so she wouldn't get sick. We had detailed cleaned and sterilized everything in the center, but we still didn't want B getting sick. So, Leah only had C all day and I was able to take Lydia to the doctor. After being told Lydia wasn't on our insurance, and I had said I wanted her seen with or without insurance, we finally saw the doctor. Lydia wasn't showing signs of dehydration and the doctor recommended that I still try to nurse her every 3 hours, but maybe limit the feedings. If she kept throwing up afterwards, to give her a little bit of water.

We got back home and Lydia rested. I called Brian about the insurance issue and we found out that the hospital was wrong - Lydia was on our insurance. Lydia continued to throw up about an hour after every feeding. I kept her dressed in only a diaper and wrapped in a towel. Finally, after 1 am Thursday morning, Lydia was keeping her meals down and by 7:00 that morning, she was doing so much better - laughing and talking again!

But, I wasn't. Brian had gotten a little sick Wednesday night, so I let him sleep by himself in the bedroom while I slept in Lydia's room. He was feeling much better by the morning. I got sick at 4:30 Thursday morning and hoped I wouldn't throw up again. Thankfully, my mom and dad took Lydia for the morning so I could sleep and recuperate. No babies ended up coming, so Leah convinced Jessie to get off work early and then they took Lydia in the afternoon. By 2:00 Thursday afternoon, I was much better.

Finally this illness is gone! Leah never got sick and Jessie's stomach only hurt a little bit. A came back to daycare Friday, but B stayed home. So we just had A and C until 2:00, then we just had C. So, even though it's been an "easy" week with us having only a few kids, it's been a crazy week with everyone getting sick.

Today we are taking Lydia to the park, getting iphones, and then looking at more houses! I'm so glad everyone is back to normal and look forward to a "normal" week next week!