HighBack ruck wrap with ring assist

Less than a minute after getting little one into this back carry, he was sound asleep, which was the goal. Yeah for internet tutorials!

A new trick, Double Hammock wrap carry with a shorty

So I'd purchased a size 2 Girasol diamond weave cotton wrap with the intension of converting it to a soft structured carrier. However, being at the beginning stages of uncomfortable having anything touch anywhere near my belly, I've been finding my soft structured carrier waist buckles harder to work with. So when this super soft wrap arrived yesterday it was love and my chopping notions went out the door. However, it's a really short wrap, and I needed to do some research in to how I could make it work for me.
Thanks to the video below, I was able to double hammock both my younger boys into a back carry, using my squishy size 2 wrap, and not have any straps or buckles around my expanding belly. I'm so stoked! I had to show my husband as soon as he got home, because I was just so excited with my new knowledge.


 

Captians of Industry

There's a series on Netflix, The Men Who Built America, and it's got me started on an industrial revolution era kick. In this show you'll get an overview of Vanderbilt (ships and railroads), Rockefeller (oil), Carnegie (steal), J.P. Morgan (bank tycoon), and Ford (who doesn't really fit with the other's for many reasons).

This week we learned about Nickola Tesla, in The Master of Lightning.  He was actually more influential in the spread of the availability of electricity throughout our country. It seems to me he may have even been somewhat Spectrum-ish, given his aversions to shaking hands and tendency towards seclusion. Still he was good friends with Mark Twain and many other famous folks of the day, so it's wasn't like he was a total recluse. He was just very devoted to his interests.

Today, I found my eldest child looking up the various early model Ford vehicles in the encyclopedia. He does have an interest in categorizing items by year. His ideal historical timeline would map out all the dates of inventions.

Re-stashing

I've had a few projects in mind, laying in a dusty corner awaiting my attention. Slowly, I have collected supplies, materials, and such notions and all I really needed to do was just devote some time to these lofty plans.

Many years ago I made a solarveil water sling, which was doubled layered and regrettably, nearly too thick to function. Still I used it on occasion over the years, always wishing it were a little different. Then I came across a popular soft structured baby carrier that at one time was made utilizing solarveil for a center panel, increasing airflow for the baby being worn (though most parents profess they themselves don't feel much benefit from the ventilation). Last summer I managed to get my hands on one of these solarveil carriers, and used for a few months it to carry my three year old (primarily when I was on solo-parent duty taking all the kids to Mass). I had hoped it would work as a carrier for my husband, but the straps were just a bit too short for a comfortable back carry since he likes to wear his carrier weight low on his hips. So I traded it to a mom who sent me a carrier I can use for our new baby due later this spring. And I found a carrier with larger straps for the husband. Still these discontinued solarveil carriers are highly sought after, and I can understand why, as the solarveil fabric itself is not discontinued, but still a prized find when encountered.

Last year I also got my hands on a wrap (Dandies by Natibaby) which was made from a cotton, silk, linen fabric, very supple and buttery soft. I really wanted to give wrapping a try and see if I could learn how to do all those interesting wrap carriers I've seen and heard about. But I just couldn't make it work for me, and decided my wrap might make a wonderful soft structured carrier wrap conversion instead. Women were buying and selling converted wrap carriers for astronomical figures online, which sparked my curiosity.

So I procured the right foam padding for the waist belt, straps, and such, found a site that sold all the buckles and carrier hardware needed, and then all these things sat in my closet for months. I even purchased a pattern, mostly for the instructions on how such a carrier is assembled. In the end I decided to device a pattern more like the carriers I like with a triple paneled body instead of a dart seat. I've adjusted the placement of the hardware on the straps.

Finally, today I finished constructing my pattern after a light bulb unlocking the secret to sketching the contour seat on a flat piece of paper. While my husband took all the kids out for an unseasonably warm days bike ride, I cut up my wrap, a truly pivotal, no going back moment. When I had all the pieces I would need for my full wrap conversion, there was enough length left to make a ring sling as well.

Then I cut open my old solarveil sling and removed a layer from the bottom half of that sling to use as a center ventilation panel on my wrap conversion. I may just hem it back together as is and see if that helps make it more user friendly this summer at the pool.

Unfortunately, my sewing machine was not happy with the thickness of much of what I was trying to sew today. One supply I had totally neglected to consider was heavy duty sewing needles. Not willing to accept defeat I broke no less than 8 needles jamming my carrier through my old Bernina sewing machine. I know the machine can handle it, I just had the wrong needles.

Still, I'm almost finished with my wrap conversion, but will have to find time later to procure the correct needles before I finish off the straps closures, and attach the waist belt to the body of the carrier. I'm not sure when I'll get another block of time like I had today, but it sure felt nice to make some progress in getting this project off the back burner and into the fire.

Thank you note

Dear Governor Christie,
Thank you for vocalizing your empathy for parents who desire to maintain the rights to make informed health care decision on behalf of their children. As a parent of a child who may well have been injured by a "rare" adverse reaction to the MMR vaccine, I'm deeply thankful that someone of your governing status has taken the time to consider the other side of the vaccine dilemma. While I have gone on to vaccinate my other children in a slower, more reserved rate in hopes of avoiding further vaccine related adverse affects, it seems in this time of mass hysteria that parents such as myself are facing heightened scrutiny, with a lynch mob uncaring of the sacrifice my family has already made on their behalf. While I doubt your public statements will help in your upcoming election bids, and I fear for your popularity ratings, I must thank you from the bottom of my heart for your compassionate sentiment towards children who have suffered from vaccine related injuries, and for the parents who struggle with making these very important decision for their individual children. Nobody wants to see their child sick, but as you seem to understand, a one size fits all approach may not be right for everyone. Surely, a way can be found for each individual.
My deepest felt gratitude,
Me (BSN, RN, mother of 6 unique individuals)

It's the drain pain that never ends...

Maybe tomorrow afternoon. Plumbers came today and busted up the floor again. I've been pressing my dear husband to take the horns on managing this, though I did come up with the list of folks for him to call. Blessedly, he arrived home as the plumbers backed into our driveway. This time they brought their big truck, and later, the boss made an appearance.

They managed to pull out some of the broken snake line pieces (turns out there were at least three down there), but they have to return tomorrow to replace more pipe, as they found a crack in some joint in a pipe that runs under the floor very near our boiler.... which is going to absolutely need to be serviced and cleaned after this whole ordeal.

I'm still not totally clear what pipe line this is we're into now, but I think it's the kitchen drain... or something connecting it to the main, it's all getting well over my head. So at one point they asked us not to turn on the kitchen water, and my husband turned off the water valves under the sink to ensure nobody would use the water accidently. After the plumbers left for the night, he turned them back on to discover that the water pressure was greatly diminished to our kitchen sink faucet. We're not sure what the heck is causing that...so I'll have to drag the plumbers upstairs tomorrow after they're done with the drain to see what's going on with that. My guess is either the valves are so old they just happened to crap out when he turned them off, or something about the open line downstairs is effecting the water pressure...how,
I can't even fathom.

Are we exceptions?

Well, it's very hard to get a doctor to issue an exception to the rule of vaccine even when an adverse reaction has occurred. There's a lot of banter going on over the MMR vaccination and the outbreak in California right now. Today a supposed friend listed an article that called all parents who elect against any and all vaccines dummies.

Insults, threats, disparaging words... it gets really, really hostile and aggravating. If we were friends who saw each other in person everyday... or ever (social media makes connects between folks who might likely have never spoken again), would you still be my friend? Would I want to still be friends? If you're going to resort to name calling, then the answer is a definite "no."

So I feel the need to be defensive of the choices we've made for our family. Yes, we vaccinate, but we do so on our own timeline. No, there's not a lot of "credible" science to support our timeline because nobody is studying alternative routes and procedures other than the one issued by the CDC. However, given that we've experienced adverse effects while following those guidelines, and others have accomplished more positive outcomes in taking a more cautious pace, we've chosen to delay and space out our vaccines. We've chosen to be more cautious in hopes that we can achieve the desired outcome without the negative adverse effects. Because, the autism issue is only getting worse. 1 in 50... or some crazy  number like that is a lot of disabled future adults, and comes with a lifetime of consequences our society isn't prepared to deal with... at.. all..

Sometimes it's a gut inclination and sometime it is simply fear that causes us to decide when administer a shot and when to abstain. But it's a personal experienced based fear, for the most part. Yes, childhood disease of the past were awful and also left thousands of children damaged, scared for life, or dead. Nobody wants to go back to that. However, there's no such thing as a risk free vaccine, and unfortunately not everyone can have them safely. Sadly, they won't work for everyone either, as growing evidence is demonstrating that the immunity can wear off, or the virus mutates so that the immune response is insufficient.

My firstborn had every single shot on the very first day possible throughout the first 18 months of his life. Yes, on his first birthday he received an MMR and varicella shot. Over the next three weeks he had unexplained fever spikes, higher than he'd ever experienced in his short life. One of these spikes in temperature caused him to have a febrile seizure, which at the time I believed to be a benign childhood experience that wouldn't cause any harm. From that point on whenever he began to approach 103 degrees he would begin to seize. My view on anti-pyretic treatment at that time was in line with what I'd been taught; fever was good, because it helped the immune system kill the germs. Eventually, things seemed to return to normal...except as my son's development stopped progressing as it should.

So in all earnestness, we're not sure if the MMR shot caused a problem or not, but it was very suspicious. My son had his shot in June, and aside from the weird fevers never developed any other signs of infection or symptoms that would point to why he was having some sort of inflammatory response. The spinal tap after his first seizure, along with his blood work was all clear (for all they tested it for). Yet, his body was obviously having a bought of inflammation (as immunizations are suppose to cause...that's how they work). At this time the CDC handout on the MMR vaccine acknowledges that in some "rare" instances children will have febrile seizures from the vaccines (though I'm not sure if they advised that back in 2002 or not).

My son went on to have his 18 month shots, and it was after this time we began to seek help and evaluations for his speech delay. Motor skills seemed to be within target, but if he had been evaluated today he would have certainly been targeted as being autistic and having sensory issues. As he aged the autism diagnosis eventually found him, though before that he was labeled with Global developmental delay, "retarded", and eventually PPD NOS with auditory processing disorder.

Was he born this way?  I didn't think he was abnormal as an infant.
Was it how he was born? (Pitocin induction) (I'll never do that again)
What I ate? (There's a lot I didn't know and I eat more nutritious foods now)
Genetics? (Well, with two cousins also on the spectrum, born about 10 years later, it's something I wonder about)
Environment? (God only knows)
My parenting skills? (Hopefully, we've stopped blaming moms by now)
Vaccines???? Well, nobody knows for sure. Some think they can safely write off vaccines, but I'm not convinced it can be ruled out completely. My son DID have a strange reaction after his MMR and Varicella shots (both of which are also derived from aborted fetal tissue...what if we could at least eliminate the use of aborted babies, at least most moral objections could be also eliminated).

I've changed a LOT of things to try and avoid whatever it was that sparked my son's issues as his sisters and brothers have come along. And I'm cognizant that there are risks to every decision we make.  We do a lot of self imposed quarantine around here, so I can be confident we're not spreading our germs. If I register so much as a 99 temp I cancel appointments and we stay home. All the vitriol over those "nasty" unvaccinated kids risking everyone else's lives is not warranted towards us, but it doesn't seem to matter, as it seems as if they'd rather see our children sacrificed for their sake then risk their sense of security. When we've been to the store, doctors' office, or speech and occupational therapy, we use hand sanitizer as soon as we've returned to our car to ward off anything we might have picked up while out and about. We're certfied germaphobes. We're on multi-vitamins, probiotics, omega fatty acids, and have been working on making ourselves more healthy overall, for all our sakes.

Eventually, I have allowed two more of my children to receive the MMR shot, when I felt they no longer seemed to be at risk for developing developmental issues. I would have administered another, but said child had a cold at the time and will wait for another opportunity when there's no other issues. Thankfully, those (much older children) seemed to do just fine with their shots and have not displayed any adverse reactions.

So if you don't want to be my friend...or if you think I'm "stupid" or whatever, then I guess we're not friends. I value your health, and the health of your children. So we pretty much never go out when someone is sick, and I wouldn't risk exposing others if I knew for certain we had a virus or infection that could infect others. As it is, being that we also homeschool, we're hardly a risk for the rest of the community, still some persist in their assertion of our ignorance. When it comes to vaccines, if something might have caused my child permanent injury, disabling him for life, and you still think I should subject my children to that substance again for your sake, then I guess that's a price I'm not willing to pay. I'm not willing to intentionally harm my children for your sake. What kind of friend would demand that from another?