My Family's Adventures

Positive: My mom and Nana came over to help so we can actually get some cleaning done around here for the party tomorrow.

Negative: My ribs hurt so badly that I can't take a deep breath, so I went to the clinic for an Xray. There is apparently nothing wrong with my ribs?? Radiologist will call on Monday.

Positive: We got our appraisal of the car today. It was about $3000 more than we expected.

Negative: It's still about $15,000 shy of actually being able to purchase the car we want. Guess we'll be getting 2 used cars this year instead of a new and a used.

Current Mood: aggravated

It seems to be all straightened out. I talked to several helpful people today. Canada seems to be central to the entire confusion, but they will just have to deal with my health and auto insurance coming after them.

Dale and I got our follow-ups with the doctor today. He said we appeared to be healing, told us to use ice packs and heating pads, take Tylenol, and rest. We are to let him know if we get any worse at all.

My ribcage is killing me today!

Current Mood: restless

OK, so everyone agrees that I did nothing wrong and that the other driver is at fault. So why is this such a difficult thing to settle?

I am getting SUCH a run-around from all of the different insurance companies. Turns out that all of the stuff my insurance agent's secretary told me yesterday is total bullocks. This has just caused mass confusion for all of the other parties involved. I should NOT be expected to spend this much time on the phone. I realize that I hit my head, but I am quite lucid, and, if I do say so myself, really freaking smart.

This can't be the first time someone has been in a car accident and tried to file a claim.

I called Canada today, they told me I had to file with my own auto insurance (which is what I thought in the first place but the secretary told me no). So then I called the central claims center for my auto insurance and they confirmed that I needed to file with them, but that I should NOT be filing with my health insurance - all medical bills should be paid by auto. So I called the health insurance back (since I had started a claim yesterday) and they said no, the bills go to health and the deductible and out-of-pocket expenses will then get billed to auto, then both the health insurance and auto insurance will go after the driver's insurance for reimbursement. So, I have to start a claim with the driver's insurance because there is no requirement for him to start a claim himself. So now we're back to I have to call Canada and INSIST that they start a claim even though they have told me that I can't. Doesn't that seem like an endless circle????

I then called my auto agent and left a voice message for her to call me when she gets back in the office (she's on vacation) and I actually started crying and told her that she needs to get involved.

People who get bonus points: Earl at the auto central claims, Melissa at health insurance.

People who suck: Canadian insurance worker, auto agent's secretary.

Current Mood: frustrated

Holy crap there are a million things to take care of! Thank God for my parents and their willingness to come over and/or drive us around everywhere!

So I'm learning a lot about how insurance works. I'll be an ol' pro by the end of this ordeal. The driver's truck and insurance are all out of Canada, so we have some long distance calls ahead of us.

Dale and I walked over to the police station (luckily we live a block away!) to get the police report. OK, well apparently you just get your report, the other guy fills in his report, and then the police have their own. All of that together is the full report. So, we filled out our narrative account of the accident and put in all the information we had. The insurance will get the full report, but we are going to call back tomorrow and pay for a copy for ourselves. We also got a release form for our car.

Now this is what really confused me. (Remember I have a head injury!) What the hell am I going to do with a totaled car?! I called our car insurance and was just confused even more. They are telling me to file the claim with HIS insurance, but I had to use google to find the address and phone number. (What did people do before google in this situation?) So I was majorly confused, but we took our recovery sheet to the tow yard anyway to get all of our stuff that's in there (including Seth and Lesa's wedding gift, which I had forgotten was in the trunk!!)

Got to the tow yard, and the guy says, "well that car is a total. You can't drive that." I started crying when I saw the car. Let's just say there are more impact points than I had remembered/realized and some of them were very close to some very small people. The tow guy actually helped me understand what I need to do a bit more. He got the car insurance on the phone again, and she explained the stuff about filing the claim with the driver's insurance. We just emptied out the personal belongings from the car and left it there.

I'm still confused because I know I should be getting a new car out of this, but I guess that stuff will all start rolling once his insurance gets on it??? Shirou wants a yellow car "or some other fancy color like maybe gray."

Anyway, I took the boys to the pediatrician today. James had his 1-month appointment scheduled anyway, and Shirou slipped right in at the same time. The doctor looked them over and said they appeared fine, but we should look out for signs of soreness, etc. that would indicate internal injuries. Turns out the doctor had driven past our accident site and had seen the condition of our car!

Dale and I have our follow-up appointments on Wednesday. I had hoped for Tuesday, but it was booked. It's probably better to let some of the soreness wear off so that we can tell which places actually hurt. Today, my entire rib cage hurts, as well as my neck. Dale is sore all over, too.

We are a little worried about Shirou. He keeps on saying, "you know, I got hit by a semi truck!" and then talking all about how our car got broken and how he was scared. He told me he dreamt that a semi truck hit us. He shows me how the accident happened with his trucks and cars. On the way home from the hospital yesterday, Shirou told my mom "don't hit any semi trucks!" Poor kid! He had the perfect view of the whole thing from his seat, so I think it will be one of his traumatic memories. We're just letting him talk about it and trying to remind him of the "cool" things like how the fireman carried him and he got to ride in the ambulance.

Current Mood: sore

Yes, another hospital entry.

We woke up on Mother's Day and had a lovely, lazy morning. My sons and husband gave me a beautiful necklace, which I put on as we were getting ready to go to lunch with my mom and grandmother.

Last night, there had been some heavy storms, so the light on our corner was out. On the advice of "the lawyer", I won't write much more, but it all ended up with a semi truck T-boning us (NOT my fault!) and all 4 of us being put into ambulances.

We are all doing OK. No serious injuries, though we will be doing our follow-ups with the regular doctors in the next days. LOTS of bruises, scrapes, and soreness for Mom and Dad. The kids seem totally fine and didn't even get a scratch from the glass. After I was finally discharged, we got to come home.

Shirou is very concerned about what happened to our car and getting a new one!

We are all pretty thankful that Dale yelled and I slammed on the brake!

Current Mood: scared

We were at the ER again today. This time it wasn't actually an emergency or anything. Shirou's doctor was unavailable, as were his partners, and the doctor who called me wanted him to be checked out. When it can't be done at the clinic, it gets done at the hospital!!

Shirou has had yucky diapers for 3 days, and yesterday he was telling me that his tummy hurt. This morning, he woke up screaming and crying that his stomach hurt, and it took both Dale and me to calm him down. After he ate, he said his tummy didn't hurt anymore, but I still wanted to go to be checked out.

The ER doctor palpated his abdomen and had him jump up and down. He was feeling totally fine. The doctor said it didn't seem like appendix, but we should keep an eye on him. He said it is probably a viral gastroenteritis. No dairy for 48 hours, keep the liquids going in. If it gets worse or continues, they will do a scan.

I asked if it could be stress-related. Shirou has been very upset when he has to wait for something because I'm nursing baby James or something like that. He said it's possible, but we have to assume that his stomach hurts when he says so. Of course!

Shirou was very talkative at the ER and was answering all the questions himself. He also told everyone about his baby brother (who was waiting with my mom in the waiting room).

James is doing very well and is starting to get kind of chubby. We have a rough night now and then, but for the most part he lets everyone sleep. I have to semi-wake-up 2 or 3 times to nurse him, but he lets me nurse while I'm sleeping, so that's fine!

Current Mood: worried

Today on Barney, Barney and Friends were singing the "Days of the Week" song. Shirou and I like to sing this song. He looked VERY irritated that Barney had taken our song!

Current Mood: discontent

It's pretty amusing to try to explain some things to Shirou about James or James-related topics. The first time Shirou saw James breast-feeding, I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head! The other day, he saw me using the breast pump, and there was a similar reaction.

Shirou seems to have gotten the concept down that he used to be a baby and do all of these baby things, too. Whenever James does something (or doesn't do something) Shirou proclaims that he used to be the same "when I was a baby."

My favorite is: "My poop used to be yellow when I was a baby."

In other news...

Today Shirou went to Sunday School at Zion. While that was going on, Dale and I ambushed Pastor Jared to talk about baptism. He gave us some materials to look over, and we will call sometime this week to set up an appointment with him.

Current Mood: giggly

Yay! The umbilical cord stump came off today! It came off while James was sleeping, and I had to fish around in his sleeper for it.

Happy 2 Weeks to Mama! (Those things are so gross!)

Current Mood: pleased

We are having fun getting to know James. Shirou likes to look at him while he's in his carseat or bouncy chair or during tummy time and just laugh in his face. He is always proclaiming that James is "sooo cuuuute!" or that James must be crying because he can't find his brother. Adorable!

It is going to be hard to distinguish when James starts smiling for real, as opposed to the gas smiles and muscle stretching we have going on now. James is SUCH a smiley baby!!

He is also pretty quiet, and he really only cries during a diaper change or if he's super hungry. Otherwise he sleeps a lot, or just looks around, taking it all in. His vision is slowly getting clearer, I think, because he seems to see things a bit further away. He definitely recognizes my voice, too.

James' umbilical cord stump will probably fall of within the next week. It's starting to get gross. Ok, it's getting grossER. Another gross thing is the Epstein's pearls in his mouth. They totally freaked me out at first!

Nothing else is really going on here. Shirou is being a great help around the house and with his baby brother. He's such a big boy! My mom has been helping us a lot this week so that I can rest a bit more. Here is something you might not want to know so I'll just link it and you can click at your own risk, which was a wake-up to slow down. I feel really good and have a lot of energy, and I am SO not a sit-at-home-and-watch-TV person that it is hard to just stop going. Dale is almost done with school. Yay!

Current Mood: calm

My eldest son and these TV commercials....

Today he said to me, "you're ruining my life!"

Three going on thirteen.

Current Mood: amused

James got his 3-day check-up yesterday! He is 7 pounds 8.5 ounces, which is down from birth, but it's normal for babies to lose a little weight in the first few days. It's especially common in babies who are breastfed.

His bodily functions were all determined to be normal, and the doctor could find no sign of jaundice. James got his Hepatitis B vaccine. It took him a moment to cry - he was in total shock at first!

James is doing a great job with feeding, even though we did have a rough first night at home. He just didn't want to sleep. My milk had started to come in, so I think he was trying to fill his tummy all night. James is not very aggressive at all, and he still doesn't cry very much even for food. He just starts to get kind of whimpery, and then I start talking to him, so I think he knows that whatever he wants is coming. I've also been easier on myself - with Shirou I felt like I had to drop everything and feed him right then. With James I'm allowing myself a minute to get something to drink ready, get cozy, etc. When James falls asleep or something, I get a break for 10 minutes even if he wakes up for more. My girls seem to appreciate it because they really don't hurt although I am a little sore. What HURTS are the contractions whenever James is really latched on! OW!

I was able to rest throughout the previous and next day, though, so it was OK. Dale and Shirou "camped out" on the floor in the boys' room so that they would be able to get their sleep. Plus it is kind of cute the way James snuggles up next to me because he's so tiny! Also his gas smile is hilarious!

Shirou has been a very helpful big brother. James was crying yesterday while he was in the bouncy chair, and I had my hands full, so I asked Shirou to bounce him (I had previously shown him how to be gentle about it!) Shirou was able to calm James down all by himself!

As I'm writing this, Shirou is busy giving James kisses and showing him the plush toys he had bought for him.

Shirou also likes to see everything to do with James and then tell everyone about it. When Janice and Chris came over on Sunday, James was nursing. Shirou let them know that "James drinks milk from mommy's boobs." LOL!

Yesterday he told the nurse that James' belly button is YUCKY! He also reported to Dr. Jain that James cries a lot, but "that's just what babies do!" Just in case he hadn't learned that in medical school :-)

I think I might be able to start pumping a bit today, so hopefully that means I'll get a few hours with just Shirou very soon. He has been a very good brother, but he does seem to be a bit sad that he doesn't get alone time with me anymore. He gets to do things with everyone else, why not Mama?

Current Mood: happy

I'll back-date the gory stuff, so if you don't want to read that, stop after this entry!

Baby James Niel Hauser was welcomed into the world on Friday at 11:45 AM! Yay! He weighed 7 pounds 13 ounces and was 20 inches long.

I went into labor sometime between 5 and 6 AM. I had 4 relatively strong contractions between 6 and 6:30, so I decided to go ahead and call off of school. Good thing, because then the contractions started coming every 5 minutes! I jumped in the shower and we all got ready to go. My mom came over to get Shirou.

We pulled in at the Silver Cross ER about 7:30. I told Dale to go ahead and park. I made it in the door, but started another contraction as I was walking up to the reception desk. They whisked me up to Labor and Delivery - I disappeared before Dale could get in the building, so he had to make his way separately!

< gory details >

My doctor was on duty, so that was nice to have a familiar face to work with. I told Dale that the baby would be born by noon. He said by 6 PM. I won! (Thank God!)

I did get a shot of Stadol, which didn't make the contractions hurt any less, but it did give me about a minute break in between to catch my breath. More about the side effects below!

Dale decided he was up for cutting James' cord, and that it felt like a thick rubber hose.

After relaxing for a little while, they took James to do his assessments and get his various shots. We went to our first recovery room. It was a double, and the nurse told me she would move me to a private room when one opened up.

Shirou, Gaga, and Papa arrived to see the new baby while James was getting his first bath. Shirou was VERY freaked out to see me with the IV in my hand and sitting in a hospital bed!! He jumped up and down and clapped his hands when they finally wheeled James into the room! (But he was still too apprehensive to touch him or really look at him.)

They found a private room for me, so we got moved. That was nice because we had a lot of visitors that night! Nana, Janice, Tammy, and Phil all came over to see the baby... plus Gaga, Papa, and Shirou of course. Shirou started warming up to the baby later on in the evening and even posed for a few pictures!

Shirou was VERY concerned about my staying at the hospital. He and Nana left, but had to come back a little while later to check me. He looked at me and said, "will you be ok in the hospital, mommy?" and everyone pretty much melted. Apparently he talks a lot about how he misses me when I'm gone.

This morning I got my check-up from my doctor, and James got his check-up from his doctor. They both said we could go home today, although James' doctor was a bit more hesitant due to the jaundice risk with breast-feeding babies. I am pretty confident that between Dale, my mom, and me that I would be able to recognize jaundice, and so will be extra watchful while in the comfort of my own home!

There was a bit of a mix-up about our discharge time. We finally got out of there around 5, and several people came over for dinner at 5:30. (We originally planned to be home quite a bit sooner than that!) Tim and Amanda got to meet their nephew! Shirou, Nana, Gaga, and Papa were also there.

Shirou even ASKED to hold his brother!! And he shared my lap with him! We are definitely warming up to the idea of a new little dude in the house!

Now, Daddy and James are resting while I update all of this stuff and put up pictures on our Kodak gallery. Shirou is at Nana's tonight for a slumber party.

Current Mood: energetic

OK here is the gory stuff. Well, not all of it is gory.

On Thursday, at school, I started having other symptoms of pre-labor. (Don't click if you don't want to know.) I didn't say anything to anyone because I've been going on and on about how this baby was going to be born early, and I was starting to sound crazy.

Well, I woke up very early on Friday morning, maybe just after 5 AM, with a contraction. This was nothing special to note since I have had SO MANY Braxton-Hicks with this pregnancy that it was just kind of part of the day. My alarm clock went off just before 6, but I decided to hit snooze a few times. I had a contraction just about every time I was hitting snooze... so I knew I had to decide by 6:30 if I was going to school or not. I figured that if I was starting out the morning this uncomfortable, it would be worth a sick day even if I wasn't really in labor.

I called in for a sub and then jumped in the shower. Well, while I was in the shower, my contractions started coming every 3-5 minutes. Hard. Owie. Dale took his shower next, and I started to get kind of shrill about getting into the car to go to the hospital. My mom arrived to get Shirou.

We pulled in to the ER at 7:30 AM, and I told Dale I could walk in since I'd just had a contraction. Well, I had another one in the entrance way. Luckily I was incredibly fat ... I mean pregnant-looking ... so they whisked me away to Labor and Delivery immediately. Dale had to make his own way up to the triage area because they took me so quickly.

I had my initial exam and the nurse said I was 3 centimeters. Early labor. I was doing a great job on my breathing, if I do say so myself. Just relax, doctor is in surgery but will be up to see me when she gets out. No rush. One of the nurses told me that I couldn't get up out of bed because I was on the monitor. This displeased me greatly and was taken care of by the next nurse.

They decided to admit me and brought me to my labor room. Dr. Pierre examined me and broke my water, but I was still 3-4cm at 9:30. The contractions suddenly became much stronger, so I asked to have a pain relief option. No epidural, just something to help manage the contractions (other than the golf ball Dale used to apply counter-pressure to my back.) The Stadol went to work almost instantly when they gave it to me at 10... I don't mean it made my contractions better, but I was so high or whatever that I partly fell asleep between contractions and had some BIZARRE dreams. When I'd wake up with the next contraction, I'd realize that only a minute or so had passed. I had to ask everyone to repeat everything because I was so zonked.

I started to feel like I should be pushing just after 11. The nurse said no because I was 7 cm.

Due to the medication I did not want to get up, so Dale helped me do bicycle kicks with my legs and rotate my shoulders while breathing to loosen up. Since I felt more prepared, I also didn't yell at all...

... until ... I had a contraction with an almost overwhelming urge to push. I got up and yelled, and it must have been loud because I suddenly had 4 nurses running into the room telling me not to push. I wasn't, but I also knew I was NOT 7 cm. Sure enough, 9 cm plus! Two centimeters in 20 minutes!

The room was full of activity getting ready for the delivery. They pulled the bottom of the bed out so that it was more like a delivery chair. I got to start pushing, which got "messy." All of the nurses and the doctor were like football coaches or something telling me how to push and to keep going and etc etc etc. James was descending slowly.

At one point, I do remember hearing something about forceps, but I was concentrating on pushing. I think perhaps subconsciously I was thinking "oh hell no" because I told Dr. Pierre I was going to push again, and that time Baby James came out! It was 11:45, and I think I only pushed for about 5 minutes all together!

Procedures avoided: catheter, forceps, and episiotomy! I did have a small tear, which I didn't notice.

Dale got to cut the cord. He said it felt like a thick rubber hose. He also remembered to look somewhere else for the placenta delivery!

James and I got cleaned up and assessed. I still felt pretty stoned, and James had some effects from the Stadol, too. They had to slap/rub his feet to get him to really cry. This freaked me out slightly and made me feel incredibly guilty/selfish, especially since it didn't actually reduce any pain, but no one else was worried about it. His assessments were all fine and he got his shots/vitamins/eye crap.

As it turns out, James is a very quiet baby. So far, anyway. Shirou cried and screamed for everything, but James has maybe cried 5 times in his first 2 days of life, not counting diaper changes. He is more of a whimperer.

James is also a MUCH better nurser than Shirou. I was really scared that I was going to have a repeat disaster starting out with the breast-feeding, but James is not nearly as aggressive as his brother was. He latches on perfectly, too. I think this may also be partly to do with the fact that I know what it's supposed to be like now.

OK I'm tired. That's all. We are very pleased that James is here and we are all enjoying getting to know him.

Current Mood: jubilant

Nothing has changed. I'm still at 2 centimeters. The doctor said "any day."

Maybe if I stop thinking about it, I'll go into labor...

Current Mood: anxious

COME OUT, BABY JAMES!

I feel like Shirou. He puts his hands on my belly and talks to Baby James, but when the baby doesn't respond (obviously), Shirou shouts, "CAN YOU HEAR ME?"

I've been taking a long walk (or walks) every day, drinking raspberry leaf tea, doing acupressure, etc. etc. etc. Very few contractions, and the ones I've had are the wimpy ones. Bring it on! I can take it!

My sub came in and did an overlap day with me, so we're all set. Plans are laid out 2 weeks in advance. I'm no longer on the schedule at Huntington until further notice.

I did NOT accompany my class to the Robert Crown Health Center on Thursday to hear the "birds and bees" and "this is how you get AIDS" presentation. I taught 4th Grade instead, and the 4th Grade teacher went with my kids. I was glad to not have to ride the bus, but now am wondering whether a 2-hour bumpy ride would have helped my current discomfort.

Hospital bag is packed and ready to go. Baby James even bought a gift for his big brother (a glove for T-ball). Shirou previously purchased a gift for James (some zoo animal plush toys).

The baby hangs out on my bladder.

I've gained more than 50 pounds.

LET'S GO!

Current Mood: anxious

TWO CENTIMETERS!

Although I didn't ask the doctor if she was April foolin'...

Come on, Baby James!

Current Mood: excited

So, today Shirou got in a *little bit* of trouble! I was working at Huntington, and Dale took Shirou to the library. When I was done, I suggested they walk over to McDonalds and we could have a fun lunch together there.

Apparently, Shirou did NOT want to leave the library, and when Dale told him it was time to go, Shirou proclaimed that he is a "stupid Daddy!"

Oops!

So Dale said that Shirou would not be allowed to go in the PlayLand. While Dale was getting the food, I was telling Shirou all the things he should do to butter Daddy up - show him your cute face! tell him you love him! give him a kiss! say "thank you Daddy Dearest"! etc.

Finally Dale asked Shirou, "are you saying sorry because you really mean it, or because you want to go on the PlayLand?"

Shirou's response?

"I just want to go on the PlayLand."

I nearly sprayed my drink out of my nose. We let him go on the PlayLand. (OK, so we're pushovers!)




Here is a PS Parenting Tip:
If your child does not have the times tables memorized by third grade, take them to a tutor THEN! In the past 2 weeks, I have worked with three kids at Huntington who are 8th grade OR OLDER and do not know their times tables, and therefore cannot perform basic OR advanced math operations! Do you know how embarrassing it must be for a 15-year-old to be drilling flashcards???

Current Mood: amused

Shirou wants a turn on the computer, but he also wants to sit on what's left of my lap. So, here are some words he wants to type...

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Current Mood: silly

Yay! Baby James is now at term, so if he were born tomorrow he would not be considered premature.

I asked the doctor if she could estimate how big he is (because I have gained SO MUCH WEIGHT) and she poked around for a second and said she would guess that he is in the 6 pound range. So, we'll give him another week or so to cook :-)

My Group B Strep test came back negative, so I won't need any antibiotics before the labor and delivery. Good news.

The blood work I had came back mostly normal. I knew there would be something because the nurse looked everything up and was saying this is normal, that is normal, oh you had a blood test............. ok........ well the doctor will go over it with you. Apparently everything was normal except that my lipase levels were a bit elevated. This is related to the pancreas, and since I was having symptoms (reflux) during the blood work, it could just be a reflection of that.

I am done with the gastro stuff during this pregnancy, though! I will do my repeat AFTER James is born and my body's hormones have had a moment to readjust. I'm going to stop bugging my OB about it and go to a gastroenterologist/hepatologist over the summer. Gall bladder, pancreas, liver... I guess I will have to wait to know what's going on and if it's cured by childbirth!

In other news, I got a lot of work done today and started setting up appointments to observe pre-schools in the area!

Current Mood: productive