Friday, March 30, 2007

Because I'm too tired to post, here are 2 amusing pictures. :)



Wednesday, March 28, 2007

“Why doesn’t she just get a breast reduction?”

I’m sitting in an office with 3 of my peers. The girl walking by has like, an FF cup. I’ve spoken to her about this before. So I tell them- it’s because she wants to breast feed some day, and doesn’t want to jeopardize that.

All three of these women were non breast feeders, while I was. They pretty much trashed breast feeding. “None of my friends did it. I don’t think large breasted women can do it. I don’t think small breasted women can do it. Why would anyone even want to put themselves through that? Isn’t 9 months enough?”

I was (rightfully in my opinion) upset, and I let them know. I breastfed both of my children, and I have very strong feelings on the subject. Unless a woman or her baby has a medical issue that prevents it, I think that every woman owes it to her baby to try breastfeeding. If it doesn’t work out, for what ever reason, it doesn’t work out. But trying is necessary.

Breastfeeding for me, especially with Eddie, my first, was such a wonderful experience. The bonding, the sense of being their sole form of nourishment, the sense that I could still offer them my body’s protection even after they left the womb…It was a great accomplishment for me.

I breastfed Eddie for 7 months and my goal was 6 months. I would have done it longer, but as he increasingly ate more solid foods and as he got so big so fast (he was 20 lbs by the time he was 9 months old) the breast milk was not enough to sustain him. Caitlyn was a lot different. She weaned herself at 4 months because she couldn’t see what was going on- she has been an opinionated busybody since day 1- without her nursing regularly and only being able to pump twice a day at work, my milk dried up fairly quickly.

My point here, is that I tried. I didn’t nurse either of my kids for the recommended year, but I tried. It was inconvenient and uncomfortable at times, but I did it anyway for the sake of my children. With all that is known today about the benefits of breast feeding, I don’t know why more women wouldn’t just try it.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

I have to wonder if Subway saves money by only giving you one napkin in that plastic bag they put your sandwich in. They must, judging by the looks they give you if you (heaven forbid) ask for some extras. You really have to wonder. I’m making a mental note to ask my little brother, who is a faithful Subway employee.

So anyway, hello. It’s Tuesday. It still feels like Monday though, or maybe even like it’s last Friday still. I’m in a fog. Caitlyn caught a nasty cold and I’ve been up with her all night, every night since Saturday. Does anyone else wonder why their kids are fine during the day, but seem to be on the brink of death after sundown? I suspect it’s some sort of phenomenon. Out of nowhere last night, Eddie decided that he was also sick. I had no sooner settled down with my Lean Cuisine, glass of chardonnay and TiVo remote than he began screaming that he doesn’t feel good, and need to sleep with me. So, I gorged and guzzled, and settled in to my bed with him, to fall blissfully asleep while watching “Dancing with the Stars”. In case you’re wondering, blissfully asleep means Eddie’s face and sick-o-breath right in my face and an obscene amount of snorting and sniffing with the occasional cough. Cait was up screaming at 2:00, asking for, of all things, a bottle which she hasn’t had in quite some time. I made it for her. I though, “screw all that we’ve worked for, I am way too tired for this.” She went back to sleep, but didn’t touch the bottle, so I wasted 6oz of milk. It was worth it for the fact that both kids were sleeping. I moved Eddie to his bed and settled in to sleep by myself for a while. All was peaceful until 4:45, when somehow, both kids were up screaming again. Cait went back to be easily, while Eddie came back to bed with me. I had even less room this time, since Ed had come home from work by now. In short (ok, in way too long….) I’m really tired.

I spent a lot of time today reading here which is a hysterical debate over tampons/pads vs. “The DivaCup” or “The Keeper”. Very amusing, and for what it’s worth I don’t think that I would use either of the “newfangled” collection cups. Disgusting. This was really one of the funniest threads I’ve read in a long time.

Nothing else is really going on. Ed has recovered nicely from his tonsillectomy. There were a few rough spots, but he did really well. I injured my wrist quite badly this weekend while lifting a box of tray tables at my sister-in-law’s shower. It’s not the bone, but I think I have some deep muscle thing going on. It’s freaking killing me. And I’m scheduled to get this stoooopid temporary crown off on Thursday, and get the real ceramic version installed, so I’m VERY excited. Especially since the temporary actually has a hole in it. They weren’t kidding when they said temporary.

I’m pretty sure I’ve griped enough for the day, so I’m going to get back to work on building a whole new list of issues to gripe about tomorrow.

Monday, March 12, 2007

I feel old, crampy, bloated and arthritic today. Perfect time for a survey, right? Here it is!!



FIRST BORN SURVEY

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? I had been tracking my ovulation, but Ed wasn't sure about having a baby. One night after work, he told me that he wanted to have a baby. That's the day I got pregnant.

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Very excited, but scared, and also a little bit in disbelief

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? NEVER!

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? 25


6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? I went to the dr for something completely unrelated but mentioned that I was having horrible cramping that midol wasn't even touching. My period was a day late. Dr. said to take a test just to be sure. She told me it would take about 10 minutes to develop, but came running back in the room 3 minutes later to say that I was, in fact, pregnant.


7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Ed, then Rosanne and Beverly

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? I did. makes planning a lot easier. Plus, I am just so darn nosy....

9. DUE DATE? 1/4/04

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? Yes...but I never threw up from it.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? twinkies and root beer. (I'm convinced this is why Eddie won't eat veggies....) I drank root beer morning, noon and night to the point that I can't even look at it anymore. Snyder's Spicy Jalapeno Pepper Pretzle Pieces.

12. WHO IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? the real question is who didn't iritiate me. People at work still talk about how miserable I was.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX? boy

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? not really. i was good either way

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY? 40 lbs

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? yes

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? I knew.

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNACY? Not until it came to laboring a gigantic baby

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Sister's Hospital

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? Well, I was 5 cm at the dr.'s office and no pain or contractions. They induced me at 6:00 pm and I had him by 2:13 am, so..... 8 hours

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Ed-, but we stopped at the bank, and to get him food on the way-(god I was so hungry and I couldn't eat because they thought they might do a c-section. the chicken salad sandwich I ate while they were stitching me up still ranks as one of the best meals I've ever eaten.)

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Ed, the doctor, and a ton of nurses.

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Ummm, yes. Pitocin is evil so I had an epidural.

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 10lbs 2 oz

28. DID YOUR CHILD HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS? He was a littly hypo-glycemic, due to his weight-nothing a little nursing couldn't take care of.

29. WHAT DAY WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ON? 1/7/2004

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Edmund Mason

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? 3 years, 2 months. ~sniff~

Friday, March 09, 2007

I’ve been quiet, I know. I’ve actually been crazy sick since last Friday, with tonsillitis. I went to the Dr. on Tuesday and was advised that I should probably see someone about taking my tonsils out. (yeah, that's not happening) Ironically, Ed had his tonsils out on Wednesday. Actually, it was his tonsils, adenoids and they re-sculpted the roof of his mouth and removed his uvula. Yuck. He was doing really well up until last night- eating, talking etc. All of the sudden though, he started feeling horrible, the pain killer wasn’t working and he started swelling some more. I think the good stuff from the hospital finally wore off. Today, he is worse then yesterday, and I don’t know what the weekend will bring.

The surgery itself went really well. My mother-in-law drove me nuts, but the surgery went well. She showed up late, played the “doting mother” and then slept in the waiting room the whole time with her winter glove over her eyes. She got pissed when Ed was in recovery, and they would only let me back there. (He needed help getting dressed) So now here’s the kicker. I sent her, along with Ed’s scripts, and my VISA which is linked to my healthcare account to target to get everything filled while I took Ed home and got him settled. We were home for a full 45 minutes before she got back to our house, and when she did come back, she had a horrible look on her face. I asked he what was the matter, and she told me that she lost my card. I asked her to repeat herself, and she said it again. She lost my card. She said she must have flipped it out of her purse when she took the scripts out. She ended up paying for the meds out of her pocket. I am not paying her back. I don’t know how something like that could happen. Anyway, it was cancelled and no extra charges were made. I just need to wait for the new one now. Irritating.

I’ve slept like crap the last few nights and am really beat right now. I could curl up under my desk.

Not much else going on. Eddie has been obsessed with “The Tigger Movie” and watching it at least once a day. Caitlyn has been playing with her baby more and more, wrapping her in her blanket and telling us all to “shhh” as she rocks her. It’s really cute.

I have my bowl-a-thon tomorrow at 8:30 AM. Yippee! Go Junior Achievement!