Halloween 2007

Mastitis, thrush, and things that go bump in the night.

These are just a couple of things I've been dealing with. When Toh-Toh was about a week old, I went to bed one night with chills and felt achy all over. When I woke up I had a fever of 102. I discovered that day that I had developed mastitis. I was given antibiotics for the mastitis. The antibiotics worked to treat it, and the fever & chills were gone within a day. What I wasn't told was that taking antibiotics increases the risk of developing thrush since it also kills off the good bacteria that keeps yeast in check.

So, between the antibiotics I was given during labor for GBS and the antibiotics for mastitis, I pretty much have no good bacteria left; and here we are with yeast/thrush. It is terribly painful to nurse, but I'm determined to get through this. Luckily, Toh doesn't have the white patches in his mouth (a sure sign of thrush), but we're taking all the necessary precautions to make sure I don't pass it to him & he passes it back to me, etc., etc. And hopefully within a couple of weeks we'll be back to normal again.

Here is a picture of Toh-Toh with purple lips. LOL We are using Gentian Violet (among other things) to help treat this, and it stains EVERYTHING it touches. So, his mouth will be purple for a few days.

Carving the pumpkin and some other random stuff...

Last night we carved our one little pumpkin... The big one ended up being rotten.

Mooch hates getting anything on his hands, so it was interesting.

At one point he had a seed on his hand, and he just sat there staring at it. LOL

This is how Toh enjoyed carving the pumpkin.

Mooch likes taking new "toys" to the bath every night.
On this particular night, he decided to take my laundry basket.

Here are some pictures from our camping trip this summer. It has taken me forever to upload them. Our trip was to the Ensign Ranch, and Uncle Shawn went with us. Thanks to him, we got some pretty great pictures of Moochismo.

The river was freezing, but Moochy didn't seem to mind.

He loved to run off down the dirt road in front of our campsite.

I could never keep up with him, so I let the boys chase after him.

Before we left, we went to explore the rest of the ranch.

Nothing can come between a boy and his sticks.

The Best Diet Around.

Have a baby!

Ok, really though... I know I still have a long way to go, but it's nice to see the pounds drop so quickly after having a baby. I've lost 10 lbs since I came home from the hospital with TW (and that's NOT including the 8 lbs I lost in the hospital). Unfortunately, though, I had to actually GAIN the weight first. I still have 10 lbs to lose to be at my pre-pregnancy weight, and another 15 lbs to be at my first goal after that. I know I'll probably have to actually work to get those off, but a girl can dream, right?

What Allen has learned so far...

Here's a little list of things Allen has learned so far in his classes. Obviously, we don't share the same views as his professors and classmates.

1. Communism is the purest form of government.
2. Having kids is reprehensible. (When TW was born, one of his professors told Allen he should be condemned, not congratulated!)
3. Mormons and Catholics should be forced out of the country.
4. We should not help starving children in Africa.
5. People should not be allowed to live past 65. (These last three are b/c of over-population issues.)
6. The amount of respect you deserve is determined by the number of times you're arrested. (One of his professors thinks that students today don't deserve as much respect because they're not out there protesting and getting arrested.)

These are just a few of the things Allen has "learned" in class. LOL No wonder he is miserable in this program!

Just a couple of new pictures...

Hayden trying out his new costume.

Toh-Toh found his thumb.

2 Weeks

Little Brother is 2 weeks old today, and things have been a lot better over the past few days. I think the "baby blues" are behind me now, and I'm starting to feel a little more normal. We're also getting into a routine that seems to be working for us. Two weeks has flown by, but at the same time it feels like Toh-Toh has been a part of our family forever. Big Brother is really starting to adjust well to having Toh-Toh around. I just can't wait until Toh starts to interact more. I think Mooch will LOVE having a little brother to pal around with. I don't know if I've mentioned it yet, but Moochy likes to do "This Little Piggy" to Toh-Toh. He also like to mimic him when he sneezes or has the hiccups.

I'm also looking forward to all the little cute things that babies do. I really do like the newborn stage, though, so I'm enjoying it while I can. Toh won't take binky yet, but a couple times he has found his thumb, and I think it's just the cutest thing!

Allen has been working a lot lately. He's been working at the hospital for a month now, but they are still considering this "training" and "orientation". I personally think it's just an excuse for them to schedule him for more hours than they hired him to work. He's been working 40 hours a week, and they only hired him to work 24 hours, so it has been difficult for him to keep up on his school work. After this week his "orientation" will be over, and he'll be able to focus more on school. So, hopefully things will be less stressful for him after this week.

One to Two

I have to say that going from no kids to one was a breeze. When Moochy was a newborn I could sleep whenever he did. I never really felt sleep deprived, and I actually had a lot of energy. But this one-to-two thing is really tough so far. I had my first real break down today. I forgot how emotions rage in the first couple weeks after having a baby, and today it just hit me.

Moochy has never really been good at getting to sleep on his own--and I know this is mostly due to our parenting style. Since Little Brother came home he has REALLY been fighting naptime & bedtime. We've been lucky if we get him to sleep before 10 p.m. We've been trying to stick to our routine, but that has been difficult because I'm usually the one who gets his bath, book, & lays by him when it's time for bed. That's hasn't really worked out, though, b/c Toh-Toh wants to nurse at least every two hours, and he always seems to be fussy when it's time for Mooch Man to go to sleep. Another thing is that Mooch has never really wanted me to comfort him when he's upset. He always wants Allen.

So, today Mooch woke up 45 minutes into his nap, and he was MAD. He didn't want anything to do with me. I wanted him to go back to sleep, but I just gave up. Luckily, Toh was ok at the time, but the emotions came streaming in for me. Then I looked around and saw how messy my house was and thought Some homemaker I am. So, there I am bawling and Moochy is crying and throwing a tantrum; and all I can think about was how Allen has to work for 9 days straight next week and How in the world am I going to handle everything?

After crying for 10 minutes, I prayed and told Heavenly Father that all I needed was for Moochismo to give me a hug. (He usually just laughs at me when I cry, which makes everything worse). Immediately after saying my prayer, Moochy came and gave me a hug and climbed up onto my lap. That was enough to pull me out of my rut, and we picked up the living room together. I know that things will get better and that we just need to find a good routine that includes Little Brother. I know it will take Mooch Man a while to get used to having Toh around, and I just need to remember that and try to be understanding. In the meantime, I will probably have to be more lenient when it comes to bedtime & naptime--at least until things calm down a little.

I really love my boys, and I'm SO greatful that Heavenly Father answers prayers--even the little ones that seem so insignificant.

Welcome Baby Toh-Toh!

As many of you know I had some “false” labor on Sunday night/Monday morning, and we spent most of the night at the hospital. I was really frustrated that the contractions stopped on Monday. (My mom & Courtney had driven the 4 hours in the middle of the night to be here to watch Big Brother). Contractions picked up again Monday night, but this time my water broke at about 11: 15 p.m. (PST), so we got ready and headed to the hospital. They checked me and I was still only 3 c.m. and 80% effaced. I continued to have contractions through the night, but I guess they (the nurses & doctor) weren’t too impressed with them because I “didn’t seem too uncomfortable.”

At 7:30 a.m., after Allen arrived (my mom was with me b/c I wanted Allen to get some sleep at home), they told me to go walk around for 45 minutes. I was fine with that because I didn’t want to be strapped to the bed. But I was also upset because they were already talking about giving me pitocin without even checking me to see if I had made any progress! I know this was partly due to the fact that I was GBS+ and my water was broken, but sheesh—at least wait until I’m showing some signs of infection or something! (And my water had only been broken for about 8 hours at that point). I was adamant against having pitocin because of it being a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), so I was ready to put up a fight after my walk.

After walking around for a while, we got back to our room (8:30 a.m.), and my contractions immediately started hurting A LOT more. I was at 5 c.m. at this point. After two or three of these “new” contractions, I was ready to give up my goal of an unmedicated birth, and asked for the epidural—Bawling at the same time because I was convinced this is why I ended up with a c-section with Mooch Man (pushed for 3 hours w/no progress). I was given some Nubain to take the edge off, but all it really did was make me feel extremely tired & like the room was spinning. Then the nurse informed me that the anesthesiologist had to go to an emergency c-section, so I would have to wait. (I wasn’t too happy about this). She gave me some Stadol (I think) to help until they could give me the epidural, and turned me on my side b/c the baby’s heart was dropping. The Stadol didn't do much either.

Literally, on the next contraction my body started to involuntarily push. I told the nurse I was pushing, and that I couldn’t stop. She checked me, and I was at 8-9 c.m. On the next contraction, I told them that the baby was coming. I was at 10 c.m.! The nurse yelled down the hall for the doctor, and she came running over from the clinic across the street. Little Brother was born at 9:49 a.m. after 4 minutes of “active” pushing! (7 minutes total pushing time). He weighed 6 lbs 13 oz, and is 19 ¼ inches long. He had the cord wrapped around his neck once, but had apgars of 8 & 9. The doctor did end up doing an episiotomy (I think b/c they were concerned about his heartrate and wanted him to out quickly), but it's still a lot better healing than my c-section.

The whole thing felt like a dream (mostly because I was extremely tired & dizzy from the drugs). I remember hearing everything and feeling everything, but I felt like I was apart from my body. I still can’t believe I went from 5 c.m. to complete in about an hour, and that I only pushed for 4-7 minutes (especially after pushing for 3 hours with Mooch)! I also can’t believe I had one of those labors where they were yelling down the hall for the doctor. LOL I thought that only happened on TV. ;)

We are just thrilled to have our little man. He looks just like my dad & grandpa, which is fitting because he and my dad share a middle name. Mooch likes to look at the baby and say “bibi” and get’s very concerned when he cries. No jealousy issues yet, but I’m sure they’ll show up soon.

Update

Hello from Cheney, Washington! We are doing well and starting to get into some sort of routine around here. Allen started classes last week and enjoys learning about the planning process. His training & orientation at work will be over this weekend, and he will finally be working just on weekends. It’s nice to see him during the week more (and get to sleep in and take naps some days. LOL). Weekends will be harder on him since he’ll be working two 12-hour shifts, but we’re proud of him for working so hard.

Mooch is doing well. He is as busy as ever. His new favorite thing is to climb all over us. (Allen tolerates this much better than I do.) Allen will sit on the floor in front of the couch or recliner, and Moochy Man will get up on the couch/recliner and jump off onto Allen. He does this even when Allen isn’t prepared or lookiing, which shows how much he trusts his dad. I took Mooch to playgroup the other day at the Church. He had fun running around with the other boys (our ward only has boys in nursery). At one point he decided to scream (like a girl) in the middle of the gym. I’m just waiting for him to do this in the middle of Sacrament Meeting. He’s definitely a two-year-old.

I’m doing ok. I’m just counting down the days until this baby comes. Allen laughs that I seem to sleep better during the day than at night. I told him it’s much easier to sleep when you don’t have a 2-yr-old waking up multiple times, no “bear” snoring next to you, and as much room on the bed as you want. LOL For some reason I have no problem getting comfortable when I’m just laying down for a nap. A girl in our ward has offered to watch Moochy when I go into labor (until my mom can get here). She has a 2-year-old son as well. Our ward is very small, which makes for some interesting comments/lessons in Church; but the people are VERY nice. It will be interesting to see what our callings are. My guess is I’ll be in the primary (since they are WAY understaffed). Allen will probably get called to teach EQ again.

Guess when TW will come!

I made up a fun little poll to guess when TW will be born. If you're interested in participating, just go to http://www.expectnet.com/, and type "bday2" in the game search box. You can guess when he'll come and how much he'll weigh, etc. (Or you can just follow this link, and type in the poll name.)



For what it's worth, my due date is October 24. I'm currently at 3 c.m. and 80% effaced, which really could mean nothing at this point.

Blogs n stuff

I was reminded that the title of our blog is Wilcox Weekly. Well, I haven't been posting weekly, so either I'm going to have to think of a more clever name for our blog or make up for lost time by posting more. LOL What can I say? It's a work in progress. I've been wanting to post more pictures, but Mooch Man got ahold of the camera and stashed it in the fabric of my recliner. Luckily, I found it (along with lots of other treasures Mooch decided to hide).

Amanda requested that I post pictures of our townhouse. Here's a picture of the front (It's the only one I have so far). The little boy running at me is Moochy. hehe How dare I go outside without him!

It's really pretty boring, if you ask me. It's much more "exciting" inside. LOL They obviously don't do much with the landscaping, though the townhouses in the front of the complex look better. I think they get lazy near the back, which is where we are. We may have to do our own, though we do have some strawberries growing out front. We are lucky enough to be on the end, and we don't have to share an entryway with anyone. :)