Car Seat Crazy...

I've always considered myself to be over cautious when it comes to car seat safety until I watched this video. The quotes are good, although not from anyone I recognize, but the crash test demonstration was enough for me to make up my mind. Most information I have read says to keep the child rear facing (rf) until the age of 2, so I guess we were lucky with Rylan.
We switched Rylan at age 1 because of the room the seat took up in our car. Seems selfish now when I watch the video. I will be keeping Tatum rf until 2.

I often notice pictures of kids in cars on facebook. More often than not I see that they aren't buckled in safely. Just because car seats have a 5 point harness, doesn't mean your baby is safe!
The straps need to go over the baby's shoulder snug against their neck. The middle clip needs to be fairly tight against the chest (you should be able to fit no more than one finger in there) and at the same height as the baby's nipple line or armpit. All straps need to be straight (not twisted).

This is Rylan in her last trip in the infant seat. We made the switch to a rf convertible seat shortly after this picture.

So this is what the seat looked like before it got caked in stale timbits and apple juice!

Progress Report

I just got around to taking my measurements and a picture so I thought I better post my progress!
Bust: 40.5" (no change from last time)
Waist: 36" (down 3"!!!!)
Hips: 37" (no change)
I'm 1/2 way to my weight loss goal! It feels great to be able to do up my uniform pants without holding my breath for once!

10-4 is not just a radio code...

but the amount of weight I've lost! WOOOOOOOO! 10.4 lbs!
I need to take my measurements still this week, and I promise I will before the weekend is over!
This eating healthy thing really works! :)

I'm a paramedic once again!

Today was day 2 of the rest of my life. I'm a working mom again. Since we probably won't be having anymore children, this feeling is bitter. Yep, bitter, not bitter sweet. No more extended leaves of absence from work ever again. :(

It was 17 degrees here in London, Ontario today... in March! I spent the entire day indoors getting retrained to go back on the trucks. I was pretty nervous as it I haven't worked since May 6th, 2009... yikes! We had to do a test and score 80% in order to become re-certified... I passed! 94%! Not bad from someone who hadn't cracked a book for 10 months!

I actually did pretty well today and am feeling a lot more confident about going back out into the real world. I have 3 shift riding out as a 3rd member of a full crew and after that it's all on me. If there is someone looking out for me... PLEASE don't give me any horrific calls for at least a month after I've been back! I've typically been a white cloud with the odd exception and I'm okay if that resumes.

Watch out Perth County residents... I'M BACK!!!!! :)

Bye, Bye Junk Food!

Well, it's been a few weeks since I've posted about my weight loss mission, so I figure I better update!
First of all, for the past 3 weeks (although I did take a week off last week!) I have been doing the Globe and Mail's 10 weeks to 10km. On Friday I also purchased some healthy eating books online. Could be a scam, but I thought I would give it a try. 9 books for $50, it was worth the risk to me.
Anyway, I have read all the books and I think I have the concept down. It's basically zero sugar, zero chemicals (if you can't read the word on the label, don't buy it!) and single ingredient foods. Of course you can mix your single ingredient foods to become a meal, but just can't buy anything processed. Also, try to go organic if possible. Pricey, but after reading about all the chemicals that seep into our fruits and veggies, I'm game for organic.
On Sunday I decided to start my new lifestyle of healthy eating. I won't call it a diet, because I hope to transform my eating habits for life. It's been pretty good so far... lots of food to choose from and if I feel hungry, I try to eat a protein type food vs. a carb and I'm already losing inches!! I'm not sure about weight yet because I'm going to the gym for my 40 mins of cardio + strength training and will weigh myself there.
Here are my measurements for today...
Chest: 40.5" (starting point 41")
Waist: 37.5" (39")
Hips: 37" (37")
I'm off to the gym now to watch Sarah's House, uh I'm mean work out!
Wish me luck!

Monday Night Weigh In...

Will be on Tuesday! :)

My Poor Little Chickens...

That's the newest line in our house. I think it comes from Tony's side of the family since both of his parents (who are divorced) have said it at least once this week.
My kids are sick. It breaks my heart. :(
On Thursday of last week, Rylan started to cough and her nose started to run. I felt bad for her since just a week prior she had a nasty GI issue, puking & diarrhea... gross! She was really crusty and had a hard time sleeping because her nose was so stuffed. What a nightmare! She's been gradually getting better and has less of a cough, less nose running today and is acting more and more like herself. She has even slept in until 8 am for the past 2 days!
I didn't know how hard it could be to see your kids sick until Tatum got sick too. It's bad at 2, even worse at 5.5 months! Tatum started showing signs of a cold on Saturday. She was coughing and her nose was running. On Sunday night Tony, Tatum and I were watching Scott & Tessa skate (GO CANADA GO!) when she started coughing again. It was undeniably croup. The loud, seal like bark coming from my little baby! She kept coughing and was having a hard time catching her breath. I debated whether I should take her in to the ER to get checked out. It's funny, being a paramedic, I'm SO hesitant to take her to the ER because I don't want to waste anybody's time. I know how often this happens. But as her breathing rate picked up and her cough continued, I decided to take her. We got there at 11 and waited about 10 minutes before being triaged. They took her vitals and heard the god-awful cough. Her oxygen saturation was a little low, so they took us back right away. As soon as we got to the room, we got the boot! An ambulance was bringing someone in. I felt like cursing the ambulance... but I couldn't really!
So we went out to the waiting room and waited for the next available bed. So to make a long story (or wait) short, she had severe croup and was given a steroid to calm the inflammation of her larynx. I was told that if her breathing worsens or gets louder to bring her back. Tony inflated the air mattress in her room for me so I could sleep in there and keep a close eye and we settled down to bed around 3am.
On to the next day. Tatum still wasn't acting herself. She was crying a lot, coughing (not the croup cough), having trouble eating because her nose was stuffed and not having a lot of wet diapers as a result. I was told that after day 3 she would improve. It was currently day 3, so I waited it out patiently. Day 4: Still not well. I got out my stethoscope to listen to her breathing and could hear a bit of wheezing. Tony and I discuss it and thought it was probably just part of the croup working it's way out. I wasn't completely convinced, but I went along with it. A few hours pass and Tatum still wasn't eating much and hadn't slept. She was getting more and more fussy, and she was becoming a really noisy breather. I took out the old stethoscope again and sure enough my poor little chicken was full of wheezes and she was using a lot of accessory muscles to breathe. I decided to take her back into Emerg. Once again we were taken back right away, except this time we didn't get booted out of our room!
She was assessed and a Respiratory Therapist came in and gave her some Ventolin. It didn't take all the wheezing away, but it did make things better. We were told she probably had the virus know as RSV. It's quite common although her cough will probably last for 4-6 weeks!!
Anyway, today, she is MUCH better and I actually got a few smiles out of her! The first 7 - 10 days are known to be the worst and we are on day 6... almost done! Hopefully that's all the illness we'll get in this house this winter!