The Columbian Exchange

There's been a lot going on this month!

Aeva starts a new Gymboree class tomorrow, the next level up, despite [still] not walking. She hopefully will learn by seeing the other kids. Which reminds me....

I got a job. I finished my MA in History last month, and the History department at Austin Peay (of which I worked in prior to Aeva's birth) decided to give me a shot as an adjunct instructor! I teach one section of the first semester of the 2 semester American History survey course. That's right folks: I'm 23 and teaching at a university!! Seems like not all that long ago [very fast, hectic years ago] that I was an undergrad, too drunk to go to my history survey course. lol, Now I'm teaching it!
While I go to class, Aeva goes to our friend Lindsey's house. She has Carter, who is 15 months, and Wesley, who is almost 4. Aeva learns something new each time she sees them! She's trying to stand up on her own now, and took 7 steps yesterday! Even closer to *finally* walking!!!!

Aeva's 18 month appointment (a month late) is tomorrow, so we'll have an "official" height and weight.

Anthony will be home in October for RnR...we're so excited. I cant wait for him to see Aeva, and I hope she's walking by then!

Cupcakes!

So there's this new cupcakery in town, "The Sweetest Batch Cupcakery," and they sell oversized cupcakes in crazy flavors. Honestly, they aren't something to brag about. I ad a raspberry chocolate cupcake, and it tastes like it came from a box, and the frosting was buttercream with raspberry seeds in it.

So....

I decided to make my own.

I made chocolate raspberry cupcakes, from scratch. Chocolate cupcake, raspberry filling, and REAL raspberry buttercream frosting made from raspberry puree!

My awesome friend Kara is a phenomenal baker as well, and she made peanut butter cupcake with peanut butter chips, with a banana frosting with mini chocolate chips on top.

We traded some. :-)

We're going to make some crazy flavors.....and contemplating selling them in front of the cupcakery in town. :-) Is that evil?

The Blog ReVamp

Hello All!!
My apologies for neglecting the blog the last few....okay, many...months. Life has pulled us all in so many directions that blogging got left out. Let's try and catch up!

Aeva is now 18 months old actual, 15.5 adjusted. She's not quite walking yet, but she's working on it. She's come so very far, and she's doing well. She had [another] endoscopy in July to look at her throat, tummy, and upper intestines for signs of something that would explain the dry heaving at night and rampant vomiting. Everything came back pristine...if she is refluxing, its not acidic and causing damage, thanks to the medicine. All signs a "go" to try to let her sleep through the night and hope she doesn't dry heave....three weeks later, here we are....down to one bottle at night! She's down to 4 bottles all day, and up to about 24oz of intake!!! (30cal formula, of course) She's getting teeth {constantly} and is eating solids better and better! It's so awesome to watch her eat now...it's almost like a "normal" baby eating!

Yes, she's still on the bottle, regretfully. I hate seeing two year olds with bottles.....ew. At least Aeva wont be 2 and walking around with it...she still doesn't hold her own bottle. Her weak suck has made sippies impossible, but she took to a straw pretty well. She's not taking enough volume from a straw cup to wean her, and going "Cold Turkey" off the bottles isn't yet an option for her. It is growth and nutrition over oral motor skills, and right now, feeding is WAY more important that her being off the bottle. I guess it'll have to wait.

Aeva is in physical therapy (PT) for her lack of walking. Three weeks ago it started out with the PT lady saying she didn't have the muscle strength to walk (I call BS) and this week it was "wow!" because she's standing so much on her own now, and a lot more willing to hold my hands and walk. I've learned to set our goals for her in the short term, as to provide for less heartache. Aeva's walking goal is October 12, which would be 18 months adjusted. The goal is for her to walk up to Anthony in the airport when he comes home on leave...

Other than that, she has such an awesome personality. I would call it a "little" personality to fit her stature, but it's so far from a little personality, lol. She knows what she wants, and she knows who she wants attention from. No questioning it. lol



Anthony is deployed right now, set to return April 2011. He's busy, but he's doing well.

As for me? Well...where to start, really. I finished my master's program the end of July, and my newest diploma will have the conferral date of 15 August 2010. I've applied to a few places to teach history adjunct, but haven't heard back yet.
My attempt to return to the gym was foiled by a little princess I know who hates people. All well?
So for now I'm a stay at home mommy, working with Aeva to get up to speed with her peers. My days are filled with toddler activities, playdates, Gymboree, and cooking experimentally, lol.

And that, my followers, is where the sidewalk ends for now. I promise to get better at the blog again. Maybe I'll start blogging new recipes I find and try out? Anyone interested?

Goodness, Its Been Forever!

My apologies for not writing in the last....two months. My bad.

There's so much to catch you up on!! (Or at least it feels like it)

Anthony got back from Arizona the beginning of October. He was lucky enough to get to hang out with Aeva and I for SEVEN weeks before returning to work. He is staying here at Fort Campbell, and we hope we will be here after this next deployment. Rumor has it, he will be leaving in May 2010 for a year. Yes, another deployment. The 101st has year on, year off rotation schedule.

Upon returning to work, Anthony has found he enjoys the new people he works with.

Aeva is almost 10 months old now. Her last weight check almost a month ago had her weighing in just over fourteen pounds. Still very small, but healthy. She's still refusing to eat: some days I can't get enough into her, and other days I can't get anything into her. Constant battle with this girl. She's still teething, with nothing to show for it. She's not on a sleep schedule, for we just let her do her own thing. Its best that way...why force it? And yes, she still sleeps with us. She refuses to sleep in her crib. She curls up on her side and faces me to sleep...its super super cute.

Aeva returns to feeding therapy on Dec. 7, but with a new feeding therapist this time. She did not do the things her previous therapist said she would (like start to open her mouth for a spoon) and is in need of learning to do so. When she does like to eat, she will open her mouth a little when the spoon is placed on her lips. She chews just fine.

She's sitting on her own, and loves to use our hands and pull herself up to the standing position! No progress on crawling, but she may be that kid who skips crawling.

I am on extension #2 for my Seminar in History for my term paper...almost done...finally. After this, I was approved to take my comprehensive exams early. It proves beneficial that I take them prior to the completion of my course work (I have one class left) because Anthony will be home to watch her while I 1) study, and 2)take the 6 hour exam. I applied for graduation, and the process has begun. I also was invited to the International Golden Key Honor Society....and I accepted. Its an honor society for good students with a GPA over 3.75. I guess I did good. I still dont see it being an accomplishment when I completed (Am completing) the program completely online.

Other than that, not much is going on here. I promise one day Ill get back into writing more often.

Weekend with Daddy

She and I so make that same face! (See pic and Ant and I to your right in the side column)

Aeva and I travelled to Arizona to visit Daddy. We had an awesome time! We had some quality time sleeping together and getting to play as soon as we woke up in bed!!!

Aeva and Daddy did some internet surfing time together.
Aeva showing Daddy her moves.
Mommy went away to the spa for some Mommy time, and this is what Aeva and Daddy did: LOL
I love this picture of these two: there's a pic similar to this of my daddy and I when I was only a few weeks old.

We had a great time seeing Anthony. We hung out in our hotel room most of the time, and Aeva got a little sick. Nothing to worry about! It was nice seeing Anthony with his little girl, and letting them bond. (It was also nice to have a bit of a break!!!) mmmm spaaa....

Lots to Catch Up On

I apologize...there's a lot to catch up on, since there's been a LOT going on.

Where to start?

Aeva is in oral therapy with a Speech Pathologist. Her SLP (the pathologist) helps teach Aeva and I ways to help Aeva learn to suck correctly. Her SLP is super awesome too..she is a huge advocate for Aeva, and has NO problem calling her pediatrician to make sure Aeva gets what she needs. Needless to say, I changed Aeva's pediatrician because he's an ass and wasn't doing ANYTHING for ANYTHING I said needed attention. I love her new pediatrician, he makes up for her previous doc's inattention.

Aeva is now on weekly weight checks. She was put onto Alimentum formula, for she stopped gaining weight mid-August. She has gained some weight since, but it is much slower. I guess slow and steady wins the race? Alimentum is a milk based formula that is broken down almost all the way so that the stomach does not have to work as hard to digest it for absorbtion. It is for children with sever colic, intestinal issues from prematurity, as well as protien sensitivities to both cow's milk protien AND soy.

Aeva now sees a pediatric gastroenterologist down at Vanderbilt. He's very good at his job, but his residents still have a lot to learn. Seriously: what GI doctor doesn't know about dream feeding? (it's textbook apparantly for a kid with reflux to eat best when asleep, and this resident DIDN'T KNOW THAT!!! wtf.)

She is on Prevacid once a day...this medicine is a proton pump inhibitor, which reduces the amount of stomach acid produced in the stomach. It also helps for erosive esophagitis, which is from puking so much. Simply stated, it will reduce the acid in her tummy and help her throat heal. She goes back Oct. 1 for a follow up, and he is also monitoring her weight to avoid any serious complications. I love this doctor because he would prefer to avoid surgery at all costs. As would we.

Aeva is making progress in her oral therapy. Yes, there are misreable days where she does nothing but SCREAM at bottles and not want to eat or be anywhere NEAR a bottle. Those days we go to her SLP's house.

Her most amazing achievement this week was progressing from her Haberman nipple, to a normal, Dr. Brown's nipple. The Haberman is a 2 phase bottle, where when she sucks on the nipple, it pulls milk from the bottle into the reservoir. It's for poor feeders, and is supposed to resemble breastfeeding. Dr. Brown's bottles are said to be good for reflux babies (for all you reflux baby mommies out there), and I concur with the research. So far, I really like them. She's also taking them, and she wouldn't take any other nipple besides the Haberman until this week! Yay!! She has a beautiful suck with this nipple, and now we really just have to work on her not being afraid of the bottle. (Meaning her reflux needs to be managed.)

She got oatmeal yesterday and did good with that. I made carrot baby food, and that didn't go so well. Maybe too thick? idk. She has an apppointment with her SLP tomorrow (After her weight check) and we'll start working on exercises for her mouth to grow muscles!

Last week she was 12lbs 4oz, on Wednesday.

Babies shouldn't cry for food and then cry more when given it.

Pediatricians should listen to mothers....we aren't as crazy as we seem.

I have twice said Aeva has a milk allergy...once in the hospital, and again with her pediatrician. Both times I was given a "no" without further exploration.

Rather than being concerned with how many patients they can see in a day, pediatricians should listen to mothers and be advocates for the children. Referrals should be done BEFORE they come life threatening. Practicing medicine should be preemptive, and not reactionary.

Aeva has been throwing up since she was 2 months old. At this point, her esophagus needs examining to determine the amount of damage that has been done. Her reflux has to be controlled, as well as the associated pain. When it doesn't hurt to eat, I'm sure that Aeva will begin to eat better.

Supposedly, there is no need for referrals for specialties when an infant is still growing. A 4 month old infant should be eating about 6-7 ounces 4-5 times a day. Aeva gets what she needs into her because she is fed 8-10 times a day. STILL. OF COURSE SHE IS STILL GROWING.

She needs another suck/swallow exam to make sure that she is not aspirating. If she still is, then WHY didn't the pediatrician hear it in her lungs, and we will have to thicken her formula. First, her reflux must be controlled.

Then there's the suspected milk allergy. Great. There is a formula that is hypoallergenic, and is for those who have difficulties with both cow's milk and soy protiens. It is delicate and much easier on the baby. Awesome. $30 per 12 ounce can, and she goes through about 14 a month. Sweet deal.

I just want it fixed. There is only so long that a mommy can watch her baby hurt and not eat. There's only so long that a mommy can survive. I like to think that only the best mothers are given the hardest tasks, but I'm not a phenominal mother, so I don't think I'd be picked.

There are days where I just want to cry because I can't handle this anymore and I just want it to be all fixed..but then I remember that she's come so far and she needs me to be strong and get her the help she needs. Then there are the times when she's asleep...so peaceful, so beautiful...so small, and so innocent...I want to protect her from the world's evils and make everything okay...I'm mommy and that's my job...and I feel absolutely terrible that she's been put through so much already in her life...she shouldn't have had to go through all this...I don't know how the conversation will go when I tell her about her birth and infancy...I know I will need a box of tissues, and I hope she understands that despite my frustration and meltdowns, I really tried. I dred the day I have to tell her that she very well may go through this herself if she decides to have kids. She has a chance of having a preemie herself...(maybe pictures of a 2lb baby will defer her from sexual activities? birth control?!) I still feel miserable that I couldn't give her the home she needed inside of me so that she could mature how she needed. There's still a part of me that thinks...knows...this is my fault. (But yes, I know, it's not...blah blah blah).

And then there's that moment when the compliancy with the bullshit of her doctors fades away, and impatience emerges...let's get this done, because no one involved wants to deal with this further.

Oh, and I totally stole the cigarettes of the smoking neighbors last night.

And I'm chopping off my hair tomorrow. Adios.