Thanks Friends

It has been a long time since I have last posted. This has been due to a very sick little newborn baby. Blake couldn't stop kissing her and being that he had a goopy nose, he transferred his sickness to her and kazaam she ended up with bronchilitis, double ear infections, and constant barfing, all at the ripe old age of 2 weeks. We visited the doctor 4 days last week. I am happy to report that she is doing better and regaining all the weight she lost. I was pretty much a basket case all week last week.
Anyway, this experience reminded me just how grateful I am for good friends and family who truly care. I was overcome with emotion by the kindness of those around me. I have been the recipient of many acts of kindness since she was born.
THANK YOU TO:
My mother who stayed with us for a week after she was born and did everything under the sun to help us including planting pansies in the front yard.
My sister who watched Blake on several occasions and always lends a listening ear. My friend who watched Julia at the visitor's center so we could attend a special 50th anniversary commemoration at the temple on Saturday.
My friend who took Blake in during the middle of the night on our way to the hospital the night she was born and then did tons to help afterwards. And I mean tons!
The many people in my ward who brought yummy meals over after she was born.
The friends who have called, and those who have stopped by to see us.
My sister who is so busy and lives on a different continent who took the time to call to see how Julia was doing.
And most of all my husband, the greatest man I know and the best husband and friend in the whole world.
Thank you to all of you who make such a big difference in my life. You may think it was just a small thing you did, but I truly appreciate your unselfishness. I am so thankful for good friends and family.
And of course I can't resist posting a picture of my little JuJu.

Just in Time for Valentine's Day- Isn't this nice.....

Apparently my husband thought I would get a kick out of this news article he forwarded me the other day. Tell me what you think about it.

Why I hate lactation specialists and other tales from my hospital stay

So we are now a family of 4. I've been enjoying having my Mom stay with us for the past week. She is a true worker bee and has been a great help in every way. I'm sad to see her go today. Hopefully I'll manage.

So I thought I would share some of musings on my hospital stay. Shortly before Julia was born my good friend Anne came to visit from Oregon. Anne is an RN who has worked in various hospitals in 4 states over the past 10 years. I told her that the hospital where I was going to have Julia was kind of old and was currently undergoing construction for a beautiful new maternity wing. Unfortunately for me the wing wouldn't be done for 6 more months. This meant that I might possibly have to share a room with another patient as well as sharing a shower with several patients. Yes you read that right, the hospital currently has two shower rooms in the maternity ward where all the women on the ward have to shower. When I told Anne about this she about died and informed me that never in her years of working as a nurse had she heard of something so horrible as sharing a shower with the whole floor. Moral of the story is -I should have waited to have this baby until this summer in the new wing.
Story #2 Hospital Food. As we all know, hospital food is really horrible. They did however provide me with a menu where I could choose between several "delicious" entrees for each meal. The pathetic part was that out of the 4 meals I "ordered", 3 of them contained NONE of the items I had ordered. And then they had to nerve to give me a questionnaire in which I was supposed to rate their food service. My favorite question was "would you recommend our food to other people?" What kind of question is that? Am I supposed to invite a few friends out to dinner at the hospital cafeteria? Or if a friend is feeling sick am I supposed to recommend that particular hospital because of the food? hmmmmmmmmm........
And finally, my favorite moment-Lactation Nazi Nurse. For me, nursing is a very painful experience the first few weeks. It just is. After that everything gets better and I really enjoy it but at first I really hate it. There is nothing more frustrating than having a visit from the all knowing Lactation Nurse who informed me on several occasions that there was no way I was doing it right because if I was I wouldn't be experiencing any pain. hmmmm...you try having a super sucking device on your nipples for extended periods throughout the day and then you can tell me if it is comfortable at first. When I tried to explain to her that I had nursed Blake for 1 year and had enjoyed it except for the first painful 3 weeks until my breasts accustomed to it she informed me that I must have been doing it wrong and that he had finally figured out how to nurse correctly and that is why it stopped hurting. I was really this close to punching her. But wait, then she spotted the Lanolin on my hospital tray and proceeded to tell me how bad it was to use it because it would take away the smell of my mammary glands and Julia wouldn't know where to root. I thought she was going to take it and throw it away but she just gave it a menacing scowl and walked away.
Needless to say I'm glad I didn't have a C-section where I would have had to stay even longer.
But look what I got at the hospital. I just love her so much I can't stand it.