Josiah and his Modeling Career

While Daddy was taking Uncle Andy to the train with the other kids, we got into some mischief...Now Jed's agent is fielding callls from such hotspots as Avon, CT and Shepherdstown, WV.

Sorry, Josiah

Yes, he's 4 weeks old today and I promised to take some pictures of you. Phooey, where did the day go? You now have a few waking times, mostly after your morning wake-up and snack. You love to nestle with me for an afternoon sleep just when I want to sleep. You like the sling and the Bjorn a lot, but I'm not sure how we're going to negotiate the heat. Today you actually began to bat at the things on your little gym. You cry very little. You are so easy-going. You are sweet. And you have no choice to be otherwise with the ninnys that surround you all day. (They know who they are.)

Adelaide and her Eye-Pod

Last night at bathtime, I heard a chilling scream and then heard, "Melissa, I need you now." I dropped the broom and ran upstairs to find Adam holding Adelaide in the bathroom with blood dripping from her forehead and around her eye. After applying a band-aid and wiping her down and calming her, I learned she had tripped over her monkey and managed to land into the corner of the ottoman in her room. What perfect aim. We gave her some ibuprofen and she slept well. When I got her up in the morning, she announced she had an eye-pod. I kept saying, "What?" An eye-pod. She then pointed to her band-aid and showed me her eye-pod! Yes, Daddy's dance parties with the ipod have made a mark!

Later today, she also requested a girl baby and wanted to know if Josiah would turn into Elias when he grows up. Oh, Addie, you are the apple of my eye-pod:)

Pentecost fervor

So, it has been said that Pentecost is the church nerd's equivalent to Hawaiian Shirt Day. But, our church was decked out in a sea of red and our kids as well. Elias even showed off his red underpants to an unsuspecting older parishioner when she asked him if he was wearing red. Josiah wore a red ladybug outfit first worn back when Addie was a baby and wore it for her first Halloween. I joked we should have just attached him to a stick and swung him around like a lot of parishes do with red confetti, streamers and such making the appearance of fire and rushing wind. I didn't wear red as my only red skirt managed to be button and not zipped. I didn't plan on showing off my underwear--unlike my son.

Swords into Ploughshares

My kids make swords even out of raw ears of corn...

Kiwis Making Milk

Can anyone say cloth diapers?


Breastfeeding is something I always felt I would do for my children. When I had Elias, I encountered feeding difficulties. So much, in fact, that the lactation consultants knew me by name at Meriter Hospital. After exploring low-milk supply issues for about two weeks, they referred me to a "breastfeeding" doctor. I know, I know, it all sounds strange. Who even knew such doctors existed? But, we were lucky to live somewhere where I could get that kind of help. After a thorough exam of Elias and me, the doctor just determined my body didn't release enough prolcatin to make enough milk. So, she prescribed a drug for me called Dom Peridon--which sounds like a fancy champagne. The strange thing is the drug is not FDA approved in this country for lactation purposes. It is legal in other countries like Mexico, Ireland, New Zealand, etc. Her RX for me was the Dom Peridon and getting up to pump during the night because at 3 weeks Elias was already sleeping through the night. We had to pick-up our prescription at this little compounding pharmacy outside of Madison.

I remember we paid cash for our "drugs" and we settled in to their usage. Eli's weight had gotten low enough that the dr said we really had to rectify the problem. I can remember the joy I felt the first time I pumped and actually had more than some spray. I even made up to 1 0r 2 oz at a time. My cup runneth over...

With Adelaide I preempted all the guessing and asked to have the discharging OB prescribe Dom Peridon when I left the hospital. While he wasn't jumping up and down to do so, he agreed. Breastfeeding went much easier with her and I didn't have to wake-up to sit by a sterile pump at night because Adelaide behaved like a typical baby and woke once or twice a night to nurse. I have been told that with each subsequent child the body makes more milk.

So, with Josiah, I was hoping all would work pretty well this time. He has seemed to have gotten the hang of nursing really well and he wakes up 2 or 3 times a night! Yawn... But, my OB here did not want to prescribe me the drug. So, we went online and ordered it from Canada only to discover that we still needed a prescription. In the meantime, I was stuffing fenugreek down my throat and trying to remember to drink 8 cups of Mothers' Milk herbal tea. When was I supposed to do that--in between my many private trips to the bathroom? I still wanted to get my hands on that drug.

We then discovered that New Zealanders will ship it to us from overseas. On Wednesday, my compact, package of illegal drugs arrived. I hurriedly opened them and rejoiced. They are very small, and I take two at each meal. I am proud to report that two nights later, Josiah took only one bottle of formula--about 3 oz. Since we came home from the hospital, he has been taking about 9 oz at night. Sweet, tingly, milk was all his last night.

I certainly have made peace with supplementing my kids. There is something so freeing about being able to leave them with a bottle and I know my husband really gets just a very little bit of snuggle time with the baby. He relishes giving him a bottle before bedtime--not so much in the middle of the night. But, I'm also happy to know the babies are getting all those good antibodies and the formula companies are not getting too much of our cash. My prescription cost about $100 and it should last me about 4 months. That is cheaper than formula and feels good both psychologically and emotionally. Thank you, kiwis!

Weight Watchers is over!

Josiah finally weighed in today at 8lbs 12 oz. Last week he was at 8lbs and the week before 7.7. Sure, it took him a little longer than the two week gauge, but now he is starting a double chin and getting both breast and bottle to boost him along. He was born at 8lb 6oz and it's hard to believe that the size he is now is a little bit biger than his birthweight. Yesterday, he completed 3 weeks of his very short life. Time seems to fly.

A recap of that week!

Carolyn arrived to help--and help she did. Little did she know that she would be on late night call for two emergency room visits. She stayed up with me and kept me calm. It was also great that because she is in nursing school, she was able to look up cool apps on her phone about croup and other ailments. When she wasn't playing nurse, she was playing nursemaid. Actually, wet nurse would have been nice:) But, truly every minute spent off the breast for Josiah was spent in Carolyn's arms. She thinks she was so taken by the little boy because she does NOT have an infant right now. The other times I had infants, we both were suffering from sleep deprivation and feeding issues. When one child wasn't throwing up or complaining of tummy pain, Carolyn was busy cooking Disney recipes for the kids. She is working for Disney and testing 8 recipes a month for them. The best recipe was some whoopie pies she made that we all devoured. We managed to have a little down time the last night and got a babysitter to watch the big kids while we escaped for an adult dinner. I drank my first margarita in 9 months with her. Thanks so much for coming to Philly!

Josiah and his Mama

Josiah at two weeks old

What a day!

Our day started off very well. My dear friend arrived safely with her son. The kids played while Carolyn oohed and gooed over Josiah. We even made a pilgrimage out at lunchtime for pizza. What a sight. Four kids, two of whom could pass for brothers, and then Addie and Josiah. All went well until people woke-up from naps and started to complain of tummy aches. As I write, my friend has made it to the care clinic and onto urgent care--and is yet to be back. She is driving my car, in the rain, and her phone was running out of juice as the car was getting low on gas. In the meantime, Elias threw up in Adam's car as Adam was trying to get the kids away from potential germs in the house. Strangely enough, Elias is bouncing around and telling us his tummy hurts as a way to keep from going to bed. I admonished him for coming down the stairs and he said, "I just threw-up. Come and see." He had. I did. Poor kid. So, right now Josiah has been sequestered and we can only hope he will stay sanitized. I keep praying that immune system of his is doing it's work!

On a lighter note, last night I was putting Elias to bed and he wanted to teach me how to swaddle his monkey. I did and then he put the monkey up to his chest as he has seen me do lots. He paused and then said, "Where is that red thing?" I can tell he is going to try and figure out how to feed the monkey despite missing some important anatomical features.

Mean while his sister seems to have the breastfeeding down...

Finally, happy 2 weeks old, Josiah. Meant to get a picture of you on your "birthday" but the day got away from us!