Bad Luck!

Well, after my migraine on Monday I ended up with another one on Tuesday. Yuck! It was no where near as bad though, so that was good. Then on Wednesday I was bending over to pick up Tyler's laundry and my back went out. I ended up in the ER that night and I'm still laid up! Could be for another week! This is so frustrating...I guess I'll never do laundry again cuz it's too dangerous! :-)

It's in!

Tyler's first tooth is poking through! It's the first one in the middle on the bottom right. When we got up on Friday morning daddy was changing Tyler and he kept saying, "I see a toofer!" It was so cool...very exciting! It's still not completely out yet, but it's getting there. He's been a very fussy boy and doesn't seem to want the cold wash cloth or teething ring to chew on. He'll chew on his link-a-doo's and that's about it! Oh, and our fingers, of course!

On a different note, I had to call in sick to work last night. (In case I haven't mentioned it before, I'm working at Shopko Sunday through Wednesday, 6-10pm to get out and make a little cash.) My mom, Tyler and I went shopping for a baby shower gift and on the way home I got really nauseous. A few minutes later a migraine hit. Thank goodness mom was able to stay with Tyler so I could lay down. I slept from about 3:00 until 5:00. I felt better in the evening as far as the nausea, but still had a headache. Josh and I ate our dinner outside since it was so nice out. We took Tyler's exersaucer out and he played in that. It was fun and I miss dinner with my boys when I'm working!! It's tough, that's for sure.

After we ate Josh was carrying Tyler around the yard and they found a piece of a newspaper. Rather than picking it up, Josh was kicking it as they walked toward the house. Tyler was laughing and laughing and laughing!! So we had to get the video camera out and catch that on tape! :-)

Fussiness

So things have been busy at our house!

Tyler has started scooting...it's crazy! He's doing what we call the Army crawl. You know, on the belly using his forearms to pull himself forward. It's dang cute. Along with that comes frustration of getting tired, getting stuck in the corner, etc. Quite humorous to watch, really. It's great to come to his rescue when he's frustrated and he looks up at me and puts one arm up like he's saying, "HELP!" :-) Talk about an awesome feeling to be needed like that. It's just amazing. As far as baby-proofing...we need to get to that. So far it's been fine because we have a sunken living room so that confines him...for now! I know some day he will figure out the step but until then, there's nothing in there that will harm him.

And his little toofers are coming in...I SWEAR IT! Ok, so last week I was grocery shopping with Tyler and I could have sworn I saw a tooth in his mouth and I got all excited and all these people were listening and smiling and it was so cool! THEN...when we got home I stuck my finger in his mouth. NOTHING! It must have been a shiny spit bubble or something! I was a little disappointed! Well this week has been very rough. He's been crabbing all the time and constantly wants his mommy or daddy or anyone who's around. He's also figured out that HEY - I don't HAVE to open my mouth! Urgh...what a little character! So today it took him crying for me to be able to finally stick my finger in his mouth. Now...I'm dang sure I felt something poke me when I ran my fingers over his bottom gums! I'll bet there is something there very soon. This is all so exciting!

Sledding!

Some pics from Tyler's first time sledding! It finally got warm enough to play outside a little bit...he got this sled from G & G B. for Christmas and it's the first time he got to use it! We all had a blast!

Plagiocephaly

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I have posted. I haven't written about Tyler's plagiocephaly yet on our blog and I really need to. I want to keep everyone up to date as to what is going on, so here's a long one!

Some time around Tyler’s two month check up the doctor noticed a flat spot on the back of his head on the right side and that he was strongly favoring that side. We decided at that appointment we would try “repositioning”, meaning we would do physical therapy with him and do things to help him look to his left instead of his right. I mean, he still looked to his left, but not nearly as much as the right. Sometimes if there was something to his left he would turn just about all the way around to his right so he didn’t have to turn left.

At the four month check up and after our efforts there was no change in the flat spot but his dexterity imporoved greatly to his neck. And now there was a noticeable amount of difference between the symmetry of his ears. They started to become very uneven since the flat spot was pushing his right ear forward. The doctor said it was plagiocephaly, and that it could be corrected with a helmet. Since we already did the repositioning for two months and it didn’t help we decided that we would start the process of getting Tyler a corrective helmet.

We had an appointment at the end of December to see a neurosurgeon to be sure it wasn’t neurological and he checked out just fine. After that we were sent to Gary, the only orthodist in north-central Wisconsin that does the helmets. He took measurements and said that Tyler was in the severe range of plagio and recommended we do the helmet. His ears measured almost an inch difference!

Tyler had an appointment February 2nd to have the molding made. They put a netting over his head and then put big pieces of paper mache like stuff over it. They cut a hole where his nose and mouth are and made some markings where his ears and the middle of his forehead are. Gary had to sit him up to do the back and Tyler woke up a bit but they got it all done. We got to pick from a few designs for the outside of the helmet and chose a blue background with cars, trucks, tractors and that kind of "boy" stuff on it.

I took some pictures of Tyler’s head the day after his molding (Feb 3) to show the “problem” areas so everyone can clearly see what is going on. We’re very lucky that it has only affected his head, forehead and ears. In some kids it actually causes asymmetry in the eyes or cheeks, making one significantly bigger than the other. What has happened with Tyler is he favored his right side so much that when his head was growing it grew more to the right front and even to the left side because there was pressure on that right side where he would lay. Now, with the helmet, the pressure will be on the areas that are already sticking out and as the head grows more it will fill in the spaces left between the flat areas and the helmet.

We picked up Tyler’s helmet on February 21st! We are so blessed to have such a patient and laid back little boy! My mom and dad went along since Josh was at work so Grandpa held him during the appointment. (Probaby a good thing cuz I was nervous and Tyler picks up on that!) Gary brought in the helmet and let Tyler check it out a little bit before he popped it on his head. Tyler didn't care one bit! The helmet itself is cute...the pictures are quite a bit bigger than we expected them to be but it doesn't matter! :-) As long as it's working! We had a schedule to follow for breaking him into it but we didn’t really use it because things went so great! He didn’t seem to mind it one bit so Gary said to just feel our way through the process and if things are going well we can just leave it on him, which is what we did!

His latest appointment was on March 9th and everything is right on track. Gary even said he can see an area on the flat spot that is already starting to pop out!! How awesome!

I guess plagio is getting to be more common now because of all the time babies are spending on their backs due to SIDS. PLEASE educate anyone you know with a little one at home about Plagiocephaly (flat heads!). This is preventable, to an extent. Josh and I had never even heard of this. I read a lot when I was pregnant and never once was it mentioned in a book! We had no idea that his favoring his right side would cause this!

This is cosmetic, not neurological, so having that in our minds makes this a little easier! I almost fell apart the first time I saw him in it. Now, when we take it off for baths or getting dressed he looks weird without it after only two weeks. I did fall apart the first time someone stared at him. Josh and I went for a fish fry with Tyler and this woman was blatantly staring at him. The next thing I knew tears were rolling down my face in the middle of dinner! But that’s the only time (so far!) I’ve really lost it. I told Josh I needed to just get it out of my system! :-)

SO…after a little over two weeks with Tyler’s helmet, he is doing great! I will continue to update his progress!

He did it!

Tyler rolled over from his back to his tummy today!

He's been already doing tummy to back since about Thanksgiving, but he never had an interest in going the other way because he hates his tummy. He's been practicing and getting close for quite a while now and this afternoon he did it! The things a baby will do for his toys! And he even stayed on his tummy for a little bit to play! It was a great moment!

I just finished rolling over to get closer to my keys!

Jackpot! This is just what I wanted! Did I do something special?!

Adventures in Teething

Well, I'm pretty sure that Tyler is teething now but I'm not feeling any teeth poking through yet. His gums are starting to get a little rough, but no little white things! He has been up 2-3 times in the night the last three nights. That's quite a change for us since he's been sleeping through the night since September when he was two months old! :-) We give him Tylenol but he's been coughing and choking on all the extra drool. He's coughed so hard in his sleep that two of the nights he threw up in his bed all over the place. We had to change his sheets, pj's and everything! We have two little pillows under his mattress to elevate his head but it's not seeming to help. He doesn't seem interested in chewing when he wakes up at night either. When Josh got up with him last night he ended up giving him 4 oz of formula and he went back to sleep. Then when I got up at 4:30 with him we gave him 4 more oz. I don't know if we should be doing this cuz I don't want him to become dependant on that and end up waking up cuz he's hungry.

SO...I guess you could say we're still trying to figure out what to do with him in this new stage! :-) Any advice?!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We had a very relaxing evening out to dinner with grandma and grandpa B. (My parents.) We went to an upscale local restaurant and had a wonderful time. Tyler chilled in his car seat through the appetizer but decided to get squirmy just as our soups came! (Of course!) Daddy held him until the main course came and then Grandma was so awesome to tend to him while we ate...it was the most relaxed I've been able to be when we've had him out to eat! After dinner we came back to our house and enjoyed each others company and some brownies I made yesterday. It was so much fun!

Here's the little man in his Handsome shirt he got from grandma and grandpa B. How cute! And I just love his Bumbo seat...we use it all the time. It's a good thing he's not camera shy, huh?!

Oops! I fell over! Still not sitting up that great by my self. But I'm making progress!!

1st Christmas

Our little man's first Christmas picture! It's incredible how much the meaning of Christmas and family has changed now that Tyler is with us. We had lots of fun helping him open his presents...most of the time he was more interested in the paper. Putting it right into his mouth, of course!

Update!

I'll write one soon, I swear! :-) Life with our precious bundle of joy is amazing...and we're all adjusting well. Our Internet is hooked up in our new home so I'll be posting all the details of Tyler's arrival soon!!!!!

For now, here is something to hold you over! (This is the pic from Tyler's birth announcement, which was designed mostly by my mom. I'll have to post of picture of that as well!)

Well, Hello Tyler

Hi everyone! It's Alissa's friend, June. She asked me to make a quick post to let you all know what has been happening. It was a very exciting weekend.

Tyler Joshua was born July 9th at 4.36 in the afternoon. The little guy weighs 6 pounds and is 19 inches long.

He was so excited to meet mom and dad, that he decided to come a month early.

Both Alissa and Tyler are doing well.

I will let Alissa fill you in on all the details when she is feeling up to it, but I thought I would give you all the first of many pictures that I imagine we will be seeing.

ICK!!

I now have "pregnancy rash" all over my arms and a little bit on my legs. It's not too bad, but itches like CRAZY! I wake up in the middle of the night just scratching away at it.

Anyone else get this wonderful side effect of pregnancy?! LoL...when the nurse told me it was "pregnancy related" I wanted to scream, "ANYTHING ELSE?!" LoL...

Update: Our Jobs

Josh was supposed to start work on Wednesday, May 10th, but they called him that Monday and asked him to come in on Tuesday instead to get his SIX HOUR orientation out of the way! He was a little nervous about starting the new job, which worked out kinda nice since we were unpacking! I swear, I’d do one thing and he’d have five done!

His first day of work went great and things have been going good ever since. He's been getting home, for the most part, between 5 and 7, so that's pretty nice. Some days are earlier, some are later, just like his last job. The work outside is going good...he worked with a couple different guys to get a feel for things and now is mainly working with a guy named Adam. It's the inside computer stuff that’s ruffling his feathers! He said he’s pretty rusty with Auto CAD so we ordered him a text book and it helped him remember a lot. You know him, learning it in time isn't good enough...he wants to know it all now! I guess I don’t blame him though since his review is coming up soon. (Where did June go?!) He’s trying to prove that he is worth a lot so they pay him what he was making in the cities. They’ve been good to him already…we’ve been reimbursed for the first round of moving expenses and Josh got his bonus check last week! (Hahaha, I suppose we should get our bank switched sometime, huh?!) Dang Uncle Sam took half of it, but I guess it’s better to pay it now than to try to come up with it when we file our taxes in six months.

I have to tell about the company newsletter...LoL...they gave him a copy of the May/June issue when he first started. There was a message from the IT department saying everyone has individual passwords now instead of everyone using "packers" for the password! It wasn’t that everyone was using the same password that we laughed at…it was that the password was PACKERS!!! We’re happy to be back in Wisconsin! :-)

As for me, I called to make my appointment at the staffing company after being home for a couple days. I didn’t think I’d have any problem getting in right away to do the testing, but I was wrong! I had to wait a week to get in! I got an appointment on May 9 to go in and do my testing. That went great and they were impressed! She called me shortly after I got home to set up an interview with a place in Mosinee. I wasn’t too thrilled about the job (in marketing), but it was a 2-4 week assignment, so I was thinking it’d be perfect if it went for 4 weeks. I went to the interview and wasn’t impressed. They said I might be doing some telemarketing, which I have no interest in doing what-so-ever. When I called the staffing company to let them know I didn’t think I’d be interested they were completely unaware that there might be telemarketing involved. Needless to say they weren’t happy and neither was I.

Meanwhile, something else came up. My dad’s co-workers wife was trying to get me into where she works as a receptionist/administrative assistant. I went for that interview a week later and it went great. I know I could have done that job and I think I would have liked it…but…it was full time and it didn’t feel right to start a new job knowing that I probably won’t come back after the baby is born. That’s ok though…third time is the charm!!!

The staffing company called me with an American Family Insurance agent that needed a receptionist/administrative assistant for the month of June. So I came to meet with Jeff just before Memorial Day weekend and we hit it off! The atmosphere was great and I just knew I’d be comfortable working here! My first day was May 30 and I work 9:00 to 5:00 every day. I really enjoy this and am hoping he offers me a part time position here before my last day this Friday. (Again, where did June go?!) Sometimes I think he will and other times I can’t tell so we’ll just have to wait and see. If he offers me something I’m planning on asking for part time hours until the baby comes and then playing it by ear after that. But we’ll see how things turn out! We’re just thankful I was able to find something for the month and put some money in the bank!

Update: The Move

Our going away parties for work were both a lot of fun! The Thursday night before we left for WI we met a bunch of my co-workers at Green Mill and then Friday night we met Josh’s co-workers at Jake’s. We’re both very lucky to have had such awesome jobs and great co-workers! I know Josh had a tough time leaving work on Friday and I did too. They had a “meeting” that afternoon for me at work and I started crying as soon as I walked into the conference room! (Go figure!) We all ate ice cream cake (YUM!) and they gave me two cards signed by the whole office. The first one was a “Good Bye” card and the second was a card for the “mom to be.” Everyone in the office pitched in to get us a $200 gift card from Target for baby stuff! Awesome, huh?! Josh’s buddies at work pitched in and got him a $100 gift certificate for Cabela’s too! They were both pleasant surprises!

The move back to WI went great...we moved a lot more than Josh and I had planned on doing because my mom and dad were able to come over and they brought dad's truck and trailer. We pretty much moved everything except furniture. There’s nothing left in the kitchen cupboards and I’m so glad that’s done cuz that’s the worst room to do!

When we got home my Uncle Randy came over to my parents house to help unload everything. Now not only do we have stuff in half of mom and dad's garage but we have stuff in their shed too! But we're all settled in our one room apartment so I guess that's all that matters! :-) It’s hard saying, “I have no idea where it is” about everything, but that’s not important right now. We’re just lucky to have a place to stay for free and not be paying rent on top of a house payment!

Ticker thingie

It's amazing how fast this pregnancy has gone...I think when I added the ticker at the top of this page baby was in the first or second little picture thingie. Now he's getting so big and is on the second to last one! I couldn't believe it when I noticed it today...at the time I posted it, it seemed like so far away!

WHOOPS!

Wow...it's been a month since I posted! I don't know where the time has gone, but things have been pretty busy.

Quick update - baby boy is still doing great! I am too, just enjoying all those third trimester aches and pains! Baby shower is this Saturday...I can't believe how fast the time has gone!

Josh's job is going great and I have a job for the month of June that I really like!

More to come...sorry it's been so long!!

Busy, Busy!

Our social calendar is keeping us busy and I can’t believe it’s Thursday already! Our dinner on Monday with Luke and Dora had a bit of a change. When we got to TGI Friday’s Luke was there by himself cuz Dora was home with a migraine. What a bummer! But we still had a good time with Luke talking about their work (oh joy!), hunting (yay!) and how he never would have started ice fishing if we hadn’t met! We even had the same bartender that we had when we used to go there three years ago…it was a lot of fun!

Tuesday Dora had a job interview down the road from my work, so she stopped in to say hello. That was such a surprise and it was great to see her! We chit-chatted for a little bit and then she had to get going. I hope she’s able to make it to Josh’s happy hour after work on Friday so we can spend a little more time together before we leave.

Tuesday afternoon, kinda last minute, Mindy suggested going for pizza in town. It was the only night this week we didn’t have something going on, but at this point, who cares! I’m glad we got to go out with them, just the four of us, before we leave. It was lots of fun, as always! I’m sure going to miss them…Mindy has been a great friend since we met over three years ago when I started at R & H.

Last night I met Mindy and Linell for dinner at Applebee’s. (Yes, Applebee’s again! It’s about the only place to go in town!) We had a lot of fun catching up and talking baby stuff. Linell and her family got Squirt an ADORABLE outfit and a cute picture frame! After we shared dessert we all headed home. I got some packing done!!! Well, not much, but it’s a start. I packed up all of the little baby things we’ve accumulated so far.

Tonight is happy hour with my co-workers. I don’t know how many people will be there, but I know it will be fun! And Josh is going to come too!

THIRD Trimester!

WOW! I can’t believe it…I’m 26 weeks today. If my calculations are right I’m starting my third trimester today! The time has flown by with all the excitement going on and hopefully continues to fly by through these last 3 months!

Squirt is now about 14 inches long from head to heels and is a little under 2 pounds! He’ll start putting on more baby fat now and fill out all his wrinkly skin. He is able to respond more to noises now that his ears are getting more developed. And now he’s starting to take in small breaths of amniotic fluid, mostly in R.E.M. sleep. I had to post this picture (from BabyCenter) because I love how the baby is all scrunched up!
When Josh left for work this morning (he leaves an hour before I do so I was still in bed) he was playing peek-a-boo with Squirt. Lucky me since that consists of him yanking my blankets off, yelling peek-a-boo, and then throwing the blankets back on me! Nice way to wake up, huh?! I always tell him it’s a good thing I can laugh at him!

I think Squirt has had the hiccups before, but I’m positive he did this morning! I was sitting at my desk at work and had some very rhythmic movements in the lower part of my uterus, where he seems to like to hang out. I sat back to enjoy it for a couple minutes and then it stopped! It was cool!

And just to rub it in to everyone…we’ve picked a name for Squirt and we just love it! We use it all the time when it’s just the two of us. But it’s still a secret!! Your only clue is that it isn’t a new age name, it’s pretty traditional. To hold you over until he arrives, his middle name will be Joshua, after his daddy who already loves him so much.

Our last week of work in MN

When Josh woke me up before he left this morning he said, “Happy last week of work.” WEIRD! We’ll both have our last day of work this Friday.

Josh put in his two week notice last Monday and he said it went good. (We didn’t know how it’d go since everyone at his work has been in the dark about what is going on.) His boss said he had a feeling we'd be moving but he was still bummed because he’s been such a good worker. The rest of his coworkers know now and everyone has been very understanding since we are moving to be closer to our families. Everyone keeps saying how important family is, especially when a little one is in the picture, and I can’t help but agree!

Our plan for this weekend was to start packing, but that just didn’t happen! Friday night we went for our last fish fry at Bar & Grill and to tell our favorite waitresses about the move. We didn’t even stay to play pool, went right home after we ate! Then Saturday morning I went to get my hair done and say goodbye to my stylist while Josh ran to the grocery store to get some more boxes. We got home around the same time and left a little while later to meet Stevi for lunch. It was so much fun and SOOOO good to see her. It’s been too long! We got there at 12:30 and when we got into the car the clock said 3:55!!!!! No wonder my butt was getting sore! It was a blast catching up! Saturday night we had dinner with our neighbors, Ray and Pam, at Applebee’s. That was another 3 hour dinner!! We had a blast…they took pics and got us some super cute baby gifts, which we totally didn’t expect! I don’t think we’ll ever have neighbors like them again…we’re sure going to miss them!! Sunday was supposed to be our day and we were going to get a lot of our packing done and out of the way. Well, after we went for breakfast Josh napped and I did some stamping and worked on another craft project. When I went upstairs three hours later I napped and Josh went downstairs on the computer! Needless to say, after I got up from my nap neither of us felt like doing anything. Silly us, cuz if you think the weekend was busy, our week is going to be just as crazy!

Tonight we’re having dinner with Luke and Dora at TGI Fridays…where we used to go hang out when we first met! Fitting, huh?! Tuesday we’ll both be home, Wednesday I’m having dinner with Mindy and Linell, Thursday night is happy hour with my co-workers and Friday night is happy hour with Josh’s co-workers! Good thing we don’t have a lot to pack since our realtor said it’ll be best to have our furniture there for showings. Saturday we went room by room and made a list of what we NEED to pack, so I guess that’s better than nothing. Then when the house sells we’ll come back, pack what’s left, and try to fit it all into a big UHaul trailer so we can get it in one trip. We’ll see how that goes when the time comes!

So…NOW our plan is to get packed little by little this week. My parents are most likely coming here on Friday some time to help us haul stuff back to their house. We’re hoping to be ready to go to Wisconsin (for good!) late Saturday night or early Sunday morning. HOW EXCITING!!!

Baby appointments

We had our 3rd ultrasound appointment last Tuesday. It was exciting to get another chance to see him since at the last one we couldn’t see his face and he wouldn’t move at all! So I had a plan…since I had to have a full bladder I’d drink 12 ounces of apple juice and 12 ounces of water before the appointment! :-) He always wiggles around when I drink apple juice so it HAD to work! Well, I think it did because Squirt was a lot more active and we finally got to see his face! OH – and he’s still a boy…I had the ultrasound tech double check! :-)

It was very hard to make out what was what, so we decided to make a “map” to post here so you can compare it to the plain ultrasound. The pic is turned to the right and has everything marked on it – keep in mind he is a lot bigger this time! Red is his heart, orange is his whole head, yellow is his right arm, blue are his eyes, green is his nose, pink is his mouth!

This one is a little easier to see after you see the “map.” We think he has my chin! :-) I hope you can make sense of them...we had a hard time at first! :-) I've seen so many ultrasound pics on other blogs and ours never look anything like the other ones!

My follow up (and sadly, last appointment) with Dr. B was on Wednesday afternoon. Everything went great...we went over the ultrasound and baby is right on track for growing! He was 1.7 pounds! I was a little worried about his size because the ultrasound tech said he was measuring 23 weeks, 3 days and he was supposed to be 23 weeks, 6 days. She reminded me that the bigger the baby gets, the harder it is to measure how old his is in weeks and days so I shouldn’t worry. Then we got all my files wrapped up and ready to be transferred to Marshfield Clinic in Weston. She even said if I have questions in the future about anything, whether it was the pregnancy or about my files, that I could call her. How awesome! :-) After I met with her I had my one hour glucose test. Well, my blood sugar level was 190 something and it was supposed to be under 155 or something!! So I had to go back first thing Thursday morning to have a THREE HOUR fasting lab done. I had to drink a double dose of the soda thing and then have my blood drawn every three hours. Three hours in a doctor’s office…joy! Needless to say I almost finished The Baby Whisperer book mom and dad got us for Easter! The good news is I passed the second time! :-) She said my other result could have been due to something I ate during the day since my appointment wasn't until almost 3:00. Whew! So everything is OK! I'm so glad cuz like I need something else on my plate right now!!!