Introducing Hayden Rose

The baby is here!

I was scheduled for induction on Wednesday, but Miss Hayden had other ideas (thank goodness - I wasn't hot on the idea of induction because of the greater chance of a C-section).

I awoke Monday, crampy (as usual) and feeling unwell. I got up, used the restroom, and got back into bed as it was only 6:15 a.m. I decided to time my cramps, even though they weren't contractions (I didn't have contractions with Colin, either). They were 10 minutes, then three minutes, then 12 minutes, then eight minutes apart. Hubby got up, and when he came back to bed, I was nearly in tears. I said, "I just don't feel well... I'm so tired of this!" He said, "Don't worry - it will be over soon."

Just seconds later, as I was sitting there, I felt this huge scraping feeling up inside - I swear I could practically hear it. I thought that was weird. Then, about a minute later - a gush of amniotic fluid! I jumped out of bed and said, "Matt - my water broke - call your mom!" He's like, "WHAT????" I said, "Call your mom! Call your mom!" I knew that it would take her about 45 minutes to get to our house - and the doctor had told me, "Don't wait for your water to break to come to the hospital, because things could go quickly after that... just call when your contractions are eight to 10 minutes apart."

Considering that, once again, I didn't have straight-up, traditional contractions, I didn't know that I was in labor until my water broke!

So I was gushing everywhere, and Matt was getting last-minute things together, and Colin woke up (of course). He wanted breakfast (of course). So I wrapped a towel around myself and walked him to the kitchen. I served him cereal ("Barbara's, Cheerios, and big milk, Mommy.") and tried not to focus on my discomfort, while PRAYING that Janine would hurry up and get over to the house.

Colin wanted seconds, but I was feeling so poorly, I told him, "Mommy's not feeling well right now, so you'll have to wait for Daddy." He looked at me, seriously, and said, "Go to hospital - get baby sister - feel better?"

Wow.

Then I started feeling even worse, so Matt called his mom. "Mom, where are you??????" Turned out she made a WRONG TURN. She has been to our house thousands of times in the last five years, and she made a WRONG TURN. Nerves! So I got in the car, started doing some directed breathing (I think!) and clutched the door handle for dear life.

Janine pulled up while Matt was pacing at the door of the garage, trying to watch Colin in the kitchen and me in the car to make sure I wasn't giving birth in the front seat. (He kept saying, "If my mom's not here in five minutes, we're taking Colin to the hospital with us!" And why didn't we have a neighbor watch Colin while we raced out of there, you might ask? Because our neighbors to the right had left for work, and the neighbors to the left weren't answering their phones or door, although they seemed to be home! ARGH!)

Then, of course, there was tons of traffic, so I told Matt, "Put on your hazards, cut people off, I DON'T CARE - JUST GET ME TO THE HOSPITAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

By the time I was checked in Labor and Delivery - about an hour after my water broke - I was already at 5 cm.

I got an epidural that was uneven, leaving me still writhing in pain. My left leg ended up numb, while I had rib pain on the left side, abdominal pain on the right, and searing pain (worse-than-my-worst-sciatica-day) through my right butt cheek. The nurse told me to lay on my right side to try to even it out, which ended up helping somewhat, though much whimpering was involved.

Matt and the nurse monitored my contractions, and I saw the nurse's surprise registered in her eyebrows. "You poor dear - your uterus is staying pretty much constantly contracted - I could say that you're contracting every minute or so, but your uterus is pretty much staying hard all of the time!"

Really!

Two hours after I checked in, the nurse said, "Do you feel any pressure?" I did, so she checked me out. She said, "Oh my goodness, the baby's head is right there. I need to call the doctor."

Five minutes later, the doctor arrived. I suddenly felt very serene and calm. I said, "Just tell me when to push, because I can't tell when I'm having a contraction."

The first two pushes, I kind of forgot anything I learned when I had Colin. (As Matt later chided me, "You totally half-assed those first two pushes!") By the third push, it all came back to me. The doctor said, "Okay, we really need to get her out now. Give me one more good push."

The fourth push was the charm, and Hayden Rose was born.

And then there's this....

SOOOOOOO......

I've been communicating by phone with the mother of one of Colin's little friends at school. Apparently, the Giardia situation is way out of control there.

A group of parents (including those of this little boy) were in the office a week ago Monday, demanding more answers about the outbreak. They also did not agree that it was okay to keep the kids who tested "negative" separate from the untested kids, but let all of them play TOGETHER on the playground. (Said one mother who is a pediatrician: "Giardia can live in the water and mud puddles on the playground, and you're not really keeping the kids segregated if they're playing together, anyway!")

The school has set up a meeting, run by the Department of Health, for tomorrow at 4 p.m. Hubby is considering leaving work early to attend. Especially as I passed on the info (that I got from aforementioned mom) that another of Colin's little friends just got his test results back today: *positive*. AND she mentioned something that just blew me away: the teachers are NOT CHANGING GLOVES BETWEEN DIAPER CHANGES FOR EACH KID. If they have three kids lined up for diaper changes and two kids on the little potties, they will wear the SAME GLOVES for all of the diaper changes.

I told the mom, "I can understand that you wear glove for your own protection, but what about preventing communicable disease BETWEEN the kids." She said, "Well, they have kids lined up, so they're just using the same gloves. I know [teacher's name] doesn't change gloves." I said, "If you go to a lab and there are three people lined up for blood tests, the phlebotomist doesn't keep the same gloves on for each person! Oh my God!!!!!!"

My husband said, "Does the Department of Health know about this?"

They might by tomorrow morning, if I have anything to do with it.

Speaking of that, what about OSHA?

Now our big decision is whether Colin should go back to this school. Granted, he's been there 2.5 years and this is the first major thing that's occured. We can either switch him to another daycare, or just have me work only one day per week (with my MIL watching the kids) until he goes to preschool in the fall.

Oh, and the mom also mentioned that a letter was clipped onto the sign-in/out sheet this morning: during an inspection, there was a code violation in that a child (who must've been five or younger!) was walking in the outside corridor on the way to the bathroom, without a parent escort or line-of-sight supervision by a teacher or other staff member. The letter must be signed and returned to the school, showing that we've read it.

Let's not neglect to mention that all of the letters re: Giardia have NOT been sent to our house while Colin's been at home. I wonder if that letter will show up or not.

PEEVED!!!!!

What I'm listening to: Nothing - saving my eardrums for "American Idol"
I just: Ran Colin's bathwater (hubby is watching him)
Now I'm gonna: Get Colin's PJs out of the dryer

Kikkoman takes care of their customers

I wrote to Kikkoman on Sunday, inquiring after their processing of soy and Teriyaki sauces. Hubby and I have been longing to make stir-fry, and since eating out at a Chinese (or really any Asian) restaurant is now prohibited due to Colin's peanut/tree-nut allergies, I decided to start searching out sauces that we could use. My concern, naturally, was that non-peanut sauces might be cross-contaminated with peanut (or nuts). I received this reply THIS MORNING in my e-mail:

--------------------------------------
Dear Ms. SomeonesMom:
We received your e-mail inquiring about Kikkoman Soy and Teriyaki Sauces. You asked if these sauces and any of our non-peanut sauces are "processed on equipment shared with peanut/nut products" because you would like to avoid any chance of cross contamination with these allergens.

Kikkoman soy, Teriyaki and other sauces that are brewed and produced by Kikkoman Foods, Inc. in Walworth, WI do not contain any kind of peanuts or nuts in them. Therefore, the soy and teriyaki sauces manufactured at this plant would be free of cross contamination. Please check the back of the label to see where the sauce was produced.

We hope you find this information helpful to you as you plan your meals. If we may be of further assistance, please let us know.

Sincerely,
KIKKOMAN INTERNATIONAL INC.
Consumer Services
-----------------------------

So I checked the back of the Teriyaki sauce we already had in the refrigerator: didn't say where it was made (just that it was distributed by Kikkoman in San Francisco, CA). Then I checked the soy sauce and light soy sauce we had: Walworth, WI!

I went to the store and took a look at the Teriyaki sauce that was just the same as the one in our refrigerator. Nothing listed. However, when I looked at the light Teriyaki sauce, it was marked as made in Walworth, WI. Bingo!

So of course I brought it.

And again, of course, I managed to drop the grocery bag six inches to the floor of the garage, just outside the door to the kitchen... and I broke the bottle of light Teriyaki sauce.

Considering everything that's going on in our lives right now, I wasn't about to cry over... spilled Teriyaki.

I was more thrilled with the overall message I took away from this experience: Kikkoman offers prompt customer service and specific answers. They told me exactly what I needed to know, how to obtain needed information, and that they actually cared about their customers.

What I'm listening to: That "Tattoo" song by Jordin Sparks
I just: Ate a snack-sized KitKat
Now I'm gonna: Write some thank-you cards

Feeling positive about being negative

Last week, got notice that my husband and I are negative for Giardia. Yippee!

On Saturday evening, when we finished the last dose of medicine, I had Colin ceremoniously throw the bottle into the trash. He said, "That too, Mommy," pointing to the medicine dispenser. He threw that away as well.

Good riddance! Now let's cross our fingers that that was enough medicine to rid him of Giardia.

Does this look like a kid with Giardia?

Just checking. Because the test results from 1/2/08 indicate that he has Giardia! He's one of those rare individuals who shows NO signs, NO symptoms, yet has it.

Thank goodness I persuaded his pediatrician to order a lab test... for a kid with no symptoms.

So what happened?

Back in October, there was a sign on the door of his daycare class indicating that a child in the class had Giardia. When I asked a teacher about it, she said that the child had been having diarrhea, but the parents kept bringing him to daycare anyway (!!!). They kept calling the parents to take him home, saying, "You can't bring your child if they have diarrhea!" Finally, they said, "This is not clearing up - you should get him tested." The parents relented at last... and found out he had Giardia.

A couple weeks went by, and two more cases popped up.

Then November was silent.

In December, another notice went up. Turns out EIGHT more children had Giardia. EIGHT. A letter went out to parents just before the Christmas break, stating that if your child is tested and comes back "negative", they'd be put in a different room, with all of the "negative" kids. They had come in on a weekend and bleached down the entire room. They had called the Dept. of Health, which had sent reps in to give an additional workshop on precautions with diaper changes.

So, just to be helpful, I thought Colin should be tested. Then, once he came back "negative", he could go into the "negative" class after Christmas break.

The day after Christmas, with the scent of pine in the air, and some still-unwrapped presents under the tree, I scooped poo into vials.

Then we waited.

The pediatrician's office called the day after New Year's... with a bit of shock in the voice... Colin was positive for Giardia!

Talk about a stunner. How long had he had it? How many other kids in that class could be positive, little ticking time-bombs of Giardia poo, without knowing it?

So then I needed to call my doctor and persuade them to sign a lab sheet, even though I had no symptoms. And my husband had to do the same. Both offices hesitated greatly until we mentioned Colin's asymptomatic "positive". (And the fact that I was just days/weeks from having a baby.)

We're still waiting for our lab results.

In the meantime, Colin can't go to daycare on his usual days. Which, of course, are the days I'm supposed to be going to obstetrical appointments, taking extra naps, and running errands that I won't be able to do once the baby comes (not immediately, at least). The poor kid is not getting enough exercise, between me being so pregnant and having all of these sciatic/back issues, not being able to take him to gym class (because of my same issues), not going to school, and the rainstorms that prevent trike-riding and park time.

We've had three calls from the Dept. of Health. Luckily, all of the people I've spoken with ARE SO FRIENDLY AND PERSONABLE AND PROFESSIONAL. One nurse is going to bring the next two sets of vials for poo sampling to the house, so I only have to deal with drop-offs (because of my impending labor and delivery). My favorite part, though, was when the nurse was doing a questionnaire with me over the phone to determine where Colin might have swallowed water from a stream or eaten dirt. I said, "I know where he got Giardia. He got it at daycare when a kid had it back in October and his parents kept bringing him to school. There's a big outbreak there now that they can't get under control."

So Colin needs to take medicine for 10 days, three times per day. The first two days were fine, then he decided that he hated the medicine. (It's very bitter, even when mixed into a cherry base syrup.) I started mixing it into chocolate syrup, which is an incredibly rare treat for him. That worked for another two days, but was messy and difficult to administer. Then I hit on it: squirt the medicine in his mouth, tell him to "swallow quickly!", then squirt whipped cream into his mouth. Well, that's been a HUGE hit. It's worked like a charm. I don't know how I came up with that one; I have never had whipped cream squirted into my own mouth! But I'm glad I did. I'm like freakin' Mary Poppins over here now, with my spoonful of.... whipped cream.

It's just been rough in that Colin is having to take medicine, even though he doesn't feel sick; he can't go to school, and doesn't understand why; we have to bleach down all of his toys (the nurse's suggestion from today), which sent him into a tizzy because he thought we were putting away all of his toys in the garage so he'd never see them again; and, of course, I'm pregnant and supposed to be taking it easy.

BTW, if I come back "positive", the doctor said she wouldn't treat me unless I became symptomatic. She'd treat me after the baby was born. (And, of course, I'd need to tell Labor and Delivery that I had Giardia so they could make accommodations for that when I delivered.) In addition, if I started on medication, I'd have to pump-and-dump milk, as the medicine is not compatible with nursing.

SOOOOOOOOOO.... needless to say, our household has been turned upside down in the weeks when we really need it least. But we need to make sure our home becomes Giardia-free before the baby comes, as it can be a real danger to infants (dehydration, failure to thrive, hospitalization, etc.).

As my husband says: "Damn daycare!"

What I'm listening to: Matt watching "Nova" without me. Stop!
I just: Started watching "Nova" without him, then paused it. ;)
Now I'm gonna: Pour some orange juice and go chastize poor Matt

More cute

Today, Colin felt his baby sister moving around.

Colin: Oh, Baby Sidder, it you pay time. You move around at pay time.

BTW, this is the second time today I've found Colin on my bed, watching TV - the local weather newscast regarding the major storms pounding the area. He loves seeing those weather maps!

What I'm listening to right now: The weather report, of course!
I just: Talked to the hubby
Now I'm gonna: Well, we were going out to Target, but now it's dark outside...

Quoth the Colin...

At the park on New Year's Day...

Hubby: Colin, do you want to be a firefighter when you grow up?

Colin: No.

Hubby: How about flying an airplane?

Colin: No.

Hubby: Then what do you want to be when you grow up?

Colin: Caudin grow up, be a big brother.

What I'm listening to: A lacrosse ball bouncing around in the dryer (beating a Boppy into submission)
I just: Read up on Giardia online
Now I'm gonna: Put some pasta on to boil