Ever get that feeling like you maybe bit off a bit more than you're able to chew?
I do! Pick me, pick me, I'm the one!
Brennan + Claire + 4 classes + work = Me having a complete meltdown
I have 3 research papers due this semester. I've started one, and I have little more than a topic and a rough outline.
I hate my job. Period. The end. (Hopefully this will be improving, I'm pretty sure I'm getting a new job, working in a daycare.)
Still no luck getting Brennan started on potty training. He still would rather yell at the potty than sit on it. At least we're not having to cry it out anymore, he's finally going to sleep like a good boy again. He'll be transitioning into a twin bed soon.
Claire goes for her ultrasound on her kidneys on Oct. 5th, and heaven knows I won't stop worrying until we get the results from that. Sigh.
And as hard as I try I can't get rid of the blasted fleas on the dog and cat. Sigh x 2.
Can I be a SAHM now?
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Terrified.
My readers know Claire was sick last weekend, and she had a UTI. I got a call from her pediatrician Monday and was asked to bring her in, the doctor wanted to look her over. I didn't think anything of it, just a normal follow up visit.
I was kinda wrong.
Turns out a UTI is highly uncommon in a baby her age. This is why her doctor wanted to see her. And the fact that she had such a high fever indicated to him that it was not just a UTI, but could involve her kidney(s) as well. Some possibilities that he mentioned were reflux, a duplicate kidney, or a kink in her urethra.
I have to take her for an ultrasound on her kidneys on October 5th, and hopefully at that time we'll find what's wrong and it will be easily fixed. If not, she'll be having more testing done.
Hoping for the best,
Amber
I was kinda wrong.
Turns out a UTI is highly uncommon in a baby her age. This is why her doctor wanted to see her. And the fact that she had such a high fever indicated to him that it was not just a UTI, but could involve her kidney(s) as well. Some possibilities that he mentioned were reflux, a duplicate kidney, or a kink in her urethra.
I have to take her for an ultrasound on her kidneys on October 5th, and hopefully at that time we'll find what's wrong and it will be easily fixed. If not, she'll be having more testing done.
Hoping for the best,
Amber
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Show and Tell
Hi everybody, this is my beautiful daughter Claire Madelyn Gutowski. Five months ao today, I gave birth to her. She's cute.
So in honor of her turning 5 months old, I'd like to share her birth story.
I had contractions for months before I had Claire. I was physically and mentally exhausted, sick, and so ready to have her. She was due April 24th. On April 12th I had my last OB appointement. I was 38 weeks, and she was Breech. I was told that if she hadn't come by the following Monday, I would be induced or have a c-section, depending on whether or not she turned back head down.
April 13th came, and I was still having contractions, nothing out of the normal, and I convinced myself that it was nothing like usual and went to bed that night in a bad mood, thinking about the fact that I had to wait another week, and sure I would have to have a c-section.
On the morning of April 14th, I woke up at 3 AM. I wasn't sure why at first and tried to go back to sleep, but after about 20 minutes I realized my contractions were slowly getting stronger and more regular. I held out until 5 AM, terrified that I would be sent home from the hospital again. At 5:30 I woke Logan up and told him it was time. My grandparents watched Brennan, and we headed to the hospital.
I was immediately strapped to the monitor and my cervix was checked. Imagine my surprise when I was told I was already nearly 6 cm dilated! We went with the assumption that the baby was still Breech, I was given a shot of Brethene to stop my contractions, and was told I would have a c-section sometime that morning. There were two other women scheduled in front of me. The on-call doctor ordered a flat plate x-ray to be sure that she was still Breech before they started prepping me for surgery.
She wasn't. Stinker. She gave me nothing but problems the whole pregnancy, why stop now, right?
Fortunately the Brethene wore off within about 15 minutes, and a happier woman you've never seen. It was 6:30 AM, I'm in full active labor and practically skipping up and down the hall of OB with excitement. About 7:30ish the on-call doctor came and broke my water, and I immediately jumped up to 7 cm. I went and relaxed in the jet tub for a while, still without any pain meds, I felt great. I was made for Claire's labor, I could hardly believe the difference between Brennan's labor and this one. Once I got out of the tub I was checked again, waited a while and checked again, and I got a little stuck at 8 cm. At this point it was decided that I needed the dreaded Pitocen. Oh Pitocen, how I loathe thee. I was doing awesome with my pain management before you were injected in my IV. I honestly think I could have made it through the birth without any medication if I didn't have the Pitocen. But I'm a pansy, and 5 minutes after they started it, I asked for Stadol, and promptly passed out, mouth hanging open, drool running freely down my chin. Lovely.
At 11 AM I was 9 cm, with just a little lip of cervix left. The doctor pushed it out of the way (ouch), I started pushing at about 10 minutes past. They told me she had hair halfway though and I got sooo excited!
At 11:26 AM I laid eyes on this for the very first time. Love at first sight.
I had contractions for months before I had Claire. I was physically and mentally exhausted, sick, and so ready to have her. She was due April 24th. On April 12th I had my last OB appointement. I was 38 weeks, and she was Breech. I was told that if she hadn't come by the following Monday, I would be induced or have a c-section, depending on whether or not she turned back head down.
April 13th came, and I was still having contractions, nothing out of the normal, and I convinced myself that it was nothing like usual and went to bed that night in a bad mood, thinking about the fact that I had to wait another week, and sure I would have to have a c-section.
On the morning of April 14th, I woke up at 3 AM. I wasn't sure why at first and tried to go back to sleep, but after about 20 minutes I realized my contractions were slowly getting stronger and more regular. I held out until 5 AM, terrified that I would be sent home from the hospital again. At 5:30 I woke Logan up and told him it was time. My grandparents watched Brennan, and we headed to the hospital.
I was immediately strapped to the monitor and my cervix was checked. Imagine my surprise when I was told I was already nearly 6 cm dilated! We went with the assumption that the baby was still Breech, I was given a shot of Brethene to stop my contractions, and was told I would have a c-section sometime that morning. There were two other women scheduled in front of me. The on-call doctor ordered a flat plate x-ray to be sure that she was still Breech before they started prepping me for surgery.
She wasn't. Stinker. She gave me nothing but problems the whole pregnancy, why stop now, right?
Fortunately the Brethene wore off within about 15 minutes, and a happier woman you've never seen. It was 6:30 AM, I'm in full active labor and practically skipping up and down the hall of OB with excitement. About 7:30ish the on-call doctor came and broke my water, and I immediately jumped up to 7 cm. I went and relaxed in the jet tub for a while, still without any pain meds, I felt great. I was made for Claire's labor, I could hardly believe the difference between Brennan's labor and this one. Once I got out of the tub I was checked again, waited a while and checked again, and I got a little stuck at 8 cm. At this point it was decided that I needed the dreaded Pitocen. Oh Pitocen, how I loathe thee. I was doing awesome with my pain management before you were injected in my IV. I honestly think I could have made it through the birth without any medication if I didn't have the Pitocen. But I'm a pansy, and 5 minutes after they started it, I asked for Stadol, and promptly passed out, mouth hanging open, drool running freely down my chin. Lovely.
At 11 AM I was 9 cm, with just a little lip of cervix left. The doctor pushed it out of the way (ouch), I started pushing at about 10 minutes past. They told me she had hair halfway though and I got sooo excited!
At 11:26 AM I laid eyes on this for the very first time. Love at first sight.
Claire Madelyn Gutowski
April 14, 2010 11:26 AM
6 lbs. 10 oz. 19.5 inches
Perfection.
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Nine years ago.
Nine years ago today I sat in Mrs. Dilworth's 7th grade language arts class. A senior came across the hall and gave us the awful news. When I got home from school, my mom had the news on, and I watched it with her.
I was 12 years old then, and I didn't understand.
I'm 21 years old now, and honestly, I still don't understand.
I don't understand how people can have so much cruelty in their hearts.
I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt other people so badly.
And above all, I don't understand why we can't all just accept each other.
So today, along with hoping for peace for the poor people who lost the ones they love, I'll have hope for the souls of those who felt that this was a good idea. And I'll have faith that they get their just rewards.
And above all, I'll have hope for my children, and I'll pray that they never have to lose their innocence, and never have to experience a painful disaster such as I did 9 years ago.
R.I.P. Twin Towers, and all the brave souls who went with you. We'll never forget.
I was 12 years old then, and I didn't understand.
I'm 21 years old now, and honestly, I still don't understand.
I don't understand how people can have so much cruelty in their hearts.
I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt other people so badly.
And above all, I don't understand why we can't all just accept each other.
So today, along with hoping for peace for the poor people who lost the ones they love, I'll have hope for the souls of those who felt that this was a good idea. And I'll have faith that they get their just rewards.
And above all, I'll have hope for my children, and I'll pray that they never have to lose their innocence, and never have to experience a painful disaster such as I did 9 years ago.
R.I.P. Twin Towers, and all the brave souls who went with you. We'll never forget.
Friday, September 10, 2010
What I've been doing.
Sorry I kind of suck lately, but things have been really busy. Here's a quick summary on my life at present.
I'm Working. At Staples. It sucks. End of story.
....Ok, not end of story, I need to rant a bit. I took the job assuming I would get 15-20 hours a week. That 15-20 hours has quickly escalated to almost 30. Between work, school, and homework, my kids are beginning to forget what their mother looks like.
And another thing. I applied for child care assistance from Dept. of Human Services, and they told me I make too much. So after childcare and taxes, I'm essentially working for like 50 cents an hour. Hell to the no. Not really sure if I'm going to be there uch longer, it's stressing me so badly it's not funny.
School. It's going well, just finished the 2nd week of the semester (but I hae yet to have my class that only meets on Monday. Figure that one out.) Anyway, I'm doing my best to stay caught up on homework, 2 of my profs I like, the other reminds me of a duck.
Brennan continues to grow and grow and grow. The most recent LOL story I have on him goes like this. My grandma bought him a Dora the Explorer doll, and the other day he was cradling her in his arms. When asked what he was doing he replied "feeding the baby" and proceeded to burp her and switch sides. Think he's a mama's boy much?
Claire's (almost) 5 month stats - 13 lbs. 6 oz. (doubled her birthweight!) 25 in. She laughs, loves her feet, can roll up onto her side, and has recently started taking a paci.
Yesterday I picked her up from daycare with a 103.5 F fever! Not too much to worry about though, 4 hours in the ER told us she had a virus, and to take her home and alternate Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours. She's running warm again today though, so I'll update tomorrow.
Thanks for sticking with me through my month of non-blogging!
I'm Working. At Staples. It sucks. End of story.
....Ok, not end of story, I need to rant a bit. I took the job assuming I would get 15-20 hours a week. That 15-20 hours has quickly escalated to almost 30. Between work, school, and homework, my kids are beginning to forget what their mother looks like.
And another thing. I applied for child care assistance from Dept. of Human Services, and they told me I make too much. So after childcare and taxes, I'm essentially working for like 50 cents an hour. Hell to the no. Not really sure if I'm going to be there uch longer, it's stressing me so badly it's not funny.
School. It's going well, just finished the 2nd week of the semester (but I hae yet to have my class that only meets on Monday. Figure that one out.) Anyway, I'm doing my best to stay caught up on homework, 2 of my profs I like, the other reminds me of a duck.
Brennan continues to grow and grow and grow. The most recent LOL story I have on him goes like this. My grandma bought him a Dora the Explorer doll, and the other day he was cradling her in his arms. When asked what he was doing he replied "feeding the baby" and proceeded to burp her and switch sides. Think he's a mama's boy much?
Claire's (almost) 5 month stats - 13 lbs. 6 oz. (doubled her birthweight!) 25 in. She laughs, loves her feet, can roll up onto her side, and has recently started taking a paci.
Yesterday I picked her up from daycare with a 103.5 F fever! Not too much to worry about though, 4 hours in the ER told us she had a virus, and to take her home and alternate Motrin and Tylenol every 3 hours. She's running warm again today though, so I'll update tomorrow.
Thanks for sticking with me through my month of non-blogging!
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