Monday, December 14, 2009

Allergic reaction

If you know me well, you know I have suffered with allergies my whole life. But this past weekend I learned I had an allergy I never knew about! It was the night before Sydney's first birthday party and our friends were over playing games with us. During our game I was feeling like I needed to be doing something to prepare, so I got up to find some balloons and started blowing one up. The instant the balloon touched my mouth, I knew something was wrong. My lips started to tingle and get swollen. In the midst of all this, I had rubbed my eyes because they were itching like crazy. Not even realizing that there was a direct correlation to the balloon, I got up to take some claritin thinking my allergies were just bothering me for some reason. I sat back down and just felt awful. In between plays, I sat with my hands in my head because I was getting a headache and was having difficulty breathing. Meanwhile, Steve and our friends had no idea what was even happening to me. My friend said she looked at me and saw that my eyes were a little red but didn't think much of it. She looked down at her cards to make her play and within only 2 minutes when she looked back at me, I looked completely different. My eyes were completely swollen, red and watery, my mouth was swollen and my hand had welts on it!

Steve immediately went to the computer to look up latex allergy once we realized it was from the balloon (not sure why it took me that long to realize it!!) He said I needed to take Benadryl immediately. Of course we didn't have any, so our friend ran down the road to his parents' house to get some from them (it was 10 pm at this point!) Once I took the Benadryl, I began to feel a little better, but for awhile there we were certain we would be making a trip to the ER. Turns out, from what Steve read online, a latex allergy is developed over time, which is why I had never reacted in the past. It's also very serious!

The picture below doesn't do justice to what I looked like when it first happened, since this was post Benadryl, but you get the idea:



I'm just so thankful it happened when our friends were around, who so kindly stayed until after midnight just to make sure I was okay. We played one more game and let our boys watch TV (they were happy!) and they also helped me put together the goody bags for the party the next day. So now I have to go get tested to find out for sure about this new allergy!

Sydney's First Birthday

It's hard to believe it, but Sydney Nicole is One! I remember that day so clearly a year ago. I was sitting at work that morning, feeling a little different than normal. I had a headache, and felt like I was getting a fever. But I didn't feel like I was getting sick, I just didn't feel right. I went into my co-worker/friend's office to talk to her. Immediately she knew I wasn't right either! She said I looked flushed in my face. I decided to go to the local grocery store to take my blood pressure to see if it was elevated. Sure enough it was! Knowing that my OBGYN had told me at the previous appointment to call if my blood pressure went up, I reluctantly called. I was not ready to have this baby yet in my opinion, and I was hoping to have a VBAC instead of a c-section. Of course she told me to come in to see her. After checking my blood pressure at the office again, she told me she felt it was best to go ahead and have the baby that day. Of course secretly I was excited because I was just so ready to have this baby and meet her! A few hours later, Sydney Nicole was born, and we were never the same again...

So this past weekend we celebrated her birthday and had such a great time! Aside from my allergic reaction the night before, everything went off without a hitch!


We had a Christmas/Gingerbread theme, so when the kids first arrived, they decorated Gingerbread cookies.






I had also made a Gingerbread train for the centerpiece on the food table. Those things are not easy to assemble, but it turned out great!



We had chocolate cupakes with Gingerbread men on top!






I think Daddy was explaining to her here that she was supposed to blow out the candle now, and she was saying, "But I can't do that Daddy!"


This was Sydney's first experience with cake and icing. It's amazing to me how different our two children can be. On Carter's first birthday, he cried uncontrollably because he didn't like getting icing on his hands and face! So we braced ourselves to see how Sydney would react...



It was a success!! She loved it!


She was also very willing to share with everyone!




Sydney also loved opening up the gifts! She got such fabulous gifts from her friends and family!

Daddy did a great job helping her along.




A year later, we are so blessed by our sweet Sydney Nicole! She brings us such joy every day and couldn't imagine life without her!













Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Ages 6 and up...

That's what the outside of the box of this 100 piece puzzle said. Carter has become obsessed with puzzles (just like his Daddy and his math mind) and can put the 48 piece puzzles together in his sleep. We had a puzzle contest between Carter, Mommy and Daddy the other night. The three of us started the same type of puzzle at the same exact time. Of course Daddy finished first, but guess who got second? Carter beat Mommy by a landslide! So he borrowed this 100 piece puzzle from his older friend who is 5 to see if it would challenge him more. After a few tries, he put it together all by himself within 30 minutes, no help at all! Can you tell I'm proud?! :)




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I am a homeschooling mom to four. I just had a VBAC after 3 c-sections this year after I was told I no longer had the choice by my first Doctor. I am a childbirth instructor for Birth Boot Camp. My first class starts January of 2013!