Some changes need to be made

Well, I know I need to lose this baby weight. I just don't have the inspiration to do it. I don't think my pregnancy cravings have subsided yet. It's been 4 months, you'd think I could get back to normal by now. No, of course I am craving a ton of crap. I try to resist but sometimes I give in. This morning for breakfast I got a Diet Dr. Pepper fountain drink and a donut. How horrible. Honestly I have not done that since I gave birth, so it's not like I am eating donuts every day or anything. You'd think looking at myself in the mirror would be enough in itself to do it. When I was pregnant, I gained 30lbs, I lost 20 right away, granted probably 12lbs of that was baby and fluid and all the other gross stuff that comes out when you have a baby. But before I got pregnant I was pushing it....

The goal, to lose 20-30lbs. Ouch, that sounds like so much! I want to try the South Beach again. Last time I did it I lost 30lbs, 11lbs gone in the first 2 weeks. It was easy then because Paul was a road driver and NEVER home. I also had my friend Deborah doing it with me, she kept her weight off, but she lives in Minneapolis now. Back then she was dating my neighbor so we'd be there in each others faces making sure we behaved.

I made one good first step, drinking more water. My Mom got me this water bottle, I call it the "bad ass water bottle". It's made by Thermos and it keeps cold water cold for 12 hours! The label told me, but I have tested it, and it really does keep water cold that long. While everyone elses water gets warm in the car or at softball, mine stays cold. I don't think I'd drink it if it wasn't cold, unless I was super thirsty. I think Thermos should make the "SUPER bad ass water bottle" and make one that makes your water cold! Speaking of, I drank all my water... better go for a refill.... ok back. At least I have made that step, one step in the right direction. Now to cut out the carbs. I am pretty good at eating good carbs... but I do eat the bad ones here and there. I lost the most weight doing SB when I was off the carbs and only had good carbs twice a week or so. Then once or twice a month I'd have a "pooey day" where I'd eat Mexican, pizza or something, but even then I didn't go all out.

I looked good then, I lost all the weight right before my wedding, which was a perfect time too. That was 5 years ago. Right after we got married, Paul stopped running the road and it got harder and harder to eat healthy, since the man loves his carbs, and his desserts. he needs to lose it now too, he's gained like 30lbs because of his back injury. He used to be so active and he can't be anymore. The extra weight on him is not good for his back either.

We went to the pediatrician on Wednesday. Jesse is doing good. Still a little on the small side, but nothing too bad. He's in the 25th percentile. He gained 2 1/2lbs since the last appointment 6 weeks ago. So now he's 13lbs 8 1/2oz. Sitting up good (while supported) and holding his head and upper body up well when he's on his tummy. Oh, and rolling over from his tummy to his back. He's reaching all the normal milestones. He got his second round of shots. The first round went much better. This time he screamed all night. He had me up until almost 2am. I let him sleep in bed with me. The doctor said he's good to go if we want to try cereal, so we will try sometime this weekend. Lets hope it doesn't go up his nose.

Over Analyzing

So, since I never get any comments on my blogs.... does that mean no one reads it or just that no one has anything to say?

Is it Illegal?

So there's a Mexican family that lives across the street from me. They have a young child. I'd guess he's 4 or 5. I don't think he was in school last Winter or Spring. Of course the family could be illegal.... but I think I am ok at guessing kids ages these days. So this kid mows his lawn, very regularly. Assuming he's 5, is this legal? What is the proper age that a kid can start mowing lawns? I'd think it's older than 5. He's also not supervised. Like if the Dad was standing right there, ok. But this kid mows the lawn while his Dad is at work (assuming) and Mom is inside. So last week, he mows the lawn then when he's finished he starts shooting off firecrackers. Paul witnesses this and texts me, "So the kid across the street finished mowing the lawn, now he's shooting off firecrackers... should I go over there and offer him a beer and a cigarette?"
Funny or scary? Do I call the cops before something tragic happens? I want to get a picture one day.

*UPDATE*
So when I finished writing this I felt the need to google proper lawn mowing safety. I found this, I am only posting the first 4, the rest are irrelevant to my blog.

The ASRM, ASPS, AAP and AAOS offer the following tips to help prevent lawn mower-related injuries:

• Children should be at least 12 years old before they operate any lawn mower, and at least 16 years old for a ride-on mower.

• Children should never be passengers on ride-on mowers.

• Always wear sturdy shoes while mowing -- not sandals.

• Young children should be a safe distance from the area you are mowing.

Making the Next Step

I can't believe my little boy is 4 months old already! Tomorrow we have a pediatrician appointment. Jesse will be getting the second round of shots. Fun fun. I will make sure he gets his Tylenol. I also plan on asking about cereal. My sister gave her son cereal around this time and it seems Jesse may be ready. He's been eating multiple bottles at one sitting. All the books say 4-6 months when your baby has doubled his birth weight. I don't think Jesse's weight is quite there, but he seems hungry, which is also a sign. He needs to be able to sit up, supported. He can sit up on the couch. I guess I need to get that high chair pad so we can use the high chair. Paul's sister is giving me her Bumbo chair this weekend. That will be ideal until he gets a little bigger. It's purple, because Jill has 2 girls. At least it's not pink. They are like $35, so Jesse will have to deal with purple. What an exciting milestone.

Paul's Surgery Post Poned

So we have not heard back from work comp after the IME (2nd opinion). His WC case worker is out of the office until July 27th, 2 days before surgery was scheduled. Unless we know that WC is paying, we will proceed when timing is right for us and make sure Blue Cross Blue Shield will cover it. So we wait to hear from work comp. We are at the point where the brace won't be done in time for the surgery and we weren't going to order it unless we knew WC would pay for it. Plus the pre-op testing is only good for 2 weeks so if WC delays surgery, we'd want to make sure he doesn't have to do everything twice. So we wait. Which is fine by me, the later the better for daycare purposes only, plus it's summer, who wants to be laid up in the summer? Paul is in a lot of pain, but he's been in pain over a year, what's another couple weeks?
I hope the IME concurs with surgery, then they will approve it for sure. If not, well then we will probably have a battle on our hands.

Recovering Nicely

Here are some photos 3 weeks post-op.

Kick me when I am down

So to add to everything else we have going on, Monday I got some terrible news.
I went to my softball game as any other normal Monday night. It was almost game time and Chris wasn't there yet. Which was strange but sometimes he's runs late for the early games. I keep saying, Chris will be here. I think Brian heard me and goes, "you didn't hear?", "No, hear what?".... Brian goes, "The baby died this morning. She wasn't breathing, they tried CPR in the car on their way to the hospital. Chris texted me at 6:45 that she died." WHAT?!? We cancelled the game.

Katy and Chris had their baby about 2 months after me, Taylor Nicole. She was about 3 weeks old and in good health (to the best of my knowledge). Katy and I really really got to know each other during our pregnancies. I even went to a prenatal swim class with her and we had a great time. I have been playing softball with Chris for about 8 years. Chris and I have also gotten closer in the past few years. They too live in Bolingbrook so we talked about play dates and how our kids would be in school together. I was looking forward to spending more time with them. This really breaks my heart. I am so sad for them, this is the worst thing that could have ever happened. Katy also had a miscarriage in her first pregnancy. I pray that they can get past this eventually and be able to be parents again in the future.

The wake is tonight. I have been crying on and off since I heard the news.

"Taylor Nicole Thomas of Bolingbrook passed away Monday July 12, 2010. Taylor was the beloved daughter of Christopher and Kathryn Thomas of Bolingbrook. Visitation will be on Thursday, July 15, 2010 from 3:00 – 8:00 PM. Funeral service will be at the funeral home on Friday, July 16, 2010 at 10:00 AM. Interment to follow"

The stress continues

Paul scheduled his surgery for July 29th. He was sent back to work on light duty starting July 5th, but because he got on the surgical schedule, the doctor took him back off work. We get a call the day after Jesse's surgery from our WC attorney, the surgery has been denied by WC due to "suspicious activity". Basically because he was sent back to work then taken right back off, they consider that suspicious. His work and the workman's comp company both congradulated him on his recovery when the work status report said "worsening pain... awaiting surgery". How can they possible think he's recovered? Then deny surgery because you didn't read the paperwork? Isn't this special. So they sent him for an Independent Medical Evaluation (2nd opinion) at Midwest Orthopedics at Rush hospital. The appointment was this morning. They told him he could not be late or his appointment would be cancelled. He left early, since Rush is downtown. He left at 6:35 for his 9:45 appointment. It's now 10:50 and he's still sitting in the waiting room. He said the place is a zoo.

So anyway, in the past week Paul got all the information about his surgery. He's not happy. We found out he will be in the hospital 4-6 days and he will be very restricted for 4-6 weeks. No driving for a month and a back brace for 3 months. He's having bone grafted from his hip and placed in his back. He has to stop smoking this week and he cannot smoke for 6 weeks minimum after the surgery. They would like him to quit totally to ensure proper fusion. What happens is they take out the bad diskc and replace them with the bone from his hip. During the 3 month recovery time, the vertibre and inserted bone should fuse together. They will also be supported with plates and screws.

The first 2 weeks will be a little rough because we don't have daycare yet. Cheryl is going to start watching Jesse daily starting August 16th. So between the surgery and the 16th I will have to rely heavily on my sister Kelly and family. I hate to make Kelly watch him every day, but she is willing to do it if need be.

Paul is very scared and depressed. At least we have Jesse's surgery behind us.

It's been 2 weeks already. I can't believe it. The surgery was a success! It was not easy, but we pulled through and Jesse was quite the trooper. Our day started early and it wasn't as bad as I thought. I thought Jesse would be more crabby than he was because he didn't get to eat all morning. The pacifier sure helped. I had gotten him up about 1:15am for his last feeding before surgery. We get to the hospital and we were one of the first. Children's surgical procedures take priority. We get Jesse changed into his little hospital gown and they take us back to the pre-surgical room where Dr. Donzelli met with us first. He's the ear doctor. He explained that he would put ear tubes in if he can. It depends on if Jesse's ear drums are big enough for the tubes. Then Dr. Semba and the anesthesiologist met with us. They explained things and told us Jesse is in good hands. A nurse came and took him away and off to the waiting room. After a short time in the waiting room Dr. Donzelli came out. He said that Jesse already had infections in both ears and he was able to put the ear tubes in without a problem. He gave us some ear drops to use 2 times a day.





Paul and I stepped out after that, we knew it would be a few hours until they called us back to see Jesse. We got back to the waiting room and played golf on Paul's gameboy to stay distracted. Then Dr. Semba came out. She took us in the consultation room and told us the surgery was a success and that one of us could go back and see him. I went back and he was not happy. He was also pretty beat up. It was hard seeing him like that. I picked him up and offerd him some bottle, he didn't want it. I didn't blame him. I sat with him for a bit, then they told me we could go to the recovery room where Paul could join us. I didn't want to put him back into the crib, so I continued to hold him and they took me in a wheelchair.




Paul met us in the new room and he held Jesse most of the time there. Paul fed him about 1 oz and the nurse took all the monitors off him and the IV out. Soon enough they gave us our directions and sent us on our way. That first night was pretty hard on all of us. They gave us Tylenol 3 (codine) and it seemed to help Jesse a lot. The way he cried made me feel so bad, but I had to keep telling myself that he will thank us later in life. This is for the best.






We didn't get to do much over the holiday weekend, but that's ok. There's always next year. We did manage to get out of the house and over to Paul's parents on the 4th. We had dinner over there and watched the Woodridge-Darien fireworks. Paul's Mom walked around with Jesse in the stroller.






We had our follow up appointment eith Dr. Semba on Friday, July 9th. She said he's healing great!