New Beginnings

Life has been crazy and hectic since my last post. Here's some of the great things happening in Casa de W.

1. My sister gave birth to a healthy as can be expected, baby girl, Samantha Leann at 30 weeks gestation while visiting PA from NC.  Sammi was 17 inches long, 4 lbs. 2 oz., is breathing on her own, pooping, and sucking ever so lightly on a pacifier.  She'll be in the NICU until she at least reaches 34 weeks gestational age, so Pat will be hanging in PA with the baby for the next month.

2. C had her appointment with her nephrologist, who has cleared her for surgery.  We are currently looking for an automatic blood pressure machine with a child sized cuff so that we can monitor her blood pressure.  This will help to determine if her high readings were stress related or indicative of kidney scarring.  The Nephrologist noted that the right kidney is smaller than the left and may be scarred. This could cause high blood pressure and protein in her urine.  Little to no risk of this turning into something that would cause the need for a transplant or dialysis.  WooHoo!

3. We registered our big girl for Kindergarten. She is so thrilled and doesn't quite understand that she will have to wait for September for school.  This month, she will play tee-ball for the first time, and next month, she'll have her dance recital for ballet and tap.

4. Baseball season has started for L (not for J, yet).  This will be his first year in coach pitch, and he is finally excited. Originally, he was fearful of having to hit a moving ball, but he seems to be more excited as practices progress.

5. I got a "real" job.  By real, I mean a full time, out of the office, job.  I am working for a local healthcare BPO, as a process analyst.  Boy, oh boy.  There is a lot to do.  I just hope I am as good as I sold myself to be.  The people are all really nice and seem dedicated to doing the right thing, though, there is a mix of those that are looking for a free ride.  Here's hoping this career is worth missing my babies.

6. As a result of getting a job, we also got a nanny.  The kids love her, well, I think. J seems to be giving her some problems if she's told to do things she doesn't want to do.  It pretty much sums her up, as she behaves the same way with me (until I lay the smack down ;-) ), so I will have to assume she feels comfortable around her.  The thing that makes going to work easier is that Q just loves the nanny.  She waves to her constantly and smiles in her presence.  Though I don't want to be replaced, I am glad she feels safe and loved.

7. P and I are having a bit of a difficult adjustment to both of us working.  The other day, we woke up and realized that there was no bread, no fresh fruit and not much in the house that the kids could or would eat.  That night, we went grocery shopping and didn't get home until 9 pm.  Don't worry.  We won't be having that problem again. We spent a month's budget in one night.  Here's hoping I can figure out a good schedule.  If you've got one, please share.

I'm also having a hard time trying to figure dinner out.  By the time I get home, I nurse the baby, then its 6 pm.  The kids need to be in bed before 8, and 3 nights out of the week, we have "stuff" to do.  We'll figure it out, but I'm guessing it'll take time.

8. Weight loss has been a challenge for me, to say the least.  I am having a hard time making it to the gym or downstairs to the treadmill because Q has, again, decided she needs mommy by 6 am every morning.  So, exercise has been pretty much non-existent.  Again, ideas are appreciated.    And, don't get me started on food.  My new coworkers seem to have an addiction to sugar that is contagious.  HELP!

9. Let me not forgot my baby Q's milestones.  After soldier crawling for 2+ months, she has finally decided to crawl on all 4's, just yesterday.  She doesn't do it if she's in a hurry, but she will if she's going somewhere ever so slowly.  Oh, and now she's decided that she should climb the stairs, too.  She loves to wave, even though I was trying to teach her the sign for "milk", and she turned it into a wave.  She's just an amazing little girl, like all my kids were are. I can't believe she's growing so fast.

10.  Today, we went geocaching for the first time ever.  Basically, its a scavenger hunt. You are provided GPS coordinates to an item which you then seek.  When you find it, you sign the sheet and celebrate your success.  The kids LOVED it. It was great to do something outdoors as a family, and even better to do something that made us work together.  If you've never done it, I recommend you give it a try.  Visit www.geocaching.com and let me know what you think.  This was recommended to me by a friend, so I am paying it forward by telling you about it.

To all my friends reading this: I love you and miss you, all!  I wish we could chit chat more, and get together.  Don't become strangers!

Step by step guide to scheduling surgery

There is nothing more sobering than seeing a child, your child, afraid and in pain.  Yesterday, I got that experience, again.  C had her DMSA renal scan (that may be redundant, perhaps its just a DMSA scan) in Philadelphia.  

We left bright and dark around 4:30 for her 7 am check-in.  Okay jerk-offs!  There wasn't even a receptionist when we arrived.  Instead, we wandered around the hospital until I found a custodian to ask for assistance.  I get it, you need to check in for the 7:30 appointment, but come on!  Ugh!  I was am tired.  Forgive me for this satirical post.  Anyway, when she finally got back there, the nurse (a fabulous man with the most lovely, sweet and soft voice) noticed that Cameron had a gunky cough.  He warned against potential complications should she be sedated (important to know), but had her checked, and subsequently cleared by the ICU doctor.

At this point, they took her BP and it was like 128 over 82, or some ghastly number like that.  He took it again, just to double check.  This time, it came in at 111 over 59.  That'd be great if she were an adult, but is too high at age 3.  Grrr!  How much of this is her being anxious? Not sure.

Step 1: They put some numbing lotion on her hands to prep them for the IV.  This was the easy part. She screamed hysterically.  No problem too big for Lemonade Mouth, or so I thought.

Step 2: They came back in the room and took a now calm C to the study room.  This is the room full of equipment, like MRI and CT scan machines.  When that door opened, she flipped out again.  I don't know if its because she remembers the room, or if its simply that she knows that she's typically catheterized when she's around that type of equipment.  We all reassured her that she got to keep her clothes on, but it didn't help because she'd already seen it.  The needle, that is.  She started screaming about the shot.  Broke my heart.

She was so upset and really fighting them (boy, oh boy, she is one strong cookie), so they had to restrain her.  They did this by velcro'ing her to the bed, with her arm strapped to her side.  They have these sand rolls (baby blankets with sand inside) that they placed on both sides of her to keep her in place.  Those, along with the huge velcro strap kept her secure...for the most part.  Then, they were able to insert and secure an IV to her left hand, to which they injected the radioactive isotopes for the study.

Step 3: After hanging out, watching the fish and buying a little frog toy at the gift shop, we were able to return to begin the procedure.  C was not happy about this.  She clung tightly to me, just like a baby monkey clings to its momma, she held on for dear life.  While grasping my neck tightly, she sat on the edge of the table and they injected the propofol into the IV.  It was pretty immediate.  One second, she was hysterical and screaming, "No wanna shot. Wanna go home.  No mommy," and the very next, she was going limp in my arms.

I'd say the tears were pretty immediate. To have your child go limp in your arms, well, let's just say that's a feeling no one should ever have to experience...no matter what the reason may be. What an amazing thing the practice of medicine is.  They proceeded to strap her to the table, insert the nose tubing and began the procedure.  

Complications:  Remember that sweet, sweet murse?  Well, he mentioned that the cough could cause complications, and he was right.  Several minutes into the scan, C's body started shaking and there was a very faint sound of coughing.  Let's just say that momma bear was ready to attack the doctors and nurses.   The coughing got worse and then it went away.  This repeated several times.  Then, the oxygen saturation of her blood dropped over 10 points, the lowest being 85.  The doctor was notably alarmed.  They suctioned her mouth and put oxygen on her.  The doctor, noticing that I was distraught, assured me that this was no big deal.  "The medical term for this is boogers.  When she wakes up, she'll be fine.  She just needs a good cough to clear it out."  Okay.  Thanks for that touch of humor there, doc!

Her pulse ox recovered nicely each time until there was 2 minutes 34 seconds left in the scan.  They just couldn't get it over 90, so they were about to call the scan and reschedule for a later date.  I was so torn.  I didn't want her to have to go through this again (the drive, the trauma of needles, sedation, etc...), but I didn't want something horrible to happen to my baby.  The stood right next to her, with the suction tube and were able to keep her at or above 90 for the remainder of the scan.

Step 4: My sleeping beauty spent 20 minutes in the recovery room so that she could awaken from her slumber and regain her bearings.  That part was sweet.  Her, laying so peacefully, done (or so I thought) with being poked and prodded. 

Step 5: We went upstairs for C's appointment with her Urologist, and guess what?  He was out to lunch! No kidding!  Even though I had them call upstairs and tell them that we were there, but still in the study.  His nurse, Miss Paula Jackson, tried to help us, but I wanted to see him to discuss next steps.  So, we went to lunch instead.

Step 6: C noshed on fresh fruit and hummus while Q and I enjoyed some chicken marsala with brown rice and steamed veggies.  Aunt H, who came along to help with Q (so grateful), looked like she was going to collapse from exhaustion since she works the night shift and had been up for a long, long time.

Step 7:  We finally saw the Dr. and discussed the surgical options: 1. Incision 96% success rate, 2 1/2 days in hospital OR 2. No incision, inject foreign matter, 67% success rate, go home same day.  Besides when I thought our daughter might be choking to death on her phlegm, this was when I really wished P could have been there (he's away on business) because I didn't want to make the wrong decision.  Ultimately, I (or I should say we, since he agrees) decided to move forward with option 1 so as to decrease the need for further potential trauma.

Before the surgery can take place though, C has to have the issue of her high blood pressure resolved by a Nephrologist.  She has an appointment scheduled in 2 weeks.  Her Urologist said that they either need to put her on medication to regulate her blood pressure or he needs the Nephrologist to submit written sign off for the surgery.  Okay.  That sounds scary, right?!  I don't know if she's just terrified of the doctors and that's why she's registering high, or if she really has high blood pressure. Eeek!  

Step 8: To help figure out whether or not the high bp is caused by scarring of the kidneys, the doctor sent her to have blood drawn.  This will determine if a certain protein is in her blood which points to poor kidney performance.  Currently, her kidneys are operating at 43 and 57, instead of 50 / 50, so I guess it is possible that we will see this protein present in her blood, though I pray to God that it is not. Really, what more does my poor little girl need to endure?!  Come on, already! My big girl was crying the whole time they drew blood.  "Her hurt me!" She just kept repeating it.  And Nurse Carla was so sweet too, apologizing the whole time.  It was hard for me to not want to kick her for hurting my baby.

Step 9: GO the F home!  Sorry, but we were there from 6:30 to 2:20.  We were all climbing at the walls to get out of there.  Thank goodness that the medical staff is so wonderful and caring or else this day wouldn't have been as lovely as it was, wouldn't have gone as smoothly as it did.

Step 10: Get everyone to bed at 7, with mom and Q falling asleep at 7:30.  That's how I'm able to be awake right now...a power nap!

I really was selective about these pictures, not to mention that I'm too lazy to get up and get my phone.  I have so many of a crying baby girl, but I think this day should be about moving forward, not being upset.  C is scheduled for bilateral ureteral reimplantation for May 25.  It turns out its Memorial Day weekend, so I guess it will be an emotional one at that.  Let's just hope my sister doesn't give birth that weekend, too because I don't want to miss it!  

Oh, since my last post, C celebrated her 3rd birthday.  I'll have to post pics later!

Revelations from Living

We've had a very interesting last week.

1. We took a family vacation to Harrisburg.  Okay, its not Disney, but it was a lovely time.  We went to celebrate the 1st birthday of my cousin's daughter, Lily, and decided to stay for a mini vacation.

The kids think that hotels are just about the coolest things ever.  We went swimming, ate Vietnamese food and then hit the State Museum and the Capitol building.

P and J on the big pig

Q, our little Cabbage Patch Doll

During the tour of the Capitol, Logan asked, "why is there so much gold in this room?"  What a great question!  It was hard for him to understand that the reason was simply that we had tons of money, so that's how they decided to spend it.

My boy, L, humoring his father by riding on a snail

It really was a great couple of days.

2. Since focusing on our nutrition, I've noticed a couple of things:
    a. The baby is constipated.  Well, I think that all the kids are.
    b. The W's are gassier than normal.  Stinky!  This is despite our bean sprouting because, let's face it, you can't sprout every bean you eat.  Sometimes, you just don't plan appropriately.
    c. When meat is near my children, they become a pack of hungry wolves.  J never really was a meat-lover, but you wouldn't know that lately.
    d. It is too difficult to eat out being a vegan, especially when the only "non-meat" option is tofu.  Hello, endocrine system.  Want some mutations?  That can't be the only option.
   
    This got me interested in reading more about veganism, which is essentially was a plant-strong diet is.  I read about an 11 month old breastfed baby that died because of a lack of nutrients...her mother was vegan.  I read about how to ensure that vegans get the proper nutrition.  At the State Museum, I read about the diets of man, from the earliest man until now.  I read a lot!  And, I could read more, if I wanted.  Then, a friend sent me a more in-depth review of the Forks Over Knives movie, with several rebuttal points.  Intriguing.

What I've realized is that I am happy to cut the meat in our diets.  It makes financial sense.  It makes sense our strain on the environment.  It makes sense to be kinder to animals.  BUT, meat is not evil.  The way we treat our foods is evil, i.e. hormones, pesticides, added sugar, overly processing, tons of added fats.

I am still going to continue this focus on nutrition.  I will continue to ensure that we eat as few processed food items as possible.  I will continue to sprout our legumes.  I will continue to offer days with no animal products. I will, however, make meals with meats (fish is key) and eggs.  The portions aren't going to be crazy large, though, like they are in many homes.  A deck of cards each.  That's it!  I'm thinking, pesca-tarian with occasional other meats.  My hubby will be thrilled, if he ever reads this.

3. C is a KLUTZ.  That's right!  Several days ago, J was jumping over her (a game) and then fell on her arm.  Fast forward 2 days later and while trying to get a doll from the floor, she fell off of my bed and re-injured her arm.  She has a huge black bruise from her wrist, about 3 inches up her arm.  She continues to hit it and cry.  She falls all the time and bumps into people all the time.  She's a wreck, but we love her.

My stylin' girl, C.  She is so much fun!

4. Never use your children in a lie. Okay, this one is obvious, or so you'd think.  On Valentine's Day, I went to lunch at Wegman's and I really wanted to put C in the babysitting room.  She'll be 3 in less than a month and she's been potty trained for nearly a year.  So, I put her in the room and filled out the card with a fictitious birthday (come on, you know you've done the same, so don't judge me!).  J was all, "mom, C is 3 now?!"  I said, "C can go in the babysitting room with you."  On and on go C and J about how C is 3.  That afternoon, they told L that C can go in the babysitting room at Wegman's, to which he corrected them.  Three days, I had to listen to C talk about how she is 3.  Eeek!  Seriously, this girl can talk for an hour, non-stop.  I told the girls that I made a mistake.  Now, C keeps talking to me about her birthday. Better get on that!

Lentils

Lentils are a legume that is fairly new to me.  I've eaten them only a few times before, in Indian food.  They are known as daal, and in the dishes I've tried, they were extremely tasty.   A few weeks ago, I tried to make lentils a meat replacement in shepards' pie.  Not good!  Not because they weren't good, but because the recipe I tried stunk.  I actually didn't even attempt to serve it to P because I knew he would hate it.

This weekend, I decided to sprout the remaining bag of lentils, which really took less than 24 hours.  Its so super easy to do, really.  You should give it a try!  Briefly, soak the lentils overnight, drain and let sit, moist for 12 hours.  If not sprouted yet, rinse and let sit for another 12 hours. Anyway, I found a great site about lentils that had a few recipes that I decided to give a try.

Tonight's dinner: Middle Eastern Lentil Soup
Ingredients:
2 cups of sprouted lentils
1 onion, diced
1 box (4 cups) veggie broth
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp ground cumin
scant 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp pink salt
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/2 cup plain yogurt
Directions:
I didn't have time to mess around with doing it the prescribed way, so this is what I did:  In a pot, saute one diced onion in some water.  After the onion is transparent, add the spices and saute for a minute.  Add broth, bell pepper and lentils, cover and bring to a boil.  Drop to a simmer for 20 minutes or less, until the lentils are soft.  Add the lemon juice, parsley and yogurt.  Serve with a dollop of yogurt, if desired.

P and L had 2 bowls.  And the girls?  Well, they ate it...even though all my kids despise red bell peppers.  Oh, and I mean despise!  This recipe is another keeper, but I will have to double the recipe because I only had a small bowl, since there wasn't enough.

With the rest of the lentils, I made the lentils and rice.
Ingredients:
2 cups of brown rice, soaked and drained
7 cups water
2 onions, diced
3 cups sprouted lentils
2 tsp pink salt
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 tsp garam masala
2 Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp oregano
4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
4 bay leaves
Directions:
Saute the onion in a little water until transparent, then add the spices and saute for about a minute.  Add water, rice and lentils, bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce to a simmer until rice cooks, about an hour.

The recipe, as recorded, has too much salt and garlic, so I reduced the amounts in the above ingredient list.

The kids aren't loving the texture of the lentils, but they are nutritious and a quite easy legume to cook up (read: it takes 20 minute to cook, not 2 hours).  And, more importantly, they ate them :-)

Menu Planning

I've been really sucking on the food front this past week or so, and I think I've got it figured out.  I need to plan out our menus.  This new way of eating isn't like the old way, where you can open the cabinet or refrigerator and 20 minutes later have dinner heading to the table.  It is a pain in the butt.

Tonight, we had the funniest dinner.  In the freezer, I had a tupperware bowl of alphabet soup in a tomato base (carrots, celery, onion, spinach, pasta, tomato sauce, basil, garlic and oregano).  In the refrigerator, I had a spiced pumpkin soup with quinoa (pumpkin, onion, curry, cumin, nutmeg, garlic, quinoa, salt and pepper).  Neither dishes were totally well received.  Okay, the kids were fans of the ABC soup, and I thought the pumpkin soup was okay.  But, let's be honest, they were both kind of just blah.  I guess that's what happens when you don't add fat to the meal.

The biggest problem is the uncertainty of it all.  What to make?  Will it be well received?  Ugh!

And, because I don't have a menu planned out, I don't know what to buy.  My goal is to reduce our grocery bill and get back on track with healthy eating.  

I've seen a variety of menu planning boards on pinterest: here, here and here.  My goal this next week: to make my own board.

I've already listed my menu items to include on the board.  So far, I have:

veggie burgers (any kind, like beet-y burgers, Morgan's Veggie Burgers, or these Veggie Burger Buns with a portabello mushroom as the meat)

sweet potato and quinoa chili

soup (yellow split-pea/lentil soup, African kale/sweet potato soup, carrot soup, Marakesh stew, curried lentil with cauliflower, roasted beet)

rice and beans (Almost Chipotle, Cuban rice and black beans, Cafe Rio)

bean and veggie burritos...I really want to try this Mexican Slaw in them

homemade pizza

Spaghetti

quinoa and veggie salad type thing (Heather's, Superfood salad, Tabbouleh)

I've decided to keep it simple for now.  After we get this down a bit better than we have it now, I'll start adding one new menu item a week.  Who knows?!  It'll probably be spring then and time to change up the menu.  Grrr!

wwYOUd?

Did you see last week's What Would You Do? on ABC?  They had a really interesting bit about veganism / food preferences.  Essentially, a vegan mom and her child go out to eat when she has to step away from the table.  Now, all alone, the child is offered meat by the couple at the next table.  This couple seems extremely consumed by their concern that the child is not receiving enough protein in her diet, so they order her a hot dog.  wwYOUd?

It made me think about the conversations P and I have been having about how sacred people's food/diet choices are to them.  Have you ever noticed that people are way passionate about their diet choices?  Whether its vegetarian, vegan, paleo, carnivorous, boxed/convenience food, etc..., people get extremely upset and offended if you don't agree with them. *Okay, here's the disclosure:  This is obviously a broad generalization, as I am friends with several people with conflicting diet choices with whom I am able to have very good conversations around food.  This is more of a generalized comment on the population as a whole.* I know that one of my brothers seemed very upset when he found out that we were reducing our meat consumption. "I am a carnivore!  Why would God give us canine teeth if he didn't want us to eat meat?!"  Of course, I have a response, but there comes a time in one's life that you realize that there are some people you just don't argue with because frankly, you will never agree.  My brother is one of these people.  Come to think of it, most of my siblings are like this.

My dad and niece

We must have gotten this temperament from our father.

But, I digress...Anyway...I was happy to see that most people stepped in to stop the meat pushers, but what bugged me is the fact that I can envision people doing this in real life; trying to convince your child that your diet choices are not healthy.

Now, I say that, but we do this slightly, with trying to convince others to eat fewer processed and high fat and sugar foods.  So, where do we draw the line?  When is it that you think it is appropriate to step in and comment to a child or their parent about their family food choice.  Now, this doesn't mean to ask questions for understanding. This means to tell them that they are wrong and force your opinions upon them.

Oh, and another really thought-provoking thing I saw on TV.  I LOVE it!  Click the link and let me know what you think.

Set Backs

Last week was not successful on the food, weight loss or exercise fronts.

Exercise? What's that?!  Besides the 3.7 miles I ran with Paul a week ago, Sunday, I've been pretty sedentary.  I wish I could blame it on something, but I can't. I was just tired or stressed or busy or had a sick kid.  I'm sure I could have but, I just didn't make it a priority.  I had these grandiose plans of getting to bed by 10, up at 5 to start laundry and do at least 30 minutes on the treadmill.  Then, MWF's I was going to take a weight class at the gym.  No dice.

Weight Loss?  Not a complete failure, but I didn't lose a single pound.  Though, I didn't gain any either.  I guess that part's a plus.

Food?  Okay, seriously, I think this part has to do with most of my melancholy, blah feeling this past week.  The first few days, I was doing okay, but then, stress and life got in the way and it was easier to fall back into old habits than to make a healthy plant-strong meal.  My mom bought Chinese food on Thursday, P bought hot dogs, soda and chips that same day which resulted in having those items on Friday because I was busy attending to some other things (like my sick boy).

And then, last night, I made my family a beef soup because a. I had organic beef in the freezer still, and b. I know that they had a hankering for some meat.  Me? I ate a salad.  I have to say that a little piece of me was cringing as I saw my family eating meat, but I must remember that I want my kids to have a healthy relationship with food.  And a little meat won't kill them, especially when its organic beef instead of hot dogs.  Right?

I'm in a new mindset today, feeling rejuvenated and motivated.  I'm hoping to get some work done this morning and then hit the gym for a 4 pm class, but only after making sure dinner is ready to be prepared when we walk back in the door.  Well, that's the plan.  Let's see what life throws at us.