was lovely. Mostly. We spent the morning at home opening presents and just hanging out. The babies liked the wrapping paper as well as or better than an of the gifts, but they got a lot of nice things from Grandmas, Grandpas, and friends.
Christmas afternoon, we headed over to visit some friends who have one-year-old boy/girl twins. As if that wasn't enough, some other friends with two-year-old identical girl twins stopped by for a while. Twin-fest! It was crazy, but fun. Once the kids were all in bed, us adults had dinner and chocolate fondue by the fire. MMM. It was really relaxing, and the babies slept great. I'd been worried that they would freak out because of not being at home, but they didn't seem to care. All in all, a good first Christmas. Here are pictures of Riley Claus and a Maddie elf:
CANCER
sucks. Really, really sucks. GH's tumor marker counts are through the roof, higher than ever, even at diagnosis. He has swelling in his legs, a side effect of chemo. His mouth is filled with sores; it hurts to talk, eat, swallow. His nose bleeds a bit every so often. He's tired. His liver function is elevated. We're running out of options.
GH is seriously considering taking a leave of absence from work. He and I are both scared of this because of what it represents. He's always been well enough to work and thinking that he might no longer be is scary. Also, his work has no short-term disability plan, so I have no idea what we'll do financially. OK, I actually know perfectly well what we'll do financially: we'll mooch off of our relatively well off parents. It never feels good to be a 35-year-old married professional who suddenly can't take care of her own finances. Yeah. Our parents will be happy to help, but it still feels icky.
CONSTIPATION
Fun stuff! The twins have started solid food and love it: sweet potato, pears, prunes, peas, banana, and avocado. Green beans will be tried today. I'm making all of their food, which is easy and economical and more healthy (in my opinion). Here's the problem: all of this solid food is constipating them. We're feeding them tons of prunes, which is helping a bit. And our pediatrician recommended prune juice mixed with water in a bottle, which we'll try, although
Riley still hates the bottle so not sure that will fly. Other than "all prunes, all the time," do any of you have recommendations on un-constipating babies? I've heard that a bit of mineral oil in the food can help, but out pediatrician says that that's a last resort for babies who haven't pooped in days. We're not there yet. Thank goodness.
Fun times with solids:
I keep promising more interesting topics and I keep not delivering. I'm brewing posts about Maddie's physical therapy, my upcoming job interview (!), and a few other tidbits. Stay tuned, if you can.
Posts
7 comments:
Applesauce for those sweet babies! I made my own, with plenty of cinnamon but no sugar, and a big bowl once a day almost always did the trick to induce a poop.
Mine never took a bottle either, so the prune juice was not an option--until I discovered that she *would* drink from a Gerber "2-handle spill-proof cup" and a Gerber "transition cup". Then, I put in 50% apple juice (martinelli's organic is great) and 50% water. That also helped with constipation (and it was novel for her, as she drinks *only* water and b-milk otherwise).
About cancer and how it badly it sucks, I can say only this: you and GH and those adorable little ones remain in our prayers. Every single day.
As they change over to solid foods, their bowel habits will change - do not worry if it is daily. I am with the other commenter - apples / apple juice mixed in with the foods? I never used prepared baby food - my babies also never used a bottle.
They will do fine!
Also, cancer, yeah it does suck - know you are in out thoughts and prayers and your postings are important to us as you all journey throught parenting with beautiful babies as well as dealing with the illness.
Bless you and your family
Apples are next on my list of baby foods to make! I'm glad to hear that they should be helpful with the pooping.
I'm not worried about how often they go, but I am worried that they cry and are clearly in pain when they go right now. The prunes seem to be helping; hopefully the applesauce will aid them, too.
Thanks for the tips. Any others are welcome, too, of course.
I would nix the bananas if they're constipated. Also, you could grind up some oats in the food processor.
Glad you had a fun Christmas with friends.
Yes, cancer sucks. It must be so hard to see someone you love in that kind of pain. As always I am thinking of you/ praying for you and your family. Do not feel bad about accepting help! That's what family is for.
Love the Santa and Elf costumes, your babies are adorable!
So glad you were able to have a nice Christmas with friends and the twins slept so you could have some 'grown-up time'.
Cancer really does suck! Your parents and in-laws are probably feeling pretty helpless right now, let them help financially, I bet they would be pretty happy to know that they can make things a little less stressful for you and your husband. You're in our prayers and sending good thoughts your way.
I'm sorry that G is feeling worse.
We've been there with the mooching off of (his) parents.
Adorable babies, absolutely adorable, and so, so sorry about the cancer nightmare.
Sending love and support, and first-hand knowledge that if your parents can help and are willing, you should let them. When my kids were little and I was poor, I accepted help. Just look at it that they are helping Maddie and Riley, not you!
Post a Comment