Catching up....again.

I'm sure some of you thought I had fallen off the face of the Earth. Well, you aren't that lucky. A lot has happened in the past 20 or so days. I'll give y'all a quick run down of what our little band of troublemakers have been up to.

The first week of December Michael FINALLY came home. In typical (insert military branch here), at first the plane was on time, then 45 minutes early, then 90 minutes late, then landed on time. Then there were problems with the bus and they finally arrived at Horno two hours late, in the rain. It didn't matter that my hair was ruined, makeup was gone and I had put my heels on too soon. It was just wonderful to be by his side again. We will be married 3 years this month, Michael had been gone 27 of those.

Since the unit came home before we planed, imagine that, I returned home to Kiwi and waited for Daddy to arrive. The day finally came and again, just my luck it was a horrible snow storm. It took us longer than we planned to bet back to Idaho, but we eventually got there. I didn't cry. I thought I would but I didn't. Kiwi was a little unsure of her Daddy at first, but within a few minute and a bottle, she was infatuated with him. I haven't even been a blip on the radar since then. She occasionally wants me...occasionally.

We were able to meet up with our good friends the Donny's and meet his beautiful wife. I'm hoping as our lives move forward we can live closer to each other. Although, I'm worried about the boys behaving, I've heard stories.

The three of us were able to attend Auntie A and Uncle S's wedding. It was pretty special to be there, especially since it was so close to our own anniversary. I love the fact that we get to sit in on 5 more weddings as the younger siblings get married. While Auntie A was BEAUTIFUL, I think Kiwi stole the show. Most of the family hadn't seen her and she's a pretty cute little stink.

Just over a week ago, Michael along with too many people to name individually, blessed Kiwi. It was a beautiful blessing for our beautiful angel. It was even more special considering most of those who came had to brave yet another storm. Thanks to my mom for throwing the lunch.

It came time to say goodbye, and so we did. It took us 14.5 hours to get to California. The first 12 hours went wonderful. Then Kiwi got tired and hot in her car seat and Asher's sedatives started to wear off. We were scared the housing office wouldn't let us sign papers right then, but Michael played the baby card and they let us sign, so we came to our new home. Its pretty cute and larger than we have ever lived in.

All in all we are happy to be together.

What we do for our kids...

Child rearing has changed. (You: No! Say it isn't so!) There is a whole new world of options out there. People get very judgy about what you do or don't do. I'm not that type of person. I think as long as your kid is happy, healthy and growing, you are doing an awesome job. I've picked up a couple crunchy things. So in an effort to tell a hilarious story, I'll reveal one and some of you will think I'm nuts. But that's cool. 

A few weeks ago, I read an interesting article. It was the particular things a woman did for her child. One of them I have found very interesting. She tasted everything that went in her child's mouth. And I mean EVERYTHING. For some reason this struck a chord with me.

Have you ever tasted Gerber First Stage Bananas? Ya. Doesn't taste like bananas. It has a banana like taste, but there's something else in there, probably the preservatives. That's a whole other post though. Anyway, I have seriously been tasting what goes in her mouth. I however drew the line at formula. When I was struggling with Kiwi eating well, I started talking to Grandpa J and Grandma D. We thought maybe the iron was making her belly upset, but no. The amounts were the same on all 3 formulas. Being a new mother and rather insecure about my instincts, I asked what they thought.

In a heroic gesture, Grandpa J offered to taste them to see if that was the problem. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, he tasted formula. You see, Grandpa is a super taster. When I wanted to perfect my Snickerdoodle recipe, he was my test subject. He discern the minute differences that make food go from mediocre to awesome. Now, I cant walk near BEQ with cookies or I'll get mugged. So, Grandpa J's first course was Soy. It was described as horrible, bitter and disgusting. The second course was Enfacare. This was received much better, tinny but sweet. With that information, it was decided we would officially switch to the Enfacare. Thanks to Grandpa J, Kiwi is now eating better. So everybody wins!

Life

 My baby hit a milestone age wise. Its not really a milestone in the traditional sense, but it is to me. Kiwi is only supposed to be about 12 weeks old right now. Of course, as I have already written, there were other plans in store for us. I cant believe what a difference time makes.

The first time I held her, I couldn't comprehend that she was my baby, she didn't feel like mine.

She was so tiny. I thought she'd never come home. The time we spent in the NICU, though not long in reality, felt like eternity to me. I cant say I cherish the time I spent in a dark room with tear stained cheeks, but I love that my daughter fought and became a moon faced chatter box.

I never in my wildest dreams that Kiwi would come early. My entire pregnancy I thought I'd hand Mike a 12 week old baby. Guess not.

I felt bad about it for awhile, that he would miss so many of her milestones. I cried the first time she smiled. Most daddy's might have missed that first one, but would have seen it later on in the day. Hers was on a ship in the middle of the stupid ocean. Time has helped me with this. He did miss her first smile, but, she's had time to perfect it.

If you are still with me, I'll tell you why I wrote this rant. Yesterday, Kiwi and I, had the pleasure of spending the day with Auntie D and Auntie M. We had a blast. Today, Auntie D texted me and told me I was strong for what my little family had/was dealing with. I had to admit to her I wasn't strong.  Michael, Kiwi and I are not the only family to go through what we have. Its no great accomplishment. Its life, and I wouldn't trade anything in the world for minute of it.

The following article came to my mind, and explains it best. It was sent to me early in pregnancy, by a friend close to my heart. She has been there for me from the minute we knew Kiwi was coming mid-deployment. ML, you'll never know how much of light you have been.

Ok folks, grab your tissues.



What Every Military Baby Needs To Know

Huck Willoughby 8 lbs 5 oz born at 3:10 pm. That is all that Amy, our managing editor at SpouseBuzz, posted on her Facebook page under a photo of a scrunchy little baby.  Amy didn’t mention that she gave birth to that baby alone.  She didn’t mention that her Army husband (like so many military dads before him) couldn’t be there because he was at a faraway training.  No one else on Facebook mentioned it either.

Which is weird to me.  Because for the rest of his life, Huck will tell the story of how his Army Ranger dad wasn’t home on the day he was born.  Huck will make it sound like there was immense danger in the world and that his dad was the only person on earth capable of handling it.  That will be a great story.  I just think the kid needs a few more details to know how great a story it is. Here is what I think every military baby born to a dad who is deployed or out to sea or in training or in the field needs to know:

1. You were born to a woman who will not give up, let up, or let go.  Because she can’t. All your life you will believe that your mom is the strongest woman you know. True enough.  The other true thing you gotta know is that as a military wife, your mom will never be allowed to stop trying. Even when she wants to stop.  Even when she needs to stop.  Even while nurses are urging her to stop, stop, STOP.  Your mom will not stop.  Even now she feels the pressure to go pick up your brother David.  Drop by the store for milk on her way home from the hospital.  Toy with the idea of driving eight hours so that your dad can see you. Your military family is going to revolve around this unstoppable woman, Kid.  Count your lucky stars.
   
   2. Your dad knows for sure that he is irreplaceable.  Having a baby during deployment is almost normal in military life. It is no rite of passage. It is no great honor.  Babies are born to deployed dads every single day.  The secret is that there is no other event more certain of showing your dad how irreplaceable he is in your life.  Even though a dozen friends and neighbors stepped in to help your family, no one can begin to take your dad’s place.  That big aching emptiness in his chest is a connection opening between him and you.  No matter how many days of your life that your dad misses due to the demands of the military, no matter how many birthdays or Halloweens or first-days-of-school he doesn’t see, you belong to him.  He belongs to you.  Nothing can change that.  And he knows it.

3.  You belong to us, too.  Right now your grandparents and your aunts and your uncles and your cousins look at your picture and see a family resemblance.  But your other family—your military family—is excited about you, too.  Because you look like us. One look at your precious face and I see my own little boy who was born when his father was at sea.  I see my brother born when my father was in Vietnam. I see my neighbor’s baby and the Sergeant Major’s kid and those twins who were born last week to another family in the unit. Welcome to the world, Baby Boy.  You make us glad you –and your parents– are here.

(Source)

Rule of Thumb

 I have two thumbs 

Named left and right

They always make things better

Especially in the night

When I'm upset

And things didn't go my way

I suck on my thumb 

Until Momma takes it away

That's right folks, she sucks her thumb. Kiwi is an ambidextrous thumb sucker. She has figured out how to pop her bink out and prefers her thumbs. I've decided to let it go for now. Its been kind of nice to have her use that and go back to sleep instead of having to get up and put her bink in. Now that I've said this, when she is 5 and still sucking her thumb, y'all have permission to laugh at me.  

The Formula Files: Episode 1

First off, I thought I'd clear up some confusion. I'm sure some of you are wondering why I refer to my daughter as Kiwi instead of her name. When I was first pregnant, I had a dream that we were announcing our second pregnancy and our son told everyone that "Momma is having my Kiwi" because he couldn't say her name. After we found out we were indeed having a girl, the nickname stuck. If you are wondering why I call her that on the blog, its just a personal choice, just like I have never said what her actual birth date was.

On to what I actually wanted to talk about....our struggles with formula. This is a touchy subject for a lot of people, so, let me say, I am not against breast feeding at all. This is what works best for us. Kiwi did receive pasteurized breast milk (PHM) in the NICU so she did get some of those very precious antibodies. 

In fact, it was coming off the the PHM that first alerted us to the fact she might have a problem with lactose based formula. This was, however, after NEC was ruled out. She was started on Nutramigen, other wise known as Liquid Gold. Why? because it costs $40 a can. The nurses immediately advised me to get in contact with a WIC office, but I knew we didnt qualify. So, Kiwi came home on Liquid Gold. We went though it faster though because we had to mix it to 22 calories. Standard formula is only 20 calories. 

At her 2 month checkup, I asked Kiwi's pediatrician if we could possibly try Soy. He saw no problem with that, so we did. While it was less expensive, it made her fussier and gassier; two things you don't need in an already colicky baby. I kept her on it hoping it would get better, but it hasn't. 

In our daily Skype session Thursday, Michael and I decided to try the Preemie formula. Its going on 3 days, and I've never had a happier baby. She has had her standard colicky time, but for the most part, she has been a totally different baby.

Here's hoping the happy baby stays. 

Kiwi's First Thanksgiving (and what we've been up to)

I wanted to share a few precious pictures with all of you. Kiwi is quite a lucky girl. She has 4 great grandmothers and 2 great grandfathers alive. So far, 3 of the 6 have been able to snuggle her. Unfortunately, we lost great grandma #5 just a month after she was born.

Grandma Great

Opa Waechtler

Oma Waechtler

I love the picture of Opa. He acts so unsure, but she slept so well while he held her. She must love the sound of a German accent like her momma. 

In other news, the teeny tiny spoons have got the better of me. So far, Kiwi has tried a few little nibbles of food and loves them. A few times she has been so excited to taste something new that she will screech until she gets another bite. We bought a food mill today and will be starting little amounts of yummy things. I should probably feed her other things than sugar. 

Kiwi has some serious neck muscles. I haven't been religious with tummy time and a few days ago I wondered if I had done something REALLY bad. So I laid her down on her belly. To my surprise, this happened.

This isn't even the impressive height. Instead of being worried I messed up her development, I'm worried she will be mobile before I'm ready. Especially since her legs were kicking at Mach 2. The other thing that worries me is Kiwi is rarely if ever quiet. She talks all the time. She even talks in her sleep. I will take the blame for this one. I was told quite often that I talked too much as a child. 

On to the reason all of you, ok, one of you (Hi Mom) tuned in. Kiwi's First Thanksgiving. (I am a failure as a mother and have no pictures.) We woke up at 430 as usual, because some one is a jabber jaw. I had planned on staying at home with my family, but I knew the Waechtler Thanksgiving would be epic. I kind of invited myself, but figured I would be forgiven if I brought Kiwi. I was. The original plan was to feed my itty bitty yummy morsels of Thanksgiving deliciousness. Well, that didn't happen. Kiwi was busy making the rounds to all the Aunts. Which was just fine with me. I actually got to eat like a normal person!!! Kiwi helped Aunt Christy and I win at Canasta, at least I think we won. I didn't quite hear because Michael decided to Skype us! He got to talk to Oma and Opa for a minute before we had a couple family prayers that he got to be a part of. If you were there and are reading this, its made a huge difference! I'm so thankful for all of you. Kiwi snuggled up to Aunt Christy for a long nap and then with Uncle Bobby. Then the mean Momma made her come home....where we Skyped with Daddy some more. I'd say it was a successful Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving as well and were able to hug your loved ones. 

Catching up

Hello family and friends..and random people that stumbled across this page,

This blog has been in existence for 6 months, but none of you knew it. My initial intentions were to blog about Kiwi coming into this world and all the carefree things of the world. (I can hear you laughing.) As we all know, my intentions got blown to Narnia when I got induced a month early. And well, lets just say its been a learning curve ever since. Anyway,  I'm sure everyone is a little curious about whats been going on. Maybe not, but I'll pretend y'all are. In the words of the immortal Maria Von Trapp, let's start at the beginning. 

When Mike left in June, my blood pressures skyrocketed (gee, I wonder why). I was on bed rest FOREVER and when I hit 35.5 weeks pregnant, I was induced due to Pre-eclampsia. I don't often wax religious, so this will shock most of you. I'm convinced that the Pre-eclampsia was a heavenly intervention. When little Kiwi was born, the cord was wrapped around her neck pretty tight, she looked like a smurf. Add that to the fact she was only 4 lbs, she needed to have her birthday early, or she wouldn't have had one at all. The neonatologist that attended her birth said if she had been a boy she would have been stillborn. Due to her size, Kiwi was taken to the NICU. We spent two very long weeks driving back and forth to Logan every day. We are lucky it wasn't as long as it had the potential to be. 

Now, here we are almost three and a half months later and hello personality. The NICU nurses all said Kiwi was a spitfire, I'd like to see what they'd call her now. Especially at 4 am when she wakes you up because she has a story to tell you. No amount of rocking will put her back to sleep until she is finished telling all there is to tell. We were worried about her hitting all of her milestones, but so far, she is right on target. She smiles like a champ and is starting to try and laugh, but prefers squealing. Kiwi is almost to the 5% group of preemie girls her age. 

For those of you wondering about the Kiwi parental units, we are alive. Mike is still overseas, but should be coming home in __ days. I didn't leave that blank because of OPSEC; its blank because they haven't bothered to tell us yet. We usually get to Skype a couple times a week. It would be more...but those of you that have dealt with the Green Machine know why we don't.

Its been a long year, but hey, its almost over. And then, we are on to another adventure and even bigger decisions that neither of us wants to make.