My new home...

Is AI duPont. Did you know they have computers here?!? It's only taken me how many years to figure this out? Jess, why didn't you TELL me?!? Henry's been here since Monday afternoon, and I just now found out that there was a computer that I could check (read: delete 1000+) my email. So, since Ed is hanging with the kiddo I figured I'd post a quick update. Can you tell I'm sick of the hospital yet? So, yeah. I'm here, with the Henster. If you want to send him a card, feel free. You just need to know his name and room number (3E-7) I believe :) I'll update all the exciting events when I get home, if I EVER get home.

ETA: I'm never going home. Ever. Well, maybe tomorrow (Friday) evening, but I don't think I'd bet on it. Feel free to send chocolate!

Registering for kindergarten...

Otherwise known as more paperwork than I filled out to get into college! I ran over to the elementary school Keith will be going to yesterday and picked up the registration paperwork. Oh. My. Goodness. I feel like I'm back in school taking final exams! To be accepted into kindergarten, they need the following:
1. Registration Form
2. Proof of Residency in the District
3. Birth Certificate
4. Affidavit of Support (if applicable) (I don't even know what this is, so I'm going to assume it's not applicable)
5. Physical & Current Immunization Record

Whew. I'm tired just typing that out. I know, I know, it doesn't look like much. But trust me, it is. There's the registration form - name, address, parents, emergency contacts, you know, the basic drill. Then there's the "Home Language Survey" where they need to know what language(s) the child speaks, and if the student "has attended any United States school in any 3 years during his/her lifetime". That confused me too, so I skipped it. What's a United States school? A school in the US? Why don't they just SAY that? Anyways, I skipped it. Then there's the consent to let them take pictures of your child, then the "Parental Registration Statement" which the parent fills out and says whether or not said child has ever been (or is currently) suspended and/or expelled. I really hope that they give this to students entering ALL grades, not just kindergarten. Then we have the "Consent to Release Student's Records Request for Permission to Collect Personal Data." I feel like there's some punctuation missing in that title. I didn't understand that form, either, so I skipped it too. I think it had something to do with Special Education. I guess they'll tell me if Keith NEEDS it filled out, right? Then there's the health history that the parent fills out. Two pages. Then there's two pages of health history that the doctor fills out. AND the one page dental history that the dentist fills out. And a "Medical Statement for Children with Special Needs in Child Nutrition Programs" - I skipped this one, because Keith eats anything and everything. Then a form about school buses, an immunization record form (Pennsylvania has a Medical and a Religious Exemption, and the Religious Exemption includes a strong moral or ethical conviction similar to a religious belief - it's on the back of the green immunization card), and then the last form. I needed help on this one! It's the "Parental Input for Student Placement Form." It's a piece of paper divided into four boxes. In each box is a question (does this sound like some crazy math word problem yet?!?). Actually it's not a question, it's an unfinished sentence which I, as the parent, am supposed to complete.
1. As a person, my child is:
2. As a learner, my child is:
3. My child would benefit from a classroom that is:
4. My three main expectations for the school year are:
I think my main problem with that page is it REALLY makes me feel like I'm back in school, and honestly, December 9th, 1997 was one of the top ten days of my life. For those of you who couldn't figure out (thanks, but really, I'm not that young!), that was the last day I ever set foot into a classroom in college. Last day of school, last day of finals, you've got it.

I thought I was done!

Ball, flower, and pretty

Henry says three new words!! In the past day he's starting saying ball (with the "B" sound - this is big for Henry!), flower, and pretty. I don't know what has me more impressed - that he says three new words or that he says three new words that don't start with a "D". Will wonders ever cease?

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...

Spring is FINALLY here! Yesterday the high was somewhere around 75 degrees - my kind of weather. Keith played outside ALL DAY LONG, even though he wasn't feeling too hot. He kept saying "but mom, summer is here. I must play" and who am I to argue? So he played. And Henry and I joined him for about an hour. My mom said that Henry would figure out how to get up the swingset ladder and down the slide sometime this summer, but I don't think she meant early April! It took Keith showing Henry what to do once and that was all she wrote.

Closet Case

So we were packing the nonessential stuff in the kitchen this past weekend. In other words, we packed the cabinets that we haven't opened since we moved the stuff INTO them five years ago. Do you have ANY idea how many wine glasses we own? WAY TOO MANY. And this is me saying that, so you know it's a lot. Anyways, we packed (and got rid of) a boatload of wine glasses, and the 1.1 million coffee cups, and some other random stuff. As well as the tupperware cabinet. We got the tupperware cabinet empty, and a few minutes later heard Henry jabbering away and it sounded like he was in the kitchen. So Ed goes in there to get him, and he is nowhere to be found. He turns to go back to the living room, and hears Henry jabbering again. So he opens the tupperware cabinet. And finds this:

Geronimo....

I guess that's what Henry was thinking when he propelled himself out of his crib head first this morning. Fortunately Keith was there and caught him (way to go Keith!) before he cracked his head on the ground. I guess this means that I need to drag the toddler bed out of the basement and hope he stays in it at night? Ugh. I swore this kid was going to be in his crib until 1st grade at the very earliest - shows you how little I know!

Eleven days...

Eleven days until our child support order for Ed's first son is terminated. Can you believe it??? It's been a long time coming - Ed's son will be 20 in May! So the final countdown is on! And on that note...

Wish me luck.

Lots of it. Henry had a hearing test yesterday, and it came back that the poor boy can't hear all that well. Boy do I feel like a crappy mom - I figured he heard fine, since he'd turn towards noise and all that. Yeah. Oops. Apparently, he has fluid behind his eardrums, so he hears like you do when you've been on an airplane and your ears haven't popped. Huh. No kidding. So I met with the ENT guy at AI duPont after the hearing test (yes, I LIVE at AI duPont, in case you were wondering), and he came in, asked if Henry's had a lot of ear infections (no), asked if he has a stuffy nose a lot (no), then said "I think you should get tubes put in his ears to drain the fluid. Here's what the surgery entails blah blah blah, here are the risks blah blah blah." Then he left. Oh wait, before he left he handed me a surgery consent form which almost sent me into a panic thinking that this guy thought he was going to operate on my baby NOW lol. If you know me, you know my feelings about doctors and medicine and all that, so I came home and called my cousin. My cousin is a naturopath, so whenever I have a question I call and get her two cents about it. She said it could very possibly be a dairy sensitivity that is causing the fluid buildup, so we've decided we're going to cut out dairy for a month and see if he improves, and if he doesn't we'll seriously consider the tubes.

Yeah. So we're cutting out dairy. Dairy you think - that's not too hard. Just don't drink milk, right??? And we don't drink that much milk, anyways. Yeah. Dairy, in case you didn't know, isn't just milk. It isn't just milk, cheese and yogurt, either. To cut dairy out of your diet, you have to cut out ALL dairy products. Which include, but are not limited to, milk, whey, dried milk solids, lactoalbumin (say WHAT?!?), curds, butter, lactose, potassium caseinate, calcium caseinate, sodium caseinate (seeing a pattern here?), casein, cheese, some margarines, and cream.

Please pray for me!

Well dad, you see, the little hand is on the three!

Keith and I have a deal. He's always bugging me to sleep in my bed, so we've compromised that he can get into my bed after Ed goes to work. I mean, really, the bed isn't big enough for three people. I don't think it's big enough for two, but that's beside the point. So he sleeps with a clock (yes, a wall clock. It was his idea) which hasn't been changed since daylight savings. I told him that if the little hand is on or past the three he can come into my room - if it's not, too bad. This morning Ed gets up (around 4am), gets dressed, then goes to go downstairs. He leaves our room, and there's Keith standing there, eyes wide open, with a clock. (Ed doesn't know about our agreement). Ed says "Keith, why are you up?" Keith looks at him, without blinking, and says...

"Well, dad, you see, the little hand is on the three."

Ed, being the concerned parent he is, says "what? go back to bed." Keith goes back to his room, hears Ed go downstairs, then comes back to my room and points out that "Ed is weird, mom".

The things kids say.

Ed called me later to tell me that he thinks our kid sleepwalks because he had some strange conversation about hands and threes and clocks. Gotta love the lack of communication in our family!

I've made it in life...

I am now a soccer mom! Well, I don't have a minivan yet, but with two kids and one on the way, I'll probably have one soon enough. Keith started spring soccer league with the YMCA today. How exciting! He looked so cute with his cleats and shin guards! My little boy is growing up :) It was WINDY though, and COLD. Poor Henry was miserable, I was miserable, Ed was, well Ed.... Keith played for about half of the game and then started complaining that his stomach hurt, so we came home a little early. Which was fortunate, because he promptly started throwing up. What a fun start to soccer! Anyways, check out my munchkin!

Packing... any volunteers?

So, it appears that we're moving! When, I'm not sure, because we're moving into my brother's house in Glen Mills and he won't quite divulge when HE is moving OUT. I think he's moving this week or next weekend - Ed's in charge of trying to get a straight answer out of the boy. So, anyone want to help move all our crap?!? We have A LOT of crap lol. Thank goodness for the dumpsters in Kennett, when are available next weekend. I guess I should get my act together now, though, instead of waiting until next Friday to figure out what goes to the dumpsters, huh? As soon as I can get over there once my brother is out I'll post pictures. The MOST exciting part? I'll have my very own office/classroom for my business!!!! WOO HOO!!!!

House, houses, and more houses...

So, the fam and I spent the day yesterday driving around looking at houses. My parents are hellbent on moving out of Kennett Borough, and Kennett is $$, so why stay. So around 11am my mom and I went to look at houses in Wilmington...

First we looked at this one. Not bad, cute red house, decent size. Needs some work, and there's NO parking around. I don't know about you, but lugging three kids and groceries a block or so does not sound like much fun to me.

So we went around the corner to this one. It was cute. That's about all it had going for it. The price was a giveaway lol. This house is one block away from a not so desirable neighborhood. My mother said that Ed and I were welcome to move there but she'd be damned if I was taking her grandkids. I'm guessing that's a veto.

So we went to look at this cute one. I'm NOT a fan of rowhomes/twins (remind me to tell you the story of the neighbors from hell, Gail and Jose), but it was so CUTE! Isn't it?!? Yeah. They can do WONDERS with digital photography in this day and age, I'm telling you.

So we gave up on Wilmington. Came home, mom went home, and Ed and the fam and I piled in the car to go look up towards Coatesville. First we went up the back roads to this house. We're driving up there and Ed's saying he can live in that area, away from everything... overlooking the Brandywine... then we turned the corner. Cute house, I'll give it that. Overlooking the Brandywine, definitely. Overlooking as in open a window and look down - there's the Brandywine. Overlooking as in you sure as hell better have GOOD flood insurance, because you're going to need it. And if we could overlook (ha ha) the close proximity of the Brandywine, I definitely was not overlooking the close proximity of the fire station. That first picture on the listing? I think the photographer had his back up against the fire truck when he took it. Having lived across the street from a fire siren in Kennett for a few years, I had to decline living across the street from the whole station.

So we went into the town (city?) of Coatesville. Saw a few that were not going to happen whatsoever. Then we saw this one. I like it. Needs a little work, but nothing too big (that we could see from the street, of course. Who knows though, there could be a swimming pool in the basement, and not the good kind of pool.) So that one went on the "haven't totally ruled it out" list.

Then we went over a couple of blocks to a really cute neighborhood and found this one. Definite fixer-upper. It's missing a window or two. But, I'm married to a guy who used to do windows for a living, so that's not a HUGE problem, just a on the larger side of medium problem. But it's in a nice area. Location, location, location. Who needs windows when you have location?? I think Ed said we do.

So we kept looking. Found some other houses, like the one on the busy road next door to Kingdom Hall, and then on our way home we drove by this one. I think I've stopped laughing. It was ok, we drove by, then turned around. HA! IT WAS MISSING HALF THE HOUSE! That was a big old hell no. Even Keith said "mom, that house is missing its wall!" Oh, and it was next door to the steel mill. Price - you can tell by the price (but I think 104,000 is too high for a house missing its right side).

So that was our weekend excitement. I think we're going to check out Lancaster next lol.

UBA4C

Update: She had her baby!

So I've been watching this thread on MDC, which has since been deleted. It's about a woman who is currently 40 weeks pregnant and has had 4 previous cesareans and now has her OBs all up in arms and is currently planning an unassisted birth. Interesting read.

Note: don't read the thread unless you have an hour or two - the last time I checked it was at post #665 and no baby yet.

Second note: no mom, I'm not planning an unassisted birth. Not my cup of tea.

Update: So, I'm hooked. I need to do things like, say, clean my house, but oh no, I'm sitting here reading MDC. I found another thread about the same mom/birth/OBs here, and according to one poster (not the original poster), the original poster had a T incision with at least one of her cesareans. However, that was pointed out on page 6 right when name calling started and the thread got shut down, so I don't know for sure if it's just someone with their info messed up or for real. So I found some other threads (yes, you'll need a whole day to read all this!)

Her decision to not have a repeat cesarean

A bit about what her OB/midwife said about her scar tissue

AHA! I FOUND IT!

So yeah, that makes things more interesting. Risks of VBACs are higher with a vertical incision as opposed to a transverse incision. I don't have the actual numbers in front of me, but if you google something like VBAC transverse incision rate you'll probably find the transverse rates and likewise - just substitute vertical to get the vertical incision rates. Maybe if I get motivated later I'll look them up :)

Update #2: From Anne Frey's Holistic Midwifery:

As far as the type of incision goes, the mother who has a low transverse uterine incision is at the lowest risk for scar-related problems such as dehiscence and rupture. Those with classical or T-shaped incisions are at more risk for rupture, which tends to be more traumatic than the usually benign scar disruptions which occur in women with low transverse incisions. While some types of incisions pose more risk, the highest risk is still probably around 5% (some scars are more rare and limited data is available. From looking at the existing data, 5% seems to me a generous estimate of risk for all types of Cesarean scars, with the order of risk as follows: low transverse [0.5% Haq, 1988; to 2% Clark, 1988], low vertical [1.3% Enkin, 1989], classical and inverted T [probably about the same for both: 2.2% to 4%, depending on the study], upright T and J-incision [probably somewhat higher, but no specific data is available].). Women with an upright T, J-shaped, or classical incision or those who have experienced previous uterine rupture may want to birth in the hospital, although finding a practitioner that will assist them to have a VBAC will be more difficult.

Legos

So. Legos. Keith has discovered Legos, in more ways than one. A few months ago he was over at his grandparents and, being the good grandparents they are, they unloaded all of Uncle Adam's legos out of the basement for Keith to play with. I wish I had the picture - their dining room was CARPETED in legos. And, of course, being the slightly obsessive child that he is, Keith convinced Grandpa that they had to sort out all of the 1,000,000 legos into the original sets. Fortunately, he inherited that obsessive gene from his grandparents, because they still had all of the original paperwork from all of those sets. I think there were approximately 100,000 sets. So they sorted. And sorted. And sorted. Keith wouldn't come home, because they were having so much fun sorting. Eh, whatever floats the kid's boat. Anyways, all that sorting started a love affair with legos. Now, instead of Cars, every time we're at the store we have to check out the Lego aisle. And Keith keeps his different lego creations out on random surfaces and calls them his 'set ups' and God forbid you move one of his set ups.

He also has the toddler sized legos - I think they're called Duplex? I can't remember - it's been a while since I've looked at them in the store. He plays with those, religiously, too. Usually in his room. So a couple of weeks ago, Duplex legos were strewn all over his room, and he was building things (with his IMAGINATION, mom!) and creating things and not picking up the spare lego parts. Fast forward to that evening. Ed gave Keith a bath, wrapped him up in a towel (arms included - this is important), and sent him off into his room to get dressed. Keith walks into his room, trips on the edge of his rug, and with his arms wrapped up had no way to catch himself. So he landed chin first on.... you guessed it....

A LEGO.

Otherwise known as a damn expensive Lego. I hear all hell breaking loose upstairs and thought that Keith was just throwing a fit about having to get out of the bath. Then I hear Ed yelling "AMY! GET UP HERE!" and I run upstairs to see Keith hysterical and blood pouring out of his chin. So it was off to AI DuPont for stitches. 4 shots of lidocaine and 5 stitches later, Keith was mostly upset about missing his favorite cartoon.



(And can someone explain the 'injured Keith pose'? Every injury picture I have of the boy is the same pose!)

Yes, I'm a slacker

What else is new? So I figured I'd post a couple of recipes to make up for it.

One is the amazingly easy and amazingly delicious blackberry cobbler by the Pioneer Woman. That lady can cook! And who can resist the pictures?!? Her cinnamon rolls are pretty good, too. Trust me :)

And the other is...

crap. I forgot which one I was going to post. Damn pregnancy brain! And then after I posted it I was going to go make it, but no, now I have to try to remember what I was craving all of 10 minutes ago. Ugh. Stay tune for the update once I remember....