3 Months - time flies!!

Well, Bret is three months old tomorrow. I'm posting a day early since we're going up north tonight.

He can hold his head steady pretty well. Sometimes he gets a little wobbly, but I think that'll end by next month. He sits up if he's propped on the couch or if I hold his hands. I'm still trying to get him to roll over - the brat. He tries so hard and gets mad - he gets on his side with his legs crossed over but then doesn't know what to do after that. Like I said in my last post, we've kind of regressed with sleeping at night. He'll sleep about 5 hours at a time with a crisis in between. I've actually asked Jason to get up with him - poor guy. It takes a whopping 5 minutes to get Bret back to sleep, but sometimes I'm so tired that I break down and ask Jason to get up. Other than that, Bret is doing really well. If I had to guess, I'd say he weighs about 15 lbs. Enjoy the pics.....Ignore the half exposed boob and breast pad in the first pic. I love watching him sleep b/c he's so damn cute!

Cccccan someone say cccccold???

Not much to blog about other than it's frickin' freezing outside.

Any good soup/stew/bread or hot beverage recipes??


One question to you moms - when do babies start dreaming??? For the past 3 or 4 nights, Bret woke up crying in the middle of the night (not feeding time). I try to soothe him back to sleep w/out getting him out of bed, but it doesn't work. As soon as I pick him out bed, he passes out again. How can I show him that he's OK w/out getting him (or me) out of bed?!

Can't sign out on a bad note!

A few things:

I've done a ton of reasearch on the shots that Bret is going to get within the next 6 months (he's going to get two every month). Going back to the lesser of the two evils:

HIB: Pedvax - unfortunately, I was just informed that Bret's DR doesn't have it, but has ActHib instead....Not happy because ActHib has to be diluted with something (it comes in powder form).
http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/p/pedvax_hib/pedvax_pi.pdf
http://vaers.hhs.gov/pdf/ActHIB.pdf

IPV (Polio): IPOL
http://www.vaxserve.com/views/PDF/IPOL_4927_11.05.pdf

DTaP: Daptacel
http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/dtapsan110806LB.pdf
There is a vaccine INFANIX - try not to use it if your pediatrician offers something else because it has polysorbate 80 (or TWEEN 80) in it that has been linked to infertility in mice and "can cause severe nonimmunologic anaphylactoid reactions". Basically swelling and suffocation.

Varicella (Chicken pox): Varivax
http://www.merck.com/product/usa/pi_circulars/v/varivax/varivax_pi.pdf

Pneumococcal (PCV): Prevnar
http://www.wyeth.com/content/ShowLabeling.asp?id=134

I'm still looking for information on hep B and MMR (separate shots). The links are to their respective information sheets. It's scary to know what is in these vaccines. You don't have to be a biochemist to know that injecting amounts of heavy metals (like aluminum) can not be healthy!! However, it's more frightening to not vaccinate, in my opinion. I'm also going to make sure that he doesn't get combination vaccines. Just so you know - each vaccine is a 0.5mL dose. Anything more than that in the syringe is a combo vaccine.

I had a 2-hour glucose test done about 4 weeks ago to make sure that the gestational diabetes went away and didn't develop into full-blown diabetes. It didn't - thankfully. All the numbers are normal. Also, I had my thyroid checked and the DR said that everything looks good. I don't have to see him until next year! Yay.

Does anyone watch "No Reservations - Anthony Bourdain" on the Travel Channel??? He's a chef that travels to other countries. On February 25th, he'll be in Romania! If you want to see a bit of my heritage, then watch that episode at 10pm!

Things that make me go GRRRR

#1 - Jason's car. Since June, we've put almost $2500 into it - and it's in the shop right now. I will be the first to say that I do not like/trust the dealership that has been fixing the car, but Jason has some sort of loyalty issue since that is where he bought the car. Piece of shiz.

#2 - Feeling like I'm not good enough. Jason and I duked it out last night. Typical stuff - both of our feelings have been hurt; different expectations of each other (especially now that we're parents) and CABIN FEVER!!

#3 - Not having any milk for my cereal.

#4 - The price of gas. $3.05/gallon is obsurd. Well, at least we're not in Romania where it's about that price per LITER!!

#5 - Politics. I'm still convinced that politicians will say anything to get elected. It's just picking the lesser of the two evils.

#6 - When the grocery store doesn't have "my" brand of soy milk. Kroger sucks lately.

#7 - Lack of traction control on the Milan. I was sliding while trying to get out of our subdivision.

Bret rolled over.....

....and I missed it!!

I was changing a *really* poopy diaper and I put him on his stomach in the P@ck-N-Pl@y to wipe the crap off his back. I went to his room to get clean clothes and when I returned, he was on his back!!

How horrible.

In other news, nothing too much going on. We have a surprise birthday party tomorrow and Jason is going to a wild game dinner on Saturday. I think that Bret and I will hibernate for the next 2 weeks.....It's supposed to get COLD!

How's the weather in MN???

Infant vitamins

After reading several books on vaccinations and stuff and since Bret is starting his immunization schedule in March I have a question - Where can I find infant vitamins?

The reason why I ask is because one of the books I read, "What Your Doctor Won't Tell You about Children's Vaccinations", suggested that vitamins A (cod liver oil) and C be given before and after shots to decrease any reactions (the A) and increase their ability to flush out any toxins (the C).

I found information that they are both safe for infants to take, but I just can't find where to get them. I'm assuming at a vitamin store or whole food store. GNC, maybe?

Whatever happened to customer service?

OMG, I just had the worst experience with customer service. Putting all my experiences where I've been put on hold for more than an hour (no lie) aside, M@sterC@rd gets the cherry.

I called to cancel my credit card to eliminate temptation of online shopping on an income I have no longer. Here is an abbreviated version of the 15 minute conversation, you'll get the gist of it:

Br@ndon (B): Hello Mrs. Stark, may I help you?
Diana (D): Yes, I'd like to close my account please.
B: I'm sorry to hear that, ma'am. I see you've been an excellent customer for X number of years. Why are you interested in closing the account?
D: I no longer need the card.
B: What don't you like about the card?
D: The annual fee, even if I'm carrying a zero balance.
B: I will waive the fee for 6 months for you to keep the acc't open.
D: If you waive the fee forever, then I'll keep the card.
B: I can't do that, but I can also offer 5,000 frequent flyer miles to your account.
D: Offer me two free tickets and no annual fee and I'll keep the card.
B: Sorry, I can not do that. Are you interested in another card?
D: Yes, one that offers frequent flyer miles on NWA.
B: Why? Their cards make you spend twice as much for the same amount of frequent flyer miles than we do.
D: I'm still interested in closing the account.
B: Why would you want to close this account and go with one that makes you spend 2X more money. That doesn't make any sense. What do you have to lose by staying with us?
D: Right now? My patience. I want to close this account.
B: Fine. Cut up your card, this account is now closed. *CLICK*

He actually hung up on me!!! No, "thank you for being a valued customer", "We're sorry to lose you as a valued customer"; NOTHING!!

He's just pissed off at the world because he got shitty Christmas gifts. @sshole....LOL