maya's growing delay

When one becomes pregnant they never think it could go this way.

Right so lets face it, many things happen during before and after a pregnancy and every child is different. The heart burn and morning sickness hormones and food cravings are all apart of the adventure.

My first born was just 9 months old and sure enough we were pregnant again. I am in general a worry wart and so it is very typical for me to constant worry and read things making me worry more.

At 20 weeks we get a very detailed scan in Holland and it turned out that my baby wasn't growing. Obviously the doctors handle me well and I continued to get ultra sounds every 2 weeks. They started to notice a growth but it was just slower than other babies. In general births are done at home here in Holland but they are forbidden if there is any sign of risk. The fact that my baby wasn't growing made us worry about her birth weight.

I stopped working and just sat around eatting. She started to gain more but was still on the smaller side.

Her birth was AMAZING. It happend at home in just 4 hours and 2 pushes. We filmed the entire thing. She was just 46cm. However she did reach a normal weight of 3050 grams. With in the first week she had dropped so much that even the nurse was worried. (we get a nurse for about 8 days after giving birth to help out in the house and get used to the new baby i had one for 10 because of a dropped pelvis)

Every specialist we saw said the same thing, "she is just smaller, she is a little eatter and she is doing fine."

Okay, i thought, "Then it is just me being a worry wart". But around 6 months old she needed to start eatting real food. At every meal she wouldn't eat it. She would spit it back out or just throw up completely. This terrified me. Finally i would get breast milk in her and she would end up throwing it all back out because of a peice of bread, bananna, oatmeal, you name it and it would cause her to gag.

I went BACK to the doctor with my concerns and finally got a reference to the childrens doctor. With in this time of just a week she went from not eatting much, maybe 3 feedings a day to not Eatting! and ONLY SLEEPING.

I was sure that she was going to fall asleep and not wake up again.

Her development had stopped and she became extreemly weak and could only sleep. At this point we finally were admitted into the hospital. They did every test they could think of and got us speech therapy.

I never knew speech therapy could help so much but I am a believer now! In that week she was actually able to eat a peice of bread. and keep it all down! She still wasn't gainning weight and ended up getting a virus at the hospital and lost even more weight. So we had no choice but to start with the tube feeding.

With no drivers license I had no choice but to stay in the Hospital for 2 weeks with her. Finally we learned everything there is to know about tube feedings and were able to take her home.

I was allowed to pump milk and give that through the tube during the day as well. As much as it pained me to watch and do I was glad that she was finally able to feel FULL.

Yet she still wasn't eatting herself. Always feeling full from the machine and never doing anything for it scared me for her development but i kept with it hoping she could get some more weight.

Until she started throwing up again. With every little bit we gave her in the tube she would throw up everything that was in her stomic. I thought it better to just find a new doctor and start a new process.

Now 6 months further she is only 7 kilos at 15 months old. she is now 70 cm and her head is still just growing just fine.

We have found out that her body burns calories at a much higher rate than other children so she needs more to gain weight.

She still doesn't mind missing meals and often refuses the food we feed her.

She also has 4 different specialist working together to get us on the right path.

We joke around saying she might just fool us and become and chef later in life. My biggest worry is that we will Always fight about eatting and growing will Always be a problem for her. I want a happy life where she can fit in and find love. Hoping for some answers.

Barbie

Traditional Barbie vs. Average Size Barbie

I saw a new kind of Barbie the average size Barbie. Compaired to the Barbie from the 90's the Classic Barbie that is made today in 2014 just doesn't cut it in my opinion.

Already they have "adjusted"the breast size. Actually all measurments are different than the Barbies I saved from the 90's.

Aside from the different measurements the quality has taken a HUGE Plung downward. I HATE the Quality from the actual name brand Barbie these days. I bought one that i found Pricy and thought that it would make a difference in the quality compaired to the 5 buck barbie but still they were easily compaired to a "dollar store" "B-brand" Barbie.

So now there is the Average Size Barbie with measurements that more acuratly show how a modern girl would look. Two things bother me about this. One issue I have with this average size Barbie is that my baby isn't growing or gaining weight she is very thin and is then still "excluded" from feeling "normal". Secondly, average is becoming increasingly larger and not so importantly "Healthier".
http://www.upworthy.com/they-gave-each-kid-a-barbie-and-a-doll-with-real-proportions-what-they-say-next-really-says-it-all?c=ufb1

I think there is a better version or maybe All Versions would be Better.

There is no Cookie cutter that is making people so pushing the same size doll out for every child is just wastefull.

I think there should just be more quailty and diversity avalible to fit everyones house hold and inspire their immagination.

I loved my Barbies growing up and if they are all different they wont all fit each others clothes but it will inspire a great deal more immaginations and that is just the best part of being a child Right?!

What are your thoughts and feelings about this? Does your child play with Dolls? do you think that Size matters or is quality a factor just as important as diversity? LET ME KNOW. I would love to hear!

redecorating - attic into the master suite

We're Moving Up

So my husband lived in this house for 7 years before I came around and he bought it and decorated it with his ex.

Slowly between having children we have been making it our own and not too long ago we decided that the girls need more space and we just need a place for our bed.

When I got pregnant with Zowi (our oldest) the attic was a very unfinished space  and the spare bedroom was just the clutter paper place "office" So husband quickly put down the floor and sealed up the windows in the attic and we moved all the papers upwards. we decorated the baby room PERFECTLY to our style.

 

We did everything from scratch. It was a low budget project that included a lot of MANual labor. The curtains that are pink were even painted pink and the dressures were also freshly painted. I was So pleased and still am with this room but now we have two girls and this just isn't enough space for the both of them.

 

So they are going to our room and we are moving up.

 

The Attic has now be insulated and there has been new doors for a closet and we have gone IKEA shopping. I cannot wait to show you more here about the transformation and hopefully this week sometime the BIG PAINT job will be done!

Friday Night in the Emergency Room

Right in the middle of the store where everyone could see

We had big plans for our Friday night to start our weekend. We would do just a simple dinner and get the girls in bed by 6:20pm! Clean up and be in bed by 8pm ourselves.

As we rushed through the store to get everything we needed for the weekend our oldest, (Zowi) who was in the basket for convience stood up and I moved the cart. She lost her balance just for a second toppled straight back and landed on the tiled floor in the middle of the store where everyone could see.

From my first aid classes I know if a child falls from such a height many things need to be checked. Also I know we aren't supposed to move them.

She stood up and began to cry so I decided maybe it isn't as bad as it feels in my stomic. So we rushed everything home and thought - it will simmer down kids rebound quick.

Well as soon as we were home she was complaining she was tired. - okay we thought Lets go.

Luckily I had already fed Maya her dinner before we left and Zowi wasn't in the mood for eatting. We rushed to the emergency room and were helped rather quickly.

Along the way I kept her awake and she did throw-up. She continued to throw-up even after the doctor gave her a look over and she fell asleep.

At this point my cool calmness was wearing away and I was starting to panik. I think the doctor noticed this and began to panic herself because within 15 minutes she was put into a CTSCAN. As I sat in the hall waiting for her to be done I couldn't help but think how quickly things took a turn for our weekend and what this would mean for the future health as well as choice making.

The scan was clean and we were set home. She did continue to throw-up but at least she was able to fall asleep and our worry was away.

The next day it was like nothing ever happend.

We did give her pain reliever and didn't push food but offered plenty and she just bounced her way around the weekend as usual.

Children are amazingly strong creatures and they can surely take us for a ride.

Needless to say she will no longer be in the basket of a cart. . . .

Being a Nanny in Holland

Aupair, Nanny, Baby Sitter, Not their Mom

So I came to Holland in 2008 as an aupair.

It was my first time from home, my first time flying; as well as ever being held responsible. The year was terrifying, exhausting.

I got to travel and learned so much from that alone. To top it off I was pushed beyond my limits of what I thought possible and taught myself to speak Dutch. It was and is incredible. We often have doctor appointments for our daughter and I am able to do the entire appointment in Dutch.

Ultimetly the best thing that happend to me that year was that I met my Husband! He was hanging out with friends that were the neighbor to the family I lived with (did you follow that?) But I continued to see him at birthday parties and we finally got a chance to go on our first date. (our Mutual friend set it up) Things went rather quickly after that though! Pregnant with in about 2 months after moving in.

Back to being an aupair and my best advice is to use a trusted agency and to be open and honest about everything with everyone who is involved. This will insure your safety and make certain that you grow and make the most of your time. There are different options for duration from just a few months up to a year; the longer you stay the more benefits you get from your agency.

Earnings, lets face it as any aupair before of after me will also say you are not an aupair to get the money. Some definitions call being an aupair an exchange of culture. So pretty much you work your tale off just to learn about a different culture and I did and it was worth it; but I wish I knew more going into it just how rough if was going to be living on such little money. I have heard of other aupairs getting extra jobs to get a little more cash but usually this is illegal if not then just frowned upon.  However the ammount you make depends on where you are living for your aupair stay.

Working Hours are also different depending on the country. Here in Holland at the time I worked it was 30 hours a week including 2 nights of avaliblity. In those 30 hours I was to cook dinner, wash the childrens laundry, Iron the childrens laundry, Vacuum the house once a week, bring kids to and from school and appointments, and sometimes bed.

www.travelactive.nl is the agency I used and they have many other options for travel and I was very pleased with them and their envolvement in my year.