Just Add More

I had a follow up doctor appointment for the kidney stones yesterday. I wasn't surprised to find out that mine are solely caused by the fact that I do not drink enough liquids. However, I was surprised when he told me that I also need to be drinking a LOT of lemonade. Apparently, the citrus is good for the kind of stones (calcium) I had. Good thing I like lemonade and it is also nice for the horrible heat wave we are experiencing in Texas. Sadly, I was hoping the remedy would be lots of ice cream.

I also took Jordan to the doctor today. He is 6 months old now (sniff, sniff). He is 28.25" long (93rd percentile) and 15 lbs & 13 oz (30th percentile). Yep - very tall & very skinny. When I mentioned that he still isn't sleeping through the night despite the fact that I am feeding him breakfast & dinner, she told me that he needs more food. She wants me to start feeding him lunch & yogurt for snacks. On top of that, I guess I am supposed to continue breastfeeding.

For the past few weeks, I have been thinking about my dad's eating habits and skinniness. He used to eat 4 - 5 heaping plates of food for each meal and his ribs were all very visible. I wondered if this trait had been passed down to Jordan....this one trait that I wish I had gotten. How could this be inside me & not be something I possess? I also thought about how expensive our food bill is going to be in the future. I guess this is part of having a boy in our family. My husband, father-in-law, and brother are also known for being big eaters (nothing like my dad though). People are always commenting about how much they can put away. Jordan was bound to join the club.

One thing is for sure, I am going to be making lots of trips to the grocery store for lemonade & baby food.

Dr. Pain

I have been in the hospital a total of 5 times:

1- when I was born
2- when Lexi was born
3- when Jordan tried to come early
4- when Jordan was born
5- last night

I am one of those silly people that only go to the doctor if I am on my death bed, so you can only imagine what it would take to get me to go to the emergency room at midnight. Apparently, a tiny (4mm) kidney stone will do the trick. The pain had gradually been building all weekend. I seemed to be able to manage with a couple of Tylenol though. That was until 10:30 last night. I kept waiting for the Tylenol to kick in, but no such luck. I also tried toughing it out until morning. There is a reason that most people compare this pain to giving birth. However, I would rather give birth because something wonderful results from the pain. It is also easier to have a positive attitude about babies.

So, our fun night started with me waking Steve up to tell him I couldn't handle the pain anymore. I struggled to put Jordan in his carseat and gather a few things, while Steve grabbed Lexi out of bed. Steve rushed there and dropped me off at the door. I walked in thinking that I was glad they had all my information and hoping the paperwork would be quick. Unfortunately, the computers were down. Steve parked and brought the kids in. After suffering in the waiting room for a half hour, the triage nurse talked to me and took blood then arranged a room for me. I was also given a CT scan. We sat around for a long time. I nursed Jordan and waited for strong pain medication.

In the end (3am), they just gave me a prescription and sent me on my way knowing full well that I was in lots of pain. Couldn't they have slipped me one pill? We had to find 24 hour pharmacy & wait for the pharmacist to do her magic all while dragging two little ones around. I decided it would be easier to lay down in the parking lot & have Steve run me over with his truck, but he refused.

All the fun bubbled over into today. I have had very little sleep, have taken pills that make me drowsy, have a cranky toddler, have a very unhappy baby that does not want to drink formula while I am drugged, and on top of that I have to spend the next few days trying to get this stone out of me. Yippee! The truck idea is sounding really good.

We're Home

This is just a quick post to let you all know that we are home. I was released from the hospital Monday night, but Jordan had jaundice and they wanted to keep him under the lights. We spent yesterday going back and forth to the hospital so I could breast feed him, which is going very well by the way. More later...

Morning in the Hospital

My new thanksgiving thankful list should include the fact that I was just released from the hospital. This morning, I was feeling a tremendous amount of pressure and pain, so I called the doctor. She told me to go to the hospital.

I called my husband to come home from work and then called a friend to ask if I could drop off Lexi. Fortunately, she was more than willing to help out. She even offered to come pick Lexi up, but I know she has 3 little ones and that task can be quite difficult. After dropping Lexi off, I came back to pack a bag (just in case) and Steve showed up a few minutes later. We headed to the hospital.

Apparently, I am already dilated to 2cm and my contractions were 4 minutes apart. The baby's heartbeat was fine, but he is sitting VERY low. They decided to give me 3 injections of tributerol. I was told if it worked, I could go home and if it didn't they would keep me. I am only 34 weeks. Lucky for me, it did the trick. I was sent home with the instructions to "take it easy" and "drink plenty of liquids."

--Nothing was mentioned about bedrest & of course I didn't want to ask. I guess I am free to enjoy a relaxing Thanksgiving & my hubby has to make the dishes I promised to bring.