Birdie07

Some of you might remember over a month ago one of our cats died suddenly. And just a few weeks ago we got a new kitten for my DH who was devastated. We started with two brothers and one died and we got another boy. We had just named him Kairyn, Kai for short. Well yesterday he started acting funny. Just like our last kitten. He just was laying there. But we got him to drink water. I told my DH I wouldn't wait a few days this time and if he was still sick today I'd take him in. B/c it took 3 days with our other kitten. I was only in bed a little while when little Kai started meowing. He likes to sleep under the blankets so it was weird he would meow. So I thought he might need to go potty. So I pulled him out and set him on the floor. But I didn't hear him leave the room. So I used my cell phone to see where he was and he was just crouched behind the door. So I picked him and put him back in bed. A little while layer he meowed again and again. So I took him out to the living room to put him in the cat bed out there. As I sat him down he couldn't move. He was limp. He couldn't hold his feet or head up. He just flopped over. My heart jumped and I ran back in the bedroom to wake DH. I knew it was bad. He felt a little cold too and he was leaking poo (Sorry tmi) out. So I cleaned him up and wrapped him a towel from the dryer and laid him in bed. Sadly, we don't have an emergency vet anywhere close to us, and the vet doesn't open till 8. I was helpless. He couldn't hold his head up but really tried to look at me so I held his face close to me and kept petting him. His little body kept spasming and his head would arch backwards and his paws would claw at the air. Everytime it scared him and he would cry. And so would I. There was nothing I could do for him. So we just laid for hours face to face while I just talked to him and comforted him. Finally DH couldn't keep his eyes open so I told him to turn off the light. This seemed to calm Kai too. So I just petted him and held him. He started spitting and drooling a little. The spasms came closer together and then seemed to slow. I just closed my eyes for 20 minutes ( I had no sleep at all till then). Every so often I would put my hand on his ribs to see if he was breathing. Finally, he stopped. At about 4:45. At 5 he was gone. I woke up Dh and we found a box for him. At 6 my DH buried him next to our other kitty Erabos. I can't figure out what happened. Our vet said Erabos probably ate our lilly houseplant. After that, we took all houseplants and chemicals out. We only use green products. I vacuum so there are no strings to ingest. The only chemical I can think of is our swiffer wet jet. But I don't know whats in it. We are more than devastated. Our other cat loki is fine. He was only 8-9 weeks old. It was horrible to sit from 11-5 am watching him die and I couldn't do anything. And I can't seem to stop crying. Anyways thanks for listening. Sorry it's so long. I'm hoping someone can figure out what's happening. I'm at work but I'll put a pic up later when I get home.

I have a friend who sells it. Her blog is : Ladystamper She loves it. I'm not a big scrapbooking person. I do it online. I just don't like all the paper it uses. But it so cute when she's done with it. You can email her if you like I think her email is on the blog or leave her a comment too.

I've never heard of the movement kind. Really neat. I did use to use a video one that I really liked. Heres the one they have. Angelcare monitor Inc.

Snow on the mountaintops on monday. Almost gone now. And we were suppose to have some snow flurries yesterday. I didn't see any yet. I don't know if I'm too excited. Haha. We'll see.

I LOVE Long Island Ice tea but I also drink Amaretto Sours. YUM

Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha I mean the sensor. Aren't you supposed to turn the sensor off after baby gets out of crib? If you leave the sensor on, then take the baby out of crib and the sensor doesn't go off, then it isn't working right because of the fan. KWIM? Ahhhh I see our problem. They don't use that sensor thinger. Just the monitor to hear. That explains it. I don't know if they used that or not. Sorry. I was totally confused for a sec. Oops.

Hey Martha, I'll try it. But the monitor is always on all day and he's out of his crib? But I'll try it after his morning nap today.

Quote: Originally Posted by CarrieRN I'm a little late to this thread, but I love the whole series. I read The Host as well and really liked it. My FSIL is reading them too. I am surprised that she likes them since she reads less fluffy books. But she enjoyed them as a nice escape. I just bought the host on monday. I haven't started b/c I have 6 books on my shelf. I bought my niece a book and had to read it first. But I'll read it within the next week. I hope it's good.

Oh Martha, I asked my boss this afternoon about the monitor. She said she had no problems with the fan. The only problem was if they plugged it in a certain outlet it would crackle. But if they moved it it was fine. I don't know if that had to do with the fan. So I tested during his afternoon nap and turned his fan on and turned the monitor up. And it was fine. Is it overhead fans or the standing fans I can try with a standing fan?

Quote: Originally Posted by kevsgirl So, this is a total but Calia, you would probably get how freaked out I was when we were visiting old friends of FI's in New Jersey in the summer and it turned out their place was filthy... we were so disgusted by their home (you think Iyou know where I'm going with this but you can't possibly imagine). Anyway, FI realizes that it's our anniversary (11 months) and I'm dying thinking we're supposed to sleep over on their futon. I mean this place was the grossest I've ever seen. At just that moment, their landlord comes downstairs and says he's going off to the Caribbean and would they mind looking after his HISSING COCKROACHES and then puts a box of them ON THE TABLE in front of us. I've never ran so fast to get out of someone's home. Phew! We ended up driving late at night and had to stay at some terrible Bates motel, but nothing could have been worse. LOL! OH MY GOD! I just got shivers and had to check my sheets! EWWW. We get spiders here and I HATTTE spiders. I saw one the other day crawl into my built in dresser and everytime I get clothes out I have to shake them. It freaks me out! I just wanted to say I feel like my words were taken out as "Let your kid die or prevent ear infections" which is not what I meant. I was just trying to say it CAN happen not that it WILL happen. I would sleep with a fan but I live in CO and the nights get colder here. But when I lived in Texas I always slept with a fan. But I balanced it with a humidifier. That's all I was saying. I would never say put your child at risk. Blah I'm rambling I just hate when my words come out wrong and people jump on me. Ugh now I'm totally thinking bugs are in my bed!

Quote: Originally Posted by JessicaLovesBrian Huh? Roach Killer? Did I post the wrong link? I have no idea what you are talking about EDITED: Ok, nevermind, I see what you are talking about! I thought I mistakenly had a link for a roach killer product website or something. Haha! ROFL! I hate roaches. Totally off topic..... I took C to the childrens musuem today and they have HISSING COCKROACHES there. It is so nasty. They are behind glass but still its gross. They also have these orange assassin bugs...um why would a bug be called an assassin if it wasn't good? Um no! Totally freaks me out!

Yeah I finally found some links... Jamie Lynn Spears Pregnant Again? (Wizbang Pop!) Some say she didn't know you could get preggo while breastfeeding (ask my mom she had 7 and thought that!LOL) But yeah none of them are official yet. But it sounds convincing. I so hope it's not true!

So did anyone hear on the radio this morning that Jamie Lynn Spears was expecting again! I can't get a link cause I'm on my iPhone. Just wondering. Didn't she just break up with her dude? GRRRRR!!!! Man they get preggo fast! Anyone have a link for this?

Ewwww. I just clicked that link Jessica, roach killer! And I just remembered my boss's mattress won't help you guys b/c it's round. I don't know if anyone on here bought a round crib. So nevermind on that. Haha.

Quote: Originally Posted by JessicaLovesBrian I love those animal humidifiers! Aiden has the penguin one even though I really wanted the frog one. The store was always out of that when we went Anyway, Aiden slept in my room with me (sometimes co-sleeping, sometimes not) until he was about 4 months and then he went into his room. I definitely wanted to keep him in my room with me those first few months since he was born during the winter and even with the heat on, our house had a tendency to get rather cold. He did sleep with the overhead ceiling fan on during the summer months. We originally bought a regular mattress from Babies R Us, but then I found organic crib mattresses (which I had no idea were available) and we sprung for one of those. Ecobaby Home Page Welcome to Nirvana Safe Haven Ditto everything you said! I love the penguin it's cute. I love the frog b/c he fits in the bathroom sink to refill! I don't have to take it all the way to the kitchen. It fits in his bathroom! I don't know about the others I haven't tried them. His mattress is also an organic mattress. It's so soft!! Not like the regular baby mattresses that are almost like plastic. I don't know where they got theres I can ask if anyones looking.

I was just gonna add if you are looking for a humidifier. I love C's. His is a frog. Amazon.com: Crane Adorable 1 Gallon Cool Mist Humidifier, Frog Shape: Health & Personal Care And they have other animals. It's pretty small and it's noisless. So it's really cool. That's all.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. You can google it. There is no know cause for SIDS. Children just stop breathing. Very sad and tragic death for infants.

Martha we crossposted HAH! I agree it was apples to oranges. I just wanted to let you know about it. I'm not saying DON"T do a fan b/c of EI. Totally use one if it makes you feel better! I just thought it was some information would be useful. I think if you use a humidifier too it will balance it out. I agree about bassinet for 3 months. I'll probably do it for longer. But isn't it 4 or 6 months that SIDS rate goes down? I can't remember. Oh well FISH STICKS!

Quote: Originally Posted by Just Martha All the reviews that I have read (lots!) on the AngelCare Monitor all state that if they had problems with the monitor it was because of a ceiling fan. Sometimes they would take the baby out of the crib and accidentally leave the monitor on, but it wouldn't alert them because of the motion of the celing fan. Do you guys test his periodically? We plan on getting the monitor, but keep the ceiling fan off and bring in a stand up fan... Good idea! I am so paranoid about everything...including SIDS. I don't know if the parents tested it out. I just know since I've been here and the fan and the humidifier going theres never been any problem. Now we have the fan off b/c off it being winter and all. But I will ask them tonight if they had any problems when he was younger. Quote: Originally Posted by Anthony'sGirl Great to know!! Thanks for posting!! I have a fan going at night in our room all the time.. I'm always hot. London sleeps in her bassinet in our room, so that makes me feel even better. As for the ear infection thing.. what if the fan is on low on the opposite side of the room?? Also, when did you start putting your baby in their own crib at night?? It makes me nervous.. so I haven't done it yet. London is almost 8 weeks old. I don't know about that. I just know from my Dh. The fan dries out the ear canal and eustation tube which causes the ear infection. I had tons when I was a kid and I was never allowed to turn my fan off. And then from previous charges I've watched. Quote: Originally Posted by katrina i'm not a mom or a nanny.. infact i don't even know any babies right now (isn't that so sad?) buuuuut this fan versus sids statement seems like apples to oranges to me. i would definately want anything available that would possible help my baby live, even if that meant the possibililty of an ear infection.. (although i have heard that babies are absolutely miserable when they get one) Ear infections do suck. I'm not saying don't use a fan if you think that will work. Before I say anymore this is just MY opinion. Noone is wrong. I'm not judging. Everytime I reply to a thread like this (parenting) I get into trouble. So I'm just saying what you think is right. Personally, I don't listen to the news on health issues like this. One week they say chocolate helps you lose weight and the next it doesn't (serioulsy my news station did this). For me I don't believe a fan is going to save a baby's life. I have two friends who lost their children to sids. The first was my moms good friend. Both parents were deaf and they had this monitor/alarm that the bed would vibrate if the child I think it was heartrate (don't swear by this) stopped. Anyways the second was a good friend who lost her baby just this recently. Now her brand new infant has sleep apnea . Anyways my DH (chiropractor, man I say that alot) they believe that SIDS is caused by birth trauma. When the baby is born the head tugging, forceps and things move the spine to pinch a nerve or such and causes SIDS. He can explain it better. I did post a link in another thread on a great study done about it. Mattresses that have flame retardent chemicals and stuff that the baby is breathing. Personally that study hit home. It's called CRIB death for a reason. There has never been a report of a child dying from sids while cosleeping. However I don't think I could cosleep forever and alot of people are against it. I however am going to have my child sleep in a Happy Hangup for the first few months or on me. (Attachment Parenting, Babywearing). I don't trust cribs from personal experience and from studies I've read. For infants. The older my child gets then they can sleep in a crib. With that said I think using a fan is fine. I would put a humidifier in the room also so that you're not drying the ear out as much. A humidfier can't hurt. That's what the baby I watch right now does. Fan and humidifier. It also helps with dry skin. Noone knows the causes of SIDS. All of it is speculation. Just do what you feel is right for your child. Nothing can hurt really. It's a sad sad thing when it happens. Both funerals were the saddest I've ever been to. Now I have to get back to feeding Collin his fishsticks. He's drooling! Haha. Oh btw my bosses just read that fish helps prevent excema. So now he has fish a few times a week. Just random bit of something for you.

I don't like fans going during sleeping because it can bring on ear infections. I do know this from personal experience. But we use the angel monitor and he has a fan going and it doesn't mess with it. Just for people to know who want to use that monitor and fans.

Our cat died about a month and a half ago. We waited a little over a month until we got a new one. My DH took it pretty hard so he had to have time to grieve. I would let her grieve a bit before you give her a puppy. I would also make sure you ask or hint around (if you're surprising her) if she even wants another. Some people take longer to grieve before they take on another pet.

Quote: Originally Posted by JaimeLynne After the wedding when I get a higher budget I plan on going all organic with my skin care regimine... You really don't need a high budget to go organic. I use Physicians Formula Organic tinted moisturizer for my base. I also go to Nature's Oasis for everything else. They carry only organic makeup. I use face bars that I found on etsy and Tree hut scrub for my body and their body wash. It's not expensive at all. Trust me I don't spend more than 10 bucks on one item. Usually not over 5. I have sensitive skin and found since I've gone organic that nothing irritates my skin anymore. Theres no harsh chemicals going on me. And I love it! I would recommend going to a health food store and they carry great items.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kat81 We just started TTC a month ago. I haven't charted or done anything proactive other than the obvious. My DH is out of town for two weeks a month though so it will be difficult. I already have gone through the emotion of thinking I was prego then having my dreaded period. What a let down. One of my BF has been trying for four months and she is charting and having he DH sprout his seed at a certain time then elevating her hips then making him hydrate and do it again 45 min later. lol But she called me crying yesterday that she is not pregnant. I read several articles stating that the harder you emotionally long for a baby the harder it is to concieve because you stress your body into thinking you are pregnant then it's not at it's prime to get pregnant, or something like that. Anyway, great thread Calia. I haven't told anyone that we are TTC because I don't want the stress of having to tell them I'm not pregnant. So, I guess we will see how it goes. I go through that emotion and it sucks. I cry everytime. I do try not to stress and thats why I do fertility yoga. It helps me destress. I also make sure we're not BDing just when I ovulate. It makes sex seem like a chore. And thats not good either. I also don't tell alot of ppl. I have told my bosses b/c it seemed right. And they are so helpful. Quote: Originally Posted by foxytv Maybe now that your not "trying" you will be surprised with a BFP one of these days, lol. On another note - anyone who uses Ovulation Calendar and Ovulation Chart - FertilityFriend.com - is it worth paying for the VIP membership? I am taking the courses online and they are very helpful - and the charts looks great - bt it seems that it's just as easy to chart yourself, or on one of the free sites - although I do really like all that FF has to offer... I use FF. I don't pay. I used the free I think 30 or 90 period. However I know other people who use it and the perks weren't in it. I have a chart in a notebook I use to keep track. I write notes in it. Like it was spotting but almost light. Things I can't write in FF. Then I use FF to get my crosshairs on when I'm ovulating. The free one is fine. Quote: Originally Posted by Kat81 What exactly is charting?? I mean other than when you start and stop your period. What else do you chart? You take your temperature everyday at the same time (or close to). I take mine everday at 6 am weekends too. I go back to sleep after. You have to have at least 3 hours of sleep before taking it. You can't get up and go potty then take your temp. It's the first thing you do. It helps tell you when you're ovulating. Your temp will drop right before you ovulate and then spike up. That way you know when to BD. You also chart what your Cervical Fluid is. Egg white cervical fluid is your most fertile to help the spermies . You also chart when you have sex. It sounds hard but its really easy once you get in the hang of it. You can also chart to help you not get pregnant. By not having sex in your most fertile times. Quote: Originally Posted by DLyteful WOW,thank you so much for starting this thread. You ladies sharing your experiences and information is truly helpful. My honey and I are not TTC yet, however I have a feeling when we do we are going to need some help. (I'm not on BC and havent NOT been trying, so...). Also, I dont have my cycle regulary. When ever I would tell my GYN their solution was to put me on BC. That was fine when I was younger, but a couple of years ago I had a very bad experience with 1 and I have not been taking any for about 3 years. I do need to start doing research on my own and the information you girls have here is so so so good. We talked of starting to TTC in Jan next year .I havent told anyone this, our plan or anything, bc if we have problems I really dont want my family to know.... I dont know why I feel like this but its nice to share my fears and experience with others who understand. Thats what my old doctor told me too. However I don't want to use medicine and pills and I don't like the side effects. So BC is not an option. If you read TCOYF it says irregular periods and not necassarily bad and not that uncommon as some doctors make you think. You should read that book. I also don't tell my family. And when I do get preggo I don't tell anyone b/c I don't want to share the bad news when it happens too. Like when I miscarry. It's much easier for just me and my DH.

I asked my DH and he said it's a deficiency in either calcium or zinc and can be caused by minor trama like a pp poster said.

Quote: Originally Posted by cheese_diva A great resource while TTC or just wanting to learn about your body in general is the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility (TCOYF). Amazon.com: Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health (Revised Edition): Toni Weschler: Books I learned so much about my cycles and discharge (sorry TMI) that I never knew was 'normal' and how changes in your fluid help you determine where you are at in your cycle. I have long cycles (40 days traditionally) and thought TTC was going to take a lot longer but with this book's help I learned how to track my temps and we luckily got pregnant on my 1st full cycle of charting. Now we didn't really try before this but I felt much better being proactive. I also highly recommend pre-seed. I learned that other lubricants can actually hurt your chances of conceiving. Pre-Seed with 2 Free Pregnancy Tests and Free Shipping (this is also a good site if you're interested in buying test strips for ovulating and pregnancy, both of which can be very pricey if you're buying month after month at a drugstore.) Ovulation Calendar and Ovulation Chart - FertilityFriend.com is a great resource for temping and you can actually join for a month for free. What I did was print out a chart from TCOYF and penciled in the information for my first half month.. then I joined and filled in the information for that month and my next to compare. The monthly fee isn't high and it's great that you can save your charts and look for patterns. Best of luck to everyone who's trying. FYI: The book can be used as a non-TTC tactic also by making you aware of your most fertile days and when you're more likely to conceive. Although, backup is always a good idea. TCOYF was the first book I ever got. Mine is so dog eared and highlighted it looks like I've had it for a decade! I love it. I also have fertility friend. I don't pay for it and I can look at past charts and such. I track my temp, BDing and my Cervical mucous. I also just got pre-seed. But they have a lubricant and then pre-seed. Pre-seed is suppose to be like your egg white cm. Then they have a different thing called Pre-lubricant which is just external not internal like Pre-Seed. And yes other lubes can harm sperm. I got mine from baby hopes.com which actually when I got the package it came with a little envelope with baby dust in it. I got it and cried. So I totally recommend that company they are so sweet and send you emails that say "Hope your stay is short".