My life goings on-Superman makes his debut!

This week has been a crazy one. Thursday night my contractions started to get closer together at around 7:30. I have a high tolerance for pain but they got so bad that I was crying and could not get comfortable. I tried getting demerol but it didn't relieve the pain. My nurse checked my cervix twice and there was no change. They thought I had an infection in my uterus so they drew my blood to test it. Finally at 4:15 am the nurse came back and said my white count was high so she was hooking me up to antibiotics which should slow down the contractions. She checked my cervix one last and I was finally dilated-to 4-5cm. She rushed me to labor and delivery. They prepped everything and gave me the epidural at 4:50. The nurse checked me again and I was fully dilated and ready to push. After 1 single push Castan Bradlee Bastian Brown made his appearance at 5:03 am. He weighed a whopping 1lb 12oz and is 14 in long. They got him over to the heat lamp and he immediately started crying. This was amazing as they didn't think his lungs would be developed at all. They laid my little superman on my chest and he whimpered like a little puppy. Castan has done so well!! He was taken off of the ventilator yesterday. His jaundice is going down. He has had no issues with breathing. My little guy is astounding everyone!!! Hopefully tomorrow he will be taken  off the bili light. Well time for me to go to bed so I can get up early to go see him.

420

This article is about a 4:20 celebration in Colorado. This celebration had gone on in the past. On average 10-12000 people had attended. This year was a different story. The police closed the campus to outsiders and put a fish based fertilizer down to disuade people from gathering. There were still people in attendance. Before the event happened 3 students were arrested. At the normal 4:20 time a man tried to rally the crowd to start the smoke off as usual but then ducked under the tape and took off across campus. This year it seemed no one got their smoke on.

I don't understand why they changed things. I am not a pot smoker. I don't care for it. However I don't see what the reasoning was. They let the rally happen in the past with no problems yet all of the sudden they decided not to this year? I don't think everyone should run out and be stoned 24/7 but I don't see what pot hurts. The people I know who smoke are all very calm and laid back. They never hurt anyone and don't like confrontation. No one has died of a marijuana overdose. Yet it's illegal. Whereas people die from alcohol poisoning all the time. There are drunk drivers. Alcohol causes aggression. But it's legal. Makes no sense to me.

My life goings on-not so hot

So Tuesday my water broke. As some of you may have read I am not due until July 4th. They gave me steriods to help develop his lungs and antibiotics to decrease my risk of infection. I was having contractions every 20-30 mins when I first got in but they have stopped. I am in the hospital until I have Castan. Wednesday I talked to the neonatologist here in the NICU. He gave Cas a 10% chance to live. If he was a normal 29 weeker he would have an 80-85% chance but because his disorder made him extra small his lungs will be extra small. The doctor was very compassionate and explained to us the options we have when Cas is born. He said he will do water we want him to even if he thinks it isn't helping Castan any.

My daughters are not handling all of this very well at all. Especially my oldest. She cried so hard at church Wednesday night that her teacher had to get my step mom to take her home early. I asked her Thursday why she had cried. Her little lip started quivering and her eyes filled with tears when she said "because I was worried about you and if Castan is going to be sick and have problems." I felt like my heart was shattering. This 7 year old little girl of mine was worried about me and her baby brother. She should be trying to sneak candy or worrying about what dress to wear. So I explained the options that the doctor gave us. I asked her and my 5 year old daughter if they would rather we just spend whatever time we have with Castan and just let him go to heaven so he wouldn't be sick or if they wanted us to try to fight to keep him alive. Both of them immediately said they wanted us to fight for him. I told them that's what we plan to do but that the doctor said if we see that Cas wasn't going to make it that they could say goodbye to him. My baby girl said "good that's all I care about because I didn't get to say goodbye to my other brother before he died." This is all so heartwrenching. I hate that my girls are having to go through all this turmoil again. They are so young yet are acting like little adults. I hope everything is ok for their sakes.

Underwear bomber

This article is about the terrorist known as the "Underwear Bomber".  Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab was convicted of trying to bring down a plane with a bomb in his underpants on Christmas Day 2009.  The plane had 289 passengers.The 25 year old plead guilty in October and was sentenced to life in prison in February. He has been moved to the FBI's Supermax prison in Colorado.

This world just gets scarier every day. Every time I turn around I hear about another terrorist. I personally don't see how someone would want to sacrifice their lives to kill a bunch of innocent strangers. I guess I will never understand. I am thankful I was not raised in that kind of environment. My parents weren't all that great but at least I can go through life knowing that I have no desire to kill another person.

My life goings on-just a contest

So my sister in law thought she would be nice and enter me in a contest to win a very beautiful ring. This contest is about a struggle the contestants have gone through. My sister in law posted one of my maternity pictures and told my story of losing my first son and now going through the problems with Castan. At first I thought this contest was awesome. There are some incredibly touching stories. Then the owner of the business hosting the contest started changing the rules. She allowed some contestants to post pictures of their deceased babies while not allowing others. This started a huge controversy with a loss support group I have joined because there were several moms on their who were denied their pictures. One poor mom was denied even though the picture was of her baby boy's feet! And the picture had been taken when he was still alive. I tried to defend that mom because there were pictures of other babies. Instead of allowing the baby's feet the owner made the other moms take theirs down. I asked to be taken out of the contest because it was unfair but she hasn't taken my picture down. Even though I am currently in second place I just don't feel right participating. I think if I win a prize I will give it to the mom who was denied. I just think it is so sad how some people bend things to suit what they want.

She just wants to win!

This article is about how sports and pageants are starting to allow transgender people enter them. It discusses how Jenna Talackova started taking hormones at 14 then had a sex change at 19. Her dream has always been to compete in the Miss Universe pageant even though there are pageants specifically for transgenders and transvestites. After originally being denied Donald Trump decided to go ahead and let Jenna participate. Jenna is trying to have the rule that you have to be a "naturally born woman" removed. The rule has been dropped in alot of highschool sports. The main concern is that males who become females still have testosterone which is banned. According to Jenna there is a testosterone suppressant that they can take which will allow them to participate.

I say go for it. I don't think it should matter if they are "naturally born" or not. In the end they have made themselves women and are treated as such in every other matter. So why not let them participate in pageants as well? I personally would never get a sex change. Guys are too smelly. (Only kidding fellas.) But I say too each their own. If one of my daughters chose to have a sex change I would support her. Sure it would be difficult and confusing but I think everyone should be allowed to make their own choices.

My life goings on-Waiting

This week my girls have decided to misbehave nonstop. Normally they are really good but lately they have me pulling my hair out. On top of that my son is causing problems. I have bad some bleeding and contractions. I had to go to the Labor and Delivery unit last night because of the bleeding. Turned out I am already dilated 1 cm but I wasn't having contractions so they sent me home with some sleeping pills. I just can't wait until July so we can get our life situated again. All of this waiting and not knowing what to expect is going to make me crazy.

Manson nutty?

Charles Manson is to be reviewed to see if he should be moved to a psychiatric hospital. His lawyer says that he has never even met Manson. He is unsure if Manson will even come to the hearing. Manson is now 77 years old. Originally Manson was sentenced to death for the murder of Sharon Tate and 6 others. Manson has been denied parole 11 times. He hasn't shown up for a parole hearing for 15 years.

I don't know much about the Manson family murders. I've never read the "Helter Skelter" book and the murders happened long before I was born. But this guy had to know what he was doing. I don't think he had mental issues. I think he was a messed up man but I don't think he should be able to just go into a psychiatric hospital. He should either have to stay in prison for life or follow through with the life penalty. Everyone should have to pay for their crimes.

Did these people even read?

This article is about the new movie The Hunger Games. It hit $300 million this past weekend. Alot of people are not liking the fact that there are races other than white as characters in the movie. People have been tweeting that they can't believe some of the characters are black. Alot of people think that white people are the default.

This infuriates me. Not only are people being racist and ignorant but are showing that they haven't read the books. Both Thresh and Rue were described as being "dark" with characteristics of African American people. I think it's so stupid that people can be so low as to talk bad about the characters just because of the color of their skin. If they do a good job as the character and they are described as not being white in the books why does it matter if they aren't white in the movie? I just have never understood racism. It's so pointless.

Does your baby have stinky peepee?

This article discusses why a baby's urine may smell. If a baby has a fever and smelly urine it may be a sign of a UTI. Bacteria from the intestines entering the urine could be the cause of the smell. If the UTI is not taken care of it can cause kidney problems. Other things can cause urine to change smell. Diabetes makes urine smell sweet. Different food can change the smell of urine as well as different medicines. If there is a stench you are unsure of you should bring it up to the pediatrician.

Now I don't go around smelling my kids' diapers when they are babies. I have always hated cheerios because I think baby urine smells like them. I found the article interesting though since I am about to have another baby who is expected to have some issues. I knew that fever and fussiness could be a sign of a UTI since my oldest had one when she was a couple of months old. However when she had hers I don't recall it smelling any different than normal. Guess I will keep my nose alerted when I have Castan.

Higher numbers

This article is stating that America as a whole is more obese than we think. The BMI numbers that we use now don't take into account the percentage of fat on a person's body. It also doesn't show how healthy a person really is. New York's state commissioner thinks the BMI numbers that indicate obesity should be lowered from 30 to 24 for women and 28 for men. The BMI shows a less accurate measurements for women because we lose muscle tone quicker than men.

I have never liked the BMI thing. Even when I was a teenager it considered me obese. I'm not saying I am in great shape but I think I am far from obese. I have always weighed more than I look. To take a number like the BMI and say I am obese because of my weight is ridiculous to me. They need to test other things to find out if a person is healthy. Muscle does weigh more than fat and there are people I know who are mostly muscle yet they are considered obese. I hope that changes are made to the BMI or get rid of it completely.

My life goings on-Feeling more hopeful

Since I had my second opinion last Tuesday I have done alot of research on my son's disorder. He actually has a chance to live. He will probably have a lot of physical and mental disabilities. I joined a support group of other moms with children that have the disorder. They have given me hope that Castan will be ok. This disorder is very rare. Full blown Triploidy only happens in 2% of pregnant women. Castan has Mosaic Triploidy. There are only 41 cases of Mosaic including mine in the world. I have been talking to some of the moms and have started to prepare myself for a long road. My main worry is the way my daughters will handle it. My older 2 have dealt with the loss of their first brother so they already know what might happen. My 2 year old doesn't understand at all. She just can't wait for her brother to get here. Just going to keep hoping that Cas will be ok.