Potty Potty Potty

  Okay let me give updates on everything.

Ceaghan is his undies!

    Ceaghan is doing great with potty training. We introduced these cute little underwear with his favorite characters. We assumed that this would be a good idea and that he would do even better due to not wanting to pee on them. However it slightly backfired. He was holding his urine for a very long time until he uncontrollably leaked some out and then would try and run to the potty. We would ask him if he had to go and he would get really angry and yell "NO!" We had to make him realize that if he took them off to go potty that he COULD put them back on. He doesn't wet while napping or sleeping at night and is getting somewhat used to the underwear. We still have accidents but not often. He really surprised us last night while taking a bath. He asked twice to get out of the tub to go pee on the toilet! I just assumed he would pee in the tub if he had to go, but he really understands now that the toilet/potty is where you go.

Tummy time!

  As far as how EC is going, it's even surprising me how well its going! Last time I was talking about how we were just learning her cues and patterns and that it was barely part time at that point. Well now it is definitely a full time thing. I just cant go back to letting her sit in a diaper. Sure we do have misses sometimes but I am still aware of her needs and making a conscious effort, so I say that is full time. If I was putting her in a diaper part of the day and just ignoring her cues and letting her "fill" it up then I would say that is part time. I have even been changing her out during nighttime. She doesn't usually pee while sleeping. She will wake up to nurse and have a full bladder. She fusses a lot and then releases it. I am trying to figure out the best way to catch it. Right now I will have her in prefolds and a belt and change them out. Its pretty easy because she only wakes up every 4 hours or so and after latching back on, goes right back to sleep. The biggest problem is that I dont usually wake up all the way, so then I forget to change it out. I just switch boob sides and drift back to sleep. I have found that during the day she really has a toilet preference. I have also noticed that usually when I have to go, she has to go. We sit on the toilet together ( I sit in the back of it and have her sitting between my legs) and as soon as I go, it cues her to go. She will go in our little potty bowl but doesn't seem to like it as much as the regular toilet. I think because its not as comfortable. Her potty bowl has a plastic edge that must be bothering her. We seem to have gotten into a rhythm and we dont have many misses now. It is really annoying having to snap on and off her diapers, so I have ordered some trainers and in the mean time I like to have her in a prefold/belt or I use those bloomers that you get with dresses with a cotton doubler inside to catch 1 miss if it happens. My mindset has changed so much that I dont think I could go back to doing diapers full time. This is going so well and its awesome!

Hey you!

  I have been doing the vitamin D regimen for 3 weeks now. I take my pill every morning and I feel alert and normal. I have noticed a few pounds of weight loss but nothing significant yet. At least I am not gaining anymore! The biggest thing I have noticed is that I have a normal appetite now and I actually am satisfied for a duration of time after eating. It wasn't like this at all before, I could eat large amounts, constantly throughout the day and never feel full or satisfied. I always felt hungry and constantly thought about food. I knew this was happening but could not control it. I hope this normal appetite stays after I am done with the supplement regimen.

I am deficient in sunlight.

 I am deficient in the sunshine vitamin; Vitamin D. I first found out about it during my pregnancy with Cesilee. I was feeling extremely tired and just not right. My dr.google search led me to articles explaining how vitamin d deficiencies were a serious problem among pregnant/breastfeeding mothers. I was doing both. I researched more about it and realized that being a vegetarian and not getting  outside enough (it was winter in the midwest) put me at high risk. I discussed my concern with my midwife at the time and she ordered a blood test to check my levels. The results came back at 34 and normal is between 30-100 or 35-100 depending on your source. She blew it off as not a big deal but knowing that having this deficiency during pregnancy can lead to complications, I decided to take a supplement. I wasn't very researched on it and the midwife told me not to take more than 1,000 ius, I decided to start taking 800ius thinking that would help.
   Now lets fast forward a bit to my current situation. I gave birth to my beautiful girl Cesilee 4 weeks premature (due to pPROM) on December 29th, 2011. She is perfect and healthy and doing great. I however have been feeling progressively worse since the birth. I have frequent headaches, fatigue, and weakness. The biggest thing I noticed is that I didn't lose ANY of the pregnancy weight (30lbs) and I even started gaining more weight rapidly. I was eating pretty well, exercising, and nursing two babies; how was I not losing weight?  I just dont feel like myself and my intuition tells me that something is off. I discussed how I was feeling with my doctor at my postpartum checkup but at the time she just assumed it was from the stress of having two young kids and being postpartum. When things got worse and I developed depression, I started questioning that. My friends and family were picking up on things and encouraged me to make another appointment. You see at the time I was thinking that my vitamin d problem was getting better and wasn't thinking that was the issue.  My symptoms seemed like those experienced by friends and family who have thyroid diseases. Since I have a strong family history I decided to ask for some blood testing to see if mine was off. Many postpartum women experience that.
 At my appointment with my doctor I explained all of the symptoms and why I wanted to have my thyroid tested. She thought it sounded probable and was going to get the testing done but also saw I was taking some vitamin d and wanted to check how my levels were doing. Well yesterday a nurse from the doctors office called me to let me know that my thyroid was functioning fine but my vitamin D level was even lower. It was 20; down 14 since last check. They suggested I take a very high dose of a vitamin D supplement for 8 weeks and then come back to recheck my level. The doctor wanted to prescribe a supplement of 50,000 ius to take once a week however it was not available in a vegan form so I told them I would find it on my own, over the counter. I am taking a vegetarian capsule that supplies me 5,000 ius everyday. If that midwife would have treated my issue right away, it wouldn't be so bad now.
 So here I am not about to start the supplementation in hopes that soon I start to feel a whole lot better and start dropping this excess weight. Apparently you need to have sufficient vitamin D levels to lose weight. I am also supplementing the kids with some baby vitamin D drops. Cesilee needs it most since I am deficient (and breastfeeding her exclusively) and she was premature.
 I will keep updating on how I am feeling during this supplementing process. I encourage everyone to get their level tested. It is a simple blood test and vitamin D is so crucial to your health. I read that 40-60% of the entire US population is deficient. In most places spending time outdoors and eating fortified foods is not enough. Its recommended that everyone take a supplement to maintain healthy levels of vitamin D.
Here are some more links to learn about vitamin D deficiency and how to prevent it:
Women to Women; Vitamin D and your health
WebMD: Vitamin D Deficiency Overview
Low Vitamin D Levels Linked to Pregnancy Complication
Vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy: clinical trial
World Health Orginization: Vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy to prevent pre-eclampsia/eclampsia
Optimum levels of vitamin D during pregnancy
About Vitamin D
Vitamin D news