Memorial Day in the ER

Do you know how busy the ER gets on holidays? I do. Yep. I know, shocking, isn't it. A member of my family in the ER?! If you are at all surprised by this...you haven't talked to me in a LONG time. Keep in mind, this list doesn't include the thousands of near misses we've experienced. Let's reminisce, shall we?

1. A in ER in middle of night for infection after c-section with baby #1 (aka Ty).
2-4. T in ER for various construction related accidents (i.e. nail through thumb, nail through foot, nail through ear, etc.).
5. Ty in ER with RSV when he was two.
6. C and the papershredder (see previous posts, no one wants to rehash this one).
7. K with broken femur at 5 months.
8. K with broken nose at 9 months.
9. K with stitches in her eyebrow at 14 months (do we detect a pattern?).
10. T breaks ribs biking at Sundance.
And now, our latest addition:
11. C comes careening out onto my parents deck at breakneck speed and trips into the little kid table. He caught the corner of it right in the middle of his forehead. Luckily, no stitches this time. Just good old super glue and steri-strips.

I think I have figured out the problem. You see, I am a klutz, a big one. I married a daredevil; he'll try anything once. This means our children are fearless and clumsy, a dangerous combo to be sure. :)

HCg Q & A:

Okay, I've never had that many emails and comments about a post before. So, to answer some questions.

HCg is a pregnancy hormone, but it doesn't make you feel pregnant. It's the hormone that makes your body feed baby first and you second, so fat gets burned first, not stored, and you use up your "reserves."

Second question, nope, no pics yet. I hated getting my pic taken in college when I was sort of skinny, I like it even less now. We'll see, maybe later.

Thirdly, while I admit that HCg is good whether you are trying to lose 15 lbs. or 300 lbs., it is not for everyone. It can be discouraging, especially for women because during the mid to end section your weight will tend to wavier up and down slightly or you will stall. It stinks, but I realized that even though the scale wasn't dropping, the inches still were. Also, you really have to be truly ready to change your eating completely and STICK TO IT! Commitment is key. NO CHEATING, not even a little, or it doesn't work. I prefer to think of it as, "I won't eat that," instead of, "I can't eat that." Plus, even if you just want to lose that last stubborn 15 from the baby or whatever, you still have to complete the entire course. You would probably lose that in the first two weeks, but you would still have to finish the course (another 4 weeks) or it will come right back. However, it is fast. I would much rather do this over 6-8 months than try the traditional 2-3 years it would probably take me.

Fourth question, a little personal, you know who you are... Yes, T loves it. Nothing like massive weight loss to make your hubby remember how cute you are! :) He has been very supportive. He makes dinner a lot because I have days where I really don't want to look at other food. Plus, I would never let him buy clothes for me before because it was just too embarrassing. I am at a size now where I am okay with it. Not thrilled, but okay, and I'll get there.

Fifth question. Yes, you can gain it all back, if you revert to starches and fats and all that lovely stuff. Eventually, I will be able to eat what I want, but I also know what it will do to me and how hard I will have to work to burn it off. And that M&M is just not worth is to me anymore.

Good luck! Let me know if you try it, or what other stuff has worked for you! Thanks for all the support. I love you guys too.

The Incredible Shrinking Me

So, I've had about a dozen people ask me in the last little while what I am doing to lose weight, so here's the scoop:

I am doing HCg. I know, it totally sounds crazy, but it works. I've had two cousins do it (one is a nurse) and they look great. One wanted to lose about 30 lbs., the other about 20 lbs. I look better, but not great yet. To sum up, you give yourself injections everyday, eat very specific foods (only 500 calories a day, but a lot of food, veggies, lean protein, and good ole water), and lose on average a lb. a day.

When I first started, I was losing between 4-6 lbs. in a day, which is great motivation to not cheat. The down side is it can be really expensive, so shop around and find a DOCTOR who does it. I've seen some places that charge $1000 a round! My doctor was $495 the first round, and $100 off each additional round. The $ is also a motivation for me not to cheat (I don't can't afford to waste it).
It sounds scary, but as long as you don't cheat, it works; plus it really teaches you what you should and shouldn't be eating, and how your body works with food. I'm on my second round and I will definitely do one more. It's a hormone, so your body levels off and won't allow you to lose more than you should. A round lasts about 47 days and you have to take about a 4-6 week break inbetween so you don't become immune to the hormone.

I know, you're thinking you would starve to death on 500 calories a day, but it really is a lot of food and the hormone injections keep you from being hungry. I actually have to remind myself to eat, because if you don't get in your calories and water it doesn't work. The best part is you lose weight evenly all over your body, so no weird, uneven fat places, and you lose every day (as long as you don't cheat, have I said that enough times?). Since mid-January, I've lost 66 lbs. I'm hoping to hit 80 before my last injection in two weeks. You lose a little less each round, so I'm hoping I'll only do one more round, but we'll see.

It is not an easy fix. It is hard and temptation is all around, but it is working for me. You just have to be completely committed and ready to change. :) So drink lots of water and eat your veggies!

Not one for bike riding, but.....

I could totally change my mind. This is cool!

Click on it for me! I never win anything, but you never know. Maybe today is my lucky day, or possibly yours....

6th pic in 6th folder

Okay Roseanne, here you go. This is not exactly the most pleasant topic, so if your squeamish, read no further. My 6th pic file contains pics of C after he put his hand in a paper shredder. He was 18 months old, and nope, I'm not even close to kidding, A PAPER SHREDDER. It was horrible and traumatic, and he cried every time someone in scrubs came near him for the next year. Had I known it was possible to put him out while the doctor put over thirty stitches in his three tiny fingers, I would have. It took more than an hour with me and two other nurses holding him down. He had to have the mitt for about a week. C still pulls on his fingers every now and then and says they feel funny. His fingernails are damaged and he has some scars, but we were very lucky. His fingers are all there and they all work. Ahhhhh, memories..... So take the challenge! Look in your 6th folder and pull out the 6th picture and post it! See what you come up with!

Discovery Gateway Giveaway!

Check it out. We love Discovery Gateway!
http://www.becausebabiesgrowup.com/

Rise and Shine!

I am still laughing! This afternoon I asked Ty to go get something for me and he said he couldn't because his legs were asleep. Without missing a beat, C hops up, runs over to Ty, grabs his knees and yells, "Wake up legs! It's daytime!" My boys definitely keep us smiling.

Vaseline Update

So the greasey girl is once again greaseless. She's blue now, but at least the Vaseline is gone. I don't know what I am going to do now that she can get into literally every cupboard in the house, short of leashing her to the couch or something! So the Vaseline washed out after about three days. The morning I really felt like it was out, she climbed back onto the counter, got back into the cupboards and this time, raided the food coloring. Blue dye on the counter, on the cabinets, on the calendar, the wall, and of course, on the girl. Her khaki pants are no long with us. May they rest in peace in the landfill. Pictures to come...

I vaguely remember a song about Vaseline....

So....did you know that Vaseline is almost impossible to wash out of hair? Yesterday, C and K were eating lunch before C went to school. I ran upstairs to flat iron my hair really quick. After about two minutes C comes upstairs and tells me that K has white stuff all over. I run downstairs expecting flour or sugar or salt everywhere (we all know K likes to climb in the pantry). Nope, nothing in the pantry. Just K with a bar stool pushed up to the counter (did I mention that K knows how to climb up on the bar stools now!) next to our fridge with all the cupboards open and a jar of Vaseline next to her. I wish I'd taken a pic, but I literally had about five minutes to get her cleaned up and get C to school. It was everywhere! I am not supposed to touch stuff like Vaseline right now (which I will not be explaining in this post), so I was scraping the goo off her with paper towels and trying to get it off the walls, the counter, the fridge without getting it on me! Ahhh.....good times, good times..... Anyway, I washed her hair in the sink, ran C to school, K to my neighbors, and then ran to help Ty's teacher at school. Two hours later I come back to get K and her hair still looks wet, but greasy wet. Ugh! I washed it three times yesterday to no avail, once this morning....I'll let you know how it goes.....