Finally!

The husband received a phone call today.  A wonderful phone call.  He was told that he has been approved for the switch in pipelines.  He will fly again! He was so worried that he would be denied and have to leave the Navy.  He is so relieved.  Now we can finally start working on packing.  We had talked about stuff, and purged a bit, but he was too afraid to look for a house or really get things going.  He didn't want to jinx himself.  We found out we qualify for housing which is nice since we only have one car.  Plus it is hard to find housing within our BAH that allows large dogs. Or one that the pet fee isn't outrageous.  There is an apartment complex that charges $700 for a pet.  That is insane!  All we are waiting on our orders which hopefully he will receive next week.  I am so excited for him.  He is ready to fly again.  He hasn't been in a plane since October.  If everything works out, he will be in a class with some guys he already knows and he will wing with them.  I think it would be awesome if he could wing with friends.  Let's hope he can class up soon so we can get going.  I am ready to leave Texas!

This is the P3 that he may fly once he wings

All grown up

This is a bragging post about my daughter.  Okay, maybe not bragging, but I was so darn proud of her last weekend and I wanted to share.  Last weekend my husband we decided to go to San Antonio for two days.  We wanted to take Hannah to the zoo since hasn't been to a real zoo since she was 11 months old.  She loves the aquarium in Corpus Christi so we thought she would love the zoo.  We left early Saturday morning, but after all the stops it was after 12 before we made it to the zoo. Hannah was tired,  but she was excited so she was doing okay.  I missed most of the zoo because by the time we found a parking spot, walked to the zoo, and then made it in it was time for me to pump.  That meant I had to hike it back to the car, pump, and then walk back.  By the time all that took place, Hannah was ready to melt down out of exhaustion and hunger (she didn't eat her lunch.)  We decided to leave shortly after that, she took a nap in the car, and then even took one once we made it to the hotel.  She never voluntarily goes back to sleep once you wake her up.  I was very shocked.  We ended up switching from our hotel room to a 3 bedroom duplex.  We stayed at Randolph Air Force Base, and they called to say they had one available if we wanted it.  We took it!  It was very nice to have the room to spread out.  Now, this is why I am proud of her.  My little girl, who we have had so many sleep problems with during nap time and bed time, had absolutely no problem sleeping in an unfamiliar room all by herself.  I thought for sure she would freak out at bed time and cry for one of us to sleep in the room with her.  She does that here at home in her own room if she hears a train whistle.  She chose the room she wanted to sleep in, she climbed right into the bed, and told us good night.  I think it helped that the room had a tv with a dvd player and we let her play a movie.  We don't let her watch tv if it is time to sleep, but we were hoping it would help her feel comfortable in the room.  Maybe it helped, maybe it didn't.  Either way, she slept in that room all night without an issue.  I was so dang proud of her I almost cried.  She is growing up!  I know it doesn't seem like much, but it was a huge deal to me.  Every day it seems like she is moving more toward being a kid instead of a toddler.  Now if I could just get the tantrums to stop...

(If you read this rambling mess, you deserve a cookie. :)  This is what happens when I write a post during my  4am pumping session.)

Exclusively pumping

source:  Lansinoh.com

There doesn't seem to be too much talk out there about moms who exclusively pump.  You will see many articles about breastfeeding or formula feeding, but not many go in depth about pumping to feed your baby.  I have decided to exclusively pump for Meeghan..  I did nurse while in the hospital, and for a few days at home, but I switched to pumping.  Here is where I tell my dirty little secret.  I hate breastfeeding.  I can't give you a great explanation on why I hate it, but I do.  I have inverted nipples which makes it more difficult, and I don't know if that is the reason.  Pumping is a pain since I am tied to the pump for 20 minutes every 3 hours, but it is cheaper than buying formula.  I am not against formula since that is what I used to feed Hannah for most of her infancy.  I wanted to keep pumping for Hannah, but a weekend road trip killed the desire to continue when it felt like too much trying to pump in the car.  This time around my goal is to make it to 6 months.  I have made it almost 7 weeks, and I am pretty proud of myself.  I have a few hundred ounces in the freezer which I am really proud of.  I just wish there was a bit more support for pumping.  Maybe I am not looking in the right places.  I was shocked when doctors didn't try to stop me from pumping and switch back to breastfeeding.  When I was pumping with Hannah, the nurses at the WIC office made me feel like pumping was horrible and I should stop. I understand that pumping isn't as efficient as nursing, and Meeghan isn't getting the bonding like if she were nursing, but she is still getting breast milk and isn't that what is best for her.  I will admit that when I drag myself out of bed at 3am to pump, it does seem easier to just nurse or formula feed since Meeghan is sleeping from about 11pm until 5am.  That could be 6 whole hours of sleep! Or when we went to the San Antonio zoo this weekend, I had to go back to the car to pump while the husband and Hannah enjoyed the zoo.  It has been hard.  I down so much oatmeal I feel like a horse. I pump  as often as she eats to maintain my supply.  I feel like I am tied to the pump some days, and can't get out of the house. I do, however, tell myself that it is worth it.

My piece of advice to anyone who pumps, if you want some freedom while pumping get a hands free pumping bra. I love mine!  It is not comfortable wear all day (at least for me), but it isn't too hard to change bras when it is time to pump. I love that I can still use the computer, eat, or even play with Hannah while pumping.  This is the one I use Simple Wishes Hands Free Pumping Bra:

source: diapers.com

They did not pay me to endorse their product.  I just love it that much I wanted to share it with everyone.  I didn't even know it existed when Hannah was a baby.  I am so glad I heard about it this time around.

Differences

Lately, I have begun to notice that the husband and I have very different parenting styles.  When Hannah was an infant, we had the same philosophy on how to raise her.  Now that she has turned into a very feisty toddler, our approach is very different.  For instance, he will spank and flick her on the head if she has done something wrong.  I refuse to do any of that.  If she is misbehaving I try to talk to her first while she is in time out.  He will spank and  then put her in time out.  He threatens with more spanking while I will threaten to take her favorite toy away for a day.  I can tell by our parenting styles that we were raised completely different.  I was raised by parents who did threaten to spank me, but never did.  Instead of grounding me or sending me to my room, I would have to write an essay about what I did wrong or even do community service work.  My parents didn't use traditional methods to punish me.  The husband on the other hand was hit with a belt if he did something wrong.  I have told him that it makes me uncomfortable to watch him spank her, and I would like him to stop.  He said he won't because it is the only way she will learn.  This is definitely causing a problem between the two of us.  I am not sure how to fix it.  I would say we both need to compromise, but I don't know what the middle ground would be.  Have any of you dealt with this before?  I am at a loss on how to fix it.

Still waiting

We are still waiting to hear about the husband's transfer.  He talked to someone the other day, and they said that they were going to call and ask them to push his paperwork through.  He told them that he was scheduling a procedure that would put him med down for 3 weeks, and so she said she would hold off on the phone call.  Now he has decided to wait to have the procedure done at a later date so he can have his paperwork pushed through.  He is hoping they do move it quickly since he knows a few guys who will be going through the same training.  He would love to be in their class.  I am excited because these people are moving as well which means I will know people in the next city.  The scary part is the orders can come through, and they can easily say he needs to be there in a few days.  We have been purging all our stuff and organizing the best we can in case the move happens quickly.  Hurry up and wait.  It seems to be the motto of the Navy.

Life with two

I knew adjusting to life with two kids wouldn't be smooth sailing, but I didn't imagine this.  We have no schedule yet which makes it tough.  Between pumping, feedings, cleaning, quality time with both girls, and walking the dogs there is no time left for myself or quality time with the husband.  I know in a few months it will change, but right now it is hard to see that through the sleep deprivation haze.  Thank goodness the husband is home to help out.  If I was home by myself most of the day, I am pretty sure there would be many tears shed.  To cheer this post up a bit, somebody turned one month old a few days ago and she wants to say hi.  

Scary moment

I have decided I am putting my family in a plastic bubble for a few months.  Hannah had hand, foot, and mouth a few weeks ago.  The husband came down with what he thought was a sinus infection, but more than likely was a cold.  Since at first we thought sinus infection, he didn't stay away from Meeghan.  It was the wrong move.  I noticed on Sunday that she was congested and she felt warm.  Her temperature was hovering close to 100 so we watched it.  A few hours later it was up to 101.4.  I decided at that point it was time to go to the ER.  (Seriously, no one in my house can ever be sick during regular business hours.)  So off to the good ol' ER again.  I hate the ER here.  It is always full of people who don't understand to cover their mouth when they are hacking up their internal organs.  I always feel like I need a shower the minute I enter the building.  Anyway, I take her and after an hour they finally call her back.  Her temperature is still 101 so we get to stay for a bit.  The doctor has a thick accent, and I have no clue what he is saying half the time.  Eventually, he admits to me he is not sure what to do since he is not a pediatrician.  He calls a children's hospital and they tell him what to do because at this point her temperature is 102.  They decide to put an IV in so they can give her antibiotics.  I had to leave the room because I started crying.  Then they tell me she is being transferred to the children's hospital because of her age.  I call the husband to tell him she is being moved to Corpus Christi instead of going home like we thought.  He brings stuff up for me so I can have a few things.  By this point, I was getting tired and pretty emotional.  I didn't want to be alone, but since he was sick and we had Hannah, I had to go by myself.  Meeghan took her first (and hopefully only) ambulance ride..  It broke my heart that I didn't ride with her, but the husband wanted me to take the car since we thought she would be released after a few hours.  She wasn't released.  She was admitted.  Apparently for a child her age they do a full work up which included a lumbar puncture to look for bacterial infection.  They want a full 48 hours to check the cultures.  I was dreading being in the hospital that long.  This all started Sunday night at 6:30.  We didn't get to a room at the children's hospital until 4am.  I was so tired, but I didn't get to sleep until 7, and even then I got one hour of sleep.  The bags under my eyes were pretty scary.  I am pumping instead of breastfeeding which meant I had to get up to pump instead of sleeping until she wanted to eat.  Plus, all the people who kept coming in the room make it difficult to sleep. After all her tests were run, it turns out she had a cold virus.  By Monday afternoon she was much better.  They wanted to keep her one more day to check the cultures after 24 hours.  I got to spend my New Year's Eve in a hospital.  It sucked.  Thankfully, she was released yesterday morning since she was back to normal.  Her cultures were negative so it was just the virus.  I hope I never have to do that again.  I hated having to stare at her IV.  She is home and happy to be here.  She is asleep.  I think I may join her since I still feel like I haven't slept in years.

Meeghan trying to sleep with her IV