Posts Tagged ‘Mamahood’
- In: Life
- 2 Comments
Once again, this really is for girls only.
No boys allowed (except for Jonathan, although, really, even you might wanna stay away).
Some of you might recall a while back I wrote about using cloth pads after I had Hannah. Well, here’s my update on my thoughts/feelings/ideas post baby.
On a scale of 1-10, 10 being deeply in love with cloth, I’d go with like a 7. I don’t passionately love them (or rather why I need them), but I really don’t mind them at all. They’re quite easy, rarely messy (more to come) and serve their purpose well. Overall, I’m glad I’ve made the switch and imagine that I won’t go back to store bought pads.
The nitty-gritty of the truth:
You really do need to change frequently, because they aren’t as absorbent as disposable. I think you could push them a little further if they have PUL or some other waterproofing material, but to save money and time I opted out of having any.
Maybe it’d would have been a better idea of a cleaning system before starting to use them right after a baby. Since I don’t have anything disposable on hand, it’s very, very important to not miss a washing day. Which seems far more taxing right after having a baby. But I’m getting use to it. Good news is, they’re small and wash/dry quickly.
Since mine are handmade, I don’t know what others are like, but it took me some time to figure out a layering system to know what absorbency and coverage would be best. I’ve found that two inserts, slightly over top one another work best.
Thickness isn’t always the best option. I’ve found having three thin layers works better than one super thick layer.
I’ve found, just like with Julia’s diapers, it’s best to have the pads already ready to go, so I don’t find myself fumbling around at 2 in the morning trying to put in inserts. Just switch and go.
Overall I really like them. I spent under $30 for 12 and have to say have been really happy with the switch. I’m tempted to buy a name brand one just to see what the differences are, but figure they can’t be that much. My friend who made them did a really excellent job and said she’d be willing to make more for anyone who’s interested. 😉
The thing is…
Posted on: June 25, 2009
God has a way of making me eat my words.
Seriously.
I feel like it happens all the time. I say one thing, God proves me wrong. Like the idea that just cause I pray for something doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Yesterday was a doozy of a day. From start to finish I felt like I was getting my butt beat by everything and everyone. Jonathan came home during the afternoon to give me a little break. Before calling him I told myself that I needed the help, but that I was still strong, still under control, I just need a little help. I retreated to our bedroom to delve into the Bible with a hope that God would reveal some wonderful verse about how great I am, how I am special and wonderful in every way. Instead I read:
“If you fail under pressure, your strength is too small.” Proverbs 24:10
Right… Thanks God!
When I told Jonathan of my plight last night, his response was ” You’re way more dramatic then I give you credit for.” Ahh, gotta love honesty. 😉
I figure it’s all good, because really I do still have a lot to learn and God just wants to remind me.
In other news, having two kids is hard work! I could go into all the ways that I’ve discovered just how crazy busy life is with a toddler and a newborn, but frankly my brain isn’t functioning that well these days, so it’ll have to wait for another day and another post.
- In: Life
- 10 Comments
The moment we’ve all been waiting for….
We had a baby.
A baby girl!
Hannah Michelle weighed in at 9 pounds, 2 ounces. Whew!
It makes me laugh a little, because for the better part of my pregnancy I was completely convinced we were having a girl. Then for the last 10-15 weeks (and especially the last 4-6 weeks) I thought for sure we were having a boy. But God knows what this family needs, and we need another beautiful wonderful daughter to raise, love and train.
Here is Hannah’s birth story for all you who are interested:
On Sunday, the 14th, my water broke around 7 pm. Like with Julia, it was a release over time, rather than one large gush. Around 8 pm I started having contractions that were about 10 – 15 minutes apart. By 10:30 I started walking the cul-de-sac with my mom and my contractions were coming every 4 minutes. They weren’t too bad, I could still walk through them, but had to stop talking. This lasted till 11:30, when Jonathan started getting ready for us to leave for the hospital. We arrived at the hospital a little after midnight. By this point my contractions had slowed down significantly, coming every 20 minutes or later. The nurse hooked me up to a machine to monitor my contractions and Hannah’s heart beat. During this time, the midwife, Lynne, came to check up on me. She expressed concerned, first, because Hannah’s heart beat has bouncing (almost literally) between 90 and 190, second, my contractions were slowly down more and more, and third, I had only dilated to 4 cm and barely effaced. At hearing this I got really upset, because it meant I still had so far to go. We made the decision to start pitocin to “kick start” the process. Again, I was feeling pretty emotional about how things were swerving farther from my original birth plan/idea and was nervous that taking pitocin would lead to other medicinal interventions. Thankfully, once I got the pitocin the contractions started coming regularly and were getting intense. I was able to use the tub to labor for a little while, helping to ease my muscles. Once I felt the need to push, I got out of the tub and got into the bed. I had some pretty severe back labor pains, so my mom and Jonathan would take turns pressing on my back during contractions. I tried “resting” between contractions but they seemed to be piggy backing making it nearly impossible to really ever relax. Just after 4 am, Lynne gave me the go to start pushing. I pushed for about 15-20 minutes and Hannah was born at 4:21. I must say, pushing was far more painful with Hannah than Julia. It could be because she is bigger, or pushing went much faster, but I clearly remember thinking “I am never having another kid”. Yeah, we’ll see about that. 😉
I will admit that things didn’t go as I had thought they would; I assumed that from start to finish would have been shorter, that I wouldn’t need any type of medicinal intervention and that I’d some how be more “ready”. But on the other side, since Hannah was born things are going better than I hoped. She’s latching on really well, has so far been very content and Julia seems to really love her.
God has been such a wonderful provider! I can’t begin to explain how blessed I am to be the mother of two beautiful wonderful little girls.
Hannah Michelle 6/15/2009
Julia Mabel 11/23/2007
And we wait…
Posted on: June 13, 2009
- In: Life
- Leave a Comment
Ok, I know I’d said I wasn’t going to blog before the baby comes, but at the begging urging request of Leah, I’m updating just so you all have a little something to read during your free time.
I’m still pregnant. Obviously. But I’m hoping my condition changes soon.
Friday morning I saw my midwife. She took some measures to help get things moving along and told me that I’m 3 cm dilated. My mom got into town Friday evening and since then we’ve been doing a lot of walking and massage therapy to help induction. I spent a good two hours at the mall this afternoon walking around. At one point I literally thought the baby was about to drop out of me. But again, obviously that didn’t happen. I’ve had some mild cramping, but nothing regular or seemingly promising. Even though I’m not due for another 3 days, I’ve found myself really struggling to trust God on the timing of Dubya Dos’ arrival. Part of this is due to my honest belief that I wasn’t going to make it this long, and part is because I really just want to meet my baby already. It’s funny that I know, logically, that this baby will come out, but my emotions are all over the place. I just keep clinging to truth, that God is always good and His will/timing is always perfect.
It’s been nice having some lag time between the DD’s arrival and my mom and Dave’s arrival. Julia hasn’t seen them since before we found out we were pregnant, so I’ve been nervous about how well she’d warm up to them. However, God has truly blessed their relationship. Julia has really taken to them both and is doing super. Because we don’t live in Tennessee, we don’t get a chance to see Omi and Grandpa very often, so having grandparents around is a whole new territory. I think Julia has really picked up on having new “freedoms” with Omi and Grandpa. Normally I’d been far more adamant about maintaining certain rules (ex: candy, roughhousing, etc), but think that this should be a treat for her, so have let a few several things slide by the wayside. But this afternoon/evening we did need a little time to reestablish who’s in charge. 🙂
Alrighty, I will let this be the real end until DD arrives. Hope you enjoyed the update.
I am not a girlie-girl
Posted on: May 29, 2009
- In: Life
- Leave a Comment
Let me state that again, I am NOT a girlie-girl. By nature I have never been a dress-wearing, make-up doing, hair-fixing, bug-screaming girl. I feel most myself in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, sportin’ some dirt and ready to jump in a creek to look for crawdaddies. I was most likely, every cheerleaders worst nightmare. From as early as I can remember, I hated taking showers, wearing anything I found to be confining (aka, dresses, skirts, anything white or pink) or being girlie in any way. Then, growing up with four brothers, a mom who isn’t very girlie-girl just intensified my lack of girlieness.
Somewhere in high school I started paying more attention to my appearance. I found myself *shock!* looking at dresses and “cute” shoes willingly. I remember buying my first dress (one that I had personally picked out). I felt grown up. And the funniest thing is, I could count on one hand how many times I actually wore it. By the time I got to college I had “arrived”. I started wearing more feminine outfits, mostly because I worked at Ann Taylor. I started actively doing my hair daily, wearing make up and shopping for jewelry. I found myself surrounded by girls who loved being feminine and girlie. Slowly I began transforming into a pink wearing, necklace owning, perfume loving girl.
Then I had a baby. And for months I’m pretty certain I never did my hair, wore make up or even changed out of sweatpants. I most definitely didn’t shower daily (TMI). Then as the post-baby haze lifted I went back to doing my hair, putting on make up and showering (almost) daily. During all this time I realized that I had a daughter. Which meant (and means) that she will imitate me, desire to be like me (in some form or fashion). So, in an effort to give her a fighting chance of being a girlie-girl I shower her with pink, dolls and dresses. In recent months I’ve even started “doing” her hair.
Want to know what I’ve discovered? It’s tough being a non-natural girlie-girl trying to help your daughter be a girlie-girl. I hate “doing” her hair – it’s time consuming and results in very little reward (as it takes me half and hour to pull back and 2 seconds for her to rip out). I really hate putting her in a dress – it seems so confining; she can’t actively climb or slide or crawl around being crazy. I really, really hate remembering to put her shoes on her before we leave the house. That last one is in part to the fact that I really, really hate wearing shoes. But, alas, I do all these (in my mind) girlie-girl things, because somewhere deep down inside me, I kinda wish I had had the chance to embrace that side of myself as a kid. Not in some I-like-wearing-lacey-dresses-and-bows sorta way, but in a I-like-wearing-a-cute-dress-so-long-as-I-have-shorts-on-underneath sorta way. And I do plan to open up dance, ballet and even *gasp!* cheerleading to Julia if she wants.
However, I draw a fine line at screaming at bugs. If she learns to do that, she most definitely won’t be getting it from me.
Regression, it ain’t so pretty
Posted on: May 26, 2009
- In: Life
- Leave a Comment
I’ve been mentally preparing myself for Julia to regress in a lot of areas once Dubya Dos arrives. Because of that, we’ve not been pushing her to potty train or nap in her toddler bed. But at the beginning of this month, she started asking to nap in her bed rather than the crib, so we let her. And things went beautifully. Then, more and more she began telling us when she needed to go potty (especially poopy) and things went beautifully.
Then we decided to remodel the house.
And Julia decided to regress.
Potty training is sorta hit or miss these days. I have two theories for this:
1. She’s starting to understand the sensation for peeing, so instead of concentrating on the pooping, she’s too focused on the peeing (before it was opposite).
2. She’s a tad freaked out about all the new changes and life (aka routine) has been a little off.
Once we moved her into her new room, she was sleeping full time in her toddler bed. But, slowly, she’s started getting up too soon during naps. Well, rather, she’s just never falling asleep. I’ve been letting it slide because:
1. She was getting up to alert me that she needed to pee (and just never would lay back down).
2. She’s reaching that just-needs-one-nap age and I wasn’t sure when she actually wanted to sleep.
But after spending an entire week with an exhausted toddler, I’ve buckled down. Since she’s still waking up oh-too-early, I’ve figured she needs to lay down between 10-11. I’m fine with one nap a day (then slowly pushing the time back to early afternoon), but not no naps a day. Today has been our first day of force napping. I spent a good 45 minutes going into her room, disciplining and putting her back in her bed. The last round, she actually came out of her room (the door doesn’t actually shut) asking to go pee. I let her, then put her straight back to bed. That was almost 15-20 minutes ago and so far it’s been silent. My prayer is that whatever new, good habits we establish between now and when Dubya Dos arrives will actually stick!
Let it rain
Posted on: May 16, 2009
- In: Life
- Leave a Comment
It’s been raining here a lot this last week. I don’t really mind as I love the rain and it helps me keep the garden well watered. Plus, as some of you might remember I got some rainboots for my birthday, which actually makes running 9 months pregnant while carrying Julia kinda fun.
However, not only has it been raining outside, it’s been raining inside too. No leaky roofs or holes, but me – crying. Lots.
Let me preface the rest of this post by saying – I adore being pregnant. I really, really do. With all the sickness, aches and pains, I see past it all and simply love being pregnant. I’m very grateful that God has blessed me with Julia and now this child.
But, I’m not a big fan of the emotions that come with pregnancy. My personality is such that I really like being in control, especially of my emotions. No need to cry over something or show too much pain, especially in front of other people. I don’t mind expressing my feelings, oh no, just ask Jonathan. He told me just this week that I’m more in touch with my feelings than most people. I usually know what I’m feeling, why I’m feeling it and what should be done about it. But in all that, I want to really harness how my emotions/feelings are expressed. I suppose ultimately it comes down to pride, control and vanity.
Alas, I’ve hit that stage in my pregnancy where emotional control seems to have flown the coop. Yesterday I sat in the van and cried sobbed for a good minute two minutes five minutes because I spilled coffee all over the Father’s Day cards I had just purchased. Take note – none of the cards were ruined, just the envelopes (which are easily replaceable). To make matters worse, I was waiting at Jonathan’s work in the parking lot when this “saga” happened, making me crying even harder because I felt like a complete fool as his co-workers are leaving, perhaps even catching sight of my weepy eyes.
I think the worse part is that I’ve no real reason to be crying. Things are going well, Dubya Dos is doing great (per our midwife yesterday), Julia isn’t overly toddler-like (and even slept in yesterday till 6:45!) and our remodeling of the downstairs is nearly complete. Yet, if I hear/read/watch/think of something sad the water works start falling. And the entire time I keep thinking how silly I am for crying, which makes me cry even more. Oy vei!
So, for all you Iowan friends, if you catch me crying, don’t worry, nothing is wrong. Perhaps I saw a sappy commercial or a leaf somewhere in China fell off a tree. Or maybe even I just thought crying sounded nice (which last week it did, which produced a few minutes of peaceful crying while Julia napped). Hopefully, after the fourth trimester is over I should return to “normal”.
TMI, or For Girls Only – Seriously
Posted on: May 4, 2009
- In: Life
- 13 Comments
Seriously, if you’re a guy stop reading now. Really. Just close your laptop and walk away. No joke. If you keep reading you will forever be scarred.
Guys, I warned you.
Alright, is it just the ladies now?
Have you ever considered cloth pads? I’ve done quite a bit of research on them over the last 9 months and have decided to give them a try. They can get rather expensive, so I’m having some made. It seems kinda gross (Jonathan won’t touch this subject with a 10 foot pole), but I figured if I’ve got two kids in cloth, why not just add a third? Plus, from the research I’ve done they say that these things hold up for years. One blogger said that between her cloth and Diva Cup, she hadn’t used store bought products in ten years! How cool is that?! Last summer before getting pregnant, I used the Diva Cup for about 3 months. I loved it. Completely and totally amazing. I think what is so appealing to me is that 1) you don’t have to change it all the time, 2) I can leave my house without worrying about one more thing to have on hand, 3) it never leaks and 4) it’s so much more comfortable than a tampon. However, I can’t use it post-Dubya Dos which is where the pads come in.
So far I’ve found GladRags, Party in my Pants (they are sold individually at New Pi), and Lunapads to be the most recommended. However, just for a small postpartum kit the pads would run me close to $100. Which, if they last 10 years, is only $10 a year on pads. Not too bad at all, but outside of right after delivery, I never wear pads (maybe a liner for added protection), which means that these wouldn’t be used all that often. I’ve checked out some on eBay, but with shipping you don’t really save all that much, especially since you buy individually rather than in a kit.
Ladies, have you ever looked into cloth pads? If so, what are your thoughts? Do you use them? Would you ever use them?
***EDIT***
I did start using cloth pads after Hannah was born (June 2009). If you want to read about how that’s gone, check out TMI – the update.
Proverbs 31, or Why I love Fareway
Posted on: April 20, 2009
- In: Life
- 5 Comments
I’ve never viewed myself as a Proverbs 31 wife. I read though the passages and find myself faced with a woman who seems completely above all. Stays up late working, gets up early to prepare for the day, is always joyful, laughs at every worry, the definition of resourcefulness. Me. Yep, I’m not touching that with a ten foot pole. I really desire to be like her. I want to bring joy and peace to my household, be a helpmate to Jonathan, but I just don’t find myself matching up to her.
Yet God is gracious. I might not be able to get up before my family, buy and sell property, but, but I can find some good deals on groceries.
Since the beginning of March I’ve been trying to be more resourceful and mindful of my grocery shopping. I’ve been going through the local store ads, buying items in advance when they’re on sale, and buying more bulk for freezing. I’ve had some hits and misses, some days of thinking “Man, I just wanna go to Wal-Mart” but I think I’ve found my groove. All thanks to one little store – Fareway. The Fareway closest to my house has some amazing deals on produce. Like, wow amazing. For example, last week I bought 12 zucchini for $2. They were on their last leg, but cut ’em up, freeze ’em and bam!, you’ve got yourself cheap, good zucchini to steam for future dinners.
What makes me laugh most of all is just how much God cares about details.
Back in February I put our Food Saver up on Craigslist. Never once have I used this saver. It’s in mint condition with all the tubes, bags, etc. Guess how many people emailed me. Zero. Seriously, not a one.
Well, today I was prepping some green beans to freeze when I remembered, or rather God reminded me, that I have this uber cool food saver. I got it out, dusted it off, read the instructions and gave it a whirl. Whoa mama! I love this thing! What have I been missing? Hello?!? Amazing contraption. For real.
So, I might not fit every verse of Proverbs 31, but I must say God’s grace has been pretty great in showing me that I’m still doing a good job of caring for my family.
Testimony of a child, Part 6
Posted on: April 15, 2009
- In: Life
- 2 Comments
My pregnancy with Julia went as smoothly as I could have hoped. Only at the beginning was there any concern, when I had some cramping, that ended up being the symptoms of a urinary infection. Through out my entire pregnancy, I clung to the truth God had taught me.
God is good. No matter the answer, no matter the circumstance. God is good.
November 23, 2007.
Julia Mabel entered this world. My path as a mother began. There have been some valleys, there have been some mountain tops. And in it all, God is good.
The day I came home from work sick (due to the uti), I was concerned that I would loose this baby too. I sprawled out on our bed, read and prayed. During that time, God comforted me, assured me that His answer really was “YES” and then gave me this verse that I prayed over my entire pregnancy, and continue to pray over Julia:
“O Lord, you alone are my hope. I’ve trusted you, O Lord, from childhood. Yes, you have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb you have cared for me. No wonder I am always praising you!” Psalm 71:5-6
Julia literally is an answer to my prayers. She is the delight of my life and a gift from my God.
A Wife Loved Like The Church 
Recent Comments