What the heck is wrong with people????!!!

http://www2.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/crime/article/woman_allegedly_spanks_someone_elses_toddler_in_store/23240/

Have you seen this? A woman spanked another woman's child in a Salvation Army. They did not know each other and nor did she have permission to spank the child! Another man a few weeks ago was arrested for spanking a child in the face inside a Walmart. He did not know the child but apparantly told the mother "you either shut him up, or I will!"

What the hell is wrong with people? I have a BIG problem with this. Why do people think they have ANY right to touch another person's child. That right is only given to the parents! God holds parents accountable for the children, not society! Seriously, there are so many other ways to deal with any child, that you should NEVER EVER IN A MILLION YEARS even threaten to spank someone else's child! In all of my years working with kids, I have thought "if only that child just got one good spanking on their little butt!" Or "that parent really should spank him one!" But, never have I ever threatened it or done it. I have never had to. Usually kids respond really good to me and I just have to give them that look and they stop (for a while anyways). It bugs me when people say that they spank someone else's child. (Don't worry, I won't name names. LOL) My answer is "FIND ANOTHER WAY!" Leave the parenting up to the parents! Enough said.

Don't take for granted

I see these mothers who have babies that are small like my Paige and I think of all the things that I will not get to enjoy.

Don't take for granted a pacifier! I have never used one with my kids. They never really liked it. Owen was too colicky and Maddie loved (loves!) her thumb. So this time around, I had planned to use one in the hopes of not having another thumb sucker. But unfortantly, Paige can not hold one in her mouth! We have to hold it for her.

Smiling..Paige's first smiles will be with her NAM in her mouth. :( I won't have that big gummy smile like the other two kids. It will be through all the hardware my poor baby has to wear!

Holding her own bottle...Paige has NO sucking reflexes. How will she hold her own bottle and actually get anything outta it?

Did I mention I have to wean Paige off the bottle before her palate surgery. So I can't even enjoy her being a baby for very long.

No Breastfeeding...Don't need to say much more for that...(read below)

Bottles. Did I mention that Paige's bottles are 25 dollars a piece. Thankfully, the cleft center will provide them for us but that means I have to ask. I hate asking.

Going swimming..Paige will have tubes soon. Can't do all that with tubes and not be worried about it.

Eating corn on the cob. This is one Hal thought of, she won't have the teeth (maybe) for eating corn on the cob. She might but we won't know.

Getting her teeth. While most moms are excited for their baby get their first teeth. I'm scared to death. What if they come in wrong? What if they don't come in at all?


All these simple things that moms just take for granted, Paige has to adapt or go without. I almost feel like I got screwed! And poor Paige is just along for the ride.

NAM appt went well!

Well I can say it went Well but boy oh boy does Paige NOT like those appts. She has to wait to eat when we get there because they want to see her eat before we go. She doesn't like to wait so she usually screams and cries the entire time. Not so fun. For now on, she's eating before we go. LOL

Dr. V is very impressed with her. She is getting her nose shunt NEXT WEEK! Yes, it's this little addition to her NAM that sits in her nose. It's connected to it by wire. It will form her nose so she will have a more natural look when it comes surgery time. It's really amazing stuff and means less surgery for the future!! We always like to hear that! So at 4 weeks old, she will be getting that! She would have had it today and that was the plan except we had some other changes along the way.

Paige has reflux. We knew this but now it's starting to really affect her eating. She's cranky and doesn't want to eat too much. It's really starting to bother her throat and tummy. So she is now on zantax. Hopefully that doesn't taste too nasty as she hasn't gotten her first dose yet till bedtime. Not looking forward to that. They also said that it might be the reason behind her noisy squeeking! Which seems to NOT be getting any better and almost worse. So here's the plan...

Also, Paige is getting tubes in her ears. We knew this was going to happen a while back but since she failed her hearing twice, she will have it done sooner than her lip surgery.

Therefore, on October 5th, we meet with the entire team including the plastic surgeon to discuss all matters. HOPING and PRAYING we get a surgery date or tentative one at least!

Then on October 8th, Poor Paige gets a small scope down her throat to look at her voice box. They wonder if it's not cleft too. Never heard of this and plan to research it more but they are hoping it's just from the reflux that she is so squeeky and sounds like she's gasping for air.

So not so fun for poor Paige but she is tolerating everything so well! And did I mention she's 10 pounds already. LOL My kids definitly don't have a problem gaining weight! :-)

Scheduling is a BITCH!

Seriously getting already tired of working Paige's appts around my work, Hal's clinical rotations, Owen getting home for the bus, etc. I had to reschedule an appt 3 times now because I just couldn't get it right and now I have to wait 3 weeks for a VERY important appt. I already hate this. Oh and did I mention that now we have to go to Pittsburgh 3 times in ONE week! Seriously nuts if you ask me! I don't know why we can't just do it all in one day, it's all in the same darn office. I hope to get to cancel the one if we don't need it but I'm thinking one way or another Paige will probably end up getting her tubes that day so we won't be able to cancel it. They are really trying to work with us but it doesn't matter to them that we drive 215 miles to go down there. *Sigh* I can't wait till surgery time when we don't have to go down anymore until Palate surgery time!

Rant about other people reading my BLOG

You all need to comment. LOL :-) I'm obsessed now with blogging so It's really nice to read the comments from time to time! Make my site more known so it can be of help to other parents if need be. COMMENT! :-)

Rant about Breastfeeding!

You know, I know first hand that having a baby can be stressful! This time around, I feel that it is a tad bit more. I love Paige, she is an easy baby. She is going through all the stages that my other two have gone through. I just feel like there is so much more that we have to worry about.

#1 CONCERN...Breastfeeding! I HATE that I can't actually breastfeed her. We tried, God knows her and I tried! I was aimed at beating the odds but it just wasn't going to happen. There is no way she can hold a pacifer in her mouth, not alone have enough suction to breastfeed correctly. The last time I offered it, she screamed bloody murder. That is when I just decided it was either keep trying and cry every time or just do what I can to keep her on breastmilk as long as possible. This means..PUMPING, PUMPING, PUMPING! I HATE pumping! I think this is why I NEVER had a storage for the other two and I don't yet with her. I plan to get ahead of things soon! Actually I'm trying my damnest to get ahead of her feedings. Right now she is having maybe 1-2 bottle of formula a day. Which I think is pretty good considering I'm pumping in the car, hand pumping, etc. It's so freaking time consuming! I always loved how bfing was so easy. You just plop a boob in their mouth and they eat. No warming bottles, no clean, nothing to carry with you when you go out! Plus, all those nutritional benefits, it's just perfect. Now, I have to pump, clean breastpump stuff, store it in the fridge, make sure it's not too old, make sure I have a good 4-5 ounces in each bottle, and then take another 20 minutes to feed it to her. So total feeding time ends up being like 40 minutes. Then count the fact that you are suppose to pump 8-12 times a day. Yeah right, did I mention I have 2 other kids that are sick of me being "busy." It's a LOT! But, you know what...I pride myself on being a strong, confident, and strong willed mother..so I'll keep doing it as long as I can! So now I'm going to be drinking my 65 ounces of water a day, eating NASTY oatmeal, taking my Fenugreek and pumping like a mad woman! Hope it pays off till she's 9 months like the other two were when they self weaned!

Paige's photos!

Can't forget my big girl! She is now 3 weeks old! Here are her most recent pics!

Owen and Madison

Photo shoot with Owen and Madison. Let me tell you, they are not the easiest kids to photograph! They never sit still and they have the worst cheesy smiles. It's really hard to capture a genuine smile from these two!!