Finally...Wonderful Doctors!

As we approached Lula's two month check-up, I became nervous, aware of the fact that her immunizations were supposed to begin today. Though I had already begun to think about whether we wanted Lula to obtain all of her vaccinations or not, I hadn't put the time in to do the needed amount of research to make a solid and confident decision about this "hot topic." Discussing this issue with other mothers, I became aware of many of the debates, concerns, and rumors surrounding this topic...and I became frustrated and worried about having to make such a big decision for my child. Because Jay and I hadn't discussed it thoroughly, I didn't feel comfortable proceeding with the numerous shots Lula was scheduled to receive today. While I felt confident about holding off on the shots until further inquiries had been made, I prepared myself for the typical battle against the medical community I was sure would ensue when we contradicted the routine procedures. I was so gladly mistaken!

Those who have been following my blog may be aware that I'm not very confident in the medical community as a whole. Generally, I don't like to take medicine and often find the "advice" and "diagnoses" of doctors to be obviously rote and not thought out. I am tired of being treated like an unintelligent fool who can't think through my own problems and issues. As a matter of fact (my grandmother will love this!), I decided not to do my two hour diabetes test to make sure my gestational diabetes had gone away because my doctor wrote off my explanations for why I didn't need to have the test. He didn't even listen to my reasoning, and when I proceeded to try to explain, he barely listened and simply repeated himself. How about a discussion? How about assuming that I'm an intelligent adult who doesn't want to be treated like a child? If he had been willing to take the time to listen to me, reason with me, offer a thorough explanation, I might have taken the test. However, he angered me to the point of simply writing him off as he had done me. Now this may sound like a child throwing a temper tantrum and so you would ask, are you really an intelligent adult?! I know, I know...I've always been a bit rebellious when it comes to people telling me what to do with no explanation or discussion...this was not a good trait to have during the teen years!

So, what is my point? Lula's appointment went completely opposite of the above and I was so pleased that we just might go ahead with Lula's immunizations! The doctors and nurse practitioners at Dr. Michael Hanks office (in the Turner Center) are absolutely wonderful! We've met three of the four doctors/nps and loved all three of them. They take the time to address your concerns. They do not assume that there is always something wrong with your child. They do not prescribe medicine when they're not really sure what's wrong or if they don't think it's necessary even if the parent does.

Today when we told the doctor that we weren't comfortable with Lula getting her immunizations right now, she was perfectly OK with it! I was amazed after hearing horror stories from friends of this same conversation with their pediatricians. Not only was she OK with it, but she took at least 15-20 minutes to answer our questions and explain her viewpoint on the issue without ever looking down her nose at us. She said several times how that office wanted parents to feel comfortable about the decisions they were making and to feel understood. It was terribly empowering to hear her speak. To feel like my ideas and concerns were important and legitimate made a world of difference with how I feel towards doctors in general and also about this topic. Because of some of her reasoning and explanations, we will probably proceed with Lula's immunizations. Whereas if she had blown us off or acted as if we were backwoods ignorant fools, we probably would never have Lula immunized simply because I would have felt like there was no rational reasoning behind it.

While my decisions are obviously rather emotion-driven, the fact is, I would like rational, reasonable, intelligent answers to my questions and concerns. So a note to any doctors out there that might be reading this...treat me like an equal and you might just win me over. Treat me like an idiot, and you can be sure I will fight against you even more.

Side note: Lula is as healthy as can be. She is average weight and height. And her head is average too! Well, Jay is finally home...hopefully with a cheeseburger! I'll explain what the doc said about immunizations in a future blog for those curious! And no, Grandmother, I will not take my diabetes test!

Lula's New Hats

I love hats on babies...and especially on Lula! So I bought her some on ebay. They're a little big for her now, but should be perfect for this fall/winter. I know I'm totally biased, but how cute is this baby!?

The First Fall

During a recent "photo shoot" (I use that term very loosely as I have neither a professional grade camera nor professional grade talent!) Lula took her first fall. I've often heard the familiar story of a baby rolling off a bed while a parent was standing "right there" and wondered how someone could so easily let their child roll off of something while watching. Now I know! Thankfully it wasn't such a far fall. She was laying on an ottoman in her room while I turned the camera on, and within a split second she had rolled off and onto the very fluffy fur rug which lays on top of carpet. (Notice that her landing was very plush and her fall not that far! This is how I make myself feel better about the incident.) Despite the plush landing, Lula let out a scream I hadn't heard before. It probably scared her more than anything as there are no bumps or bruises to be seen and she calmed down very quickly. Yes...I still feel bad...but she'll survive and so will I! And so following are the pictures that caused the event as well as some others. Seven weeks today, she is just as wonderful as day one, though definitely showing more personality these days! Her latest development: wonderful little smiles! And she's holding her head up more and more on her own, which seems like the greatest thing in the world. Enough talk...on to the good stuff!

Super Lula!

My little baby doll

More baby legs!

Please stop taking pictures of me, Mom!

Dearest Husband...

Following is a letter to "Dearest Husband" though I'd like to be clear that I'm writing to husbands in general and not my own dear sweet very understanding and gracious husband who would never need a letter like this. Though he jokingly has asked the question, "What have you been doing all day?" he knows better than to ask it seriously. However, I know many husbands do. So this is a letter to them. The following events did take place and none of the story has been exaggerated for entertainment value...it didn't have to be.

Dearest Husband,

When you came home from work today to find the house a wreck and dinner no where in sight, you asked me what I'd been doing all day. After all taking care of a baby who sleeps most of the day can't be that difficult, right? So I thought I'd write you a letter to explain just what I've been doing all day.

After Lula's morning feeding which I moved up 30 minutes so I could feed her before my doctor's appointment later today, I quickly dressed myself and changed her diaper. I had already prepared my grocery list and bag to be ready to leave as soon as she had finished eating. I placed Lu in her car seat. Then returned to get the dogs corralled in the laundry room. Then Lula and I headed to the grocery store. I put Lula in her sling as this seemed like the easiest way to tote her through the store. However, for some reason she decided to turn her head towards my body and I was worried the entire time that she was suffocating. I continuously tried to turn her head, but she wouldn't cooperate. So every few minutes I checked to make sure she was still breathing. This was very stressful!

Near the end of the shopping trip, Lula decided she was tired of being woken unexpectedly and started screaming her head off while every one looked on as if I was a horrible mother and torturing my child in her very comfortable sling. We finally got to the car where I settled her in her car seat at which point she instantly stopped crying. A lady returning her cart near my car said, "Someone's finally happy," making me realize that people had actually been watching and it wasn't just my paranoia as a new mom. Haven't people ever heard babies cry before? It's what they do!

Returning home, I got Lula out and put her down in her crib to finish her nap. Instead she simply stared into space for the next hour while I put the groceries away and tried to lay down for a few minutes myself. Around 9:30 I fed her again, played with her for a few minutes, and put her back down for the next nap. This all took about an hour. I tried to sleep a little more as I still felt delirious from the eventful night before where I had very little sleep. Knowing I had a doctor's appointment coming up at 1pm, I set my alarm for 11:30 so I could eat and prepare before Lula woke up.

At 11:30, I woke, ate, and prepared to leave for the doctor's appointment. At this time, I received a call from a dear friend who needed somewhere to leave her dog for a few hours. She dropped the dog off which of course caused my Maggie to start barking. I went to get Lula and brought her downstairs where the dogs were behaving fairly well together. As I fed Lula I watched our visitor run up and down the stairs looking for her owner. Nearing the end of her meal, Lula unlatched and made sounds that can only mean we are about to be covered with her projectile vomit. Sure enough, she blew. I was able to catch a lot of it on the burp cloth, but it still went all over me, her, the boppy, and the couch. It was 12:35. Debating whether to cancel my doctor's appointment or not, I sat covered in milk, and finally decided that I had to learn how to deal with such catastrophe's and live my life.

I first put the dogs up so that our visitor wouldn't follow me upstairs, but this caused Maggie to start barking hysterically for the rest of the following episode. This was my background music. Cleaning up the mess as quickly as I could, leaving the slip covers and boppy for another time, I rushed upstairs, took my clothes off and proceeded to change Lula. Lying on her changing table, which no longer has a cover because what's the point, I undressed her, naively leaving her sleeper under her as I checked her diaper. Un-diapered, the cool breeze enticed her to pee. Following this, she decided to poop. She has just transitioned into pooping about once a day. So when she does go, she really goes! Her entire outfit, already covered in milk and pee, was now covered in runny poop. It was then I decided to cancel my appointment, changing it for a day when Jay could watch her while I went.

Deciding on a plan of action to get her cleaned up, I got a wet rag and extracted the soggy, dripping garment from under her. I ran it to the bathroom sink and returned to clean my child only to find that she was peeing again. Only this time there was no cloth under her to soak it up. So it went completely up her back and soaked her hair. Not sure how to get this now soggy, dripping child clean, I simply picked her up and put her in her bathtub where she received a bath in the middle of the day instead of at night as usual. Now clean and in a new outfit, I decided to see if she was still hungry since she had just gotten rid of every fluid that could possibly be in her body. Letting the dogs out of the laundry room, they began chasing each other causing quite a raucous.

I attempted to warm a bottle for Lula since I was depleted, and then I sat down at the table to feed her. She tried to eat a little, but was rather distracted from all the barking that was going on. So I took her upstairs where I was followed by our little visitor. She wasn't really interested in eating though. So I put her down for a nap as she seemed exhausted. My friend came back at this point to pick up her dog. I then attempted to clean up the house a little. I removed the slip covers from the couch, got the laundry from upstairs and started to spray everything down. I debated whether to simply throw away the soiled sleeper, but decided to salvage it. So I sprayed it with Shout It Out and started to throw it in when I realized that there was poop down in the feet of the sleeper. So I rinsed it out in the sink, sprayed it again, and threw it in the wash with everything else. I got that started and tried to do a few other things around the house. Then I looked to see that Lula was staring into space again. I hated for her to be awake and me not interacting with her. So I brought her downstairs and turned a movie on I've been watching over the past few days. (It's nearly impossible to watch a whole movie in one sitting these days.) She immediately fell asleep in my arms with her pacifier. I couldn't keep my eyes open. So I turned the movie off and we took a nice long nap together. After this she ate again, barely, and immediately went back to sleep.

The rest of the day was "normal" thankfully. But that, dear husband, is what I've been doing all day!

Love,
Your tired wife

Baby Legs

Nana went on a little shopping spree for Lula and she now owns three pairs of Baby Legs. Can I say that every child, boys included, should have at least one pair of Baby Legs? They are absolutely adorable, very versatile, and can be worn for years. Mom also insisted on buying Lula some hair paraphernalia after several people mistook her for a boy...I do have a lot of "neutral" clothes and baby gear. So here are some pics of her new items.



The reason Lula looks so content in these pictures is because it's the calm before the storm...meaning a storm of throw up. So much for a photo shoot!

Lula loves her little bouncer. Here's a perfect example of why people think she's a boy! But I don't care. I love the neutral things!

Mollie likes to stand guard in case we turn our backs and Lula's toes are up for licking...or the pacifier comes out and Mollie can confiscate it.

Nana's last days with Lula. She's pretty in love and kept threatening to put Lula in her suitcase. It was wonderful having her here and her presence has definitely been missed today...my first complete day with just Lula and me...as Jay is out of town as well.



We miss you, Nana!

Firsts

Lula is 4 weeks old today and therefore has had a lot of "firsts" recently. We started receiving mail for her for the first time including her social security card. My comment was, "well, now she's real." Jay thought it was amusing that the social security card made her a real person. Oddly enough, Evie, who was staying with me for the week to help out, made the same comment! It was very strange to see her name on mail. It really did made her seem real for some reason.

Lula also celebrated her first Mother's Day...well, I guess I celebrated MY first Mother's Day because of Lula! We had a lovely evening at Lola's in Nixa with Pat, David, Jay, me, Lula, and my mom. My mom flew in Friday to spend 10 days with us. This is the first Mother's Day I've had with her in years. It is so wonderful to have her here. She's been giving Lula a bottle at her late night feeding which allows me to sleep for 5-6 glorious hours! I'm not sure what I'll do when she leaves! Here is Pat feeding Lula at Lola's. She made it through the whole meal and only started squawking at the end.

Three generations: Mom, me, Lula...Pat, Jay, Lula
Lu was NOT happy about being woken from a peaceful nap to play dress up. After Jay and Mom tortured her for a while changing her into numerous outfits that still don't fit my tiny fairy, Mom and I decided on this fru-fru dress that actually fits her!
Oh what a day! Lula also had her first gusher this week...meaning not spit up, but throw up. I was feeding her on the couch while mom was upstairs working on the computer. Lula took a break and was still laying on her side facing my uncovered body when I heard what sounded like a burp rising up from her tiny belly. But it was MUCH more than that! She projectile vomited three times in a row and literally covered both of us, the boppy, and the couch. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry and was doing both while I yelled for mom to come help. I'm not sure what I would have done if she hadn't been there! She got a wash cloth and we started with Lula. We got her cleaned up and Mom took her while I stripped from the waist up and then stripped the boppy. I then wiped down the couch as best I could (good thing it's slip-covered!) After all of this, I looked up to find that Mollie had stolen Lula's pacifier off the coffee table and was enjoying her new "toy." Still half naked, I ran over to get it from her before she destroyed it. As I approached her with a reprimanding tone, she rolled over on her back with the pacifier still in her mouth just like a baby! It was too hilarious and I held onto her paw while Mom searched for the camera. Remember I'm still half naked, it's broad daylight and the blinds are all open! But we had to get the picture! Modesty? What's that? It was quite a morning!
Laid back Lu:


Lula also had her first "real" bath this week since her cord finally fell off last week. I was thrilled to use my "Euro Tub" and Lula seemed to love it too. She was so relaxed in fact that she proceeded to poop in her tub after we had completely cleaned her! After we got her out and completely cleaned from her own filth, I laid her down to put her diaper on and she decided to pee! So much for a clean baby!

God is the Boob

Sacrilegious? Perhaps, but also an excellent analogy of our relationship with God. As I've spent many hours feeding Lula over the last three weeks of her new life, I've had lots of time to think and speculate. As I watched my precious little one try to nurse one day, it occurred to me that the way she was reacting to my breast was a perfect analogy for the way we react to God. (Stay with me here...there is a point!) Often as Lula begins to root to be fed, I will pull her close to me within inches of the very source of sustenance she is seeking. But instead of latching on to the one thing that will fill her belly and satisfy her, she turns her head away as far from me as she can with mouth wide open. I gently have to turn her back towards me to guide her. Then just as she is about to latch on, she will stick her little fingers in her mouth instead and suck greedily on them hoping to quench her hunger only to find that is not the source she is looking for either.

As I watch her do this over and over, it occurs to me that we do the same with God. He has exactly what we need, but we often seek other sources to find fulfillment. It's not that He's missing or far away, it's that we're seeking in all the wrong places when He is right in front of us. Not only that, but He often tries to gently nudge us in the right direction, but we resist and try to find our own way. Most importantly, Lula can finally find my breast, even take it in her little mouth, but if she doesn't latch on and start sucking, the milk will not flow. Actually, the milk does flow in my case, but she doesn't get any of it! The same is true with us. We can go to church, own a Bible, even pray a little here and there, but if we don't really "latch on" and start "sucking" we're left high and dry, terribly hungry, and very unsatisfied just like little Lula. The river of life is there, we simply have to latch on. Just latch on, little Lula.