Stuff and stuff

We're already heading into Christmas week. I think I got everything done I wanted to despite the address screw-up with the gifts for my niece and nephew. Crystal and Jeremie recently moved. She texted me their new address to which I sent the gifts. As I am tracking the shipping, I noticed that UPS was saying that the address was incorrect. Turns out she sent me the wrong zip code (one which does not exist). This would have been fine and probably delivered had I not put down the wrong house number. Nice teamwork for us! I learned an important lesson: neither Target nor UPS can do anything once the package is sent out. They are powerless. They must just keep saying the package is undeliverable, and then somehow deliver it anyway. That's right, two of the three have gotten to the house despite the drama.

Bernie has to work on Christmas day this year, so we are not doing anything at our house to celebrate. Luckily, we have some nice friends here in Longmont who have invited us over to their house for dinner. And I have another excuse to bake.

Sir Bennett continues to grow up by the day. He is now usually standing and has taken a liking to climbing up the stairs. He took a spill today trying to get down. I have been trying to teach him that he needs to go backwards, but he insists on falling forward instead. We are still working on a real word (any word!) that connects to a concrete object or concept. Current contenders are: dog, eat, mama, or dada actually aimed at Bernie.

I don't know if I have mentioned that my son grinds his teeth. This is one of my least favorite habits, but I can usually deal with other people doing it (Sara may not agree). When it's Bennett, the feeling I get in the pit of my stomach is pure horror. I feel like digging a hole in which to live the rest of my life in silence. I just want him to stop, now. And please erase the memory from my brain. I checked out his teeth a couple of weeks ago and there seemed to be a chip. So we made a trip to the dentist (which is supposed to happen around this time anyway apparently). It was a kiddie dentist and a really nice office. Bennett was less then impressed. In fact, he screamed for the entire 30 second exam. The result was no chip and mom needs to stop overreacting. Teeth grinding is normal and he may do it more if I react. So I will try to ignore the most horrible sound I have ever heard.

We continue to make it to as many mom's group activities as possible, especially the play-dates. I hosted a cookie exchange last weekend which turned out to be more fun than I thought. We are even going out to lunch with a couple of mom/baby dyads. I offered to host a book club as well. There isn't one going right now and it would be nice to be able to discuss books I read with others who like books. I love Bernie very much, but he does not share my enthusiasm for the novel. His reading revolves mostly around sports.

Speaking of an outlet, I have been thinking about my viola lately. I took so many private lessons and put a lot of time into playing in the past. Then I just gave it up. I think I overextended any talent I may have had and simply burned myself out. I was never meant to be a music major, but I miss playing in an orchestra like mad. So I contacted someone to start private lessons again to get myself ready for a possible audition in the future. Hopefully that goes well and I don't want to throw the viola out the window after a couple of lessons. I had to fight that compulsion many times in college. I actually used to fantasize about breaking it over my knee. I think the pressure of solo playing was too much for me.

Phoenix is less than a month away! I am getting excited to check the area out, although wrangling Bennett on the airplane at this age is a bit daunting.

Hope everyone has a lovely holiday.

Winter Wonderland

It has been snowing here all day long. I usually make it a point to get Bennett out of the house every day, but I couldn't muster the energy to brave the very snowy roads outside our house. Hopefully tomorrow will be more encouraging. Maybe I will take him to the pool. The rec center here has a great indoor pool perfect for babies. And Bennett always likes to spend some time in the water.

I've been feeling a bit hung over today. Bernie and I played Trivia last night at Old Chicago with a couple of his softball/meteorologist buddies. We actually won two of three rounds and came in second place overall (not that I contributed any answers). It was the second time we have played trivia there and it has been a fun...I'm sure we will try to make it whenever we can. The babysitter called about an hour in and told me that Bennett had been up for 45 minutes and wouldn't go back to sleep which is unheard of. He doesn't usually make a sound for the first 4-5 hours of sleeping at night. Turns out he was making a bit of noise and was moving around when she checked on him. So she took him out of the crib. I guess I should have explained that babies move around/make noise in their sleep and don't take him out of his crib unless he is awake and crying. Hopefully I made my point. He did end up going back down and we didn't have to come home for it to happen, so no harm done.

Last Sunday, Bennett was obviously not feeling well. He was lethargic, didn't want to play, and his appetite was down. I was holding him on the couch and Bernie had just left to get him a couple of things at the store. I looked down and all of a sudden the most enormous about of vomit came out of his mouth and all over me and him. It was probably all the food he had eaten during the past 12 hours. It was so pitiful. It was the only time he threw up, but he had some loose stools for a day or so. Then totally back to normal. I'm not sure if it was a stomach virus or something he ate. Poor baby.

I don't think I mentioned that I did end up buying the tickets for Elton John and Billy Joel, but the concert was postponed two days before. I sent the tickets back for a refund (they were crappy seats) and I will probably try to get better ones for the new date on February 22.

I need to start thinking about Christmas shopping. Our vikings tree is up (oh joy) and I will try to set up the other one tonight. I'm not so into Christmas, but I want to get some family traditions going this year. I actually have a stocking...a first for me. We also got one for Bennett. I will likely make an ornament "with" him and do an obscene amount of baking.

I have a number of mom group play dates this month, so all of the baked goods won't go in my/Bernie's mouth. There is also a cookie exchange in next Saturday which might be the highlight event of the month. I can't wait to get some new recipes. Not that I need them what with the magazine I just bought with 100 cookie recipes. I made chocolate thumbprint ones the other day that were amazing. They were like little brownies rolled in pecans and doused with caramel. Labor intensive, but so worth it. Ok, I'll shut up about cookies now.

I took Bennett in for his first haircut on Thursday. Although is long, slightly curly hair was cute, Mommy needed to rid the world of the mullet. I have spent my life making fun of people with mullets, and I couldn't deal with Bennett having one. And, yes, I know lots of babies have them, nothing wrong with it, etc. It was a personal issue. He behaved surprisingly well but wouldn't stop trying to look the direction the cut was happening.

Back to Normal

My mom went home today. Bernie's parents left on Wednesday. Having guests is one of my favorite things in the world, but I always have a couple of nice peaceful days after they leave. The trip was like they are normally are...lots of eating, shopping, etc. We did make it to a UND game down in Denver baby-free. It was a good time. Oh! And I got a really cute pair of knee high brown leather boots, a first for me. It took me years to find a pair I actually like. So that was my birthday money purchase.

Bennett had his one year appointment last week. It's hard to fathom that an entire year has gone by since his dramatic entrance into our world. He is doing really well. 21lbs. 7oz. and 29 inches. Most babies triple (or so) their weight the first year. Bennett is more like 6 1/2 times his! His growth has been amazing. He has started to pull himself up now and does so at every opportunity. He also loves to jibber jabber (da da at this point). I just can't believe how lucky we have been...so when will I stop waiting for the other shoe to drop? Maybe it's just a mom thing.

His birthday party was fun, but certainly overwhelming for him. We wanted to have it when both the grandparents were here, so a weekday was the only choice. Then an evening was necessary so everyone could make it. We didn't start until 5:30 which was late for him, but he held it together. He got tons of toys and they are now overflowing the living room. I'm that person. The one I never wanted to be. My child's toys are overtaking my life.

I have a guilty pleasure that I have to admit. I am totally back into Days of Our Lives. I used to watch this show with my Grandma all the time. I continued through college and then gave it up, save for the occasional relapse. Well, it's a full relapse this time. I even record it everyday. So there, my secret is out. I don't know when I will get back on the wagon.

Blah!

I am still on the fence about the 10K this weekend. When I ran last Saturday, my knees were a little sore. It almost felt like overuse. So I have been trying to take it easy on them and only running a little bit every other day. I should probably decide soon since the race is in two days. I will be pissed if I spent all of that time training for nothing, but I am happy that I can actually run more than 5 miles. That's a big jump from the 3 I maxed out on before.

Speaking of running, congrats (a little late) to my husband. Bernie trained seriously over the past few months for a half-marathon (13.1 miles). He ran it last Saturday and reached his goal of under two hours! Very impressive. I cried when he was crossing the finish line.

I called Bennett's physical therapist yesterday because I am getting a bit worried about his physical development. He has been army crawling for two months now and is still very resistive to hands-and-knees exercises. I don't know if I have said this before here, but being the parent of a preemie can be difficult in this department. I don't want to create a problem that isn't there, but I also don't want to miss something important that needs intervention. Anyway, she is going to come today to see how things are going. Hopefully, I am just overreacting.

I think some of what is feeding into my worries is my increased participation in the mom group thing. We have been going to playdates etc more frequently, and even hosted one at my house this week. Bennett just doesn't seem to be at the same or similar level as babies his adjusted age. We even met a 30 weeker who was walking at 13 months adjusted. That step still seems so far away for Bennett. I need to keep repeating to myself that these things happen in their own time and 13 months adjusted is still three months away.

Only one of the four teeth that Bennett is getting has come through. His mood has been better the past couple of days. Maybe he is just getting used to the feeling of it.

Bernie's parents are due Wednesday for a week-long stay in celebration of Bennett's 1st birthday. I can't believe it's that time already. When it's all happening it seems like it is taking forever, but when it actually gets here, it really went by fast. We are planning a low-key birthday party for him. We are also going to a UND/DU hockey game while they are here and my Aunt Jennifer is going to babysit. Other plans are up in the air at this point. My mom in planning to come down the day before Bennett's birthday. She should overlap with Bernie's parents for a couple of days, so we will have a full house.

Elton John and Billy Joel will be here on the 22nd. I didn't even realize it until last Saturday. We say Elton John last year in Vegas, which was great. But the show was really a stage-type show with the same set-list and routine every night. I wanted to see him in a real concert type setting. I'm not a huge Billy Joel fan, but I wouldn't mind seeing him either. I don't know. Tickets are kind of expensive...I'm just not a very good decision-maker lately.
visitors

Happy Halloween

We hope everyone is having a fun day. Bennett was a turtle (I think the one from Finding Nemo), a costume that his Grandma Jackie bought him. He was pretty cute in it, but wasn't too impressed with the whole situation. I was so excited to take him to the door for the trick or treater's. Usually he is incredibly social. He loves to get people's attention at the store and smile/flirt with them. Not tonight. He cried real tears every time I opened the door for someone. I don't know if he didn't like the costumes or what. So I let him watch Yo Gabba Gabba while I answered the door. It seems that he might be developing some fears.

He is still trying to cut those four top teeth. We all wish it would just happen already. I can see all four white spots. His mood alternates between happy and pissed off throughout the day, but the Tylenol really seems to help.

I cannot think of anything else right now...sorry for the short post. Halloween pics are on Flickr.

Teething

It seems that Bennett will be cutting four teeth in the near future. The four center top ones are pretty obviously coming in and his mood has adjusted accordingly. He and Bernie had the cold my mother gave them which caused an unhappy baby for a few days. Happiness ensued for two or three days and now we are back to crabby. I feel bad for the little man, it can't feel great to have four sharp objects cutting your gums.

Bennett's sleeping was finally on a schedule (a wonderful one at that) for about two weeks. He fell asleep between 7 and 7:30 and slept through until between 6 and 7. At 10 am was a 1 1/2 hour nap and another of the same length at 3pm. Not so much now with the teeth, but hopefully we can work back into it.

He continues to army crawl. We do exercises the physical therapist gave us daily to encourage the hands and knees technique to no avail. Hopefully he is getting close. It seems like just when I get really worried that he is not going to meet some milestone, he decides that it is time. He is getting more interested in trying to pull up on things (mostly us) and loves to stand at the coffee table or any other ledge he can find.

I got the same cold as the boys sometime last week. Overall it was fairly mild and was gone in about 4 days. It cut into my running again (can't seem to catch a break), but I'm back at it again. I ran a new long yesterday at 4.3 miles, but now a tendon or muscle in my upper thigh feels overused. Hopefully it won't be another snag in my plans. Bernie has his 1/2 marathon in less than two weeks...thinking good thoughts for him reaching his goal. I can't remember what it is at the moment, but 9 minute miles sounds right.

My aunt Jennifer came up the night before my birthday and watched Bennett while we went out. I have a teenage babysitter down the street who is fine for short periods of time, but I worry about her general common sense. I think I would worry about this with any teenager just because I remember being one. The good thing about it is that her mother is just down the street. But I didn't feel right leaving Bennett with her for 6 hours. Having Jennifer here was much more reassuring. Bernie and I went downtown and did some shopping and had dinner at a nice restaurant. I had a very yummy steak. I haven't been into steak nearly as much as I used to be since getting pregnant with Bennett, it just doesn't usually appeal to me. But this one was extra good.

My mother-in-law sent my an Eddie Bauer down vest I have been eying, my mom sent me a gold bracelet, my sister-in-law sent a gift card to Red Robin, and Bernie took me to pick out a simple diamond band for my right hand. All in all, a successful and happy 27th birthday.

I can't believe Bennett is already 11 months old. I can't wait to make him his own cake to make a mess with next month. My mom and Bernie's parents will all be here for the big event. We are looking forward to having guests rather than traveling.

Home

Our trip to Great Falls ended on Monday and I am happy to be home without any more immediate travel plans. This year has been exhausting. Bennett was great both on the trip up and back. As long as someone was sitting in the back seat with him, life was pretty good. No major travel meltdowns to report. But 12 hours is a long time for anyone to sit in a car. He was ready to be done with that whole scene.

Amy's wedding turned out beautifully. She looked like a princess in her fluffy pink dress. The ceremony was very short (and those of you at my wedding know ours was short). It was probably the shortest I have ever seen. I think it took all of 2 minutes. The reception was a proper Fagg family dancing fest, although it ended earlier than I expected.

The wedding shower was also a lot of fun. I worked pretty hard on it and thought I could do it all myself. My mom was working so there wasn't much help there. She made the desserts (cheesecake, dark chocolate brownies, and peanut butter cookies) which took some of the stress off. I did pretty well, but the food plans were too ambitious. There were about 20-25 people. The menu consisted of a variety of crostini (topped with artichoke/parmesan, cream cheese/green onion/bacon, gorgonzola/walnuts/honey, prosciutto/mozzarella, olive/eggplant and an Italian tomato mixture) as well as chicken skewers with thai peanut sauce. I thought it all turned out very yummy. But I did have to call in Fagg family reinforcements to help it all come together. So a big thanks to all of them. I think the crostini are better suited for an 8 person dinner party.

Poor Bernie didn't get to do much for fun in Great Falls with all of the wedding hoopla. He and Bennett hung out together most of the time, which wasn't the most fun because he got bored at my mom's house pretty easily. Hopefully he can make up for it with a fishing trip in the near future.

I got to see Melanie, Kyle, and Gwendolyn almost every day I was there. I wanted to spend more extended time with them, but an hour at a time was about all I could manage. Little Gwendolyn is a beauty...pics to come soon. We also got to have a nice lunch with Heather on her birthday but somehow missed Marlena and the boys. I guess you can't do it all.

I am working on getting the pictures from the trip/wedding up, hopefully I can make my way through them all today. I gave my mom the camera to take pictures at the wedding and she seems to like to take about 30 pictures of the same scene, so it's a bit of a chore to find the one good one and delete the rest.

My back etc. are feeling 100% again and I have been running for about 10 days. I finally broke 4 miles for the first time yesterday so I still have hope to make it for the 10K in November.

It's October!

My favorite month of the year, and it has nothing to do with my birthday. OK...maybe a little bit. But fall is really my favorite season. We returned to Colorado on Tuesday to see that the leaves are starting to change. I'm not sure what it is, but there is a certain kind of light to fall that makes me happy.

The first important issue I must address is the birth of Gwendolyn Michelle. I am so happy and excited for Melanie and Kyle that I tear up when I think about it. On top of that, she is really beautiful. Can't wait to meet her next week. Welcome baby girl!

Our trip to North Dakota last weekend was a whirlwind. We got there Friday night and left Tuesday afternoon. Joey's wedding/reception was fun even though we had to leave early for Bennett's bedtime. Such is the life of a parent. He had a rough couple of nights there due to waking in the middle of the night to eat (normal for him right now). Usually he goes right back to sleep, but the surroundings were unfamiliar and so he was up for 2+ hours. Yuck. I of course question whether he really needs to eat or has just gotten into the habit. Last night he woke but did not have to eat, so maybe I just need to be a little more patient with getting him back to sleep.

It was really great to have Bernie's whole family in town at the same time. That hasn't happened since we got married in 2006. Especially fun was watching the three kids interact. Bennett still isn't mobile enough to keep up, but he was more interested than when he saw them in June. I think that he and Grant will be a pair of troublemakers when we visit Phoenix in January. I feel like he may be walking by then.

Speaking of mobility, Bennett is getting better and better at scooting himself around. He will always move for the right motivation (food, wedding ring, or glasses), and now he is even self-motivating a bit. I leave the room for a moment and come back to find him in a different spot reaching for a toy. All very exciting. I better get on the baby-proofing. I will try to get a new video to post soon.

Yesterday I had jury duty. I was thisclose to being chosen to sit on the trial of a guy accused of criminal mischief and indecent exposure. Right at the end I was cut. I still had to spend almost 4 hours there. Oh well...better than all day.

I have had decent digital cameras for some time now (6 years or so) and have not ever known how to properly use them. There are soooo many different buttons and settings and it seems the manual is never much help. The city offers a "getting to know your digital camera class" that I have been trying to take for the past year. The times it is offered never seem to work with Bernie's schedule. I finally got signed up for the one last night. It was still an overwhelming amount of information, but I feel like I have a better grasp on how to change the settings for the environment and the type of photo I want. We will see. There is a put it into practice session on Saturday morning.

I am becoming a bit depressed about the whole running and 10K situation. My hip is a lot better, but it is still mildly annoying. It's been two weeks now and I need to get on it if I have any hope of being ready. I think I am going to go for it tomorrow and hope it will feel better with some moderate jogging.

On to Great Falls on Monday. I am really excited for Amy's wedding next weekend. I am throwing her shower and am in the midst of planning the food, games, and decor. Any of you that have been to an event at my mom's house knows that we always go a bit overboard.

Lastly, there is a huge photo dump on Flickr. New pics/videos are on two pages.

Poor Bennett

Life has been a bit trying around here, especially for Bennett. First he got the two teeth, then it was the ear infection. Everything was normal for a bit. Until yesterday when the snot started to run. He has picked up what seems to be his first cold. Sneezing and runny nose are the main symptoms at this point and we're hoping to avoid anything worse. His sleeping habits have been erratic. Some nights he sleeps through the night, other nights he wakes multiple times and has to eat. Excitement I tell you. I feel terrible for his sore little nose. I try to wipe it with a lotion tissue as much as possible. He hates that nasal aspirator, but who wouldn't.

He continues to feed himself at almost every meal. He is especially crazy at dinner. The kid just shovels it in. I have fed him some meat, including pork and chicken. I didn't think he liked it because I tried the jarred stuff in the past and that was a no go. But, really, who wants pureed jarred meat? I tasted it and it ain't so great.

I am still training for the 10K in November. I am a bit slow in gaining the distance I would like. The lake by our house has been conquered a couple of time which is my long at this point--3.6 miles. We'll see if I can push it to 4 this weekend. I get bored easily of the same kind of exercise day after day. To avoid that I vary it quite a bit with Stroller Strides, swimming, running, and group exercise classes. Right now my right hip is bugging me, so hopefully that clears up soon.

I am currently watching the season premier of The Office. I have never followed it religiously, but it's so funny when I do catch it.

I am actually hosting a baby play date for one of the meet-up groups I am apart of. I have not been great about getting to the events, but they always seem to fall when Bennett is likely to be napping. We are going to try and get him down to two naps per day once the illness has passed so hopefully I can make it to more. I haven't had too much luck finding people that I have much in common with but more effort may be needed. It seems like I have an increasingly difficult time making real friends as I get older. What's up with that?

Mom's visit

My mom just left this morning. Overall it was fun having her here. We did an entire day of shop till you drop on Friday at the Castle Rock outlet mall. Bernie and Bennett had a daddy day. It was nice to get out shopping without having to worry about feedings, naps, etc. And you should have seen my mom at the & $10 rack at Eddie Bauer. It seemed like all the pants were in a tall, which was perfect for her. I think she ended up with 5 or 6 pairs just from that store. We cooked at home the entire time she was here. Mostly yummy food like steaks and nachos. Bernie and I went to Boulder on Saturday night to have a date-type night. It was a good time and only one opinion-fest occurred with my mother. All in all a successful trip.

A couple of years ago, my mother borrowed my blender to make margaritas. It was of the Kitchen Aid variety and had a glass pitcher. She ended up dropping and breaking it. We haven't missed it much since I like my margaritas on the rocks these days. But she kept saying she was going to buy us a new one and was just waiting for the perfect one to come along. Well, she finally decided and brought a very expensive Vita-Mix to us. I had never seen one of these before. It basically seems like a restaurant quality blender. It came with a huge cookbook in which there are recipes for everything from soup to desserts to fondue. She makes herself a fruit smoothie every morning in it with nothing but fruit and it turns out the quality of something you would get in one of those smoothie shops. So now I have a new toy to figure out...not to mention another item to store on my already crowded counter. We really need a baker's rack or some other method of junk storage.

I decided to hit some garage sales this weekend. Garage sales have never been my thing, simply because I hate to acquire to much crap. But Bennett needed some different toys and I think they are crazily overpriced in the store. We ended up with 4 new toys (including a baby piano, another light up/music toy, a highchair toy, and peek-a-boo blocks for $8. I considered it to be a fruitful venture and will probably go more in the future.

Bennett finally fed himself today! It seems like I have been waiting forever for him to realize that he can put food into his own mouth. He loves to play with and hoard Cheerios. He finally got a couple in his mouth today. He also grabbed his spoon and fed himself some yogurt at the same meal. I'm sure we are in for it now.

Bennett has been feeling much better since the antibiotics. His personality is back to normal and he can actually do something for more than 10 seconds without throwing a fit. The downside is that he is now on his second round of a non-allergic reaction to the amoxicillin. He is covered in red bumps and splotches. They don't bother him at all, but it looks like he has a nasty communicable disease. Luckily the last dose is tonight.

It's been a rough weekend!

Bennett has been progressively cranky over the past week or so. At first I'm sure it was due to the two(!) teeth he cut at the same time. Then he started to get very fussy about two or three days ago. I thought it might have something to do with the yogurt I started with him, so I cut it out. No improvement ensued. Friday he was running a low fever of under 100. By Saturday it was over 101. He was very tired and didn't want to play. We decided to take him to the doctor yesterday. Our pediatrician was not there so he saw someone new. She cleaned out his ears, and sure enough he has an ear infection in his right ear. She said it was caught early. We got the antibiotics started and he does seem to be feeling better although he is still sleeping a lot. He took a 3+ hour nap yesterday which is unheard of. I actually had to wake him.

During this teething/ear infection attack, I was giving him some Tylenol to help with the pain. Apparently I had the dosing all wrong. He was only getting a third of the correct dosage for his weight. No wonder it wasn't doing anything for him...poor baby.

The new car seat is here and overall I am pleased. It takes up significantly less room than other car seats like it and even seems to be less wide than the bucket seat. Trips to GF and ND should me much more comfortable. My mom should fit better back there now as well. She insists on riding in the back with Bennett, even when the front seat is available.

Bernie and Craig got out early this morning to do some fishing. Hopefully they have some luck. I would rather not have fish nastiness in the freezer, but I will concede since Bernie likes it so much.

We finally got regular doctor in this house. Bernie and I both have our appointments this week. Hopefully we are given a clean bill of health.

And yes, Oasis has split up. I have a bad feeling about it this time...everything seems so final. This is definitely the end of an era. I do have sad feelings about it, but I am also oddly excited by it all. I know there will continue to be music from Noel and probably Liam as well. It will be interesting to see what direction they take and what develops. How awesome would it be to see a Noel solo gig? Acoustic preferably. What? No one but Sara cares? Oh well, we will continue to commiserate together.

And lastly. To top off the weeked, Eula passed away yesterday. Although it was expected, I don't think we can ever be prepared. I've watched a lot of people I care about die at the nursing home, but the experience never loses it's emotional impact. Eula was one of the first friends I made in Colorado. I will think of her every time I see an elk or drive to Estes Park.

9 month visit

No shots this time. Bennett did have to have his toe pricked for a blood test but he was a total trooper. He hardly even whined. He also had to give a urine sample (which I had never heard of). They gave me this sticky little bag that I put on under his diaper. It didn't work very well but they said it was enough. The blood test results were normal and I haven't heard anything about the UA. He weighed 18lbs 8oz and was 27 1/4 inches. He is staying on his growth curve nicely. The MD did say that we could start dairy, meat, and bread products at any time. We have only been doing cereal, fruit, and veggies since May. Yesterday, I gave him some yogurt which he seemed to enjoy. I hadn't started anything else because I wasn't sure if I should be treating him as a 7 or 9 month old when it came to food. The MD felt like 9 months was more appropriate and that we would plan on getting off of the formula in November rather than January. Developmentally, Bennett is somewhere between 7 and 8 months.

I forgot to mention in my last post that we ordered Bennett's next car seat. I thought he was going to be closer to the 22lb limit than he is, but he will probably be more comfortable switching soon anyway. I spent quite a bit of time weighing the options. The bigger ones are nice because they go up to 65 lbs, but god they take up a lot of space in the back of the Prius. I decided to go with the Combi Coccoro in chestnut brown:

http://www.combi-intl.com/Products/Item.aspx?Item=12.

It is significantly smaller and will be a much better fit in our small car. It only goes up to 40 lbs, but at Bennett's growth rate he'll be 3 1/2 before he grows out of it. A person might even be comfortable sitting on the side with the seat in the middle, what a concept!

I ruined Bennett's activity mat last night. I put it in the dryer and it melted in a couple of spots. I swear I have dried it before...whatever. It's basically toast now.

My mom will be here in about a week. I asked her what she wanted to do and she said "nothing." She just wants to relax. Fine by me.

Fall is in the air

sort of. The past week have seen some cooler days and even cooler nights. It's nice not to be overheated and sweating while I'm trying to sleep. I guess it's going to be 90+ degrees this weekend so the respite is short. But fall is in my future and I am quite excited by it. It's a beautiful season in Colorado, mild days with no or hardly any wind (you hear that Great Falls?). We need to get up to Rocky Mountain National Park at the right time to see the changing aspens and herds of elk.

Speaking of the elk in the park, I don't know if I ever mentioned the lady that I have been volunteering with for the past year and a half. I arranged it originally for school, but have kept seeing her beyond. We used to go up to Estes Park every week and elk search. She absolutely loved the elk. It was the highlight of her week. When we started, she was still living on her own, but by last summer she had to move into the nursing home. Our trips became less frequent. When Bennett was born, my visits with her became strictly at the nursing home. She has continued to decline and is now on hospice. When Bennett and I visited today she looked rough. I don't think she will last much longer. She was a neat lady and I will miss seeing her. Her outlook on life was a bit crazy at times, but definitely shaped by her life experiences. She seemed comfortable and had family at her side...I'm not sure if one can ask for much more at end-of-life. She is 89. Goodbye to Eula if I don't see you again!

On to less depressing topics. We finally had most of the trees removed from our backyard last week. Someone had planted a huge number of trees all along the fence line about 20 years ago. Then they trimmed them like crazy and they grew straight up and very very skinny. In fact, some of the branches hung precariously into the backyard and threatened to knock me on the head when I was out there. There were 14 to start with I think and we have 5 left. It looks very bare right now but Bernie assures me that they will fill out.

Here's a grown-up bit of news. We got life insurance started for myself and Bennett this week. Bernie already has some. I just got done with the exam. The nurse came to the house, took my BP (104/70 and 102/72.....AWESOME!), made me pee in a cup, and took some blood. Hopefully everything comes back well and I get the super good rating.

I finally made it up to three miles jogging on the treadmill recently. Getting back into running has been tough, but it is starting to feel good now that I can see some improvement in my endurance. Stroller Strides classes (don't laugh, they are a serious workout that I can feel for days sometimes) are helping as well. My weight has definitely bounced back up since I quit pumping, so I need all the exercise I can get. I'm considering (only considering at this point) a 10K in November. I have never ran that far...4 miles is my previous max.

Bennett has been a crabby man for the past few days. It looks like we will see some teeth soon! His 9 month appointment is Monday so I will update with his latest stats then.

Heavenly

That is the only way I can describe the dinner I just had. And it had nothing to do with the food, although it was also very good. I met up with Bernie and four of his/our friends at a local restaurant, on the patio. Side note: Bernie is in a workshop this week which has translated into him being away from home for 14+ hours every day. I'm ready for that to be over. Anyway...I got there first while waiting for everyone else to get where they needed to be. Bennett was crabby all the way over, so I was counting on the worst. Instead, he barely made a peep for over an hour and just sat in the highchair playing with his toys. I got to enjoy my entire meal without even having to hold or entertain him at all. This is unheard of. He doesn't usually throw fits in a restaurant but he wants to be held and get into everything. I guess he know mommy needed a little adult time.

Right not I am enjoying a glass of wine and chocolates. And not just any chocolates. I bought these at a winery in Oregon and they are meant to pair with red wine. They are all very dark 75% cacao on up and are awesome with the wine. Now I'm just waiting to see if Bernie brings back anyone to enjoy them with me.

I've been trying my hand at a little baby food making with some success. I have carrots and peaches frozen in ice trays in the freezer as well as some bananas and avocados. I also turned some of the monster squash into baby food, although it doesn't have quite enough taste for Bennett. I just mix it with something else like sweet potatoes and he eats it just fine.

To use all of the alien squash...

one large squash casserole (9x13 pan)
two dozen squash muffins
babyfood

and those stupid plants produce at least 1-2 more every day (not that size of course). OK, I'll shut up about the squash plants. Ready right now we also have cucumbers, tomatoes, green peppers, and a SHIT TON of lettuce. And I mean shit ton...like 10 huge heads of lettuce. Salad time for this family!

Preparing for a long week after a long week

We returned from our trip to Great Falls on Tuesday. I don't know why, but I find vacations somewhat exhausting. I get extra sleep and help with Bennett from my mom. When I finally get home it seems a few days of recovery are needed. I am almost back to feeling like myself. Except my boobs are very lumpy and painful right now...I know TMI, but too bad for you. I stopped pumping over 10 days ago and felt fine until this past Sunday. Now I am in significant discomfort. Running or fast walking is out of the question. I think what I am experiencing now is normal, but I am taking my temp everyday to make sure I avoid an infection.

No pump in my life has been liberating and a bit sad at the same time. I knew there would be feelings of both. It was great to go to the wedding and be able to drink freely and not leave to pump in the middle of the reception. On the other hand, it assuaged my guilt of nursing failure to at least give Bennett some breast milk. Still dealing with it slowly and trying to be kind to myself. I guess I knew that parenting would be a somewhat guilt-ridden process (nursing isn't the only issue one can feel guilty about), but didn't realize the magnitude of the emotions it creates in everyday life. Wow. Too much psych talk for this blog, sorry about that.

Our trip was enjoyable. My mom was very helpful with Bennett, including getting up with him in the mornings. The extra sleep was wonderful. We ate out at our/my favorite places and got to see most everyone.

This is my public apology to Heather. Let me preface with a story about Heather and I (and I think Sara was there also?) about 10 years ago. We were backing out of my driveway and I backed into a HUGE RED TRUCK that was squarely behind me. Like it was right there and obvious. Fast forward to last week. I was in the Prius with Melanie, Heather, and Bennett (and Gwendolyn of course). We were backing out of my mom's driveway and I backed right into Heather's car!!! AHHH!!! I left a dent in her bumper. To make the story even better, I have a backup camera for such situations. Very useful. I am sorry for that and let me know the cost if you ever get it fixed.

My dad has finally decided on his own accord to quit driving this month. Well, the decision came with the help of a new law that requires each person on the car registration to provide a valid driver's license. His expired last October and he was unable to pass the vision test. Now the registration is up this month. He is in pretty rough shape as far as his vision and reflexes are concerned. And he finally admits that he worries about hurting someone else. I'm hoping my aunt and uncle will be able to share the responsibility of taking him out to shop once per week. I know that is a lot to ask of a sibling with a family. Apparently Great Harvest Bread will deliver to him, which is most of what he eats anyway. So shopping shouldn't be a along process. I made him a batch of chile and put it into single serving containers last time I was there since he can't open cans anymore. When I snuck a look into the freezer, over 75% was still there. Almost all the muffins I made were still there as well. What a wasted effort, but not at all surprising.

It seems that Bennett is slowly resolving some of his sleep issues. He is only waking briefly 1-2 times per night at this point, usually very close to the morning. I'll take it! His rolling is stalled right now at only rolling off of his tummy on the left side (along with rolling onto his tummy from both directions whenever the chance is presented). However, he is starting to put his but in the air and try to propel himself. He can also turn his entire body on his stomach to see things on either side of him. I don't think crawling is crazy far off. I am hoping by his first birthday, that will keep him on track developmentally.

He enjoyed his trips to the pools in Great Falls. The drive was more difficult that the trip in April/May when he slept more, but still very manageable. He needed more frequent entertainment and has some minor meltdowns. Still, I thought he did really well for spending 12 hours in a car seat.

Oh, one more thing. We came hope to the biggest summer squash I have ever seen. I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of it before I cut it up. Normally they are about 6-8 inches long and 2-3 inches thick. This one was at least 18 inches long and 8 inches thick. It was a monsterous alien life-form. I made an entire squash casserole out of it (recipe called for 6 squash) and still have half left. That's some good cow poo dirt Bernie got back there.

Latest Happenings

I went to see Tori Amos on Tuesday with my friend Michaela. I had gotten a ticket for Marlena also, but she wasn't able to make it down. I had a really good time. It was fun to see Tori again. It was 2002 when I saw her last in Missoula. I haven't had a chance to really get into the new album, but the great thing about a Tori concert is that she plays a lot of her older songs. Her catalog is huge and she always varies her set list considerably from concert to concert. Oasis and Tori within a year...not bad at all. We also had a pretty good meal at an Italian restaurant downtown.

Sleep around here remains very interrupted. Just yesterday Bennett finally started to roll off of his tummy, however, he still isn't doing it consistently in his crib. And then yesterday I decided to remove the crib bumper (bad mother, I know). Since Bennett was born, we have been using a motion/sound monitor. I love this thing and it was especially important when he was an itty bitty guy on oxygen. It will go off if it doesn't sense any movement for 20 seconds. When he was staying in the middle of the crib, it worked well. Now that he has been moving around, he often ends up horizontal in the very top of the crib. When he is in a deep sleep the monitor has a hard time picking him up. The result is even more frequent wakings to turn the alarm off. I figured I was comfortable turning the motion monitor off at this point if I took the bumper out. Last night was the trial run and it was awful. Usually he just whines when he wakes. Instead, he was knocking his head on the railings and his limbs were hanging out. Screaming ensued. After some thought I realized that I could turn the sensitivity up from 2 to 5 on the monitor. I put the bumper back in (bad mother, I know) and turned it up. We'll see how it goes tonight.

The garden is going wild. Squash and tomatoes every day. There is so much lettuce. I don't know how a person could eat so much. We are going to take some of it to Great Falls. My newly organic mother should love it. There a couple of ears of corn almost ready and green peppers growing. We are still waiting for cucumbers, hot peppers, and broccoli. I feel pretty good about our first real foray into vegetable gardening.

We are off to Great Falls on Monday morning. I am hoping Bennett wants to be nice and not throw too many fits in the back seat. The goal will be to make it in one day if he lets us. The trip should be full again trying to see everyone. My mom is teaching swimming lessons right now. She can't wait to take Bennett to the pool. She already has him signed up for a water babies class.

The final pumping session is drawing near...stay tuned for an official announcement.

oh...the rolling

It is getting a bit out of control...especially last night. For the past few weeks, Bennett wakes 1-3 per night because he has rolled on his tummy and woken up mad. It's usually easy to get him back to sleep, just turn him over and give him his pacifier. Well last night we decided that we would leave him with a baby sitter for the first time. It was our anniversary and we had a nice time out to dinner and going for margaritas. Three hours without Bennett was strange and I did worry, but of course he was safe and sound. Our baby sitters are a couple of 13 year old girls that live in the neighborhood. They have both taken classes and know CPR etc. Anyway, I'm off track. He was asleep when we got home. At about 12:30 he woke up on his tummy. I rolled him back over and gave him what I though was his pacifier. Wrong. It was the wrong one and I could not find the right one. Well, he kept rolling over and waking up every ten or so minutes for the next couple of hours. Fun times! Bernie finally got up (had to be at work at six this morning btw) and changed his diaper and put familiar jammies on him. Nice try. Five minutes later he was on his tummy and really awake. He had somehow peed out of his diaper in that small amount of time. I changed him again, fed him (haven't done that in a long time) and finally went back to sleep after 3am. He was not in the best mood today. Good news is I found the right pacifier so hopefully tonight goes better. It will be wonderful when he either enjoys sleeping on his tummy or learns how to get himself back to his side/back.

I have cut down on pumping again. Two days ago I finally weaned down to once per day. The supply had definitley dropped off. I will likely quit by the time we go to Great Falls in 10 days. Doing my best to cope with the mommy guilt.

We are headed to GF on the 27th and will be there about a week. Not so much looking forward to seeing my dad. He really does get worse every time I see him. It's only a matter of time before I...and by that I mean we...will need to take more responsibility. Oh the fun of being a grown up. I know I'm not the only one who will be dealing with these issues.

My mom is going to have Bennett over night on the night of the wedding. How strange that will be! We'll be in Helena, 90 whole minutes away in a hotel room alone. It should be a good time.

Excitement in the Meier Household

After a couple of weeks of mommy worry related to Bennett's development, things are starting to progress. I was beginning to fear that he may have some delays. About three days ago he really started to discover his lower body. He has progressed quickly from the top of his pants, to his knees, and finally his feet. He does not hold on to them for long but is trying for them. The same day I found him on his tummy in his crib! He now rolls easily onto his tummy if he wants to get to a toy. About 6 weeks ago he was rolling off of his tummy but now he is back to yelling to get off of it. He rarely figures out how to do it himself. Overall I am so please to see that he is on track with his adjusted age. His sitting is even getting better. He loves to sit and can do it by himself for 5-10 seconds sometimes.

Our gardens are getting crazy around here. The squash plants are completely out of control and the corn plants actually have ears already. There are pictures/videos of both topics on the Flickr page.

Bernie is on a stretch of 7 midnight shifts...ewww. I will be glad when they are done on Friday morning, but not as happy as he will be I'm sure. We are going to Craig and Michaela's for a 4th of July get together. On Sunday, my family from Boulder are coming for dinner. So the weekend is shaping up to be busy. And it's less than a month until we go back to Great Falls.

Oregon

We returned to Colorado on Tuesday after spending a week in Portland. It was a great trip. Crystal and Jeremie were wonderful hosts. Even with three young children we managed to get out quite a bit. I went to Powell's Bookstore for the first time and discovered a place where I could possibly happily spend the rest of my life. The place takes up an entire city block. I only got to the sale shelves and still walked out with seven books for me and four for Bennett. I have never seen books on sale in a store like that. I didn't spend more than $6.95 for any of them (all new). Apparently books can be ordered online and shipping is free for orders over $50. They may be my new book source from now on.

Bernie and I took a side trip to Bend which is about three hours from Portland. We visited a couple of old friends from Great Falls which was fun. They just had a newborn baby boy five days before we got there. At 8 lbs, he seemed so tiny. I can't believe Bennett was half his size. Bennett had a HORRIBLE blow out on the way up which resulted in throwing away a onsie.

Bernie and Jeremie went fishing on the ocean for Father's Day. They caught a ton of fish, but Bernie was unfortunately very ill the entire time. He threw up about 20 times while on the boat. Bernie being Bernie claims he had fun despite all the retching. We were all in Lincoln City for the fishing trip and stayed in a hotel next to the ocean. It was beautiful, although a totally different beach experience than San Diego. It was very cool with hardly any people around. I think I prefer the less crowded beach even if there will be no suntanning. Bernie and I got to spend an our or so in the evening on the beach at sunset. It was beautiful and a moment I will never forget.

The rose garden was amazing. Emily had a great time running around taking pictures with my camera. She surprisingly got a few good ones.

We went to a winery on the day we left. We got a little tipsy in the middle of the afternoon. It would be great to return one day to see a few of the wineries, with a designated driver of course!

If you ever get a chance to eat fresh Mt. Hood strawberries, don't miss it. They are the most amazing strawberries I have ever eaten. I didn't know they could taste that good.

Seeing Emily and meeting Grant was fun. Emily is growing up so fast. She has a ton of energy and has a very cute personality. Grant is much more laid back and can entertain himself nicely. Hopefully Bennett learned something from him.

Bennett is doing well...nothing new to report on that front. He is enjoying his solids more and we are up to twice per day.

My mom's visit went well. We did some shopping and cooking, the normal things we do. We also went on the luxury home tour. We only got to see about six out of 27 houses, but the ones we saw were amazing. The most expensive was 6 million. I still enjoy getting out and seeing homes...especially those that cost millions of dollars.

Home for the moment

We returned from San Diego yesterday after a very nice trip. Bennett was an angel on the way down...other than the squealing. He discovered that recently and is also tending to be quite social. The people around us were very nice and smiled/talked with him. He would smile/laugh/squeal in return. The way back was a bit more sketchy. He screamed a couple of times for 30 seconds or so until I could get the bottle in his mouth. The other passengers were not nearly as friendly and did not socialize with Bennett when they tried to get his attention. All in all, not bad on the plane. I even got an aisle seat on both legs although we never left our seat.

It was so great to see and spend time with Kristen and her family. We hadn't really seen each other since our wedding. I enjoyed meeting Phil and Ava...nice to talk with some real other people for a couple of days. We went to a really great park in San Diego with the MOST BEAUTIFUL roses (see the flickr page). We also got to the beach and some yummy restaurants. Thanks for a wonderful weekend.

Bennett was very happy and good during the mornings/days of the trip. But he couldn't seem to get a decent nap in. He was too hyped up and by 5:00 a meltdown ensued until it was time to go to be. Sorry to Kristen and her neighbors for all the noise!

Bennett has started into solid foods. So far he is doing OK...eats about 10 bites and is ready to be done. He had pears today though and definitely seemed to like those quite a bit. We have appointments with the eye MD and physical therapist this week before my mom comes down on Friday. We are going to go on the "luxury home tour." All of the houses are between 1 and 6 million. Fun times for a realtor and her daughter.

Portland is upcoming next Tuesday, pending the outcome of Bernie's jury duty. Hope for us...we really want to get up there.

Tori Amos tickets are in hand. I got pretty good ones in the middle of the orchestra section. The theater only holds just over 1000 people so I imagine most of the seats are decent. Michaela will be joining me as will Marlena hopefully. She wants to make it down so the ticket is waiting.

I am in the process of reading Sara's book for the second time and enjoying it very much. I hope to have my comments ready for you by the end of the month...that's the goal anyway.

I am happy to report that I got all of my flowers/veggies planted over the past couple of weeks. It feels good to have that done. Now I just have to keep up with all the maintenance. I will try to get some photos posted soon. I did not go nearly as crazy as I did last year, knowing how much work it can be to keep it all under control.

I sounds like my mom is planning to come down to visit the second weekend in June. It's going to be a busy month. Bennett and I are flying to San Diego to see Kristen and family in two weeks. Then my mom will be here. Then we are flying to Portland to visit Bernie's sister and family. Have I mentioned how nervous I am to fly with Bennett alone? I'm on Southwest which does not have seating assignments and does not allow "families" to board first. I hope I am lucky enough to get an aisle seat or someone willing to give one up. I'm sure he will need to be walked around a number of times to prevent meltdown.

I heard today that Tori Amos is going to be in Denver mid-July. I hope to go and have asked a local friend to join me. I can't see Bernie enjoying that concert. He already had to deal with me and Oasis, I will try to spare him this time.

Bennett had his 6 month check-up this week. He is up to 15 lbs. 4 oz. and 25 inches. The doctor was very happy with his growth. He has hit the 25th percentile for weight and 10th for height in his actual age group. Hopefully, by the time he is a year old he will be caught up. The doctor felt he was between a 4 and 5 month old developmentally which is right on target for the moment. Again, he should continue to close the gap as he gets older. He wanted us to start solids right away. I wasn't sure if Bennett was ready, but he is doing OK with them. Yesterday he spit most of the rice cereal out. Today he swallowed more of it but would not open his mouth after 4 bites or so. Oh well...he should still be getting all of his nutrition from breast milk/formula anyway. We're just practicing right now.

We went to a baby play date this week. An interesting group of women and lots of cute babies. I will definitely go again. I also am continuing with exercise classes at the rec center and Stroller Strides class. I try to get some exercise most days. I find it helps improve my mood.

I'm working two days in a row next week! Crazy! I should probably do something to justify my free gym membership.

Specialist appointment

So, we had an appointment with the maternal-fetal specialist yesterday. It is recommended that any woman who had pre eclampsia see one before they get pregnant again. I decided to try to see the lady who actually delivered Bennett. I was expecting a battle with having to get a referral and other assorted medical hoops, but it was actually very easy. I just called and made the appointment. I spent quite a bit of time researching and preparing questions (thank you Pre-eclampsia Foundation Forms...I don't know if I would have made it through the last few months without you). She actually remembered us, which was comforting.

First, the news I have learned about my first pregnancy. I ordered my medical records (300+ pages) and have gone through them. I apparently had a hemorrhage after Bennett was born, which I don't remember. That must be why they were shoving a number of unknown pills down my throat. They took the placenta for a pathology report. There were problems with the blood vessels. It was also in the 20th percentile for size and partially abrupted. This means that it had started to separate from my uterus and if it would have continued, Bennett may have died. The blood vessel issues and size are hallmarks of pre-e. The problem is thought to occur at implantation. Something is screwy with mom's immune system which causes the placenta to implant too shallowly. This is fine until the baby gets too big. Then the need for blood etc outpaces the placenta's ability to provide and mom's system goes into overload and shutdown mode. Bennett was a good weight for his age, but if we had continued, he would have likely become growth restricted for lack of blood/nutrients.

Dr. Becker was positive about a second pregnancy, but also gave us fair warning. Since I had severe early onset pre-e, my chances are significantly higher of having it again in subsequent pregnancies. In most cases, women develop pre-e late in pregnancy (near labor/delivery) and only have it that one time. My own OB made it seem as though I was in the "only first pregnancy" group, but the specialist seemed to have more knowledge. She said the chances were between 25-60% Kind of scary at first glance. But since I am healthy overall and the first found tests for underlying disorders were negative she thinks my chances of having a normal pregnancy are greater than another bout of pre-e.

A second pregnancy would be considered "high risk." She would co-manage with my OB. I would have baseline labs and 24 hour urine test to find out what is normal for me. There are also a couple more of tests to run right when I get pregnant. If they were to be positive, it would be twice a day injectable blood thinners for me for the last two trimesters (fun!). I would have to take a daily aspirin when pregnant and prenatal vitamins for three months before I get pregnant. It sounds like I would have ultrasounds to check for growth every four weeks after week 12. Other interventions would come in as needed.

Whew...that was a lot of info. Sorry about that, but my brain is often occupied with these issues and I thought I would share!

Warning

Photo dump on Bennett's page.

Also, he rolled from his back to his tummy today! He can get to his side from his back, but not totally over yet.

An update...finally

I just couldn't find the time on vacation to update. We got back on Monday and I have been trying to get the house in order since. We had a great time in both North Dakota and Montana. North Dakota was definitely more laid back. There was time to relax and enjoy Bernie's parents. Montana was much more hectic. Between my family and our friends that still live there, we were busy every day. The weather was shitty. There was a MASSIVE snow storm a couple of days after we got there and it was still melting when we left. I finally got to meet the first Fagg grandchild, Jadessa. She was born in August and a cutie. It's neat to see where Bennett will be in a few months. It was also nice to see Melanie and Heather again. I can't wait to find out if Melanie is having a boy or girl. Everyone seems to think girl, but we'll see on June 3rd.

Bennett was a great traveler overall. He slept most of the trip and only had one major meltdown. We took two days to get to ND and two days to get home, so I'm sure that helped his disposition. Speaking of sleep, he started to sleep through the night just before we left. Without me even trying he has got himself on a schedule. He goes to bed between 8 and 9, sleeps until between 7 and 8, and then eats every three hours during the day. His nap isn't quite worked out yet. He sometimes takes a long nap during the day. Other times, there are only cat naps. Whatever...sleeping through the night is the most important!

Still pumping here. I am down to four times a day now which is manageable at the moment. I may try to cut it down to two by the end of May and see how the supply goes. Right now he only needs about 4 ounces of formula per day out of 30. I'm hoping I can still get 15-20 ounces per day with two pumpings. I figure I can keep that up, even on vacation this summer. I have too much guilt about completely quitting.

I have joined a couple of mom's groups in the area. One of them is a Stroller Strides class. It has been a great way to get some exercise that includes Bennett. I also hope to meet and befriend some new moms. I need to get back to it since I got back. I was at my pre-pregnancy weight before we went on vacation, not so much anymore.

I am so excited to start my gardens this weekend!!! I keep seeing and drooling over all the flowers I see.

Bernie got a summons for jury duty today...ha! I should probably shut up or I'll be next.

Milestone!

Bennett had started to sleep longer at night consistently about three weeks ago. Instead of 3 hours between feedings, he slowly changed to 4 and then 5 hours. Then, two nights ago he went 7 hours and last night he went 8!!! Bennett slept through the night! We are a little excited. I think what has helped the most is that he is getting his thumb (as opposed to his whole hand) in his mouth consistently. He is able to calm himself and fall back to sleep when he wakes in the night. He even seems to be losing interest in the pacifier. He would much rather suck on his thumb.

Gearing up for vacation

We're headed to North Dakota in about 10 days. We are spending a week there and a week in Great Falls. And yes, we are driving. It should be very interesting with Bennett. We're taking the dog also...one big happy family. Bernie had to buy a luggage case for the roof to fit all of our junk into the Prius. I'm looking forward to the trip. It's going to be great for everyone to finally meet Bennett, especially my dad.

Other travel plans for the summer include Portland in June. I can't wait to see Emily and meet Grant. Crystal sent us a list of things to do that sound really fun. Mainly, I want to go to the beach. And maybe some shopping. My clothes fit weird post-baby and I think I have finally grown up. All of my clothes look like juniors...I'm ready to shop in the women's department.

I am planning to see Kristen and her family in June and also hope to see Sara sometime this summer (haven't discussed this with her yet). I want to make sure I take advantage of the time I have to see important people. Who knows when I will get the opportunity again?

Another exciting upcoming event is the garden. I am looking forward to getting my plans ready for flowers and vegetables. I think I'll scale back on the flowers this year because they were a lot of work last year and got very out of control by the end of the summer. More careful planning should help. I'll also need more time to deal with the vegetables.

Bennett has officially outgrown his 0-3 month clothes. I did the switcheroo to 3-6 months today. Baby clothes sizes seem to follow no logic. Even within the same brand, things fit differently. Carter's clothes can be bought at a number of places. 0-3 months from Target fits differently than the same size from the actual Carter's store. It's a bit annoying. He has a ton of clothes in this size range. I'm not sure if he will actually be able to wear them all.

I'm still pumping, but have almost entirely eliminated 2 sessions every day (including the one overnight...thanks Crystal). I think I will keep it up until we go to Portland in June. I'm definitely not hauling the pump to Oregon. He should be staring on solids then if everything goes well. I am supplementing about 4 oz of formula a day at this point, which is hardly anything considering he eats 30.

I love the medical community.

Really, I have conflicting feelings. Obviously, they did wonders for Bennett and I...we wouldn't be here without them. Bennett was supposed to get a Synagis shot today. He has been getting one once per month since he left the hospital to protect him from RSV. Preemies are at especially high risk for this dangerous respiratory disease and the shots are common practice. The first one we were supposed to get at home was not set up properly and we ended up having to have it done at the doctor's office at the last minute. The way the insurance company wants it done is as follows: we call and the shot is delivered via UPS to our house. It must be refrigerated immediately. Then the home health nurse is supposed to set up an appointment to give the shot at our house. I'm really not sure how this saves money, but whatever. Anyway, the first month this was screwed up on the home health side, it went fine last month, and we set up the appointment for this month last month. Then the nurse calls Bernie and tells him that she can't come today and reschedules for Wednesday. This isn't a huge deal in most cases, but we are going on vacation next month. The last shot will have to be early and now the window between them is even shorter. I am going to make sure this is OK at Bennett's MD appointment tomorrow.

Did I mention the series of shots costs $1400?

I won't go into great detail about how SHITTY the oxygen company was to deal with. We sat on hold for hours and got horrible service. Not to mention the fact that they are billing our insurance company over $200 per day (should have been a monthly charge) and they are just paying it! Now wonder insurance costs are rising. We need to call the insurance and tip them off because we tried to get the oxygen company to deal with it, but they haven't.

I might as well just finish my little rant here with how much this whole ordeal has cost. I know there is probably some curiosity about it. The grand total is somewhere in the $400,000 range. This includes:

$12,000 for a helicopter ride
$30,000+ for my medical care
$2200 per day for Bennett's MD visits while in the Level 3 NICU
$250,000 for his hospital stay
and thousands more in mich. xrays, meds, labs, etc.

I do not know what someone without insurance would have done. It easily would have wiped us out. But luckily we have really good insurance and our total out-of-pocket has been about $1000. The pile of insurance statements is a bit overwhelming.

SCARY!

Anyway, I will be done with my rant now. It's hard to understand the charges for some of this crap.

We have otherwise been doing well around here. Bennett is becoming more and more social. He smiles frequently and maintains good social eye contact. We need to get him more tummy time so his head lifts are stronger. I am waiting not-so-patiently for a good belly laugh from him.

I am going to be discussing formula supplementation with the MD tomorrow. Up until now, I have been pumping and he has been getting breast milk exclusively. My relationship with the pump has been deteriorating for a while now and I am ready to give it up. I feel good about having gotten this far. I was hoping to be done by the time we go on vacation next month. I might try to lessen the pumping sessions for a bit so he can still get mostly breast milk for awhile. We will see. I feel like I miss a lot of time with him because of the dreaded pump. But I'm sure there will be guilt if I stop. It's a no-win situation.

I've been lax about posting due to the influx of guests we've had over the past ten days. Bernie's parents were here for almost a week. We laid low a lot of the time, but did fit in a really good dinner in downtown Denver. They were having a restaurant week. For $52.80 a couple could eat a full course meal (5280 being Denver's elevation). Our meal was yummy and would have normally cost $50 per person, so it was a good deal. Jackie and I did some shopping and big Bernie cooked us a few meals. The Bernie's also created a fenced off vegetable garden separated from my flowers. I intend to make good use of it this summer.

The weather here continues to be mostly warm and mild. We have had a number of days in the 60's recently. My flowers started to come up about a month ago...I just hope they don't get zapped by any sudden cold.

The day Bernie's parents left, Bernie went up to the ski hill to meet up with some friends. He stayed three nights and had a great time. He came home with a pretty ugly bruise on his leg. My mom flew down the next day. I don't know if she put Bennett down for more than 15 minutes the entire time she was here. He even slept on her a lot of the time. I got to sleep a great deal which felt wonderful. She insisted on getting up almost every time. And she cooked. Three different kinds of cookies, pumpkin gingersnap tart, and chicken enchiladas. I think I will eat some for dinner.

Sorry about the flood of new photos on Flicker, but we took a bunch over the past 10 days.

Back to reality tomorrow. Bernie's back at work and mommy and Bennett are on their own again.

We had our pictures taken yesterday at JC Penny. They were not great, but there were a few good ones. Hopefully when they are posted online people will be able to see them. They would have turned out better if the lady had been running on time. Our appointment was for 11. We fed Bennett at 10 and he was smiley and in a good mood between 11 and 11:30. The session didn't even start until 11:30 and by the middle we had a crabby non-smiling baby on our hands. That will teach me to make the first appointment of the day.

Finally getting some sleep again...

Bernie was on his day shifts this past week. I try to let him sleep as much as possible, which equals not much sleep for me. However, Bennett is sleeping for longer periods of time at night...as long as he isn't battling his gas.

The awesome news we have is that Bennett is off of his oxygen! The doctor told me to take him off of it last week. I was paranoid all weekend that he wasn't getting enough, but he was in the mid 90's at the MD's office today. This is the most exciting development in our lives in a long time. I can actually carry him around the house on a whim! I don't have to switch tanks! I can use the mei tei carrier I bought! Hooray! There are pictures posted. He's awfully cute without any crap taped to his face.

Speaking of crap, Bennett didn't poop for three days. We had a blow out and repeated blow outs over the past couple of days. Fun times! Poop everywhere.

Grandma and Grandpa Meier are visiting this week. It has been nice to have Grandma feed him sometimes and give us a little extra sleep in the mornings. Bernie and his dad have been busy building me a garden for summer vegetable planting. Bennett is snuggling with Grandma as we speak. Just wait until my mom gets here this weekend...I won't get a cuddle in edge-wise.

Welcome to Ava Michelle! And congrats to Kristen and Phil. I really hope we get to meet her before she's marrying Bennett in 25 years.

Weight update

I don't have too much to write about, but Bennett weighed 9 lbs. 11oz. on Friday!

Sending out baby having vibes to Kristen. I know you are sooooo ready to move on to the next step!

Happenings

Things are pretty status quo around here lately. We have been having ongoing gas issues with Bennett. If anyone has any advice, we/he would appreciate it. We are trying the Dr. Brown bottles. Hopefully that will help in a few days.

I got the results of my HELLP blood work. Everything was negative, so it doesn't look like I have any underlying disorders. Basically that means my chances of preeclampsia are higher than a normal woman because I've had it before, but not extraordinarily higher. My doctor did not test for every possible disorder. He did not think it was necessary because not all of them are highly correlated. I guess I just need to trust the medical professional.

Bernie has been on his overnight shifts the last few days. These are my least favorite because he's gone all night and then sleeps all day. It's rough when Bennett is going three hours between when he starts eating and eats again. But last night, he went four hours both times! This was an exciting development. Here's hoping that it continues. He has a weight check tomorrow. He's probably in the high 8 lb. range. The newborn clothes are starting to get a little tight, but the 0-3 month stuff is still a bit big.

We are planning a trip to Great Falls/North Dakota in April/May. We are going to stay a whole week in each place. Melanie has her graduation in early May, so hopefully we can make it whatever kind of celebration she plans on having. Bernie's parents are coming to visit the first week in March and my mom will be here the second week. There are also whispers of visits from Marlena and my dad at some point. We'll see. There's also a trip to Portland in the works for June. We still haven't met our new nephew who was born in August.

Bennett's Birth Story

Fair warning: This is really long...

It all started a week or two before Bennett was born. My pregnancy had been mostly uneventful. I began having intermittent pain and pressure in my upper abdomen. It would last for a couple of hours and then disappear. I probably had three episodes of this before I saw my midwife five days before the birth. I figured it was indigestion since it would feel worse when I ate. The same week I noticed increased swelling. I had not had any up to that point and even what I had then was mild compared to what I had seen other women go through.

When I told my midwife about my symptoms, she said she thought it was heartburn. I have never had heartburn in my life so I did not argue. She did check my urine which turned up no protein. This is a key sign of preeclampsia. She sent me home with advice to try Tums, Maalox, and Pepcid. That was Wednesday. I felt OK on Thursday. Friday morning I began to have the pain again. It got worse throughout the day. We went out to dinner with some friends. Sleeping, eating, and drinking were difficult. On Saturday morning, I remained pretty miserable. By this time I had tried both Tums and Maalox with no positive results.

I still had hardly eaten anything. I tried taking a Pepcid which did nothing. I actually drove myself down to Boulder to do some book shopping. That is a bit scary when I think back on it because I could have had seizures at any time. I got home and finally called my doctor at 4 PM. He told me to take a double dose of Pepcid and call him in 24 hours if I did not feel better. People started to give me all sorts of advice from drinking warm milk with honey, to eating uncooked rice, to chewing gum. I tried all of them to no avail. I sat in the shower for about an hour in order to feel better (again, scary in my condition). By 9 PM, I could no longer deal with it. I also know I was dehydrated and could not force myself to eat or drink. The pressure was unbearable. I called my doctor again and told him I was going to the hospital.

When I got to the ER the woman at the desk automatically assumed I was there to have the baby. She called up to L&D to tell them I was ready to give birth. I assured her I was not even close to having the baby and that something unrelated was going on. After I was wheeled up, I went to lie down and almost immediately threw up. This was strange since I had not thrown up once the entire pregnancy. They took my blood and did a urine test. Still no protein, but the doctor said my blood work was “borderline.” I was admitted for observation.

The doctor came to see us at midnight. He had not figured out the problem but thought it might be my gallbladder. He planned to have it looked at in the morning. They hooked me up to an IV for rehydration. I also had a pain med prescribed through it every two hours. The med took the edge off the pain for about 30 minutes which allowed me to get a little bit of sleep (between going to the bathroom constantly because of the fluids). Bernie went home to get some better sleep.

In the morning, the pain continued to be pretty nasty. I ate a little breakfast before they took me down for the ultrasound. The tech found nothing wrong with my gallbladder. We still didn’t know what was going on, but we were pretty sure it wasn’t heartburn by this time. The doctor came back at noon and said my blood work was still strange and that he was consulting with a specialist about it. He gave me Percocet and a shot of steroids “just in case you have to deliver early.” He said he was sure that wasn’t going to happen.

Bernie and I watched football. By the time 3 rolled around, I felt much better...like I was a whole new person. The pain was gone. I took a shower, changed my clothes, and told Bernie that I felt ready to go home. Five minutes later the doctor came in and told us that the helicopter was on the way. He said I had HELLP Syndrome and that the only way to cure it was to deliver the baby. Since the local hospital was not equipped to deal with a 31 week preemie, we had to go to Denver. The complications of undelivered HELLP Syndrome include seizures, liver rupture, bleeding to death, and fetal death.

The helicopter ride to Denver only lasted about 10 minutes, but it was beautiful. It was sunset on a clear day and I was facing the mountains. I also got to fly by the buildings downtown. A little silver lining to a very dramatic day.

The first thing that happened at St. Luke’s was an ultrasound. Bernie luckily made it just in time as he had to take the dog to the kennel and drive himself to Denver. The deal was: if he was head down, we would try a vaginal birth and if he wasn’t, we would have to do a C-section. The main risk with a C-section in my condition was that the bleeding would not stop because my platelets were too low. I was so happy that he was head down and that the doctor felt there was no reason Bennett couldn’t handle a vaginal delivery.

It was a bit strange, but the first thing I asked was to eat something. It had been so long and I was feeling so good that I wanted to eat. I was told that the process could take days since my body was not necessarily ready to give birth at 31 weeks. I really really wanted to eat! They let me order one meal at about 7 PM and told me they would begin the induction at 9 PM. I ordered a pizza from the hospital kitchen. It wasn’t that great when I think back on it, but it tasted pretty damn good at the time.

Promptly at 9, the nurse came in a and placed a prostaglandin capsule next to my cervix to soften it and encourage dilation. She told me that they would likely need to repeat the process multiple times. She encouraged me to get some rest and she would be back to check on me in four hours. Rest did not come easily and I spent most of the time watching the monitor for contractions. There were small spikes, but I was not feeling any discomfort. Bernie tried to get some sleep also and I think he did better than I did.

The nurse came in to check me at 1 AM. She immediately left the room and brought in a second nurse to make sure she was feeling things right. It turns out I was already 5 cm dilated. I was later told that I must have been pretty ill for my body to react so quickly to induction. Unfortunately, things began to slow down after that. Since I was at risk for seizures magnesium sulfate was started in my IV. It made me feel kind of icky. I also had to have a catheter because I was not allowed to get out of bed due to the magnesium. This was the most horrible part of the experience. It was especially uncomfortable for the first few hours and I wasn’t very nice to the nurse about it.

Things were allowed to progress naturally for a while after that. I kept hoping that my contractions would cooperate so I could avoid the Pitocin. That was not to be the case. My contractions never got any closer or stronger, probably because of the magnesium. They tried breaking my water also which didn’t really didn’t help. At about 7 AM the doctor ordered the Pitocin started. After about an hour it really started to kick in.

I probably dealt with the Pitocin contractions for about an hour before I broke down. They were horrible...worse than I ever imagined. There was never any build-up. I went from feeling nothing to feeling like someone was stabbing and twisting a knife in my abdomen. I really really wanted to forgo the epidural. This wish was not to be. I was so exhausted and simply worn down. I didn’t know how much longer the stabbing would last.

When I caved in and asked for the epidural, the anesthesiologist was there in less than five minutes. I was very worried that I wouldn’t be able to push effectively with the epidural. It actually turned out well. I was able to feel my legs and still felt the pressure when it was time to push. I only had the epidural for about an hour or a bit more before I felt ready to push. If I had been able to hold on a little longer, I might have avoided the epidural. But I didn’t know.

When pushing time came, I can’t even remeber how many people were in the room. In one section were my people and Bennett had his very own set up and people on the in the other section of the room. There were 2 or 3 doctors, 3 or 4 nurses, student nurses, and Bernie of course. He was the only person I wanted there. He held my right leg when the time came. I started pushing at 11 AM. What was really strange about the whole experience was that my contractions never got really close together. Even when I was ready to push, they were 2-4 minutes apart. I would watch the screen and push when one came. Then there would be this bizarre period of time where nothing was happening.

A word about mirrors. I thought that when I asked for one, it would be small and would be used when he was coming out. Much to my surprise, it was HUGE and was there the entire time I was pushing. It was a bit unnerving.

I would have had Bennett out sooner if the contractions had been closer together. As it was, it only took 34 minutes. Halfway through, his heartbeat was lost so they switched to internal monitoring. He weighted 3 lbs. 7 oz. and was 16 inches long. They took him away immediately to his zone where they got his breathing worked out. They cut part of his umbilical cord and Bernie also got to cut part of it. They let me kiss him before he was taken to the NICU.

My recovery was quick. My blood work returned to normal within 24 hours and I left the hospital 48 hours after Bennett was born. His development was slower of course. He was on a respirator for the first 24 hours and when they tried to take it out he wasn’t ready. One of his lungs collapsed and the respirator went back in for a few days. He had better luck the next time around. In total, Bennett spent 32 days between the Level 2 and 3 NICU’s. The average for a 31 weeker is 39 days, so he did well.

Bernie was the ideal partner to have during this ordeal. He was calm, rational, and empathetic. We later talked about how worried he was that he would lose one or both of us. I never saw this in him. Instead, he helped keep me relaxed and focused. The experience reminded me of why I love him so much.

Bennett and I received amazing medical care at St. Luke’s. I actually had my own nurse for the first 24 hours which was comforting. They were there whenever I needed anything and were very kind to myself and my family. I will forever feel in debt to them for what they did for us.

This was obviously not my ideal birth. I think back on it and am thankful that we got to do a vaginal birth. And of course I am so relieved that Bennett got here and we are both happy and healthy. However, I still get sad when I think about the whole ordeal. I thought I was in good health and that things were progressing normally. And then my fantasy birth came crashing down. I also have blank spots in my memory. I just can’t remember everything clearly. Sometimes I think about it all and remember a detail I had forgotten, like that I had to have oxygen near the end of the pushing stage. I didn’t remember that until three weeks after the birth. It has taken me this long to want to share this story in writing. Talking about it is a bit easier because it’s less permanent.

HELLP Syndrome Update

So I have been researching HELLP Syndrome since I had Bennett. At my initial post-baby OB appointment, the MD told me that the chances of having the same thing happen in a second pregnancy are very low. He said there was nothing to do to prevent it either. Well, my own research turned up the possibility of "underlying disorders." I did not understand this well at first. I asked my midwife about it at the six week appointment and she was doubtful that such things existed. Her thought was "if it is possible to predict HELLP, wouldn't we do the test on everyone?" She did say she would look into it and get back to me.

So, more research ensued. I came across the Pre-eclampsia Foundation forums on the internet. Apparently, these underlying disorders are various genetic clotting issues and autoimmune diseases (such as Lupus) that can be found through blood tests. The science of it all is very fuzzy to me, but when a person has one or more of these issues, they are more likely to suffer from Pre-eclampsia and HELLP. There is no solid proof that they cause the problems. But they can give a person a better idea of their odds of having issues. If one is found to have any of these disorders, a second pregnancy is still a good possibility. However, many specialists will suggest that you take Lovenox of Heparin (blood thinners) shots throughout, as well as a low-dose Aspirin. While the idea of injecting myself on a daily basis for thirty or so weeks is nasty, it's better that getting ill and having a premature baby. These medications have their own set of risks and the benefits must be greater before a doctor will take this course of action.

I had started to lose faith that my MD would get back to me with his own findings. I planned on pursuing a specialist appointment sometime this week. Then, he called me today and left a message with something to the effect of "Turns out there are some blood tests we can do. I will send an order over to the lab and you can get blood drawn at your convenience. " Ha! It feels good that I was serious about researching this on my own and I turned out to be right. The situation reminded me that general practitioners do not often have all of the specialized information-even in their own field. It made me happy that he was willing to look into it and not just write me off.

Needless to say, I will be going to the lab tomorrow to have the blood drawn. I have heard they take 15-20 tubes. Fun! I'm also in the process of donating some of my breast milk that I pumped while Bennett was in the NICU. More blood to give for that on Thursday. Hopefully they leave me with enough.

On a happier note...Bennett's eyelashes are growing in! For the longest time he didn't have any. He is relaxing in his swing right now halfway between awake and sleep.

Baby info overload

I am about to bore your with a few paragraphs about everything Bennett-related in our lives lately which pretty much amounts to everything.

Today is his due date! I should have been huge, lumbering, and complaining up a storm at this point. He is also two months old today. I know this sounds ridiculous, but ever since I had him I have felt a bit robbed. I have been sad that I did not get to finish the pregnancy through to it's natural end. These thoughts do not consume me on a daily basis but they have been lingering. I am thankful that Bennett is healthy and growing (more on that later). I hope now that the due date is passing, I can stop thinking about it.

On Tuesday, we noticed that when he tries to cry at a high pitch his voice is hoarse. It was very strange so we called the MD on Wednesday. He was not worried and told us to bring Bennett in on Friday for a weight check and to make sure he is doing well. His voice seems a little better, but it is still hoarse. The MD did not think it was anything serious and wants to just watch him. He does not have a cough, runny nose, or fever. Maybe it's a case of baby laryngitis? Who knows. He does weigh 7 lbs 12 oz though which is a nice healthy birth weight. He gained 21 ounces in 10 days which is quite a bit considering an ounce a day is normal. He does eat a lot though...usually 4 ounces every 3 hours. This weight gain came on breast milk only. The MD says there must be something good in it!

Speaking of breast milk, we are officially trying to switch to breast feeding. Today I have not given him a bottle since 8am. It has been somewhat difficult thus far because I don't think he takes as much as when he eats out of a bottle. Then he doesn't sleep as long. We'll see how it goes, but I think he may eat every 2 instead of 3 hours. Is no pumping worth it? I don't know yet. Monday I plan to take him to the lactation consultant and do a feed and weigh to see how much he is taking in.

I got my evaluations from teaching back yesterday. They were very positive which was nice. I thought there may have been more complaints than there were. Overall, the students seemed to enjoy the class and learn something from it.

Oh, I hear some squawking...time for round four!

My mom came to town yesterday. It was a difficult trip picking her up from the airport on my four hours of interrupted sleep. Friday night was the first time I was with Bennett alone while Bernie was on an overnight shift. There is usually a three hour interval between when he starts eating and eats again. It takes about 40 minutes to feed, burp, change, and put him back to bed. Then, depending on his gas situation, he will go right to sleep or grunt and groan for 30 minutes. Then I have to pump before I go back to sleep. So, in the end I sleep about an hour and a half between feedings. I was sufficiently exhausted. When I was driving to the airport, I missed the exit and had to go through two extra toll booths. Then, on the way home I missed another exit and to top it off I drove through the last toll booth without paying. It's a good thing they switched to license plate tolls on January 1st or I might be looking at a $450 fine. I was not in a good state of mind for driving.

Last night was better. I got up the first two times and my mom got up the last time so I got about 3 hours of uninterrupted sleep. It felt pretty good although I will still need a nap.

My mom is cooking her life away. She made tacos and muffins yesterday (double good banana muffins-they are amazing if anyone wants the recipe). Today she is making some kind of gingersnap pumpkin creme tart and manicotti. I don't know what will be on her list tomorrow. But I'm not complaining.

She is cuddling Bennett every chance she gets and is already plotting how they can gang up on me when they are older. She says that they have a common enemy. Fun times ahead.

The oxygen lady came on Friday. We did a test while Bennett ate without the oxygen to see how he did. He levels immediately dropped. He will definitely still need it while eating. We are going to try 4 hours of no oxygen today while he is sleeping and awake to see how he does. If he keeps the levels up, he will only need it while eating. I have a feeling, he still needs more time. If he does not pass, the lady said that he may need it for another 2-6 months. I was hoping for a shorter time, but he needs what he needs.

Mmm....I just ate a warm gingersnap cookie. I am going to enjoy being food spoiled for the next couple of days.

Ham hock

Bennett had his doctor's appointment today. He weighed in at 6lbs 7 oz! Huge! Okay...maybe we are a bit sheltered from the real world of baby size, but he's huge to us. He was 19.5 inches long, up from 16 when he was born. He should definitely be at average weight and height when he gets to 40 weeks (except that he'll be 2 months old). It will be odd to track his development by his age and by his adjusted age. While a full term baby might roll over at 2 months, Bennett might not until 4 months.

He just had his first full-fledged fit and still hasn't settled down completely. We're not sure what's wrong, but he had his first set of vaccinations today. He's probably pretty sore. Bernie just went out to get him some Tylenol, so hopefully that will help. My heart just about falls out of my body when he screams like that.

We are going to make an appointment with an occupational therapist tomorrow to ensure that he is developing properly. We are also getting a room air challenge tomorrow, so keep your fingers crossed that he can get rid of the oxygen. It will be nice to be able to take him around the house without having to change to the portable tank and haul it around.

Breastfeeding has been somewhat rocky, but we seemed to finally get it right today. My nipples weren't screaming and he seemed to be satisfied at the end. Hopefully the pumping and bottle feeding can be over soon. The MD gave us the okay to stop the two times per day formula. Now we will do all breast milk and check his weight again in two weeks.

What else?? Bernie's birthday is on Thursday. He will be 31 and we plan to go out to dinner. It will be our first non-medical related outing with Bennett since he came home. It will also be the first time Bernie and I have been out together. We have been taking turns leaving the house since he has been home. I better start getting used to the idea of being at home with Bennett alone because Bernie is going back to work on Friday.

My mom is coming on Saturday and staying until Tuesday. She is ultra-excited to cuddle Bennett, as you can see by her comments on the photo page. Bernie and I will get to go out alone for dinner while she is here. Exciting stuff, I know.