Laugh of the Day

Quinn's button has been leaking, and then slipping out of her belly. It is a pain to have it slip out, and has caused some stress as it did it at Ron and LaDene's house, and they had to call Dalan to come put it back in. At first, we weren't sure if it was leaking or it Quinn was just pulling it out. It was definitely leaking. We had a new one delivered today. It comes in a whole kit, with supplies for her Mini-One Button (G-tube buttons come in Mini's and Mic-Key's...funny, huh. But that is not the really funny part.). The kit included her new button, some extenders, a syringe, and an "introducer"...or as the packaging explained....


It is probably the fourteen year boy part of me, but I have not stopped laughing since Dalan read it to me!

Crawling?

The other day, Quinn was playing on her mat in the front room on her back, while I was doing some quick things in the kitchen. When I went to check on her, she had flipped onto her belly (which she usually hates) and looked like she was ready to take off crawling. It blew my mind a little. She did eventually tire of being on her belly, but never did crawl. That would have been crazy, awesome!

A bad case of shrimp eye

Last week, Quinn pulled her feeding tube out. And cried and cried and cried when we had to put it back in. Her little eyes got all red and puffy. She calmed down, and fell asleep. When she woke up, one eye was still red, puffy, and watery. Of course, it was after hours, so I paged the on call doctor (because there was no way in hell I was taking her to Instacare, she would catch way worse things than shrimp eye there.) She prescribed some drops for her eye. (Well, she actually asked if I wanted ointment or drops, and I was like I am going to have to defer to you, the one with the medical degree on this one.) The drops cleared her eye up within a day and half.

We decided she had shrimp eye, minus the exposure to shrimp. You see, last year McKay did get shrimp eye, for real, after whacking my vegetarian sister with his raw shrimp. He must have gotten some shrimp juice in his eye. He had very similar symptoms to Quinn, but worse. He had real shrimp eye.

I am glad Quinn's shrimp eye cleared up so nicely. I am also glad that this was the first time in two and half months of have my preemie home that I had to call the doctor.

(Quinn with the shrimp eye)

She's got spirit! Yes, she does!

Quinn has Christmas spirit, despite her Grinchy beginnings this holiday season. The list could go on and on. To name a few, she loves opening her Twelve Days of Christmas gifts from her grandma, reading Christmas books, watching mom wrap presents, wearing holiday themed clothes and jammies, and posing in front of the Christmas tree (kind of) for pictures. We even think she might be part elf! Looks like she is taking after her mom, and not her Scroogey dad. I can't wait to celebrate Christmas with her, and have Santa come visit her. It will be so much fun.

Toupee

Quinn's hair is now starting to look like a bad toupee. The top is getting more unruly, thick, and long, while the sides and back stay unchanged. To me her hair is a mix of Donald Trump, Don King, and a Who from a Dr. Suess book.

She seriously looks like a cray cartoon character in this picture between the hair, and the goofy face she is making!

More proof

I recently learned that the gestation period for a vampire (bat) is 6 months. You know who else gestated for just 6 months? Quinn. Need I say more?

5 signs we have a Dracula Baby

Pretty sure Quinn may not be human at all, but instead a Dracula baby.

Sign1: Her widow's peak. She has had a very pronounced (and very adorable) widow's peak since day one. You know who else has a widow's peak? Dracula.

Sign 2: She did not see daylight for almost the first two months of her life. You know who else hides from daylight? Dracula.

Sign 3: She thinks nighttime is the right time. Quinn likes to sleep all morning/afternoon, and then is awake in the evenings/night. Sometimes all night. Like the first two nights she was at home. You know who else likes to party all night? Dracula.

Sign 4: She hates cow's milk. Or at least her tummy does. And she doesn't really like to eat. Maybe, she prefers to drink blood. You know who else drinks blood? Dracula.

Sign 5: She loves to suck. Right now, it is on a binkie, but just wait until she has teeth. She is just getting practice for all the blood she is going to drain. You know who else likes to suck blood? Dracula.



Things to note in the photo:

1. Her distinct hairline
2. Practicing for future blood sucking. (aka the binkie)
3. Also practicing holding her future cape shut.

Worrying and cuddling

I have been spending the last few days cuddling with Quinn, and trying to be relaxed and not worried about the future.

The worrying has been terrible....thoughts of balancing work, hospital, and home plague my mind, as well as all my "normal" worries: eyes, insurance, the dog, nurses, progress, health, time, earthquakes, pumping, nursing, the future. I think I have some sort of postpartum anxiety/ NICU traumatic disorder. I am ok, but just out of sorts a bit.

Luckily, the cuddling and relaxing has been wonderful. I have read almost a whole book in just a few days, and I can still feel and smell Quinn on my chest if I close my eyes. I hope I can keep that feeling and that smell in my mind forever.

I am hoping work will prove to be a nice distraction from the hospital. I have been there (hospital) everyday, all day since May 10 more or less. It might be nice to break the pattern. I am fearing it will be horribly sad and impossible to be away from Quinn. I am guessing it will be somewhere in between.

Quinn has been nursing like a champ, and gaining weight, although at a slower rate than before. This is not surprising. She is getting less calories fortified to her milk, and when she gets milk from me there are no extra calories, plus she now burns more calories while eating than she ever has before. She is continuing to decrease her oxygen needs. She is more alert and playful than ever. She makes funny sounds, and is stubborn and sweet all at the same time. I love that baby!

Discouraged

Quinn and I have been a breast feeding couple for quite sometime now. First, we just practiced latching and sucking. She was (and still is) a professional at this skill from the beginning. Then, she needed to start transferring milk from my breast into her mouth, and swallowing. This took some time, but I thought we were really getting it. I have felt her suck, heard her swallow, and seen milk in the breast shield and in her mouth.

However, the NICU does these test weights. They weigh the baby before breast feeding on a highly sensitive scale, and then again post breast feeding in the exact same conditions. The baby's weight gain is suppose to correlate with the intake of breast milk. Some of the nurses, and especially the lactation specialists, swear up and down by this. Some of the other nurses take a little less stock in it.

Well, Quinn and I have had to endure pre/post weights, twice, and both times her weight remained exactly the same. It seems that she is doing everything right, so it must be me. I am not letting down/producing enough weight for her to transfer. Or the scale thing is stupid and I should just ignore it and keep doing what I am doing.

However what has happened is, after 12 weeks of pumping, I am totally frustrated and discouraged. I just cried and cried after the weights on Saturday night. The nurse must have thought I was a little crazy. It makes me seriously consider quitting breast feeding, and just doing bottles. I could still pump, but not put Quinn to my breast anymore. Breast feeding is so important to me, but the scrutiny I have been under is starting to get to me. I love nursing Quinn. Her oxygen levels are always high during this time, and has been wonderful bonding. That being said, I rarely get to breast feed my baby without two to three people watching, making suggestions, and judging.

Some of these people have been really kinds and helpful, some have just made me stressed and uncomfortable. However, they all say the same thing. Quinn is doing great. This kid can eat. Etc, Etc. So, again it is obviously a Jessi problem, and I feel so guilty/defective (which I have a lot of feelings of otherwise since my body can't carry a baby to term) right now. I should be able to feed my baby. I want to feed my baby. I have waited to long to feed my baby. However, the thought of breast feeding is now so stressful, and I am sure that is "wonderful" for milk production.

I need help. The nurse tonight suggested no more test weights, which I would love, however, I don't think everyone in the NICU would be on board with this plan. Can I flat out refuse? Or will I look like a horrible mother who does not care if she is starving her baby for the sake of pride? Does anyone know anything about test weights? Anyone know anything about babies, preemies or otherwise, not transferring milk? Anyone have trouble letting their milk down?

Samesies

People are saying that Quinn is looking more and more like me everyday....only time will tell if this is true or she ends up a mixture of her mom and dad. When she is "full term" I will post some baby pictures of the three of us for a proper comparison. However, I am pretty sure we are making the same exact face in our first "just the two of us" self portrait.



Look how huge my head is.....

And now for your viewing pleasure more cute pictures of the Quinners.....




Finally, just to show Dalan and I have not lost our sense of humor, here is a funny picture I took of us today.

Quinn the Eskimo

Quinn the Eskimo, aka The Mighty Quinn, is a song written by Bob Dylan, made famous in the late 1960's by Manfred Mann. (Here is the link for song, if you are not familiar. And no, this is not where Quinn's name came from, in case you were wondering.)

More than one person, including several of the neonatolgists, have made reference to the song when talking about our Quinn. So, the other day, our nurse Allison, bundled Quinn up tight after our afternoon skin to skin holding session. Most babies like to be swaddled or wrapped up tightly, but it is especially important for preemies, because they need those boundaries to feel like they are still in the womb.

After she was all tucked into her snugglie, I thought, "Wow, she totally looks like Quinn the Eskimo (baby).

So cute!

Tales form teaching: class pets

This year I have two classroom pets- a fish and a turtle. My first year teaching was pet-free, last year we had a fish, and this year, we ended up with the fish and the turtle.

The kids earned the fish as a reward for good behavior/as part of our unit on capacity. We use the tank to measure cups, pints, quarts, and gallons, and in the end, if they are good, they earn the fish. At the end of the year, I raffled the fish off. It worked out quite nicely. Last year, I was a very dedicated fish owner while he was in the classroom. I cleaned his bowl out regularly, and took him home on long weekends. This year I have been a neglectful fish owner. I let him fend for himself over long weekends, and I let his bowl get filthy, to the point of embarrassment, before I clean it out.

On Friday, I decided that it was beyond time to clean out the bowl. I put the bowl in the sink to soak, and left the fish in a cup. I went, ran some copies, and did some other things around the school. I was gone for at least twenty minutes, maybe longer. I return to the room, and scrub out the bowl. I glance into the cup....no fish. I look all over the counter....no fish. I look on the floor....there is the fish, motionless. I go to pick him up and he flops. A good sign, but he was slimy and disgusting feeling. I get a paper towel, and scoop him up. I return him to his bowl, and he is a bit sluggish, but swimming. I spent all weekend hoping I didn't find him belly up today.

In the meantime, a family "donated" their turtle to our classroom so he would get the proper attention. He has been hibernating since Christmas. The mom was getting concerned that he was overdue to wake up from hibernation. So, she came in on Friday and made it "rain" in his cage. Apparently the moisture, helps rehydrate them and brings them out of hibernation. Well, I waited all day Friday, and he did not stir. So, when I left on Friday, I put some banana in his cage, and hoped that he was still alive. So, I also spent all weekend long hoping I did not have a dead turtle in my class.

Well, I am pleased to announce that the fish made it through the weekend, and was alive/well today. I am also please to announce that the turtle came out of hibernation. I walked into class today to see him munching on his banana. Whew!

Moral of the story: The kids love the class pets, but I am trying to decide if they are worth all the extra work/worry. I guess I will have to decide if I can juggle some extra critters, plus being a working mom next school year.

Old wives tales put to the test

My family and I decided to look up some old wives tales, and see how accurate they are before we find out the gender of the baby. I took two quizzes online that asked questions based on some of the old sayings, beliefs, tests, etc, and they both pretty much came out fifty-fifty, leaning slightly more towards a girl. Real reliable, right? I thought I would break down the myths, and let you all decide for yourselves, are we having a girl or a boy?

Here are the signs that the baby will be a BOY:

The hair on my legs in growing like crazy.
I did not have much morning sickness.
The sum of my age and the month of conception is an even number.
My urine is a brighter yellow rather than a duller yellow. (although it is usually clear, but that wasn't a choice.)
I crave cheese.*

Here are the signs that the baby will be a GIRL:

My pillow is on the south side of the bed.*
My feet are no colder than before I was pregnant.
I won't eat the heel of the bread.*
Dalan is not gaining weight along with me.
A ring on a string held in front of my belly moved in a circle.
Craving sweets.*
Baby's heart beat was more than 140 beats per minute.**
My nose looks the same.

So, GIRL BABY OR BOY BABY?

Also, those of you who have had babies, were any old wives tales true for you? Which ones?

* These are all things I do/prefer/crave whether I am pregnant or not.
** My midwife told me the heart beats per minute was not an accurate predictor a) really at all b) and especially not until later in pregnancy.

The night I almost got robbed

Tonight, I went to the ATM so I could get some cash to go to Costco. Dalan and I don't have our own membership, and we just go with my mom when we need some things. However, recently Costco changed their rules again, and they won't let a non-member use their debit card there. Whatever, Costco, and all your stupid rules!

On my way to meet my mom, I stopped at a grocery store that houses my bank, and went up to their ATM, which happens to be outside of the store. The ATM is located on the corner. Well, there was a sketchy dude standing around the corner smoking. He gave me a weird vibe, but I told myself not to be paranoid, and just get my money, beside he was probably just back there smoking. However, the minute the ATM started shuffling my money to dispense a sketchy woman popped out from around the corner, quickly followed by her sketchy male friend. I was sure they were going to rob me. The grocery store was super busy, so I made a quick plan in my mind to make a ruckus if they tried any funny business. Thankfully, they walked right by me and into the store. I am still not totally convinced they did not have more sinister motives for lurking around the corner, beside smoking. But all is well that ends well.

Tales from the midwife's office

Saw my midwife today for my 15 week appointment...not a lot to report. Got to hear the heartbeat again, which is always neat. And my mid-pregnancy ultrasound will be in four weeks. I am very excited to get to find out the gender of the little fetus, and make sure it is progressing as it should in its development. Being at my appointment reminded me of some of the funnier things that happened at my 9 week appointment, but since the pregnancy was all hush hush, I never shared them on the blog.

1. My midwife complimented me on my urine. She told me it was some of the best urine she has ever seen. See having kidney stones and kicking my diet coke addiction did me some good. I now get complimented on my pee.

2. She also complimented me on my nipples. Apparently they are PERFECT for breast feeding. How often are you told that anything is perfect???? Who knew that I had perfect nipples?????
Well, I guess the whole blogosphere does now! When I started reading the book I have on nursing, they had a whole section on testing to see if your nipples were breast feeding ready. I did not bother. I already knew mine were PERFECT!

3. I had a slew of blood work done, including some routine STD and HIV screenings. I thought nothing of it. Then about a week later, I get called down the office at work for a phone. You know, the main office, where there are parents, children, secretaries, other teachers, the principal, etc. I take the phone call on the main phone in the middle of the main office. The person on the other line identifies himself as Adam, from the Health Department. I was mortified. My mind started racing, thinking things like, not only do I have an STD, but now I have to find out in a very public place in front colleagues, students, and parents. I was dying. Turns out, Adam was from The Truth, and wanted to set up an anti-tobacco assembly for the fourth and fifth graders. It was crazy timing, I would have never been worried about a call from the Health Department, but a week after having a bunch of blood work done. Freaked me out for about 5 seconds.

Observations from the Jazz game.

I got Dalan tickets for the Jazz- Laker's game for our one year anniversary, since the traditional gift is paper, and tickets are made out of paper. We had a ton of fun, but I did make some observations.

1. The Jazz's old school green and yellow uniforms, which they were wearing, are much more attractive and manly than their current baby blue, dark blue, and purple uniforms. I hate their new uniforms.

2. I am glad our free blankets are throw back green and yellow, and not baby blue, dark blue, and purple. Plus, Dalan wore his old school Jazz shirt, so it was all matchy matchy.

3. It is hot inside the arena. You would think wearing a sweater and your new cute boots would be a good idea, after all, it is winter. However, you would be wrong, and you will be so hot. You will strongly consider taking off your sweater, and wearing your blue tank top for the remainder of the game.

4. Kobe Bryant will have a horrible night, and you will think, serves you right, you are a (alleged) rapist after all.

5. You will be excited to see Lamar Odom. You have not seen his giant body since the Keeping Up with the Kardashian's wedding special, and you missed the big lug. ha, ha, ha! I do love some E reality T.V.

6. I am old. Only two people on the Jazz team are older than me. Most are far younger, including one guy who is like 2 months older than Ali. I cannot believe that Carlos Boozer is younger than me.

7. I hate Carlos Boozer. I hate the way he looks and the way he plays. However, in the first quarter last night he played like a champ. I hated him a little less. It still makes me giggle that Prince turned his house into a purple nightmare while he was renting it.

8. I really wish I could do commentary for the Jazz. I have practiced for years. I think I could be really good at it.

9. Call me a basketball purist, but I hate all the traveling. The guys showboat with their dribbling and drives to the basket, and it it should be traveling, but yet, it is never called. Spoiled basketball players.

10. When you leave the game, and walk back to the Gateway to get dinner, you will be happy you wore your sweater, boots, and coat. This is why I hate winter. Well, one of a hundred reasons I hate winter.

Putting myself at risk

I practiced high risk behaviors.

I could have contracted salmonella or chlamydia today.

These high risk behaviors, included holding the turtle in my classroom, and changing the newspaper on the bottom of Cooper's cage.

Apparently, turtles can carry salmonella.

And, parrots can pass chlamydia to humans in their feces.

Also, the parrot has been tested (maybe at the free clinic?) and is chlamydia free.

The turtle, on the other hand, could be riddled with salmonella. He hasn't been tested. He is putting his loved ones at risk.

I washed my hands after both activities to minimize risk.

I feel pretty confident that I am disease free.

Good things come to those who wait...

Thought the house would be completed today, but I jumped the gun a bit and the flooring guy only removed the old floors. The new floors are being installed tomorrow. So hopefully, I can get the house put back together tomorrow night and get some awesome pictures of the new and improved ground level of our casa. Stay tuned....I know you can hardly stand it too, but it is coming....soon!

Edited to add: the floors were NOT finished apparently there was not enough materials here to get the job done. The parts of the house that are done look BEAUTIFUL! But no pictures until the whole thing is completed!

Living the vida loca!

In addition to going back to work, and renovating parts of our house, this week has been full of completely random and crazy things happening all around me. It has been one of those weeks that you could never predict would be so out of the ordinary.

First of all, I was walking Piper one evening this week, and got followed/stalked by a car. It totally freaked me out, and I am pretty sure that there was a high probability I could have been kidnapped/raped/murdered/etc by the person in this car. I called my mom as it was happening, and I don't know if this freaked them out enough to back off, or if I just wasn't the person they were looking for or if they really weren't following me at all (which I think is unlikely, but I am hopeful that it was big, strange coincidence). Either way, it freaked me out, and made me upset that something like that happened so close to home.

Then, last night I went down to the Gallivan Center with a group of friends to see Iron and Wine. The plan was to go to Gracie's after the show, so I parked near Gracie's, thus having my car close at the end of the night. Well, we went to Johnny's on Second instead, so Nghia and Randi gave me a ride to my car when I was ready to leave, as members of our group were still staying at the bar. When we got to the parking lot in which my car was located, we found it surrounded by a dozen cops and marked off in caution tape. I spoke to one of the officers, and he explained that there had been some gunfire after a concert at another bar, and some cars had been hit by bullets. My car luckily escaped any bullet wounds, but Amy's car was not so lucky. I called her, and she and the rest of our group headed over from Johnny's to inspect the damage. One bullet had entered Amy's car through the head light and then through the air filter. I feel really bad about Amy's car, but I am so glad that none of us were in that parking lot when the shooting occurred. Scary stuff.

After dropping me off, Nghia apparently made a "wide right turn" and was pulled over by one of the police officers from the crime scene. The officer reportedly thought he reeked of alcohol (probably due to the fact that someone had spilled a beer all over him at the Gallivan Center) and made Nghia do the field sobriety test, and take a breathalyzer test as well. He only blew a 0.01 as he had only had two beers over the course of several hours, and was sent on his way without any further consequences. Not even a ticket for the "wide right turn."

So, if random crazy things happen in groups of three, I think my friends and I are done. Thank goodness! I prefer the quiet life...I am not up for livin' the vida loca.

No rest for the weary

I had surgery less than 48 hours ago, and now I am sleepless in Salt Lake. One would think after having an internal organ removed one would be sleepy, and want to take advantage of all this free time to sleep in bed for hours at a time.

And I do want to take advantage, I do! I do! I do! Instead, my body has had other ideas. It involves small stretches of sleep, like two hours here, three hours over there, etc, and that was only the day of the surgery! I got four whole hours of sleep for last night with a two hour nap during the day (it is almost 6 am, and I have been up for two hours, so although I am considering it still "night" I think I have to classify that sleep as last night's sleep now....blah) I did set the record the night of my surgery with five whole hours of sleep in a row.

The main problem has been I can fall asleep, but it is very light sleep, and I have very strange dreams, that are more like thoughts, and I do not feel like I am truly sleeping. I think maybe my pain meds are at the root of my sleep problem, so I am going to take them now at a less frequent rate, and see if I can fall asleep and get some decent sleep. It doesn't help much with the pain in my belly, but I am not unbearably uncomfortable either, so we will give it a whirl.

Today is also the day I get to shower! Maybe washing all the dried blood from my belly button, and taming my wild bird's nest that was once called hair will help me relax enough to get some rest too! We shall see. The husband is resting just fine now. He was the one orginally behind in his sleep schedule, however, there are no problems there now. The dog is also resting just fine. She is snoring away on her bed, while I am typing away on the couch. Blah. If anything the dog is pissed at me for not sleeping up in bed, and "making" her sleep down here in her little bed. Spoiled!

What does one do when they cannot sleep?

1. Catch up on facebook....leave lots of messages for people on their pictures and statuses, because who doesn't want to hear from me in the middle of the night.

2. Read hours of gossip concerning Jon and Kate's divorce. It is a lot of speculation and assumptions, but it is so addicting. Go here if you have some time to waste.

3. Spy on blogs. People you know, people your people know, people you don't know at all....

4. Get excited when people are actually getting up and commenting on your facebook comments. Awesome! It is morning!

5. Wish you were a little more like McKay, and that you could fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and even with your eyes open.



6. Get super duper excited that someone sent you some Bump Its in the mail, and you have wanted them for so long, and now they are here, unannounced. I think I know who the anonymous donors are, but I will hold out on confirming their identities until it becomes official. That will probably have to wait until a more decent hour. I have received all of my infomercial wish list items this year, by the way! How lucky am I? My Snuggie, my Strap Perfects, and now my Bump Its! I need to make a new list, I guess! I also need to wash my hair, so I try out my Bump Its.