Honey Bunny

Sadie hates her new hat. Can you tell?

Monthly Visitor

No...not AF... but at this point I kinda wish it was. My "monthly visitor" is viral conjunctivitis - AKA - PINK EYE! It is the craziest thing ever. December, January and now February.

December: I was still pregnant and slightly freaked out so I called telehealth (nurse hotline) to ask what I should do. They ran through the 101 questions needed to assess my situation and came to the conclusion that I was fine and it wasn't pink eye. They told me to go to my doctor in 7 days if it hadn't cleared. It's important to note that "the nurses" are complete alarmists and in my experience offer little advice other than "Go to the emergency room".

January: Woke up to another "Pink Eye". We figured it was just lack of sleep and still relying on the nurses advice figured it was nothing to be concerned about. UNTIL it turned scary looking and D started to freak out that I needed to go and see someone. Since going to the doctor for pink eye is like going for a scraped knee I decided to go to my optometrist (I was overdue anyway). Optometrist: Pink Eye and sent me to my doctor. Doctor: an inconclusive "I don't think it is pink eye" but gave me a prescription to fill if it got worse. It didn't.

February: Now I'm pissed off. It's back AGAIN. This time I went and filled the previous months prescription but my doctor had said she was certain (if it was pink eye) that it was viral which antibiotics would not help. I'm aware I'm using antibiotics when I potentially shouldn't be but I'm at my wits end at this point. I'm so worried I'm going to give this to Sadie and I'm suffering another week of obsessive hand washing and distance from my daughters face.

So, WTH? Do I have Pink Eye or not?

• redness of the eyes - YES
  
• eye pain - NO
• blurred vision - NO
• sensitivity to light - NO
• burning or itching of the eye - NO
• a scratchy feeling in the eye - NO
• a discharge that may be watery or may contain pus - 3rd time only and just a little bit of watery discharge

As soon as this one clears we're going to be cleaning EVERYTHING and getting new pillows. I want this to GO AWAY!!!

Quick!

Boo boo is napping and I think I may have a few minutes before she realizes I'm doing something for myself! Soooo...

Randoms:

DSR: Good points for both sides of my DSR question. I think we're going to wait a bit before joining but will join. I had forgotten about sharing medical info. That is worth it.

BF: I have not yet given up on breastfeeding. I won't be exclusively breastfeeding but Sadie does receive a BF appetizer before every meal (except the two late night). I was on Fenugreek & Blessed Thistle but switched to the medication Domperidone. It has worked really well and my supply is way up. Sadie even chokes on my boob now (too much milk) however she still will not take an entire feeding. We're working on it. The good news is that her latch has never suffered. She's good on the boob it's just that the boob isn't good to her. It pisses her off because she's used to the flow of the bottle and when my milk slows she starts to kick and punch me. At least she's not screaming and turning purple like she did in the early days. Hard work has paid off.
The BAD news is that she's farting up a storm. Her gas is sooo bad and I think it is my fault. I had a kick of craving Dairy and ate so many yogurts and so much ice cream. I don't know if that's what did it but if she's already taking milk protein with formula than she shouldn't she be used to it? We've been using gas drops sparingly when it gets bad. I'll mention it at her 2 month appointment.

Attachment: Sadie is starting to get really clingy. I was at my dads on Monday and he seemed disheartened by her behavior. I felt awful about it. She's very fussy with him now and she's even fussy with D. She'll take a bottle from someone else but quickly turns to crying and squirming until I hold her. It's nice to know we're close but it's also extremely tiring because it means I rarely get a good break.

Crazy Grandma: My mom has not met Sadie. She's "going to try" to see her when she comes down to Southern Ontario for a trade show at the end of April. Sadie will be 4 months by then. I don't get it. I can't understand why she hasn't been yet and It hurts a lot. I'm not sure what I can do to change this situation. I've asked my mom several times to come down. I begged her to come and help our first week home because I was having bad nightmares. I also begged her to come down for the start of my time at home without D. She kept saying she'd come but never did. You'd think I'd be used to her rejection but it's hard. I keep hoping she'll change...

Google Reader: Ok, so people kept telling me to use Google reader and I'm just now setting it up. I'm almost done and it is so great. I'll be able to read so many more blogs now! I can't keep up otherwise. I have no time to surf like I used to!!!

OK boo boo is up now. Here are some pictures before I go:

Donor Sibling Registry

I was obsessed with the Donor Sibling Registry before TTC. I was on the yahoo group and would check out the posted pictures on a regular basis to see if any of the donors on our list would show up. We'd had a glimpse of the half sibs for our first donor thanks to a blogger and a member of the BBC GLBT board and the similar features between the two children we saw were remarkable.
Sadie's donor is not on the DSR and since I've let my membership slip (I'd renewed twice) I haven't posted her birth. Now that she is here I'm not as eager to see half sibs. I won't deny her this in the future but I need more time to let it digest. Sadie looks SO much like my family and I'm afraid I'll burst that bubble by seeing donor traits in other children. I'm thinking that I'll wait it out a while longer to see if anyone else posts under our donor first.
QUESTION: Who is on the DSR and if so, when did you join? If not, are you considering joining?

Insurance woes

Why is it that whenever you actually need to make an insurance claim they make you jump through hoops?
D and I have always had separate medical insurance because it has worked out cheaper to go through our own companies rather than pay for family coverage. Last year we opted to move me under her insurance so that I could bank flex dollars in my Health Spending Account ($700) for infertility drugs. I was also covered under D's insurance for up to $1500/lifetime for infertility treatment thanks to this move. By doing this we gave up my hospital coverage in lieu of D's. For 2010 we've both moved to my insurance since it seems in the long run it is much better.
Our recent "winter vacation" in the lovely 2 star postpartum ward cost us a whopping $850 for 3 nights in a private room. Through D we claimed 3 nights at $150 and $150 for January 1st through my own insurance. Therefore we'd only be on the hook for $250.
Our claim was denied!!!
After being given 2 wrong phone numbers and speaking to 5 different people we've finally uncovered our first challenge in processing this claim. Apparently D's coverage for hospital is through a separate company that we had no idea we were associated with!
We now need to call that company to find out how we can submit a claim because even D's HR had no idea. We're clearly the first to ever use this benefit (insert dramatic eye roll)?!?!?!?!
What a pain in the ass but at least we're (likely) going to get our money!!

1 month going on 40 (year old man)

I have to admit I was VERY proud that I made a baby with Hair but now our baby girl has the hairline of a 40 year old man!!
BEFORE:


AFTER:


Um... when is her hair going to grow back?? (;