UK mom passes out drunk while nursing baby

This mom allegedly got drunk, laid down to nurse her baby and when she woke, the baby was dead. I read about it here.

What I found interesting were the ending paragraphs of the story; admonishment after admonishment about the dangers of sleeping with your baby, but absolutely nothing about the dangers of being drunk enough to pass out while taking care of your child. She didn't simply fall asleep, she passed out from being drunk. Or, the dangers of drinking that much alcohol and nursing so soon after. The investigation could not find any evidence that smothering killed the baby, so perhaps alcohol poisoning is the culprit? According to Kellymom, alcohol leaves breast milk in the same manner as it leaves your blood, so when you feel sober, you can safely nurse. If she drank almost an entire bottle of wine, her milk alcohol levels were probably through the roof.

I just didn't like the way they blamed co-sleeping, when clearly the mom being drunk, and not able to respond to whatever became wrong with baby, was the main issue here.

Much better now

Gabe is much better. We ended up taking him to the pediatric urgent care on Wednesday just to get his lungs checked out. We didn't know how congested he was and his cough still sounded funny. So, his lungs were clear, but he did have some mild laryngitis. That has since gone away. Whatever bug he got, passed over the rest of us. Fortunately, breastfed babies are notorious for being the only ones in a household to not get sick when colds/viruses are being passed around, so I wasn't super worried about Zach getting sick.

In the mornings, I have been doing very short school-related activities with Gabe. We bought a preschool workbook that has basic concepts and skills for his age (colors, shapes, writing, opposites, etc.). He does very well tracing a straight dotted line from left to right and can recognize two and three letter words. We also got some Leap Frog videos on letters and numbers that he loves.

In the fall, I'd like to take Gabe to the library more regularly for books. One of my friends, Amy, gave him a cool library bag for his birthday that we're going to get a lot of use out of. I love the library (and bookstores, too!) and want to pass that love of books onto to both Gabe and Zach. I also want to find as many preschool-aged activities as possible to participate in, too, because we're not putting him in preschool.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and Happy Father's Day!

The fever is back

Last night, Gabe's fever came back. Ugh. He has been running a low-grade fever ever since, plus the snotty nose. Otherwise, today he is acting fine; playing (although a little less gregarious) eating and drinking normally. He hasn't gotten really good rest since he got sick on Sunday, so part of his problem is being tired. I think his body needs rest to help fight off whatever virus he has. Right now, as I type, he is napping (Zach is sleep, too) on the couch with his Thomas pillow/sheets. He was watching his Thomas movie, too. I think he will be okay, but again, we'll keep an eye on him.

For those that read the emails from this blog and don't click on the Brewster Buzz link at the end of the email, I changed the look of the actual blog. I think the theme I had isn't even offered anymore by Blogger, which made me feel very lost and behind the times. I want to update regularly, so I'm going to try to write one post a week, versus 2-3 manic blogs in one day (um, like yesterday). In addition to what is happening with us, I will post on just whatever is on our minds about the things we're interested in. If you have no clue what our interests are, you'll find out soon, lol. I'm also still considering changing over to Wordpress, but that probably won't be for a while.

I will post an update on how Gabe is doing later in the week.

Loving Day!

I know, I know the third post today, but how the heck did I miss Loving Day?? I am really off my journalist/blogging game. Although, I did just have a baby. Loving Day was Sunday; in fact, there was a Loving Day event in Eugene, Ore. that would have been nice to go to.

So, Loving Day is the annual celebration of when the 1967 Supreme Court Justice decision to allow interracial couples to marry. One of the biggest Loving Day events is the Mixed Roots Film and Literary Festival in Los Angeles. It is co-organized by author (and Portlander) Heidi W. Durrow, author of The Girl Who Fell From the Sky, her debut novel. She is very inspiriting; I interviewed her a couple of years ago and met her for the first time last October at Wordstock.

Craig and I talked about going to Mixed Roots. It would be a great way for us to meet other interracial families (and anything with film and books, I am there). Maybe next year?

Gabe's 3rd birthday party pics

We had the party at Munchkin Playland. It was really fun.

Blueberries and Roses

Today, Zach is 7 weeks old. Breastfeeding is going very well, and he is getting really big. It's hard to believe that he was this tiny little thing not long ago. And he's only going to get bigger of course.

At the end of the month, Zach has his 2-month appointment (and I am pretty sure some shots are on the schedule) and Gabe has his 3 year appointment. Gabe was seeing a Dr. on the eastside, but we decided that it was way too long of a trip, especially with 2 kids, so we switched to a practice that is a lot closer (and they have a pediatric urgent care, too).

This past weekend was for parties and sickness. Gabe had his birthday party on May 28 and it went really well. The two Saturdays after that, two of his friends also had birthday parties. So, yesterday morning he woke up sick. He had a fever all day and vomited once. But the fever didn't go past 101.9 (it hovered at 101.5 all day) and this morning it broke. He is feeling much better now, but I am keeping an eye on him. Here is a pic post-illness.



We have four blueberry bushes that I am eagerly awaiting to see ripped fruit from. The bushes are pretty big, about as tall as me! There are a couple of rogue branches that need to be cut, but the fruit is coming in nicely.



The rose bushes have also bloomed really well, too.





With the baby, we don't have much going on right now. In late June, we're taking Gabe to Hood River, Ore. to see Thomas the Train. He is obsessed with Thomas. We think he will be really excited be able to ride on a life-sized replica of Thomas. There will be other activities, too. Hopefully, Zach can make it there and back ok. He is still in that phase where he doesn't quite know what is going on when we put him in the car seat, so he sometimes cries (well, most times). Hopefully, a hearty feeding before we leave here will allow him to sleep most of the way (it's only a little less than an hour away) and and the same deal on the way back.

Hope everyone is having a great week.