Updates
I feel like I haven’t blogged in a while so I wanted to write an update?
What’s going on in our world?
In less than a month – 29 days to be exact LM is going to be TWO. How did that happen? We are just going to have a little get together with my parents and hub’s parents and brother. Nothing big. Maybe they will be bigger once LM has some input on who to invite. I haven’t been invited to any other kids in his classes birthdays so I don’t see the point in inviting other kids right now. I want low stress and fun. I am thinking of going to one of the warehouse stores and getting a sandwhich platter and cake. I am really hoping LM this year will eat his cake. Last year he had his birthday before he got into food therapy so he has come such a long way from that. I hope he doesn’t snub his nose at it, but if he does it’s ok.
Right now LM has something going on. Hubs and I think it’s two year molars, but it could be a small virus or something. Either way he is more cranky and eating less. He is drinking a lot of milk though. The last two nights he has barely eaten anything for dinner with his daytime eating being down a bit too. He has also woken up multiple times in his sleep talking about milk or crying/whining. So whatever it is I hope it shows itself soon and finishes. We are getting tired.
I am still walking/running. I seem to do the best on
Wednesdays/Fridays after I take my 50,000 vitamin D. I have so much more energy. I get my levels tested again next week so we will see where I am with that. On the days I have energy I am doing my own modified version of couch 2 5k. I basically run for about 10 minutes, walk one minute and then repeat it three times. I am listeninig to a pandora work out channel while I do it which helps. On mondays when I am low on energy I tend to walk most of it, but I think that’s ok I’m still doing something.
Today they start water play at daycare again. They have it every tuesday and thursday in the summer. They go out on the playground, wear their bathing suits and play in water tables and run through the sprinkler. He loved it so much last year when he was just crawling so I am excited for him today. I am looking forward to hearing how it went. He also looked really cute in his swim trunks 
Vitamin D
When I went for my check up at the RE’s office I learned I was vitamin D deficient. My level was 14.7 and it was supposed to be at least 30. I am not surprised as I avoid milk products because they bug me and my office has no windows. I learned a lot of people are vitamin d deficient. Vitamin d can affect your energy levels so I was willing to try it.
I was put on 50,000 iu a week for a month and then they are going to check my level again. The first time I took the pill I slept better and felt good for a day or two, but crashed on Saturday. I was so tired. I noticed the next week it sorta happened again. I felt more rested, I got a ton done, but by Friday I was feeling down/hormonal. It was like the dose worked the first few days and then my level went way down or something a few days later. I had done some research that vitamin d can also affect your moods and bring you out of a mild depression.
So this morning I went out and bought some vitamin d that I can take every day. I need to talk to the doc who started me on vitamin d, but I didn’t want to spend the whole weekend feeling out if sorts. I took 2,000 iu with lunch and I already feel a little better. I am hoping this daily dose will keep my levels a little more normal and I won’t have the tiredness/moodiness I have been feeling.
Anyone have any similar experiences?
Nice afternoon
Yesterday after lunch I was sitting at my desk thinking about my afternoon. It was a gym day for me so I had my gym bag with my change of clothes. However, it was beautiful out and I wasn’t in the mood to just go to the gym. I have fallen off my gym schedule a bit. I try to make it three times a week, but I have been busy with other things. I also am a bit bored with running. I am tending to walk more, but I’m still doing it most of the time. I’m not energized like I was during couch to 5k though. I think I’m just bored and not sure what I want to do next. I have been reading about running outside instead of on a treadmill and how a lot of people like it so much more. I have been thinking of trying it, but haven’t yet.
So yesterday afternoon I decided that I was going to skip the gym and bring LM with me and go to our local park. It is very close to our house and it’s huge and nice. They have a great playground. My thought was that I was going to push LM around in his stroller around the track and see what I thought about running outside. Then I started to think about it and I wasn’t sure I wanted to deal with the stroller on my own. The park is huge and when we have gone on the weekend it usualy is really crowded. However, when we went yesterday it was a lot more empty which was great. I could park where I wanted, LM had more space to run around and not have to worry about bumping into other kids at every step, and I could feel more comfortable being there on my own with him and letting him roam a little.
So we stayed at the park for about an hour and a half. It was a nice day, but it was sunny. I am wearing a white shirt today to show off the tan on my arms lol. LM had a lot of fun playing on the different equipment and it was a nice change of scenary from the little playground in our development. I didn’t exercise myself though. I wonder if I could have just pushed him around in his stroller around the track and then put it back in the car and then let him play on the playground. I need to work out the logistics. I know we are definitley going back to the playground, but maybe not for that long. We were both beat by the end. LM was asleep by 8:30 and I was asleep by a little after 9. LM slept through the night and I slept till 6am which was great. Yea for sleep!
I really do need to find something I enjoy with exercising again. I was at my lowest weight a week ago, but then gained weight again so now I am about three pounds higher. I sorta think that part of the weight loss is just where I am in my cycle. I had just finished my period and now I am in the middle again. It’s frustrating that my weight keeps fluctuating between the same couple of pounds. I have tried the exercise bike and the eliptical at the gym and I am not good at them. I guess I haven’t built up the right leg muscles for them. I could run around where I work, but there are a lot of hills and I’m just not 100% running is my thing. I guess I’m just in a rut. Any suggestions?
Daycare debate
So last week I found out LM’s daycare is closing. It was a shock and many parents (including me) are upset about it. I went to a parent meeting about it a few days ago and most of it was the parents letting out their anger to the benefits people and other leadership people. There is nothing we can do now, it will be closing in October.
I have been a part of a bunch of emails going back and forth between other parents from the daycare which has been really helpful. They have been talking about their feelings, what centers they toured and liked, and updated insider information. I was able to connect with one mom from LM’s last class and we are going to try to set up a play date. Her son is friends with LM and they are so cute together. Her son has also sorta gone through some of the same things LM has. So yea for a potential new friend.
So the last time I blogged I was deciding between two centers. One center was a good center and LM would be fine, but the class sizes were bigger and the playground was not that good. The price was a lot cheaper though. The other center my husband likes to call the cadillac center as in it’s really nice. They have a beautiful playground, the ratio is small, it’s the same company as what LM is in now so everything would be the same, and they have a gross motor room for when it’s too hot/too cold/rainining/snowing. The only issue is this center is basically $200 more a month than what I am already paying and what I am already paying is high. It’s basically my whole pay check and it wouldn’t make sense for me to work and send him there. But I really liked that center.
So I thought about it and I got hubs to tour the cadillac center as well to see what he thought of it. He liked it too. Then he brought up a military benefit he has through his job. Basically if the center is listed (there are a few requirements for them to get listed) you can apply to take part in this benefit and get a discount. The cadillac center already had all the requirements. I don’t know how much the discount is but I think it will be a couple of hundred dollars. When we checked to see if the cadillac center was listed they weren’t, but two of their other centers in a city near by were listed. So when hubs went to tour the facility he asked them if they would think about getting listed. She said they would have to talk to their district manager and get back to us. That was over the memorial day holiday. On tuesday we got an email that said yes, they are going to get listed! Wahoo! So LM can can go to the cadillac center and get all the benefits of that center. I think he will really like it there.
Through the parent emails I have learned a lot of the other parents are going to be sending their kids there too. The center is going to try to keep the kids from our current center together when they move over to the new center which will be great and hopefully make the transition a little easier. So yea for that. We are able to go to the new center in the beginning of September, but the two directors are trying to figure out a time where everyone transitions together at the same time so that will make things better as well. One thing I really like at the center is all the kids stay together as a class. If it’s a two year old class they all stay together until they are three and then transition with their teacher or a new teacher (whatever they decide) and then that class becomes a three year old class or moves into another room together. Yea for less transitions.
Bloodwork
Today I had my full exam at the RE’s office. It was an hour long appointment and took up some of my work time. I had a pap, internal ultrasound, breast exam, they took my measurements, and they did some other normal yearly stuff I can’t remember at the moment.
I was really nervous for the pap as I tend to freak out a little during them, but I did pretty well. They are nicer than at my ob’s office, and I think I did pretty good for me. The ultrasound showed normal pcos ovaries with the “string of pearls”.
After the exams I sat down to get my bloodwork results from the other week. Most of my levels including day 3, thyroid, and blood sugar were normal so yea for that. She said my vitamin d level was low so they are putting me on a pill that I take once a week for a month and then I have to get rechecked. After that I have to take a vitamin d supplement to keep my levels higher. I think part of that problem is I am sensitive to milk so I don’t drink or eat much milk products. Some symptoms of vitamin d deficiency are tiredness and normal aches and pains so maybe I will get more energy.
She is giving me a cream for the chin hair that goes with pcos and she is changing my birth control so that it will control my testosterone levels and not be an empty low dose of birth control.
She also refeerred me to a gyn/urologist and a gyn/phyiscal therapist because I am still having issues with leaking pee. I’m kinda nervous about this because I hate having pelvic exams and such, but maybe this will help. She said it is probably a weakness of my pelvic floor or it might be something with my bladder. So I will call and see what happens.
There is more news on the daycare front, but I will leave that for another entry.
Tale of two daycares
In the past two days I have toured two different daycares trying to find the right fit for us since our current one is closing. I am a little conflicted at the moment on which to choose. I want to hear what you guys think. Our current center seems to fall in the middle price wise.
Daycare 1
Very close to my house so hubs could drop off and I could do more at home before picking him up
Couple hundred less a month than I am paying now
Uses the state ratios so 16 two year olds in a class
My bosses child goes there and she doesn’t have any complaints
His classroom is bigger than the one he has now
The playground is kinda small and has no climbing equipment/slides/swings for his age group
They seem to have a pretty good curriculum and other activities
Daycare 2
Very close to where I work
Couple hundred more a month and I already pay more than in state tuition for the local state university
Top of the line daycare center
Naeyc accredited so ratios are smaller – no more than 10 kids in a class
Big playground
Gross motor room
Beautiful building
Same curriculum/company as his current daycare
If we picked this option I would probably need help from hubs to pay for it (I am currently paying for it all out of my paycheck)
If I keep him in daycare for more than 9 hours a day I get charged even more.
Which one would you guys pick? I really liked the smaller classes and daycare 2, but I am just not sure if it’s worth all of that money. Though I don’t want LM to get lost in his class and not get the attention he needs.
Closing
I walked into daycare this morning and found out that they are closing his center in October. I was like what the hell! They are right on the campus of where I work which has been great. Now I need to find a new place to send him. He had just moved into the next class and was finally getting over the transition even with a teacher he sorta knew from two classes ago. He has such a hard time with transitions. He cried every morning for two weeks and this time I would have to move him into a completly new building with new teachers and new children and new everything. I am very on edge about this.
My personality is to quick research everything and call up places and get tours and find him a spot so I don’t have to stress. However, if I do that that means securing him a spot and starting the transition to the new class soon. However, they don’t close until October. Should I wait? I don’t want to wait too long incase spots fill up, but luckily he is in a bigger class ratio age range.
There is a daycare that we originially toured that I sorta liked and my boss’s child goes there. I liked the current daycare he is in now better, but it is very close to my house. Hub’s is always saying he wishes that LM went closer to our house because right now he has to drive the other way from his work to drop him off if I am out of town. I looked up online and they do have a high rating for our state, but I remember not liking the infant room as much. Maybe I would like the older class better? Gah I hate that I have to make these choices again and move him from where he is comfortable and what we know.
What would you guys do? Call and get a tour and a spot now or wait it out and let him enjoy his summer?
Cd1
After 7 days of provera and seven days of waiting she is here. I am glad she is so I can get my blood work/exam over with, but I have been cranky today. That isn’t good when my parents are visiting. I thankfully mostly smoothed it over, but yea. The provera gave me the worst PMS. I am glad she came today instead of yesterday because I already have to take time off work to drop my car at the shop and get a rental tomorrow. Hubs taught me how to take LM’s car seat out and then install it again so hopefully putting it in the rental will go OK.
On Friday I shipped my soft structured baby carrier back to the lady I bought it from. She has a program where you can return your old one, get store credit, and then use the credit to get a new one. I think it’s a pretty good deal because I don’t need to find someone to buy the other one. I ended up ordering a toddlerhawk since I liked the babyhawk so much. I went online to one of the big baby wearing forums though and they made me a little nervous. They said that they wouldn’t recommend the toddlerhawk because although it’s taller it isn’t wider than the babyhawk. I think we will be OK though. LM is tall and skinny and a lot of other people’s reviews on other sites liked it a lot. It is supposed to come tomorrow so we shall see. I am looking forward to testing it out and seeing what LM thinks.
Adventures in Babywearing
This afternoon after work the lady I contacted about babywearing came over to my house. She is one of the leaders of a local babywearing group and she also had training at the big babywearing group (I forget where it is). I could have also gone to one of their meetings, but they are during my work day. She was totally nice and I am really glad that I had her come over. I had always wondered about the different types of carriers and what would work best for me and feel the most comfortable. She brought over one of each kind of carrier so I could try them out. She brought an ergo that I had always wanted to try, a mei-tai (I keep wanting to call it a mai-tai, but I know that is an alcoholic drink lol), a ring sling, and a wrap. LM was really good during the whole thing and kept asking to be held and enjoyed being in the carriers. Towards the end he got tired and just wanted to be done though.
I tried the ergo first because I have always wondered about them. It is very like the carrier I already own – the beco gemini in it’s a soft structured carrier. I learned that I am just no good at soft structured carriers. I like that they are secure with their buckles, but I have the worst time with buckling, unbuckling, and adjusting the different straps. Maybe that’s why LM and I never did much with our beco. Next, we tried the mei-tai and I really liked that one. It’s like an apron. You double knot it behind your back, stick your baby on your chest, pull up the front, criss cross the straps on your back, and then tie it under your kids bum. I found this easiest for me because there were no buckles to deal with and I could get in and out easy. I could see myself throwing it on quick when LM is fussing and wants to be carried home from somewhere.
Next we tried the ring sling. I didn’t like how the ring sat on my shoulder and when LM was in it he leaned forward so that he was almost horizontal. I was like uh no. The last one I tried one was the wrap. I knew I wasn’t going to like it because I didn’t do that well when I tried the moby way back when. She helped me get in it, but by this point LM was tired and cranky so he fused through most of it and she had to help me out of it quick to soothe him.
So overall I like the mei-tai. I think I’m going to sell/trade in my beco and get a mei tai. She recommended to me two brands – the toddlerhawk (I tried on the babyhawk and liked it) and she also said the brand cozy was good. I read some reviews of people who really liked the cozy, but I think I’m going to go with the toddlerhawk. Anyone have any experience with either?
Being held
So LM has hit the age where if he doesn’t get his way or if he is frustrated he throws a fit. I try not to give into him like when he wants to watch youtube all day long or if he wants to stay in his car seat in the car when I’m ready to go in, but when he get’s
tired/upset/frustrated and wants to be held I tend to give in. However, it makes it really hard to get anything done like put things away or eat. He is getting bigger (I think he weighs around 23-24 pounds) and carrying him all the time is tiring and hurts my back.
Another problem is that when I try to sit down with him while still holding him he throws a fit. He doesn’t want me to sit down with him and hold him. He wants me to keep standing up and to keep moving. If I stop moving and just stand still he fuses when he is in those moods. Hubs disagrees with me and thinks I am babying him. So he refuses to hold him for long periods of time and thinks that I should just let him cry so he will learn that he needs to walk places so LM screams and throws a fit until he tires himself out. I’m on the fence on that one. I do think he needs to learn to walk more, but he is going through a hard time right now transitionnig into his new class (think crying every morning at drop off) so I am indugling him. I also think there must be a reason why he wants to be held so I’m trying to do it when I am able.
I am not sure which is the right thing to do. I have been trying to think of solutions. One idea that came to mind is babywearing. I actually do own a beco gemini, but I never got the hang of it. It’s kinda hard to put on, the buckles are hard to fasten and unfasten, and it tends to hurt my back when I put it on. Me jiggling around and trying to get him in there tends to make things worse, but I think that babywearing is a good solution. Hubs thinks I’m coddling him too much, but I want to try it. So yesterday I found a local babywearing group nearby. They have meetings nearby, but they are always while I”m at work. So I emailed the lady who runs the group near me and she is going to meet up with me and see what she can do to help. I think this will be great because she will hopefully help me figure out what I’m doing wrong and maybe she will bring some other carriers to try to see what I like. Carriers are so expensive it would be great to try some out before I buy and not like it. So *fingers crossed* on that. Anyone else have any other solutions?
