More....

3rd January 2008:

Thought I had better update my page. When Katelyn was first born, we had a lot of trouble with her, she wouldn't feed to well, continually screamed, was never happy, barely slept, very irritable, and just wore us out. At first I thought it was because I didn't have enough in my boobs, so I supplemented her, which worked a little, but she was still crying non stop. I took her her to several doctors, seen midwives, community health nurses and they all said the same...colic, so my little girl was on medication for that and for thrush of the mouth, then I was made to feel as though it was me causing all the suffering. I went back to my local dr when she was 5 weeks old and demanded to see a peadiatrician, they were all booked out for months, when I found one that had an opening for the next day, so I snapped it up. I had read up on silent reflux, and armed with all the symptoms, and ticks next to the ones she had, I headed off to see him. I told him what I thought was wrong with her, and why I thought it, and he actually sat their listening ( unlike the other dr's, who told me I am just a mother, they are the ones with the medical degrees, and that's why they earn the big bucks..patronising pricks...they can now shove their medical degrees right up their Ass), after listening to me, the dr undressed her, gave her a complete physical, then listened to her chest and stomach, asked me when her last feed was, which was 3 1/2 hours prior, then told me she had silent reflux really bad, as she shouldn't be still regutating so long after a feed, then he asked me what I would like him to do about it.. I told him to put her on Zantac ( he was very impressed that I had done my research), and told me thats exactly what he was going to put her on. He started her on 0.5, but she is now on 1.5ml. She is now 10 weeks old and is a dream baby considering, She still has her up's and down's, and she still screams for a little bit through the afternoon, but it's not a pain scream... I think she is just so used to screaming, she does it out of habit. She goes down at 10pm every night, and wakes at 10am for a feed and nappy change, then goes straight back down till 11am. She has been laughing, smiling, and "talking" to me for the past 3 or 4 weeks, which is great, means the medication is working, and she's a smart little cookie, she would see the syringe come for her, and close up shop straight away, now I have to hide her medicine in her bottle...lol. She loves her daddy, when she's having a bad time, it's dad she wants, dad can always bring out a smile on her face, and I swear she recognises her brother's name. We were coming home from holidays, and after 6 hrs on the road, she was cranky and crying, but as soon as I said we are going to see Dylan ( her big brother, who is just crazy about her), she broke out in a smile, then when we got to see him, she wouldn't take her eyes off of him. Anyway I better go, I could sit here all day and just write about my kids all day.

I found out I was pregnant on my son's 7th birthday. My mum had come over in the morning to wish Dylan a happy birthday when I walked out the bathroom and said to her " You have been on my back for 6 years that you wanted another grandchild, well your wish has come true and here is grandchild number 5", my son was so excited to hear this bit of news, as it was only the night before he asked if me and dad could have another baby right now. Jason rang about 10minutes later to wish Dylan a happy b'day but as soon as Dylan found out it was dad he couldn't help but tell dad the news before I had the chance, dad believed Dylan was telling porkies though as we had both resigned ourselves to the fact it was never going to happen.

May 23rd 2007:

I went for my 18th week ultrasound today. I was really excited about finding out the sex, but it wasn't meant to be, I was so heartbroken. I have a low-lying placenta, so the doctor is keeping an eye on it and I will have to go for another u/s in a few weeks time to check if it has risen. The babies head is also at the birth canal, not to sure what that may indicate, although that is part of the reason I have had bad pains above my hair line. Alsp the baby is only at the size of a 16week baby, but I'm to worried about that, as I have trouble eating anyway. I am going for a 4d ultrasound on the 26th May and the guy told me to drink apple juice just before I go in to make the baby move.

85 % chance that it is a GIRL

Hey everyone, I had my 4D ultrasound today 26/05/2007. They say 85% chance of a girl as she had a thing of keeping her leg's crossed at the feet and the cord wrapped around the privates, he got a look but not a really good one where he would say for certain. His going to give me a free ultrasound in 4 weeks and just check again. The apple juice really worked, she wouldn't sit still. She had her hands in a boxing poise hitting me ( I guees she is learning young against her big bro..lol. As for the feet, I'm suprised the insides of my stomach aren't badly bruised, talk about handing out free kicks. Any way it was really good on the 4D, my hubby and I had tears streaming down our face, it's just so unbelievable to see, at 19 weeks you don't get to see all the features, he reckons around 25-26 weeks is a great time to get all the physical features. Any way I'm stoked.

5th June 2007:

Hey girls and bubs, not much to tell. Bubs is being very active, even kicked the remote control off my tummy today....yeah.I have finally started gaining weight, so if I keep up with my eating bubs should be the right size soon enough, go the chicken burgers, I know it's not healthy but I am loving them, I have put on 3kg in 4-5 days, ever since the take away shop opened up locally..lol. I'm still not sleeping well at all, averaging 3-4hrs a night, doctor gave me sleeping tablets to get atleast 1 good nights sleep, eventually I gave in and took 1 but I still slept the same, so I'm never gonna touch them again...damn all I need is 1 good nights sleep to function properly.... ohh well only a few months left, when baby is born I may sleep a bit better, one can only hope! I think bubby kicked the day lights out of my back last night, I am so sore, I couldn't even get my washing off the line or cook dinner...thank godness I have an excellent mum. My first pregnancy was a breeze, no problems what so ever, maybe because I am much older this time around. I have a bad back problem anyway, got it in a school bus accident 17 years ago, so maybe that is why I am hurting so much, I owe my life to whoever invented the hot water bottle.

22nd June 2007:

I finally met my midwife who is going to deliver my baby, man she is whacky, way off this planet, hopefully that means she will be laid back. She has told me if my local doctor sends me to the hospital for any reason, I am not allowed to go until I have called her and she will meet me their. She has booked me in to see an anthesist, as she believes I will defintly be having a c-section, for some reason she dosen't think my placenta is going to budge, I have scoliosis which means an epidural is out of the question, oh well, I would rather be completly knocked out anyway. I am having another 4D ultrasound tomorrow, just to double check on the sex, the tech told me to come back and he would give me a free one ( so he should considering it cost me $215 in the first place...lol). I am still not putting on weight, although my tummy is quite big, I had to go out and buy new shirts and new track pants.... ohh and new pj tops.

2nd July 2007:

Wow today I really must have gotton out of bed on the wrong side, my nephew stayed last night, and he even commented on it, but he dosen't realise it's him that is the problem, he is going up to my son and saying " go ask your mum ........", my nephew is 13, I'm sick of ppl using my son. They have asked me 8 times if they can go motorbike riding, how mant times do you have to say NO. I have a bad case of the flu, coming up to 4 weeks now, and getting worse, my son and I are passing it back and fourth, and he wonders why I don't want him outside in these gale force winds! I went for my 4D u/s 1 week ago, the sonographer says he has never seen a baby like this, he reckons this is the first he has come across that thinks kicking and moving constantly is for something to do. I am booked in on 4th July, he wants me to have the fullest bladder so baby can't move. This time I am paying the $215 for it, cause now is the right time to see all the features, lets hope I get a 100% Girl this time. I have 3 months left to shop and at the moment all I have is one box of nappies and a cot. To make matters worse Hubby is being sent away for work for 6 months, so looks like I am on my own. He will be home of a weekend, but thats not the point, he won't be their for my appointments, or for our son when he wants his dad.... out of the blokes in the company, why send my man away?... but in another way finally ME ALONE TIME, he will be home for the birth.... if the baby takes longer then 2 1/2 hrs to arrive, and they r giving him his 2 weeks holiday, and if I have to have a c-section, they r looking in to paternity leave for him so he can help us all. O well their is my vent for the month. I'll update when I know what I am having.

19th July 2007:

So I went for my uptenth 4D u/s, this baby defintly isn't going to be a very co-operative baby thats for sure. Baby bounced around and hid her tiny face. The guy who does these u/s's is so lovely, he told me to come back and it won't cost me a thing, even if I have to go back another 5 times, he refuses to be beaten...lol. I might fo back in a week. I'm getting really sore these last few weeks, I think I am getting fluid in my feet, and legs, I am constantly getting leg cramps in the middle of the night, being on my feet for to long is a real killer, and damn my back really really kills. I think my scoliosis is finally packing it in, but I believe my back, legs, hips, feet and adominal pain are all linked in together. I am seeing the DR tomorrow to find out what is happening, I can't even walk to the kitchen and it's just me and my son home. I finally went out and brought a mattress and mobile for the cot yesterday, and I lay-byed the bedding and carseat, so I am finally getting off my ass and doing something...lol.

24th August 2007:

I thought I had better update my page, it's been a while. Things are starting to get better, I see my midwife every 4 weeks still, so I guess all my tests came back good. I have had an infection down their, but apparently we are prone to it now, as we can't empty our bladders properly and the bacteria builds up, I also had the flu with it, I can't wait till winter is over, only 7 days until spring, then I can get active and do my gardening which I love doing. I can't mow the lawn anymore as my little one hates the ride on mower, I end up in gruelling pain everytime. I think I am getting into the nesting stage, I want to rearrange my kitchen as I am to big to get to the fridge, also on the agenda this weekend is cleaning out all the sheds and doing a tip run. The only thing I refuse to do is the babies room. I know I have been told a few times that it is a girl, but I just can't shake the feeling that it may still be a boy, so mum will set it up once baby is born and before we come home, everything I have is pink/purple, but it is all exchangeable incase it is a boy. I don't have any expectations on anything and just going with the flow, if baby is a boy or girl I don't care as long as bubs is healthy, I also don't have a birth plan, nothing ever goes as plan, and my midwife is cool with that, I told her I will leave it all in her capable hands, the only thing I have asked for is a bar heater and loads of towels, the reason being, I cannot have pressure on my back, even a massage hurts, so I heat towels up on the heater and lay the across my back, ohh and no matter what happens, no epidural, if I need an emergency c-section they will completly knock me out. I'm just debating on how long to stay in hospital for, I can be out within 12 hours if thats what I choose, but I would like to be their to get the baby photos done like I did with my son, but on the other hand my son is such a mummies boy, he wants me home straight away, and to make matters worse it his soccer presentation is for the same day the baby is due, so hopefully I go early, I have never missed anything of my son's and I'm not prepared to start now. Hubby and I are getting on better, although he still won't help around the house or with the livestock, but I have to give him credit, he took the day off the other day and went into the city and brought me some bullets. We are having trouble with the local dogs and foxes pulling our stock down and mauling them, so if need be, I can shoot the mongrels before they have a chance to take anymore of my animals, arghhhh a pregnant women with a rifle in her hands, would u trust her?...lol. Baby is being very active, every night I lay their and feel her kick for an hour, thats our time to bond, I stroke her and chat with her, although last night she refused to move, I think I drifted off at about 5am, I stayed awake crying cause she didn't kick at all, she had me stressed out till lunch time today,.

BIRTH STORY

So I woke at about 2am Thursday morning with all the normal pains, had no sleep, hubby went off to work at 5.30am, by 6.30am he was on his way back home...lol, the boss was good about it, just said "I was waiting for this to finally happen...lol", So I had contractions on and off all day but they were all over the place, every 6mins, then every 11mins, sometimes 20mins, so I just did the house work, caught up on all the washing, (although trying to hang washing while a contraction sweeps over ure body and ure stuck on a fours with 2 dogs deciding to lay under u is no fun) By 10.30pm Jason rang my midwife, who told him to put his finger in and see what he could feel, I have never seen a guy jump 100 feet, so I asked him what was wrong and he told me he could feel a head so the midwife told Jason to take me to hospital where they checked for dilation and I was only at 1cm, although she felt a head, but something was wrong with my cervix which was stopping it from thinning, so they sent me home with 2 painkillers and was told to have a bourbon, which I did. So I'm back at home in bad pain as babys head was right down at the vagina ( where the pubic hair is), so every movement killed me, tried the bath, but to much pressure, so I lived on all fours literally crying and screaming. By 4am I felt constipated, so everytime a contraction hit I used that time trying to go to the toilet, by 4.30am their was a huge whoosh, which I learnt was my water popping. Hubby sprung up from his sleep and tried dragging me out the door, but I was not going anywhere ( amoungst this time, I was on the phone to my midwife who was telling me it was all in my head, so I told her where to go and hung up in a fit), anyway mum rang the ambulance to come and get me, they turn up, I'm still bearing down trying to go to the toilet, when 4 big burley men storm thru the doors to find me on all fours butt naked telling every one to go get themselves stuffed, hubby kept trying to cover me up, but I couldn't take the weight of anything on my back, and by this time I felt as though all dignity I once had, had flown out the window anyway, by at 5am I'm in delivery ( mind u all the way to hospital, the stupid ambo woman kept saying ure not dilated, and I'm screaming with every bump), so my midwife decides to check for dilation, and informs me I'm 10cm and all the time I was trying to go to the toilet at home, was in fact me trying to push her out, turns out my cervix was stopping her. By this time I'm up on all fours trying to deliver, the midwife sticks her hand up their through a contraction and moves my cervix to the side,by about 6am I have had enough and my knees feel like they are being grazed so I try over a beanbag ( how un0comfortable), so then I thought stuff this, I'll do it on my back, by 7.30am her head was out, and I was left like that for 10mins while the midwife was shi$$ing herself, turns out my baby was stuck and the chord was wrapped her head and shoulders, so she keeps making me push ( turns out while baby was coming down the birth canal, she was turning into all different positions, I ended up having her spine on spine), so I'm pushing and screaming begging this to be all over with, when suddenly she shouts for me to flip over onto all fours, not that they gave me a friggin choice in the matter, next minute I'm being thrown over by hubby and midwife and they dragged her out of me, I was so buggered by this time, I couldn't even move, but I remember the midwife throwing my daughter ( yes I said throwing, not placing) under me, and told us to breathe in her face to get her breathing,so I roll over onto my back, scoop her up, and Jay starts breathing in her face, then we are given a wand to put in front of her to help her breathe. Then they placed her on my tummy, that's when I finally checked to see if I have defintly got a girl, the nurse had no idea and never checked so I picked her up had a look and announced we had a girl, hubby was bawling his eyes out, not just at the fact that we had a daughter, but at the fact we nearly lost her. I then ended up having a needle to deliver the placenta, which ended up coming out 2mins later in full ( with my son it broke inside of me and took forever to come out), then all I wanted was a shower, I was drenched and felt horriable, so 2 hrs later I finally get to shower and eat. She latched on and a fed without trouble ( or so I thought), so then trouble begins. I was released from hospital that day and ended up being re admitted at 9pm that night as she wouldn't feed, had no wet nappies or poo nappies. I stayed in they helped me feed her, but she screamed the night away. They released me the next day at 10am, and then it all went in circles again, feeding, screaming, no wet nappies etc, but constant screaming. I spoke with the nurses about my flow, which to me is non exsistent, they tell me all is fine and dandy, but again with my son, all he had to do was cry and my shirt would be soaked, this time I haven't even used a breast pad, so today I went down and brought a tin of reflux formula, fed her, she drank 10ml and is now asleep, has been for an hour now and hasn't cried or screamed once. I believe she has acid reflux ( apparently if mum suffered heartburn, good chance baby will get it), she has tried to spew, u can c it come up, but goes down again straight away, so here I am with a blissful baby thanx to mothers instinct, I think she got more out of that bottle then she does in an hour on my boob ( thats how long she would feed for, every half hour). Anyway her name is Katelyn Lorraine Dawn Thomas, born at 7.58am, weighing 3565grams, 7lb 14.3ounces, 53cm long ( just short of 21inchs) and her head is 35cm, and she was by far the easiest out of my 2 to give birth to. My first labour went for 76 hrs.

My advice to all mothers, is FOLLOW URE GUT INSTINCT