Double Digits

My Blueberry turned 10 months old today. I find this frightening. Because that means in 2 months she's going to turn 1 year old. How is that possible? Where did this year go? My baby will no longer be my baby. I'm going to have a toddler!

Heaven help me.

That's all I have to say.

Daybook - June 6

Outside my window...the sun is shining brightly and very warmly. Need to go outside when Blueberry wakes up.

I am thinking...of all the things I "should" be doing while I'm busy writing this. And then I'm thinking that I'm enjoying writing, so the "should do's" are just going to have to get over it.

I am thankful for...some new dresses. I love dresses, and my wardrobe has needed some serious help the last few months in terms of warm weather clothes that are convenient for nursing. With the permission of my husband, I got a few new dresses (he's definitely a dress fan--dresses on me that is--in case you needed clarification for some odd reason), and am very happy! Shirts and even skirts I can find cheap at thrift stores. Dresses that don't make me look like I'm 60 or don't require a prom or wedding to wear--not so much.

From the learning rooms...[or in our case--the learning brain]...I can barely keep up. As I write, Blueberry is discovering our CD shelves. Dandy. Something else to pick up. I will admit, they do make nice plunky noises when dropped.

From the kitchen...comes two roasted chickens (some for freezing for future meals) and a Brown Sugar Spice Cake (gluten free of course). I hope the latter tastes good as it's for dessert tonight with company. I really shouldn't attempt a brand new dessert with company, but spice cake just sounded so yummy! Oh, and I made meatballs with oatmeal (baby style) as the base for Blueberry. She loves food. It's rather amusing. Need to look up more recipes to make with baby food. We get lots through WIC, and she's beginning to definitely prefer not-pureed foods more and more.

I am wearing...a blue nursing dress. No shoes. or socks. Thank goodness.

I am creating...organization out of chaos! I got inspired by some Pins about having a closet office, and so I am officially coming out of the closet. OK, bad pun. And technically it's wrong. I'm actually going into the closet. With my desk. Right now it's functional (nicely functional) if slightly utilitarian. We'll work on pretty later.

I am going...to my brother's house for dinner tonight. Some old (and by old I mean, they were missionaries in Thailand when we first went out there when I was only 3 years old) friends are going to be with us. One of them (the daughter of the missionary--few years older than me) is bringing her newly adopted son! So excited to see them.

In my mailbox today.. .was a bill and a receipt. How boring.

I am reading.. .The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: A Novel. So far, in love. Good humor, fascinating subject. Really enjoying it. I also recently waded--skimmed?--through The Strong-Willed Wife: Using Your Personality to Honor God And Your Husband. Interesting book, but I quickly realized that it wasn't really something I needed as much as I sometimes think I do. Which was kind of a nice realization. That one will get listed on Paperbackswap shortly.

I am hoping...that this phase of Blueberry sleeping 7 or more hours in a row at night will continue. It's been three days so far, and I'm loving it!

I am hearing...Blueberry chattering to me. She just woke up from her nap and is crawling around the floor while I finish writing this. Must get off computer quickly. Don't like being on the computer when she's awake.

Around the house...Piles still exist. But they're getting worked on, so that's what matters, right?

One of my favorite things...unexpected friendships. I love it when a relationship just suddenly begins to blossom. That makes me happy.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Enjoy the sunshine. Hang out with a friend tomorrow night. Hopefully see another friend later in the week. Next week is recital week at the studio. Going to be busy every single night. Exhaustion.

Here is picture (or more) for thought I am sharing...

Before:


After:


Want to join in? Go check out The Simple Woman's Daybook.

In the household news...

Since Blueberry's surgery (and my last blog)....

1. Blueberry is doing much better. The first few days were pretty rough, but she seems to be healing nicely. She has an inch plus scar, but when her pediatrician saw it a few days ago, she commented that she didn't think it would stay a permanent scar.

In fact, since the surgery, Blueberry is more mobile than ever. We're thinking that the hernia was slowing her up in terms of crawling and potentially other movement. Before her crawling was awkward. One leg was down in the traditional crawl position but the other was always kind of propped up. Now she's crawling like a normal baby. And getting into everything. She's also continuing to pull herself up on all things reachable and is getting good at moving from one piece of furniture to another. Even though we can officially say she is crawling now, I don't think it's going to last long.

2. In other Blueberry news, her latest tricks of the last month: clapping. She's started this thing of sitting in one spot and using her heels to rotate in a full circle. Rather funny to watch. Interesting conversations going on all the time. She has finally figured out the sign for "food". Refuses to learn "more".

3. My house is piley. By which I mean that there are piles of things everywhere. Part of this is stuff we need to put into our shed (box sitting for my parents while they're overseas). Part of this is partially finished projects that need to be completed (garage needs tidying out, master bedroom needs some work, I've just rearranged our study--more on that later). Must get taken care of. Beginning to get under my skin!

4. Am trying to determine the best action to take concerning her current pediatrician. I like the office we're a part of mainly because they let us give her shots as we like without hassle. However, her actual pediatrician is bugging me. I've had a few things in past visits that have kind of irritated me; however, her 9 month appointment (which we just had on Friday) really got under my skin. Am I over-reacting? I don't think so, but judge for yourself.

Basically what happened was we went in, they did the usual height/weight etc. Blueberry now weighs 14.5lb and is 28". The doctor came in and commented that she was getting "really concerned" about Blueberry's weight. I had to point out to her that when we came in the week before at the start of our hernia adventure, they had weighed her in at 16lbs (with her clothes on), and at the hospital, they had weighed her in at 15.5lbs (diaper only). And as she had just had surgery as well as having had several days of not eating well, was it really surprising that she had lost weight? Should I really have to be pointing this out to the doctor (who has Blueberry's chart in front of her as have this discussion)? Other than that, she has stayed within the same percentile for her weight basically since she was born. She's growing and gaining weight. Just at a lower percentile.

They then did the hemoglobin/iron levels test. Nurse came back in and said we were good to go. I got a call Saturday morning from the pediatrician's office. Apparently her doctor is concerned about her iron levels and was recommending we start her on iron supplements immediately. The nurse proceeds to give me the name of the supplements. I then start asking questions.

Question 1: What about constipation issues that are guaranteed if she's taking iron supplements? We have struggled with constipation ever since Blueberry has started solids (in hindsight this might have something to do with the hernia, but that remains to be fully determined). Their recommendation--another drug that will hep with the constipation. Really?

Question 2: What exactly was her iron levels at? Answer: 11.4. According to the nurse, normal levels are 11.5-13.

I also raised the question of the latest research regarding breastfed babies and iron levels, and increasing iron through food. No answer. I started getting annoyed, finished the phone call, and did some research on my own because a few things just weren't sounding right to me.

Issue 1: According to every thing I can find, normal iron levels at 9 months is considered 10.5-14 (12 average) NOT 11.5-13.

Issue 2: She was sick. Had surgery. Hadn't been eating well. Had lost weight. Oh look--4 things that each on their own can cause someone's iron levels to be lower than normal. But rather than giving her any time to just recover, the pediatrician wants to put her on supplements. Really?

Issue 3 (especially given the facts of Issue 2): She was 1/10 of a percent below their preferred levels. No recommendation regarding having her eat foods high in iron. No. No. We need to put her on drugs. BAH! Just irritating.

Issue 4: It really irritated me that the pediatrician couldn't take the time to look at her levels and have this conversation with me while we were in the office. No, I had to talk only to the nurse from home. This has bothered me greatly.

Any ways, given that this isn't the first time I've had some questions about how our pediatrician works, I have to wonder what to do now.


Well, that's about it in the land of quickish updates. Lord and baby willing, I'll be on here more in the coming weeks.