The "Georgia" Move

Man this move has been quite the test of life for me. I have cried, been tired, and on top of that was sick the entire move. We left San Antonio on Wednesday to come home to Louisville to a house full of boxes, and things everywhere. No where near baby proofed.....and to say the least frustrating because I felt as if I needed to help Derek finish up the packing but Dreycin and I had tons of errands to run the last two days in Louisville. Doctors appointments, babies r us, whole foods, walmart.....i needed a 2nd me to take care of Dreycin who was still somewhat sick and help derek. While I was in Texas, I got a little taste of what it is like to be a single parent and I dont think I have ever been more tired. Traveling with a toddler to different cities, or even in a car for days at a time is really hard. Anyways, thursday night Derek said ok 1 day is enough you and Dreycin are going to a hotel so I can finish packing so off we went. Friday around noon Dreycin and I went by the house, and then got on the road for Georgia.....just the two of us. Now the reason I had to drive my car is because Derek had taken our car to Georgia a couple of weekends earlier, so that he could find a house and be able to drive the uhaul down with a trailer for his motorcycle. So on the road, Dreycin thankfully fell asleep for almost the first 3hrs which was a blessing. A little after 3pm we stopped ate some lunch, walked around (OB ordered for driving after 2hrs and I was only allowed to drive a max of 5hrs = which made the trip = 2 days 10hrs) and got gas. During this time Derek was finishing up cleaning after the movers had taken all the big stuff, because the owner of our rental was coming to inspect at 5pm. After Dreycin and I had stretched, we were back on the road again. The drive was beautiful through Tennessee, especially Chattanooga. We stopped for the night in Dalton, Ga which made my trip about 5.5hrs the first day. Derek got in a little after midnight and I had fallen asleep 3x waiting for him. Dreycin and I stayed in a hotel that had a chilli's about 1/2 mile up the hill.....and I put him in that stroller and trucked it up the hill to get some dinner. we both enjoyed the 60 degree weather and stroll. The next day Saturday we all head out together on the road around 11am, we made 3stops on a 4.5hr trip. Derek had pepper, and I had  to go pee a gillion times, and Dreycin needed diaper changes..snacks.....we finally arrived around 530pm to a house that was not ready. They had left the keys for us in the electric box, but when we went in there was paint and paint smell everywhere,  plus the place was not cleaned, and no water had been turned on. So Derek talked to the rental company and they had not informed the handyman that we would be moving in over the weekend, he thought it was monday. So off we go to try to find a hotel for at least the next two nights. The worst part of all this for me, is all this eating out until now I had only gained 10lbs in 24wks of pregnancy but now its 15lbs. And I havent been able to work out in FOREVER. So then we also find out that the movers arent going to be here until May 23rd, so now im thankful we brought a uhaul with our essentials. Derek also had to clean the entire house himself, and overall he felt discouraged about the house he picked because of all the hurdles we were facing. We also quickly found out that our AT & T cellphone service did not work in our house or the road we live on. And I was still sick. We finally got moved in on Monday afternoon, and that day I also started my hunt for Physicians only to be told that I would have to be seen on base. Im not saying that base medical staff are not good, but primarily they only do what is necessary. Tuesday we spent on base at the doctor, which im ok with but not happy with that Dreycin will not have a pediatrician just a family doctor that is the same one that sees Derek and I. We went to At&t got a "microcell booster" to get cell phone service at our house. And got cable/internet service that afternoon. Now that the house is coming together, Derek isnt being so hard on himself. Its actually a very spacious, beautiful home built early 1980's that sits on at least 1acre. Dreycin and Pepper love the backyard! I will defn be posting pics soon. After all since Derek and I have been married (almost 5yrs) we have never lived in a house, only townhomes, patio homes, and apartments.....this is defn a better fit for our growing family!
But anyways.... just thought I would update everyone on our adventure. We are going ahead and getting a land line installed tomorrow. Goodnight....back to unpacking tomorrow.

Texas trip

We have had a fabulous time in Texas, baby showers, parks, sea world, zoo, great FOOD, and wonderful family and friends.....but this last week we are ready to go home. I think 16days with a toddler may be too long of a vacation, im thinking a weekend next time, and right now I cant see myself going anywhere with a toddler and newborn, without Derek! I am so ready to see my hubby, who has packed cleaned and gotten us ready for our big move this Friday!! Its so cute, Dreycin has woken up the past few mornings saying Daddy, dad, dad, like calling him. So i know he is ready to see him too! And in the last week, my other son...(we finally picked a name) Bronson Bane DeLaVega, has been very active I am 23wks now. Never fails him and Dreycin wake up at the same time in the mornings, crazy! Bronson will start kicking then I know Dreycin will follow in just a few minutes by waking up! And Dreycin has been sleeping some nights with me here, because this last week he has gotten a little cold, plus some allergy stuff I think? We even made a trip to the ER because I thought he was having another ear infection, but his tubes are in place and his ears looked good. He has had cough with major congestion, runny nose, and fever. He is just now getting better, but the last week we have been here in San Antonio I have kept him in somewhat confinement!

So we finally picked a name, Bronson is Derek's middle name. Bane is something we found online, different but means long awaited child since not to long ago we were told that it would be next to impossible for us to have children because of my lupus. So now both Dreycin and Bronson have part of Derek's name!

Anyways, this will be the last post for a while dont know when we will be getting internet hooked up at our new house in Albany,ga. Derek found a 3bdrm, 2bath on 1acre and it is on a circle drive so we dont have many neighbors at all. Im very excited that we found something with a little land, plus it has 1 shed, and 1 work shed, plus fenced in backyard with covered patio.
So here we go on the road again.....

HOME!

It feels so good to be home, even if I am in my parents "new home" in San Antonio. My parents just make me feel at home, relaxed and well comforted. After two flights from Louisville, we got here yesterday afternoon about 4pm. Dreycin did really good, but if i were any further along he could not have been a lap infant. the first flight 1hr 18min he slept and when we took off he held on to my finger so tight it was starting to turn purple, the second flight he was up the entire time and was a little more at east with take off. I managed to carry him, diaper bag, carry on and the stroller. And im a pro after that, back when I found out I was pregnant I decided I needed a lite stroller, did my research and the chicco liteway was the best option. In Babies R Us I closed and opened it while holding Dreycin's hand, so that I knew I could do it with one hand! Because lets face it when you have a toddler, who isnt in their stroller you are holding their hand! One lady was like, you just opened your stroller with one hand and turned to her husband and said "Im done with our stroller, we are getting that stroller." She had a big bulky peg perego, which im pretty sure cost somewhere around $400, the chicco liteway isnt cheap but its about $140 and well worth the use I have gotten out of it so far and will be doing with the next! Which leads me to start questioning, which double stroller will we get? I love the city mini but its $400, and I like the contours double tandem stroller price tag of $275 or so......
ANyways,  Dreycin was quiet on the way home from the airport but when we got to my parents house it was like Christmas morning for Dreycin, well easter afternoon anyways. He had a new table, with two new chairs, puzzle, elmo easter basket, candy, chocolate bunny, easter eggs, modeling clay kit with a bag of cookie cutters, bubble wand and bubbles, 4 mini trains from Thomas and a wooden railroad that he can put on the floor or his table, 3 new little tikes foam balls, new plate set and bib. Seriously like christmas morning. He was so excited! And he slept all night in his souped up playard (with comforter lining, 1 blanket, and pillow). This morning we got up around 8am, i woke up at 7am for no reason......(although we are on eastern time vs central time) and I read for 1hr before Dreycin woke up two magazines. I never get to do that, which was nice. So around 10am we left with my dad to go to Sea World here in San Antonio. It was misting, but the rain never lasts here in Texas. We got there and it was not crowded at all, and by the time we watched the first show which was the sea lions and walrus, it had stopped raining. Dreycin loved the shows, after the first one he put on this really sad face and said Bye bye, bye bye. He was really sad to have to leave. We ate lunch, watched the Azul show with dolphins and white beluga whales (probably Dreycin's favorite) He did great, he did nap in his stroller for about 45min then woke up in time to see the Shamu show. We did a few other things, then came home around 5pm. And Dreycin still had tons of energy!

Derek and I decided to celebrate EAster on Saturday afternoon since Dreycin and I would be flying on Easter. We hid the easter eggs in living room/play area and then gave him his basket which had a mini etch a sketch from fisher price, mr potato head, mini playdough set, chocolate easter bunny, brach's jelly chicks and bunnies (only a few in eggs), and 2 dark chocolate dipped peeps. His basket was a mesh soccer ball, it was so cute! And Dreycin really got the hang of looking for eggs and putting them in his basket, while carrying it!

Im really looking forward to being home right now, Derek has taken alot of the stress off of me as far as the move is concerned! Plus im having a small shower this weekend in Dallas( we are going for the weekend), and gonna get to see some of my close friends!

Pictures will have to come later, im tired ;)

Leaky boobs @ 20wks....???

A couple of nights ago was the first night Dreycin slept through the night since the ear infection/sickness started back in March. And the next day I felt good, he was running around like a wild man and baby D is becoming more active everyday! I may have done too much that day, but I got all the veggies cooked for the week, laundry done, and that afternoon we took a 2hr nap.

Ive been looking at baby bedding and I really think a sea/ocean theme would go with the crib we got. Derek said he was just kidding about the dragon theme, and that he was actually going to send me websites of skulls and bones bedding! He kids with me alot. One of the sets is from jcpenney online, and the other one is at babies r us(i put this one on my registry), they are both very similar but I cant make up my mind! Just like I cant make up my mind about what type of baby carrier to buy! My friend Stef is sending me one thats like the one I registered for, so I can try it out this weekend when we leave for San Antonio!

Derek plans to go to Georgia the first weekend in May to find us a house, we found two online through a realty company but they dont have pics of the inside? I forgot how much of a hassle it is to move, getting not only my medical, dental, etc records but also Dreycin's. Changing addresses with every company that we have services from, credit cards etc. Its a pain. Ive also had to transfer two of my retirement accounts to an IRA(which I had to open) and then on top of all that I lost my debit card a couple of days before we are to leave for San Antonio. I also started my applications for my social work licenses for Georgia(where we are going), Missouri(where we may end up going may 2012), and Texas (you never know) which all of them need professional references, so we spent a majority of the day yesterday and the day before at my old job collecting those. And then try getting all this done with a little one in the house, who hates for you to be on the phone, or in his car seat for hours at a time! Then throw in dr's appts, meals and snacks, and grocery shopping, everyday is filled with tons of errands and a cranky little boy. Yesterday he actually napped in his stroller at the grocery store. We did make time tuesday afternoon to go to the zoo, we had to get out of the house and Daddy had 24hr duty. On Wednesday afternoon was Dreycin's f/u from his surgery, the doctor said he ears looked perfect and to f/uwith pediatrician at his next appt which will be his 18mos May 12th, and then an ENT in about 6months.

Which leads me to my last topic, what in the world is my body thinking making milk already? I read a couple of chat rooms and supposedly its common around the 4-5month of pregnancy, especially with your 2nd.  So i guess its time to get all those leftover nursing pads out!

Surgery & Sons

Yesterday was such a stressful, yet exciting day. We all got up bright and early, to be at Dreycin's ear tubes surgery at 6:30am, Dreycin went back for surgery at 7:40am, he didnt cry but I spent most of the time barfing in our room's bathroom. I think it was nerves, and since I only had tea crackers I was pretty much dry heaving...... and then the doctor came out at almost 8am and said he did fine, he should be waking up in recovery in about 15-20min. The doc said that there was alot of thick, old fluid build up in the right ear, and not as much in the left ear. They placed a tube in each ear, and said they should fall out in 1yr. We have a f/u in 1wk. About 5min later a nurse came in with Dreycin (who reaked of perfume, in the medical field they usually do not let you wear perfume) who started to wimper shortly after he saw us. I had his bottle ready for him, and right away he gulped down almost 8oz. He continued to cry for the next 1hr on and off. They told us to keep his diet bland for the day, and I had brought a bag of saltines and dreycin munched on those during his bouts of crying on the way home. Once we got home Dreycin and I spent the next 1.5hrs watching Sesame Street and some other show. But once the afternoon rolled around he was ready to party again! Today Dreycin is still whiney, now the night time wasnt so great. He woke up around 1am and 4am. Today we went to the mall, to the park for a picnic lunch with our chickfila and then to bed bath and beyond to get a knife holder because Dreycin is so tall he can reach in all of our drawers. Im not waiting to let an accident happen. We all picked up some sidewalk chalk since its getting nice out! He is now passed out napping. Around noon I left for the ultrasound and my OB appt. The ultrasound went great, the baby weighs 12ounces right now, and has "big bones" according to our doc. Since I have Sjrogen's syndrom they had to take additional pictures of the brain and heart, which both were completely normal. And since im on the lupus med Plaquenil, additional pics of lips and nose to rule out cleft lip and palate. Our baby boy is perfect, im measuring about 1wk ahead of my due date, and an average due date due to his size is Sept 1st, which happens to be Derek's grandpa's bday. My boys sure do favor being born on their grandfather's bday! Wouldnt that be something, Dreycin born on his papa Doss' bday and Baby #2 born on his Gpa DeLaVega's bday! Our little boy was turning and twisting so much that we couldnt catch a glimpse to see the gender! He is active, but still not as active as Dreycin was! I have to say I was completely fooled, I totally thought that since this pregnancy was so different from the first I was having a girl. Everything from food cravings, to less morning sickness, to feeling like I was carrying this baby wayyyyyy lower. Im so thankful that our baby is healthy, and in a way it is a blessing that I get to use all of Dreycin's stuff again! I already am thinking about going through all of it, and went and did some shopping this morning for baby #2. We think we are going to stick with the D's, Derek already has a D boy name picked out. And I already bought the crib off of craiglist, for 1/2 the price that it is in store. IT looks brand new, a few scratches but it looks so good....and it converts to a toddler bed, then full size bed! We have no idea what kind of bedding yet, I thought something with the sea, Derek likes a dragon/prince/swords/shields theme. We'll see! But I think Derek can take the lead with this baby!

Here are a few pics of Dreycin's surgery, baby # 2 and the crib we bought!

April 13th

IS going to be a BIG day for us. That morning at 630am we have to be at the outpatient hospital for Dreycin's surgery for ear tubes. His surgery is actually at 730am, and supposedly it will take less than 10min. Basically the dc gave us 3 options, 1.another 2-3wks of a semi powerful antibiotic (bc he is allergic to amoxicillin) 2. let nature run its course to see if the body will heal, but more than likely we would end up with another infection, with fevers and more fluid build which = more hearing loss or 3. tubes surgery.
Now if we had more time, I would probably see if maybeI could do some alternative health treatments rather than jumping to surgery, but as of right now the hearing test concluded that Dreycin's right eardrum does not move at all to sound, and the left one is "kind of" responding to sound. And the fact that we are catching this early enough, that it does not put a huge delay in his speech development.....so for now surgery is the only option for us. along with surgery, we went and ahead and went to a pediatric chiropractor today, who adjusted Dreycin and recommended that after the surgery start him on a probiotic. Couple of interesting things she mentioned.
1. yogurt probiotics are not permanent, once we "dispose" what we have eaten the probiotics are no longer in our body
2. Kids lollipop probiotics are a bad idea, because probiotics should never be paired with sugar
3. The probiotic she recommended was liquid, adding a dropper to his juice or by mouth if he would take it. (BTW Dreycin is an excellent medicine taker, he's been a trooper through all th antibiotics!)
4. Kids with recurrent ear infections/fluid in ears should try a no dairy diet, which we do not use cow's milk for Dreycin we only use rice or almond milk because he could not stomach the cow milk. he does eat cheese, eggs, but isnt a fan of cottage cheese or yogurts. She recommended we try it for 1month, because cheese and dairy products make the immune system weaker and work harder, and the body makes more mucous and drainage. Now in some of her patients she in addition to no dairy, recommends a gluten free diet. She mentioned that it is very hard to find natural whole wheat without additives, preservatives, etc. and gluten seems to be also something that makes the immune system weaker. This may not be a bad idea for me to do, but i LOVE cheese......maybe later on? Now i know some people dont believe in alternative health, but I believe that it is just going to provide my little man with a clean 360 bill of health. I will do anything for him. And in turn, i know it has helped me with my lupus, and even Derek with his back. There is so much knowledge behind eastern medicine, and I learn a little bit in each part of the USA. Which brings me to our next big news......

                                                We finally have orders!

We are going to Albany, GA (which has just gotten a super walmart) but upside is that we are 3hrs from Destin! WAHOO!!! and about 50miles from the nearest beach! Derek will resume his job as mechanical engineer at the Marine Corps Logistics base, basically they repair any and all vehicles that have been damaged. I doubt I will find work there, which is ok because we may only be there for about 1yr until Derek gets out. He may extend for a 1yr or so to finish his bachelor's degree (he is at  81 credits right now). Im just going to soak in a new adventure of our new temporary home, and being a stay at home mommy. There is only 1 hospital, and 1 high risk OB. which Im not one who doesnt like choices, but I guess I have to go with it. Our orders actually came 1month early for May 1st! But Derek does not have to report until May 31st, and begins work that following day. Unfortunately because of all these turn of events, we wont be getting to come home for the month of June. Derek will already be working, and i will be busy setting up new docs for me and Dreycin. We arent having much luck in the housing area, we have only found a couple of places one of which is a 3bdrm townhome/apt complex in Leesburg, GA about 16minutes from Albany. Not exactly what we were hoping for, but will do for a year or so. And the waiting list for base housing is  6mos-1yr. On May 17th we are leaving Louisville, Kentucky road tripping 10hrs to GA. It has been such a wonderful experience for us here. We were engaged here July 4th, 2006. We gave birth to our son Nov 9, 2009. Louisville, Ky has given us a place to call home for almost 3years.

Oh, and the afternoon of April 13th Im going to our sono, alone because Derek needs to stay home with Dreycin after his surgery. Kind of sad about that, wish someone was going with me. But ill just take the flip with me and record the whole thing for Derek and Dreycin to see. PINk or Blue!??!

This weekend is my last weekend to work for the psychiatric hospital, I figured now would be the best time to stop since we are only a few weeks away from our move and our Texas trip. Over the last few months I have been slowly packing boxes, but now is crunch time! I went and bought 4 big storage bins from Target (on sale) and plan to fill them with anything I can! We plan to have the military come get our large items to move(w&d,beds,couches,dining room,desk,dressers,etc) on May 16th.

What a busy month ahead we have......thank goodness me and dreycin are gonna get a little break to visit family and friends!

You said WHAT??

Today Dreycin and I went for an ear re-check, to see if the damn ear infection had cleared up with the 3rd round of antibiotics. Well........they did an ear test, and after the doc informed me that there was still a fluid build up he told me that the ear test showed that Dreycin is starting to have hearing loss. In the right ear, his eardrum did not move at all to sound and his left ear barely did what it was suppose to do. So this thursday we go to a Ear nose and throat specialist, to more than likely get tubes recommended from what our Ped said. With all this the hardest part is going through all this alone, the repeated dr's appts always alone. Derek can never get off because of his work, and the military could care less about the "families." So today I called Derek crying (you know because of my pregnancy hormones) telling him I didnt care what he had to tell his boss but he was coming to this appt with me....I feel so bad for Dreycin, that he is having to go through this. And I plan to go into this appt asking for the most aggressive treatment, to get Dreycin back on track not only with his ears but also his speech. Ive noticed that he doesnt say complete words, just the beginning and sadly Ive only heard Dreycin say Mommy 1x. He also only does jibber jabber, but a few months ago he was saying full words. And lately he whines alot, instead of using words. I was reading online and it said that kids with fluid in their ears, makes them feel like they are hearing everything underwater. Poor guy, and I can just admit now that my son since he has been sick "sometimes" still sleeps with his mommy and daddy. It was just too much sleep loss for me and derek during the sick time and he felt bad so I wasnt gonna make him sleep alone :( So now we are in transition of sleep training once again, but yesterday afternoon he took a 2hr nap with me in our bed. Anyways, no update on our move. But im now 18wks, and only 1 more week until we have our big ultrasound!