2016 Spring Vacation

The past few years we've gone to vacation in Mexico sometime in March or April. With my mom having seizures last year, adding another child to our family, and customs being so difficult we decided to not go back this year. It was a sad fact that we also couldn't afford it now that we needed to pay for seats for L & C on the plane.

Last summer my step-dad's mother Mary passed away. All of the time I knew her she lived in Naples, Florida and we visited her almost every Christmas. We loved going in the winter and escaping the grey of central NY to experience beautiful beaches and sunshine. When Mary passed away my mom and step dad decided to use the money they inherited from her towards a condo in Florida. They spent a few weeks last summer looking at places and ultimately purchased a condo in Sarasota.

Since we had access to the condo and the offer for my mom to spend the week with us there, we decided to go for it. We purchased the tickets, rented a van for the week, and spent the first week of April in Sarasota.

We were supposed to leave on Monday morning at 5:45 am. Somehow we missed our first flight out of Syracuse. The security was so inefficient that it took over 45 mintutes to get through. It rarely takes more than 10. Not to mention, it was super early in the morning. Well, when we finally arrived at our gate we found out we had missed our flight. They were able to bump us to another flight, but it meant adding an extra flight and taking three flights instead of two. The girls were pretty good on the planes. We could tell Lucy wasn't feeling great and felt warm to the touch, but she handled it all so well. The only exception was when we were getting off our second flight and both girls were melting down. W was trying to run through the airport with Clara in his arms throwing a tantrum. I finally made him stop, hoisted her into my ring sling, and she calmed right down. W ran ahead with the stroller as we only had about 40 minutes to change terminals and make our flight. In that moment I so wished we were at our destination then rather than having to take another flight. Apart from that, the traveling went really well.

My favorite pic from the trip. 

When we arrived in Sarastoa, a few hours later than anticipated, Lucy was running a 103.5 fever. We gave her some meds while we waited for the rental car stuff. An airport employee who was super nice helped us with our bags on a cart and then took them to the rental car and entertained the baby while we installed carseats. Since the address my mom gave me was a little confusing we did some extra driving, but it wasn't a huge deal. We arrived in the early afternoon and went to the pool for a swim at the condo before ordering some takeout for dinner. We had a great dinner on the lanai. My mom and I ran to the supermarket that evening to stock up on some stuff after the girls went down.  

The spot we set up in the airport.  

We got the glider board for our stroller so everyone could use it comfortably. It was great!

On Tuesday we headed to Siesta Key beach after breakfast at the condo. We packed some lunches and drove the 20 or so minutes to the beach. When we got there we decided to leave the stroller and carry our stuff. We used my mom's umbrella on the beach but forgot chairs. This made nursing the baby a little more difficult and uncomfortable. The beach was so huge and such a far walk to the water that we didn't go all the way. We found a good spot and set up our stuff. When it came to lunch time it was a bit of a struggle since the sand blew into the lunch boxes we brought for the girls. Everything was so incredibly sandy so we abandoned ship and found a restaurant nearby selling food with picnic tables. We left around 12:30 and headed back to the condo for naps. When the girls woke up from their naps we headed to the pool for some afternoon swimming. That night we had some amazing take out fish tacos.

Siesta Key beach from the restaurant area. 

Stella and her blue eyes. 

First time checking out the ocean. 

With my mom, Grandma Dukes.  

Wednesday morning we headed to a playground near a big cat sanctuary since it didn't open until noon. It had some really nice equipment and we had our picnic lunch there on a blanket. The girls had a great time playing and Stella loved watching them on the swings. Lucy was again feeling hot so we gave her some Tylenol and that seemed to bring the fever down. Around noon we headed to see the big cats. Since Barnum and Bailey started in Sarasota, they have some of the animal there were once in the circus. There were bears, lions, monkeys, tigers, and lots of other animals. The girls had a great time watching the animals and they were very impressed by a parrot doing gymnatsics. We again went home for naps and then headed to the pool after. That evening we had takeout from a latin restaurant that was amazing. Lucy loved the empanadas and everything was delicious. We realized that evening that the Starbucks we went to earlier near the playground gave me change for a 10 rather than the $50 I paid with. Once the girls were down W, Stella and I drove to get our change and then went to Target for some things.

Ready to go!

Stella loved watching her sisters on the swings at the playground. 

Grandma Dukes and Clara. 

Checking out a bear. 

Thursday was the only predicted day of rain so after breakfast we headed to the aquarium. It was really busy and didn't start off the greatest. As soon as we finally got in the girls both melted down. I think the noise, darkness, business, and their hunger got to them. After the first room they were fine. My mom wore Stella all day and she was just so happy. She didn't complain once and just loved looking at everything. We saw sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, sea otters, manatees, and sea turtles. The girls seemed to really like looking at the animals and both picked a little gift from the gift shop. After the aquarium we went back to the condo for naps before an afternoon swim at the pool. That night W and I went out for a nice dinner. We brought Stella with us and splurged on some amazing seafood. Our waitress wasn't the greatest and the other diners seemed to glare at us for bringing Stella, but the food was delicious. Stella was so well behaved the whole time, but you'd think she was awful by the way the other diners looked at us. At one point I was holding her and smiled and the lady at the table next to us. In return she glared back. Geeze!

Lucy and a Shark

My mom wore Stella the whole time. We got a new carrier so she could face out more comfortably. 

Friday was our last full day of vacation so we went back to the beach. Since this was our second trip to Siesta Key beach, we had things more figured out. We knew this time we could wheel the stroller so brought that. We also had chairs and a better system for eating our packed lunches. We stayed at the beach for a really long time and left around nap time. It was such a great trip. The girls loved playing in the sand and building things and Stella took a nice nap on the beach in her carseat. The only exception to the fun was all of the potty breaks. It seemed as soon as we got settled all the way out on the beach someone had to go potty. I got a lot of exercise that day walking back and forth to the bathrooms. I so wished our travel potty made the cut when we were packing that day. After naps we went swimming at the pool by the condo. That evening we again got take out and enjoyed our dinner at together on the Lanai. We ended the evening with packing and another trip to Target to get some last minute things.

Ready to go to the beach.

Beach days are exhausting.

The flights home went much better than the trip there with the flights, but of course it couldn't be too easy. When we arrived home in Syracuse we found out that our suitcases made it but not our carseats. Since the rental companies wouldn't let us rent carseats without a car we ended up having to rent a car to get everyone home. They actually gave us a van for the same price as a car so W took L & C home in the van and I brought Stella in my car and picked up Thai on the way home.

The lanai looking out towards the pool. 

L & C sleeping on Daddy's lap. 

In the airport. 

The trip was so much fun. We went to the beach, spent lots of time by the pool, went to an aquarium and saw a big cat sanctuary, and W and I had some nice time by ourselves or just with Stella at the pool and out for dinner. My mom was (mostly) helpful and the girls had so much fun doing new or different things every day. I'm so glad we went and I can't wait to return.

Updates and Stella at 2 Months

Life is crazy with three kids aged two and under. Since I lasted posted it's has been a whirlwind. L & C are currently potty training. They go completely bottomless at home and just wear loose fitting pants  when we go places. We had been giving them peanut m&m's every time they went on the potty but quickly had to switch to mini m&m's. Good thing they like all things "baby" and get even more excited about their tiny treat. I have to laugh because that wouldn't be my reaction to the situation, haha. Both girls are taking a lot more. Lucy, or "You You You" as she refers to herself, is stringing two and three word sentences together regularly. She talks a lot and is pretty clear and easy to understand most times. Clara, or "Claka" as she calls herself is also using more words. Unfortunately, she still relies on whining quite a bit. W and are constantly reminding her to use her words, but she's a very emotional little girl. The girls copy each other constantly and if one does something the other has to as well. That's part of why the potty training is going so well. That are always encouraging each other and both want the reward of course. Lucy continues to process auditory information at an amazing speed and W and I joke that she's already smarter than us. It's tough for Clara because if you ask them both a question Lucy usually answers before Clara has time to fully process it. Clara is more like a typical two year old in that regard. She's usually happy to let Lucy take charge though. Lucy loves playing with her babies and is very helpful with Stella. We're always reminding her that some jobs are only for mommy and daddy. I swear she thinks she's the grown up in charge half the time. Clara continues to love her books. She'll sit and let pretty much anyone read her a book. She has her favorites, and she's also super into monkeys lately. We've been getting a lot of books from the library about monkeys and she loves any monkey stuffed animal. Clara also loves baby Stella and is always trying to talk to her and get her to smile or coo to her. Both girls love when Stella blows bubbles with her mouth and they get so excited about it. It's so cute. They are such good big sisters who are rarely jealous.

Stella turned 2 months old on the third

All my girls in matching outfits that my friend bought them. 

Helping daddy give Stella her first bottle.

Showing off their sweaters their Grandma knit for them. 

Getting their nails painted by Pop Pop.

Three across. 

Reading books with Grandpa Scott on Thanksgiving. 

Snuggles for baby Stella. 

That's an interesting use for breast pump pieces!

As for Stella, she's now 9 pounds 11 ounces and quickly growing out of clothes that L & C didn't fit in to for what feels like forever. The combination of being a full term baby and likely my last makes it feel like it's going by that much faster. Stella, or "Stella-Lella", and "Lellie" as I often call her sleeps about 6 hours at night. She's not a super easy or relaxed baby and I think her reflux has a lot to do with that. We tried increasing her Zantac and have just switched to Prevacid to see if it works better. Her crying and discomfort have definitely decreased, but she still sounds congested a lot. 

Relating to the congestion likely is her hearing abilities. Stella failed her newborn screening twice in the hospital and then again a week later when we followed up. This meant we got a referral to an audiologist for more involved testing. Initially I really didn't feel like she was hearing us or startling to sounds. She's improved there and will turn when she hears our voices, but she once again failed the same test (absent responses on the OAE and a flat tympanogram). The ABR testing showed that she is hearing and the nerve and cochlea are likely intact and functioning well. They weren't able to get a full reading of her hearing abilities on that test because she was supposed to sleep and really wouldn't for long. I even wore her for part of it but she kept rubbing off the electrodes or waking up during testing. The audiologist was very patient and we were there for over two hours. Her results on that test were consistent with fluid in her ears. The audiologist said he was able to visualize her eardrums and there were no signs of infection.  It's likely just fluid that hasn't resolved from her birth. That paired with the congestion from reflux encouraged me to increase her dose of the reflux medication. The tube that drains your ears is in the back of your throat and much flatter in children (making it harder to drain). It makes sense if she refluxing all the time it's either causing her ears to have a hard time draining or adding to the congestion in her ears. We go back in another month to retest and if the results are the same we will get a referral to an ENT. 

Prior to increasing her reflux meds I hired a lactation consultant. This person said her grassiness and fussiness was likely from an upper lip tie and her difficulty latching well because of it. She said she was likely swallowing a lot of air and not eating very efficiently. I knew the lip tie was there and was something we'd have to deal with at some point, but decided to take her to have it lasered since it was the end of the year and we've met our deductibles. Apparently, she was also a little tongue tied so that was also lasered. The dentist quickly did the procedures and I nursed immediately after. I was given stretches to do with her and sent on my way. Unfortunately, there wasn't a ton of follow up from the lactation consultant after that apart from telling me I needed to be patient with her and to try and relax. Unfortunately those things didn't help any and she's still clicking her tongue/smacking her lips a lot when she eats. This is discouraging and frustrating to me because it's uncomfortable. I guess breastfeeding will never be "easy" for me. I think I figured by this point we'd have that stuff ironed out. It makes me think if I can't help myself with nursing problems, how could I ever help others?

Apart from the reflux Stella really is a sweet baby. She started smiling and cooing shortly after we had her lip tie lasered. I think it did help some with her mood, but just not as much as I had hoped. I feel like the reflux is really one of our main underlying issues. She loves watching her sisters and when they talk to her she smiles at them frequently. She loves the ring sling I bought and almost immediately falls asleep in it every time. She's so snuggly and sweet in there and I absolutely love wearing her. It's something I feel like I missed out on a bit with the girls. You just can't wear twins like you can a single baby. She's so strong and stands up on her feet. This is one of our best burping techniques currently. She still likes her pacifier but has a crazy strong and unpredictable gag reflex. Sometimes she takes the pacifier like it's the best thing ever and other times she gags, wretches, and acts like it's poison. She found her hands and often has them in her mouth all covered with drool. Her eyes are really blue and she still has quite a bit of dark brown hair. I think he eyes will stay blue.

I tell the girls to put things at her feet (rather than on her face). Guess they got a little carried away. 

Stella's Thanksgiving outfit. 

Always with the tongue. 

Such a sweet and snuggly baby. 

As for me, life is crazy. We celebrated Thanksgiving at home with my dad and then went to my moms for a second meal for dinner. My c section incision became infected a few weeks after Stella's birth and I had to go back to my OB multiple times and take antibiotics. I had a tooth that needed a crown and then a root canal. I haven't had much time for myself and W is working on being able to take care of all three girls alone. I'm going out for the first night tonight and leaving him with all three. It's tough to feel like I always have someone with me or attached to me. I'm definitely in high demand. I love it and wouldn't change it for the world, but it can be exhausting at times. I'm hoping to find some time for yoga or some exercise for myself soon. Even though I've lost most of the weight I gained with Stella things really don't sit and look the same. The "shelf" above my c section incision looks worse having had two surgeries but I try not to focus on that. My body also gave birth to three children in two years. We get out of the house most days and L & C are currently doing soccer and gymnastics. We also go to story time at the library most weeks. We've signed up for music classes again starting in January and I'm really looking forward to that.

Life certainly is crazy and I'd love to make more time for writing and this blog. I do love that I have this space that I can come to and write whenever I want or need to though. It's nice to know it'll always be here waiting for me. Whether the people will still be waiting here to read is another story. I remind myself that I write for me and to document these days that would otherwise be forgotten in detail.