Boys, Boys, Boys!

It’s a boy! Exactly one week late, the newest addition of our family arrived. At 9 lbs 12 oz, he is a big bundle of joy. The big boy loves his baby brother and has adjusted to his new role as a big brother quite well. About an hour after birth, we were taken to our hospital room where a nurse walked in, introduced herself and immediately noticed my red hospital issued allergy bracelet. She looked at it, and commented “I just had a sausage with peanut butter sauce, it was delicious". Keeping in mind that I literally just delivered a baby, I was doing my best to be polite and calm. I explained to her that I am severely allergic, and that I would prefer if she not touch, or be near me considering she just ate peanut butter. She looked at me blankly, and asked when my last allergic reaction was and what exactly happens to me. I told her, and she came closer to me to check the IV. I explained that she should not take it personally, but that I would be more comfortable with a different nurse who has not eaten peanut butter. She continued to hover, and question me, and at this point I was starting to lose it. I politely explained that I would prefer to not continue this conversation. That I just had a baby, I am not comfortable with her, and that I simply want a new nurse. She returned with another nurse who introduced herself as the head nurse for the evening, and with all do respect she was just as useless. She just couldn’t understand why I would want a new nurse. For whatever reason, she was talking about the breakfast menu and how they will ensure it will accommodate my allergy. I told her I have no intention of eating any hospital food anyways, and that this has nothing to do with the food, I simply requested a new nurse because the current nurse had told me she just ate something with peanuts and I didn’t want her to touch or be near me with or without gloves. She then drilled me with allergy questions and my allergy history until I interjected and asked why my request was so difficult and could not simply reassign me to someone else. She finally agreed, and a new nurse was assigned. I was so frustrated that both these nurses just didn’t seem to “get it”. They are health care professionals, I would have assumed they would understand the severity of an allergy and be more understanding towards the situation, especially to someone who just delivered a baby. This experience was a reminder that I must always advocate for myself and be assertive when necessary. :) J.

Someone to worry about

First I would like to apologize for not posting in quite some time. Truth is, I have been busy preparing for the boy’s baby brother or sister who was set to arrive this week but is already fashionably late. The past few weeks have been busy with the boy’s 3rd birthday, wrapping up a renovation project, organizing stuff for the baby, and enjoying some me time. I look back at this pregnancy, and appreciate how much more relaxing it was compared to the first time around when we had just moved into our house, I was attending a post-masters certificate program, I was working in a reassignment job that I hated, and I was literally seeing private clients until 4 days before my due date. This time, I have been off on preventative leave and it did not take long to embrace the non working lifestyle. Don’t get me wrong, I love my job and there were days that I was bored and honestly missed the hustle and bustle, and intellectual stimulation. There is however something to be said about taking my time in the morning to hang with the boy, and having the freedom and flexibility to do groceries during the day without any time constraints is a luxury unlike anything else! In just a few days my life will be completely chaotic again, but I have done my best to prepare for the storm. My freezer is full, and I have at least a 2 months supply of diapers and baby products to avoid those last minute outings I remember all to well from 3 years ago with a shrieking boy who hated his car seat and seemed to be hungry at every intersection on the island! I know I have 6 more months until the baby is introduced to his or her first taste of food, however I am already thinking the worst. The only preventative measure I can take is that I plan to exclusively breastfeed this baby for at least 9 months like I did for the boy, and when he was introduced to formula at 10 months he was given Nutramigen (this brand was recommended by an allergist). I can only hope we will be so lucky to have 2/2 without any allergies. We have still not introduced the boy to peanuts, but since the blood test came back negative I am no longer too worried. Now that he is 3, we are ready to introduce and have a whole plan in place to take him for brunch at a restaurant across the street from the hospital just in case. So, I will do my best to update the blog regularly and I will keep everyone updated. I may even have to rename the boy for the purposes of the blog if I have another boy! : ) J.