I got Botox!

So, I suppose I should be embarrassed but I'm not.  Since having the twins 6.75 years ago (perhaps a bit earlier), I have developed hyperhidrosis.  I have tried all the fancy clinical strength antiperspirants but none have helped.  It is embarrassing to sweat (it's not stinky, people), just wet and ugh.  I found myself compensating by wearing tanktops in the summer and only black or white shirts in the winter.  I suppose I haven't done a thing about it because I've been just a wee bit busy raising children, working full time, being room mom for multiple classes and multiple schools, etc.  Well, I finally hit the wall.  I got a referral from my GP and away I went.  They asked me the standard stuff that I had googled they would and I answered honestly.  It DOES interfere with my life, what I wear, my self-confidence, etc.  The dermatologist recommended Botox.  They told me that they would call my HMO and see if it was covered.  About 2 months later...APPROVED!  My insurance had to ship them the botox though, so I had to wait another 10 days. 

Today was the big day.  I wore...wait for it...a tank top ;).

Of course, my appointment was at 8:50am and at 9:15am I got mad.  Finally, at 9:40, they called me back and had me lay on a table.  The doctor came in about 5 minutes later - I almost found out everything that had happened in Hollywood last week...  I put my first arm behind my head and the doctor took a purple marker.  He made 25 dots.  Then, he said, "This isn't going to be excruciating but it's not really comfortable."  Um, OK.  He was right.  About 20 of those bad dogs hurt and made me wince.  Halfway through he said, "Well, I can see you weren't lying.  You're starting to sweat."  Oh, AWESOME!  Thanks for letting me know b/c I wasn't aware... (insert eye roll here).  Finally done with that side and we moved on to the next.  Oh wait, I forgot that the nurse/guy started cleaning all the purple dots off with alcohol and I almost hit him.  About 10 minutes later, I was out of there.  The doctor said that b/c I am so small, perhaps the shots will last a year but I qualify for 2 treatments per year.

It was weird and it did hurt but I am confident the little bit of ouch will be worth it! 

On my way out, they told me that would pre-order the next treatment.  I said, "If I don't need it, can you use it in my face?"  They laughed.  But not much.

I really need to do this more often

My life is busy.  Really, really, incredibly, insanely busy.  I may be developing an ulcer due to the many many activities over the summer.  I want to start trying to blog more often because recent life events have made me grateful for bloggers.  I found myself needing some medical information for a good friend and several blogs contained more information that I actually wanted to read than the medical sites.  Given William's diagnoses of Trisomy 18 Mosaic and his chimerism, it makes me a little regretful...ok, a LOT regretful that I haven't been blogging his entire 6.5 years.

This past Monday, William started Elementary school.  This is a pretty amazing milestone in his/our lives to say the least.  He happily walked right into that school (as a 1st grader - should be another post) and into his classroom.  Of course, after purveying the room and seeing NOT A SINGLE firetruck, train or bus, he grabbed my hand and pointed to the door.  His choices at big school were: color or build with legos.  Well, he happily dumped a puzzle on the floor and enjoyed knocking over his new classmates tower but that's the extent of it.  He cried when I left and that was heart-wrenching.  He is such a loving and outgoing personality - up for anything and fearing little - that this was pretty tough.  However, he had a good day.  He stopped crying and was overjoyed to ride the little bus home.  In fact, he got upset when it was gone!  The next morning, he grabbed his backpack and pointed at the door.  He was ready for that bus alright.

Spencer is going to a different elementary that is a little closer to the house and Harper started back to The Rise School of Dallas today!  Ah, and now you see why I have a moment to write.

It's pretty weird, to say the least, to send your child to school and be unable to communicate with him about his day when he returns.  Luckily, his teacher and I have had a couple of phone chats already and that helps a lot.

I'm going to try...try, really try, to start blogging and go back in time to update some of the many events in William's life.  Perhaps it will help someone like the blogs I read the last couple of days, helped me.

Elizabeth

Harper is 9 months old, SuperBowl in Dallas, etc

Harper is doing great and really thriving. I weighed her today and she was 9.1kg (multiplied by 2.2 is 20 lbs). She seems quite tall and already appears to be 'outgrowing' her carseat. This past weekend was Superbowl here in Big D. By accident, my BFF and her DH flew in to visit from L.A. I was so thankful that they're really from Grand Rapids, b/c otherwise, they may not have tolerated the ice and snow and sub-freezing temps. Harper was on her BEST behavior. For a baby who is exceedingly cautious around strangers, she took to Denise and Jason like nothing I've ever seen! I think they even tried to see if she'd fit into their suitcases ;). We did an icy sightseeing tour of Dallas: Coopers & Billy Bob's in Fort Worth; Downtown Neiman Marcus and Southfork Ranch; finally Tex-mex tacos at Torchy's. We all had a great time!

I'm clearly not good at this!

So, now it's February and I haven't updated the blog since maybe November. Lots has happened. Here are the highlights:

• November 25th - made a small Thanksgiving dinner and the guests were the Archibalds. It was our maiden run with the new FP range and it was awful. Food was burned, though the turkey was '...best turkey ever!'.
  
• December 19th - hosted Pirate-themed birthday party for Spencer & William @home. It was a success, complete with bouncehouse, pirate ship pinata, 'walking the plank' into the sandbox & homemade cupcakes. A few friends from school were invited, along with their siblings (and parents) and some neighbor kids. It was a lot of fun but a VERY FULL HOUSE. Our wonderful friends, The Fisselers also drove in from Houston. We may not have pulled it all off without their help. We also got to enjoy a great visit! Also, thanks to Meme for making the very cool pirate swords for party favors.
• December 20th - Ruby had to go to heaven. Her pain and seizures returned and she just wasn't enjoying life. Spencer took it well & William is still working on it. We're pretty sure that he misses his BFF desperately but is unable to understand or express himself.
• December 21st - the boys officially turned 5! Amazing! Miracle!
• December 23rd - we headed for MP for Christmas. We made it in one piece. The kids had a wonderful time and Spencer talked to Santa on Christmas eve. It was the first Christmas without Clayton (or Reed), as Clayton was in Italy & France - tough. Reed was in Reed-land.
• December 26th - We returned to Dallas...to find our home had been ROBBED! Yes, they took TV's, laptops, jewelry & my silver! They also took our camera, which was full from the birthday party and photos of Ruby :(.
• Survived the enormous school break (3.5 weeks) only to be hit with a bad cold and miss some school. Then, snowpalooza February 1-4th
• January 30th - Harper turned 9 months old!

Sweet Ruby

Our sweet Ruby was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her elbow a couple of months ago. We were told that for more info, we could take her to an Oncologist. A quote for services from the oncology group was about $1300, simply for a consult and dx. I think not. I did some research instead and stumbled upon FOCC (Flax Seed Oil and Cottage Cheese). We also switched dog foods to a grain-free/high-priced variety. Within about a week, Ruby quit limping and became her old self. I kept this up for several weeks but then I got lazy or tired. About 2 weeks ago, Ruby began limping again. Then as quickly as that happened, she had a seizure. A week went by and then she had another. I called the Vet and he said to just keep an eye on her. It was possibly due to the pain in her arm but he doubted that it was the cancer spreading! I was kinda in disbelief but he said that this was not the type of tumor to spread. OK, you're the doctor. As soon as I hung up the phone, she had another seizure. She had about 6 more over the next 12 hours. I called the Vet back and he was out. We were referred to a Neurology group this time and they quoted me $2000+ to dx the cause of the seizures. HA! I called the Vet back and asked for phenobarbital. Ruby started on that, re-continued her Tramadol (pain meds) and of course, her FOCC. Last weekend wasn't pretty. She didn't have any more seizures but she was obviously wiped out. She barely moved and when she did, she was eliminating in random locations (Den, patio?, bedroom, etc). Well, just when I thought she was gone, she jumped up yesterday and just HAD to ride in the car to take the kids to school. YAY RUBY! She did it again today. Her limp is less, too.

Could the FOC really be that awesome? I don't know but something is helping her and I'm so thankful!

Kid updates

Wow, I'm a slacker. I haven't updated since July! I did start back to work and life just got busier.

Harper is now 6 months old and is doing great. She's attempting to army crawl - an inch here and there. She also gets up on all 4's and lurches forward to get something...usually something she shouldn't.

Spencer is loving his Pre-K class at The Rise School. His teacher is fantastic and really challenges him & it's obvious that he enjoys it. He is reading Level 1 readers at home and school and we started reading a chapter book at home and he is 'trying' to remain still and listen.

We recently discovered William in Spencer's top bunk! Yep, he figured out how to climb up. I wish he'd learned to climb down first though :). He started feeding himself over the last few months and with the help of his new teachers, he's doing better and better. It's an amazing relief to let him do it and frees up just a little bit of time for ME! He's also eating more challenging foods, though chewing well is still something we're working toward. He's trying hard to communicate, too. I think we're going to attempt potty training soon but I haven't decided 'when'. Maybe during the December/January break.

Both boys LOVE their baby sister and enjoy making her laugh. It's so fun to watch.

Breastfeeding HURTS REALLY BADLY (for the first 2+weeks)!

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise! Ok, it's only the first 2-3 weeks that hurts, but no one told me, so I want to tell you. Maybe for some people, poor latch or whatever can cause pain. But you know what? Correct positioning can also hurt! I consider myself tough, really tough. I'm a mom of twins, after all. I'm the mom of a child with Special Needs. I haven't slept soundly in about 5 years & when i am sick, I have to still function and I get no time off. I'm tough as nails.

BUT BREASTFEEDING brought me to tears...about 12x a day.

When I was in the hospital, I started nursing within 30 minutes of birth. I continued trying & at least 4 times a day, a LC would come in and view my 'positioning' and 'latch' and all that and tell me "GREAT JOB!". I was there 4 days and on the 3rd day, things began to really hurt. I asked for evaluation after evaluation and they all said "Bravo!" I knew it was right. My milk was coming in and Harper was doing great. Then I went home and things just got worse and worse.

I began to dread feeding time - dread it bad. It got so bad that I would bite a pillow throughout the entire ordeal. Sometimes I cried. I was so glad that no one saw me & that I was nursing in privacy of our guest bedroom. It was so awful. After a few days of excruciating agony, I called the hospital, looking for a LC. I spoke to one, explained everything & she said that latch and positioning sounded great. She recommended that I see my Pediatrician's LC. I didn't know he had one, but he did! I got into see her and she went thru everything and again, "It all looks great!" She felt that my nipples were a little beat up, but not too bad. She recommended and brought me a nipple shield. It helped a little. I went home feeling a little more confident.

The best thing I had going for me was that Harper was and is a VERY efficient eater. Most of the time, she was done in 10 minutes. Bless her sweet heart! I would only have to endure the razor blades (that's seriously what it felt like) for just about 10 minutes at a time (up to 12x per day and night!).

At home I tried the nipple things and though they were awkward, they helped a little. However, it slowed Harper down. Instead of filling up in 10 minutes, it was taking 20-25. Now, given that she ate every 2 hours or so, this was rediculous. I decided to buck up, grit my teeth, put on my big girl panties, bite my pillow and surely, someday the pain would lesson. Surely! I tried to explain the agony to my Aunt. She could empathize with the 'latch' pain - you know, how it hurts for the first 20 seconds or so. Well, multiply that times 100 and make it last 10 minutes and maybe that's how it felt like. I tried explaining to my mother, but she hadn't been able to BF and just couldn't imagine at all.

I googled and looked up so many things. I read about some gel pads that could help. I bought them and they maybe helped a teensy bit, but they hurt to remove. Oh, then engorgement began. Though it only lasted a few days, it felt like an eternity! I didn't think I'd survive. I took lots of hot showers and sent my husband to the store for cabbage leaves. They seemed to have helped but then I caught one of the boys eating a used one and I couldn't put them on anymore!

I did learn on google that it was a good idea to just nurse on 1 side per feeding and that would give the other side a nice break. This was nice. It did seem to help a little too. The razors and agony still existed but only for 1 side per feeding.

Finally, I stumbled upon this blog:

http://www.conversiondiary.com/2007/09/extreme-agonizing-torturous.html


This blog saved my sanity, it truly did. I read this blog and also emailed a friend of mine about the same time. To my friend, I said, "I thought this breastfeeding business was supposed to be easy, natural and painfree??!!". Her response was, "The first 15-18 days is HELL, but it becomes so painfree, easy and a BLESSING- hang in there.....it gets sooo bad before it gets better- like y ou want to throw the baby across the room..." This is coming from the calmest, sweetest, most loving mother imaginable. She hasn't a violent bone in her body and this was her description. Come ON, Kelly Mom or whatever. Why doesn't that site mention this stuff? I asked my friend why she didn't tell me. She said that honestly, what if she'd told me and I didn't have the pain? What if it hadn't been painful for me and she had scared me with her story? I would have thought her nuts...possibly.

Anyway, I blogged this so that others can hopefully stumble on this and read that pain is NORMAL and it may not be the stinking latch.