Monday, February 22, 2010

Safety First Vantage Car Seat FAIL!

Please, pass this on to as many people as possible. This is completely unacceptable! The Dorel Juvenile Group makes Maxi Cosi, Cosco, Eddie Bauer and Safety 1st car seats!
http://www.zrecommends.com/detail/the-baby-and-the-bathwater-the-case-against-the-air-protect-car-seat/
This article points out just a few of the problems with the company. It does not mention the many problems that people have with their car seats every day.
If you have any questions regarding a car seat, and what is the best choice to make, please visit this forum. It's full of CERTIFIED car seat technicians, unlike the people who work at Babies R Us who claim to know all about car seats. They are paid to push the Dorel car seats. Not sell you the safest one out there that will last, and save your child in the event of a car accident.
Just because it's cheap, looks like it should work, and is the most sold, does not mean it's the best choice for your child or your car!
And remember, most infant seats only go to 20-22lbs! Once your child has reached that limit, the harness is not strong enough to contain your child in the shell of the seat. It can rip through the plastic, ejecting your child. Please, strap your car seat into the car each, and every time you get in a moving vehicle. Just because it's down the street, does not make it any safer.
My car was totalled in FRONT of my apartment building. I literally went around the corner to the grocery store to get flour, was returning home when someone decided to pass me on my left as I was turning into my drive way. It was a strong enough impact to shatter my drivers side window, and bend the frame of my car. Lena was one year old and still rear facing. The safest way to be until they are at least 2 years old.
Please, do your research before purchasing a seat!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Baby Bumps and Backpacks

One day away from being 15 weeks (depending on who you ask) and things have gotten interesting.
Yesterday I am pretty sure Baby was bouncing around inside for most of the day. I would be just sitting there and would feel that little flutter. You know when you get a a twitch in your eye, or thumb, or where ever? That little... how would you type that... That is what it feels like. But from the inside. It's a very cool and very very strange feeling. You can feel it inside, but not from the outside. No matter how many times I sat still with my fingers pressed on the spot I felt the little thumps, I couldn't feel them with my hand!
So far today, nothing. =\
But! Pregnancy brain has officially set in. I am officially a dork. I can't remember anything. First it was Maple Syrup. I went to 2 different stores for Pete's sake! Think I could remember to get Maple Syrup? NOPE! I did finally get it yesterday. Whew. MMMMM, French Toast...
Sorry got distracted there for a minute.
Jay has given up on me. He will ask me for espresso when I get a minute. Well, 30 minutes later I don't even remember him asking for it and he is in the kitchen making it himself. And I ask him what he is doing, why didn't he ask me to make it. Oh, ya, you did. Sorry.
Today however, was pretty funny. Every morning when I walk Lena to school, I carry her backpack for her. I find the extra 3lbs of weight slows her down significantly. So I just carry it myself. Then when she gets in line, I put it on her back, say goodbye and all is well.
Not today. 3 kids had to talk to me. One to tell me she is allergic to Gelatin (no she isn't, it's a religious thing). One to tell me he brought a Kinder Surprise Egg that is nut free cause he knows he can't bring nut things to school (love that boy), and the third to tell me she had acupuncture last night (very cool). Well by that time the line was going inside, I said my goodbyes and headed off. Poor Lena called for me, but I didn't hear her. =( So half way home I was like, why am I carrying my purse? OH NO!!! So I had to laugh at myself and walk back to school. The poor girl was sitting in gym with no shoes. She got her backpack and asked me, "Mom, what is wrong with you!?"
I love that girl. Really I do.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

FAIL

Today I witnessed the death of corn flakes in my house.
They have betrayed me one too many times.
For some unknown reason, corn flakes me me do NOT agree.
For the second time in a month, they made me throw up.
The evil, evil brown flakes.
Good riddance.

Monday, February 8, 2010

My Kid Is Growing Up

And I am not ready.
Yesterday Lena spent a lot of time in her room. But not for what you would think. She was sitting in front of the mirror lifting her hair trying to see what she would look like with it shorter.
2 years ago we grew her hair out so that it would be very long for Alaa's wedding. It was long. And a pain. About 3 days after the wedding, we cut 5" off. Then 4 months later we cut 4 more inches off. And haven't done anything but minor trims since.
Yesterday she decided she had had enough.
The hairdresser in me was so excited! I couldn't wait! I have been wanting to do this for years. She has a great face for it. We love her hair pulled off her face.
She was practically peeing her pants during the haircut. She couldn't wait to see herself. After it was done, I took her to the bathroom, blew it dry, made sure it was prefect. Then showed her.
She screamed. She freaking L.O.V.E.D it. She turned to me and said, "Mom, if I ever want to grow my hair long again, slap me. I am NEVER having long hair again!"
She must have looked at herself 500 times before going to bed. In fact I know if she could have she would have slept with a mirror under her pillow just in case she woke up. She woke up about 3am to tell us she had a dream about her hair. Today she hid it under a hat and surprised everyone at school. At lunch, she told me that she went to the washroom just so she could look at her hair.
I am so screwed.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

12 week appointment

Today was my 12 week appointment with the midwife. I saw Fang again. I lost 2lbs. Blood sugar and protein are both fine.
Did a pap, woohoo. She decided to keep the original EDD of the 13th, which is fine, rather than go with the ultrasound date of the 9th.
Now for the not so good news. They got my surgery records from Lena's c/s. Turns out I had a single suture rather than double. Which makes the odds of uterine rupture higher. BUT she said they do VBAC's all the time, many with single sutures, and they all come out fine. That it will basically be up to me to decide what I want to do. So I have a lot of risks to weigh on both sides. Go for the repeat c/s or go for the vbac. I honestly don't know what to do. BUT I have time to think about it and figure out what is best for me.
Oh ya! I got to hear the babies heart beat. 160. =)

Sunday, January 31, 2010

Anyone there?

I have no clue if anyone is actually reading this or not. I don't think there is anyway to track it unless I decide to pay somewhere else for a blog and have the tracking feature.
So, can you do me a favor, if you are reading this, can you shoot me an email and just say, Hey, I read it!
Thanks!
erin.dacca@gmail.com

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Saw the Baby Today!

As I sit here half frozen because the world decided we needed a below 0*f wind chill, I am revelling in the fact that I got to see my baby wiggle around live on screen!
The orders were to drink 1 liter of water one hour before hand. ONE LITER! You have got to be kidding me! I drank 1000 ml (that is about 1/2 a liter) of water, and a smoothie and nearly pee'd myself.
The Ultrasound tech took mercy on me and let me pee after getting the measurements she needed. Then we went back in to get more pictures and for me to see the little wiggle worm. =) And it's heart beating! Yes, the monkey in there has a heartbeat.
It still blows my mind to know that something that started out smaller than this . is now over 3" long! And is producing pee!!! It's a pee party at my house today I guess!
Holy cow it's cold.
I have now posted these pictures everywhere I possibly can. And now I get to add this blog to the list. =)
My EDD (estimated due date) was moved up from 8-13-10 to 8-9-10. How cool is that!
I have my first official appointment with the midwife on Tuesday, and we will make sure everything else is ok.
So here is the little wiggle worm.

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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My Dear Dear Husband

My dear dear husband.
How I love you.
When you do not snore. When you snore,
all my love flies out the door.
Bad poetry I know. Horrible. Rancid even.
But anyone who knows Jay, knows that he has major nose issues. He has had 2 sinus surgeries, and a metal post inserted in there to straighten it out. Anyone who knows Jay also knows that he hates to take medicine and would rather wait until he is in severe pain to do anything about it.
And as everyone knows, I am nearly 12 weeks pregnant. The most important thing to me next to food is sleep. By 8pm I am drifting off waiting for the clock to hit 9 so I can drag Lena off to bed and crawl under the warm covers my self.
Typically the bliss lasts about 5-6 hours.
Jay works late. And by late I mean a typical night ends at 2:30-3AM. Sometimes if it's a hard problem, it can go until 4am.
Last night ended early at 2am.
He can't figure out how to get into bed quietly. It's more of a running leap, toss and turn 5 billion times.
Then, the nose turns on. Instant snoring. I know he can't help it. But man, I really wanted to kick him out of bed last night. The poor guy works so hard that he deserves a warm bed to crawl into as much as I do. But at 9am, he is still asleep, as where I have been up since 7am. Well out of bed anyway. I really woke up at 2 am when he came to bed. I managed to fall back asleep until 3:30 when the snoring really started.
The other night he scared me so bad. I was deep asleep when I heard this growling noise. I thought Daisy was growling at an intruder and basically jumped out of bed in my fight or flight response, only to realize that it was Jay. Snoring.
His antibiotics and steroids arrive today. Thank GOD. Seriously. Waking him up 2 times a night at minimum to blow his nose, and to turn over has got to end.
As I sit here typing I hear no noise coming from the bedroom. Just quiet blissful uninterrupted sleep.
I think I'll go take a running leap into bed and toss a few times just to make me feel better. =)

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Product Mama

Most of my close relatives, and friends are well aware of my connection with the December 2002 Babies forum that has been a staple in my life since before Lena's birth. I made lots of great friends through there.
Well I recently joined Summer 2010 Babies. It's fun because not only to I get to meet other mom's that are due around the same time, but we get to talk about products that we love.
First is Belly Bands. I had never heard of these before, but people were raving abut them. They are like a glorified tube top that goes over your pants and belly to help keep your pants up, your belly and rear covered, and later, to keep your bits covered while nursing. No one needs to see an expanse of white belly while checking out my adorable baby. =)
I ordered from here: 4Mom and Me
I'll do a review when I get them.
Second. I was searching for safe pacifiers. With the toxic plastic information hitting the news, I want to make sure Baby is not going to be putting anything into it's mouth that isn't chemical free. So in my search, I found this
They had a deal where you get a Value Pack Buy 6 Get 1 Free Newborn GumDrop™ Pacifier
So I ordered This
I love it when places will ship to Canada. I feel like I am being left out up here!
And one more thing, Huggies is making a Pure and Natural disposable diaper! At Wal-Mart they cost a whopping $1 more per package. I will be using them in the beginning until Baby gets big enough for the cloth diapers I have decided to try this time around.

VBAC

My brother made me snort with laughter this morning. I told him I am going for a VBAC. He wrote back VBAC? Very Big Air Conditioner?
No, my dear brother, a Vaginal Birth After Cesarean.
I have been tormented for years with the memory of Lena's birth and how I wish it could have ended differently.
I have an appointment with a midwife on Monday and we are going to discuss my options and what my thoughts are. I have been struggling with what to do for a while now. Did I really want to attempt a regular birth and have it fail again and end up with a C/S again? In pain, again?
Well, I picked up Ina May's Guide to Childbirth. The first night I read it, it changed my life. Amazing, incredible, life changing. Just wow. Every day I read a little bit more and am just amazed that this book wasn't brought to my attention before, maybe it was and I thought, I am not THAT crunchy. But it turns out I am!
For the first time in 8 years I am excited about the birth process! I KNOW I can do this. I am going to give it my all with the thought in mind of completion. Not, well if it doesn't work out...
I can't wait till Monday to talk with the midwife. I hope this experience will be transformational if that is even a word.

Friday, January 15, 2010

10 weeks and gagging.

Well, I made it to 10 weeks! Only a few more and I'll be out of the dreaded first trimester.
Lately I have been feeling incredibly good.
I went to Value Village and got myself 2 pairs of prego jeans, and 2 tops for $30.
Had a great day, until I tried to make dinner that is.
I went against my better judgement and tried to feed my family Chicken. I made sure to make everything else before I pulled the chicken out. And sure enough, the gagging started. I had to excuse myself a few times while making dinner to go sit out. Finally got dinner on the table. I made tilapia for myself, along with twice baked potatoes, carrots and green beans. That is another thing I can't eat. Green beans. They are the devil. Chicken and green beans got together and decided that even though I normally love them, they would cause instant gagging. But I was feeling sorry for Baby and felt that I was depriving it of it's greens. So what did I do? I took a bite of the evil green bean. It was all over for me at that point. Spent 5 more minutes sitting on the edge of the bath tub willing my food to stay down. It did. Good tummy.
So that is it. My family is no longer allowed to have chicken until this thing passes.
At least the potatoes were good!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Hungry

Last night as we were heading off to bed I polished off a chocolate pudding cup and a banana. Mind you this was only about an hour after we finished dinner. My daughter said, and I quote: "Whoa mom! You are scaring me!". In my defense I have not gained more than maybe a pound in the 9 1/2 weeks of being pregnant.
Books tell you that your appetite will increase when pregnant, but no one ever warned you that you will be wanting to eat everything in sight. Seriously.
I do have major food aversions though. I can not eat Chicken. Yes, Erin, the Chicken queen, can not eat Chicken. I have attempted to gag down chicken twice now with bad results. I also can not eat anything green. Rice is also out.
But put some hash browns in front of me and stand back. I'm Irish, what can I tell ya.
Everyone has said that because of my weird aversions this baby must be a boy. Well, they have another thing coming because I happen to believe it's another girl.
My dear, dear sweet sister in law Husnia calls at least once a week to ask me if she can make me anything. That girl can cook. I am telling you. If Middle Eastern food is what you want, go see Husnia.
Can't stand it. Normally, I love it. But it's not happening right now.
She did send over some lentil soup that I was actually able to eat. Which I am grateful for! I was getting a little tired of tuna.
Now, the last few weeks I have felt really really bad. As stated in my last post. But for some unknown reason (Thank you God) I feel great! I have no idea what caused it, but I am not complaining! I have energy, I am not shaking and feeling like passing out or barfing! Still not sleeping well at night, and taking naps in the middle of the day. But hello! I am growing another human being inside of me...
Which reminds me. I am hungry..

Monday, January 11, 2010

New Year, New Start!

Last year had all sorts of great new things for us. We got settled in Canada, got an apartment, Jay got a great job. Things went really well for us!
Well, at the end of 2009 things got even better. We found out that I am pregnant! Total surprise for everyone! But we are so excited to be welcoming Baby Dacca sometime in August.
We were suspicious at the beginning of December, but didn't know for sure until December 7th, when this happened.

Needless to say we were a little shocked. We had talked about having more kids, but things just never worked out.
I told Jay first of course. But we decided to hatch a plan to tell Lena. It was hard keeping it away from her for 3 weeks, but we managed. And she didn't have a clue!
So I ordered a shirt off e-Bay that said, Big Sister, and bought a tiny Onesie from the mall. I wrapped them up and put it under the tree. Lena opened it last. Here is a video of what happened.

Needless to say she was a little shocked. But so so excited! She just couldn't believe it! She has waited so long, that she didn't think it would ever happen.

Now, I have felt like crap to put it politely. I was very thankful that I had 2 weeks off of taking Lena to school to sleep in and just rest. I have been starving, to the point where nothing is safe. I have felt like throwing up, haven't though. And I have been so tired that I have been taking 2 hour naps in the middle of the day and still sleeping a full nights sleep.
Yesterday, I couldn't button my pants by the end of the day. Folks, this is a good month earlier than with Lena. I am 8 years older, 10lbs heavier and they say you show sooner. So I guess that is true!

I have an appointment with a midwife group on the 25th ( SO EXCITED!!) and my first ultra sound on the 28th (DOUBLE EXCITED!!!!).

I will try to keep this blog updated so everyone can keep up if interested.