My Mastercard Commercial

Pack of diapers, that doesn’t leak (and lasts 11 days) ~ $20

Wipes for baby’s bottom (that lasts 9 days) ~ $2

Special laundry detergent (that lasts 6 months) ~ $25

Drop-in bottle liners (that lasts 13 days) ~ $8

Can of formula (that lasts 4 days) ~ $14

Baby Vicks Rub for the first cold (that hopefully doesn’t last long) ~ $3

Happy memories with Camron (that last a lifetime) ~ PRICELESS



There are some things money can’t buy….for everything else, there’s Aaron’s Mastercard :)


Special thanks to Aunt Maura for uploading the picture from our cell phone!

Getting better....

Today Aaron took the day off to take Camron to the doctor again. Dr. Kurien wanted to make sure he was breathing better, and in fact he was at 97% today. I could definitely see a difference since using the nebulizer breathing treatments.

I never thought I'd be one of those mom's giving those breathing treatments, but now I know it can happen to anyone. Who knows how, but Camron was infected with RSV (the test came back positive). He is most likely high risk for the next few years now to get it again during RSV season, yes it has a season....October through April. I've read that he can get a shot of RSV antibodies for next years season, I will have to ask the doctor about that. I definitely don't want to do this again! But amazingly, Dr. Kurien told Aaron today that he thinks that we are doing a great job in staying on top of things with Camron, and he was very impressed yesterday with how calm I stayed and thought of asking all the right questions and solutions. That made me feel good, kind of like SuperMom :) And I'm sure Aaron felt good too, we are good parents :)

Tomorrow Aaron will be taking him back to Dr. Kurien (who has been wonderful through all of this) for another checkup, and then Monday I will be taking him to follow up with Dr. Harrington since she will be back from vacation. In the mean time, we have to keep him away from pretty much anything that can get him sick. He needs to get better! And he is already starting to. Hopefully we can enjoy the nice warm weekend ahead!

He's really sick :(

This morning, Camron just did not look better. It looked like he was having a rough time breathing, kind of wheezing. So I called the doctor's office and took him in. He has broncholitis....which is a viral infection, go figure! They did a little test called a pulsox, that showed them he is only breathing at 92% lung capacity and they like it to be at least 95%. They also took a mucus culture from his nose to test it for RSV (which is respiratory syncsitial virus ~apparently very dangerous for infants) but we won't know those results until tomorrow. Dr. Kurien was going to put him on a breathing treatment and have Great Lakes Home Healthcare come to the house every 4 hours, but my insurance doesn't cover that. So he sent me home saying if Camron gets worse, take him to the hospital and they will do the breathing treatments and he wants to see him again tomorrow at the office to do the pulsox again.

Well, thank God for Jennette (my sister-in-law) and Jen (the girl I work with). Jennette told me that when one of her kids needed the breathing treatment, they showed her how to do it and sent her home with a nebulizer and the prescription for Albuterol. I thought there mus have been some reason why they didn't offer that to me....then I went back to work for the afternoon, leaving Camron home with Grandma. Jen told me to call Great Lakes myself and see what they could offer me, so I did, and after I spoke with Gwen and explained what was going on, she suggested I call the insurance company and see if they would cover a rental on the nebulizer.....if so then the doctor could fax a prescription and I could pick it up today.

I have to admit, I didn't expect this to go so smoothly, but I called the doctors office, told them what I found out and that I wanted Dr. Kurien to try to help me get this done before the end of the day....this included faxing a prescription to Great Lakes for the nebulizer, calling in a prescription to the pharmacy for the Albuterol and getting the authorizations done in a matter of a few hours. For most offices, that is impossible. But they were on top of things. Luckily, an infant struggling to breathe right is high priority. The only snag was that the pharmacy didn't have the right dose of the medicine, I almost had to wait until tomorrow. But then Jen yelled out, "have them call Bayside Pharmacy" (which is Hamot Hospital's pharmacy). The rest worked out from there. I'm waiting for the nebulizer to be dropped off right now.
Tomorrow Aaron is taking the day off to take Camron to the doctor again in the morning. Hopefully this breathing treatment works and things look better soon. My poor buddy is being a trooper though, he's not fussing, just cuddling and waiting to get better!

First sick baby experience

I can't go to bed.... I'm worried that Camron will cough or choke and I won't hear him on the baby monitor. Last night I slept on the couch and held him. It wasn't too uncomfortable, but I slept so lightly that I hardly slept at all. He coughs so hard sometimes that he gags and spits up. And he just looks so miserable :(

I went to Walmart and bought "Little Noses", which is like a nasal spray for babies that loosens mucus in the nose and then you use the boogie sucker (or as some people call it, an aspirator) to suck out the boogies....So I use the boogie sucker every couple of hours, so it doesn't run down his throat and make him cough more. I also bought some Baby Vicks Rub and put a little of that on him every time I change his diaper. Tonite I have a humidifier running in his room. I'm afraid to leave him there alone though. I layed him on his side and rolled up a blanket behind him so if he does start coughing and flem comes out, hopefully it will dribble down his mouth onto the bed rather than him choking on it.

Being a mom to a sick baby is hard....he just looks at me like he wants to say "Mommy, I don't feel good," and it breaks my heart. I hope he feels better soon. I don't mind a runny nose here or there, but not the coughing :(

Weekend with Daddy

Work sucks, I hate being away from my baby. But Aaron was off on Friday, so Camron spent the day with Daddy. That makes me feel a little better, to know that if he's not bonding with me, he's bonding with Daddy. The weather was nice, so they went for a long walk in the morning, and then walked to pick Jaron up from school in the afternoon. According to Aaron, the only bad part about the day was the poopy diaper. It made him run to the kitchen sink and throw up.

Saturday I had to work too. It was, again, a really nice day. So the boys went for another nice walk, took a nap together, even changed a poopy diaper successfully (thanks to the help of a ventilation mask!!!!)

Aaron was excited that he did such a good job taking care of Camron by himself. He told me all about how he cleaned him up, got him dressed, made bottles and fed Camron....they played with toys, spent some time playing in the playpen, had "tummy time", took a nap together, went outside for walks....I have to admit I'm a little jealous that I'm not the one doing this anymore, however I am also enjoying watching both of them grow. Aaron went from saying he doesn't pick up babies until they are bigger, he doesn't change diapers, he doesn't dress babies because he doesn't want to break their arms....and now he is doing all of those things. I'm proud of him :)

So since Friday, I have ended the breastfeeding. I kind of miss it, but I think it's easier for everyone... and me because I don't have to stress about trying to pump at work, and for Camron because I think he was starting to get aggrivated that when he got a bottle it was so much easier and quicker and lasted longer before he was hungry again...

Monday comes around and I feel guilty taking him to the babysitter's again. Especially because he's got a cold. His nose is stuffy, he sneezes a little more often than he used to, and he's coughing...the coughs are flemy :( I knew this would happen though, I figured that the vaccines he got last week would give him something :( Hopefully he fights it off soon!

2 Months!

Today is Camron's two month birthday! I picked him up from the babysitter's house and took him to his well-baby visit with Dr. Harrington. He has grown an inch (now 22 1/4 inches), and weighs 10 lbs! The doctor says that he looks healthy, and is developing right on schedule. In a couple more months, he will be a lot more active and starting to eat baby food!

Unfortunately, I also had to allow the nurse to poke him with 3 needles! I was holding his hand when the first needle hit him, his mouth opened up for a big cry and I swear he didn't breathe for 15 seconds. His face was bright red. When they were all done, I scooped him up and he was ok again. I have gone back and forth in the decision to get Camron vaccinated, and in the long run I gave in. Today he got the first round of shots for Diptheria/Tetanus/Pertussis (DTap), H. Influenzae type B, Polio (all combined into one shot), as well as Pnuemococcal virus and a second round of Hepatitis B. He also received an oral vaccine for the Rotavirus. Dr. Harrington and I talked about each of the shots he was getting and if they were really necessary, what they were for, etc....supposedly these vaccinations have more benefits than bad reactions. I just worry about all the talk of them causing autism. I would hate for that to happen.

I had to stop at Walgreens to get some Motrin....he might need it for the pain later when he wakes up. My poor baby. First I go to work and leave him, then I let the doctor poke him with needles. I hope he still loves me!

It was a teary ride....

Today was my first day back to work. I cried while I was putting Camron in his car seat. I cried while I was driving to the babysitter's. I cried the whole way to work. I missed him so much!

Work was a mess when I got there. We are in the process of getting a new office, so things are scattered everywhere. I had to learn how to use the new phone system, and my passwords expired on my computer so I had to reset all of those. Not to mention there's a lot to catch up on. And all I can think about is my little boy, hopefully missing his mommy. But I made it through, and I can't wait to hold my baby again :)

Baby's First Easter

It was a busy weekend....

On Friday we went to Aaron's sister's house and had Easter dinner with her and her kids, as well as Aaron's mom and Jim. I can't wait til Camron can be part of the Easter egg hunts and coloring eggs. But he did get a few baskets full of goodies...some baby food, some bottle liners, and a few new bibs (one says I Love Auntie and the other says Little Indians Fan).

Then on Saturday we stopped at Grandma GG's for a bit, then came home and my dad and Lisa visited. Camron got his first stuffed Easter bunny :)

On Easter Sunday, Jaron helped him find the basket that the Easter Bunny left for him. It was hiding in his pack-n-play. He got some baby food, the Marley and Me movie, a couple of diapers and a couple of toys. I got him dressed in his Easter outfit...a cute striped polo and little khaki's....then we were off to my mom's house. I tried so hard to keep him clean before we got there, no spitting up on his new shirt! But then shortly after we got to Grandma's house he pooped through his diaper! The Easter outfit didn't last long, good thing Grandma keeps spare clothes at her house! And the diapers she got him for Easter came in handy too!

Happy first Easter buddy :)

Finally, a good bottle

Here's the newest picture of my little guy that we had taken at JC Penney's when he was 6 weeks old. Cute ain't he!?

Since then, I've been having trouble finding a bottle that I like. Camron is not picky. Unfortunately, he was spitting up and being so fussy, I was told to try a different bottle.....so I tried....several. Six to be exact. It was hard to find a bottle with a slow flow nipple that was comparable to the flow of breastfeeding. But finally, I have found the Playtex Drop-In Liner bottle with a slow flow latex nipple that was made to be similar to breastfeeding....and they were the only ones telling the truth. Camron likes this bottle, no more spitting up (sometimes a little, but that's normal) and a lot less fussy. I also switched his formula because of the gurgling noise his stomach was making, he is now drinking Nestle Good Start, Natural Cultures.



We are getting ready to celebrate baby's first Easter this weekend! Can't wait to see what the Easter bunny will bring him!

The Grand Finale

Well, I guess the countdown has begun....this is my last week off. And it's gonna be brutal. I have to practice getting up and getting ready to be at work on time!

And Camron is not making it easy right now.....since I've started him on a few bottles of formula daily, he has been a little more fussy. I think he's sucking it down too fast. So I splurged yesterday and bought him an $8 bottle that has a breast shaped nipple and is "slow-flow". It seems to be working a little better. He hasn't been spitting up. (Friday night he spit up his entire bottle on Daddy, and the next few days were a little messy too). If he still seems fussy in a few days I will probably have to switch his formula to something more gentle...or soy...if only I could just stay home to breastfeed until he's older.

Speaking of wanting to stay home to breastfeed....I tried another thing yesterday that I didn't think I'd ever do.....Camron is wearing cloth diapers! Aaron is not too fond of the idea, but I told him I wasn't either, and he can still use the disposable diapers when he changes Camo. If it saves me 5 diapers a day to use cloth, it saves me probably $40 a month. It's worth a try at least.

Mommy's nite out!

Well, there comes a time when the mommy must have mommy-time and daddy stays home with the baby. That would be tonite. A couple of the girls and I are going out tonite for a drink or two and some karaoke, like old times.

I'm a little nervous, leaving Aaron home alone with Camron for longer than an hour....it'll be the first time really away from him. I'm sure they'll be fine. And I guess I should get used to it, since I only have one more week off from work....

And tomorrow, Grandma Sue will be watching Camo while Aaron and I go over a friend's house for dinner. Again, a little sad to leave my little guy.

This is also the start of weaning from breastmilk to formula. I pumped some milk the last few days.....three times a day and I barely have two bottles. So that's not gonna work in the long run. For now I will nurse him evenings and maybe first thing in the morning, but he'll be getting formula during the day...and maybe in another week or two down to just formula.