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Body Pillow Wars

Posted on November 25, 2008

I had been asking Todd to get me a body pillow for this pregnancy for a while. I was so excited when he came home a few weeks ago with this beautiful pink body pillow. I LOVE it. It helps SO much with trying to get comfortable. I can actually get some decent sleep with it.

Of course, a certain little girl decided it was the perfect size for her as well. Especially since it fits her length exactly. I would find her daily, dragging out my body pillow to lay on while she watched tv, or just for any reason really. She would ask to sleep on the body pillow every night. And of course, I would let her, because it was the only way I could get her to sleep in her own bed instead of crawling in ours. Not that I mind her sleeping with us, but my belly isn’t getting any smaller and I can’t get comfortable without a toddler in my bed, much less with one who loves to spread out. So, I finally got my body pillow, only to be upstaged by a 3ft tall midget.

So, yesterday, Ava and I went to the store to get some construction paper for some crafts I wanted to do for her school for Thanksgiving. Well, they didn’t have construction paper (that is another frustrating story for another time…), but as I was walking out in a huff, something caught my eye. On an endcap, as if it had neon lights and arrows pointing to it, was this big pink body pillow with Disney princesses on it. I only hesitated a second. It was $20. $20 is a great price for some decent sleep for three and a half months. So I said “Look Ava! Just for you!” I can’t tell you how excited she was. Her very own body pillow. I had to pry it out of her hands so we could go to ballet class yesterday! She has been with it for the rest of the time. She is laying on it right now, watching a movie. And I had a GREAT night’s sleep last night! YAY!! A win/win situation! This war is over! Happiness ensues!

Tee Hee

Posted on November 21, 2008

Thanks for this Becky. I’ll post it for you cuz it’s darn funny.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bCuEXrU-yQ&hl=en&fs=1]

I also find this every day on my Google Reader…its unbelievable…

Obama Watch

Not Just an Ambulance Driver

Posted on November 17, 2008

Surprisingly, that is a common thing for Todd to be called- an ambulance driver. “Oh, so you drive an ambulance?” Um…yes, that is part of his job, probably the least involved part. It’s kind of strange really. I mean, you wouldn’t call a police officer a ticket writer. Or a firefighter a ladder climber. But its really eye opening how paramedics and EMT’s get the short end of the stick sometimes.
The word paramedic, broken down (from dictionary.com) means “para-at or to one side of, beside, side by side” and “medic-a doctor or intern.” Paramedic itself means “a person who is trained to assist a physician or to give first aid or other health care in the absence of a physician, often as part of a police, rescue, or firefighting squad.” Now, I’m not saying they should be up there with doctors. Doctors have, most of the time, earned their degree with their many years of schooling. But, have you ever noticed how the ones who spend the most time caring for you and “doctoring” you are the nurses and paramedics? Interesting.
Anyway, all that to tell you a story of why I am so proud of my husband. He’s been a paramedic now for 10 years, working at the same private ambulance company since he was an EMT. Working for a private ambulance company is different from working for a fire department. The local fire department ambulances are the ones that you will see at accidents, crime scenes and fires. A private ambulance company generally transports patients to and from hospitals, nursing homes and private homes. It’s really not as exciting as being on the fire department, you don’t see a lot of trauma. But, you are a lot safer as an individual when you don’t have to enter a crime scene or a burning building or an accident on the side of the expressway. Todd, however, works on the pediatric ambulance team. He sees a lot of very sick kids and it can be really hard. Especially when you have a child of your own. For one, he has to take a shower before he comes home- he gave Ava RSV when she was about a year old. Thank God that’s the only thing she’s gotten. But another reason, is when he comes home, he just wants to hug Ava close. We are really lucky to have a healthy little girl. There are so many cases he sees where the kids are so sick, or unluckily born to horrible parents. It really makes you appreciate and be thankful for what you have.
So, here comes the story- and if you are a little squeamish, you may not want to read further. Its not gory bloody or anything- just not for the faint hearted. This morning, Todd came home from a really rough night at work. Last night, he had mentioned to me that he had gone on this call and that he had saved a baby, but he didn’t really seem like he wanted to talk about it then. There was something about it, I couldn’t tell, but it seemed to disturb him. So, I didn’t press him about it. But, then this morning, when he came home he seemed like he wanted to vent. So, I asked him about the call. Evidently, he and his partner were called to go to Olympia Fields Hospital to pick up this baby for dehydration and respiratory distress. The baby was a little under 2 years old. They were supposed to transfer him to Hope Children’s Hospital. But, apparently, the nurses there had already tried upwards of 6 times to get an IV into this baby. When someone is dehydrated, their veins constrict and its very difficult to get an IV into their veins. They needed to get fluid into him. And you cannot transfer an unstable patient without an IV. You have to be able to get medicine into the patient quickly if they need it. Well, no one could get a line on him. So, there was only one more option. An intraosseous infusion. I had never heard of this. Intraosseous infusion is the process of injection directly into the morrow of the bone. Apparently, if you can get fluid and meds into the marrow, it works even faster than getting it into the veins. The reason it isn’t used often is because of the process of starting the IO. To quote Wikapedia “The needle is injected through the bone’s hard cortex and into the soft marrow interior. Often the antero-medial aspect of the tibia is used as it lies just under the skin and can easily be palpated and located. Anterior aspect of the femur and the superior iliac crest are other sites that can be used.” Basically, in lay mens terms, you have to manually corkscrew this contraption, which is considered the standard IO needle, or use this drill to get the needle through the bone to start the line. They went to this call prepared to do this IO. So, there was Todd, his partner and their pediatric team- the respiratory therapist and a nurse. When they got to the hospital, they tried 3 more times in different places to get an IV. No use. Apparently, the nurses at the hospital and a doctor had tried 4 times to get an IO on this baby, and they were unable to. So, the nurse on Todd’s peds team had brought their IO drill, and she decided to try. She couldn’t get it into the bone. Todd suggested to use the standard IO needle instead of the drill because the needle on the drill was too small. If the baby straightened his leg out, the needle would pop out. Well, the standard IO has a needle that you can extend. So the nurse said “Ok, you want gloves?” So, Todd thought “Ok, I guess I’m doing this.” This poor little baby was so strong. He was crying, but he wasn’t hysterical. But they had Todd, his partner, the respiratory therapist, the nurse, two EMT students who were at the hospital doing their rotation, another nurse from the hospital and the doctor all in this room. They helped hold this baby down while Todd began the 5th try at getting this IO. They had already been trying to do it into the femur, so he went for that. Todd is not squeamish, but he does not like someone in pain, and it’s worse if he is causing pain. So, when he got to the bone, he was already white, faint and sweaty, but he was determined to get this. He had to get through that bone. So he went to it, twisting back and forth trying to get it into this baby’s bone. He said it was one of the hardest things he’s ever had to do in his whole career. He had to put a lot of power behind it and he was so afraid he was either going to break the needle, or that baby’s femur. But finally, after he got up on his toes and pushed with all he had, he got it in. The room erupted in cheers! Everyone was so excited that he had gotten it in! With the exception of the two EMT students who had inexplicably fled the room and were probably rethinking their career paths. Within about 5 minutes, the little guy was asleep. I don’t know if Todd necessarily saved this baby’s life, but he came pretty close. If they hadn’t been able to get the IO, they would have started a central line (an IV through the femoral vein or the jugular vein- which are both really deep). But they wouldn’t have been able to transport him to Hope so he could get the care he needed. Regardless, I think he’s a hero. I’m really proud of him for being able to do that. There is no way I could have even been in that room- I’d have probably left with the EMT students, much less do what he needed to do. Todd is very good at what he does. He’s a great paramedic and I think his company is very lucky to have him.
So, next time you think of calling a paramedic an “ambulance driver”, think of this story. He was able to do what a doctor and a couple nurses were unable to do. I think that calls for a better title. “Paramedic” will work just fine.

I’m a Google Girl!

Posted on November 12, 2008

Peanut Power!

Posted on November 8, 2008

When you are pregnant, you are given all kinds of no no’s. You can’t lift anything over 25lbs (Ava weighs 32lbs). You can’t drink or smoke or run around with anyone who does (not a problem- except when you have a craving for yummy fruity drinks). You shouldn’t have coffee (that is a joke for me). You can’t sleep on your belly, left side or your back (that is just the most ridiculous…if you lay on your right side, you trigger sciatic nerve pain…). You shouldn’t wear high heeled shoes. You can’t eat soft cheese, strawberries, nuts, fish and some other various things. I have to tell you, with the exception of the smoking and drinking thing, I do not pay attention to anything. I didn’t with Ava either. Call me a bad mom, but while I see the possibilities of danger in some of these things (mercury in fish, allergies in strawberries and nuts), I don’t see the need to freak myself out. Moderation is the key. I had a salmon fillet a couple weeks ago. I have a cup of coffee every morning, like I have for the past 10 years of my life. I eat peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches once in a while. I sleep on my belly (yep my belly), my back, my right and my left side. I’m going to be wearing a pair of kitten heels today. I can’t wear anything over 2 inches anyway. I just don’t see the reason to totally change every little thing and go organic and feel like a piece of delicate glass for 9 months. Give me a break, women have been having babies since the dawn of time. All these warnings and no no’s create a real danger: stress. Well, I’m not going to stress.

I have been saying for the past year that I think the whole peanut allergy freak out is a little excessive. I told a few people, “They tell us not to introduce peanuts during pregnancy and to our kids until after they are two. And then, after they tell us this, there is a huge outbreak of children with major peanut allergies. Don’t you think that could mean kids will have a low tolerance for it and should be given them earlier to prevent that?” Everyone thought that made sense. I didn’t exactly start a peanut revolution, but I really wondered if kids were getting sick because they were not introduced peanuts until later. I really didn’t listen to the warning anyway. I love peanuts and peanut butter, and I ate them during my pregnancy with Ava and I introduced them to Ava pretty early. She loves peanut butter and jelly sandwiches too.

So, I had to laugh when I saw this article this morning:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27596933/

Early exposure to peanuts may prevent allergy
Widespread guidelines recommend avoiding the food in pregnancy, infancy

NEW YORK – Contrary to widespread recommendations, the consumption of peanuts in infancy is associated with a low prevalence of peanut allergy, the results of a new study suggest.
“Our study findings raise the question of whether early introduction rather than avoidance of peanut in infancy is the better strategy for the prevention of peanut allergy,” write researchers in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.
In the UK, Australia and, until recently, the United States, guidelines have recommended that women avoid peanuts during pregnancy and breastfeeding, and should not introduce peanuts into their children’s diets during infancy, note Dr. George Du Toit of King’s College London and colleagues.
The researchers analyzed the prevalence of peanut allergy and diet histories for 5,171 Jewish children from the UK and 5,615 Jewish children from Israel.
They found that children from the UK had a prevalence of peanut allergy that was 10-fold higher than that of children from Israel — 1.85 percent versus 0.17 percent.
“This difference is not accounted for by differences in atopy,” the investigators write. Atopy is the inherited tendency to develop common allergic diseases such as eczema, hay fever or asthma.
They also found no differences between the two groups in environmental exposure to common causes of allergy, such as house dust mite and grass pollen, social class or genetic background.
“The most obvious difference in the diet of infants in both populations occurs in the introduction of peanut,” they note. Approximately 69 percent of infants in Israel consume peanuts by 9 months of age, compared with just 10 percent of those in the UK.
Likewise, when compared with the UK mothers, the Israeli mothers consumed significantly more peanuts during pregnancy, Du Toit and colleagues point out.
The researchers suggest that recommendations to avoid peanut in early infancy could be behind the increase in peanut allergy in the UK, Australia and the US.
In a written statement, Dr. Jacqueline A. Pongracic, who is vice chair of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) committee on Adverse Reactions to Foods, cautions that while this study’s findings “provide optimism for prevention of peanut allergy in the future, randomized, controlled trials are needed to verify that early introduction of peanut is indeed effective.”
The Learning Early about Peanut Allergy (LEAP) study, a large randomized study in the UK, is currently testing the effects of early peanut exposure.

Hmm…. interesting. I was RIGHT! I love when I’m right. Anyway, I’m not saying I think women everywhere should introduce peanuts to their babies and eat copious amounts of peanut butter during pregnancy. I just think moderation is the key, as always. I think you should still watch what you give your kids to make sure they don’t have allergies to some foods. I just don’t see the need to eliminate them, just in case. So, regardless, do what you feel. I say eat peanuts with caution, but not too much!

I’m off to go have a peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwich.

Warning: Whining ahead

Posted on November 7, 2008

Ok, so I’ve been pregnant for 22.5 weeks. I’m enjoying it for the most part this time around. It is harder because I have a business to run and a 3 year old to run after, but I also know what to expect. My SPD is tolerable because I know how to manage the pain. I’m so busy so I don’t have time to wait around and be pregnant. That is all it was last time. Waiting for that day to finally come. It’s going so fast for me this time around, so I don’t really have much time to complain.

But, that being said, I’m about to complain. WHY do I have to have a cold for the entire pregnancy? I mean seriously folks… I get it that you typically have 2-6 colds during your pregnancy, but this is ridiculous. I don’t think there has been a day this entire 22.5 weeks that I have not sneezed, or blown my nose, or had watery eyes or something. It’s really starting to get on my nerves. I could really use a break from not being able to breathe!

Ok, whine done.

Election Day!

Posted on November 5, 2008

Well, congrats to Barack Obama and his supporters! I can’t say I’m not disappointed, but I didn’t really think McCain was going to win, though I did vote for him. I wore my red shirt today and Melaina and I went this afternoon to vote. We both went in and showed our kids what it was like to vote. Ava was so funny, she was so excited this morning, she woke me up to “go voting!” She talked non-stop all morning about “going on a vote.” Finally, after we actually voted, I told her we were going to go out for lunch and she cried. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, but after her saying “I don’t want to go out for lunch! I want to go on a vote!” a few times, the light bulb went on. She thought all day that we were going to go on a boat. So the idea of filling in ovals at a booth was a less than appealing event for her. I felt bad, but we went to lunch with Lain and the boys anyway and she ate spaghetti and meatballs (omg! yay!!) and she loved it. So, we went home after that and I did some work and checked the status online all day. Around 9pm, I was pretty sure that McCain was not going to be our new president, but I watched the numbers climb anyway. So then they called it around 11pm. Obama is our new president.

Like I said, I’m not ecstatic, but I’m not horribly sad either. I didn’t really expect McCain to win. I voted for him because, as a Christian and a republican, I agree with his stances and policies. There are many things about Obama that I don’t agree with. I do not like his idea of robbing from the rich to give to the poor. There are many people who could benefit from it, I understand that, but there are many people who already take advantage of the welfare system and all we are doing is enabling them to take advantage of taxpayers and sit on their butts and still do nothing to help their situations. Plus, I think people who have the money and want to give money to charities, they should be able to give it to who they want. They shouldn’t have to pay more in taxes than everyone else, just because they can afford it and then have that money be given to who the government chooses. It’s not fair. Period.

I also think it is pretty dangerous to pull our men out of Iraq so fast. I understand they have been there for a while, but they signed up for it. They put their lives on the line for our country, and God bless them. But that was their choice. If we pull out, it leaves us open and vulnerable to countries who are just waiting for us to cower away. Obama said this war was a mistake. But, I often wonder if the tables were turned, and if we were the country in need of brave soldiers leaving behind their families and their country to protect our rights and the rights of our children, if we would think it was a mistake. Or if we would be thankful to them for saving our lives and our children’s life. Whatever the cost. Because we are human beings, and deserve freedom and human rights just like them.

And yes, there are many other reasons, most of which have to do with my faith in God and my belief in the bible. I’m not going to get into them, but you can guess what they are. I don’t feel like debating, so if you don’t agree with me, we can just agree to disagree and I will respect your views and opinions and I would expect you to respect mine in return.

I was talking to my sister and my views on this election. This is the way I see it. I wanted strawberry jelly on my toast. I love strawberry jelly. But there was only cherry and grape jelly available to me. So, I chose cherry because it’s red and it’s the closest to strawberry. Either one would be a decent alternative, but I still really wish I had strawberry.

Regardless, I am proud to be an American. I think we are very lucky to live in a democracy and be able to choose and vote on our leaders. I am very proud to live in a country that will have it’s first African American president come January. I think that shows how far we have come with civil rights and I really think it’s wonderful. I really think that Obama will try to help our country, it might be his way, but I really hope he can help to better the economy. But, unlike many Obama supporters (in my opinion) I am not hypnotized by his melodious voice and I do not believe everything that comes out of his mouth. He is a politician you know. They’ve been known to lie. So no, I don’t think we will all be running through fields of flowers and rainbows and puppy dogs, all of us holding hands and singing songs of peace and change because Obama is president. But I hope things will get a little better around here. That would be nice. And I wont be one of those who say “Well, he’s not MY president!” or “Don’t look at me, I voted for the other guy!” I will support Obama as my president and I wish him all the luck. He’s got a hard road ahead of him. Our situation is crap right now. So if he can get us out of the crapper, great. I can’t be mad at him for that. So good luck and congrats Obama!

Happy Halloween!

Posted on November 1, 2008

We LOVE Halloween around here! When else can you dress up to be anyone you want, run door to door and get candy, and it’s ok to scare the heck out of people you don’t even know!? It’s great! Ava was Dorothy for Halloween this year and she totally played the part. She knew who she was and she would even skip from door to door singing “We’re off to see the Wizard!” It was pretty darn cute. I think she made a perfect Dorothy.

I woke her up this morning and we made “pumpkin” pancakes (no not pumpkin flavored, just orange food coloring and funny faces in the pancakes). Then Todd fixed up our Halloween decorations outside. He did such a good job this year. Unfortunately, we hardly ever get any trick or treaters. Maybe 5 at most. I think we are the best looking Halloween house on the block, but nobody comes to visit. This year we had one kid, and he didn’t even dress up. Awesome.

We decided to skip nap time and Ava and I made some decorations. She helped me make little spiders for the web outside (egg cartons, pipe cleaners and googallie eyes), and ghosts to hang from the ceiling fan (tissue paper and twine- they make creepy shadows on the wall inside and you can see them from the outside). We had a lot of fun!

Then we dressed her up in her costume and we were off to see the Wizard! She did SO well this year! She went up to every house and knocked (sometimes we had to push the doorbell for her) and stood back away from the door and waited until someone came out. She said “Trick or treat!” when they did and said “Thank you!” when she got her loot. I was so proud of her! There were a couple times that she got a little greedy though. One man gave her a handful of candy and then gave her a couple of cute pencils. She gave the pencils back and said “No thank you!” and asked for more candy! It was cute, but we had a little talk with her after that one haha! But overall she did a GREAT job!

After trick or treating (she lasted a whole hour!) we went down to our neighborhood bonfire for the first time this year. I’m surprised we never went! You could see the fire from our house! It was only a couple blocks away behind us, but it was still HUGE! I wish I had gotten a good picture of it. They had free delicious hot dogs and free pop, so that was awesome. We saw some old friends there and they had their little boy (The Hulk) running around with Ava. She had a blast and everyone thought she was the cutest little girl…I don’t blame them!

We only stayed for a half hour though for two reasons. One, we wanted to drive to the grandmas houses to show Ava off. And two, because we both felt a little uncomfortable there. There were families everywhere and little kids, so that was fine. But there were teenagers…and I’m talking 14-15 year old girls in the most revealing costumes I have ever seen. I’m not talking midriffs here. I’m talking super short miniskirts and thigh high stockings. There were twins with super short (I can see your butt cheeks) boycut underwear with little rabbit tails on their butts and they had bunny ears and low cut cleavage shirts on. There was one girl who I only saw from the side, who had a super short, hip high tutu on and thigh high stockings on with stiletto heels. I have NO clue what she had on her butt, but all I could see from the side was her butt cheek. I was sure she was wearing a thong. Now, I’m not a complete prude. If you want to dress sexy for Halloween and you have the body for it, great, have fun. But if you are underage, please, have some respect for yourself! It is TOTALLY inappropriate! I know those girls’ parents did not see their outfits before they went out of the house. And if they did, there is something seriously wrong with them! And these girls are old enough to know the dangers of enticing grown men like that. My poor husband! He wanted to leave because he felt like a pedophile! Imagine if there was a pedophile there!! It just really bothered me that I was at a neighborhood family gathering and I felt so uncomfortable there because of these girls. It scares me that I already have one girl and now I’m having another. Anyway, thats my little rant on that.

So after that we went to the grandma’s houses to show off Ava. She was a big hit everywhere she went! We finally made it home around 11pm and pretty much went straight to bed! What a long day! But (minus the peep show) we had a great Halloween!