Slacking is not the term

I have not been on and in a way it feels like slacking, but at the same time I have been focusing on my family. Geo has been doing a lot better and getting so big. He is almost eight months and is crawling, sitting up, and getting into anything he can. SerahAnne is will be four in a month and has been blossoming into a beautiful little lady. She still loves her fancy dresses, purses, and pink. David will be five in 18 days. We are having a small get together the weekend before for him. We can not give him much, but he loves all presents so I'm sure he will be fine. I am also now pregnant with our fourth bundle of joy. I am due the same day Geo was born. So I will have another set just a year apart. I feel very blessed. I do not have insurance still and have found a wonderful midwife that is going to attend my birth at home. We will be finding out what we are having the day of delivery and it will be a wonderful day. Please still keep your prayers and thoughts with us. I hope to be able to keep you updated more now that things are (slightly) calming down.

I know it's been a while

So it came to my attention I have really been slacking so here is a short update. The reason I have been slacking is I have a new job. I am a housekeeper for a family and getting good pay. DH is working on getting a certification to be able to get a good job in his field while he finishes school. Geo is doing very well. He has his two bottom front teeth now, has rolled over from stomach to back, and his colic is starting to get better. Hope you like the update. Hopefully there will be more sooner.

My greatest blessings

The greatest thing that God has blessed me with is my children. While there have been times I have wondered how we are going to make it. And even though I did not plan them all I can not imagine my life with out them. God knew just what I needed and when I needed it. He has been with me and is showing me how to be a good mom, though I always feel I can do better. I am glad that we can just go in their rooms and play and have a great time and they are not upset and disappoint they don't get to go to Pump it Up, Monkey Joes, Chuck E Cheese, the Zoo, and so on. While I take them when I can it is not as often as I know that most kids would like. But I am very grateful that my kids don't mind and love me the same. Thank you God for my blessings.

Which cereal is best

So we ran out of rice cereal and someone had given us oatmeal cereal but we have found that it does not dissolve as well and cakes up the bottle and you have to adjust the nipple. So now I'm wondering which cereal is best. Will the others do differently as well? How many different kinds are there? How are they made? Could they be contaminated with things he shouldn't have? Do you know any of these answers? if so please let me know.

Need more money

I have started babysitting and making a little money that way. And doing some odds and ends but I am still needing more money, to be able to catch up on things and not loose our means of transportation to get the kids to their doctors apts. I have not had luck with KnottyNykki, but I am not going to be taking it down in hopes that something will come of it in time. I am going to start selling Pampered Chef, and hopefully be able to get the rest of the money we need to be able to survive and breathe.

Thoughts of a mom

At the end of it all your kids wont care if they had desinger clothes, was able to take gymnastics, able to go on vacations to the Grand Canyon or Bahamas. They will not care that they stayed at home while others went to the movies, they did not eat pizza every night, or that you were more strict on them than other parents.
In the end all they will care about is you reading to them or watching TV with them. That even when you were tired and wanted to go to bed you cleaned the house so they were not living in filth. That even though dinner was late they got to help you and you taught them how to make their favorite meal. That you taught them how to play using just their imaginatoin and a stick to be able to save the princess and beat the magic dragon.
In the end the only thing your kids will care about is that you loved them and were there for them.

Well it seems to be working

We have had to play around with how much cereal and how much formula to give him at once but he has not vomited since The beginning of the month. I guess that I will not need a second option after all. He has been a little fussy, but I am wondering if it is not because of starting to teeth. I can't believe that he is 3 months old now.

Drs visit update

At the DR today we found out Geo is 15.5lbs! The DR said for us to try a tsp of rice cereal in his bottles to see if it helps with the vomiting. We have also cut back down on the size of the bottles to try and control the reflux.

Geo is sick again

I'm to the point I dont know what to do. Geo has been throwing up than we feed him all day. I have him an apt tomorrow but I'm not for sure they will see him cause they said our bill is so high they need some kind of payment. :(

Adding bows to my repertoire

So since I have not been having as much luck as I would hope for with selling things I have now added bows to my store. I still have lots of bills to pay for Geo and so I hopefully this will help.

So yesterday

I was able to get Geos meds! And he slept from 10pm til 630 am! So nice to be able to sleep for a night.

And last night I finished working on some wool shorties. It was my first time working with somethign other than acrylic and they are so soft.

Praise God!

Praise the Lord God in heaven for hearing our prayers! After making a phone call on Monday to find out about our Medicaid and Food Stamps and they said it was past due so they expidited it to be done by today and let her supervisor know. So I just called them and we are now getting FS and the kids have insurance! Yay! Though I found out that she was still trying to hinder us. The worker didnt order us a EBT card so we were approved but wnt going to have a way to get them. How nice of her. But thankfully I had a nice person that answered the phone and told me how to do everything to get it and get Geos Meds! God is amazing!

Run run away

So our A/C stopped working and while the older kids, DH, and I could run in the water hose, have ice water, and so on it did not help Geo. He was screaming his head off and sweating like crazy just plain miserable. So I called my grandma (the only one with extra room) and asked if we could stay with her till it was fixed. Thankfully she said yes. I called the landlord this morning and hesaid it will probably be tomorrow till he can get it looked at so Im glad we didnt just wait till the morning.

So....

I called to check on the status of the medicaid for the kids and they said it was still pending. I told her I really need to get him seen and she looked up the case and saw it was past time to get an answer so she sent a message to the superviser and said I should know by Friday if I call. So heres for hoping.

Hes finally starting to be a happy baby

Look at that wonderful smile! Now that he has been sleeping well, not vomiting near as much, and pooing we have been able to catch him smiling!

Ugh not again

Just another bump in the road.
So I called Geo's nurse this afternoon to ask about getting a RX for him for the 30$ formula and she said that she could get it for a month but that he would need to be seen before I could get more. I can understand this and except for having no insurance and owing them 1k$ I have no trouble with it. Well I went up there got the RX and went straight to WIC to get the new voucher before it got any later in the month and they start taking some away. Well I get up there and they said it was not the right kind of RX that they have to have one of their forms filled out and used not a real RX. They said they would let me get this one month (Thank You Jesus!) because they know I have been there like 6 times in the last two to three months and trying to get everything right. So now I have to find a way to get to the DR with Geo again before the 26th (his apt date). Medicaid is still not going through or anything and so its not like I can just say oh they will just pick it up. And I def can not afford 30$ a can of formula that doesn't even last 4 days! So hopefully things will get better somewhere.
Oh and please pray for my husband and his family they just laid his grandmother to rest today and she went home to meet Jesus and see her long time love that departed before almost a year ago.

He seems happier

With this new formula. He is almost out of it and I can't afford more so I am going to call the DR tomorrow and see if I can get a RX for it but he is now pooing consistently with out screaming and not vomiting near as much (I think he has only gotten sick once a day since starting it). I am so glad to have a happy baby now. He have been cooing and smiling. Hopefully I can get the RX with no trouble.

Just spent 30$

On formula for Geo. He has thrown up after every feed lately, even with the med change. So i wen tto get him the next level up to see if helps and its 30$ a can! But thankfully he has not thrown up after eatting this time!

Well it's hard

But we out up his crib this weekend. I can't hardly sleep ESP not having an apnea monitor but he seems to sleep a lot better. His first night in it he threw up everywhere right off the bat. Yesterday he didn't but this morning he did again. Then at church he did it again along with choking :(. He was wheezing while he was sleeping at church and I tried moving him around to see it would help some and it did a little but to others it was cute cause he was "snoring". I know they don't know better and if it was just that it would be cute but unfortunately I know better.
On Friday I wennt for my check up after having Geo (wonder how much that will be) and everything seems to be well with me which is good but I come home and while I was gone DHs mom came by and told us his grqndmoer passed just an hour before hand. His grandfather passed not even a year ago and in a way they didn't expect her to make it after that but she was a relatively healthy woman ESP for her age, and she just had two heart attacks back to back and that was it. If I hadn't mentioned it before Geo is named after his grandfather. We never thought he was a girl even with out an u/s but on the way to the hospital we decided if he did end up being a girl he would be named Lillian after his grandmother. So now I almost want to have anothone just to be able to do this, but I know there is no way we can afford another child.
On a good note though I did have someone buy something from my store which is awesome and helpful but I feel bad cause they did not tell me a size and has not answered their email so I have yet to be able to make it :(. Hopefully they will check it soon and before they report me for "not doing it".

Things are supposed to get easier

But it doesn't seem to be going that way for me. 
So Thomas got a letter in the mail the other day from the department of motor safety. And its one of those street camera traffic tickets. When I went to get Geo's antibiotics for his double ear infection I had ran a red light and sure enough there was a camera there. I did not run it on purpose mind you, I was in a neighboring city that I never going to trying to find a certain street to find the store they had called in the medication to, the reason I was going there was because they offered free antibiotics which was great. Well by the time I saw and read the street sign I was in the middle of the intersection and it was already red on my side, GREAT. So now my free antibiotics is 50$ and a spot on my driving record which will raise my insurance rate also. YAY! 
On a good note though we were able to get his crib up last night and he slept by himself. He could/can not stand the bassinet, though every now and then we could get him in it. So most of them time he would sleep in his swing. 
I hope that at some point these apnea/choking spells stop. I feel a little bit better about it since at the hospital last time they taught me infant CPS and Heimlich, but it still does not put my heart at ease. Twice while eating just a moment ago he choked then after words he had the apnea spell. They are still trying to treat it as reflux, but even with increasing the amount of medication it is not helping. If anyone has any advice about this please let me know  I am more than up for help.

I realized I haven't posted

The sale sites so....Check out my sale sites www.hyenacart.com/knottynykki and https://www.facebook.com/pages/Knotty-Nykki/171889822865123 .

Another update

So Geo has been having a rough week. More apnea/chocking spells, more vomiting, and morer not pooing. So I called the dr yesterday to see if I needed to bring him in or what. The nurse spoke with the dr and they are changing his meds. She asked where to call it into so I let her know and said she would do it right after getting off the phone with me. Well I called the pharmacy about an hour or so later to see how much the medication would be and it is 60$! There is no way I can afford this right now. I went out Mon looking for a job and still can't find one. So I'm hoping that some of my homemade things sell so I can get him his medication and help him feel better.

The long story of how I started

My husband got out of the army in Nov. He was injured in Iraq and not able to do the physical things anymore. We moved back to our home town and stayed with my grandma till our taxes came and we could pay for a deposit and rent for a couple of months for a place for ourselves. We moved in and shortly after my husband started school via the GI Bill (they will also give you a housing allowance while you are in school). I applied for TN food stamps and Medicaid since none of us was working and he was denied unemployment because he is going to school and not able to work full time. We were denied all benefits. During the move from our home at Fort Bragg I lost track of DDs birth certificate and we did not have the 24$ to pay for a new one and our children do not have shot records for religious reason so we were denied everything. I tried to call our caseworker over and over and left letters and such for her but she never got back with me so I called the 800 hotline and was told our case is still pending but I could apply for presumptive Medicaid since I was 8 months pregnant at the time. 
Two weeks later I feel in the yard on my stomach on top of ODS in the rain and starting having contractions and pain. ODS ran inside and got DH. He ran out and helped me up. I thought everything was okay and I just needed to rest and things would be fine. But an hour later I was still in pain to stand, bend, or anything but lay down. So we went into the ER and they did a couple of test and thankfully everything was okay and my contractions stopped. 
I went into labor at 7pm a week later (well started having constant contractions) and called my grandma to come to watch the kids at 1am. We got to the hospital at 3am and got checked in about 3:30. They were surprised I was doing so well (or so they said) with my "pain" because I was 5 cms 60% efaced and at station -1. I was not having pain just uncomfortable tightenings (and it was only uncomfortable at the peaks). By 4:30am I was 6cm but same efacements and such. The contractions continued and about 5-5:30 my water broke. They came and checked me again a couple of hours later (my contractions were dying off) and I had went bake down to a 4-5cm they said they thought they still felt some of the water bag that it might be a top leak. They started talking about options to get my labor going (by the way the "on call dr" since I dine thane a dr was a set of residents and one attending) and all was ways to augment labor. I asked about walking, standing, and such and they said no since my water had already broke (they as in the nurse and one resident) when another resident came in to talk to me I asked about walking cause she mentioned it and shie said she would talk to the nurse and attending to make sure but shedidnt have a problem with it. The nurse came back in with an attitude (lol she didn't get her way cause I had an "alternative" friendly attending thankfully) and un hooked me. She said I could walk rightinfrontof my room for 30 mns come and have the baby's heart rate checked and then go for another 30 mins. So I got up and went about my way. On the second time walking I was only out about 8mins and the nurse said I needed to come back to bed that one of the residents had called the dr over the attending dr and she was coming to look at me. It was about 1pm at this time. She came in and checked me said she could feel water bag that it had not broke I just had the top leak and she broke my water with out asking and put in an internal contraction monitor with permission as well. She said my baby is now at risk andI could eier get pit to start having contractions again (even though as soon as she broke my water I had another contraction) or they would take me for a c-section. (My mom had come up to the room about 10am and she was against all my wishes cause the drs know best and labor is to hard for my body to go through alone. And my husband had told me he would not give any input in what to do cause he didn't want me to be upset with what I chose if it was what he suggested.) So here I was alone with no one listening to me and everyone thinking I was crazy for my wishes (esp my nurse who had no bedside manner and thought that pit and an epi was the only way to do it and I should never get out of bed) except the attending and someone went over his head (the nurse said it was a resident but when the attending came in while the head dr was there he asked what was going on and said he was just eating lunch and coming right back [he was mad for what they had done we had already talked about birthing in a differnent position other than on my back, kangaroo wrapping after birth, and all that] and she said well it was time to call her anyway so I let her know what was going on). So I gave in and got the pit, I felt like I had no other choice. Even after all my research, plannng, and everything else everything was going against me and I was losing (by the way the attending didn't come in till after I cave and she out the pit on). I just cried and the drs looked at me asked if the contractions were hurting and I said no and they just all thought I was crazy (at this point it was the residents [all but one, the one that delivered Geo and seemed to really like and appreciate the attending] and head dr). After 45-60 mins the contractions started hurting (like I knew they would cause every time I had it with my others I was in instant pain) and I told the nurse to go ahead and get the epi before it got to bad cause I knew I would not be able to deal with it. I cried the whole time, and my mom and nurse kept asking what was wrong and all I could say was nothing. My husband looked at me with a look saying he was sorry and came and told me that he thinks I made the right choice with what was going on cause he knew neither of us could do with me going through a c-section. It took forever to get the epi done cause between the growing painful contractions and crying it was hard to be still for him to deal with. When we finally got it done my back was hurting really bad to lay down but they said it was all I was allowed to do. It finally started to kick in and I could still feel the pressure of the contractions which I was thankfull for because I couldn't with the other kids. When he got real low I told my mom to call the nurse (she was looking at the monitor cause of course I didn't exist anymore) and she asked why I said I need to push (it was the only time it didn't "hurt". I could feel everything in the canal/pelvis area just not my legs, butt, and abs). The nurse came in followed by the resident and attending then a nurse for baby. They checked me and said my cervix was still postior and on one side I still had half a cm left of dilation. He (the attending the resident was a female) said if they emptied my bladder they think it would make room for the dialatoin and my cervix to move, so they quick cathed and emptied it into a cup and took it out (wt least I didn't constantly have one). He let me have about 5 more ctx and cheek again and said it worked. The nur started yelling at me to push. Then when I was pushing said I wasn't doing it right. She told me don't breath push for 10 and then do it 3 more times. When I tried to do that I almost passed out and went to catch my breath and she yelled at me again. So until the ctx was done I did what she said. Then the dr had me switch how I was laying cause the nurse had argued with him about my delivering anyway but on my back but when he could tell for sure that Geo was facing the wrong way (just like the rest of my kids) he said no we are going to do it this way. She started yelling at me again when the monitor said I was having a contraction to push even though I had no feeling to. I am guessing that the internal came out or something because she stopped yelling at me unless she looked down and saw me pushing and by that point I was determined to ignore her, she was just making things worse, and focusing on the ctx, DH, and the drs. I pushed and breathed and started to feel him crowning. The resident asked if I wanted to feel it to which I told her no, and the attending let her know that I said that I didn't want to do that or hold him to he was clean (I tried with DS1 and almost threw up on him I am just not good with blood and such). I started to push again and felt his face get stuck and started grunting/maybe even screaming cause the pain and as soon as his head passed I felt releif until the DR started yelling for help and more drs. The cord appeared to be wrapped around his neck and that his shoulders were stuck (like with DD) and fear just ran through me. They told me not to push which was hard. Thankfully the cord was just over his should and as soon as they got it loose everything was okay again they said his shoulders weren't stuck and I could push again. Two pushed later he was here. He screamed right away with perfect lungs (both my other children had to have oxygen). They wrapped him up and he went right to sleep. I was not able to hold him for over an hour because my placenta came apart, there was part of the bag of fluid still in, and they thought I had hemorrhaged (thankfully it was right short of one and stopped bleeding by itself). I didn't get an episiotomy, but did have a 2nd degree tear. After I was done with stitching and all i was finally able to hold my sweet 8 lb, 20.5 inch long baby boy, and I again just cried. After everything that went wrong and against my wishes he was healthy and here. 
Geo had not peed in a day and only twice the day before so we called the Dr and he said take him to the childrens hospital. He is very dehydrated. I tried to pump just to find I'm not making even an once every 2-3 hours. So I have been starving my son. He has faithfully been trying to eat and getting nothing. He is hooked to and IV and getting formula to supplement the mesily amount I can pump for him. I am trying eating oatmeal and my husband is going to get me some fenugreek but he might not be a titty baby. To me its devistating and heartbreaking but my husband doesnt quiet get it. We bottle feed ODS so he doesnt see why its so upsetting to me. The main thing that gets me is I am the one that put him in here and in such a bad state. They said we will probably go home Monday but unless my supply goes up by then we will just be doing bottles cause I just got done pumping and its just a quarter of an once. 
He has had a couple of apnea spells where he will stop breathing for thirty or so secs and turn blue head to toe and scare me. We do not have insurance so I have been putting off going to the dr hoping it was just a one pr two time thing but one the fourth time it was just to much so I took him to the Dr. He is concerned and sent us back to the hospital. They said if it's just reflex he will be on a heart monitor because of the apnea but if it's something else we need to know.
While at the hospital they did several test (blood panel, LP [said that sepsis could cause it as well and they don't want it to have crossed over to his brain], EKG, and milk study) and put him on zantec. He did it once in the hospital but not as bad as it had been. He has not done it again since he has been on the meds. I was not able to afford the me so they gave me a voucher four one month but I have to start paying for it next month. 
We went to the follow up the next week and the DR was happy that he had not had another episode. But he now has a double ear infection. They sent me to Shnucks because they give free antibiotics and I was able to see the DR at least. They saw us despite the lack of insurance and we have to figure out a way to pay them. 
I went for an interview for insurance (Medicaid) this week and the lady said that she still thinks we should not get insurance and she will fight my appeal if it comes back that we get it because they do not know what they are talking about. 
I got a letter today from the appeal saying that the ruling is that the caseworker did not do her job and she should contact me by phone and mail and basically do her job and go back to the file date and resubmit it. So I'm not sure where we stand anymore. 
So now that we have 20k$ in hospital and DRs bills I am trying to sell some of the things that I can crochet and such to help pay for these bills. All profits will go directly to the bills that have been acquired.