C-sections used to be an issue that didn't affect me personally. And I suppose they still don't, but having come so close to one I find myself getting angry on behalf of people who have them. Even if those people, women, aren't angry themselves. I just think in most cases they are so absolutely unneccesary...and yet I experienced firsthand how in the heat of labor a woman can be coerced into thinking she or her baby is going to die without one. DIE. Of course you're going to say yes.
Despite my anger on behalf of others, and general disgust at the way woman are manipulated into accepting these procedures, all I do is silently stew over it. Just a random thought for the day.
7 January 2010
I inadvertantly...
...did a scrap page that works for a mission create challenge! I had already planned on using most of the prompts, and added in the strip journaling. Even though I didn't "have to". And even though I almost never journal on my pages. It was nice to be able to use pink on a boys page, it was subtle enough, I think, to work :)
16 November 2009
Pet peeves
I've got 3 major ones. They make my head want to explode. I'll list them in the order of how much they annoy me.
1. When I am talking to somebody and ask a question and I know the person I'm talking to heard me but they don't respond. It's not rhetorical, answer me dammit!! Liam and Jeff both do this to me often and wonder why I get so exasperated.
2. When........people......write..............like...........this. Do they even realise how much longer it takes to write like that? Use some punctuation, I'd take a whole paragraph full of exclamation points rather than have to read something with excessive use of elipses.
*disclaimer-there is one person who can get away with it in my books, but she's my sister and I love her and so I don't say anything.
3. Writing things on the computer in text-speak. Ur nt kewl. I actually know lots of people who do this and for the most part they're awesome people but this just annoys the ever-loving shit out of me ;)
Okay done with my little rant.
1. When I am talking to somebody and ask a question and I know the person I'm talking to heard me but they don't respond. It's not rhetorical, answer me dammit!! Liam and Jeff both do this to me often and wonder why I get so exasperated.
2. When........people......write..............like...........this. Do they even realise how much longer it takes to write like that? Use some punctuation, I'd take a whole paragraph full of exclamation points rather than have to read something with excessive use of elipses.
*disclaimer-there is one person who can get away with it in my books, but she's my sister and I love her and so I don't say anything.
3. Writing things on the computer in text-speak. Ur nt kewl. I actually know lots of people who do this and for the most part they're awesome people but this just annoys the ever-loving shit out of me ;)
Okay done with my little rant.
13 November 2009
Josh's Birth Story
It occurred to me this morning that I may want to record the birth stories of my children so that one day they can read them. I know that day is far off but I'm trying to think ahead. This may get long-winded. I know, shocker.
I'll start with Josh since his is the most fresh in my memory. I was due on September 16 and that day had come and gone. I'd had a couple of false labor scares, one of which I was actually convinced that it could be it and went to the hospital. No such luck. Not being patient by nature, it was very difficult to keep waiting and waiting. I had expected to go a little early based on my experience with Nicholas but I should have known by then that no two births are the same.
My labour started in the evening on Sunday the 20th. I didn't say anything to anyone because I'd been having contractions for weeks and I didn't want to make a big deal out of something that could possibly turn out to be nothing. They were about every 10-15 minutes so I decided to go to bed and see how long I could sleep through them. They were waking me up every so often but I didn't actually get out of bed until around 4:30 to start timing. At that point they were every 5 or so minutes and starting to get super painful so I told Jeff to call his mom to come over. She got to the house at 5:30 and we got things together to get out the door.
What I remember most about this part was me standing in the bedroom clinging to the dresser as I breathed through a contraction, and Diane standing there asking me a question. I felt bad after, but I held up my hand to stop her from talking because I just couldn't concentrate on what she was saying.
Anyway, we got to the hospital just before 6 am. Got up to L&D and they got us into the labour ward. I was walking/talking just fine so they didn't see any urgency in the situation but my contractions were pretty much one on top of another. After they hooked me up to the monitors and I went through a few contractions, they realised that the baby's heart rate was decelerating during them. We tried switching sides, laying down, sitting up, oxygen, but it was still happening. That's when the nurses and doc's started crowding around my bed. Jeff's face was pretty worried but I couldn't focus on much else besides the pain. They got an IV in and then decided they needed an internal monitor on the baby but there was no change and I could feel the atmosphere getting tense.
I was vaguely aware of the on-call doctor introducing himself to me and then talking with the nurses. Then one of the nurses got right down in my face and told me that they needed to get the baby out now and that they would have to give me a c-section. I started crying but, trusting what they were telling me, I agreed. They said there wasn't time for an epidural so they would have to knock me out and the nurse looked so apologetic.
Right then another doctor was just strolling past the ward with nothing to do (lol). She poked her head in when she heard the commotion and came to see what was going on and if she could help at all. She immediately took over and gave me another internal check to see where I was dilation-wise. Since I was fully dilated she asked me if I wanted to try pushing and I swear I could have kissed her right there. The last thing I wanted was surgery but the last 45 minutes had really brought home how easy it is for doctors to take the easy way out. Then came this woman who was giving me an option that the other doctor and nurses had made me feel wasn't there. In that moment I felt kind of betrayed.
As quickly as possible they wheeled me to a delivery room and I hefted myself off the stretcher and onto the bed. Not easy! I held in the pushes while they were getting things set up and I went into some sort of zone. I have no idea how long that lasted but finally they said I could push if I wanted to.
I wasn't really feeling a huge urge to push but I knew it was important to try to do this as quickly as I could so I gave it all I had. This birth was so different from the other ones when it came to pushing. With Liam I had an epidural so while I could feel the urge to push I was kind of numb otherwise. With Nicholas he was so close to out by the time I got into the delivery room that I only had a little half-push. With Josh...I could feel every move as he descended down. It was the freakiest feeling and I started getting a little panicked like I couldn't do it. It took 6 good pushes and then he was out and we could see why his heart rate kept dipping; he had the cord wrapped around his neck. After the unwrapped it they plopped him on my stomach and that's when I thought to ask the most important questions of all, boy or girl? And somebody said it was a boy and then took him to the isolette to do all those things they do to new babies.
Josh's time of birth was 7:02 am. Barely an hour after we got to the hospital and he was with us, in the most dramatic way I could think of. No drugs, all natural, and I was feeling awesome. Tired, but awesome. I was able to get out of bed after they stitched me all up and walk on my own to the bathroom and then to the wheelchair. They wheeled us first to the nursery to drop Josh off for some testing, and then to the recovery room. Jeff, Josh, and I hung out just the 3 of us for a little bit, and then Jeff took off home to see Nick and Liam, and to pick up the car seat. He already knew that I would be itching to get out of there as soon as possible.
And he was right, I think I lasted about 6 hours and then I started to get restless. Around 2 in the afternoon I told the nurse that I wanted to go home if at all possible, and could she make sure a doctor came around to see me soon instead of in the morning. Josh had already been cleared by his pediatrician to go home and by sheer luck my OB was on call and would come as soon as he could to check me out. Jeff got back to the hospital at 5, my doc gave me the clear to go at 5:15, and we were headed back home by 5:30. Less than 12 hours after giving birth!
Out of the 3 this was by far the most painful and scary. Thankfully everything worked out and we're all safe and healthy. And now I must go and tend to my crying infant :)
I'll start with Josh since his is the most fresh in my memory. I was due on September 16 and that day had come and gone. I'd had a couple of false labor scares, one of which I was actually convinced that it could be it and went to the hospital. No such luck. Not being patient by nature, it was very difficult to keep waiting and waiting. I had expected to go a little early based on my experience with Nicholas but I should have known by then that no two births are the same.
My labour started in the evening on Sunday the 20th. I didn't say anything to anyone because I'd been having contractions for weeks and I didn't want to make a big deal out of something that could possibly turn out to be nothing. They were about every 10-15 minutes so I decided to go to bed and see how long I could sleep through them. They were waking me up every so often but I didn't actually get out of bed until around 4:30 to start timing. At that point they were every 5 or so minutes and starting to get super painful so I told Jeff to call his mom to come over. She got to the house at 5:30 and we got things together to get out the door.
What I remember most about this part was me standing in the bedroom clinging to the dresser as I breathed through a contraction, and Diane standing there asking me a question. I felt bad after, but I held up my hand to stop her from talking because I just couldn't concentrate on what she was saying.
Anyway, we got to the hospital just before 6 am. Got up to L&D and they got us into the labour ward. I was walking/talking just fine so they didn't see any urgency in the situation but my contractions were pretty much one on top of another. After they hooked me up to the monitors and I went through a few contractions, they realised that the baby's heart rate was decelerating during them. We tried switching sides, laying down, sitting up, oxygen, but it was still happening. That's when the nurses and doc's started crowding around my bed. Jeff's face was pretty worried but I couldn't focus on much else besides the pain. They got an IV in and then decided they needed an internal monitor on the baby but there was no change and I could feel the atmosphere getting tense.
I was vaguely aware of the on-call doctor introducing himself to me and then talking with the nurses. Then one of the nurses got right down in my face and told me that they needed to get the baby out now and that they would have to give me a c-section. I started crying but, trusting what they were telling me, I agreed. They said there wasn't time for an epidural so they would have to knock me out and the nurse looked so apologetic.
Right then another doctor was just strolling past the ward with nothing to do (lol). She poked her head in when she heard the commotion and came to see what was going on and if she could help at all. She immediately took over and gave me another internal check to see where I was dilation-wise. Since I was fully dilated she asked me if I wanted to try pushing and I swear I could have kissed her right there. The last thing I wanted was surgery but the last 45 minutes had really brought home how easy it is for doctors to take the easy way out. Then came this woman who was giving me an option that the other doctor and nurses had made me feel wasn't there. In that moment I felt kind of betrayed.
As quickly as possible they wheeled me to a delivery room and I hefted myself off the stretcher and onto the bed. Not easy! I held in the pushes while they were getting things set up and I went into some sort of zone. I have no idea how long that lasted but finally they said I could push if I wanted to.
I wasn't really feeling a huge urge to push but I knew it was important to try to do this as quickly as I could so I gave it all I had. This birth was so different from the other ones when it came to pushing. With Liam I had an epidural so while I could feel the urge to push I was kind of numb otherwise. With Nicholas he was so close to out by the time I got into the delivery room that I only had a little half-push. With Josh...I could feel every move as he descended down. It was the freakiest feeling and I started getting a little panicked like I couldn't do it. It took 6 good pushes and then he was out and we could see why his heart rate kept dipping; he had the cord wrapped around his neck. After the unwrapped it they plopped him on my stomach and that's when I thought to ask the most important questions of all, boy or girl? And somebody said it was a boy and then took him to the isolette to do all those things they do to new babies.
Josh's time of birth was 7:02 am. Barely an hour after we got to the hospital and he was with us, in the most dramatic way I could think of. No drugs, all natural, and I was feeling awesome. Tired, but awesome. I was able to get out of bed after they stitched me all up and walk on my own to the bathroom and then to the wheelchair. They wheeled us first to the nursery to drop Josh off for some testing, and then to the recovery room. Jeff, Josh, and I hung out just the 3 of us for a little bit, and then Jeff took off home to see Nick and Liam, and to pick up the car seat. He already knew that I would be itching to get out of there as soon as possible.
And he was right, I think I lasted about 6 hours and then I started to get restless. Around 2 in the afternoon I told the nurse that I wanted to go home if at all possible, and could she make sure a doctor came around to see me soon instead of in the morning. Josh had already been cleared by his pediatrician to go home and by sheer luck my OB was on call and would come as soon as he could to check me out. Jeff got back to the hospital at 5, my doc gave me the clear to go at 5:15, and we were headed back home by 5:30. Less than 12 hours after giving birth!
Out of the 3 this was by far the most painful and scary. Thankfully everything worked out and we're all safe and healthy. And now I must go and tend to my crying infant :)
12 September 2009
I have a pregnant husband.
It started out as a joke, back when I was pregnant with Nicholas. Right from the very beginning it seemed like every symptom I was getting, so was Jeff. In fact, he was getting a lot of symptoms that I should have been getting but wasn't. The moodiness and up and down emotions. Putting together strange concoctions in the kitchen and actually eating them. The other ones, like nausea, heartburn, tiredness, gas...check, check, check, check. If I had it then so did he.
Some might think that he was doing it to get attention but here's the thing. He wouldn't know a pregnancy symptom if it up and hit him in the head. As much as he was on board with becoming a dad he's just not the kind of guy who's going to go out and study up on it. He tried, he bought a humerous book about fatherhood...I think he got maybe 3 chapters in. The main things his dad-friends talked about regarding their wives being pregnant were how much bitchier they got and how much sex they wanted. Fortunately he lucked out with having a pretty even-keeled wife. UNfortunately he didn't cash in on other part of what the dad's were talking about.
Fast forward to this pregnancy. It's pretty much mirrored the last one, dude is totally having another sympathetic pregnancy. I think it's sweet and shows how in tune we are. I know this guy inside and out but sometimes I worry that he doesn't have the same connection to me since I can be so...closed? I guess you could say that I'm not overly-emotional. But this, Jeff's reaction to me being pregnant, reinforces that we do have that bond.
This all has a point, I swear! I'm getting to the last few days before my due date and have been nesting like mad. Today, true to form, he has officially started his nesting too. So far today he has emptied and cleaned out the pool, washed down all the various pool toys and inflatables and put everything away. He weatherproofed the new window he put in last weekend. He fixed the valance and curtains in our bedroom. He went out and got some plyboard for Nicky's toddler bed base and installed that. He filled the cracks between the sidewalk and the house. After we get home from our walk (that will hopefully help induce labor) he's planning on fixing the closet door in our room, changing out the blinds in the back porch, and changing out the blinds and installing the new lighting fixture in Liam's room. This man makes me feel lazy.
So I think I can safely say that this baby will be coming very soon. I just have to keep an eye on Jeff and watch for any contractions he might be having!
Some might think that he was doing it to get attention but here's the thing. He wouldn't know a pregnancy symptom if it up and hit him in the head. As much as he was on board with becoming a dad he's just not the kind of guy who's going to go out and study up on it. He tried, he bought a humerous book about fatherhood...I think he got maybe 3 chapters in. The main things his dad-friends talked about regarding their wives being pregnant were how much bitchier they got and how much sex they wanted. Fortunately he lucked out with having a pretty even-keeled wife. UNfortunately he didn't cash in on other part of what the dad's were talking about.
Fast forward to this pregnancy. It's pretty much mirrored the last one, dude is totally having another sympathetic pregnancy. I think it's sweet and shows how in tune we are. I know this guy inside and out but sometimes I worry that he doesn't have the same connection to me since I can be so...closed? I guess you could say that I'm not overly-emotional. But this, Jeff's reaction to me being pregnant, reinforces that we do have that bond.
This all has a point, I swear! I'm getting to the last few days before my due date and have been nesting like mad. Today, true to form, he has officially started his nesting too. So far today he has emptied and cleaned out the pool, washed down all the various pool toys and inflatables and put everything away. He weatherproofed the new window he put in last weekend. He fixed the valance and curtains in our bedroom. He went out and got some plyboard for Nicky's toddler bed base and installed that. He filled the cracks between the sidewalk and the house. After we get home from our walk (that will hopefully help induce labor) he's planning on fixing the closet door in our room, changing out the blinds in the back porch, and changing out the blinds and installing the new lighting fixture in Liam's room. This man makes me feel lazy.
So I think I can safely say that this baby will be coming very soon. I just have to keep an eye on Jeff and watch for any contractions he might be having!
10 September 2009
39 weeks 1 day...not that I'm counting or anything.
Pretty soon here I'm going to hop in the shower and start getting ready for my doctor's appointment. I really didn't think that I would make this appointment...I was in the hospital last week with "false" labor.
**For the record I don't actually believe in "false" labor. That makes it sound like it was all in my head and nothing was actually going on. Never mind that I sat through 7 hours of contractions occuring every 3 minutes. I'm still a little bitter about it.
But to get back on topic. My dr.s appointment. He usually doesn't do internal checks to measure dilation but I have found that if he see's a legitimate reason he will do one. Since I really want to know if I've progressed past 3 cm I'm going to tell him about the pretty regular bouts of 2-3+ hours worth of contractions I've been having and see if that'll make him want to check. Hey, it worked 3 weeks ago!
Cross your fingers for me!
**For the record I don't actually believe in "false" labor. That makes it sound like it was all in my head and nothing was actually going on. Never mind that I sat through 7 hours of contractions occuring every 3 minutes. I'm still a little bitter about it.
But to get back on topic. My dr.s appointment. He usually doesn't do internal checks to measure dilation but I have found that if he see's a legitimate reason he will do one. Since I really want to know if I've progressed past 3 cm I'm going to tell him about the pretty regular bouts of 2-3+ hours worth of contractions I've been having and see if that'll make him want to check. Hey, it worked 3 weeks ago!
Cross your fingers for me!
9 September 2009
Remember me?
I have been encouraged to come out of blog hiding! I've been such a slacker the last 5 or 6 months and have neglected this blog shamefully, but hopefully that'll change. I know, I know, aren't I due any day now with baby #3? And I think I'll have time NOW, as opposed to the last half year? Well duh, ya!
So what has persuaded me, you may ask? There is a blog I have been reading for the past few months, www.pacingthepanicroom.com, and this super generous, caring dad has set up a giveaway for cloth diapers. I couldn't resist since I'm in luuuurve with cloth diapers!
Okay, so I already have a bit of a stash of 'em. I also have 2 babies to diaper since #2 is only 16 months old. And with only 1 income...shall we say the dollars are already being stretched? There's not much room in the budget to splurge out on any more of the good ones although I did sacrifice about $50 for some Dri-lines that'll only fit the new baby for the first 2 months maybe, 3 if he/she is a shrimpboat. After that these 2 little ones will be sharing diapers, and whoooo man I forsee a LOT of laundry in my future!!
Needless to say, these www.fuzzibunz.com would come in super handy! Back when I started cloth diapering Fuzzibunz didn't have the one-size dipes (or if they did I couldn't find them) so I decided, for the sake of my wallet, to go with BumGenius one-size. From what I've read and the personal opinions that I've gotten from friends, the two are pretty much on par with each other. Only major difference is BG's have velcro and FB's have snaps. No biggie!
*I actually have a confession to make. While I enjoyed cloth diapering and was very appreciative of the money saved, once I got pregnant again the smell of those solid food dirty diapers got to me so bad that I threw in the towel :( Well, I was going through the baby stuff in preparation for this new one and was getting the few diapers I have ready, and have decided that since Nicky is on a pretty predictable poop schedule I'm going to start using them again. I'll try to time the poopy ones with a disposable until we can get a diaper sprayer, and I think I'll have to invest in a proper diaper bag instead of the flip top garbage pail we were using. But this is the plan!
Okay off to link now (I'm a novice linker so I hope this actually works!)
So what has persuaded me, you may ask? There is a blog I have been reading for the past few months, www.pacingthepanicroom.com, and this super generous, caring dad has set up a giveaway for cloth diapers. I couldn't resist since I'm in luuuurve with cloth diapers!
Okay, so I already have a bit of a stash of 'em. I also have 2 babies to diaper since #2 is only 16 months old. And with only 1 income...shall we say the dollars are already being stretched? There's not much room in the budget to splurge out on any more of the good ones although I did sacrifice about $50 for some Dri-lines that'll only fit the new baby for the first 2 months maybe, 3 if he/she is a shrimpboat. After that these 2 little ones will be sharing diapers, and whoooo man I forsee a LOT of laundry in my future!!
Needless to say, these www.fuzzibunz.com would come in super handy! Back when I started cloth diapering Fuzzibunz didn't have the one-size dipes (or if they did I couldn't find them) so I decided, for the sake of my wallet, to go with BumGenius one-size. From what I've read and the personal opinions that I've gotten from friends, the two are pretty much on par with each other. Only major difference is BG's have velcro and FB's have snaps. No biggie!
*I actually have a confession to make. While I enjoyed cloth diapering and was very appreciative of the money saved, once I got pregnant again the smell of those solid food dirty diapers got to me so bad that I threw in the towel :( Well, I was going through the baby stuff in preparation for this new one and was getting the few diapers I have ready, and have decided that since Nicky is on a pretty predictable poop schedule I'm going to start using them again. I'll try to time the poopy ones with a disposable until we can get a diaper sprayer, and I think I'll have to invest in a proper diaper bag instead of the flip top garbage pail we were using. But this is the plan!
Okay off to link now (I'm a novice linker so I hope this actually works!)
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