Addy's Story Part 5: The Narcoleptic Baby… Who Complains About a Sleeping Child?

If you missed any part of Addy's story, click HERE to catch up.

And Now Part 5: The Narcoleptic Baby… Who Complains About a Sleeping Child?


It's Sunday, September 9, and time to take baby girl home.

Infant Carrier?  Check.
Strapped in? Check.
Blanket? Check.
Ducky? Check.
Pants?  Oops. Oh well. (A definite indicator that she was child number three..)

Did we have a cutesy going home outfit? Nah… we learned our lesson with the other two.  Yes, buy your cutesy outfit to take the hospital pictures in, but there's no point in a going home outfit.  Our hospital dictates that you have to have baby strapped in the carrier before you can leave your room.. so any cute dress will be squished up by the straps, and there's always going to be a blanket tucked around the cute little legs… Sorry to disappoint you but if you're the type that needs all the cute pictures, etc., do a pic in the outfit, in your lap, in the wheelchair, while still IN the hospital, or pose when you get home and you've had a chance to freshen up.  Yep, gone are the days of balloons and everything strapped to the wheelchair and momma holding a little bundle.  Seriously, I don't think you could've seen my face with all the stuff we were loaded down with.  Definitely not the mental picture I had visioned with baby number 1.

So I go through my discharge, Addy's discharge, sign my name in a gazillion places... and here's one of the papers I received.  I thought this picture was worth posting… it's the only live footprint picture I have of my
daughter.  And darnit, her left foot is not fully imprinted. Seriously, who thinks of these things?  Who thinks, quick, gotta get this picture and that picture and the newborn photo session and this and this and this…. really, you just want to get home and sleep in your comfy bed, oh and take a shower in your perfect shower WITHOUT wearing flip flops…

I never imagined I would run out of time.  Gives new meaning to the "treat every day as if it's your last". Like I said, all the woulda coulda shouldas in the world.

My biggest regret?  Work. If you'll take a second to let me digress and jump back, remember I just started a new job… and I was teaching some pretty tough classes, AP Calculus, Advanced Math, Honors Pre-Calculus and 7th grade math.  Now, the 7th grade math, no problem… I can teach that in my sleep.  The other three?  They needed lessons and assignments, etc.  Not busy work.  A senior knows when he/she has been handed busy work and it's not fair to them. When you're a teacher, it takes a ton of planning, work and effort to be out of school.  In my opinion, it's pointless to try and take time off. Maybe it's easier with other subjects, but not math.  Or at least, I've yet to figure out a solution.

My boss didn't help either…. the day Addy was born he stopped by to see us, brought a banner the students made along with some cards (how sweet!), then the conversation quickly turned to when was I giving a test, my students in such and such class hadn't had their first test yet and he needed that to happen.

I just had a baby cut out of me a few hours ago, and you want to know when I'm giving a test to my students?  Really?

Now, I might have the day wrong… it may have been the next day he stopped by.  Honestly, I don't remember.  But my thoughts and feelings on the topic were the same.  What did I say, you ask?

"I'm on it. They're having one this Tuesday and I'll have the grades put in by Friday."

Yes, go ahead and be mad.  Be irate.  Me? I just felt guilty that I couldn't be everything for everyone everywhere. This was supposed to be my dream job, a private school, teaching top level mathematics to students who actually wanted to learn!

Like I said, we have to have everything in place AS IF we were actually there teaching the class, AND find someone suitable to run your mini-program… which is probably the hardest when it's math. Or I could just try and find someone suitable and say here is where we are, go for it.  A lot of my colleagues in the teaching world do just that. I, on the other hand, cannot. I just can't. I have to deal with the aftermath… Yes, it was my choice to work while on leave.  Completely my choice. And that's what I chose to do.  Could I have made different choices?  Prepared more in advance? I could sit here and make excuses as to why I only had a few things ready, football in full force so I'm a single mommy to two, teaching 4 classes (in teacher world, 4 preps is a lot of work) in a new job where I don't have tenure and want to make sure my contract is renewed at the end of the year, pressure, pressure, pressure… pressure to hold it all together. Pressure to keep everything going smoothly so others don't fall.  When I start my pages on Celebrate Recovery, you'll learn about something called CODEPENDENCY… I was waist-deep in trying to hold together a ticking time bomb…

Okay, so back to the original story.  We came home Sunday.  You saw Addy's going home picture. Notice we forgot to put her pants on… LOL, after getting her all strapped in it was just easier to lay them next to her in the carrier.

That evening my mother-in-law and her husband brought the kids by to meet their sister. Or was it the next day?  Again, I really don't remember… I just know how gut-wrenching it is when I see these pictures.  These are the only pictures I have of my three children together. Alive. Bryson was soooo careful holding little Addy, so protective, wanting to make sure he did it just right and didn't bother her. So gentle and protective.  Abigail, who just turned two and didn't have many words just yet… kept patting her head and saying Baby sister, Sister sleeping… baby sister.

If you're not teary-eyed yet, or packing a few little sniffles in there,  you have absolutely no heart.  LOL just kidding… It may be more gut-wrenching for me knowing this was the only picture I had. And some of them were from me stopping the video I took and doing a screen shot.  Sigh.

The next few days, honestly, were one big blur. Addison was great, slept a lot, more than Bryson and Abby did.  I noticed, but really, who complains about a sleeping baby?  Especially with child number 3? You're told a gazillion times that every child is different, no matter what you do to try to put them all in the same "box".  She slept.  Bryson ate, Abby puked, Addison slept.  Normal.


It was hard to catch her with her eyes open. She'd fall asleep through diaper changes, through a bottle, while being held… just drift away into la la land.  I mean, yes she would cry and voice her displeasure and being unwrapped from her cocoon of warmth to have her clothes and/or diaper changed.  But she was so sweet.  She would squawk a couple of times then drift back off to sleepy land.  And yes, I did just say my daughter squawked.

Newborns squawk. Babies cry…. or at least they do in the LeCroix household.

Addison didn't squawk/cry very much at all.  None of our children did, really.  They squawked, we gave them what they wanted, they slept.  Yes, our children were incredibly easy to care for.  Even Abby, the puker. You just knew not to change her or do anything for about 45 minutes while you waited for her to "hand back" whatever her sensitive tummy didn't want, LOL.

We had visitors.. not many but a few.  People signed up on this cool website, Take Them A Meal (you should check it out if you ever want to do any type of meal scheduling for someone.  Completely free and awesome.) Anyhow, thank you to everyone for all the wonderful meals you brought by, they really were a big help. One visitor and conversation in particular stood out to me, so I'd like to end today's segment sharing it with you.

I don't remember which day it was, honestly that doesn't even matter.  My friend Farrah came by to drop off supper and check in on me. Farrah is one of the sweetest people in the world, for those of you who don't know her.  She's one of those people that you wonder if they ever get angry, she just has the most pleasant demeanor.  Sorta like Michelle Duggar.  Anyhow, she's holding sweet Addison, who is of course sleeping, and we approach the topic of having more kids.  Farrah has two adorable girls.  Her youngest was born a few months before my oldest.

So of course when a young mother is holding a baby, the question always comes up… do you and your husband want more children?

Her response took me off guard.  She said something to the effect of it had been a difficult year, she had seen so much suffering with friends and family that she while she did want more children, she wasn't sure she wanted to go through with it.  Something like that.  Like not really scared to have more children, but just sensitive to how quickly it can all turn and how nerve-wracking that is. She said, look what happened to so-and-so…

I didn't ask for permission to post so-and-so's name yet, so we will just refer to her as that… ok?  Anyhow, she went to her 38 week appointment (I think it was 38… she was really close to delivery, it could have been 37…), and there was no heartbeat.  Talk about devastation. Most of us think we're in the clear at 20 weeks… and here she was at the end, losing a child. Having to birth a child you… well, I just can't even imagine.

What I said next haunts me…. while I meant to give comfort and assurance to Farrah…. well, here's what I said…

Everything happens for a reason, Farrah.  God has a plan.  Perhaps so-and-so went through this so she could be there to support someone else.

Never in a million years would I have thought I was talking about myself.

Thus ends this segment… stay tuned for Part 6: Something's Wrong… or at least I think that's what the title will be…

Addy's Story Part 4: Stapha What?

If you missed any part of Addy's story, click HERE to catch up.

Part 4: Stapha what??

Okay, sorry to keep everyone on a cliffhanger... trust me, it gets pretty emotional just reading back through this story. Like I said in the beginning, some people know the full story, and many just know bits and pieces... when you get the whole thing you'll understand why this isn't something you discuss over dinner, with your friends on Facebook, or even in the confines of a snuggle with your loved ones...  It's gut-wrenching and will cut you like a knife.  You'll wish you hadn't read it.  Shoot, I wish every single day I hadn't lived it.  Not a day goes by that I don't wonder... the only thing that keeps me going is knowing beyond the shadow of a doubt that my GOD has a plan with this that will ultimately bring him glory. Change WILL happen because of Addison Grace LeCroix... like I said before, lives will be saved, both spiritually and physically.

Ok, so back to Drill Sergeant nurse...reminds me of this picture I found when I did an internet search for "mean lunch lady"... so just to give you a mental image....

She meant business. I don't think "NO" was in her vocabulary.  So when she told me she thought I had staph infection and that me and my baby would be put in quarantine and such-an-such procedures would be followed... I was in tears.  She told me we would do this after I ate my breakfast. 

Well who wants cold eggs after that?

I was beyond myself... staph?  I had staph?  How'd I get staph?  Ooooo those surgeons!  Someone gave me staph.  I shouldn't have had anyone visit me... some visitor gave me staph.  Ooo my daughter?  What will happen to her? Will she be okay? My mind was going a gazillion miles a minute and she wants me to eat my EGGS?

So what did I do... phoned a friend.  Burst into tears and probably boo-hooed to oblivion and back, partially due to post-partum hormones and secondly because I was scared outta my MIND. She assured me that it was okay, I was in good hands and to call her when I knew more.. or something like that.  Honestly, I don't remember what she said, but I'm sure it was something like that... that's what I would've said.  I know I wouldn't have been like "Hold on, honey, I'll be right there!"  Riggght... who wants staph?

And yes, I ate my cold eggs. I still wanted to eat a horse, remember?

Enter Drill Sergeant Nurse.... I flash her the boobs and blisters, which by now have gotten beyond little ant bite sized to nice mosquito bite sized.  They're red and they hurt really really bad.  Sting. A little bit of bleeding, but that's because the derned things can't scab over.  There's one on each side.  Ya know, it's all about being symmetrical.  Couldn't just have one blister/bite/sting/whatever.... gotta have two.

What does Drill Sergeant lady say?

Hmmmmm.... errrr.... well.... hmmmm, interesting. (Sounds a LOT like the lactation lady, except she had a cool English or Australian accent - who knows, it was cool so I really don't care where it came from).

Hmmmm, well... it's not staph.

Whhhhhatttt? Geez lady, I mentally prepared while eating cold eggs and boo-hooing to whomever on the phone and now you say it's not staph?  I even think for a millisecond I was excited at the thought of seeing everyone around me in hazmat suits... like in Monsters Inc... LOL!

Okay, so it was a brief moment of insanity thinking that would actually be a fun way to live.... but it kept me from going totally bonkers.

So Drill Sergeant nurse decides that we won't let the OB leave today without looking at my bites/blisters/whatevers.... that's something, but it's not staph and I definitely don't know what.


Then she proceeds to drill off the rest of my day... that I needed to do so many laps around the hospital, up and walking, etc.  She informed me that I could now take a shower and she'd take Addison to the nursery while I dressed.

Well gee lady. An apology for scaring the living daylights outa me would have been appreciated.

Okay, so here's a picture of Addy and I doing laps... okay, well just Addy.  As you can see she had some goodies...some of my coworkers brought her a beanie bear all tatted up with the school logo, and there's her ducky pacifier... those things totally and completely rock, by the way.  The paci is ATTACHED to the duck... our daughter Abigail had a giraffe.  We named it Zip because he zipped that girl up.  She loved her zip.  And we were the idiots that didn't buy two.

We had it down this time.  There were two ducks... just waiting for one to be lost.

She had her cute Auburn hat - the matching little baby booties weren't on her at the time.  Auburn had a game that day and we figured we would dress the part.

Am I an Auburn fan?  My husband is.  Many of his family members are.  I went to UGA for a year, so technically I claim my bulldogs.... but I do realize I'm raising my children in a WAR EAGLE household, lol.

So we're lapping... and doing a dern good job, I'd say.  She had this weird bump/blister on her chin, but we figured she had too much fun with her paci last night.  She was wrapped up with him after all... So we moved Ducky to a new location to give her chin time to dry.  Poor girl... ducky rubbed her raw!

That's what happens when you love the duck.... AFLAC!  Okay, well.... it's a yellow duck, not white....

Other than Addison sleeping as all newborns do, she's a picture of perfect health.  She passed all her different screenings, etc., eats fine, sleeps fine (a LOT), doesn't constantly puke like her older sister Abigail.... we couldn't ask for a better baby.  A sleepy baby.  Who sleeps a LOT. A whole lot more than the other two, or so it seemed....  but hey, we had nicknames for all our children...

Bryson: the EATER.  Doc called him a barracuda feeder.  Every time he drank his bottle he would do this little yooop, yooop, yoop... hilarious.

Abigail: the PUKER. She puked up everything she ate, about 40 minutes after her bottle.  We tried everything, my friend.  Had an ultrasound to rule out pyloric stenosis... switched formulas a gazillion times... shoot, that's a whole other blog.  Anyhow, she was the puker.  We had a point system for her "episodes".  One point for everything she touched and extra bonus points for creativity.

Addison: the SLEEPER.  That girl could sleep. Sleepy sleepy sleepy.

So around 4:00 the OB comes.  My regular OB is out of town and this is the on-call lady.  Quick glance at my blister/bite/sore whatever and prescribes some Bacitracin ointment and asks for them to bring me non-stick pads. She agrees it's not staph, but really didn't seem all too concerned.  Said we could go home whenever we wanted.  I chose to wait until the following morning so I could have one more night of rest.

Hmmmm... you really thought you had the mystery solved at staph, didn't you?  Figured it ended there, I'm sure. Nope. So what happened?  How is it that this perfectly beautiful princess of a baby took her last breath in my arms a week later? Did we miss something?

Stay tuned for Part 5: The Narcoleptic Baby..... Who Complains About a Sleeping Child?

Essential Oil Starter Kits - $20 Off UNTIL 6/30!!

For those who haven't heard about my new love affair with essential oils, click here.

For a limited time (like the next few days…), those who want to order a starter kit through me will receive $20 cash back.  How cool is that?

I mean, for all you get in it… it's definitely worth it.  I tried to price out making a mini kit of starter oils for a friend, and just my cost alone was around $40… and that was just me doing about 10-15 drops of each oil!!!  AND NO DIFFUSER!  The diffuser is really the most awesome part of the bunch….

Each oil is 5ml, which is about 85-100 drops of oil, then you get this cool metal roller to attach to one of your bottles, some oil samples, samples of this yummy drink called Ningxia Red that does all sorts of crazy wonderful anti-oxidanty things, and the diffuser.  Did I mention the diffuser?  It's super cool.

You talk about how a man can clear a room with his um, er…. tummy trouble?  Yep, this will take care of it.  And not like some Lysol flowery cover-up.  Nope.  I'm talking an actual kill-that-stank-smell kinda awesome.

So THIS LINKwill take you to sign-up and purchase your starter kit.  "Signing Up" means you have the ability to order at our lovely wholesale prices.  It does not mean you have to start giving parties or "sharing" with friends.  That's just how you get your lovely starter kit.  Yes, you need your SS#, because IF you decide to do the aforementioned, you need that for tax purposes.

Trust me.  It's cool.  Drink the kook-aid like I did.  It's sooooo worth it.  Unless you made a kick butt pain cream last night and put it on your horribly ouchy legs and it completely knocked you out more than any Lortab, Percoset or Hydrocodone ever did, including the next day hungover headache… LOL… I'll just make a slightly less potent batch, HA!

Again, click on THIS LINK to sign-up and purchase your starter kit. You won't be disappointed. I promise.  Girl Scout's Honor… I was a Brownie so it counts….

Addy's Story Part 3: She's Here!

If you missed any part of Addy's story, click HERE to catch up.

Part 3: She's Here!

So Addison Grace LeCroix was born at 8:26 am.  6lbs, 6oz 18.5 in. My mother-in-law and husband were both there.  Let me tell you, after 3 C-sections, staying awake while someone is squishing, pulling, sewing, stretching, etc., your innards is NOT a fun experience... and you don't get to see a thing with this big blue sheet hung in front of your face.  You have your arms stretched out and literally are in a T position laying down.  You can't raise up... and they bring this bundle to you, shove it in front of your face and say "Here's your baby [insert sex]!" You cannot hold, cuddle, kiss, etc., do anything on your own so it really is an awkward moment, at least it was to me. There's a picture of my with my oldest... see the curtain? Can you feel the awkwardness?

So I'm in recovery and they wheel her in.  I get a little nostalgic... and trust me, that's not easy because I'm NOT the person that thinks newborns are cute.  I think they look like shriveled up little rodents.  Depending on how they're born, some have a little bit of a stretched head or extra gooey stuff everywhere.  Yep, not cute.  Not cuddly.  They sleep and squawk, literally.  The fun begins when they can smile, follow you with their eyes, interact, etc.  Ok, so this is my opinion but then again it IS my blog, so I have a right to my opinion on my blog.  If you think I'm being crude please don't read the rest of my story.

Yep, digress again.... anyhow, I'm in a moment of sappiness and self-pity, all alone with baby Addison and the recovery team and I get this inkling that I might want to nurse this child.  Now, I have NEVER nursed any of my children, nor did I ever wish to.  Call me selfish, call me whatever you want, but it's my choice and it's one I did not want to do. I had no desire to have a child eat off of me. If YOU want to nurse your child, that's awesome.  If you need help, support, a pump, etc., I am your biggest cheerleader.  Yes, I know the benefits, I know the positions, I was a child member of the La Leche league... so please keep your holier than thou judgments about my choice to not nurse to yourself.

Ok, so I told the nurse, you know I think I may want to nurse her while I'm in the hospital, maybe while I'm at home with her.  At least she'd get some of this good stuff that's soon to be dripping everywhere.  I've never seen a nurse move so fast.  She had Addison over to me in 2 seconds flat.  But, I said....

But....

But, there's these blister looking things.  They HURT.  They're bleeding (still, a week later... scab keeps getting yanked off by various clothing/Band-Aid, etc. and they HURT)... I don't know what they are but they won't go away.  Can a baby nurse on THAT?  Oh yes, honey... it's fine... I've seen so much worse, you're fine.... Oooookayyy....

So we go to it.  She's a pro.  She's a natural.  Addison is the poster-child for newborn nursing.  She knew exactly what to do and how to do it.  That's my girl.  Not even 2 hours old and smart as a whip.

Me?  Horrible pain. Yee-ouch doesn't begin to describe a child nursing on a cut, blister, skeeter bite, whatever it was.  It hurt so incredibly bad, but she was doing so incredibly well.  The nurse was sympathetic and said she would ask the nursery staff to bring me a nipple shield when we got up to our room and that should help.

Up to the room... my legs are dead to the world because of the anesthesia.  I'm hungry enough to eat a horse but I guess grape juice will have to do.... And by the way, do NOT engorge on all those juices because you are so hungry you want to eat a horse. 

Fruit Juice = Bloating = Pain in Belly

There's already pain in belly so this is NOT a good combination.

(No this is not a picture of my belly... HA, that would be great!)

Nursery staff brings me said nipple shield.  Sorry to the men who may be reading this blog.... you can always click somewhere else if this is too much for you.  It does get worse, I can promise you that.

Anyhow, a nipple shield looks like the nipple of a bottle and it goes exactly like you think it would, over the boob. Now, mad props to the nursing staff because it DID feel a lot better.  The pain was still excruciating, but not quite to the point of tears. They decide to set me up an appointment with the lactation consultant.


Around 6 or 7 that evening (where did the time go?), the lactation lady comes.  She looks at my blisters, murmurs a lot of hmmms and wells, and says hmmm, well it looks like mastitis, but I usually don't see that until you've been nursing a 3-4 weeks.  Interesting.  But I don't see why you shouldn't nurse, if you can handle the pain.

IF I can handle the pain?  Lady, I've been cut open 3 times... I can handle some pain.  Bring it on.  After all, my baby is getting the "good stuff"

I gave up at 5am.  The pain was unbearable.  Shoot, I gave it almost 24 hours... I did the best I could.  And please people, support a mom's decision, WHATEVER that is, EVEN if it's not your choice.  Don't try and guilt me into continuing to nurse my child, or any of them for that matter.  Don't drop hints or tell me how wonderful it is.  If I want to know, I'll ask.  If you think the mommy in front of you is too scared to ask you, 1) You may not have the relationship you need to have to be discussing boobs and babies in the first place or 2) Kindly offer to go through pros and cons with her, then do EXACTLY that without letting your opinion get in the way.

Addison switched over to formula just fine. She ate fine.  She slept a LOT, but then that's what newborns do.  My nurse Friday evening was concerned about my blisters, wondered why the doctors hadn't ordered a culture or given them a second thought and said she would be discussing it with my Saturday morning nurse. Hmmm, ok I thought.  I mean, I literally flashed everyone and anyone with a medical background and no one was worried... BUT THEY HURT.  A LOT.

Okay, so enter Saturday... Drill Sargent Nurse.  She informs me that she and my night nurse have discussed my blisters and she thinks I have Staph infection.  She says she will be in after I'm done with my breakfast to inspect the blisters and begin the quarantine procedure. 

Thus ends Part 3.  Stay tuned for Part 4: Stapha what??

Addy's Story, Part 2: Before there were 3….

If you missed any part of Addy's story, click HERE to catch up.

Part 2: Before there were 3...


Bryson Turner LeCroix was born July 14, 2009.  Hubs and I immediately began trying for a second child, and we were blessed with Abigail Leilehua LeCroix on August 23, 2010.  Turner came from hubby's grandfather, Granville Turner, who passed away from cancer when my hubby was 16.  Leilehua is my dad's mother... she's Hawaiian and French.  Yep, we have a hula dancer, actress and singer in my family!  I'm told she was pretty famous in Honolulu, you know, back in the DAY. It's pronounced Lay-luh-who-uh for those of you having a teensy bit of trouble.

Anyhow, I digress...

Did we have a certain number of children we "wanted"? I thought 2, then I thought maybe 4?  As my faith in God and His reign over my life grew the hubs and I decided that our Heavenly Father would make that call.  He did, after all, allow me to conceive Bryson while on birth control, so we're leaving that number up to Him.  We are ALL His children anyway.  I just have one request - please no odd numbers...

Ok, so we had our set timeframe where we wanted to have a child... summer is easiest when you're a teacher.  As you can see, we were a little off with Abigail (August), and we had given up trying to have it our way with Addison.  She was due September 17, 2012. So much for a summer newborn.

Problem #1: Vericose Veins - yee-ouch!
This pregnancy was one of the hardest I had experienced.  I've always had varicose veins, you know, those ugly purplish things on the back of your legs?  Well, I never really knew what the big deal was until this pregnancy.  Pardon my French, but they hurt like HADES..... Support hose?  Ha.  They hurt to wear and the second I took them off I was in unbearable pain as blood began to flow through my legs.  Were they hot?  Not for me.  I'm cold natured anyway, so that was NOT a problem.

Problem #2: The Haters
You know, they always say you should NEVER walk up to a woman and ask if she's pregnant.  Well, on the flipside, telling a woman she doesn't LOOK pregnant doesn't make us feel great either. Get to know the person BEFORE deciding to say either, that's my motto.... Telling me your sob story of how big you were, how small you were, how you waddled around and your ankles were swollen beyond belief does absolutely nothing for me.  Just because you cannot physically observe the large mass protruding from my belly does not in ANY WAY mean I don't hurt, I'm not nauseous 24/7, I don't swell, I don't waddle and I don't feel pregnant. Trust me, I go through it too.  If you don't believe me, ask my husband. I carry extremely low and inside... so I have an incredible amount of pain in my lower back and down there.... thanks little one! To add to it, the cute maternity clothes don't fit right... I don't have this massive belly protrusion so all that fabric just hangs there and it's only purpose is to draw your attention and your comments to how I look and ultimately how you don't think I feel. There was a time in my life where I wanted to draw attention with my clothing... not anymore.

Problem #3: Don't Touch my Belly
If you don't want me groping you, please refrain from rubbing my belly like it's a magic lamp. Nuff said.

Problem #4: Hiding a Pregnancy
I hid my pregnancy while at my job... first and foremost for safety reasons... I worked at an alternative school, you know, the school they send all the knuckleheads to when they decide they've done something worth expelling them for... well, it's not a safe environment.  Workdays filled with drugs, thugs and violence does not make a happy pregnant mommy.

Secondly, there were rumors that they were closing our school and would be transferring us somewhere else.  As much as they say it doesn't matter, I didn't want my pregnancy to be an issue or a factor in deciding where I would be teaching the next year.  (Really, who wants to hire a teacher just to take off for maternity leave? Very few employers.) So I took advantage of carrying low and inside and, having a chest large enough to push out my shirts, no one knew unless I told them.  (There were a few, for security purposes... my boss for instance...)

Problem #5: New Job
So I didn't want to wait until I found out if my school was closing or not, and was offered a job at a local private Christian school. My husband and I hemmed and hawed, prayed and prayed, calculated and recalculated the budget, ultimately deciding that God brought about this opportunity and I should go.  I would be teaching AP Calculus and Honors Pre-Calculus... classes some of us never have an opportunity to teach due to seniority... but, but, but... baby girl was due Sept 17... do you know how extremely hard maternity leave is when a) you don't have any sick leave and b) you still have to do all the work?  As a teacher, we still have to submit lesson plans, grade papers, and are still responsible for our cherubs whether we are physically there or not.  Now can you see why a summer baby sounds
so much more reasonable? Well, they hired me anyway, knowing I was pregnant and would need a couple of weeks off.  We already had a nanny, so I really just needed enough time to recoup from my C-section.

Problem #6: Weird Blisters
Wednesday, August 29, as I went through my day teaching at my wonderful but stressful new job, I felt this stinging on my chest.  Like a little bee sting or mosquito bite. I remember telling my friend and coworker that my boobs were on fire... what in the heck was that all about?  I called a friend and asked her if she'd ever encountered the firey boobs... yes, she said. And ice hurrrrrt... so she recommended heat. Or maybe the other way around, I can't remember now.  I just know I felt better because someone else had fiery boobs too. I got home and yep, I looked... and yep, little mosquito bites or blisters or something.  A tiny bit of blood, not much. Didn't even need a Band-Aid.  I put some Neosporin on those bad boys and called it a day.

As I got ready for bed the next day, I went to change shirts and yee-ouch!  Something bit me again!  Well, not really... the little blisters had formed a little scab and stuck to my clothing, so that when I pulled it off, scab came off.  OUCH!  But hey, no problem, that's what Band-Aids are for...

Fast forward to the following Tuesday, Sept 4.  Week 38. Doc says ok, time to schedule... this Thursday or next Thursday?  He was going to be out of town over the weekend.  Shoot, lets get this over with!  Thursday!  Oh... and I have these little mosquito bite blister things that are bugging me.... whaddya think? Do you need to look at them? Nah, probably nothing.  Women's bodies go through so many changes during pregnancy it's hard to tell.  I figured I would be in the land of estrogen in two more days so no problem, no worries….

Wednesday night, kids are with grandparents, hubby and I settle down for our "Night Before We Become Parents Again" Meal…. it has turned into a tradition…. Steak dinner… and yummy steaks from Star Market too.  Filet Mignon, Sweet Potato and steamed broccoli.  I know I have the picture somewhere.  We settle down to watch a movie recommended by a friend called "The Fifth Quarter".

Do NOT watch that movie the night before you're about to give birth to a child.

While we thought it was a football movie and were told it had an alcohol struggle in it that was overcome (one day we'll discuss that…), we thought it was your basic feel good movie.

No.

It wasn't.

And I won't spare ruining it for you.  The family has a son that's a senior (I think) in high school.  He is in a car accident and in a coma.  The family has to make the decision to take him off a life support or watch him be a vegetable… so they choose to take him off of life support and donate his organs. The rest of the movie is about how the family copes with the loss of a child.

WHY ON EARTH WOULD ANYONE RECOMMEND THIS MOVIE TO US? JEEZ LOUISE!

God.  That's why.  Hindsight is like 20/10 baby.

God had a plan, and this movie played an integral part.  I see the big picture NOW.  Right then, I wanted to jump off the cliff.  Did we watch the whole thing?  Yes… we hoped it would get better, that we would see the football element at some part. Nope.  So we went to bed and prepared for welcoming Addison Grace into the world the next day.

And thus ends Part 2..... stay tuned for part 3: Baby Girl is here!

Addy's Story... Part 1

This is the story of Addison Grace LeCroix.  Beautiful, isn't she? While some of her story has been shared and is general knowledge, a lot of it remains speculation and some will always be an unsolved mystery... one full of "what-ifs" and "supposes" and "woulda-coulda-shouldas". Feel free to draw your own conclusions.


Part One: A Beautiful Girl is Born
My husband and I were blessed with child number 3, Addison Grace LeCroix, on Thursday September 6, 2012.  She was born at 8:26 am, 6lbs 6oz and 18.5 inches long.  My third c-section and first child that was NOT breech.  Beautiful, healthy baby girl. Small, like her older sister Abigail. We were discharged Sunday, September 9, 2012 with no worries except how I would manage a 2 year old, 3 year old and newborn while husband worked and coached football.

She died in my arms 6 days later.

Whhhhattt?  Why? How? What happened? Yep.... all that AND the whole bag of chips.... Over the next several blog posts I will try and share Addy's story as accurately as I can remember it.  I will be posting everything as I felt it, saw it, observed it, and researched it.  Feel free to use extra Kleenex as you work your way through the coming week. Sorry to leave you with a cliffhanger....

Scary Night at the ER...

SCARY NIGHT!!! Was at the grocery store with Mr. B and Miss A and I *think* he got a little of a powder I was purchasing on his hands, in his system, something. He got bad REAL quick, sneezing, coughing, wheezing, etc. By the time we got to the car, he was gagging… I practically threw him and the groceries in the van (did I buy eggs?  Oh well..) I said are you hurting?  He said his heart hurt and there were ladybugs in his belly…in-between the sneezing, coughing, wheezing, and retched gagging-ish noise he was making. He said he wanted to go home.  Um, no honey, we're going straight to the doctor…

Raced to the hospital doesn't even begin to describe my descent from Hampton Cove down to Huntsville Hospital…. it was soooo "Grey's Anatomy"… I screech in and grab him out of the car.  My best friend walks up at just the perfect minute to go park my car (how else does it get parked?) and I rushed in.  What do they do? Calmly hand me a clipboard to fill out… I've got tears running down my face and he's gagging… I'm like I need a doctor, he's not breathing right!!! They put Mr. Blinky on his finger, his oxygen was 100%… listen to his lungs, not so good… they said how long has Mr. B been suffering with Ashtma?  Um, he doesn't have asthma… seasonal allergies maybe (should I dare mention essential oils at this point?) but this is not like him.

He looked gray. (Or grey?) His eyes dull.  Tears running down his cheeks.  Breathing yes, feel good NO.

They put a bracelet on him and took us back to a room.  Thankfully it was not THE room…. (once I post Addy's story, you'll understand why THE room is not an okay place for me)… it wasn't even close to THE room.  

And there we sat.

I sent my friend home around 10:30.  Mr. B sounded a little wheezy, but not in danger and obviously not if no one was checking on us.

I sent hubby and Miss A home at 11:00.  I contemplated leaving.  By then he sounded fine, just fine. I'm thinking, why in the world did I just waste $150?? I should've just taken him home and used my oils…. (read here about how I overcame my skepticism and started learning about oils) I thought yep, allergy trio woulda worked wonders… and lavender on the inside of his cheek if he decided to continue sneezing. It's funny how when you start playing with oils you mentally diagnose every ailment in your head with an oil… LOL

Finally someone walked in at 11:26… did the "work up", said he still sounded a little wheezy but after about 6 breaths it cleared up. Said doc would be in soon… I'm still thinking lets make a run for it.

Doc shows up close to 1am.  She ordered a breathing treatment and x-rays.  Breathing treatment helped the last bit of left side wheeziness… then off to x-rays.  Around 1 am the doc said lung x-ray looked good….

and then the pause…

BUT…

She said his heart looked a little large on the x-ray.  Could be absolutely nothing, but wants me to follow up with our pediatrician.  Yep, calling him Monday morning.  

So if I actually had my oils on me, we probably wouldn't have gone to the hospital.  And then not had the x-ray… it may be absolutely nothing, like she said… or it could be something… God never EVER wastes a hurt…. he saw an opportunity for me to get some valuable information and placed me in a situation where I would receive it.  

Oh, and the $150 copay?  Nada… the powder I was pretty sure he somehow ingested qualified us for an emergency visit and no copay.  Thank you Jesus!  Now will I get other mini charges?  Probably.  Do I care?  Nope… My boy is good. I'm still shaking like a leaf but my boy is okay. A few drops of faith go a  LONG way when you know God's got your back…. 

How this skeptic turned into a believer in Essential Oils.....

Yep, if you had said "essential oils" to me last year, I probably would have just brushed you off.... or laughed... you seemed like this guy in the cartoon!

So rewind back to beginning of April.  My buddy Laura at The Turquoise Home posted an invite to an oils party... hmmmm... I thought maybe I should go to one of these things and find out what it's all about.  So I did. And boy was I intrigued...

Now, Beth at Unskinny Boppy actually did the class.  When I walked in I went uh-oh... it's Mary Kay time people!  I had no idea oils were a "party" thing... but I swallowed my urge to run-away from all that is a money pit, ate a few brownies, sipped on some lemonade and let her try her spiel out on me.  Shoot, I'm a Marketing and Sales major... you just try to pull one over on me.  Not gonna happen.

So Beth tells her "oil" story... much like I'm telling you right now.  Here it is on her site.  Basically how her husband has these AWFUL migraines and how rubbing some oil on her hubby's back and giving him a little pill capsule with three oils in it completely changed his life.  I thought, man she's good... tears of joy spilled down her face as she shared her story.  Husband's story.  Their story.  Whatever.

So then I thought... my best friend's 10 year old son has daily migraines.  Okay, maybe every two days but BAD. With nosebleeds. And nothing helps.  He's on preventative meds and nope... doesn't do anything.  I thought well shoot, I have got to get him that oil.  (It's called M-Grain and here's some info about it. Including the EEEK! Price!!!)

Ok, so fast forward through the rest of the class and, well… it just seemed like there was an oil for everything!  So I quickly text my hubby and asked if he minded if I bought a starter kit.  His response?  What's the commitment?  So I asked… how about "signing up" was as simple as walking into Sams or Costco and signing up?  How about you only have to order $50 a year to keep your "membership"?  And if you tell me you're not sure you can spend that, trust me…. you will and then some.

 

So I bought the kit.  Lookie to the left and you'll see what all comes in it.  ELEVEN oils, some samples, and the really cool diffuser.  To top it off, lovely Beth, being the cool person she is, gave me a sample of M-grain for my friend's boy to try.

It worked. Two smells on two different occasions and he hasn't had a migraine since April.

I got my kit and started playing around with stuff.  I realized quickly that I needed sample bottles like the ones found on this site. Ordered little bottles, perfume vials, and roll-ons. My friends and I made bath salts, we made allergy trio roll-ons, stress away roll-ons… and played with the kick butt awesome diffuser.

So while playing guinea pig to all that is essential oils... we discovered the awesomeness behind this oil called Valor… it STOPS snoring.  Makes you stay asleep.  Nooooo, can't happen, right? Read on... You put it on the bottom of your big toe.  Yep. I said big toe.  If you're laughing, well, you're not alone.  Rick and Bubba laughed too.  I'll tell you who's not laughing though.... my husband, my pastor, my mom, my friend's husband... and yep, that same "migraine" boy.  Here's some of their descriptions of rolling Valor on both big toes:

"I tried it, and it brought me back to the drunken college days where you came home and passed out on the bed, waking up exactly how you fell.  I woke up on my belly with my arms under me, totally asleep.  I couldn't move." (Hubby)

"I slept.  Oh did I sleep. I don't remember falling asleep, so glad my Kindle has an auto shut-off." (Mom)

"My husband was snoring REALLY loud... I had to leave for work but figured I would try it.  He stopped snoring within 30 minutes." (Friend from church)

"I tried it two nights in a row... It was like I drank an ENTIRE bottle of Nyquil.  What is in that stuff?" (Pastor)

Ok, so I have to be honest.  It did nothing for me.  But then I'm the biggest skeptic in the world. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant, maybe I didn't put enough on my toe... I don't know.  BUT, this oil has made a difference in lives of other people.  How cool is that?  How feel good is that?

Last but not least, the allergy trio... You can put it in a roll-on, take it in a capsule, drop some drops in your diffuser.  This blend is gold... my 4 year old is addicted.  Migraine boy?  Won't go to sleep without it.  His mom thinks the migraines were somehow connected with his allergies, because he only used the M-Grain twice and this bad boy trio is on him every NIGHT and every DAY.

So my oil story doesn't have a Kristen "aha" moment... it has a TON of miracle "ahas" for the people I've shared with.  And now I'm sharing with you. This stuff is cool.  There's something to it. And I will tell the world...

Click here to begin the enrollment process and get your starter kit.  It'll walk you through the process. Basically, you need your name and billing/shipping info, and SS# (I know, don't freak out....).  You can choose an essential rewards kit or click no thanks (that's what I did). I chose the premium starter kit because it was the coolest and gave me the best bang for my bucks.

If you get lost, contact me.  That's what I'm here for.  To change the world, one drop at a time.  We walk by faith, not by sight... but I'm a believer now, in more ways than one!

These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. For Full Disclosure Click Here.