projectile!

vomit.

all last night. poor ginny had a very sick tummy. I suspected she wasn't feeling well when she started to scream halfway through her favorite thing "yum yum in the tum tum" -- the rice cereal. I thought that was rather odd. her usual enthusiasm was replaced with dramatic tears, an arching back and a little spit-up. not good. the full-on vomit came around 9:30 pm. that horrible noise then splat then wahhhhhhh. b was home (for a change) and this made me happy. I had a team mate to help out with a sick child and all the additional laundry a la puke. but then the reality of the situation hit me. oh, and it hit hard. not only was I dealing with infant belly distress I had a horrific case of chronic manflu on my hands. b was tired.

I'm rundown and at the end of my rope here. I'm sorry but one individual cannot possibly do all things house related, food related, dog related, baby related, work AND stay sane. after the 3rd pajama change and 2nd sheet/mattress pad change I brought ginny into bed with us. she was still having dry heaves and I didn't want her on her back. I literally threw off the hideous head band (yes, filled with vomit) to give the poor child a break. I kept her upright and rocked her to sleep. I eventually put her back into her bed while I stayed up all night keeping an eye on her. I admit I was pretty nervous. every tiny sound that came from the crib sent me leaping out of bed a million miles an hour. she vomited a few more times. she puked, b slept. she dry heaved, b snored. she got up at 8 am. b slept until 10:45 am. until...

"it's not MY job to do absolutely EVERYTHING!" (remember, I'm rundown.)

I gently handed ginny to b while he was still snoozing away. she had already pooped and peed through 3 diapers and 2 outfits. it was only 10:30! she had on an undershirt, a top, socks and a big ass (literally) cloth diaper. I collected the remaining stinky puke items to do even more laundry. when I can up from the basement b was standing at the top of the stairs. "should she be wearing pants?"

"sure." I said

"where would I find them?"

ladies and gentlemen, I rest my case.

to be continued

happy birthday virginia!

6 months! today! that's 1/2 a year old.
amazing (and very scary) how time flies.

now let's all join hands and sing "happy 6 months birthday to you, happy..."

a little update

I've been VERY busy this week and I wanted to let everyone know that I'm behind in responding to your emails. after my ppd post AND head band post AND cloth diapers post, I received a ton of emails. I intend to answer each and every one of them. I'm so sorry for the delay. apparently my ppd post hit home for many. it goes to show you that women continue to suffer (or get treatment) in private. some are even ashamed. it's that damn stigma thing again. you can always count on me to continue to add to my collection of stigmas and be open about them. infertility, formula feeding, post-partum depression... what's next? I can only imagine.

new camera! new carrots!

thanks ariana for hooking us up with this fab camera. here is our first shot. yummmy.

urine management

it's been awhile since my last post. put it this way, "dopey client." it's one thing to work as a freelancer/consultant for a big design firm. it's another thing to work with your own client. two completely separate beasts.
big design firm = 6 - 8 design concepts with a round of revisions and a set fee. done.
own client = bigger budgets with a lot of "hand holding" and hair pulling frustration. never done. did I mention the phone calls at 8 pm? on a saturday? oy. I've been busy.

so that's what I've been up to, aside from CDing (cloth diapering.) love it! (only after an intense and overwhelming education on the art of CDing.) shit, man! there is a huge CD subculture out there with an enormous, passionate following. BFing and CDs -- talk about serious emotions! you mention "sposies" (disposables) on a certain message board (I'm so not naming names) and watch out, girl! fear for your life!

so b and I spent an entire rainy sunday morning sipping coffee and researching the chore/hobby of CDing. literally HOURS were spent trying to sort through what to purchase for our "collection." blueberries, bum genius 3.0, thirsties, chinese prefolds, indian prefolds, kissaluvs, pockets, swaddlebees, wahmies, snappies, good mamas, AIO (all in ones) contours, happy heiny, fuzzibunz, imse vimse... get the picture? flannel, wool, hemp, organic? snaps vs. velcro? the confusion. the expense. the horror!

what ever happened to the cloth diapers I grew up with? simple cotton rectangles, a couple of safety pins and some good old rubber pants? done! geez. nowadays you need some sort of online degree from GMD (green mountain diapers) ridiculous! and washing them? not so easy. you have to consider hard water vs. soft water. pockets vs. prefolds. choosing the appropriate detergent was a challenging experience as well. I wasn't one to want to wash my bum genius 3.0 (not bum genius 1.0) separately from my kissaluv contours. fuck that. the point is to save money and the environment not do 7 additional loads of laundry every single day. and cost? wow! some diapers run $35... EACH!

after the initial shock ($) and being totally and completely aggravated (with a major bout of diaper rash) we have muddled our way through the murky waters of CDs -- and all is good. very good. in fact, I LOVE my CDs! I have to admit, we bought a few stinkers but we have quickly discovered our faves. we have a nice, uncomplicated routine happenin' now. ginny's rash has cleared up beautifully and I only do 1 extra load of laundry every 2/3 days. couldn't be simpler. no more expensive "sposies" filling up my garbage can (and the earth's landfills.) and those bizarre absorbing crystals left on ginny's bum? gone. but what about the poop? until ginny is out eating chilidogs and spicy beef tacos with her dad (please god, NO!) her poops are unremarkable and pretty benign.

the truth is, yes, CDing requires a little more work but so do a lot of things that are better for our earth and well being. this self proclaimed "recycling bully" is now a little greener. and it feels awwwesome!

another step backwards

for us infertiles.

I wish the media would get it straight! geez louise! (I'm working on my potty mouth. I don't want ginny's first words to be "fucking checkbook.") the idiotic newscasters continue to say "implant" embryos instead of the correct term "transfer" embryos. no, the octuplets were not a result of IVF and implanting 8 embryos. not all transfered embryos IMPLANT people! grrrrrrr.

so here we go again. we are forced to defend IVF and try to teach the public how the process works (when done "correctly.")

IVF 101 -
embryos (usually 1 - 2) are transfered into the uterus with the hope that one will implant and develop into a fetus and ultimately a baby.

dumbass with access to fertility drugs 101 -
my theory on the octuplets? I believe the woman took stims on her own. she clearly responded well to the meds and developed many follicles. any intelligent RE would either cancel the IUI/TI or convert to IVF so he/she had some "control." an u/s would obviously indicate numerous follies. nobody (a responsible professional) would transfer 8 embryos or do an IUI with the potential of producing such a large number of eggs. that's bullshit. this woman already has 6 kids so she's proven she's "kinda" fertile. I think she took the meds with no supervision, hence multiple fertilized eggs (who knows, maybe 15) and the implantation of 8 embryos. idiot.