Kicks and Giggles

Early tomorrow morning, we will be leaving to go camping in North Battleford.  I am a little wary as to how this camping trip will go.  Camping with a baby is totally different than normal camping.  I have bought some fleece sleepers so she will be warm at night.  The advantage to buying fleece sleepers in July: They are on sale.  I also am bringing her playpen mattress and have packed more clothes than I knew she had.  My biggest concern is her sleeping and napping.  Currently, I have to keep her room dark for her to have a good nap.  This is a problem in a tent.  Fortunately, my parents will also be there with their fifth wheel, and Chloe will be able to nap on their bed and we will cover the windows in that room.  However, when camping, it gets light early so I may be up quite early this weekend.  Also, if she sleeps anything like last night, it is going to be a long tiring weekend for everybody.  She woke up three times last night and had to eat each time.  In some cases it had not even been three hours.  She has not had to wake up more than once, if at all to eat for a couple months now.  Mostly if she wakes up, it is just to pop the soother in.  Hopefully this is just a growth spurt and is over soon.  (Why can’t growth spurts happen in the day when I am up anyway?)  I also am a little concerned about bugs and sun, as she can not use either bug repellent or sunscreen. 

So I am leaving for Chloe’s first big adventure tomorrow and hoping that she sleeps well and we don’t get her schedule too messed up.  I will post some pictures next week when we get back and also update about how the camping trip went.  Wish me luck! (and any tips if you have them.)

Yesterday, Third Day’s newest CD was released.  Therefore, being the Third Day fan that I am, I drove into the city and bought it.  (Why is it that Cd’s are always cheaper when they are first released?  It was only $13.)  It is wonderful.  I have been a huge Third Day fan for quite some time now.  The first time I heard them was at a friends house.  She had the self-titled album, which many know as the bus album, due to the bus on the front.  I really liked them and so went and bought some of their CD’s.  Over time, I bought more, and now I own all the ones they have released.  Two years ago, they came to Calgary with Chris Tomlin and Starfield for the stampede and Brian bought me tickets for my birthday.  It was probably one of the best birthdays I have ever had.  I got to spend the whole day walking around Stampede with Brian and ended it off with the Third Day concert and then a Ferris Wheel ride where we kissed at the top (something I have always wanted to do).  I also got mini donuts.  And what is better than mini donuts? 

Anyway, they are a great group.  The band plays quite well and I really like Mac Powell’s voice.  The lyrics are amazing and I can almost always find a song to suit whatever mood I am in or that has something I need to hear.  This newest Cd is no different, with great music and powerful lyrics.  Hopefully this keeps up.

Sidenote: I finally got Chloe to drink some formula.  After heavily diluting it with expressed milk and trying at least 6 times, she finally drank two ounces.  I am hoping it just gets easier from here.  

Now I will leave you with a picture of Chloe, on a very hot day all dressed in green and white for the riders! (Not really, but being from Saskatchewan, it had to be said)

Here is a picture for Christy, who complained that I always dress Chloe in pink or purple.  Here is some blue.

Even her blue stuff is girly, but what do you expect?  Also, the shirt in not quite truthful.  On Monday, I was at the health food store and the store owner reached her arm out and asked to hold her.  (Why do people think this is okay?)  After racking my brain for a full minute trying to think of a way to say “no, you can’t hold my baby” without being completely rude, I let the lady hold her.  Almost instantly Chloe started crying (which I was secretly hoping for so I could take my baby back) and I took her back and she was happy.  So she is not quite the social butterfly that her shirt claims.  Hopefully she reacts better when she sees family in the next few weeks that she has not seen for quite a while.

Today is my 25th birthday.  It is hard to believe.  I still feel like I just finished high school a year ago, but it  has actually been 7.  Where does the time go?  Recently I uncovered a letter that one of my friends had written me in grade 11 that was to be opened in 2006.  I opened it a little late, but it was nice to remember.  It’s fun to see how we have grown and where our lives have taken us.  For example, of all the people mentioned in that letter, I still only really talk to two and one of them was my brother.  All of them except one are married, one is seperated, half of them have children or are expecting, and only four of them still live in Regina, with one leaving shortly. 

It is interesting to look back at your life and see if you are where you thought you would be.  Although I am not doing what I thought I would be in grade 11 (I was going to go into radiology), I am content with where my life is and who I have become.  I have no regrets of my life, for every mistake I have made (and there have been lots) has taught me something and I have grown through it.  All the trials I have faced (although there has not been too many) have helped me grow and shaped me into the woman I am today.

I finally at 25, am starting to feel like an adult. It’s funny what finally made me feel that way.  It was not getting married, finishing school, my first real job, buying a house or even having a baby.  It was buying the minivan.  Nothing says adult like owning a sleek, sexy, gas guzzling minivan.

Happy birthday to me!

Why is is that other people seem to think they know everything about how things should be done?  Specifically, I am referring to raising my child.  People think they know what I should or shouldn’t do with my child.  This includes everything from how and if I dress her, how and what I feed her, how I put her to sleep and all manner of other things that raising a child involves.  They arrogantly assume that not only is their way the best way, but it is the only way.  Somehow they make me feel like I am the worst parent in the world because I am doing things different then they would/did.  Many of these people have not had babies for 20, 30, 40, or even 50 years.  Things change.  We don’t do things the same way anymore and even if we did, everyone’s parenting style is different.  I don’t mind advice such as “this is what worked for me,” or “I’ve heard that this can work,”  but saying that what I am doing or not doing is the reason why my baby is fussy, or not eating, or not sleeping is another thing altogether. 

Perhaps they have the best of intentions, but I hardly think that suggesting that if they took her for a week, that all her problems would be gone, is good intentions.  What a load of crap.  I’m sure their children had their own brand of problems.  Just because I am doing things differently than they did doesn’t mean that I am doing a horrible job of raising my child. 

Parenting is such a personal thing and no two people will do it the same way, so why should it be expected to be the same.  Even people who are very similar in personality and were raised by the same parents will raise their children differently.  Most parents just try to do the best they can to raise a happy, healthy, responsible and respectful child.  I think that as long as you are giving your child lots of love, aren’t harming your child, and what you are doing is working for you and your family, you are doing fine.

Chloe is four months old today.  She is getting so big.  We had a doctors appointment today, at which she almost pushed herself off the scale onto the floor.  The nurse said she has never had that happen before.  She then decided to cry for the remainder of the appointment, but what does the doctor expect when I schedule the appointment so that she will be happy, and I have to wait 45 minutes?  That is a very long time in baby world.  She is 13 lb 11 oz and 25 inches, which according to the enfamil growth and development chart (http://www.meadjohnson.ca/en/growth/) puts her at 29 percentile for weight and 72 percentile for height.  In true Penner fashion, she is tall and skinny.  She is getting so close to sitting up on her own and she rolls over from her back to front frequently.  She has also found her voice and really likes to tell stories and laugh and smile.  She was sleeping through the night (7:30-6:30/7) until recently when we begin to have soother problems, so we are attempting to be done with the soother.  So far it has gone well.  I can’t believe how fast she is growing and how big she is getting.  Before I know it she is going to be all grown up!

Some pics on her four month birthday!

She is starting to push herself out of this, so soon it will have to be put away.

Chloe has decided that she is going to be on a nursing strike.  Having had no problems other than a bit of cracking when I first started, which was quickly solved with lanolin, I thought that I was in for a smooth ride until I weaned her.  Today however, after numerous tries on both sides, she refused to even begin to latch and decided to scream instead.  So twice I had to resort to boiling some water and thawing out some frozen expressed milk, which seems to take twice as long when you have a baby crying in the background.  If this keeps up tomorrow I think I will try to get a doctors appointment to see if she has some kind of infection (ear, thrush) or something that is causing this.  Otherwise, if we can’t get things back to normal soon, I may be weaning her sooner than planned.  I had originally planned to nurse for six months, but I refuse to pump exclusively for her.  I am not a cow and I never feel more like a cow then when I pump. If you picture barns with rows of dairy cows attached to machines in the early morning, that is how I feel.

On a brighter side, she has started to grab her toys and is officially big enough for her exersaucer, which she loves.  This is very exciting for us as she loves to stand but can’t do it herself yet.

 Clothes are highly overrated when it is above 20 degrees

Early last Friday morning, my sister-in-law Terah and her husband, Tim had a baby girl!  Terah went into labour all on her own and had the baby naturally with no drugs at around two in the morning!  I however was induced a week early due to gestational diabetes.  They used oxytocin, which is by no means gentle and I chose to have an epidural due to numerous factors.  At the time, I didn’t feel like I was missing anything, but now, after Terah having her drug free labour, I realize that I missed that.  I did not get to experience giving birth to my child the way God intended for us to do it.  I am hoping that I will be able to experience it next time.  I have a 95% chance of having Gestational Diabetes with any subsequent pregnancies, so they will likely induce me then as well.  This time, however, I do not think I will let them use oxytocin.  I want something gentler and slower so I can experience a natural labour.  If they think the baby needs to be out by a certain date, they can use the slower stuff a few days earlier.  Last time, I did not know enough and was too nervous and excited to say anything.  I just wanted my baby out.  The next time, I will stand my ground, try to do things naturally, and not let the nurses convince me otherwise.

Also here are some pictures of Chloe with her first ponytail.   Which do you like better?  Up or Down?

  Down

  Up (Does this remind anybody else of Pebbles from Flinstones?)

Congratulations Tim and Terah!  Welcome Baby Kaytlyn!

First off, I am going to quickly add to yesterday’s post, that after doing much more research, I will no longer be getting any vaccinations for Chloe at this time.  When she is older we will look at getting her tetanus shot and MMR. 

On a lighter note, for a long time, I have wanted a cookie press.  They looked quick and easy and the cookies looked so pretty.  My sister knew this and proceeded to tell my mom, who in an unprecendented move managed to get me my birthday present more than a month before my birthday.  (It is usually at least a month late for everybody, although she tries harder to be on time for in-laws).  She gave me an electric cookie press.  I tried it and just got so frustrated, so I cleaned it up, returned it to the store, and exchanged it for a manual one.  Yesterday, it was cooler outside so I gave it a try.  I love it.  With my kitchen-aid mixer and this cookie press I can make pretty looking, quite tasty cookies in about 5-10 minutes, although this does not include baking time.  It was wonderful.  They also have some cracker recipies and some other cookie recipies that I am excited to try.  Horray for super easy cookie making.  Now if only I could find a way to clean my house just as fast.

And some pics of Chloe just for fun:

Helping me make cookies

Playing with her toys

Chloe’s scheduled to go for her two month immunizations next Thursday.  Yes, I know I am a little late.  The more and more I read, the less I want to get them for her.  One of the biggest concerns is the rise of autism which is caused by the mercury based preservative, thimerasol.  Currently the only vaccine in Alberta that contains this component is the Hep B Vaccine and the flu shot, which Chloe will definitely not be getting.  Many people say that there is not a link from vaccines to autism and that I am just getting this information from my mom, who is more into natural and homeopathic medicine than traditional medicine.  However, since 1989, the rate of autism has increased from about 1 in 2500 to 1 in 166 children.  Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Datalink states that children who were immunized with three vaccines containing thimerosal were 27 times more likely to develop autism than children who receive thimerosal free vaccines.  Thimerosal has been removed from some vaccines, yet there are a few that still contain this dangerous preservative, including most flu shots.  Evidence has been found that suggests that the link between thimerosal containing vaccines and autism had a higher risk than that between lung cancer and smoking cigarettes.

As a pregnant woman, you are told not to eat shark (which I know was a staple of my diet before I got pregnant), swordfish or too much tuna as the mercury levels are too high and could cause your baby neurological problems, yet we inject our children with mercury shortly after they are born, in some cases, as little as 24 hours.  If children are given all the recommended vaccinations (and there are many), they will receive 2370 times the allowable safe limit for mercury in the first two years of life. (This number may have dropped since the removal of thimerosal from most vaccines).  Since 1999, the FDA has requested that vaccine manufacturers remove thimerosal from vaccines.  Since this time, and the removal of thimerosal from most childhood vaccines, the increase of reported rates of autism and other related neurological disorders  has not only stopped, but has decreased by as much as 35%, according to the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.

While your doctor may claim that there is no link between vaccines and autism, consider this; On November 9, 2007 the US government conceded a vaccine-autism case in the Court of Federal Claims, despite years of insisting that there was no link between the two.

So before you start signing your child up for 6 billion immunizations, do some research and pass on the ones containing this preservative.  At least in Alberta, the only shots that contain thimerosal are not really necessary.  A flu is a flu and everybody gets them.  Also, the flu shot is based off last years flu so i  does not actually prevent you from getting the flu as the next year is a new strain of the virus.  Hep B can only be contracted through contact with blood or bodily fluids from an infected person (much the same as HIV) so it is also not necessary until your child is much older, if they have a healthcare job or something else of a similar nature.  Also do some research on the other ones and see what kind of things you may end up having to deal with and weigh if it is really worth the vaccination.  I am not saying that you should not vaccinate your child.  I am just saying research it carefully before you decide.  You carefully research your car seat and stroller purchase or your doctor choice.  Shouldn’t you closely research vaccinations as well? As for me I know Chloe will only be getting DPT on Thursday and MMR at some point before she gets pregnant (many years from now).  Who really wants to hold their child while they are poked with a needle anyway?

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/38784.php   

http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/vaccines.htm

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-kirby/government-concedes-vacci_b_88323.html

http://www.vran.org/index.htm (Lots of information on all vaccines and a Canadian page)