tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59896016760753841052024-03-05T23:46:03.544-05:00Comically DistressedEat. Run. Create. Explore.Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-50737759342127012162021-11-12T17:34:00.012-05:002021-11-18T12:36:49.360-05:00Official Homeschooling: Year TWO<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Here's a post for anyone interested in hearing how it's going with the kids' education. I spend a massive amount of brain power thinking about and planning the course of my childrens' education and daily lives, but rarely share that with others. Of course, we had always planned to home school, but the pandemic, along with Everett turning 6 in 2020 (i.e. it was time to notify with the state of Ohio), it started to get a little more real. I had been kind of "unschooling," which was fine for the kids, but it kind of felt like I was reinventing the wheel and working really hard, when so many amazing resources are out there. A friend mentioned she was using Blossom and Root, which is a secular, nature based curriculum, and so we decided to give it a try. The subjects it covers are science, language arts, math in art, and nature study. For math, we ended up going with a program called Wild Math. I LOVED the science curriculum, which introduces each new week as a "wonder," which I think is so true, because most of what we end up learning about really is wondrous. I was really unimpressed with the language arts program for 1st grade (though they've since updated it and I'm excited to try it out). Math was....a struggle for us. I really, really wanted to love Wild Math, but it wasn't really a curriculum, so much as a list of activities that could be done to strengthen skills as dictated by core curriculum standards. It was a lot of work for me to cobble together hands on lessons that Everett HATED (Because, I think, he hates being put on the spot when he's unsure.) Our first year of official homeschooling was....a learning experience. I bought a binding machine (totally wish I would have bought a much upgraded model), a laminating machine, 3 and 1 hole punches, a cutting machine, and somewhere between 40-50 supplemental books. I also bought an American History (the early years) curriculum through Blossom and Root called a River of Voices, which I am still tentatively really excited about, but was a little advanced for the kids at the time (4 and 6), and a little labor intensive for me to carry out (not an open and go curriculum)</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMdw7SHSpuO6fBQYJ9pt1Hy5K_-09qYApBUKhGOJB7cl98MvurhcSNhr7Rhs_RJnzmf416o9xiTbGxxjCjPzSYpkSZHYXJIoV4HzW-HIhlHqBg3VUxXEX8ILp629ezR4KUnATt1JaWo8/s4032/PXL_20211118_160649022%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEMdw7SHSpuO6fBQYJ9pt1Hy5K_-09qYApBUKhGOJB7cl98MvurhcSNhr7Rhs_RJnzmf416o9xiTbGxxjCjPzSYpkSZHYXJIoV4HzW-HIhlHqBg3VUxXEX8ILp629ezR4KUnATt1JaWo8/s320/PXL_20211118_160649022%257E2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The space: it's not usually this neat, but we try our best!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExkFECNYk-A951eBfdsmV_GlTMJjWGBjQZz9MgG_WGOVl1V8sSy0crV6r4qpjwQQrzvY5hYJxNb5Kf1FziFo7rMjI-L3xtjH0unPRXh3TrV3iOT3HfoqncoY5m5OnK_E6iNXM_Zio1A4/s4032/PXL_20211118_160733366%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjExkFECNYk-A951eBfdsmV_GlTMJjWGBjQZz9MgG_WGOVl1V8sSy0crV6r4qpjwQQrzvY5hYJxNb5Kf1FziFo7rMjI-L3xtjH0unPRXh3TrV3iOT3HfoqncoY5m5OnK_E6iNXM_Zio1A4/s320/PXL_20211118_160733366%257E2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As the first year went on, I learned a lot, and by year two, I'm really starting to hit my groove and figure out what the hell I'm doing. The biggest game changer of all was buying an Eco Tank printer, which lasts long and has inexpensive ink refills. Because the Blossom and Root second grade language arts curriculum had great titles like the Hobbit, The Wizard of Oz, The Wind in the Willows, American Tall Tales, and Trickster Tales from Around the World, I decided to give Blossom and Root another try, even though we weren't super impressed with the first grade language arts curriculum (which has since been updated). For science this year we are learning about plants and fungi. Also, because Laurel is starting to get a little older, I decided to get her the kindergarten curriculum, which includes a nature study, space study, language arts, and art/history of me. I knew she would appreciate having something that is truly her own, instead of tagging along with what her older brother was learning, and I was right, BUT, two complete curricula for two kids is a LOT to keep up with. And I love all the aspects of the curriculum, so skipping out on any one part causes me pain, but it has to be done! For Laurel, we are focusing on the space, language arts, art/history, and then doing the kindergarten art program together (and NOT doing the second grade art program). Last year, we had separate books for each subject, one for the parent guide and one for the student....we probably had 10 notebooks total, and that doesn't include all the supplemental books. It was a LOT and I was always losing the books, and there was no way I would be able to keep up with all those books for TWO kids, so instead of binding, I put everything into color coded binders, orange for Laurel (LO) and yellow for Everett (YE)</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUygqoEfnbHXanCeZzh486AoG0PKoPD8-bVh7LQxV7RNASYZ8kh7YP75jYrLt0dQ5d4qNkAfT6aKdMlrFeKW_e7iX9n0_ln1Zjwozcc2gGRxvqdU4UahqmEz_2W54LhjD1WazCDU_5EI/s4032/PXL_20211118_162915036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUygqoEfnbHXanCeZzh486AoG0PKoPD8-bVh7LQxV7RNASYZ8kh7YP75jYrLt0dQ5d4qNkAfT6aKdMlrFeKW_e7iX9n0_ln1Zjwozcc2gGRxvqdU4UahqmEz_2W54LhjD1WazCDU_5EI/s320/PXL_20211118_162915036.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">1 binder for each grade, one parent guide each, and one student book each, plus seasonal activities!</span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It's all been going pretty well, but I had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that we didn't have a history curriculum. So, in October, I started hunting. Of course, first and foremost, it had to be secular and I wanted to find something that respected and amplified various voices from around the globe, and that stayed away from a white washed, colonialist perspective, and I found that that pretty quickly narrows down your home school options (absolutely abhorrently, there are actually home school history curricula that hint at the idea that African colonization was for their best interests). Fortunately, I already have the River of Voices for when we get to the history of North America/the United States, which I am really excited to get to someday, along with projects like Howard Zinn's History of the United States for Kids. It was a tough choice between a couple different curricula, but we ended up going with History Quest, which focuses pretty heavily on the storytelling aspect of history. And the kids LOVE a good story, so I thought that would be a great fit for introducing them to history and stoking a love of it. Right now, we are 100% downplaying the dates of things, the order, etc. just to focus on all the cool stuff that's happened. We're only 3 weeks in, but we've all learned so much. Australopithecus! Sumer! Cuneiform!</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qeuDtHjuZIiVT3Pd9M_Xr3vaqs83P7YY5ySdEBuxJvMW-xwMK0qKp-4f4LkDT6RL2r1EkgJ5LZO-itFrYrsB5alDdXzCuo8VRow7-lRDmCqnmiE2DZT-4XhONd21WOPFzp0L8unwBlA/s4032/PXL_20211118_160009568.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_qeuDtHjuZIiVT3Pd9M_Xr3vaqs83P7YY5ySdEBuxJvMW-xwMK0qKp-4f4LkDT6RL2r1EkgJ5LZO-itFrYrsB5alDdXzCuo8VRow7-lRDmCqnmiE2DZT-4XhONd21WOPFzp0L8unwBlA/s320/PXL_20211118_160009568.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Keeping it all organized is no easy task, but we've improved by leaps and bounds!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimSlJd5WvgR-B_rIQhuA3FPpWgaCgrQGm8tAI6CgsYyyrUPj2a34V7iNebexi2Z0Mdq6fVjmz1TCP9rIkUadcCUjy3oW6M4J8Sbcn_gyoxk2EGVc_7q6p-a-hZNJjs5TuLIHEm9vMpJ_M/s4032/PXL_20211118_162524191%257E3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimSlJd5WvgR-B_rIQhuA3FPpWgaCgrQGm8tAI6CgsYyyrUPj2a34V7iNebexi2Z0Mdq6fVjmz1TCP9rIkUadcCUjy3oW6M4J8Sbcn_gyoxk2EGVc_7q6p-a-hZNJjs5TuLIHEm9vMpJ_M/s320/PXL_20211118_162524191%257E3.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">The small metal bookshelf on the right holds all our curriculum specific books</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">So just now when I'd started thinking that I'd gotten all the aspects of our education up and running, I couldn't stop thinking about the fact that math just really wasn't going great for Everett. Everett groaned every time we "did math," and I really felt like we weren't channeling our inner wonder and curiosity. I picked up a 2nd grade Enchanted Forest workbook though, and Everett really enjoyed working on it, so I knew we just needed to change up our approach. I ended up choosing Beast Academy, which looks challenging for him, but also....it has monster characters, so you know it's a win! We're working through the Enchanted Forest workbook right now, but we just got the Beast Academy workbooks, so we're looking forward to starting those in the next few weeks.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In addition to our regular curricula, I've also found there's this whole world of homeschooling themed educational tools made mostly by parents who are also homeschooling their kids, and are artists, math educators, etc. I have bought several nature themed bundles, forest schooling bundles, etc., so when I'm not sure what to do with Laurel, I'll just find the arithmetic or coloring section, for example, for one of the bundles I procured, and print out a page for her to do, which she loves. My favorite of these that I have found so far is the Simple Living Collective (https://www.simplelivingcollective.com/) which is not really a curriculum, but it's more like a guide of recipes/crafts/activities for each season. So far, I've bought the spring and autumn editions, and I'm eagerly awaiting the winter one!</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8bt8QnhQAo0JHCJD8y7c099XX9MsRGkZn23_4Y0l9eyt_l3zA0mbCEo8GgsD_azLpxpgw5xc0VYi4ha8ATKZkTRJk2XQWPFL-yif0wNUr-zgksMnztY-a56nRK3zft5sf1oG9-buSxM/s4032/PXL_20211117_212314795.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl8bt8QnhQAo0JHCJD8y7c099XX9MsRGkZn23_4Y0l9eyt_l3zA0mbCEo8GgsD_azLpxpgw5xc0VYi4ha8ATKZkTRJk2XQWPFL-yif0wNUr-zgksMnztY-a56nRK3zft5sf1oG9-buSxM/s320/PXL_20211117_212314795.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Learning happens everywhere!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBFBU8hQgcY7EuWXQH5NEyxt7_ve5zk8meDejDMhL9_v3z9V-xQfmK18s37r4UrJnwoLUCq7fZJT4-6vlxWvE8l5pG5aBspIDNrViOL8pZcL-jB6qsqIqwVurcCHaE5AOBjQDiMWaW2Is/s4032/PXL_20211117_184929729.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBFBU8hQgcY7EuWXQH5NEyxt7_ve5zk8meDejDMhL9_v3z9V-xQfmK18s37r4UrJnwoLUCq7fZJT4-6vlxWvE8l5pG5aBspIDNrViOL8pZcL-jB6qsqIqwVurcCHaE5AOBjQDiMWaW2Is/s320/PXL_20211117_184929729.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Laurel loves numbers and she loves having her OWN activities to do!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUBCQWxVDJkXKd6nuYL8CGGn94wXHKfKNEa5dBorrcJBDZVa-n1yOEVXsjw5u70xoaO5_Swang2VwnnEqbGIRqlxyHbyarpg__Oo6o4csbh_56jYKV7UdJrhVS6N5wyGHitbxFO9b4_dk/s4032/PXL_20211117_153327325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUBCQWxVDJkXKd6nuYL8CGGn94wXHKfKNEa5dBorrcJBDZVa-n1yOEVXsjw5u70xoaO5_Swang2VwnnEqbGIRqlxyHbyarpg__Oo6o4csbh_56jYKV7UdJrhVS6N5wyGHitbxFO9b4_dk/s320/PXL_20211117_153327325.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Air dry clay leaf models. We're going to paint and add labels to the parts of the leaf!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkZyO1dxR-PkKf0VGa4I2-Ac5LYm7ApIJDC2BF2Z7J6MM64gQeBS4UDn69cV1LfwOonCnFFMi8Bn8CkM0-_uqxaWjlfTIvHRC1Dzphwwcg88VHoik0YIT9QqXsDM7OHNMjxBy2B7YvUc/s4032/PXL_20211116_194348501%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDkZyO1dxR-PkKf0VGa4I2-Ac5LYm7ApIJDC2BF2Z7J6MM64gQeBS4UDn69cV1LfwOonCnFFMi8Bn8CkM0-_uqxaWjlfTIvHRC1Dzphwwcg88VHoik0YIT9QqXsDM7OHNMjxBy2B7YvUc/s320/PXL_20211116_194348501%257E2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Everett working on the Enchanted Forest math workbook, using an abacus he made himself!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We don't just look to these core curricula for our inspiration, though I do have an entire shelf dedicated just to our "curriculum books" (Smithsonian Find Out! books, novels for the year, history encyclopedias, Astro Cat's Space Adventures, etc). We also rely heavily on a PBS subscription (namely Nature and Nova, but also many others), Globe Trekker subscription, and I just got a subscription to DinoLingo, a language learning resource for kids (cheesy and not perfect but a great scaffold for me to jump off of, again, without reinventing the entire wheel myself.) And we can't forget about great podcasts like Wow in the World and the storytelling themed Circle Round. There are also invaluable resources on social media, like the Secular, Eclectic, Academic parenting group, from which I have gotten only about a million ideas (https://seahomeschoolers.com/ </span><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our backyard garden, as well as the metro parks are wonderful places for learning to happen naturally and effortlessly. We don't have spend ANY TIME inside looking at text books on days we head out to the metropark trails, because the world is there for them to learn about right at their finger tips. My two year old is into yelling out "PHOTOSYNTHESIS!!!!!" these days (pretty sure he doesn't know what it means), but he CAN point out a bryophyte when he sees one, and I couldn't even do that until I was 39 years old (AKA now!) </span><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />As we start to get more towards being fully protected by vaccines, I'm beginning to look at the option of a weekly homeschool co-op, so I can cross things like "art teacher" off my to do list, and we can begin to make friends who are on the same path as we are. The isolation and lack of friends is really hard for me some days, and the kids too, I think from time to time, but we do have each other, and most days that really is enough, no, not enough, it's EVERYTHING. On my darkest days, I wonder why I've chained myself to this rigorous, insane plan, and wonder how many butts I will wipe before I see another adult human being. But on my brightest days, I derive so much pleasure in relearning the truest wonders of the Earth, while holding the hands of my curious and inquisitive children. Our two main reasons for homeschooling are: cultivating a love of learning and spending time with the people we love most. Above and beyond that, it's really important to me to create responsible stewards of our environment, and to break free of teaching history from the perspective of the colonizer. I want my children to grow up being critical thinkers and analyzers, while also being humble citizens of the world, who appreciate the diversity and tapestry of the amazing community of humans of which they are but a small part.</span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YH6T2fvCgj5WVMi7IfLInRKL1np_FkXwoUQ47N73pXyP7csDbJEMgb3pTgCWPRtHPZRe4sBkp1xyi9aC9ZmyS8kyl8LdoYQHcwYaQi5dHJEQEIwrMlM7z9FFgzfAU1iyz4LhTUJnsUw/s4032/PXL_20211118_154936677%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2YH6T2fvCgj5WVMi7IfLInRKL1np_FkXwoUQ47N73pXyP7csDbJEMgb3pTgCWPRtHPZRe4sBkp1xyi9aC9ZmyS8kyl8LdoYQHcwYaQi5dHJEQEIwrMlM7z9FFgzfAU1iyz4LhTUJnsUw/s320/PXL_20211118_154936677%257E2.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Our vast array of art supplies so that we can delve into ANY project at ANY moment's notice!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Being completely responsible for my kids' educations, especially with a toddler is REALLY, REALLY HARD. I spent a LOT of brainpower planning activities and lessons, making sure we have all the resources we need, and checking what's working and what's not. But at the same time, it's really great. If one of the kids is having an off day (or me!), we don't HAVE to do anything. Or, maybe all we do is snuggle up on the sofa together and read books. Or maybe the kids spend the better part of an afternoon digging a hole in the backyard, and ruining my life (annoying now, but I see how happy they are and I KNOW they will remember these times as adults). Plus, when I'm digging up my gardens, nothing brings me greater satisfaction than unearthing a huge rock, so I enjoy seeing the kids deriving pleasure from the same thing. A lot of times, a week long unit takes us 2 weeks, and guess what, nothing happened when we skipped the last 4 weeks of last year's language arts stuff that no one wanted to do.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7DZBR27zismGSmgmGMaLpGETUTU2kTwTv5EjMVtGJLBjznqtrEdc_mTjIqlm7m__QrOF7ikQwGCBxlNXpIOIMOvyPz8TgNq4TZ-foDDVu_ZW-v-bX5NUquDFDWrNnO4lLIOzmXD_qaE/s4012/PXL_20211118_154917303%257E2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2831" data-original-width="4012" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN7DZBR27zismGSmgmGMaLpGETUTU2kTwTv5EjMVtGJLBjznqtrEdc_mTjIqlm7m__QrOF7ikQwGCBxlNXpIOIMOvyPz8TgNq4TZ-foDDVu_ZW-v-bX5NUquDFDWrNnO4lLIOzmXD_qaE/s320/PXL_20211118_154917303%257E2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Chad and the kids built a rocket ship for Laurel's space curriculum!</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3U97xqJP_RXbfZb6UOJgCewMOhQi5xLQ8Evh2rAldr5VDQstNIPEaBMfU4dAgVtG4pnOIy8npzP6d3ktEHIcjjGruG-Yoq7EqRZwj43ntgqD4l6i3srF2oIzDQEDom9Co5dRqoGybiaY/s4032/PXL_20211118_155355816.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3U97xqJP_RXbfZb6UOJgCewMOhQi5xLQ8Evh2rAldr5VDQstNIPEaBMfU4dAgVtG4pnOIy8npzP6d3ktEHIcjjGruG-Yoq7EqRZwj43ntgqD4l6i3srF2oIzDQEDom9Co5dRqoGybiaY/s320/PXL_20211118_155355816.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">We made the basement into an art space where the kids could work on messier projects</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I spent a LOT of time thinking about my kids' education, and it occurred to me that if I never spoke it aloud, no one would know. I don't have any illusions that MOST people would probably not care about the day to day of my home education adventures, but for anyone who has ever wondered or wanted to know more about what the kids and Chad and I are up to, here you go! </span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Curricula We're Using</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Blossom and Root Kindergarten</b> (Laurel)</span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Arts and the History of Me (art study, we are combining for both kids)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Language Arts: A Gentle Beginning</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Science: My Great Space Adventure</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Nature Study: My Outdoor Classroom</span></li></ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Blossom and Root 2nd Grade</b> (Everett)</span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Science: Wonders of the Plant and Fungus Kingdoms</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Language Arts: Fantastic Journeys and Perilous Quests</span></li></ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>History Quest </b>(Ancient History)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Beast Academy workbook</b> (Math) - haven't technically started yet</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Wild Math</b> - we were using this but it took A LOT of prep and Ev hated it</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Dino Lingo</b> - Japanese (not sure how I feel about this program, but the kids like it and it's HARD to find a good language learning program)</span></li></ul></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><b>Other Resources:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Globe Trekker travel shows</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">PBS (especially NOVA and Nature)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Simple Living Collective (seasonal collection of arts/crafts/recipes/stories)</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Podcasts</span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Wow in the World</span></li><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Circle Round</span></li></ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Public Library - we wouldn't survive without this invaluable resource!!!!</span></li><ul><li><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></li></ul></ul></div>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-17403347924132119482019-09-25T20:11:00.004-04:002019-10-26T19:07:09.891-04:002019 Book List<br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Round House, Louise Erdrich</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wap, Junot Dīaz </span>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-7571766213671029912019-08-27T11:42:00.000-04:002019-08-27T11:42:42.381-04:00Hard Times<div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So now, Asa is 3.5 months old...weighing in at a whopping 20 pounds already! Life with the new babe has been some days easier than expected, but most days everything is hard, bone numbingly hard. In the moments when it's terrible, when three children are crying all around me, when one is screaming and trying to dismantle the house, one is starving and begging to be nursed, and another is peeing on the floor in defiance because of the attention of mine they crave, it's hard to imagine that there is ever a way out of this pit of pure hell. There are days when I start out the morning with nothing to give anyone, when I need solace, peace, and quiet for myself, but before I have even gotten out of bed, there are the screams of one...two...three little beings who need so much more than I can give them in this season. It's hard, because there isn't a single thing that is easy right now. Bedtime takes forever, and there usually isn't a night where everyone stays asleep until Chad and I go to bed. A trip to the store feels like goddamned heroics. Just leaving the house requires herding three little bodies to the car, urging, pleading, demanding that Laurel GET IN YOUR CARSEAT, my hands tied while I hold a baby in my arms, words my only weak defense. I think about the Janet Lansbury peaceful parenting podcast, where she said recently to a new mother of three that we must embrace this messy season, that it's only a season, and that we should accept that this season is hard for all of us. Instead of trying to manage or sooth anyone's feelings, which of course cannot be done, we must accept that our children have feelings and let them express them as they may, while we patiently plod along to an easier time. Some days, I feel like a rock star parent, staying just the right distance while my children wilt around me, crumpled on the floor with tears streaming down their faces. Sometimes, I offer hugs at just the right time as the tantrum is winding down. I embrace them with my gentle and kind words, and let them know I am the rock they are desperately grasping for. And other days, I feel a heavy dread in the pit of my stomach as I sit down to lunch and realize that today is yet another day when I won't be able to eat the lunch I prepared for myself, because the number of children who need my attention NOW has reached critical mass.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right now, I get down about the unceasing difficulty of everything. Trips to the grocery store, an evening at home, a trip to the park, bedtime, showering, laundry, keeping up with the house, or trying to make plans to see relatives. We recently went on a trip to a family member's baby shower, and I was so looking forward to it. We packed up everything, got everyone bathed and fed, and even got on the road for the 1.5 hour trip to Dayton 15 minutes early. We were exhausted before we even left. But then whole thing was just hard. The kids were surrounded by relatives they don't often see, feeling particularly shy and needy, and still reeling from the newness of their baby brother, only 2 months and some change at the time. I felt my heart sinking as I realized that Chad was barely getting to spend any time enjoying the company of the family members we had come to see, and the intensive management of the children just kept coming in unrelenting waves. With Chad's schedule being as crazy as it has, working 50+ hour weeks, being gone on weekends from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM some days, the feeling of unending drudgery has just intensified.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On top of all this, of course the hospital trip when Asa was three weeks old has enduring ripples. The bills just keep coming in, and there are so many billing departments, each with a different bills and different accounts, it's hard to keep track of how many bills there are, and when we will have reached critical mass. When will we really and truly know the total we owe? I can't log into our account, and have spent phone call after phone call with Nationwide Children's trying to get everything figured out. Apparently there's a glitch in ONE OF their systems, and we can't log into the account based on some error on their end, although we're still waiting on them to get it fixed. But meanwhile, of course the bills keep rolling in. Any in addition to that, we found out recently that insurance will cover nothing of our home birth, which of course cost of thousands of dollars out of pocket. We had been struggling all winter to pay off this expense over the course of my pregnancy, and just when we could breathe a sigh of relief that it was all over, we now owe huge monthly payments for Asa's hospitalization, for a disease he almost never certainly had from the moment we admitted him to the hospital, filling his veins with the poison of the antibiotics (great for times when lifesaving measures are needed, but clearly detrimental to a healthy new babe). And I feel like a fool, because our health insurance plan very clearly says there's a $7500 deducible for out of network expenses (meaning the fees we paid for our home birth). We checked it before, but I don't know what we saw, or thought we saw. We clearly misunderstood the plan. And on top of all that, we paid someone $75 to process the claim. Money down the drain, to process a claim that was always going to be denied.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's more worry than I can ever fit into one post, worry about my extremely shy 5 year old starting kindergarten soon. Worry about potty training and tantrums for my 3 year old. Worry that I can never give them enough of what they need while we all work, work, work incessantly, work we must work, lest we not be able to pay our mortgage or our mounting medical bills. Worry that I never have a moment to slow down and look at the sweet babe in my arms, who is growing so fast and so beautifully.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In quiet moments, when I have time to myself, to stare at my baby boy, my sweet Asa Ezra, I am so happy. His sweet smile and his growing list of skills fills me with infinite joy. The same with my 3 and 5 year olds. Every day, they amaze me with their wit, exuberance, intelligence, and growing skills and knowledge. When I have the opportunity to sit down with them and take time to enjoy them as the wondrous human beings they are, they fill me with such happiness and joy. I know we'll get through this. I know that everyday won't seem like utter drudgery forever. I know that next year I'll have sweet 6 year, 4.5 year, and 18 month olds and that life will be a little less hectic and a little more calm. I know we're in a season. I know this. I know I set impossibly high standards for myself and that it's okay to fall short sometimes, but it's so, so, so hard right now. As summer melds into fall, Chad will begin working less, my workload will lighten, Everett will spend 3 mornings a week in school, and I WILL breathe. I will get through this. It's just that in the worst moments, in the hardest of times that feel like they're stretching out into infinity, it really is hard to remember that.</span></div>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-56991341405907793052019-05-15T10:59:00.001-04:002019-05-17T11:22:55.100-04:0037.5 Weeks: Another Semi-Unexpected Birth!<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is the birth story of my sweet Asa Ezra Kinsworthy, born Thursday, May 09, 2019 at 37 weeks 5 days of pregnancy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Wednesday evening, Chad was working an event and supposed to be home around 10:00 PM. After eating dinner, playing in the backyard, cleaning the kitchen, getting some laundry started, and picking up around the house, the kids and I headed upstairs to do bedtime around 8:30, which was later than usual. Just before we were about to read books, we got a call from Chad that his event ended a bit early, so he'd be home just before 9:00. Since we were already awake when he called, we waited for him to get home before we turned out the lights so the kids could say goodnight and snuggle with him. After getting everyone to sleep, Chad and I came downstairs, scooped some ice cream, and got ready to relax on the sofa for a bit, but before we could take our first bites of ice cream, both the kids were awake, agitated, and generally upset (or if you're Laurel then just full on crying for about 30 minutes). We popped on an episode of Call the Midwife, which seemed like an appropriate show at my advanced state of pregnancy, and watched it over the screams of Laurel, who was wedged in between us. Eventually, she calmed down and was back to her regular self. Around 11:00 or so, we all went upstairs to get into bed, but Everett was still whimpering. I wondered if he might have an ear infection, but there was nothing we could do about it that night, so in an effort to get some sleep, I sent Chad and Everett to sleep in the guest bedroom downstairs and Laurel and I fell fast asleep in bed upstairs.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>10:33 PM So much joy, totally blessed, and not missing alone time with my husband at ALL. 7 hours before birth (which we were yet unaware was coming!)</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />I awoke just around 3:30, cuddled up to my sweet Laurel May, thinking maybe I had to pee, but when I got up, I noticed a very uncomfortable cramp in my abdomen. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And when I wiped after peeing, there was a bit of brown discharge on the toilet paper. The cramp</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> wasn't the kind of cramp where you think "Oh, is that gas?" or "Hmm. Could this maybe be it?" It was the kind where you go "OW!" And then "Oh, fuck." Even though, moments before I had been in a deep sleep, it very quickly dawned on me what what happening, and since the very first contraction was intense and down to business, I immediately ran downstairs, burst in the back bedroom, and exclaimed to Chad, "I'm in labor, we need to call the midwives!" He later told me that I almost gave him a heart attack, as he'd also been in a deep sleep. After that, I immediately changed into a different tank top (a cute one for birthing in as opposed to the ratty thing I had been wearing) and a skirt (easy to birth in <i>and</i> incidentally the same skirt I wore when giving birth to Laurel!) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chad called one of our two midwives, Mandy, but she wasn't going to be able to make it to the birth, so she told us to call Tanya, who is also our midwife. Tanya told us that she would be on her way presently and would also be contacting another CHOICE midwife, Jill, who would also be on her way. Then we got a hold of Marilyn, Chad's mom, who was going to come over and help take care of the kids during labor. THEN, we called Elaine Tucker, who was going to be our sibling doula/postpartum doula/photographer (talk about wearing a lot of hats!!) THEN I texted one of the families whose children I provide childcare for to tell them "Hey guys. Not 100% sure baby is coming today, but it seems like that's a strong possibility...contractions are fairly regular right now. At any rate, I don't think I'm gonna be able to watch the kids today!! Sorry my babies never follow their due date schedule!!." (In hindsight, OF COURSE a baby was coming...in about an hour!!) With the impressive number of phone calls and texts out of the way, I got down to the business of laboring in earnest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">While we were making phone calls, I had Chad grab a chux pad for me to sit on in the living room on the sofa. It wasn't too long, probably around 3:50, before Everett began to stir in the back bedroom. Before bed he had been complaining of ear pain, but when I went to get him out of bed, he grinned at me and said "Mommy, my ears don't hurt anymore. I feel better!" </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everett ventured out to the living room and sat down next to me, sleepy eyed but happy and in good spirits. UNTIL that is, my water broke! He was sitting right next to me when I exclaimed "Oh, <i>some</i>-thing is coming out of me. I think my water is breaking." He looked at me and Chad and exclaimed "Oh, I'm tired! I just need to go lay down in bed!" And he ran to the back bedroom and dove right into bed. We asked him if he wanted to come out and he said "Nope! I'm just feeling tired right now!" But it wasn't long before he couldn't resist coming back out and joining the fray. I absolutely loved it when he climbed into the hassock where I store my pillows and blankets that I use in the evenings when we're relaxing on the sofa. There he stayed nestled in his little cocoon of blankets and pillows while I continued to labor nearby on the sofa. I asked him if he was nervous or what he was feeling, and he confidently announced, "I'm nothing. I'm just fine!" </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9iQFDXpRCg3JocBmTe_dtM7EKYPtEjiUPrf7creU7yrhXJMPMKDq4i9KQwvcJL7dZg_82mhPLFWdOAiHsgiL6vhUFnzuaMJ7wtZg5yncGDGXvCf8vOyEfpPdZGA6svn4ZQkwMcSbbuo/s1600/IMG_20190517_104909.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="691" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-9iQFDXpRCg3JocBmTe_dtM7EKYPtEjiUPrf7creU7yrhXJMPMKDq4i9KQwvcJL7dZg_82mhPLFWdOAiHsgiL6vhUFnzuaMJ7wtZg5yncGDGXvCf8vOyEfpPdZGA6svn4ZQkwMcSbbuo/s400/IMG_20190517_104909.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Our weekend To-Do list that we made hours before going to bed Wednesday night. Obviously none of those things got done!</span></i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At 4:05 AM, I heard Laurel begin to fuss upstairs from bed, and Chad went up to bring her downstairs. She was pretty groggy so Chad put her in the sling. After that, Chad, Everett, and Laurel marched upstairs to get a light for the birthing room. At the advice of our doula, who we had met with earlier the previous day, we had planned to put up white string lights in the birth room, for photography lighting in case I gave birth at night time, but I also loved the idea for the ambiance. Unfortunately, we never had time to do that! Also, during this time, I had Chad change the Baby Watch sign on our chalk board so that it read 37.5! (For 37 weeks 5 days pregnant when I would give birth to the baby.) I wanted to get the dishwasher of clean dishes unloaded, so we could start the next day with a clean slate for the doula and anyone else who might be using our kitchen. I had wanted to get a picture of me pregnant for the last time in front of the 37.5 sign, but things were moving so fast that I was never able to accomplish that and a few other things I had wanted to wrap up before the birth. I also downloaded a contraction app and started timing my contractions, which were lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute with a 1.5 to 3 minute break in between. ALL OF THAT, everything I have written above happened pretty much between 3:35 and 4:10 AM.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tanya was the first to arrive right around 4:15 AM, which is also the time that my contractions got intense enough that I needed to vocalize. I moaned through them, loudly and with purpose, and somewhere in the back of my head I remembered to keep my breathing and vocalization measured and anchored, using everything I've learned in yoga over the years to keep calm, focused, and in the moment. It hurt, and I was not happy about being rudely awakened in the middle of the night to endure painful cramps that would only mount in strength and intensity, but I quickly accepted where I was. When Tanya arrived, with her birth bag in hand, she went straight for her doppler, to check the baby's heartbeat, which sounded great. Then soon after, Jill, a midwife who I recognized but had never met before showed up. Tanya and Jill began setting up in the birth room and I was also periodically going to the bathroom, to void my bowels, as one so sexily does several times during the labor process. Sitting there on the toilet with the door open and activity happening all around me, I said to Chad at one point as he whizzed by "Well, I guess this is really happening because there is NO OTHER TIME IN MY LIFE when I would be pooping with the bathroom door wide open and not giving any fucks about who was around!! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LR91AF9fYmI0692ml6Pu68YUij_Fr-kr1cA_uMKM-gtP8fG2OvO93gJRky4nD33YIM2S-UwsKobPPEV1U5b05pqbgDi-rfOA5wK-06GW071gFlXn6or4Kdh6Dj8YoDC3IZ5QBAOYty4/s1600/IMG_20190509_043038.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LR91AF9fYmI0692ml6Pu68YUij_Fr-kr1cA_uMKM-gtP8fG2OvO93gJRky4nD33YIM2S-UwsKobPPEV1U5b05pqbgDi-rfOA5wK-06GW071gFlXn6or4Kdh6Dj8YoDC3IZ5QBAOYty4/s400/IMG_20190509_043038.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>4:30 AM. Tanya checked the heartbeat and all was well. 57 minutes before birth!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />During all of this, Chad was running around getting things done and taking care of the kids, with Laurel in a sling on his chest as she requested (he's a nice guy, I would have put her on my back so fast 😂), but I, back in the living room, was quickly starting to realize that I really needed Chad's support and asked him to pass Laurel off to Marilyn, who had also recently arrived. Funnily enough, the guy we had been worrying about how he would handle labor was Everett, but he was taking everything in stride and hanging in there like a champ! (In his hassock cocoon!) Laurel on the other hand seemed overwhelmed, exhausted, and in need of her Daddy, so the hand off from Daddy to Nonna was sad and tear-filled, but I was buried so deep in my own experience, that I could do nothing more than mentally acknowledge what was going on and then let it go. Not to mention, I knew that she was in good hands and would soon be okay (which was 100% the case!) At 4:36 AM, still sitting in the living room on my chux pad, I got a text from Elaine, the doula, saying "All packed up and about ready to take off, stopping for a coffee first. That puts me there in about 15-20 min. Just checking that it still feels progressive and ok to join?" To which I replied "Contractions are 1-2 minutes apart..." And she said "Ok. I'm gonna skip the coffee! 🤣 Headed over." Somehow, amidst the intense contractions, I had the wherewithal to let her know that we had coffee here, ha!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Around 5:00 AM, with everyone assembled, I was still laboring in the living room when I had a contraction during which instead of letting out a groan, a kind of grunt escaped from me, and I thought "Oh shit, here we go!" Tanya said, "Well, that sounded pushy." And a decision was made to head back to the birth room." Chux pads were scattered liberally over the bed and under where I was standing and the midwives checked the baby's heart rate again, which sounded good. With each contraction, I was leaking fluids and getting into the head space that I was about to push a human out of my vagina (which is no small mindset to achieve!) I stood at the edge of the bed, leaning against poor Chad during each contraction. Originally he was standing, but there was no way he could bear the weight of me leaning hard into him for each contraction, so he eventually got down on his knees for better leverage. I eventually started leaning on the bed with my knees, and the midwives were giving suggestions for positions that might be comfortable for me, but I was in that place where no position was going to feel comfortable, and was wracked with the overwhelming indecision of terrible discomfort no matter my placement. Tanya checked the baby's progress and let us know that the head was only 2 knuckles deep...a minute or two later, one knuckle deep. Tanya asked Chad if he wanted to see the head, and sure enough there it was! Tanya commented on the amount of hair and how the baby followed suit with its siblings. During this whole process of pushing, I can hear Marilyn reading about dinosaurs to the kids on the sofa in the living room. Laurel was apparently nestled up close to her brother, looking to him for comfort, as she does anytime she feels herself out of her element or insecure, which is one of those things that, as a parent, makes your heart swell with joy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At this point, I was deep in the pushing phase and Tanya was kneeling on the floor behind me, telling me "You're clenching your butt!" And Jill was saying, "Open and release." Because really the only thing that was keeping the baby from being born at this point was me being inside my head and holding myself back. Two things were at play here, because I knew the next time I "did work", a human head, followed by a human body, was going to be exiting my vagina, which is a daunting and uncomfortable prospect. So I had to reconcile that in my head, be okay with it, and just commit to it. The OTHER thing that was holding me back, was...when there is a human head in your birth canal, there is an immense amount of pressure, which in certain ways feels not dissimilar to the need to poop, and my midwife was kneeling DIRECTLY BEHIND me. I was not thrilled with the prospect of accidentally pooping on my midwife. Birth is so sexy, right!?!? So finally, the urge to "get this fucking thing out of me" and be done with the hard work of labor tipped the scale, making the fear and modesty the lesser of the concerns. On all fours on the bed, I pushed hard and the head came out. I could feel the midwives working with the baby. Jill hooked her finger in to make room for the cord so that there was no chance of it tightening around the baby's neck when it came out, and Tanya was massaging my perineum and I think turning the baby. Telling me all I needed to do was give one more push to get the shoulders out, the midwives were urging and coaxing me to give one final effort, but I felt so spent. I didn't feel I had the energy to give a big push, one momentous enough to heave a human out of my birth canal. But again, I realized that there was a human literally hanging half way out of me and halfway lodged inside of me, and all I had to do to make the whole thing end, was give one more good push, so I dug deep and I pushed hard, and felt the baby slide out, which has got to be one of the most singularly huge feelings of relief a human being can ever experience in life. The midwives had to instruct me to lay back and sit down, as I was still on all fours, and finally they placed the baby on my chest! At 5:27 in the morning of Thursday, May 09, 2019, Asa Ezra Kinsworthy was born. However, several minutes went by before we realized that no one knew, or has bothered to question, whether it was a girl or a boy 😂 I can't remember who, but someone finally thought to ask, and I think Jill checked and announced that it was a boy!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNy2NGF4bGPUrhSVi2xnJHZM11-b70FiZuCphkja2PfkexWrhhzZFPjZfmIoRz6X32-I-H8FIfKyVCSEMxUzyNE8NqCuQx4bXO8Y0clUl2qTwsvYkzJHCtC9HyjAVfLZNVrvA9Sn9Qmi0/s1600/IMG_20190509_055449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNy2NGF4bGPUrhSVi2xnJHZM11-b70FiZuCphkja2PfkexWrhhzZFPjZfmIoRz6X32-I-H8FIfKyVCSEMxUzyNE8NqCuQx4bXO8Y0clUl2qTwsvYkzJHCtC9HyjAVfLZNVrvA9Sn9Qmi0/s400/IMG_20190509_055449.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>5:57 AM. Our very first family portrait! 30 minutes post birth.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />Post birth, Chad and I discussed the surreal nature of labor and delivery, how there is labor and there are the moments after delivery where a baby's presence in our midst begins, but how unrelated the two feel in the moment. For me, labor is NOT baby, but rather, as the word insinuates, is work, and only work. Because of the intensity of that work, there is no time or experience outside that moment, and during the height of delivery, there is no emotion, there is only "doing, being, working." Everything is detached, but super clear. It's one of those pivotal moments where EVERYTHING changes, but all we can do is ride the wave and take the intense and <i>almost</i> overwhelming moments in stride. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AdI-8fx9lvPBfA4qjAV4h1kRQkG0A5DLwn33ZKyvKAKjKejWzD9hByykB65LQhb5Nop9bX_EtETH2fsh1bq8zy5yGBnSHvVQzuUGyEISzFtwaBt9t7Y6Ax3ZOX2s4m_dpOp5z7zNl0M/s1600/IMG_20190509_061323.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AdI-8fx9lvPBfA4qjAV4h1kRQkG0A5DLwn33ZKyvKAKjKejWzD9hByykB65LQhb5Nop9bX_EtETH2fsh1bq8zy5yGBnSHvVQzuUGyEISzFtwaBt9t7Y6Ax3ZOX2s4m_dpOp5z7zNl0M/s400/IMG_20190509_061323.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>6:13 AM Nursing the new babe! 45 minutes post birth.</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Riding this high of detached clarity, as soon as the baby was born, I yelled "Okay guys, come in here!" And after a few timid moments, Everett and Laurel quietly and softly came into see the baby. When envisioning my ideal birth beforehand, I wanted to be surrounded by my family for the birth of my last child. I wanted them to be a part of such an intrinsically basic but profound moment of life that so few have the honor to be a part of anymore. I wanted Everett (and maybe hopefully Laurel??) to look at their brother, Asa, over the years and remember the morning he came into the world, as they surrounded him and us with their love and presence. The birth room was full of midwives, and a doula, and the kids. There was so much bustle and activity in that small room, but suddenly the midwives and doula retreated into the kitchen to give us our privacy for that first hour, and then it was just the 5 of us (</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">or at times the 3 of us, as the kids would come and go, on the hunt for food!)</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> After all that craziness and effort, the calm and quiet was almost a little daunting. I felt a little lost, as though I had a hold of something that needed a manual I didn't have access to.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVQUIwcFLBojQGCyzyB16V8PkGjXh3Wt8Swp_WyFx7cZ_WPCCFgDOpb7oKDS4XfbsAGNNUQfbbl-HC5SZa20TFJgfBf7CejELO0FYQ8WX5Sko-xruoFP6h6l3FZHyIN1OR-eHvgETBNk/s1600/IMG_20190509_061547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVQUIwcFLBojQGCyzyB16V8PkGjXh3Wt8Swp_WyFx7cZ_WPCCFgDOpb7oKDS4XfbsAGNNUQfbbl-HC5SZa20TFJgfBf7CejELO0FYQ8WX5Sko-xruoFP6h6l3FZHyIN1OR-eHvgETBNk/s400/IMG_20190509_061547.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>6:15 AM Best family portrait ever!!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After about an hour, the midwives came back into the room to do care for both me and the baby. They weighed (8 lbs 6 oz) and measured (21 inches long) Asa, and also took his foot print. Of course, Asa was born at 37 weeks 5 days, but they said he presented as a 39 week baby! Meaning, I'm glad he came out when he did, because who knows how big he would have been if given the chance to cook an additional 2 weeks! They also checked my fundus to make sure my uterus was beginning to contract and shrink back down as it should.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QqggVmf3T7N65KS8SuIXyrueMvLwj0DKGDcrgPVQmzvUm_tym22fknbAyJsy7px0uv0M1MM53bmyFSdcp_zglq41wPHMto5NZWqxRe3zfTUT_zAFyFunvS5ZeHM-cgkrYUFyc5pBhA4/s1600/IMG_20190516_100444.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3QqggVmf3T7N65KS8SuIXyrueMvLwj0DKGDcrgPVQmzvUm_tym22fknbAyJsy7px0uv0M1MM53bmyFSdcp_zglq41wPHMto5NZWqxRe3zfTUT_zAFyFunvS5ZeHM-cgkrYUFyc5pBhA4/s400/IMG_20190516_100444.jpg" width="308" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Baby Asa's Birth Stats!!</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Right after I had birthed the placenta, 12 minutes post birth, the midwives had tucked it into a chux pad and left it attached to the baby. At this time, they asked me if I was ready to cut the cord, and I was like "Sure...?" It had been a good hour, so I was okay with whatever at that point. Jill clamped the cord on two sides and we asked Everett if he wanted to help cut it, and he still said that he did, so Chad and Everett took the scissors together and helped cut Asa's umbilical cord! At my 20 week ultrasound, the tech had noted that my umbilical cord was a "peripheral" (abnormal) insertion to the placenta, as opposed to a central (normal) insertion. After doing some research, we found there are slight but noted increased risks associated with a peripheral cord insertion, so I had spent weeks 20-21 agonizing over data, deciding what I wanted to do, and whether the risk outweighed the possible benefits of a home birth. After looking at the data, and understanding that any increased risks were very small, I let the worry go and forged ahead with our plan, <i>but</i> I did remember that I needed to at least take a look at this damn placenta that had caused me a good week and a half of anxiety! The midwives showed it to us and the kids and explained all about placentas and umbilical cords. It was a cool thing to behold, and also a really great anatomy crash course anatomy for the kids! How many people have had the opportunity to see their sibling's placenta (let alone any placenta)!?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSBFdQRkLPr42WeCp_YzvEyM2ThgixD0KBQSI6rGjXk3Lj6yXZClilzMPMhQU45vn2dW1tMAdApx-883oo_E3Q-VGjOpw6_BWol4AZF6uelbV0EZLdM4el8v7YoPZb5qPbC52qN7cyKYU/s1600/IMG_20190509_070041.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSBFdQRkLPr42WeCp_YzvEyM2ThgixD0KBQSI6rGjXk3Lj6yXZClilzMPMhQU45vn2dW1tMAdApx-883oo_E3Q-VGjOpw6_BWol4AZF6uelbV0EZLdM4el8v7YoPZb5qPbC52qN7cyKYU/s400/IMG_20190509_070041.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>7:00 AM Weighing the baby!! </i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70o79UwQOnQWlr0wgCjyE9pt1p4Qq_-T3LnK0L9Uv7CM2LtUpePKm5me2oYJv7kIT8nNJV2l7wovlPTokWbSGKC7PUgszeUm2VPc9eRMJ6Vc8q2d0_zYX_Ac8gzF8T2ywYpnxTERT2Jc/s1600/00100dPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20190509074119110_COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi70o79UwQOnQWlr0wgCjyE9pt1p4Qq_-T3LnK0L9Uv7CM2LtUpePKm5me2oYJv7kIT8nNJV2l7wovlPTokWbSGKC7PUgszeUm2VPc9eRMJ6Vc8q2d0_zYX_Ac8gzF8T2ywYpnxTERT2Jc/s400/00100dPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20190509074119110_COVER.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>7:41 AM Sweet little hands reaching out to their new little sibling</i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Because the birth happened at 5:27 AM, there's a lot more of our birth <i>day</i> story to tell, which will require its own post, but for the birth itself, I'll stop here, saying that it was perfect in just about every way. I was surrounded by knowledgeable, strong women who guided me, supported me, and coached me through my birth and immediate postpartum experience. I want to give an immense thank you to Tanya, Mandy, and Jill from CHOICE Midwives, as well as Elaine Tucker from Columbus Birth Support, as they guided me through the experience with calm and ease. As the morning unfolded, the deer-in-headlights feelings dissipated, and the overwhelming feeling of pure love and joy took over. Chad and I spent two glorious, wonderful days doing absolutely nothing but staring at and cuddling with our newborn. Asa was born on a Thursday morning, and now at 7 days out, I can say he's pretty much only been put down for diaper changes, spending most of his time asleep on my (or Chad's) chest, and there is absolutely NOTHING I would rather be doing right now than soaking up this new little person that Chad and I created. Asa Ezra Kinsworthy, perfect in every way, and loved so immensely by all of us, I'm so happy I was able to participate in and share the story of his birth!!</span>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-90130322067534325442019-04-21T20:50:00.000-04:002019-04-21T20:50:01.498-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 34 Recap!<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How far along? 35 +1</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Total weight gain: I was 164.4, which is a total weight gain of 29 pounds so far.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Baby’s size/development this week: Baby is approximately 5 pounds 12 ounces!!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maternity clothes: So many dresses and yoga pants</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Miss anything? Everett still keeps talking about how he misses running with me and how we're going to do it again this summer!! ❤❤❤</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Food cravings: Mmmm, food.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sleep: I have been waking up at 4:00 lately and not able to fall back asleep for at least an hour. That kinda sucks. I've also finally had to start getting up to pee in the night, which probably doesn't help things. I'm impressed that I made it so long before having to do so. Probably ruined my bladder. 😂</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best moment of the week: The Earth Day Celebration with the kids was pretty awesome, but tiring. Easter today was really fun, and I got to rest while Chad took the kids to Lowe's and Lucky's, so it was the most rest/quiet I've had all week and it was very restorative. Also Chad is brewing beer while I write this and the kids are sleeping upstairs, and this is also pretty awesome.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nursery: Nope! We are vaguely considering what sleeping arrangements will look like...I still have no idea. 😂</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weddings rings on or off? On!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Belly Button: Stretched and sad looking.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Movement? It's still kicking around in there. The movements aren't as pronounced as before, but definitely still there! Also, baby just had the hiccups. I freaked out last weekend thinking that it was moving less and went to St. Anne's to get a non-stress test...they told me that the test and baby's responses looked "gorgeous." So now I am doing kick counts every night...yeah...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Labor signs? I'm not in labor yet, or anything, but things are definitely starting to feel real. Part of why I couldn't sleep at 4:00 AM was low cramping in my stomach. It didn't feel like contractions exactly, but just...headed in that direction. My stomach has felt crampy all day and I'm having tons of Braxton Hicks. I'm starting to feel tired again and I'm getting so big that I'm starting to have thoughts of labor as a tantalizing mirage instead of "that fucking hard work that I kind of don't want to do."</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weird pregnancy thing of the week: I think I had some pretty intense sciatica today...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Daddy is feeling: Chad has been working a lot which has been fun for him, but also stressful at a time when I'm slowing down. We're both trying to simultaneously get shit done and just hang in there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mommy is feeling: Tired. Crampy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Workouts this week: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I did some Momma Strong workouts earlier in the week and one prenatal yoga session at home with Chad, but most of my working out has been running around chasing kids, gardening, etc. Maybe I should be doing more, but honestly I'm getting to the point where just getting through the day seems like a workout unto itself.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Books I'm Reading/Media I'm Ingesting:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">BOOKS:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It's hard finding the energy to read at the end of the day, so we'll see if I can actually finish anything!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">PODCAST:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">MOVIES: I just started watching the last season of Terrace House Karuizawa and it is on point!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Looking forward to: EVERETT TURNS 5 TOMORROW! EVERETT + LAUREL are having a birthday party on Saturday and I'm super excited about that!!</span>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-6072922732951389282019-04-12T10:32:00.002-04:002019-04-12T10:32:32.603-04:00Pregnancy Update: 33 Weeks Recap!<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wow! I'll be 34 weeks pregnant tomorrow. With a max of 6 weeks left (most likely), it's really starting to hit me that baby (and labor!!) is right around the corner. We finally have our payments to the CHOICE midwives paid off, which we have been paying down for the past 6 months and frankly has been KILLING us. But that's okay, because we have Everett's preschool payment that's due at the beginning of May, on top of Laurel and Everett's birthday party, on top of the payment to the doula, on top of summer camp fees!! From a financial perspective, having kids was really dumb! 😂 In all actuality though, the only thing I am really sad about is not being able to afford a birth photographer, but the doula will take some for an added fee of $75, which is not bad, considering the photographers I looked at ranged from $750-2000 for birth photography packages. Plus, there's the added benefit of not having an extra person in the house, distracting us.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The last few weekends, Chad and I have been alternating between trying to get the most done around the house before the baby comes and enjoying a last few weekends to ourselves. My mom watched the kids two weekends ago and Chad's mom watched them last weekend. We got the kids' playroom painted, painted some of the baseboards in the kitchen that looked really ratty, Chad brewed some beer (apparently that was a priority, ha!). Aside from all of that, I have been trying to get the basement in order and get rid of old stuff that we're not using anymore, organize all the kids' clothes. We started building a trellis for our blackberries yesterday...I want to get the garden in order as much as possible as well before the baby comes since we probably won't have time to do any major work for the first several weeks (or months??) after the baby comes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chad and I also went down and spent the weekend in a cabin in Lake Hope State Park as a last hurrah of sorts and it was AMAZING!! We got there on Friday evening, grilled out some burgers, had a fire in our living room, and lazed about watching bad TV. Saturday morning Chad ran a 1/2 trail marathon (which apparently was pretty brutal!) and I got in a 3 mile hike. After that, we spent the day lazing around the cabin, taking small walks, and enjoying the scenery. In the evening, we roasted hot dogs in the fireplace in our living room and watched The Most Dangerous Catch marathon, which was awesome! After we got ourselves all packed up on Sunday morning, we picked up Everett and took him to a Monster Truck Rally for his birthday, which was AWESOME! It was a whirlwind of a weekend that was at equal turns hectic and relaxing. It was really nice to get away and enjoy some time with Chad without feeling like we had to get stuff done around the house or accomplish anything meaningful. We will definitely be back for some mini-vacations at the state park cabins this summer - they were really nice and I just kept thinking about how much the kids would love them!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think that's all the ruminations I had for now, let's get on with the updates...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">How far along? 34 weeks tomorrow</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Total weight gain: I was 164.2, which is a total weight gain of 29 pounds so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Baby’s size/development this week: Baby is approximately 4.7 pounds!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Maternity clothes: I'm moving into the "large" maternity clothing category. I might as well just get some mumus until this whole thing is over.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Miss anything? Yesterday Everett said he missed running with me, and he missed me running with him while he rides his bike. 😢 Me too, buddy, me too!! I also miss being able to hold my children or give my husband a hug without having to turn sideways or think about how I'm going to get up or fit through spaces. I also miss not having to turn sideways to do the dishes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Food cravings: Mmmm, food.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Anything making you queasy or sick? Not really.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sleep: Everett and Laurel have been cuddling up next to me all week, and Laurel has been FIDGITY...not the best sleep! But it has been pretty adorable, so I'm mostly okay with it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Best moment of the week: Sitting on my back porch with my family in the evening, enjoying dinner outside and our yard. It's been the best.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Nursery: None to speak of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Weddings rings on or off? On!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Belly Button: Stretched and sad looking.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Movement? Yes, it's getting to that creepy level instead of the cute little bumps! I have realized when I'm feeling hiccups though, so that's been really cute.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Labor signs? Last night for the first time I felt crampy and my back was bothering me. I realized that I probably need to take it easy and be mindful of doing too much over the next few weeks. I don't want to go into labor early! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Weird pregnancy thing of the week: Maybe instead of listing the weird pregnancy thing of the week, I can list all the terrible things that happen during pregnancy...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Severe constipation, hemmerhoids, symphysis pubis diastasis (SPD), vulvar varicosities...I'm trying to think if there are other disgusting things that are happening to my body...probably...there are just too many to count.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Daddy is feeling: Chad is feeling okay, I think. He had a doctor's appointment for his ongoing back pain yesterday, which is way better than last fall, but still a niggling pain. He's also got high blood pressure and cholesterol, which just sucks considering he has a pretty good diet, weight, and workout routine! Ugh!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Mommy is feeling: Tired.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Workouts this week: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't been working out per se, but I have been staying pretty active, getting lots of steps in every day, an average of 7,000 per day, which I figure isn't too bad considering I'm pregnant as hell and confined to the house doing childcare most days.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Books I'm Reading/Media I'm Ingesting:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">BOOKS:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">It's hard finding the energy to read at the end of the day, so we'll see if I can actually finish anything!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">White Kids: Growing Up with Privilege in a Racially Divided America</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">PODCAST:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">MOVIES:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: helvetica neue, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking forward to: The weekend!</span>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-5777913945503898172019-03-24T19:47:00.002-04:002019-03-24T19:47:32.628-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 30 Recap!<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">How far along? 31 weeks as of yesterday!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Total weight gain: 25 pounds</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Baby’s size/development this week: At 30 weeks, the baby was almost 16 inches and 3 pounds! Whoa!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maternity clothes: Definitely! Picked up a few new items off the Buy/Sell/Trade this week, including two nursing tanks, which I'm looking forward to since I've never had official nursing attire before!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Miss anything? Not having back pain when I have an active day. Being able to keep up with my kids when they run or ride their bikes down the trail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food cravings: Need to do my late-pregnancy Peanut Butter Bumpers cereal for dinner ritual coming up here soon!! </span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">t😁</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sleep: Sleep has been pretty good this week. We actually got 8 hours last night, which was a good feeling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Best moment of the week: The WHOLE weekend!! We went to the OSU Museum for Biological Diversity's open house yesterday, took a walk at the OSU wetlands yesterday and today, a walk down Walhalla, and had a play date with one of Everett's preschool friends. The weather was great and it was so nice to get outside and play.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nursery: None to speak of.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weddings rings on or off? On!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Belly Button: Stretched and weird but in-ish.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Movement? Yes, especially when I eat ice cream and other sweet treats.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Labor signs? NO!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Weird pregnancy thing of the week: Last night my belly button was sore, I think from my rapidly expanding stomach.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Daddy is feeling: Daddy has been sick all week and not feeling the best. He missed his long run on Saturday, which was a first for him.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mommy is feeling: I got up early with the kids on Saturday and Sunday to let Chad sleep for an extra hour or so in the mornings this weekend, and then we had a busy (but kind of relaxing??) weekend, for which I was up to the task. The extreme exhaustion of a few weeks ago seems to be waning, so I'm happy I can pitch in and do more right now!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Workouts this week: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunday:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Monday: 2 mile walk with the family</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday: Prenatal yoga class at Give Yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thursday: 2.25 mile walk with the family</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Friday: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Saturday: Two 1.5 mile walks in the great weather with my family :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Books I'm Reading/Media I'm Ingesting:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BOOKS:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Black Faces in White Places</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">PODCAST:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside Podcast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On Point: "To Improve Breastfeeding, Babies Get Their Tongues Clipped. Is It Necessary?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">MOVIES:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moonlight</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Looking forward to: </span>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-55301172046251489932019-03-16T13:53:00.000-04:002019-03-24T19:27:59.053-04:00Pregnancy Update: 29 Weeks Recap!<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">How far along? 30 weeks today!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Total weight gain: 24 pounds</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Baby’s size/development this week:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Maternity clothes: My stomach is starting to get too large for my "small" maternity shirts.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Miss anything? Not feeling whale-like. Easy tasks being easy (i.e. getting out of bed)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Food cravings: I am attempting to make a 3-layer coconut cake today, if that tells you anything...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Anything making you queasy or sick? Nope!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sleep: Not too bad. Laurel was raspy and congested so I was up a lot in the night worrying about her, repositioning her, making her drink water, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Best moment of the week: Realizing that the pretty severe pelvic pain I Had earlier in the week wasn't permanent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Nursery: None to speak of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weddings rings on or off? On! An improvement over last pregnancy when they were off at this juncture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Belly Button: In!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Movement? The movements are going transitioning from "cute" to "yeow!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Labor signs? NO!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Weird pregnancy thing of the week: Not weird, but pretty sure I have Symphysis pubis dysfunction (SPD) and earlier in the week, it HURT. Rolling over in bed was extremely painful, as were stairs, and even walking. I was worried that the next 10 weeks were going to be a nightmare, but it seems like it's gotten better with some rest. I'm going to try backing off the super stretchy poses in yoga and see if that helps.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Daddy is feeling: "Pretty good, all things considered! My hamstrings are kind of sore, which I'm pretty sure is due to my back issue, but other than that, I feel pretty good. I feel better having taken that Advil...I just need to get through the day." (<--That's what he said when said "Daddy, how are you feeling!?)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mommy is feeling: Slow and lumbering</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Workouts this week: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunday: Rest due to pelvic pain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Monday: Rest due to pelvic pain</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tuesday: Aqua aerobics at gym</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wednesday: 2 mile walk with the family in the warm spring-like air</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thursday: Aqua aerobics at gym with Daddy!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Friday: No workouts but a pretty active day cleaning, getting Everett from daycare, shopping, etc.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Saturday: 35 minutes on the elliptical </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Books I'm Reading/Media I'm Ingesting:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">BOOKS:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Patanjali's Yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Black Faces in White Places</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">PODCAST:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Outside Podcast</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Looking forward to: </span>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-56506578256361060452019-03-08T10:30:00.000-05:002019-03-08T12:43:36.322-05:00Pregnancy Update: 28 Weeks Recap!<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I write, I am 29 (minus one day!) weeks pregnant with my third baby! I'm now solidly into the third trimester with my last sweet baby and toggling back and forth between trying to enjoy every moment of it and being overcome with exhaustion. Our midwives say that the tiredness peaks around 28 weeks when your body finishes building it's supply of extra blood!! In some ways, I feel much better in this pregnancy because my and Chad's schedule are much more flexible. This is the first time he hasn't been working AND in school and the weight off our shoulders is HUGE. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One notable aspect to Chad's recent graduation is that I have had time to go to the gym, which we recently joined, and focus on my yoga practice as well. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As far as workouts go, I was mostly focusing on the elliptical and getting in cardio every other day, but it was boring and I was getting burnt out. Plus, the cardio-only seemed one dimensional and lacking. I went to a prenatal yoga class one Saturday afternoon about a month ago, and it totally kicked my ass! I was pretty sore the next day, so I have started trying to add more yoga into my daily life. I have been toggling between strengthening days and gentler, more mindful days. In addition to that, I have been doing an aqua aerobics on Tuesdays at 6:00 and doing at least one yoga practice at the studio (as opposed to at home). Labor and birth are pretty hard on your body, so I want to be as strong as possible going into it. Aside from that, the end of labor gets pretty intense and somewhat painful, so for me, challenging my body through a yoga practice while focusing on breath is an important way for me to prepare for labor. I want to be able to breathe through the pain, recognize its purpose, and use it to my advantage, rather than let it overwhelm or panic me. I have been focusing on mindfulness lately, and am interested in how yoga can help me achieve focus, calm, and clarity, both in pregnancy and further in my daily life going forward. The other thing I've been appreciating about my daily yoga practice is that it gives me a chance to stop moving, stop doing, look inward, and focus on the little life growing in my body. Usually during the end of the practice in savasana, I put my hands on my belly and feel the baby kick, kick, kicking away.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As far as the baby's movement goes, the creature in there is an active little person! I first started feeling movement around 16-17 weeks, and the first time Chad was able to feel the baby was the day before Christmas Eve, which was around 18 weeks. I've heard that a lot of times, people aren't able to feel the baby from the outside until closer to 25-26 weeks, so this kid must be a beast :) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I wanted to make sure that I wrote about my experiences with this baby so I would have something to present them with about their formation in the future. Before you have children, you don't know it, but you have alllllll the free time in the world, so it's very easy in your first pregnancy to sit around, literally navel gazing, and contemplating all the changes that are coming in your life. It's an especially transformative time as well, because as adults, we are transitioning fully into adulthood ourselves, preparing ourselves to become caregivers, and for the first time put another human before ourselves. With subsequent pregnancies and children, we parents are already deeply entrenched in the daily practice of keeping helpless, little humans alive, hearing their tiny but very real struggles, kissing scraped knees, reading books, providing projects and activities, and laying down with them as they drift off to dreamland each night. It can be an all-encompassing and busy job, which leaves little time for navel gazing, in the way we had time for before we had anyone but ourselves to care for. BUT rest assured, little one, the moment you arrive, we will care for you with the same fervor and attention that we gave to your siblings before you. We will wake in all hours of the night to breastfeed you, change your diaper, and stare into your sleepless little eyes. As you grow, we will read you books, wipe your nose, and meet (most of!) your snack demands! Please never think of your status as forgotten third, the child who received the least or for whom your parents were too busy to think about. We wanted to give you (all of you!) the gift of a family bursting with support and love. Someday, when your father and I are old, too old to be the strong ones who care for YOU anymore, we wanted to give you a support system and a team that you could rely on for the entirety of your life. We wanted to give you friends to run around in the backyard with, chasing fireflies on warm summer evenings, and buddies to snuggle up with on cold winter nights.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I can tell you that already your siblings, Everett and Laurel, look forward to your arrival with anticipation. Everett, who is just about 5, loves to put his hand on my stomach and feel your kicks. When he feels a kick, he jerks his whole body about this way and that, in the way that he imagines you are moving your body inside of me. I don't know how your birth will play out yet, but if everything goes smoothly and according to plan, Everett is looking forward to helping cut your umbilical cord!! He tells me that babies are a lot of work, but that he's ready to help! Only just a few minutes ago, Laurel, who is 2.5, ran up to me, putting her hands on my stomach, and kissing my stomach, exclaiming "I kissed the baby!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As for me, I had a dream the other night about your birth, and the most vivid moment from it is the pure happiness and joy your dad and I felt when we looked on your face the first time! Know this, little baby, if you know nothing else: you were planned for, anticipated, and loved, from the very moment of your inception. We have been waiting and preparing for your arrival and we CANNOT wait to meet you! Until then, we'll continue dreaming about you and I'll write again soon <3</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">_________________________________________________</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>How far along</b>? 29 weeks tomorrow!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Total weight gain</b>: I currently weigh 158.6 and started out around 135. I've gained 25 pounds so far...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Baby’s size/development this week</b>: 15.5 inches and 2.5 pounds!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Maternity clothes</b>: Mostly non-maternity sweats and maternity shirts. I hate maternity pants with a passion. I do have a pair of really comfy maternity leggings that have gotten me through the last two pregnancies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Miss anything</b>? Hot yoga and race training!! Popping out of bed like it ain't no thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Food cravings</b>: Just whatever giant dessert you want to put in front of me!! Also, I have been really into PB+Js lately.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Anything making you queasy or sick</b>? Nope!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Sleep</b>: I just want to sleep moooooore! I have been napping every afternoon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Best moment of the week</b>: Laurel falling asleep in my arms on the playroom sofa and napping together.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Nursery</b>: Yeah right!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Weddings rings on or off</b>? ......on....? Which apparently is better than last time!?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Belly Button</b>: Still in. It's a deep cavernous hole.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Movement</b>? This baby likes to move!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Labor signs</b>? Not so far. Let's keep it that way!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Weird pregnancy thing of the week</b>: </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Daddy is feeling</b>: Hungry! (I emailed him and asked him to respond to the prompt and that's all I got!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mommy is feeling</b>: Tired but good! I have a sinus infection that I wish would go away, but other than than I'm good.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Workouts this week</b>: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Monday: 20 minute Prenatal morning yoga workout</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tuesday: Aqua aerobics at gym</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Wednesday: Prenatal yoga at studio</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Thursday: 20 minutes prenatal strength workout</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Friday: 20 minutes morning yoga + 30 minutes on elliptical</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Books I'm Reading/Media I'm Ingesting</b>:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">BOOKS:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Patanjali's Yoga</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">PODCAST:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Outside Podcast</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Looking forward to</b>: Not having any plans this weekend!</span><br />
<br />Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-62411308154985502132018-11-13T14:27:00.003-05:002018-11-13T14:27:34.260-05:002018 Book List<br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Lathe of Heaven, Ursala K. Le Guin</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Standing Woman, Winona La Duke</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There There, Tommy Orange</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy, Angela Garbes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let It Rot: The Gardener's Guide to Composting, Stu Campbell</span></li>
</ul>
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<br />Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-6691171233642879552018-09-27T09:59:00.000-04:002018-09-27T09:59:18.965-04:00Digging Deeper: Ruminations on a Complicated Relation with the Land<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lately, I've been thinking about the complicated nature of relationships between humans and the land, and how when you deep dive into most any subject it takes on a bittersweet multidimensional aspect. We recently went on a quick four day trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes in Northern Michigan, where the name of the park itself got me thinking about American Indian culture, history, and lore. It occurred to me that our time among the largest dunes in the world could be an opportunity and catalyst for learning, so when we got back I picked out several books from the library, some for Everett and Laurel and some for me. In order to learn from the voices of the people themselves (instead of some white washed version), I chose only books written by Native American authors. One book I chose for myself is called Last Standing Woman by Winona LaDuke (who I learned is an activist and was the Green Party vice presidential candidate for Ralph Nader in '96 and '00), which is a historical fiction, chronicling seven generations of </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) Indians and is frankly a pretty depressing read, though fascinating and extremely informative. In my uninformed peripheral vision way of thinking, I used to think that the American Indian "problem" was a sad one, but one that was over and done...peoples that we had wholly eradicated. Now that I dive deeper into the issue, I am learning that there are "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Approximately 56.2 million acres are held in trust by the United States for various </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Indian tribes</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> and individuals. There are approximately 326 </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Indian</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> land areas in the U.S. administered as federal </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Indian reservations.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">" (</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.bia.gov/frequently-asked-questions">U.S. Dept of Interior: Indian Affairs</a>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our family loves to explore National Parks and wild areas of our nation, but every time we look further past the initial beauty and grandeur of the land and animals, we are met with so many uncomfortable and thought-provoking ideas...I often walk away feeling overwhelmed and confused. As we sat in the visitor center watching a short film at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the narrator explained the lore of the sleeping bear, but barely mentioned the very people from whom the lore originated, and the focus on the grandeur of the land without any explanation of the area's history made me squirm in my seat. In visiting Yellowstone National Park, we learned about the reintroduction of the wolves and considered their impact on not only the natural landscape, but also the farmers and ranchers outside park areas who are raising our nation's beef, and how for them the wolf is a much more complicated issue, tied up in profit and loss margins and the success or failure of business. As fires rage on in the American west, we consider the last hundred years of U.S. fire policy and how shortsighted, human profit centered management can result in massive policy problems a hundred years down the road, that will take a hundred years to dig back out of. In order to do this post any justice, I'd have to have more time and band width than I current do (three children buzz around my feet now, soon to be begging for attention), but I wanted to jot down some of my thoughts and ideas before they melt away. I want to remember the books, podcasts and resources for future use, and to flesh out these ideas more wholly. I feel that I'm at a cross roads right now, not quite satisfied with the depth of my service to my fellow humans or the earth, but trying to decide what path or direction would be both the most effective and personally fulfilling.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Current Media and Resources</b>:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last Standing Woman by Winona LaDuke</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let It Rot! The Gardener's Guide to Composting by Stu Campbell</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under Ohio: The Story of Ohio's Rocks and Fossils by Charles Ferguson</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outside Podcast series on Wildfires</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2334836/sky-burning">The Sky is Burning</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2340326/fighting-fire-fire">Fighting Fire with Fire</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2343636/future-fire">The Future of Fire</a></span></li>
<li><a href="https://www.outsideonline.com/2346876/burnout"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Burnout</span></a></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Children's Books:</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Coyote Tales by Thomas King</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Legend of Lightening and Thunder by Paula Ikuutaq Rumbolt</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Raven and the Loon by Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-67044606181179885122018-04-25T21:50:00.000-04:002018-04-25T21:56:27.766-04:002018 Athens Marathon Race Report<div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPjl674zjHZ4ZDXomyJ8G5TenTAWrKk3gLoCdqRv-nPqIN6GvK_zDqOLzyS-_2s9Pi3rnuNI-7rsoXSaBOvYYDmDvSWu4ng2FGWlJopLNJI4dUb9uFYnUFkATHasZeI_W7TR_XJmfUnQc/s1600/IMG_20180415_075008493_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPjl674zjHZ4ZDXomyJ8G5TenTAWrKk3gLoCdqRv-nPqIN6GvK_zDqOLzyS-_2s9Pi3rnuNI-7rsoXSaBOvYYDmDvSWu4ng2FGWlJopLNJI4dUb9uFYnUFkATHasZeI_W7TR_XJmfUnQc/s320/IMG_20180415_075008493_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When you are running a marathon, you start looking at the weather forecast 10 days in advance, and obsessively click refresh with an ever increasing frequency as the week goes on, especially when it calls for thunderstorms the way it did the morning of this year's Athens Marathon. I couldn't care less about running in the rain, but if 4 months of training goes down the drain due to a race cancellation, I'd have been pretty disappointed. But all we could do was carry on and hope for the best, and that's exactly what we did. We were ready to partake in Ohio's oldest consecutively running marathon experience, which promised to be a flat and fast course perfect for Boston qualifiers (not for me!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Grandma, who was taking both kids on their first ever overnight, decided at the last minute that she'd pick up the kids one day early and take them back home with her, so Chad and I had an impromptu date night (At Wolf's Ridge Brewery) - our first ever without worrying about bedtime since Laurel was born! We probably drank more than is advisable two days before a marathon, but you've got to make hay while the sun shines! And without the kids around, it was the least stressful packing and planning experience ever! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmChdJ3tWPNIK_d-EQszPsvumAfujk4I8DL-fchE57ydV4hPzhgaY8-ePc1kYv1MC37Lkb97Jpw6gQe3kSGvOJZIib8zDjDdNnLh4MeKC2EeHkuEOa4C1Gm3nhmvqKbQMucNEbj7A8AOo/s1600/00100dPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20180413182343634_COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmChdJ3tWPNIK_d-EQszPsvumAfujk4I8DL-fchE57ydV4hPzhgaY8-ePc1kYv1MC37Lkb97Jpw6gQe3kSGvOJZIib8zDjDdNnLh4MeKC2EeHkuEOa4C1Gm3nhmvqKbQMucNEbj7A8AOo/s320/00100dPORTRAIT_00100_BURST20180413182343634_COVER.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Shit you don't get to do with kids around!!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzn1KsGie6iWMj8IsR1saD5xoXPRdOUt-x94p-_uYJ6KgCBMengfUtRYyj-nGbf6S3W8jQ9SPoaF-NHwK_3zW9Hk0O5Qlxy1fqk_lL_2U-_1rIvwjeto_ZIv9xyitnm5kmuhA9Dj11io/s1600/00000IMG_00000_BURST20180413193915810_COVER.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhzn1KsGie6iWMj8IsR1saD5xoXPRdOUt-x94p-_uYJ6KgCBMengfUtRYyj-nGbf6S3W8jQ9SPoaF-NHwK_3zW9Hk0O5Qlxy1fqk_lL_2U-_1rIvwjeto_ZIv9xyitnm5kmuhA9Dj11io/s320/00000IMG_00000_BURST20180413193915810_COVER.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Can you taste the freedom!?</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got on the road around 9:00 and made it to Athens around 10:15. A friend had recommended Donkey Coffee so we tried that out and bought some beans to take back home with us as a souvenir. Then we roamed around campus a bit, and lolled about quietly in the sun, without a care in the world and feeling a bit freer than we thought we ought to. We decided to take a walk and look for the cherry blossoms which were apparently in bloom, but we got lost and ended up in the middle of a giant student street/drinking party, and I have never felt so out of place! Then we made our way to Casa Nueva, an Athens local food institution, to meet up with our buddy Noah who was also running the marathon. Afterwards, we went to pick up our packets at the Ohio Valley Running Company store, where I snagged some amazing shoes for $30 (!), and then made our way to our Air B&B about 5 minutes outside of town. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoeAv6kDCicIXmu0OIjeCoz-9VjjzEWe4J4ChinQMIZktNDEYLBgYU7BiZ60-LGiz5afeC58LhNp6118sOKhLNOhEbhn0vc1S2TOYUSYgMlWVO7rt3DSh09CguTeK_AirIRfhVo6pPceY/s1600/IMG_20180418_103208700_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1305" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoeAv6kDCicIXmu0OIjeCoz-9VjjzEWe4J4ChinQMIZktNDEYLBgYU7BiZ60-LGiz5afeC58LhNp6118sOKhLNOhEbhn0vc1S2TOYUSYgMlWVO7rt3DSh09CguTeK_AirIRfhVo6pPceY/s320/IMG_20180418_103208700_HDR.jpg" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My amazing $30 shoes!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We unpacked and dallied about trying to figure out where to eat. After looking at the website, we thought we'd give Avalanche pizza a try. The pictures on Google reviews looked *amazing* and the menu said Food Network had voted them the "best pizza in the USA", so we had high hopes. I don't know if we caught them on a bad day or what, but I think Chad, Noah, and I all agreed that it was some of the shittiest pizza we'd had in a long time and we were sorely disappointed in our pre-race dinner. I also had had high hopes for an appetizer called Mount Carb-o-more, but it was some still half-frozen soggy fries on top of some shitty, shitty cheesy bread. Chad was feeling the effects of our previous night's escapades (or so we thought) and we were all pretty tired and needed to get a good night of sleep. All evening he kept saying he wasn't really hungry and felt bloated and just generally not great. Regardless, no one else had problems falling asleep, but it took me a while to turn my mind off. The bed at the B&B was less than comfortable, so of course that contributed to the pre-race jitters.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoUuqNH7QI0CC_O14gp1qh_RajTRCqXR8tqPG20MlcXaepMhQVhBvNIQolRcYXIpPWgQBLjtpHrBXsDK953qdndM8_JhZb5i1JOafE-V6uF8LBNQ0DWws_cq6kVlx04ASDXE54hQpwjL4/s1600/MVIMG_20180414_102057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoUuqNH7QI0CC_O14gp1qh_RajTRCqXR8tqPG20MlcXaepMhQVhBvNIQolRcYXIpPWgQBLjtpHrBXsDK953qdndM8_JhZb5i1JOafE-V6uF8LBNQ0DWws_cq6kVlx04ASDXE54hQpwjL4/s320/MVIMG_20180414_102057.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Donkey Coffee! Nitro brew!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Casa Nueva!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The disappointing Mt. Carb-o-More, I had high hopes for thee!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The race didn't start until 8:00, and with it being a smaller race, we were able to sleep in until 6:00, which we are definitely not used to! Chad woke up and said that he still wasn't hungry, and felt bloated and his stomach felt off, but otherwise fine. I had a croissant and some iced coffee for breakfast. The weather was quite nice - mid-50s, cool and overcast. It seemed both the the rain and thunderstorms were supposed to hold off until later in the morning, so we all felt optimistic. We milled about for about an hour, and left for the race around 7:00, where we got a free parking spot (yay Sunday) about ONE BLOCK from the start line!!! That has NEVER happened before! We found the porta-potties, and used them one last time. Then I looked for some of my running buddies (Go MRTT!!) I had trained with all season, and got a photo with them. Then we milled about a bit more and Chad got some good video with our new Go Pro that we had bought 2 days before the race. I'm sure no one else would enjoy the footage, but I have loved watching our pre-race conversations!! Everett also asked to watch it this morning, so after breakfast, we all sat around the kitchen table watching our own pre-race footage - we're an exciting family, I gotta tell ya! I had heard from other veterans of the race that there wasn't a lot of fanfare at the start of the race, and that pretty much the only way you knew it had started was that people in front of you started running. Not so this year! We were all quite shocked when some military people set off some sort of loud boom to signify the start of the race. We ran about 7-8 blocks through the small city streets of Athens and soon enough we were on the bike path.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My first mile was in the 9:00s, and although I didn't have an exact goal in mind, my PR marathon pace was a 10:40, so I knew that was way too fast and reined it in. I fell into a fairly comfortable 10:00 minute pace and decided to hang out there and see what happened. The first several miles of the course was great because I knew several people running the half marathon and was waiting for them to come back so I could cheer for them on the out and back course. Eventually I fell in with an older guy (60s) who was reportedly undertrained but had run 30+ marathons and was doing intervals based on his heart rate to make up for his lack of training. We chatted for a bit in the spitting rain whenever he would catch up to me during a running interval. Eventually, around mile 8, I fell in with a group of 5-6 people and ran happily with them for 2-3 miles. There was a guy who had driven down from Toronto, and another guy who had run 60+ marathons, as well as a woman who had run 8 and was pacing her friend's, for whom it was her first. I told her a bike path alone in the woods was a hell of a first marathon to run! Running with people was a great way to pass the time, but they were holding steady at just under 10:00 minute miles, so I knew I had to pull off of the pack, and from that point on, I focused on staying in the mid 10:00s. Eventually, after passing the half marathon turn around and seeing Chad and Noah coming back the opposite direction on the out and back course, things got solitary pretty quickly. With the half runners weeded out, the pack was extremely thin, and there were brief times when I couldn't see anyone in front of me. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I started to feel somewhat tired and get that "Man, I'd like to be done" feeling right around mile 13 or so. But then some guy tried to slowly and cautiously pass me and turned my competitiveness back on - I didn't let him pass me then and he trailed me for probably 6-7 miles before finally falling off. At that point, a little after half way, I made it my goal to slowly pick off runners ahead of me, which really served a two-fold purpose. One: to keep me moving forward at a quicker pace and Two: just to keep my mind focused on a small bite goal and to stave off monotony and pain. Things started to get tough a bit earlier on than usual in this race, maybe around mile 16 or so, but I just stayed focused on each mile and getting through it. At each marker, I'd count down how many miles left to go, or celebrate when I had only single digit miles left to run, or hit the 20 mile mark. It began to rain, which was of little significance to me with the exception of it making my phone more difficult to use (i.e. change songs when necessary.) As time wore on, the pain started seeping into my being. As is often the case on longer runs, I remember looking around and seeing the beauty of the place I was in, and then in this other set apart place, feeling the pain of my body, as if there were two juxtaposed experiences taking place separately at the same time, but still all jumbled together. It's been a difficult training year for me, endurance-wise, so this has been the quintessence of the long run to me: the separate feeling of beauty and pain existing in the same place. As I tired and fatigued, a deep "not-caring" seeped into my bones and the task at hand seems endless. Again though, as I watched the miles slowly and painfully tick by, I kept an eye on my time, and all signs were pointing to a time record. Unless something blew up drastically in the back end, I was going to PR, and not by a few seconds, but by a few minutes.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I entered into the 20 miles realm, I made constant and continuous bargains with myself, as people around me started to walk - bargaining with themselves as well, as people often do in the back 6 of a marathon (though a few passed with relative ease and confidence). The desire to stop grew and grew, the pain was evident on my face, and I groaned audibly several times. A few times I tried walking for a few seconds, but knowing how far I had left to go, and what my target was, it was a useless task and I woman-ed up and kept moving along at a constant, slow and steady pace. I stayed in the 10:00s until mile 24, when I dipped down to an 11:30 minute mile, but managed to improve every mile from there, with an 11:18, then and 11:10, and the final stretch after that was finished back in 10:00 realm (10:53). Finally, I could see the buildings of Athens on the horizon and knew the finish was near-by, though at that moment in time there was no "near" and "far," rather ALL was far until it simply wasn't, until it was over. My Garmin was ahead by about three-tenths of a mile, which was annoying because there's nothing like re-calibrating your expectations in the last few miles when every tenth of a mile is it's own special chamber of hell! Somewhere between mile 25 and 26, I noticed a sharp-ish pain in my upper right leg every time I put my foot down. I vaguely registered this pain as an injury, but in the moment, it was just an additional singular pain in an entire orchestra of suffering! Finally, I knew I was around the corner from the finish, as I passed the 26 mile sign, but I COULD NOT see the stadium. What trickery was this!? We were sheparded off the bike path through a patch of grass and across a lane of traffic and into the magically appearing stadium, where I gathered my pain and put it aside, fully relishing the victory lap that I knew was mine! I yelled, I cheered, I crossed with gusto and pride and finally, FINALLY, I stopped running!! My official time was 4:37:04 (for an average pace of 10:35). (Though my Garmin says 26:40 and an average pace of 10:30, oh well...)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Minutes later, I rejoined with Chad and Noah. Chad had realized that something was wrong around the 8 mile mark and ran his worst race in the entire race history. He finished only TEN MINUTES ahead of me! He usually finishes an hour ahead of me, and that he finished at all that day is a feat unto itself. It took him almost a week for food to be appetizing to him and to return to his normal self. Noah finished TWO seconds shy of a PR. My previous three marathon times had been within 30 seconds of each other, but two marathons run within one second of each other is something else! And the only down-side of our great parking spot next to the start line is that it was about 3/4 of a mile from the finish line, so we had to walk back to the car. After we went back to the B&B and got showered up, we headed out to Jackie O's for lunch and sampled some beers and a burger. Then we went to Little Fish Brewery, where we also tried a beer or two, and got some po'boys to go from the on-site food truck. It was almost 6:00 by the time we made it back to the B&B for the evening, which is the only downside to the late start time of the marathon - I didn't even finish until 12:30 and we didn't get started on lunch til about 2:30. We laid around the B&B for the remainder of the evening and watched Three Billboards, recommended to us by Noah, and then sat around discussing it. All in all (for me anyways! Maybe not so much for Chad, sadly), it was a great race weekend!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One final note I'll add about my apparent injury. After the race, of course our legs were all pretty sore, but I felt the soreness was minimal all things considered. Stairs were painful but manageable, and it was only a few days before I was able to descend with little to no pain at all. The main concern was my upper right thigh, which hurt to put weight on it. Walking isn't so bad, but any specific weight bearing is not fun. I (stupidly?) signed up to run the Cap City Half Marathon two weeks after the main marathon, and this time around I guess it just wasn't in the cards, which I'm really disappointed about. I've been taking a wait and see attitude, but even yoga (specifically weight bearing poses like crescent lunge) hurts. I took a week off from any type of exercise (though in the fall I was back to running 4 days later), and have felt confident only to try the elliptical. Today, 10 days after the marathon, I tried to jog for a few seconds on the treadmill and it just was not happening. I had been holding out hope to at least walk the quarter marathon on Saturday, but then I thought "What is the point, really?" I think I'll just take it easy that morning, wake up easy, and take the kids down to spectate the finish line, at which point I will collect my $105 anti-victory beer and Pappa John's pizza at 10:00 in the morning!! The other thing I'll do is look up a sports medicine doctor to get a professional opinion on what I'm dealing with and go from there. The spring racing season, hell just the spring RUNNING season, is upon us finally and I'm stuck inside a gym running on a machine like a rat. That's okay though! It was a great weekend and I wouldn't change a thing except for Chad's stomach bug and my injury!!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enjoying some souvenirs from Little Fish Brewery 10 days out from the race :)</span></td></tr>
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Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-20899890227425989082018-04-06T19:03:00.000-04:002018-04-06T19:03:19.313-04:00Ruminations of the Future (Homeschooling)<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A lot has happened since I last updated the blog - we have been through a lot in the past couple years...from dealing with Laurel May's medical issues, me changing careers, buying a house, and Chad finishing up his undergraduate degree. I feel like each of those things could require their own reflection and summation, but as of now, I'm looking forward and have been thinking about setting my intention, both individually and as a family.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On a personal and unrelated note to the rest of this rumination, as I've trained for 2 marathons since having Laurel (one completed and one about to happen), I've noticed training sessions that used to be "hard but doable" are now utterly brutal. I've been thinking about the toll childbearing and child caring has taken on my body. My comfortable training pace has slowed considerably, maybe 1-2 minutes per mile and I don't know if I've "lost my mojo," or if I lost some of my training during the time I was pregnant with Laurel and the year after she was born that I spent mostly pumping and never, ever working out. It's hard to see your body not perform the way it once used to, and I've been coming to terms with the fact that accepting a new normal (at least for now) may be the best path forward. Further, in light of the toll my long training runs seem to take on me, I've been wondering if the marathon is a goal I should even be striving for these days. I really want weekends to be an enjoyable time for us to spend together as a family exploring and seeing the world together, and scheduling long training runs between Chad and me, and being tired from exertion just seems to be getting in the way of that. I think about how running is supposed to be "something I do for me," but I've come to realize that if I am always viewing the weekend runs with trepidation or reluctance, it may be time to scale back. Running the point of utter exhaustion has felt like I'm missing the mark in self care. Besides, I haven't even done any half marathons since about six months after Everett was born, and I think it'd be fun to focus on those for a while, to take the pressure off. We're about to find out anyways, because I'll be running the Cap City Half Marathon at the end of April, two weeks after the Athens Full Marathon!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As for other goals I've been mulling over for future, a big one is the education of my children, which is almost too big to encapsulate in one journal entry, as there are so many facets to it that I think about on a daily basis. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When I think about what I want for my children in terms of their education, the main thing is that they grow up with a thirst for knowledge and learning, free from the confines of the institutional system and the toll it takes on both body and mind. I don't want my children to sit in a classroom all day, being told to be quiet, sit still, and make sure they answer the questions in the right way, the way that they must if they intend to take the required state and national testing. I don't want my children to live for grades and tests, no, I don't even want those to be words in their vernacular. I want them to see the world as their classroom, and for them to be free to follow their desires to learn in whatever direction they see fit. Should they have learning differences, their constitution will not be bent to fit a system, perhaps giving them drugs to help them sit still or concentrate, rather I hope to help them learn in a way that they will naturally thrive. It is not the fault of the system, per se, as systems are meant to be the most to the most number of people, but never the most to any one person. I see it as my responsibility to be the best to my people. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Another main motivating factor in choosing to keep my children out of conventional schooling is that I also do not, frankly, want them to be a part of mainstream culture. I loathe consumerism, the keeping up with the Joneses, and I especially loathe the idea of lunch time politics, where popularity is always at play. My children will never be bullied, and my daughter will never have her bra strap snapped, or her ass grabbed in the busy hallway of class changes. And they will never feel they have to skip meals or adhere to a certain body standard to fit in, because we will celebrate them as they are. And certainly, I want to raise my daughter and my son both to be able to navigate outside the heavy glass ceiling of conventional society...the one in which, for example, only approximately 12% of both undergraduates and graduates at the school of engineering are women (at OSU specifically but similar statistics probably follow nationwide), because that type of disparity doesn't happen in a bubble, it happens in the everyday microaggressions (as well as macro-aggressions) of our toxic society. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Further, as I have deepened into the role at home of caretaker and provider, I have strengthened my resolve that my children, as other animals, are meant to remain close to their parents from early childhood through adolescence. Chad and I often remark how it could have been, almost was, him who ended up taking the role I have now taken on - I don't really care which parent it is, but I want my children to be surrounded closely and firmly by family as they make their way into adulthood. Now, I don't pretend to know everything my children have yet to learn, and I intend, excitedly, to learn right along with them, and sometimes support them as they surpass me in certain areas. I don't see myself as their teacher, per se, but more a steward of their knowledge. As long as we as a family can keep the spark of yearning for knowledge alive, I have no fear that our children can soar to whatever heights they want to. An education is not a means to the highest paying job, the biggest house, the most expensive car (and in fact we strive <i>away</i> from these things). No, I won't measure the success of my children by whether they measure higher than me on the stick of prosperity. I just want them to lead lives of contentment, whatever that means for them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In choosing this different path, there are a lot of things I worry about: privilege, not supporting public schools (which is kind of like privilege), and unintentionally hurting or concerning others. I worry about the inherent privilege I know that comes along with this choice. I know that not everyone has the ability to choose this path. I look around me in the working class neighborhood in which we live and know there's a lot of people who probably want a good number of things for their children and their families, but that lack of resources will keep them from ever hoping to attain those goals. I worry about what opting out of public schools means about my personal micro and macro ethics. Many fierce education advocates would say that opting out of the public system is irresponsible, and again is a signifier of my privilege. Opting in would be throwing my hat into the system to try and keep it chugging along for the betterment of society. When all those who have the privilege of opting out do so, what does that do to the system that contains in the end, only those on the bottom end of things...those most in need. Anyways, I am in no way myself personally knowledgeable about education politics and policy, but I do admit to see some flaws in my personal choice to opt out, especially when my political and ethical views are pretty firmly socialist. Finally, every time I tell someone I plan to homeschool (or unschool, rather), I worry that maybe they will think it an indictment on themselves in some way. Often, when you choose a route less taken, people tend to see your choice as a sort of anti-affirmation of their choices, which...I don't know. The only thing I can say to that is that, the world is a diverse place made up of people who make a hundred different choices. In the end, in most ares I feel passionate about (childbirth, feminism, food systems, etc.), I've spent a lot of time thinking about it, and I think what it comes down to in the end is "Did you feel you had a choice?" "Were there options?" No one path is the end-all and be-all, it's the idea that there are many choices out there to take, and that we can all respect, support, and celebrate each other on our many splendid journeys. </span>Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-26772396977606996302016-06-07T15:14:00.000-04:002016-06-07T22:00:55.531-04:00Laurel May's Birth Story<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The following is the birth story
of my little girl, Laurel May, a story that I will love and cherish forever.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As Memorial Day Monday rolled
around, I started to feel increasingly anticipatory, as the baby’s due date was
on Friday, June 03. Because Everett had
arrived three and a half weeks early we never had any chance to anticipate his
birth, so every moment of the final three weeks of pregnancy was new and unknown
territory for me. As my belly and ankles
swelled to previously unseen levels, I felt antsy and restless, tired of being
so large that rolling over in the night or getting out of bed to pee was a
major and uncomfortable undertaking. All
throughout the last month of my pregnancy I had been having frequent and
intense Braxton Hicks contractions, with a few actual contractions thrown in
here or there, but no additional real signs that labor was nearing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On Memorial Day, Monday, however,
I started to feel that labor might be underway soon. I was very tired, getting more irritable and
swollen by the day, but mostly I was starting to have more period-like cramping
in my low abdomen, on top of the constant and long lasting (think 2-3 minutes) Braxton
Hicks contractions. In the morning we
went to Oakland Park Nursery to buy flowers, and one rogue contraction was
intense enough that I had to sit down and want to rest. Monday afternoon and evening continued
uneventfully, but Tuesday morning, I again felt the twinges in my stomach. Nothing consistent or timetable, and nothing
to make me think “Aha, this is it!” but enough to make me think “Oh, any time
now.” I spent the day resting and
conserving my energy. By the afternoon
and evening, I was back to feeling just cranky and irritable, but wasn’t
feeling any more tightening in my abdomen.
In the evening, we ate dinner on the front porch, I soaked my extremely swollen
feet in cool water while Everett and Chad rode bikes up and down the street,
and later Chad and I watched an episode of Call the Midwife before retiring to
bed around 11:00.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxQ8uSAztiJXW5dmlLamgtzVQLWU-PwGomAhmMsfp-lGuk2e1Jz1dgnjNWI1BPRSsH4kH7EFC50GOAYIs8sqiC6E0BFVSnQibP_CyUSQfinQdyr8qqUGZVtYt1m2unwXKOrwgy2KhcP4/s1600/IMG_20160531_172242420_HDR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDxQ8uSAztiJXW5dmlLamgtzVQLWU-PwGomAhmMsfp-lGuk2e1Jz1dgnjNWI1BPRSsH4kH7EFC50GOAYIs8sqiC6E0BFVSnQibP_CyUSQfinQdyr8qqUGZVtYt1m2unwXKOrwgy2KhcP4/s320/IMG_20160531_172242420_HDR.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Our last appointment with the CHOICE midwives, <br />about 6 hours before I went into labor.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnYIlfVIPtRBLpw172xux8crEMr5ugMDUUiOOXli56SvXrX8PpJlAXgAK_6raBRJJqeu_xCJMAys8atRdZttyzpw0GyaMU7ZI2fylOZMhHK0hk2lyF7Cx-uppM9axnjaJN2AaItX8HsQ/s1600/IMG_20160531_192750520.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKnYIlfVIPtRBLpw172xux8crEMr5ugMDUUiOOXli56SvXrX8PpJlAXgAK_6raBRJJqeu_xCJMAys8atRdZttyzpw0GyaMU7ZI2fylOZMhHK0hk2lyF7Cx-uppM9axnjaJN2AaItX8HsQ/s320/IMG_20160531_192750520.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chad and Everett zoom while I watch from the porch...<br />about 4 and a half hours before I go into labor!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We laid down and Chad was out
cold in minutes, but I lay there thinking for a bit, and sometime around 11:30
I felt a tightening in my abdomen, which I commonly felt at some point in the
night. Usually when it happened, my
first thought would be “Ugh. Whatever, if
I’m woken up by another one in 10 minutes, then I’ll know something is up, but
otherwise, I’m chalking this up to pre-labor.”
But for some reason, this time when I felt the small wave, my heart
quickened and I also felt a wave of adrenaline with the thought of “Oh my
god! Is this it!?” I lay there wired as hell, waiting. Sure enough, I felt another wave a few
minutes later. My suspicions aroused, I
lay there, waiting, still. And again, I
felt another small wave. By this point I
thought that I had better download a contraction timer app on my phone. Around 12:15, I started timing the contractions
and they were coming every two minutes or so for about a minute to a minute and
thirty seconds, fast and consistent but still weak enough. I kept debating in my head over whether or
not to try to get some rest, knowing that if things were rolling, they
might pick up quickly. I got out of bed
and sat on the birth ball, walked the hallway, went and admired my full stomach
for what might be the last time in our full length mirror, and went downstairs
to grab a Kind bar. All the while, I was
timing contractions at a consistent rate of every two minutes for about a
minute to a minute and a half each. A
little before 1:00 AM, I tried to lay down and rest, but laying down made the
otherwise manageable contractions quite painful. Armed with all the evidence, I decided that I
was indeed in labor and went and woke Chad up around 1:00 AM.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKBE0-XEJmo82WyDBMWAjV6jIC5RiTcABZ0sbB6iO3rRwcXTZHejp8emGYJSejXR_Zf1A-oiBkqq52zjJi9UUaY7h7qCME2P25m9AjDPpU81vuCy8bHP2GweA4wrutlSFXRRJrzDyTg0/s1600/_20160607_134831%255B1%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxKBE0-XEJmo82WyDBMWAjV6jIC5RiTcABZ0sbB6iO3rRwcXTZHejp8emGYJSejXR_Zf1A-oiBkqq52zjJi9UUaY7h7qCME2P25m9AjDPpU81vuCy8bHP2GweA4wrutlSFXRRJrzDyTg0/s320/_20160607_134831%255B1%255D.JPG" width="168" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Just around 12:50 am before I had awoken Chad. <br />I'm saying "Is this it? Last pregnant photo?"</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Moving from the bedroom into the
media room, Chad and I assessed the situation and discussed what to do. We decided to call our midwife, Mandy around
1:30 AM. She suggested that I hop in the
shower and see if the contractions got any more intense or not, the warm water
may help create stronger contractions, and then call her back and let her know
how things were going. I dawdled and put
off getting in the shower, walking around and pacing. Chad started to get Everett’s diapers and
clothes ready for a possible trip to Nonna’s while I continued timing
contractions. Probably around 2:45, I
got in the shower for a few minutes, and got back out, not really sure if
anything was moving forward or not. At
some point Everett woke up and we tried several times to put him back to sleep,
but he was restless and awake and Chad was spending time in bed with him trying
to get him to rest. I hadn’t bothered to
call the midwife back yet, thinking that I didn’t want to bother her if nothing
was progressing. In fact, just around
3:00 AM I was starting to have visions of a long drawn out 40-hour labor,
ending in an exhausted trip to the hospital.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mandy texted at 3:15 and said
“Still up? Any change?” to which I
responded “Contractions are still every 2-4 minutes and lasting about 1:30
minutes and fairly intense…Not really sure if things are progressing or
not.” She responded “Have they gotten
any more intense since they began?” And I started to text a response to her,
but at that moment I realized that the contractions were getting stronger,
stronger to the point where I grimaced and wanted to lean on Chad who was in
the other room with Everett. I thought
to myself “Why am I sitting here texting my midwife at 3:15 in the morning when
I’m having regularly intense contractions!?
I’m going to call her to let her know it’s time to come over and at
least check my progress.” Which is exactly what I did. Then I went in to get Chad and said “We need
to call your mom to come take care of Everett because things are getting more
intense and I need you!” Chad got out of
bed, threw Everett into a sling on his back, and called his mom at 3:30 AM. He
finished getting Everett’s bags ready and waited for Mandy and Marilyn to show
up, as I continued pacing and timing my contractions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">4:00 am on the dot and waiting for Nonna to arrive. <br />Everett is saying "Seriously guys!?"</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mandy showed up around 3:45 and
even though it’s not necessarily their standard of care, I asked her to check
my cervix to see how far I was dilated.
I hadn’t felt the need for a vaginal exam in the weeks or days up to
this point, but now that labor was firmly under way, I needed a way
marker. She checked me, found that I was
7 centimeters dilated, and said “I thought you might be pulling something like
this!” Uh yeah, so I guess it was a good
thing I called her after all! Marilyn showed
up around 4:00 AM, I went downstairs to say hello and see off Everett,
carefully timing my descent down the stairs in between contractions, which were
coming fast, steady, and strong at this point.
Mandy brought in all of her stuff for the birth and our media room was
magically transformed from an office/living room area into a (very comfortable)
birthing room. She called our other
midwife Tanya, who probably showed up around 4:15. They sat in the hallway and talked in very
low tones, staying out of our way as my labor continued to progress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By 4:30, the contractions were
starting to become unbearable. I sat on
the bed and rested in between and stood and leaned against Chad during each
forceful tightening of my lower stomach.
I had made a decision early on to focus on my breathing and work quietly
though the contractions, and I had been doing great with this, but it was
becoming more and more difficult to keep the breaths deep and mindful. The midwives sat and waited while I
intermittently sat and then stood and clung to Chad in pain. I remember seeing Mandy sitting at our desk
going over notes from our file and Tanya pulling a Foxfire book off our
bookshelf and thumbing through it while she sat on the birthing ball. There was a feeling of waiting and passing
time in the air. I was working hard at
this point, but there wasn’t a lot anyone else could do except wait and offer
encouragement when necessary. I remember
once I joked to Tanya “Where is my orgasmic birth experience!?” (Which Ina May
Gaskin talks about in her books) and she laughed and said “Ha! You’ve been
cheated!” At another point I remember
clinging on to Chad and looking at Mandy with a look of desperation in my eyes,
to which she responded that I was doing great, to relax my shoulders, and
breath through it. Then she suggested
that I get in the shower to see if that would help ease my contractions at
all. I did get in the shower, but right
around that time I started feeling the urge to push, so she made me get out so
she could check whether I was fully dilated before I started pushing. She checked and said I was fully effaced and
could push at any time. She also
suggested that my waters might break soon and that I go sit on the toilet since
it would be a good place to get my body in position for pushing anyways. I went and sat on the toilet and with Chad
standing in the doorway of the bathroom watching me, my bowels forcefully
extracted themselves at the same moment that my water forcefully broke. It was a moment that was equal parts gross,
impressive, and eternally memorable. About
this time, I remember thinking thoughts such as “Goodbye Dignity, goodbye, it
was nice knowing you! Bye….” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sKvBdoWVO-X8CG8BWTdunPy1VqO672o1wV5prPVYKQf_o4ERjbuCTu1NLtPT5_OKhEs1CgpDTuu9Yk5iL7W6R3HhfL9H2_Tt0mDQNWCYi8VCUMxj43AzFIahK8mKTUM3W_qR10BkqL0/s1600/IMG_20160601_041404265%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4sKvBdoWVO-X8CG8BWTdunPy1VqO672o1wV5prPVYKQf_o4ERjbuCTu1NLtPT5_OKhEs1CgpDTuu9Yk5iL7W6R3HhfL9H2_Tt0mDQNWCYi8VCUMxj43AzFIahK8mKTUM3W_qR10BkqL0/s320/IMG_20160601_041404265%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">4:15 am - about an hour and a half before birth!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Husband and wife laboring together.<br /> So grateful for this image...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jmCMvIAo543H-B6hxems5fLZrCjzMR6vDZ6PQzylSB8eYoJi-030I99Xo9Um-JLVfi3EDnbdPK_aoIeASgerI1vfCuxKCr1v4bzLki2CZocajVlhV5smFviwl_7zJgaUVOSH1RndXqE/s1600/IMG_20160607_141026.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9jmCMvIAo543H-B6hxems5fLZrCjzMR6vDZ6PQzylSB8eYoJi-030I99Xo9Um-JLVfi3EDnbdPK_aoIeASgerI1vfCuxKCr1v4bzLki2CZocajVlhV5smFviwl_7zJgaUVOSH1RndXqE/s320/IMG_20160607_141026.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Chad supporting me through a contraction around 5:15 am - only 30 minutes to go!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At this point it was probably
around 5:00 AM and we were in fever pitch, the most difficult and painful part
of labor, with a few contractions that were almost unbearable. Time seemed to be dragging on painfully slow,
but I knew that when you get to the point where you think you can’t stand it or
carry on any longer, you’re really almost there, and so I was. Those few unbearable contractions passed and
I began to feel the urge to really push.
I stood in the middle of the room, leaning against Chad, and pushing,
with the midwives saying “Move to the bed and get on your knees!” I remember not 100% understanding the meaning
of the words they were saying even though I could hear them, and also not 100%
believing IN the words they were saying.
But they persisted, saying “Get on the bed! Kneel on your knees! It’s a better position for pushing and you
will have more of your weight supported!”
Warily, I fumbled through what they told me and ended up on the bed, on
my knees, with my arms around Chad’s shoulders. At that moment I didn’t care about blowing out
candles across the room, tiny pushes, or even perineal tears. With great intense and terrible pressure
pushing down in my pelvis, I bore down and pushed as hard as I could. I could tell that the head was born and
waited for confirmation and approval to push again from the midwives. This was the climax to a night’s worth of
work, we were almost there, and no one was sitting idle waiting now. The midwives gave me the go ahead and I
pushed again, birthing the body this time.
A great gush of fluids came out and so did the baby, with Tanya catching
it. The gush was so overwhelming and I
called out saying “Is this normal!?”
They assured me that it was and with that at 5:47 in the morning of June
1<sup>st</sup> the newest addition to our family had officially been born! But the story wasn’t quite over yet… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tanya then said something about
how the cord was very short. I was still
kneeling on my knees, hanging on to Chad, and hadn’t yet really seen the baby
yet, but the midwives were doing something below, I started to get anxious and
asked if everything was okay. They said that
it was, but they just needed to figure out what we were going to do with the
baby and me while waiting for the placenta to be delivered. I asked if it was a boy or a girl and no one
knew yet! I think in the end I might
have been the one to exclaim that it was a girl, but I really can’t
remember. Tanya somehow transferred the
baby through my knees and handed her to Chad, while they instructed me how to
put my legs and lay back, all the while taking care of the baby not to pull the
cord. I remember at one point Chad
started to pull the baby up and I said “Don’t move her! The cord is short, leave her where she is!” Finally, I was situated in a laying down
position and sweet little Laurel May was placed on my stomach while we waited
for the placenta to be delivered. I did
so wish to hold her though and after 15 or so minutes they said that they
thought the cord had stopped pulsing and that we could go ahead and cut it even
though the placenta hadn’t been delivered yet.
Yes!! FINALLY I got to hold my
baby to my chest! A few minutes later the
placenta was delivered, and we checked it out.
It was kind of gross looking, but impressive, I suppose. After a bit, I nursed Laurel, the midwives
went downstairs to do some paper work, get us some food and juice, and then leave
Chad, Laurel, and I to our golden hour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMSrWRVWEhUfiL-VH7Kjz1mc9-Cv_gB-v4rTQvtjmUQ83cxChtsqazbJj6SESbbXDuGxq5puzngjagRoAH3YqkXBn3KRoaSYFPxNie4PvSdfAtWjPgktLfKn9NWnYbBU4_qP-qcJq-xs/s1600/IMG_20160601_055812790.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIMSrWRVWEhUfiL-VH7Kjz1mc9-Cv_gB-v4rTQvtjmUQ83cxChtsqazbJj6SESbbXDuGxq5puzngjagRoAH3YqkXBn3KRoaSYFPxNie4PvSdfAtWjPgktLfKn9NWnYbBU4_qP-qcJq-xs/s320/IMG_20160601_055812790.jpg" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The baby with the short cord <br />patiently waits on mamma's stomach!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">First nursing session about 30 minutes post-birth</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4da18NdAHtCYUhZBOEH5P9VEZ3ni-PmwhhiH1u6tRIoGidn0E57dmGOdk6K4mnK-4J76fDclB-CtTItpO8yfSZYfi1vS-pG71XoRJ6Em7-fauEoKjac_yIm2qq_xhd7UJFqQUyHh3x0/s1600/IMG_20160601_083033749.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik4da18NdAHtCYUhZBOEH5P9VEZ3ni-PmwhhiH1u6tRIoGidn0E57dmGOdk6K4mnK-4J76fDclB-CtTItpO8yfSZYfi1vS-pG71XoRJ6Em7-fauEoKjac_yIm2qq_xhd7UJFqQUyHh3x0/s320/IMG_20160601_083033749.jpg" width="179" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Foot prints!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKT7pnS_p93rmlTX3AHqUu3T9HuEs622-zAuAhyGDJ3l0DGIXhotsHPR-H0_7a__kpJJDpCatPN8AYrfxjkKKanDAwTG_m4MObhVjq0aQRLi09rO7CQ9fZ6sKn50JCrVERKW2DgGSn-Q/s1600/IMG_20160601_082832822.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifKT7pnS_p93rmlTX3AHqUu3T9HuEs622-zAuAhyGDJ3l0DGIXhotsHPR-H0_7a__kpJJDpCatPN8AYrfxjkKKanDAwTG_m4MObhVjq0aQRLi09rO7CQ9fZ6sKn50JCrVERKW2DgGSn-Q/s320/IMG_20160601_082832822.jpg" width="179" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">8 lbs 4 oz!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After an hour or so, they came
back up and asked if I wanted a shower.
I was covered in sweat, blood, meconium, vernix, amniotic fluids, and
who knows what all other bodily fluids, so I took full use of the opportunity to
get cleaned up. The midwives checked me
and Laurel over, tucked us into bed, and after having determined that all was
well, left around 9:00 AM. Chad and I
were free to cuddle with our new little lady for the rest of the day! Though we were absolutely wracked with
exhaustion and we had challenging days and nights ahead of us, we were so
thrilled both by how our story unfolded but of course especially by the
addition of our new little girl.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb6XohxC1g7xS0yq2ioZm2ZO6wisljbMSwLmOFky2imeuAKDQ90oJxQqUrNLBJCJCRyAQBoFRdt8vz9NoAXd6Z4sMfWPdbEPE41sX1BVcW-vmu0rRg1QsOU2K2XyKT9fF3jklvBmtjGnQ/s1600/IMG_20160601_115436636.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb6XohxC1g7xS0yq2ioZm2ZO6wisljbMSwLmOFky2imeuAKDQ90oJxQqUrNLBJCJCRyAQBoFRdt8vz9NoAXd6Z4sMfWPdbEPE41sX1BVcW-vmu0rRg1QsOU2K2XyKT9fF3jklvBmtjGnQ/s320/IMG_20160601_115436636.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Exhausted Dad takes a moment to rest with his new daughter</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96aaYiC0t1zK_qw3iNTgn83FHtzMgINs3hIv7ZpuKbkBsHOgFw8c-43KhyphenhyphenbPswWoxFp6ihZmDWHdGdgIVJrmEoYEouFhwBWNxBwDxzFR-tm00_gITtLADloJkRuFYVpyV3uZkiFvrDfs/s1600/IMG_20160602_024426302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi96aaYiC0t1zK_qw3iNTgn83FHtzMgINs3hIv7ZpuKbkBsHOgFw8c-43KhyphenhyphenbPswWoxFp6ihZmDWHdGdgIVJrmEoYEouFhwBWNxBwDxzFR-tm00_gITtLADloJkRuFYVpyV3uZkiFvrDfs/s320/IMG_20160602_024426302.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Mamma baby snuggles</span></td></tr>
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Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-38761816060457369402016-05-16T15:18:00.000-04:002016-05-16T15:18:32.093-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 37!<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I sit here at my desk on a Monday
afternoon in the second story office of my townhouse bouncing on a
yoga/birthing ball at 37 weeks 3 days pregnant and it occurs to me that these next
few hours, days, weeks (who knows!?) are to be some of the most cherished, ephemeral,
perfect, wonderful days of my life. I sit
on the precipice, this fleeting moment in time is the cursor between two worlds,
all that was before and all that it will soon become. Today is the first day of my leave from work,
which will continue over the next 12 weeks, and though it’s medically mandated
(due to prior experience of pre-term labor) I’ve asked myself several
times: Am I selfish for taking this time
before birth to prepare mentally and physically? Is it really necessary? Should I be powering through? I’m well aware that it’s a luxury many don’t
have. But then I remember that my doubts
are shaped by living in one of the only countries in the world without mandated
maternity leave (with the exception of three states), in a culture that expects
women and families to do all and be all without ever skipping a beat or taking
their health into consideration. After
doing a little digging around on the internet, I found that women who take 1-3
weeks of rest before delivery are <b><i>4 times less likely</i></b> to have a
c-section or other complications, and that helped put my mind at ease. But more than that, the overwhelming sense of
peace I feel surrounding the upcoming days or weeks of preparation,<i> that</i> feeling is what truly informs me
that my decision is the right one. Especially
in juxtaposition to the complete and utter stress I’ve been feeling about doing
it all-heavily pregnant and working an incredibly stressful job with erratic
hours and a long commute (and training a new employee by myself), all while keeping
up with housework, meals, and parenting while Chad has been consistently working
50-60 hour weeks for the past several months.
This ability to slow down, contemplate, process, prepare, putter around
the house, nest, NAP, fold baby clothes, is so, so, so vital. And I know in my bones that I’m taking part in
a great time-honored piece of the human experience: preparing and waiting for
new life to arrive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">In other news and notes, I was
able to delve into the preparation for labor, delivery, and birth by a weekend
with my family AND a weekend long birth preparation class at Balanced Yoga
called Mamaste. Friday evening, they had
a family night and free showing of the movie Babies (which I highly
recommend!). Everett, Chad, and I went, sat on a blanket on
the floor, and ate dinner while watching the movie, surrounded by other expectant
parents as well as lots of toddlers. It
was a beautiful warm spring evening, with a warm breeze flowing in the windows
of the large yoga studio, filled with young and expectant life. The next day Chad drove Everett to my mom’s
house, where he had his very first overnight away from us!! I relaxed around the house in the morning,
and then went to the yoga studio for 3 hours of prenatal class, followed by an
hour of prenatal yoga instruction. I was
completely fine all day, but as I lay there at the end of class in shavasana, I
thought of my little boy wondering where Mommy and Daddy were at bedtime,
feeling lost and alone, and silent tears started to roll down my cheeks. Hopefully if the yoga instructor saw, she
thought that she had just provided me with a really moving yoga practice </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> Anyways, it turns out that
Everett had an awesome day, slept no worse than he might at home, and missed
his parents the appropriate amount – in short, we all survived! After Saturday’s yoga class, Chad and I went
out for a super fancy date night at Angry Bear Kitchen. We had super fancy cocktails (alcoholic and
non-), three appetizers (gratuitous!), delicious entrees, and dessert (or port,
if you’re a Chad). We joked in the
beginning about how we felt a little awkward, as though we were on a first
date, all over again. “How does this
whole dating thing work? We can barely
remember!” Somehow we stumbled on and
had a truly lovely two-hour dinner full of great food and conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sunday continued on the weekend
of awesome. Chad went to pick up Everett
from Grandma’s house and drove him to Nonna’s house, where the weekend of
grandmother fun for Everett would continue while we went to our second day of
labor preparation at Balanced Yoga. The
doulas teaching the birth preparation class went over the stages of labor and
we practiced some coping techniques. I
wouldn’t say that I necessarily learned a lot…I have had a kid before, have read
pretty extensively about labor and birth, and am part of a few mom’s groups
where we talk about such things, but it was great to be in a class with several
other families who were in the same page in life, sharing and talking about our
impending labors and births. It was especially
great to be able to share that time with Chad, so that we could get into the
groove together, and I really appreciated the opportunity to practice coping
techniques together. The best part of
the weekend seminar was the partners prenatal yoga taught by Abby Dorn. I have been going to prenatal and baby yoga classes
taught by Abby for a long time, and have always enjoyed her instruction, but
this class was especially great. Most of
the poses in the class were collaborative poses that employed team work and
communication between Chad and me. It
was an amazing experience during which we felt at different turns intimate, silly,
collaborative, and unsure. We felt many
of the emotions we might feel during our labor experience, and were able to
hone our collaboration and communication while at the same time focusing on
restoration and rejuvenation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finally, around 7:00 PM that
evening we got to eat pizza (obvious follow up to yoga) and see our little
boy! I was so happy to see Everett
again! Of course, he had had a BIG BIG
weekend and was an exhausted crank monster, so we only saw him for about an
hour before shipping him off to dream land, but it was enough just to hear him intermittently
sighing from the bedroom while Chad and I hung out in the media room, the next
room over. We ALL slept peacefully and
soundly through the night (with the exceptions of my several lumbering trips to
the bathroom), which we all sorely needed!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And that’s the end of the
beginning of Week 37 </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><span style="font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-79759664870311517392016-05-05T12:42:00.001-04:002016-05-05T12:44:38.098-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 35 Recap!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>How far along? </b>36 weeks tomorrow!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Total weight gain</b>:
35 pounds so far…let’s see if we can
keep this whole thing 40 or under…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Baby’s
size/development this week</b>: OMG, the
baby weighs like 6 pounds!!! Which, is
interesting, because Everett was born at 36 weeks 4 days and was 6 pounds 3
ounces J He followed the curve perfectly…but this blog
is about our upcoming baby J<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Maternity clothes</b>: All the clothes I never wore throughout most
of my pregnancy because they were too big are the ones I’m wearing now!! I am a freaking whale!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Miss anything</b>? Not being achy. Being able to easily move. Tying my own shoes easily. Running.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Food cravings</b>: I want sweets…but I have sworn them off
(except maybe once per week?) in the interest of my health and the baby’s
health. I haven’t had any desserts since
Sunday! (That’s 4 days!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Anything making
you queasy or sick</b>? Nothing in
particular. Earlier in the week
someone’s camp fire was making me queasy as well as the smell of pork BBQ
simmering on the stove on Tuesday….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Sleep</b>: I am enjoying every moment of sleep I can
get. The only interruptions are when I
get up in the night (several times) to pee, which is always a production. Since we have a floor bed, which is very low
to the ground, it is hard on my pelvic region, which is sore due to the relaxin
coursing through my body. I hoist myself
onto my hands and knees and back out of bed, wincing while I go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Best moment of the
week</b>: Last weekend Chad, Everett,
and I had a family weekend and it was really fun! We went to the farmer’s market, a duck parade
at the library, cooked a pork roast, got stuff ready for our midwive’s home
visit. It was a pretty stellar weekend
if I say so myself!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Nursery</b>: We finally got some boxes out of there and
now it looks much better!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Weddings rings on
or off</b>? Off…swelling seems to
fluctuate from day to day and I think I won’t bother with rings until the whole
thing is over…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Belly Button</b>: In, of course.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Movement</b>? Lots of movement! Baby was quiet over the weekend and I was
freaked out, but Monday morning it started up again. I love to feel those rolls and kicks, it’s
the best part of being pregnant! J<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Labor signs</b>? My body is definitely gearing up to head in
the direction of labor. I don’t know how
much longer I have left (hopefully several more weeks!!) but I have felt some
low abdominal cramps here and there. I
noticed them in the night after I had gotten up to pee and laid back down. I let myself drift back to sleep and I
haven’t really felt anything since then, but every twinge and niggling pain
brings trepidation right now. I know I
have to roll with the punches, but I really want this whole thing to play out
in the least stressful way possible. And
right now that means avoiding pre-term labor.
Next week at this time, I will start mentally preparing myself to the
fact that our new family could grow at any time and actually feel at peace with
that eventuality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Weird pregnancy
thing of the week</b>: I don’t
know. It’s all freaking weird at this
point. The fact that there is a 6 pound
human IN MY STOMACH is pretty freaking weird.
Are we completely sure that pregnancy is a natural phenomenon???<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Daddy is feeling</b>: Busy!
Of course now that he’s done with school, shit is hitting the fan at
work and he’s been working insane hours!
Tomorrow he has to get up at 4:30 AM and go be on the local news with
the Jeni’s Street Treats food truck. The
first interview is at like 6:15 AM and he has to be there and set up before
that…of course he’ll be at the shop until after 5:00 PM, because…he’s Chad and
he’s crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mommy is feeling</b>: Trepidatious. Expectant.
Excited. Nervous. Achy.
Preparatory. READY TO BE DONE
WITH WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!! With Chad working
50-60 hour weeks, shit blowing up at MY work every day, training a new
employee, taking care of a toddler, keeping the house in order, AND trying to
get things prepared for the birth of our new baby, I need some mental and
physical space to process everything that’s going on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Workouts this week</b>: Saturday, Sunday, Monday, we did the 2 mile
Walhalla Nature loop J I’ve taken Tuesday and Wednesday off due to
rain and to give my pelvis a chance to rest.
If I do too much, it gets really sore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Books I'm
Reading/Media I'm Ingesting</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ina May Gaskin’s Guide to Breastfeeding. It’s been a good and interesting refresher J<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Looking forward to</b>: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I found there is a Birth Without Fear mini
conference on June 26, so New Baby and I registered and are looking forward to
attending together! It’s only a 3-4 hour
event and it’s at a coffee shop right down the street from my house! I figure it’ll be a perfect official
inaugural outing for us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Farmer’s Marketing it up with my family on
Saturday morning J Maybe buying some fresh rhubarb!?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Having a family day on Sunday!!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-69545130735082078242016-04-29T14:33:00.006-04:002016-04-29T14:34:27.934-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 34 Recap!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>How far along? </b>35 weeks today, so I’ll do a recap of
week 34.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Total weight gain</b>: 33 pounds so far…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Baby’s
size/development this week</b>: OMG, the
little internal parasite is 5 ½ pounds!
That is HUGE.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Maternity clothes</b>: I bought 4 dresses and a tank top off the
Buy/Sell/Trade for $10 and 3 large maternity tees for $6. God, I love the BST. I’m so happy because everything is super
cute, in good condition, and super cheap.
Not to mention, several of the dresses will be GREAT for nursing in the
first couple months postpartum so I feel even better about the money spent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Miss anything</b>? At this very moment I am sitting at a desk
and I miss being able to sit so that the edge of the desk isn’t cutting into my
stomach. I miss being able to move like
a normal person. I’m so over
waddling. I miss my back not
hurting. I miss glasses of wine. I miss being able easily to run around after
my toddler.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Food cravings</b>: Just give me a nice brownie or piece of cake
with lots of ice cream and whipped cream on top and I’ll be fine. Still trying to eat like a relatively healthy
person though.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Anything making
you queasy or sick</b>? I have started
to feel slightly queasy lately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Sleep</b>: Sleep is awesome. I slept so great last night and it was truly
wonderful. I just wish I could do more
of it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Best moment of the
week</b>: There were a lot!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Everett’s birthday bash was pretty freaking awesome.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Friday was wonderful spending the day with
Chad and Everett.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Things have been so
busy lately, we REALLY enjoyed a day with no pressure, no stress, no plans, and
nothing in particular to do.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Saturday was another great day, with family visiting from
both in and out of town.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We went to the Conservatory,
walked around German Village, and had dinner at Black Creek Bistro.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Picking up my new maternity swag was pretty awesome as
well, and I shopped for new nursing bras which I DESPERATELY needed (still
waiting on those to show up though!)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We also got a new stroller which will be able to
accommodate Everett and the new little one, which we were super excited about!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I also had my 35 week appointment with the midwives,
which Chad was supposed to go to, but ended up having to work open to close. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">L</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I was sad about that!</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">But the appointment was good though – baby’s
head is DOWN, so that was a reason to celebrate!</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We discussed more of the birth in detail and
things started to feel more real, the excitement for the baby’s imminent
arrival is starting to ramp up.</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Nursery</b>: Eh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Weddings rings on
or off</b>? I was really swollen last
week and took my ring off. I feel LOTS
better this week and could probably put it back on, but I think I’ll just forgo
the stress and forget about it until after I give birth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Belly Button</b>: The belly button of steel is in and shall
forever remain so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Movement</b>? All the movement! Elbows and feet and hiccups! I also sometimes feel the baby is ramming its
head into my pubic bone too, which is particularly jolting.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Labor signs</b>? So yesterday, at 34 weeks 6 days, I felt the
first signs pointing to the fact that labor is just around the corner, how far
of course nobody yet knows. I took the
day off work because I woke up feeling super tired and lethargic. Except for after lunch when I dragged myself
out for a slow, leisurely two mile walk, I laid around in bed all day. Around 4:00, I was getting ready to go pick
Everett up in the upcoming hour when I started getting some pretty intense
Braxton Hicks contractions and my stomach felt super hard. The baby also did this thing where it lodged
its back firmly against the left side of my stomach and seemed to be pushing
out HARD. I couldn’t tell if it was a
contraction or just the baby moving and pushing. Then I started to feel some low abdominal
cramping, much akin to a period pain. I
was all alone, about to pick up Everett, and starting to *freak out.* I was just praying that it was a false alarm,
but the last time I went into labor (a month early), I started by feeling super
lethargic for a few days, and then when the contractions started, they came on
FAST. And so did the baby, so I was
super concerned that if these were indeed the beginnings of labor, that the
baby would arrive in just a few hours and I would be screwed. I started out to go pick up get Everett and
figured I would go get him and take things a step at a time. I tried to get a hold of Chad and couldn’t
(he was in a meeting), which made me freak out even more. So then I contacted my midwife and she told
me that it could be preparatory labor, which is very common at this point in a
second pregnancy, but to stop drinking pregnancy tea (which I was drinking at
that moment) and to lay down for the rest of the evening. Given my prior pre-term birth, she wanted to
keep a closer eye on me, but didn’t feel any urgent action was necessary. Chad wasn’t supposed to get home until 7:30
or so, but I got a hold of him around 5:30 and he came right home, made dinner,
and was on toddler duty for the night while I lay around upstairs watching the
Gilmore Girls. Once Chad got home and
nothing seemed to progress, I felt less stressed, at least in an immediate
sense, but I still feel on high guard and will probably remain so for the next
two weeks. I’m just praying I make it to 37 weeks. NO PRETERM BABY! NO ASSOCIATED POSSIBLE HEALTH CONCERNS! NO
HOSPITAL BIRTH! (Especially since I’m all paid up with my midwives!) …After 37
weeks, the rest is just icing, but I REALLY want to make it at least to 38
weeks, so that I can go to my prenatal yoga seminar and labor preparation with
Chad and have a few days at home to relax and get my head in the right space
before the arrival of our new one, which holy shit, could be arriving anytime
from the next few days to the next five weeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Weird pregnancy
thing of the week</b>: See above stupid
story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Daddy is feeling</b>: Super stressed. Between finals and papers and work being
super insane, things have been rough for him lately. I think we both deserve a break.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mommy is feeling</b>: Yesterday when I went on a nice leisurely
walk, I could feel myself turning inwards in a more reflective, contemplative,
slowed down world sort of way that I experienced after I gave birth the first
time. Work will be wrapping up soon and the
immediate matters of my body and family are starting to take precedent both
physically and mentally. I’m really
looking forward to this weekend where Chad, Everett, and I get a chance to
spend it just the three of us for one of
the last times evarrr before we become a family of four. Since shit is getting real and I’ve been
woken up to how quickly things are progressing, I have really, really been hit
with the strong desire to savor the last few days and weeks of our awesome little
threesome.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Workouts this week</b>: I’ve done the 2 mile Walhalla Loop at least
3-4 times in the past week or so, and it’s been good for my body and spirit,
but I’m wondering if I should stop the walks until I hit 37 weeks. Bah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Books I'm Reading/Media
I'm Ingesting</b>: I’m on my last season
of Gilmore Girls. I have no idea what I’ll
do after that! Actually, I might read
another Ina May Gaskin book I picked up on breastfeeding…it might be a good
idea to get my head back in the game again after a 6 month hiatus. I also need to delve back into the book I’ve
been reading (First Bite: How We Learn
to Eat) about food and developing healthy eating habits in our children without
going insane (not really sure if I believe this is actually possible).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Looking forward to</b>:
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first Clintonville Farmer’s Market of the year!!!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A full weekend off with Everett and Chad!!!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Preparing and organizing for the birth on Sunday!!!</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-51590521715101311252016-04-19T15:13:00.000-04:002016-04-19T15:13:07.236-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 33 Recap!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>How far along? </b>33 weeks on 4/15.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Total weight gain</b>: 30 pounds on 4/15…ugh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Baby’s
size/development this week</b>: I don’t
know. This thing is freaking huge, get
it out of me!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Maternity clothes</b>: I’m getting too fat for some of my maternity
clothes. Go figure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Miss anything</b>? Not being huge. Not being slow. Not being swollen. Not having an achy pelvis. Not having a sore back. Being able to roll over without pain when I’m
sleeping. Being able to sleep on my
stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Food cravings</b>: I just want to mindlessly eat, which I’ve
been doing too much of, which has been making me gain more weight, which is
probably contributing to my being swollen and unhappy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Anything making
you queasy or sick</b>? Nope!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sleep</b>: Sleep is still going pretty well! I have been enjoying sleep a LOT.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Best moment of the
week</b>: I had a great weekend with
Chad and Everett! We got LOTS done in
preparation for the baby. We cleaned up
all the stuff from our new mattresses that we just got, Chad put screens in all
the windows, we cleaned off our back patio, did a little gardening, went
through all the baby clothes. We also
had lunch with a friend and talked running, which was fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Nursery</b>: We started making room for the baby’s
clothes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Weddings rings on
or off</b>? OFF, oh god! My fingers are so swollen! And last night when I got home, I realized
that I no longer have ankles…I am so depressed!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Belly Button</b>: It’s somehow still in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Movement</b>? The tiny human is just bopping around in
there, keeping me engaged with it. One
of the few PERKS of late pregnancy – it’s really fun to feel the little human
you created moving around and swishing all around your stomach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Labor signs</b>? No…and I know I’m not supposed to wish for
them yet (and I don’t, not *really*), but I’m starting to be ready to get this
thing out of me.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Weird pregnancy
thing of the week</b>: I had a nose
bleed when I woke up the other day. I
have no ankles. That’s just great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Daddy is feeling</b>: Busy with work! Busy with finals at school!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mommy is feeling</b>: Blah.
Like I can’t wait for this to be over.
Large. Overwhelmed. Tired.
Fat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Workouts this week</b>: I went on a couple walks and am planning on
upping my walking game in the next couple weeks. It makes me swollen while I’m doing it, but it’s
supposed to be good for you…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Books I'm
Reading/Media I'm Ingesting</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mostly just the Gilmore Girls because I am too lazy and
tired to care.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Looking forward to</b>: OMG MY SON IS TURNING TWO ON FRIDAY
(4/22)!!!!! I’m super excited about
spending the day with Chad and Everett on Friday! Then I’m looking forward to a visit from
relatives and grandparents on Saturday.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-9361066282346416612016-04-06T16:18:00.001-04:002016-04-06T16:18:13.358-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 31 Recap!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>How far along? </b>I was 31 week on Friday (4/01) and am
currently finishing my 31<sup>st</sup> week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Total weight gain</b>: 28 pounds so far. I started out at 133 and currently weigh
161. Hoping to gain no more than 9 more
pounds….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Baby’s
size/development this week</b>: OMG, the
baby is almost FOUR POUNDS and over 19 inches long!!! Oh yeah, at our last appointment at 31 weeks,
the baby was apparently still in breech position. Fewer than 5% of babies assume the bottom
down position by full term, so I’m hoping this thing flips in the upcoming
weeks! The midwives were not concerned…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Maternity clothes</b>: I’ve started noticing that some of my “maternity”
shirts are starting to get small or are having a difficult time covering my
whole stomach. Yikes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Miss anything</b>? My pelvis not being sore. Not having to make sure my stomach is too big
to squeeze through certain Running.
Training.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Food cravings</b>: Nothing in particular. Maybe a hamburger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Anything making
you queasy or sick</b>? Nope!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Sleep</b>: No one in our house is currently sick! We are sleeping like champs for the most
part! Everett has been fighting bed
time, but once we jump that hurtle in the evening things go pretty well. Everett did wake up inconsolable in the night
two nights ago and Chad applied what he calls “Cheese Therapy”. I did wake up to find a partially eaten piece
of cheese in the bed the next morning….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Best moment of the
week</b>: Chasing my husband around
Cuyahoga Valley for his 50K and taking lots of pictures and videos!! Also having an easy week (Chad is not closing
or working insane hours this week) after the insanity of last week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Nursery</b>: No nursery.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Weddings rings on
or off</b>? On and able to be taken on
and off at any time except for the first hour after I wake up in the mornings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Belly Button</b>: Still hanging “in” there!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Movement</b>? Every day!
It was doing some crazy stuff in there earlier today and I could see it
moving from the outside. Sometimes I’m
sure that it’s trying to make its exit by kicking its way out of my groin. So pleasant to be kicked in the groin from
the inside….<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Labor signs</b>? Lots of Braxton Hicks in the evenings when I
overdo it, but no labor signs as of yet…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Weird pregnancy
thing of the week</b>: The fact that
there are only 8 weeks (at the most) left in the pregnancy is pretty weird.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Daddy is feeling</b>: Busy with finals coming up!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Mommy is feeling</b>: Ready to get this show on the road!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Workouts this week</b>: I feel that chasing Chad around a national
park on Saturday was a workout unto itself!!
We walked around the block with Everett yesterday after dinner, but I’m
not sure that counts as a work out…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Books I'm
Reading/Media I'm Ingesting</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->First Bite:
How We Learn to Eat, by Bea Wilson <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l1 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The Gilmore Girls<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Looking forward to</b>: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->The weekend!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Chad not having some insane run to do on
Saturday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Prenatal yoga on Saturday.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Maybe some baby cows on Sunday??</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-57324828312601879012016-04-06T16:15:00.002-04:002016-04-06T16:16:11.062-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 30 Recap!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>How far along?</b> I was officially 30 weeks on Friday
(3/25). I am officially ¾ of the way
through this pregnancy!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Total weight gain</b>: I currently weigh 160 (started off at
133)…I’ve gained 27 pounds so far and have 10 weeks left to go. I will almost undoubtedly gain more than the
25-35 pounds recommended, but hopefully not too much more. I’m currently at the weight I was when I gave
birth to Everett (albeit I did go into labor one month early)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Baby’s
size/development this week</b>: The internet is telling me that the baby weighs
2 ½ - 3 pounds and is 16 inches long.
Wow!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Maternity clothes</b>: It was 70 degrees on Sunday and I rocked my
maternity cut offs when Everett and I went to the park!! So excited for the opportunity to wear them
more over the next 10-ish weeks!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Miss anything</b>? Cuddling with my husband when we watch shows
in the evenings. Not having achy
ligaments. Not having a sluggish
digestive tract due to all the space being taken up by the baby. Being able to work out. Not feeling exhausted (wait – will that one
change!?)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Food cravings</b>: All of the food? My dream in this pregnancy, as in last, is
still to sit around and eat an entire box of berry Kix or Peanut Butter Bumpers
with milk….I should really do that at least once before giving birth…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Anything making
you queasy or sick</b>? No. Although I ate two huge pieces of carrot cake
on Saturday and I felt slightly sick after that, but that was more due to sheer
quantity of food and not particular pregnancy related. I still contend it was worth it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Sleep</b>: We have a toddler, so everything is different
than my updates from the last pregnancy!
I *THINK* Everett has been getting in his two year molars in the past
week (and will continue to be for the next couple weeks?) I can’t say for sure, but he has been
difficult to put down to sleep in the evenings, and has often woken up
screaming in the middle of the night, but other than that, we’re all sleeping
through the night for the most part.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Best moment of the
week</b>: A lunch date Franklin Park
Conservatory with Everett on Friday followed by a visit to see Daddy at work
was pretty fun. So was a family walk in
the park on Sunday afternoon! Also,
Easter dinner with Chad’s family on Saturday was pretty awesome: ribs, scalloped potatoes, mac and cheese, and
a fresh asparagus/roasted tomato salad.
Followed by that carrot cake J<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Nursery</b>: We don’t have a nursery, we have a play room,
and it won’t be updated very much. We do
need to purchase a bigger bed soon though…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Weddings rings on
or off</b>? On, although I have
swelling in the mornings, so I can’t get them off for a couple hours…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Belly Button</b>: My belly button is a champion, so it’s in. Or maybe it’s kind of been stretched into
non-existence…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Movement</b>? Movement every day! Shudders, kicks, and rolls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Labor signs</b>? No labor signs yet (thank goodness!) I have lots of uncomfortable Braxton Hicks
each evening, which I really don’t like at all, but aside from that, I’m
hanging in there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Weird pregnancy
thing of the week</b>: Nothing weird, I
guess. Everett and I went to the doctor
on Friday to get a Rogham shot since I’m a negative blood type. He was very well behaved and reserved the
WHOLE doctor’s visit. I was very proud J<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">OH – one weird thing is how sometimes I feel SUPER
pregnant. Just walking to the bathroom
at work or rolling over in bed, my ligaments ache, my stomach feels huge, and I
feel that I just cannot be pregnant another moment. But then there were moments last week when I
was staying home with Everett, and I had him hoisted on my hip, laundry basket
in hand, running up and down stairs, when I would completely forget I was
pregnant. In those moments, I would
think “Wow! What a bad ass!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Daddy is feeling</b>: “<span style="background: white;">Daddy is very excited for the new baby to arrive,
but can't believe the first eight months of the pregnancy have gone by so
quick! Daddy is excited to greet the new baby also so mommy can be done being
pregnant, because being pregnant is hard work! Not too much longer!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Mommy is feeling</b>: Stressed, overwhelmed, and cranky. Between me working full time, Chad working
full time plus school which is coming up on finals, me being super pregnant and
fairly uncomfortable, and having to take on most of the work at home, not to
mention a cranky toddler due to teething, I am way super stressed. I can’t wait until finals are over so that I
can feel like we have a regular work load to balance. I’m also fighting this feeling of wanting the
next couple months to go slowly so that I can savor our last little bit as a
family of three, but also wanting time to hurry up so we can stop being in
limbo and officially start “the next phase.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Workouts this week</b>: Ha. I
have no idea. We have been on a couple
walks. I did do pre-natal yoga on
Saturday! Between ligament pain, an
extended chest cold, teething, and general exhaustion, I haven’t been able to
muster the energy to work out in the mornings.
I was kicking so much ass at this point in my last pregnancy, but I try
to tell myself that hanging out with a toddler *HAS* to be a work out unto
itself…right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Books I'm
Reading/Media I'm Ingesting</b>:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo2; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]--><b>First
Bite: How We Learn to Eat, by Bea Wilson</b>. So far, I am really enjoying this book,
which delves into how we as humans pass on the knowledge of eating from one
generation to another, and how things have changed so drastically in the past
hundred years or so in this new era of plenty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->I’ve also been watching the Gilmore Girls
intermittently and Chad and I have been watching House of Cards, but we’re
almost done with the most recent season.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->There are several podcasts I’d like to catch up
on, but I have been reading in any quiet moments I have, and the rest of my
time is taken up by crazy toddler!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Looking forward to</b>: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->We have an appointment with our midwives on
Wednesday, and we are supposed to go over our “Ideal Birth Plan,” which Chad
and I have both written one from our own perspectives. Chad’s is a story and mine is like a 5 paragraph
essay with a lot of reflection on the previous labor and birth. I like how Michael Jordan and knitting
somehow make their way into Chad’s birth plan J I think we both included marathon metaphors,
of course J<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">·<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->Chad’s 50K (!!) is on Saturday and we’ll be
staying at my parent’s near Akron this weekend, so that should be a fun trip!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-41751783690084489002014-07-10T16:02:00.000-04:002014-07-10T16:02:15.935-04:00Life as New Parents: Week 11<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett turned 11 weeks old Tuesday and boy have we progressed since the early days!!! Yesterday Chad and I packed up several outfits that no longer fit him - I can't believe it, but our little Everett Alan is growing like a weed and is way bigger than his original size!! Most of what's on my mind these days is going back to work...I have two weeks from today and I intend to make the most of it!</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mommy's Physical /Mental State</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For about a month now, I have felt like my old self again. It took about two months, but I now feel I can do all the things I used to do prior to pregnancy with nearly the same energy levels. It feels good to be back!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am back to running again and I'm still pretty slow, but at least I'm out there!! I ran my first race on July 4 - a 5K and it was a mix between humbling and exhilarating. I was out there, running somewhere on the edge of my ability for 3 miles, and ended up running an average of 10:03 minute per mile pace, what once would have been a training pace. What really kept me back was my lung capacity. My body felt fine and if it hadn't been for lack of oxygen, I could have gone a lot faster! Guess I'll have to build my lung power back up.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgje_TL5t_7Ha8kxjnfXAV_K4FV7BNuY2aGMc_dVRYax7DT4fliVOWZ9wYVZ3UqzZaXE5BJo9VNJnv5TER_y6rxd1Y_OYAMhgXGPETE7aJGZpaYPCjyuY7IMKs6YwyK5SiThFIJshZzW-0/s1600/raceday+-+corey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgje_TL5t_7Ha8kxjnfXAV_K4FV7BNuY2aGMc_dVRYax7DT4fliVOWZ9wYVZ3UqzZaXE5BJo9VNJnv5TER_y6rxd1Y_OYAMhgXGPETE7aJGZpaYPCjyuY7IMKs6YwyK5SiThFIJshZzW-0/s1600/raceday+-+corey.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First race in nine months!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm mentally back to my old self as well - no more tender days with weepiness sprinkled in. Most days we're just trucking along! In the first month or so, I didn't want to watch TV, listen to the radio, or read books that weren't related to our baby. I really didn't care what was going on with the world outside our little cocoon, and we enveloped ourselves in quiet days and nights. Gradually though, my interest has come back and I'm reading books about running, listening to Fresh Air, or having conversations about the Israeli-Palestine conflict, etc. everyday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The only remaining physical symptoms is tenderness of where the stitches were - something I don't think about 90% of the time, but am still looking forward to a day where that too is completely healed...although I know it will take time.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett's Development</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett seemed to go through a growth spurt in the last week! He was sleeping and eating a lot for 2-3 days. He's probably close to 11 pounds by now. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had our 2 month check up on my birthday - June 27. He weighed 9 pounds 15 ounces (damn, I knew we shoulda fed him in the waiting room, ha!) He's on the low end of weight for his age but the doctor was not concerned because she said he's gaining weight at an appropriate rate, especially considering that he started out small as well. She said that Everett would be tall and skinny. That's right! That's my boy! He also got two vaccines while he was at the doctor's office - I held his little hands while they gave him the shots and both Mommy and Everett cried.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett is definitely filling out - he has a double chin and fat on his arms, legs, and cheeks. All his diapers fit now - we don't usually have leakages anymore. Yay!! Before his little legs were so skinny that even the smallest diapers didn't fit snugly around him and they would frequently leak.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4bj_-BrTL19re0_6XYqrqFF0Vl455TqWHFTe4-sENcl9AVHyuPDSRXTYztra0yNDj7RirugbyGwyhPqUD3ny8ZXa-4T6cehlG3PyAnRW29haR1jtL8fvQJRM9wCTYwW_ag0qIiRne5g/s1600/smiles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4bj_-BrTL19re0_6XYqrqFF0Vl455TqWHFTe4-sENcl9AVHyuPDSRXTYztra0yNDj7RirugbyGwyhPqUD3ny8ZXa-4T6cehlG3PyAnRW29haR1jtL8fvQJRM9wCTYwW_ag0qIiRne5g/s1600/smiles.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fat rolls!!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He's also building a personality - He spends quiet alert periods lasting anywhere from 10-30 minutes smiling and laughing at us. Bouncing on our knees and kisses always bring reliable smiles!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Especially with the recent hot days and muggy nights, we've been throwing Everett into the shower with us before bedtime. Every time without fail, he quietly enjoys shower time, blinking at us when water inadvertently sprays his face.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLwc5qvp2YluBpQ1bmAmpBGUavDvpXMEw3oZEbkei66Taf9sfU9GwTwWJzlti3d8v5BWEGwVxOgaES3eosDP8P3RSDpR3DV7mI3G2tp2mFFzCAJcHSETnbKUxfDs9wpRp3gQ-2iTBRzs/s1600/post+bath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihLwc5qvp2YluBpQ1bmAmpBGUavDvpXMEw3oZEbkei66Taf9sfU9GwTwWJzlti3d8v5BWEGwVxOgaES3eosDP8P3RSDpR3DV7mI3G2tp2mFFzCAJcHSETnbKUxfDs9wpRp3gQ-2iTBRzs/s1600/post+bath.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett always enjoys shower time together with Mommy or Daddy</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The past week or so we have been working on standing while supporting Everett under his arms and he does great! Lots of strength in his legs as well as his neck! </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He has bared weight for up to 30-40 seconds. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We can always tell when he's tired because he'll stop bearing weight on his legs and will let his neck loll. He may have been born a month early (according to the doctors), but our baby was ready to come out and is on track with his development.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTCJePCBVmC-Fz0cGilZELPohKu2IQc-a5PifIvghUIeWAjsabxFy35abV44vyg7ANGaxNkTpxTxZtwNhGmhc0u2CB8AtaygioQ6TcyEu-hGpPb8pB7aoy2_UuXjlLt80X1aIeQBVyn0/s1600/sitting+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTCJePCBVmC-Fz0cGilZELPohKu2IQc-a5PifIvghUIeWAjsabxFy35abV44vyg7ANGaxNkTpxTxZtwNhGmhc0u2CB8AtaygioQ6TcyEu-hGpPb8pB7aoy2_UuXjlLt80X1aIeQBVyn0/s1600/sitting+up.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Look at that neck control!!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett is usually a pretty happy baby. He doesn't cry too much and when he does we usually can figure out what he wants - we have a mental check list of about 20 or so things that MAY work. What worked yesterday will almost definitely not work today, but since the list is only about 20 options long, we always figure out what he wants relatively quickly. One frustrating thing that sometimes happens is when he's in a cranky mood or has gotten himself worked up, he gets into a frustration loop. He's hungry, and he wants to eat, but he's so upset that he can't realize he has the tools right in front of him. On the plus side, these frustration loops are usually broken fairly quickly, usually within 10-30 minutes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Our Typical Day</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>3:00 AM</i> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett wakes up for a nighttime feeding. Daddy usually changes his diaper at this time. (1:30 or 4:00 AM feedings optional)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>5:00 AM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett wakes up for a morning feeding OR for the day. When he's really alert and ready for the day, which is a couple times a week, one of us will get up with him. Usually, he falls back asleep just as one of us has accomplished enough that we're up for the day. If we stay in bed during this time, nursings are frequent/constant until we all get up for the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>8:00 AM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chad and I eat, straighten up, or get ready for the day while Everett sleeps.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>9:00 AM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett is usually awake from his 6:00/7:00 AM nap. During this time we nurse, sit on the porch, change diapers, laugh at each other, and Everett gets a lot of kisses to make him smile.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>11:30 AM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett gets fussy and cranky, at which point I know it's time for his morning nap. In the sling he goes, around the block we walk, and within 10 minutes he's asleep! I go back home and do laundry, do some prep work for dinner, do the dishes, and eat lunch and listen to Fresh Air.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>1:00 PM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett wakes up from his nap and we nurse. Then we have some afternoon play time, he lazes about on my lap while nursing, or we sit on the porch and check out the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>3:30 PM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett needs another nap so I throw him in the sling and around the block we go again. Often I will go on a long walk while he naps. Yesterday I walked the 3 mile round trip to the Wednesday farmer's market while he slept.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>6:00 PM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Daddy comes home and we make dinner, eat dinner, sit on the porch, water plants, and chat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>8:00 PM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We are getting tired by this point, so we watch an episode of Parenthood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>9:00 PM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes Everett gets fussy during this time so we take another walk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>10:00 PM</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We start getting ready for bed. Depending on Everett's mood we go to bed anywhere between 10:30 and 11:30.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Going Back to Work / Pumping / Bottle Feeding Breast Milk</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I go back to work 2 weeks from today and I'm not particularly looking forward to it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are aspects of work I'm looking forward to - problem solving and interaction on a professional level. I'm pretty good at my job and enjoy it for the most part - I met with my bosses two weeks ago for my annual review which went really well. We chatted for 30 minutes or so about the department and I realized afterward that I enjoyed the meeting and that I had relevant ideas and thoughts to add to the conversation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On the other hand, I've spent a lot of time in the last few weeks thinking about women's, mothers', and families' place in our society. While I started learning how to pump milk for Everett when I'm not around, I listened to the coverage of the White House's Summit on Working Families, and I thought about how I personally fit into this picture. I have a love-hate relationship with the breast pump I will be tied to for the remainder of Everett's breastfeeding years. I am coming to realize how little our society sets resources aside to support family values - it is the responsibility of individuals to figure out how to make their families fit into society without disrupting it. Americans have come so far in the past several decades, with women entering the workplace in ways they never could have before. The problem though, is that society hasn't struck a balance between workplace productivity and family life. Chad and I are lucky that we've been able to share in taking time off for the first 5 months of Everett's life, but we've had to make that choice at a huge financial hit to do so. For the most part, we're living on one paycheck and savings to make ends meet while we care for Everett in his infancy. I wouldn't have it any other way, but the fact that the United States has zero support for young families is a travesty. It's hard to believe United States is the ONLY first-world country without mandatory maternity leave. Where is the balance between the rights of women as child bearers and care takers of young their infant babies and their role in society as strong, competent, and capable of careers and decision making?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Every time I pump milk to build a freezer supply for Everett, I think about how I shouldn't be worrying about how to feed my infant when I'm not around. I shouldn't be worrying about whether Everett will easily take a bottle or not (he took his first bottle like a champ). I shouldn't be worrying about whether or not my milk supply will weather pumping 5 days a week, or if it will take a hit and I'll have to think about other ways to supplement. Most of the time, the natural and healthiest way to feed babies is through breast milk. Babies and their mammas were not meant to be separated in the early days of life. I am having to make decisions that are not in the best interest of my baby, because my society does not have social structures in place for families to care for and support young families. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If I had the option to stay home with Everett for a longer period of time I would, but alas what my family needs from me is to participate financially in supporting the household. In the end, since I do have to go back to work now, I'm glad I have the technology to provide my own milk for Everett. While the best case scenario would be for me to care for my son, the second best scenario is for other loving people to care for my son and provide him with pumped breast milk.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't have the time to do the research and write eloquently and thoroughly on the topics I've mentioned above - I know I've only just glanced the surface and have raised more questions and broad concepts than answers. I don't even know emotionally how that first day/week/month back to work will be...I'll focus on that when I get there.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I AM looking forward for Chad and Everett to have two months together - I am so excited that Chad has the opportunity to get two months of quality time caring for his son full time, which will strengthen the father-son bond from the very beginning. And I will be SO MUCH calmer going back to work knowing that Daddy is at home with Everett instead of leaving him in the hands of an outsider. It will also be good to stave off for another two months wondering how in the world we are going to keep our house clean!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Weekly CSA</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We signed up to be a part of Wayward Seed's CSA for the second year in a row (three years ago we had a Rock Dove Farm CSA - it was through them that we got into apple cider pressing!) We really enjoy our CSA, although some weeks it really feels as though the pressure is on. As in, "When the hell are we going to have time to eat the kale, chard, frisee AND two heads of lettuce in one week!?!?" So far we've done a pretty good job though!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Week One</i>: Baby Hakurei Turnips, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Red Romaine Lettuce, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Napa Cabbage, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Garlic Scapes, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bunched Arugula, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shunkyo Radish, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sugar Snap Peas, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oregano, strawberries</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Week Two</i>: </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lettuce, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frisee, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hakurei Turnips, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shunkyo Radish, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Garlic Scapes, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Arugula, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sugar Snap Peas, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oregano, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Napa Cabbage</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Week Three</i>: </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Summer Squash, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Beets, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Garlic, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Purple Scallions, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Green Cabbage, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Skyphos butter head lettuce, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lacinato kale, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fennel, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cucumber, black raspberries</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6p5kCVA6O0VDx9IrN4NbAdlsmgLLXVrlmFGik2C0OO9BiQH5axpOEE2BvVVuYxAZMq1sfGBlGch3BFBveMc21l9b-GwgJ_5Mw_WNg4UYXNFvY9eA9WEVYQjaUb3M_UDm1ToZsRAFKFo/s1600/CSA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx6p5kCVA6O0VDx9IrN4NbAdlsmgLLXVrlmFGik2C0OO9BiQH5axpOEE2BvVVuYxAZMq1sfGBlGch3BFBveMc21l9b-GwgJ_5Mw_WNg4UYXNFvY9eA9WEVYQjaUb3M_UDm1ToZsRAFKFo/s1600/CSA.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What We've Been Up To</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3a-7bRFXjZCPK4kxgNOLcNmw7_VOowzpl3gAlOgw1XapwauCV8FzQX_-YBng0HmOF0CGxVE2lupOrHcQd-iu_8MjCXmxlVw4aO28EnkLKko-psgevmXY6qGNhat3EfHZZEI-hib62X9o/s1600/at+grandmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3a-7bRFXjZCPK4kxgNOLcNmw7_VOowzpl3gAlOgw1XapwauCV8FzQX_-YBng0HmOF0CGxVE2lupOrHcQd-iu_8MjCXmxlVw4aO28EnkLKko-psgevmXY6qGNhat3EfHZZEI-hib62X9o/s1600/at+grandmas.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">July 16: Visiting grandma's to celebrate all the June birthdays <br />(Everett, that was supposed to be you too, buddy!!)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQqqKRLEag3DtPqZuFD9BskS4UOT9oYySFgHCc-oaYKH0YVs15_LE4YGo9v-zs4zFXEtiwmeqGeH6xEjxuQJesGSVlQjYdXOCNVG7629jHUTS8H-Ig4y8HHHMIeZLWaBagjtnlE0sApM/s1600/farm+tour.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQqqKRLEag3DtPqZuFD9BskS4UOT9oYySFgHCc-oaYKH0YVs15_LE4YGo9v-zs4zFXEtiwmeqGeH6xEjxuQJesGSVlQjYdXOCNVG7629jHUTS8H-Ig4y8HHHMIeZLWaBagjtnlE0sApM/s1600/farm+tour.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June 22: Everett and I went on a farm tour of urban homesteader/blogger Harmonious Homestead</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-1ewKAPc3KYOeZ5mKsZ1cV8r-6Z7Wa5Ahd2xcdpbn2GvxVL5A8QNsv8FIlvOzToVEJHCR3-uwI440mhcByLdAuWuUJwQTGX25ji4ZKAZzqrVOgNj3a3h-WAn1yOTRKKIVHAxiSspa-w/s1600/comfest.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu-1ewKAPc3KYOeZ5mKsZ1cV8r-6Z7Wa5Ahd2xcdpbn2GvxVL5A8QNsv8FIlvOzToVEJHCR3-uwI440mhcByLdAuWuUJwQTGX25ji4ZKAZzqrVOgNj3a3h-WAn1yOTRKKIVHAxiSspa-w/s1600/comfest.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">June 27: Mommy's birthday celebrated at Comfest!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgIgc2MuE4eW7d3x93dtYA6ouxUnLOtwqLS3guvfJmLzNIqhBbOyuNrbqQghJ5j321fue7pQFnPoVrVRsUfDkimuOwzGTBk4kYxl0BgbGrAgp9mQyUTKGweTbGD-3t3VlbSrCqf2zPQ4/s1600/race+day.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdgIgc2MuE4eW7d3x93dtYA6ouxUnLOtwqLS3guvfJmLzNIqhBbOyuNrbqQghJ5j321fue7pQFnPoVrVRsUfDkimuOwzGTBk4kYxl0BgbGrAgp9mQyUTKGweTbGD-3t3VlbSrCqf2zPQ4/s1600/race+day.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">July 04: Corey's first race since November 17, 2013</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglaloy5wcrCdhc0VqF-DxNJIXc5wyg_3wIxJXIpTLSMiJkvbLJ5TeUz184UrLDWwrf6s0UZWLq87utwmjmIf-FebeRPCd98J7xc4YxjxTsFyCzeZ3ZJU14abofx-k1tD5K4yc-q8em7JU/s1600/hiking.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglaloy5wcrCdhc0VqF-DxNJIXc5wyg_3wIxJXIpTLSMiJkvbLJ5TeUz184UrLDWwrf6s0UZWLq87utwmjmIf-FebeRPCd98J7xc4YxjxTsFyCzeZ3ZJU14abofx-k1tD5K4yc-q8em7JU/s1600/hiking.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">July 06: Hiking in Hocking County!</span></td></tr>
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<br />Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-36365581173202640582014-06-09T16:39:00.001-04:002014-06-11T14:29:30.285-04:00Life as New Parents: Week 7<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Let’s see…Everett will be seven weeks on June 10 and things
are going well!! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLCy37hhGuJF-BVoK-cYai_BcwoOfWw9JsqiF3GRYVeM0GqjpLfftyPpSF7q97gZcHdxiW2uGnAR6vjZyKfCG2R5Dlno6XGYuOU7olZpN7bw1H-5tNOgVmqX-IzhB7zM-8rvFE867VkE/s1600/IMG_20140609_135131_366.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitLCy37hhGuJF-BVoK-cYai_BcwoOfWw9JsqiF3GRYVeM0GqjpLfftyPpSF7q97gZcHdxiW2uGnAR6vjZyKfCG2R5Dlno6XGYuOU7olZpN7bw1H-5tNOgVmqX-IzhB7zM-8rvFE867VkE/s1600/IMG_20140609_135131_366.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Personal
Accomplishments of the Week</b>:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">On Friday I ran for the first time in almost 5
months.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">I went one mile at a 15 minute
pace (before pregnancy a nice comfortable pace would have been a ten minute
mile).</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">It went so well I did two miles
on Sunday morning (at a 12 and a half minute mile pace) while Chad and Everett
happily slept at home.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrCE1VhawF1FKS26Igkhf1fb_cEDPigSAKE0n0ZGYqr7-f8bKkZIdZSWa0pMgf-Vkljy1FU-SO02mNjCsItC6nsRDgrQanXjJWeMXgyBd_E0uNr0zvNkcl0XCFYudRnb0cnVF-CcOVLI4/s1600/IMG_20140605_104556_491.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrCE1VhawF1FKS26Igkhf1fb_cEDPigSAKE0n0ZGYqr7-f8bKkZIdZSWa0pMgf-Vkljy1FU-SO02mNjCsItC6nsRDgrQanXjJWeMXgyBd_E0uNr0zvNkcl0XCFYudRnb0cnVF-CcOVLI4/s1600/IMG_20140605_104556_491.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My first run since January!!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">On Saturday I drove for the first time since
giving birth.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Everett and I went
somewhere without Chad!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">We went to have
dinner at a friend’s house and it gave us so much confidence that we surprised
Chad at work the next day by visiting him.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">I’m within 10 pounds of my pre-pregnancy
weight!!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">I’m not actively looking to
lose weight at all, (Hello Mister Bowl of Ice Cream after Dinner!) but I’ll
take it!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">I eat 3 good meals a day plus
dessert in the evenings and usually get in some sort of walk (or more recently
run) in.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">I make sure not to do a lot of
mindless snacking during the day, but even if I did have the urge to do so, it
would probably be more of a pain in the ass to get up and get it!!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpDjG-itog-fU5kYMdYWivo0Xl0_PgIGN-wtzkIcZKzOKEY2Qv9WY8SRF_EgJ-ZU0iYeNCjT92x6BNEalIDJSEunMl0oC26cZJOYwedi80rsABgeifhztLAo5NCZDaUQYFePrdC9ye8wQ/s1600/IMG_20140608_133403_447.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpDjG-itog-fU5kYMdYWivo0Xl0_PgIGN-wtzkIcZKzOKEY2Qv9WY8SRF_EgJ-ZU0iYeNCjT92x6BNEalIDJSEunMl0oC26cZJOYwedi80rsABgeifhztLAo5NCZDaUQYFePrdC9ye8wQ/s1600/IMG_20140608_133403_447.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting Daddy at Work!</td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Challenges:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Honestly, the further out we get, and the more we get to know
our little boy, the more comfortable we become with him, his personality, and the
decisions we are making. I’ve been
reading a blog/listening to a podcast called the Longest Shortest Time, which
is about some of the (more extreme) challenges of early parenthood. A lot of the mothers on the podcast had
challenging starts to life with their baby and ended up having to cope with
feelings of failure in a particular area of parenting (birth experience, breast
feeding, etc.). The podcast is
interesting, but I can’t relate to a lot of it, because while life now is extremely
challenging at times, the three of us are doing pretty damned good! Below are some of the challenges we have been
working to become more comfortable with:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Giving Up Control</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the past several weeks, I have found that I am generally happier when I stop having expectations. Much in the way that the labor experience was about giving up control of my body and working with it instead of against it, so too is that a good approach for parenting in the early days. I have given up expectations for how long it will take to complete a specific task, about getting all my sleep at night time in one uninterrupted stretch, or whether Everett “should” be asleep (not wide awake) at 4:30 in the morning. A week ago I was freaking out when we couldn’t get him to relax and go to sleep at 4:00 AM. But in this morning’s predawn light, when Everett looked at me with his slate colored eyes open as wide as could be, I got up, put him in a sling, and cleaned the kitchen. The walking around put him back to sleep and around 6:30 we crawled back into bed and went right back to sleep. Of course this doesn’t always work. Sometimes (okay a lot of times) the only thing that will make him happy is nursing, and he will scream if we try to put him in a sling. At those times, Chad and I forget about that walk we had planned to take, I put my feet up, and we nurse away. Everything takes forever and a lot of times Everett has different ideas than me about what we should be doing and I have to be okay with that – and when I am, everybody’s stress levels go down. On the positive side, Everett may have times of fussiness, but he very rarely screams and cries for prolonged periods. For me at least, with this particular baby, I know what he wants and how to quiet him. It may not always be “convenient” for me, but it beats the hell out of hours of screaming without knowing what he wants.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;"><i>Being Publicly Confident with Our Parenting
Choices</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pretty much every person that you run into out in the world has ideas about what you should be doing. When we venture out in the world and come in contact with other humans, I have struggled with how other people might be perceiving our parenting choices. Everett, Chad, and I will spend days at home, feeling perfectly confident with our days and how we occupy them. Then we go out into the world and other people SEE us parenting. I wonder if they’re thinking “You feed him too much,” or “You should put him down more,” or whatever. Whatever other people’s opinions are though, my thoughts most likely aren’t going to change. I’m pretty confident with what we’re doing when it’s just the three of us, so I’m determined to become more comfortable with our choices out in the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Breastfeeding</i></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett likes to breastfeed. A lot. It makes him happy and keeps him from screaming his brains out. Right now, I’m perfectly happy to do whatever it is that will keep him from crying, and in fact think it’s the right thing to do (and we’re sailing right along with it too – no issues here. I have fed him going up and down stairs, unloading the dishwasher, on the porch, sitting up, laying down, etc. etc.) I guess you could file this under the “Being Publicly Confident with Our Parenting Choices” category, because I don’t know if people think I feed him too much (constantly) or if they care that my breasts are always hanging out, but I’ve come to the conclusion that I don’t care. It seems to make Everett pretty happy, and a happy Everett is a happy Mommy!! <br /><br />This isn’t a challenge per se, but just something funny about our new life breastfeeding. Last night Chad and I were watching Orange is the New Black (watch it!) and there was a scene where Jason Bateman’s character goes to visit his friend who is a new mother. When she opens the door, she’s holding the baby in one arm and her shirt is all pulled down so her nipple is showing, so he says “Um, your nipple is showing,” and the new mom friend replied “Oh god, yeah, I know, they’re ALWAYS showing.” Chad and I looked at each other and laughed because that scene was SO relatable. Breasts have lost all mystique to me in the past 7 weeks. They’re out and about. All the time. If you have spent more than 30 minutes with me, you have probably seen my nipples.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcDLmLRAlO43ceOGHfRqJu1fPmybwS09bRpRzgLqCFNMg4mwp_CdjNKhWbFdXPiNyYNPoH56B165z7FlXUkKR65708NBTzB6f0N324xLORuHWAC8Qp0osrGyny-kBDUC7_h8q9fygG1f0/s1600/IMG_20140607_094409_490.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcDLmLRAlO43ceOGHfRqJu1fPmybwS09bRpRzgLqCFNMg4mwp_CdjNKhWbFdXPiNyYNPoH56B165z7FlXUkKR65708NBTzB6f0N324xLORuHWAC8Qp0osrGyny-kBDUC7_h8q9fygG1f0/s1600/IMG_20140607_094409_490.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Constant feeding frenzy!!</span></td></tr>
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<i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -0.25in;">Hemorrhoids</i><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In years to come (or 7 weeks after giving birth), what I WON’T remember are the pains of labor. What I WILL remember are the pains of hemorrhoids. Labor was one day of my life and all the hard work resulted in the truly spectacular miracle of life. Hemorrhoids just hurt like a bitch, with no end in sight, and the result of hard work is significantly less miraculous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Fear of Dropping the Baby</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These days, when I see a flight of stairs, they represent the risk of me falling down them and dropping him. A coffee table is a tripping risk. A door that is ajar is a risk to his little head. Whenever I hand Everett to Chad, I say "Don't drop him!" or "Careful! Don't trip!" Poor Chad!! Sometimes I can't wait til he's bigger and less fragile, so I can worry less, but then I know he'll be mobile and I'll probably be even more terrified then!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Things I’ve Stopped
Caring about</b>:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.) As I mentioned previously, display of my
nipples.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2.) </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 7pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting peed on.
I’ve quickly accepted this new fact of life and have chosen the “Whatever,
I just put those shorts on, and besides they’re not THAT wet. I’m not changing those.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b style="text-indent: -0.25in;">What Everett Is Up To</b><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everett spends a good portion of his time breastfeeding. When he’s awake, he’s most likely feeding. But there are times every day, probably an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon, with little pockets thrown in here and there, where Everett just sits there looking around, happy as a clam. During those times we try to interact with him or “show him the world.” We go out on the porch and face him towards the street so he can see the sky, the trees, and people walking by. Or we face him towards us, so that we can drink in his huge slate eyes and connect with our alert little boy. His favorite place to be is cuddled up against Mommy or Daddy’s chest, which is where he spends 90% of his time. For at least a little bit each day during one of his quiet alertness periods, we put him down on the bed or on a blanket outside so that he can freely squirm around on his own.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Fu3fifOAxb4S-wSYrT0_YuA43RkHgLA-YAbshFsCRqd1Q2KEifZqXkBBFwzcaNEMSLbdGBG8SCqwl2rssb3oBB4IkGYO70HJA0Aijfx_Q3R7si1FjIk0-dlknGobcEM1_jA7Qgrtsf4/s1600/IMG_20140607_170459_959.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Fu3fifOAxb4S-wSYrT0_YuA43RkHgLA-YAbshFsCRqd1Q2KEifZqXkBBFwzcaNEMSLbdGBG8SCqwl2rssb3oBB4IkGYO70HJA0Aijfx_Q3R7si1FjIk0-dlknGobcEM1_jA7Qgrtsf4/s1600/IMG_20140607_170459_959.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Quiet alertness - our favorite times</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">He usually falls asleep between 8:00 and 10:00 PM and wakes up every three hours until 4:00 or 5:00 AM. Then he is wide awake, or waking every hour. Last night he slept until 3:00 and was up A LOT after that. It leaves me wondering if he’s having a growth spurt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">70% of the time he HATES having his diaper changed. I think it has less to do with him hating the actual process of diaper changing so much as it inhibits him from the activity he actually wants to be doing. If he’s well fed and totally happy, sometimes diaper change time goes uneventfully or with minimal whimpers.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHElhOU0FbFftf-kweH_Ux_dr-jqvJL6Aplc5YghRgpiHDRFA-6Fm801CJPFrEyf3An2bNafbwlJponehdss0EB0i_Iy5vBi302Ha9RosPrnlcuRT7N0tSsb38VKMMeKY_k0JV-IvXKoA/s1600/20140611_133619.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHElhOU0FbFftf-kweH_Ux_dr-jqvJL6Aplc5YghRgpiHDRFA-6Fm801CJPFrEyf3An2bNafbwlJponehdss0EB0i_Iy5vBi302Ha9RosPrnlcuRT7N0tSsb38VKMMeKY_k0JV-IvXKoA/s1600/20140611_133619.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Daddy getting his snuggle on!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the most part, all three of us are falling into some sort of groove. As I mentioned before, that groove mostly involves lots of flexibility, lots of feeding, and a few moments to ourselves each day – even if it’s only the time it takes to shower. Incidentally, if you’re a new mom and you’re not finding the time to shower every day, PLEASE make the time! Hand the baby off to your husband before he goes to work, or WHATEVER. Just do it! I have read all these accounts of new mothers not finding the time to bathe or brush their hair – so I’ve made a point to make sure those things happen every day. Just taking 10 minutes to myself makes me more ready to handle the thousand tiny challenges each day has to offer!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUmocCo_8Ckvqn7msa63f2M1CbA0ruXhpiA6PKNSeUN9su_N_9K0IDs-UdIshGUHrQxtSZS_cNKswIxfoe9EIlM6XuwKEsl3A2wLGFKHirgRXAN3_qtKkORpEKODmKc49Z-op8oDARO4/s1600/PhotoGrid_1402509504310.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUmocCo_8Ckvqn7msa63f2M1CbA0ruXhpiA6PKNSeUN9su_N_9K0IDs-UdIshGUHrQxtSZS_cNKswIxfoe9EIlM6XuwKEsl3A2wLGFKHirgRXAN3_qtKkORpEKODmKc49Z-op8oDARO4/s1600/PhotoGrid_1402509504310.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Our first family vacation to Geneva on the Lake State Park</b><br /><div style="text-align: left;">
Top Left: Around the campfire</div>
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Bottom Left: Me and Everett on the deck of our cabin</div>
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Right: Me and Everett at Markko Vinyard</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQoKVedzmbYsvTZv5JEgW8T9srpHHZoiYTxJjPlG2XLPP3PViXuzkKe8F4eX-JQo8GvKLM3Nb3cdb3hTp1IhqMksmFJI2zHFrbeFVIaJmnqWdkWqaCvimdiNrH0Oqvt2NuGfyGRQ5M7I/s1600/20140611_132225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyQoKVedzmbYsvTZv5JEgW8T9srpHHZoiYTxJjPlG2XLPP3PViXuzkKe8F4eX-JQo8GvKLM3Nb3cdb3hTp1IhqMksmFJI2zHFrbeFVIaJmnqWdkWqaCvimdiNrH0Oqvt2NuGfyGRQ5M7I/s1600/20140611_132225.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Vacation! </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Left: </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner on the deck</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Top Right: Chad eating cake on his 30th birthday</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bottom: Daddy and Everett photographing the sunset on Lake Erie</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Media I’ve Been
Ingesting<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Podcasts/Blogs/Radioshows</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://longestshortesttime.com/">The Longest Shortest Time</a>, parenting blog / podcast</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://birthwithoutfearblog.com/">Birth without Fear Blog</a>, a website compilation of birth stories. And I’ve read all the birth stories!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.radiolab.org/">Radiolab</a>, science podcast (Saturdays on NPR). This week’s was good – it had a story about newborns’ perceptions of the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://themoth.org/">The Moth</a>, storytelling podcast (Saturdays on NPR). One of my favorite shows!!</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Books<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>The Secret Life of Bees</u>, by Sue Monk Kidd – pretty good/easy read which is a coming of age/Civil Rights era story with some bees thrown in.</span><br />
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<u style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Run Like a Mother: How to Get Moving, and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity</u><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, by Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea – good book about the basics of running with the motherhood angle thrown in. Of course I enjoyed and identified with the chapter about postpartum running.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><u>Turn Here, Sweet Corn</u>, by Atina Diffley – Chad reads this to me and Everett as our bedtime story. Per the University of Minnesota Press website “a master class in organic farming a lesson in entrepreneurship, a love story, and a legal thriller.” We saw the author speak at the OEFFA conference this year – she was inspiring so we bought her book.</span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Television<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>Game of Thrones</u> – HBO, man that show is
intense. And complicated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 7pt;"> </span><!--[endif]--><u>Orange is the New Black</u> –season 2 is out
on Netflix. Yay!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-35720295818371891962014-05-15T15:19:00.000-04:002014-05-15T15:19:27.551-04:00Early Parenthood: The First Three Weeks<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Little Everett Alan turned 3 weeks old on Tuesday and a LOT
has happened…one thing that hasn’t happened yet is his due date! That’s not for another three days (May
18). These beginning weeks of his life
have been marked very much by juxtaposition.
I feel like the same person I was before, but at the same time have
grown so much. Mothering has felt very
natural and easy to me, but is not without a steep learning curve and moments
of exasperation, frustration, and even a couple panicky moments as well. The most striking revelation about becoming a
mother is the very clear feeling that despite the newness of everything, there
is no other way. Everett Alan has joined
our life and it is unimaginable to envision a picture without him in it.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyom53yUkMbwnsrYMkFJdLL5OFO1Bm_nncnrZnB9as4TKSF-Q5I2ZjeRNmvC1Kliz-1FMDHJnkqWjAsiAzwV7_9x5SNJs-uxKpCUge3wTCIZDWnedJI94BgeHvKMcbCuCSOAS6k2-5f3w/s1600/IMG_20140509_135229_239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyom53yUkMbwnsrYMkFJdLL5OFO1Bm_nncnrZnB9as4TKSF-Q5I2ZjeRNmvC1Kliz-1FMDHJnkqWjAsiAzwV7_9x5SNJs-uxKpCUge3wTCIZDWnedJI94BgeHvKMcbCuCSOAS6k2-5f3w/s1600/IMG_20140509_135229_239.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SO fortunate to have this little guy lighting up our lives</td></tr>
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<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qLeHw6h0Q91kq1GT8NUzFh6uykLj2fHEGCgCMakmpzrFaM5W0iXu2Jr_WcqJckxAMqhsh18B8nglyXL90Dl-naMVetT7yV45DpEXaNqhQsRGDbbc8UKWHSDykYy8fBQ54ZLpUljrKxA/s1600/IMG_20140512_133435_994.jpg" height="320" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="180" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We love him</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5qLeHw6h0Q91kq1GT8NUzFh6uykLj2fHEGCgCMakmpzrFaM5W0iXu2Jr_WcqJckxAMqhsh18B8nglyXL90Dl-naMVetT7yV45DpEXaNqhQsRGDbbc8UKWHSDykYy8fBQ54ZLpUljrKxA/s1600/IMG_20140512_133435_994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJfH_fC737-14sg_zVZyC27x-QfdM5vlmXFfA3K59OKKBfEe6qZ7jI9z1B-LHdxtdIaxQ2QvdvI7wbq4S9N8FtRnFbQK_Mg5l8gBsMAOiIcvu45OvTvwbLoU5TVXJkT4_1tcKNtPp4N1Q/s1600/IMG_20140509_135751_627.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJfH_fC737-14sg_zVZyC27x-QfdM5vlmXFfA3K59OKKBfEe6qZ7jI9z1B-LHdxtdIaxQ2QvdvI7wbq4S9N8FtRnFbQK_Mg5l8gBsMAOiIcvu45OvTvwbLoU5TVXJkT4_1tcKNtPp4N1Q/s1600/IMG_20140509_135751_627.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first month has been all about relaxing together skin to skin. Wouldn't trade it for anything!</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">THE FIRST WEEK WAS THE HARDEST</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still in the hospital, after the birth I felt so elated at
having successfully given birth to a new little human in the way I did, and I
felt proud and accomplished. Mission
complete! Right!? It wasn’t long before I started to realize
that instead of the mission being complete, it was indeed only just
beginning. I have never in my life felt
in such utter need of recovery while at the same time needing to learn and
accomplish so much. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breastfeeding<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Breast feeding was HARD – the nurses told us that late
pre-term babies often have a more difficult time getting the hang of breast
feeding – every time he went to breast he fell asleep and apparently he didn’t have
a good latch besides. Not that I knew
what a good latch looked like! My
nipples started to hurt and get really sore and raw and I dreaded the feedings
that came every three hours, followed immediately by pumping which resulted in
nothing more than a drop or two of milk, if that. The pumping was to facilitate
my milk coming in in the absence of his ability to really pick up feeding right
away. I just sat there in the hospital
bed, enjoying holding him against my chest, looking at the clock and dreading
the next hour long round of feeding and pumping. After about three days, my milk came in and
my breasts were full, hard, knotted, and uncomfortable. Now instead of feeling fear of pumping with
no results, I was afraid of too much milk all bound up in my breasts. I never did get engorged breasts though, and
for that I fully and completely thank my mother, who helped me with breast
massage. She showed me how to loosen up
the initial milk and getting it flowing.
Without her help and support, I feel sure that my breasts would have
become engorged, as I had no idea what to do.
As for the latching issues, after about a week, we consulted the La
Leche League’s </span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Womanly Art of
Breastfeeding</i><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to get some tips about how to help him to latch better. A week of frustration, and sore, raw, scabbed
nipples melted away in about two days, as I learned how to facilitate a better
latch in him. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibhecLaf-n4Y__6knhtmhrNSU_BG22xLx0igigv9GN2gRGOEB_pfwbO-xvD61wqKoRQXBALdaJGBjC46Gd3AlcE3SZq10gIoZ9GphvrcVnKMvYrAtnI38JktcQr30G6H_t6IOgpxvIO4Y/s1600/IMG_20140425_070557_863.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibhecLaf-n4Y__6knhtmhrNSU_BG22xLx0igigv9GN2gRGOEB_pfwbO-xvD61wqKoRQXBALdaJGBjC46Gd3AlcE3SZq10gIoZ9GphvrcVnKMvYrAtnI38JktcQr30G6H_t6IOgpxvIO4Y/s1600/IMG_20140425_070557_863.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I worked hard to pump this paltry amount of milk right when it first started coming in.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dwEev_-aZWa0GWKV2VcnZ9i1HxeO9EB11ILwSAAISrOg_NQrGN5ez9302G5IWKduvO29thfR9fVAnhmXpFnenMN7g4kGc678upzgw_GiWqSbXU-zRCmgdbP9dE2586hfnvtOUIz9AiQ/s1600/IMG_20140425_132732_441.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-dwEev_-aZWa0GWKV2VcnZ9i1HxeO9EB11ILwSAAISrOg_NQrGN5ez9302G5IWKduvO29thfR9fVAnhmXpFnenMN7g4kGc678upzgw_GiWqSbXU-zRCmgdbP9dE2586hfnvtOUIz9AiQ/s1600/IMG_20140425_132732_441.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Milk drunk!!</span></td></tr>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recovery<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have never felt at once not sick, but at the same time so
remarkably and completely drained, exhausted, and overwhelmed. Getting up to pee was a monumental task, as
was showering, which I could have never done alone in the first several days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The apex of my exhaustion and feelings of being overwhelmed
came on the Friday we went to the first doctor’s visit (three days after birth). I had planned to shower and brush my hair
before the 9:00 AM appointment, but that definitely did not happen. I did
manage to get a dress on, and riding in the car on the way to the appointment I
felt proud for getting clothes on and getting out of the house. But once we got to the office, I saw other
mothers with young babies who had brushed their hair and were wearing JEANS
(looking back, they were probably 2-3 weeks post-partum, not 2-3 days), and the
nurse who took us back to the room walked so fast, and I felt so slow and
unable to keep up. When we got to the
room we had to undress Everett and of course he didn’t like that and started
crying. I started seeping silent tears
right along with him, feeling slow, vulnerable, helpless, and overwhelmed. In my mind, I could see the situation from
the outside and knew that nothing was wrong – nothing that a lot of sleep and
rest couldn’t fix. I quickly recovered
and the rest of the appointment and day went well, with me focusing on napping
and resting.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the first 7 days post-partum, I felt super, super
exhausted and could just only muster the strength to shower in the
mornings. That was my big activity of
the day, before I parked myself on the sofa until it was time to go upstairs in
the evening for bed. Again, physically I
did not feel sick, but just consumed by an overwhelming tiredness (not to
mention extreme soreness where I had gotten stitches). It was difficult, but for the first 7-10
days, I had to accept that I could not physically do anything outside of care
for my baby who mostly slept on my chest, only waking for feedings. Around day 6 or 7, I started to get up and
change Everett, or go to the fridge myself to fix breakfast. Sometimes I would wonder if I wasn’t just
being lazy or if I really needed to spend as much time on the sofa as I was,
but then I would remember the kind of person I normally am. The kind of person who gets up at 5:30AM
before work to train for marathons (on Saturdays even!) is not the kind of
person to waste the day away on the sofa if it wasn’t needed. I had to trust that my body would tell me
when I was able to do more. Gradually,
by two weeks post-partum, I was ready for a walk around the block (and then
back to bed!), or a trip to my mother-in-law’s house for dinner (on the
sofa!). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, at three weeks and some change post-partum, I feel
60-70% recovered, and we plan our activities accordingly. The morning is for waking up, feeding,
showering, and eating breakfast. By noon
we are usually out of bed, showered, and ready to go. Afternoons are for one activity (a friend
coming by to visit, a trip to Jeni’s, figuring out some forms that need to be filled
out) and a walk. By around 5:00 or 6:00,
it’s time to start thinking about dinner, which takes a while to put together,
and then around 7:00, we eat and have relaxation time in which we might watch a
movie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVI8pquo2AIWQkHLhbLSqKvbIsnDG3hblrr2dNRWUAUBqwRKFvlhjIMA4c-QBk88kHzFoR3KGk6fYb8T8s2r57LF8aGLnXFXU-gQQlu1gvtb0HZsVajKzkSanlXh5unjeXWi0vS9y2YqI/s1600/IMG_20140512_141047_515.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVI8pquo2AIWQkHLhbLSqKvbIsnDG3hblrr2dNRWUAUBqwRKFvlhjIMA4c-QBk88kHzFoR3KGk6fYb8T8s2r57LF8aGLnXFXU-gQQlu1gvtb0HZsVajKzkSanlXh5unjeXWi0vS9y2YqI/s1600/IMG_20140512_141047_515.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Naked baby airing in the sun!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN801uGdYsoKYUaUC1j2eRtlqVM1HkEKdtxTrPUSJZ5ihUN9bF21G7iosOns0lXGB3VGc9AfNXkbkqEUklDJP4ZL-G_OGFpbUgSlD72gwAduwNhXSZbRu_xRGNin-8BGDt_V8SgF5t4TY/s1600/IMG_20140513_162423_413.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN801uGdYsoKYUaUC1j2eRtlqVM1HkEKdtxTrPUSJZ5ihUN9bF21G7iosOns0lXGB3VGc9AfNXkbkqEUklDJP4ZL-G_OGFpbUgSlD72gwAduwNhXSZbRu_xRGNin-8BGDt_V8SgF5t4TY/s1600/IMG_20140513_162423_413.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We're still working on mobile interest</span></td></tr>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M
DOING!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Motherhood has come with a steep learning curve and my
lexicon is filled with all sorts of words I barely knew existed before. I’ve been reading lots of books and local
motherhood forums, etc. and felt super proud when I was able to properly
diagnose Everett’s first little malady – thrush, or a yeast infection in his
mouth. On Sunday evening, I started to
notice some white patches in his mouth and I immediately thought “Oh shit, he’s
got thrush!” (Something I would have never known without prior research.) Monday I tried natural remedy of acidophilus
and yogurt in his mouth, but by Tuesday it seemed worse. So I called the doctor, explained the
symptoms to them, which they confirmed was indeed thrush, and by Tuesday
afternoon we had filled little Everett’s first prescription (boy, that didn’t
take long!) By Wednesday, his mouth was
looking much better!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For tomorrow’s doctor’s appointment, we had to research a
vaccination they’re recommending for Hepatitis B – for which we’ve made our
decision about. (The decision is a
private one that, after having done ample research, only Chad and I need to be
comfortable with.) The point is though,
who has ever heard of these things!?
Thrush! Hepatitis B
vaccines! Latching! Pumping!
Oh yes, that’s right: every
mother, or parent out there. Well, we’re
just getting our feet wet with all these decisions, and we think we’re doing a
pretty good job so far :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">SOME OF OUR FAVORITE
MOMENTS {written by Daddy}</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vGEJ3Ie87S4aUjFWfnsefbtJONs9Iro3hFgG3-Rj54hOKnh0z0wukX6bbPmI2OBZ1aDG5GeyZmPXcZk3NZXgO_PqMdP8-pQuHeBevQUfy1BhfxRabe8Yp5mp6jO5JImeWvU46tbyCvk/s1600/IMG_20140507_134437_890.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0vGEJ3Ie87S4aUjFWfnsefbtJONs9Iro3hFgG3-Rj54hOKnh0z0wukX6bbPmI2OBZ1aDG5GeyZmPXcZk3NZXgO_PqMdP8-pQuHeBevQUfy1BhfxRabe8Yp5mp6jO5JImeWvU46tbyCvk/s1600/IMG_20140507_134437_890.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things we love: naked baby butt in the sun</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrw2Dz2s3V0Daz9mNF01_GNUIfdbZyi1YvUjcuPJ3BBLOTDwgYKBpucBj2ncPihVO9hzQ9Zl0OysMMwlbOHykbAqNDUf-yIvmUYhnCWCikUj_x-s44GZ18WkVraXBgwNrC0kZ2drkdA8/s1600/IMG_20140512_083604_845.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQrw2Dz2s3V0Daz9mNF01_GNUIfdbZyi1YvUjcuPJ3BBLOTDwgYKBpucBj2ncPihVO9hzQ9Zl0OysMMwlbOHykbAqNDUf-yIvmUYhnCWCikUj_x-s44GZ18WkVraXBgwNrC0kZ2drkdA8/s1600/IMG_20140512_083604_845.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things we love: just waking up in the morning</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the most amusing and simple ways we have enjoyed spending
much of our day is just watching Everett’s facial expressions haphazardly
change from one serious look to another. Sometimes he will be relatively calm
and not fussing, but have a very confused or angst-filled look on his face.
This will slowly melt into a look of near-sleeping intoxication, which will
melt into a slight grimace, a grunt, then ultimately resulting in a squirting
sound coming from his diaper. This is one of the funniest things we witness on
a daily basis!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWo7U3lps2JgmA1GIw9wm41XtWd3kiJu7eOAM8lFm1JehmVNMromy-dPrzT8sCKQX5UtYBUukFSuHeTEyaff1GbVugIMH_07gk_upOKxzmtk1KNpNx2eD0Auft9YF5B81Og6cNqShTPA/s1600/IMG_20140508_095449_255.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpWo7U3lps2JgmA1GIw9wm41XtWd3kiJu7eOAM8lFm1JehmVNMromy-dPrzT8sCKQX5UtYBUukFSuHeTEyaff1GbVugIMH_07gk_upOKxzmtk1KNpNx2eD0Auft9YF5B81Og6cNqShTPA/s1600/IMG_20140508_095449_255.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Geeze Mom and Dad! You just don't get it!"</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another enjoyable part of our day is our daily walk, which is
usually through our neighborhood, or sometimes to a nearby park. We strap
Everett to one of our chests in our Moby Wrap, which usually puts him to sleep in
minutes. Over the last couple weeks, our walks are gradually getting longer and
longer as Mommy is healing and getting her strength back. We can’t wait until
we can take Everett to a metro park for a short hike, or to pick berries this
summer at a local U-pick farm, or to take him on his first camping trip, all of
which we are going to try and accomplish this summer.<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOwPCuinOau-pDyUdIEAxtVNg5crhLEDe4q5Xho0DsoPLlWwZJa7gcDbe4SZpMk8JO4IMb29n2ToTdW6j4oykCgmSFDAyMiLiFZuZSs2NKephFG2V28WOlsQ2Hy7DqsShgIDrx7EpFeFE/s1600/IMG_20140511_141326_343.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOwPCuinOau-pDyUdIEAxtVNg5crhLEDe4q5Xho0DsoPLlWwZJa7gcDbe4SZpMk8JO4IMb29n2ToTdW6j4oykCgmSFDAyMiLiFZuZSs2NKephFG2V28WOlsQ2Hy7DqsShgIDrx7EpFeFE/s1600/IMG_20140511_141326_343.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things we love: going for walks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafTs_HVfvJwQM7vKq7OfEwqOHBG1ObI9nge6JP0pYNYGuI2CNuVZE9V1QJdFr69U0qXIwSHTsKF5DWfIG9rCI-Cah9GBnwXkiXtSvebkgnqR3vb_SvD0Cqq33Pbzd9bLUAe_3D54ikBw/s1600/IMG_20140513_124012_722.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjafTs_HVfvJwQM7vKq7OfEwqOHBG1ObI9nge6JP0pYNYGuI2CNuVZE9V1QJdFr69U0qXIwSHTsKF5DWfIG9rCI-Cah9GBnwXkiXtSvebkgnqR3vb_SvD0Cqq33Pbzd9bLUAe_3D54ikBw/s1600/IMG_20140513_124012_722.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things we love: more walks - a trip to OSU</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlMvmKKEAeja_H86YjWDqjJNdVsTvtxqA6kx9pn0QaHHPAJ2J-Vw7NFbmJ1UMI9X-UhaqzJL71_SXSaw6JtTkEwHH7R-5F9HcG7drL3THtw2IXdxywa4agBTtD9uFRsBakN3vFD9_r8g/s1600/IMG_20140503_152818_560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJlMvmKKEAeja_H86YjWDqjJNdVsTvtxqA6kx9pn0QaHHPAJ2J-Vw7NFbmJ1UMI9X-UhaqzJL71_SXSaw6JtTkEwHH7R-5F9HcG7drL3THtw2IXdxywa4agBTtD9uFRsBakN3vFD9_r8g/s1600/IMG_20140503_152818_560.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Things we love: bath time faces!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></sub></div>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-91427645015912491232014-05-07T18:03:00.000-04:002014-05-07T18:03:45.957-04:00Week 36 Recap: An Unexpected Birth!!<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p> </o:p><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tuesday April 22 began like any other morning:</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chad and I got up to go to the gym before
work.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was feeling a little tired, so I
just walked on the treadmill next to Chad while he ran his 3 miles.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We came back home and I took a shower while
Chad got things ready for breakfast and lunch, and made coffee.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I got out of the shower, I noticed some
pee leaking from me, and I thought it was weird because I couldn’t stop
it.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I sat down on the toilet and tried
to go to the bathroom, but I couldn’t…I thought maybe the baby’s head was
pushing on my bladder and making me pee a little or something.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So I got dressed and went downstairs and told
Chad about it, and then we sat down to eat breakfast.</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chad had made a mulberry pie on Sunday, so we
ate that and it was tasty!!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I stood
up and it happened again – I grabbed onto Chad and said “I’m peeing!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m peeing!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I can’t stop it!</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’m
sorry!!”</span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We went upstairs to get me changed – me leaking all the
way up. Then I looked up the symptoms of
water breaking on the internet and it seemed possible that it could have been
my water…it just looked like a clear liquid.
So I called my mom, told her what happened, and she told me to call the
doctor. I called the doctor and while
we waited for them to call us back, Chad hopped into the shower – we were
still planning on him going to work at this point because we didn’t think it
was anything. The doctor called me back, I told her what happened, and she told me to go to Labor and Delivery at
the hospital. Pretty much at this exact
same time, I started having contractions.
They weren’t too bad, but definitely contractions. I remember kneeling on the sofa in the media
room, and then again when I was downstairs having to kneel on the sofa. At this point Chad was running around trying
to collect things “just in case” we were in labor - I think we took the laptop, a book about
pregnancy (uh why?), a book about breastfeeding (makes more sense), my journal to Everett, and a
sweatshirt. My mom decided that she was
packing her bags and coming down right away.
Worst case scenario, it was a false alarm and we could go get lunch
together. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we hopped in the car and took off for the hospital,
and as we did the contractions were getting stronger and stronger – coming on
really fast and fairly hard!! Definitely
less than every five minutes!! I called
my mom and told her that we were on the way to the hospital. While we were on the highway she asked how
things were going. She was talking; I was having a contraction and couldn’t say much of anything. She
said, “Well, you’ll know if the contractions are getting stronger when you
can’t talk through them,” and I finally said, “Well, you didn’t hear me saying anything
for the past minute or two, did you!?”
All the while, on the way to the hospital, the contractions were getting
stronger and stronger and by that point, I was sure that I was definitely in
labor! We got to the hospital and parked
and I made Chad take a picture of me in the parking lot – I happened to be
having a contraction at the time, so I grimaced through it and leaned on the
bike rack with my thumbs up while Chad snapped a photo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJf3ijNldTd3cQH4GmQpeH_I1yZQfvitlDp9AhK8M3eFCwQbciafcDDhyphenhyphen-QxxA5hqbX9XyRJ4sTwr6SSmTz8QRcgMDx-mibCndbnTOBrL_pon9PzXSPjZ1sgWQLRMTPv68yFzcfk8-mVo/s1600/IMG_20140422_093226_449.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJf3ijNldTd3cQH4GmQpeH_I1yZQfvitlDp9AhK8M3eFCwQbciafcDDhyphenhyphen-QxxA5hqbX9XyRJ4sTwr6SSmTz8QRcgMDx-mibCndbnTOBrL_pon9PzXSPjZ1sgWQLRMTPv68yFzcfk8-mVo/s1600/IMG_20140422_093226_449.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me in the middle of a contraction in the Dublin Methodist Hospital parking lot!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around 10:30 AM, we slowly walked from the car to the
lobby and went inside and Chad told them I was in labor. They asked me if I needed a wheel chair and I
told them that I could walk, so they walked us up to Labor and Delivery and
sent me into a triage room. I took off my
work clothes, put on a hospital gown, and waited for a midwife to come in and
examine me. The contractions were
getting pretty strong by this point – they hooked me up to a monitor and Chad
did indeed confirm that the “contraction numbers” on the machine would go up
when my contraction would begin. Then a
midwife came in and checked my cervix and told me that I was 5 cm dilated and
definitely in labor– what a big surprise!!
Everything was happening so quickly – about 2 hours earlier I had thought
I was going into work and here I was already almost half way through the entire
process!!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kZeD24H70GqHfYsdy4KjBx09ToifkGosuivZoBO7PBRn1y7DUwB2_Ef82S-ATJZ3ttTKS4Xtbh43n0-uLMQp0nb7C91m049JIeCTwJotu46eFHbvrlU41d9H5SoSuC6BgsIRH_ikwac/s1600/IMG_20140422_095100_286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6kZeD24H70GqHfYsdy4KjBx09ToifkGosuivZoBO7PBRn1y7DUwB2_Ef82S-ATJZ3ttTKS4Xtbh43n0-uLMQp0nb7C91m049JIeCTwJotu46eFHbvrlU41d9H5SoSuC6BgsIRH_ikwac/s1600/IMG_20140422_095100_286.jpg" height="320" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In triage!! Receiving verification that I am indeed in labor!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then a nurse came in and took me to a delivery room,
where my contractions continued to get even stronger. I think it was about 11:00
AM at this point – things were moving super fast and I couldn’t quite believe
where I was. They hooked me up to a Heprin
lock (IV portal, but no actual IV) and put an external monitor on me. I asked if the external monitor was necessary
and they told me it was because the baby was “decelling” which meant that the
heart rate appeared to be dropping every time I had a contraction. It’s not that the baby’s heart rate was
actually dropping, but they just couldn’t get a clear reading on it – the
contraction kind of masked whatever else was going on in there. They tried to put an internal monitor on the
baby, but I told them that they wouldn’t be doing that. Chad was asking them all sorts of questions
and then I told him to call my mom. She
started asking questions too on the phone, like “With the presence of the Strep
B virus, wouldn’t the internal monitor raise the risk of transmission to the
baby?” Then the nurse started holding
the external monitor to me and she told me that she was able to get a better
read on the baby’s heart rate. I’m glad,
because I didn’t want them to put a little hole in my baby’s head with their
unnecessary monitor. Incidentally, I
acquiesced to the external monitor even though it was unnecessary (studies have
shown that the monitor does not significantly reduce the rate of operative
deliveries or of adverse neonatal outcomes).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around that time, Chad’s mom quietly slipped in the room
but I was in the throws of heavy labor and couldn’t really talk much. My dad also called the room about this time,
but I wasn’t able to take the call…Chad took it, while I powered somewhat
loudly through another contraction (I believe my dad asked Chad “Is that Corey
in the background?”) In fact this point was the height of my labor, and I was
vocalizing with each contraction – moaning loudly and trying in vain to get
comfortable. I tried sitting on a
birthing ball, but it was way too low to the ground – it was not
comfortable. Then I tried leaning on the
bed, and that was also not comfortable.
I remember standing, hovering between the birthing ball and the bed,
wracked with the feeling that whatever I chose, the contraction was not going
to become any more comfortable.
Eventually I decided that lying sideways on the bed was the best
position to be in. In between each
contraction I took the opportunity to rest totally and completely rest, lying
still with my eyes closed. I remember
the nurse saying something about “You can’t do <i>X</i> until you are <i>X</i>
centimeters dilated,” and I said “Can you check me now!?” She checked and I was at 9 centimeters – she
said “I don’t think we’ll be in here too much longer.” So a few minutes went by and she told me not
to start pushing until I’m 10 centimeters dilated and as she’s telling me this
I’m literally feeling the first urge to push, so I say again “Can you check me
again!?” and she tells me that I am 10 centimeters dilated and says: “You can
begin pushing if you want, do you want to begin pushing?” And I’m thinking “I don’t know! You tell me!
You’re the freaking medical staff!!”
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shortly after, the obstetrician came in and was time to
begin the real business of birthing the baby.
They had me take a deep breath and push to the count of 10 three times
in a row. I was not a fan of the third
push…I wish we could have forgone it. I
pretty much usually half assed that last push anyways. At the beginning of the pushing phase, it was
difficult to get my head out of the way…the surmounting pressure and the
knowledge that something is about to dramatically separate your vagina is not a
comforting thought. Let’s just say that
I didn’t push as hard as I could right from the get-go. However, I quickly realized that the less
enthusiastically I pushed, the longer I was going to be doing hard work. Pushing was a lot less painful than
contractions, but a LOT more active work – my entire body was covered in sweat
and I was doing everything I could in between pushes to catch my breath and
regroup my energy for the next round.
The obstetrician was doing perennial massage – NOT comfortable. I hated that!! (But at the same time I appreciated it.) She also brought in a mirror so that I could
see the progression of the baby’s head.
Ew. I would peek every once in a
while and feel intermittently grossed out and fascinated by it. Mostly though, I was either too busy working
or resting to spend a lot of time watching the mirror of a baby’s head coming
out of my vagina. In order to get me to
push more effectively, the obstetrician also had me play a game of tug-of-war
with her. Whenever I would push, I would
also pull on a white sheet, while she pulled on the other half. When a pushing contraction ended, I would be
completely out of breath – I would use the times in between to rest as much as
possible – often lying there with my eyes closed and not moving. I was able to keep my sense of humor though –
I remember when the baby’s head starting crowning the doctor remarked that it
had a lot of hair and I raised my hands above my head and exclaimed “Yes! That’s all I cared about!!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My mom was standing on the left side of my head – she had
been holding my leg out when I pushed, but I guess I pushed with a lot of
force, so she sent Chad down while she tended to comforting my top half!!! The nurse was at my right side, coaching me
on pushing – when a contraction started, I pretty much focused everything else
out and paid attention to her. Chad was
stationed at my lower left side, holding my leg open with all his might every
time I had a pushing contraction. The
obstetrician and nurse kept asking me what I wanted to do or how I wanted to
push or whatever, and I thought “Dude. I
do not want to make decisions right now.
Please tell me what to do and I will do it.” At one point, the head starting to really
emerge and the doctor wanted to do an episiotomy and I did have an opinion on
that – I gave an emphatic “No!” In my
head I was screaming “This is not your standard of care! This is not your standard of care!” So she didn’t give me one (although I did
tear). Finally when the baby’s head had
crowned half way and after about 45 minutes of pushing, I gave one final push and the entire body just came
slithering out. Somebody announced that
it was a boy and they put little Everett Alan on my chest and toweled him
off. Wow! It was finally over and we had a little
son! How exciting!! I had asked them to wait until the cord
stopped pulsing to cut it – which they did.
Chad cut the cord – gross. I
peeked a little bit but yeesh, it’s not exactly my cup of tea. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NGTlVPqGiM13bCtXeMpb1phvUbB7fmQS5lwj4dsvqbo9f8VWgmXwvvvchRb6xb5jJ2fVa75OZojk54-45QWs3HCUYWlzoViJWc2kPQII3Z7e4sTN-EmE2EMk2lAdEdqSCHlfy73IPm0/s1600/IMG_20140507_173303.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_NGTlVPqGiM13bCtXeMpb1phvUbB7fmQS5lwj4dsvqbo9f8VWgmXwvvvchRb6xb5jJ2fVa75OZojk54-45QWs3HCUYWlzoViJWc2kPQII3Z7e4sTN-EmE2EMk2lAdEdqSCHlfy73IPm0/s1600/IMG_20140507_173303.jpg" height="256" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The first few moments of Everett Alan's life!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then the nurse told me she were going to “massage” (aka
punch the hell out of) my uterus which was going to hurt, in order to get out
all the extra blood and crap that was hanging out in there. Oh my god, did it ever hurt. I yelled out when she pushed down on me – I
accidentally squished poor little Everett and also pushed the nurse’s hand
away. On the second “massage” I was able
to prepare by holding my mom’s hand on the left and gripping the bed on the
right. She told me to relax – that she
couldn’t effectively massage if I was tense.
Hahahaha. That’s so funny: relax while getting punched. That’s impossible! But whatever she did (and I’m not saying I
condone it) it worked, because I could feel lots of stuff coming out. Also, while my childbirth was just about 100%
natural (I did very briefly take some antibiotics for the Strep B culture), I
did NOT get a Pitocin free hospital stay!!!
After the birth, they gave me a short IV dose of Pitocin to contract the
uterus to avoid post-partum hemorrhaging.
If I had realized what she was giving to me, I probably wouldn’t have
consented, but in the moment there was a lot going on, I was focusing on my new
son, and I was too tired to notice!!
Sneaky, sneaky hospital got a Pitocin point on me!! At the same time all this is going on, the
obstetrician is stitching up my tears while I’m asking her “Are you done yet?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWoSu_1RieORAvml_sjiBOWdVWAgNjvX8zVwAnIOhvGNcP_1qrVL3spebG36sn0U011BJtB3B0jua1ZKZo2nV4l087dsCrPDcrwbbW0WqpGTo403SCrM3RIo642ifU9ntztMxDrJVl3Kg/s1600/IMG_20140422_155041_007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWoSu_1RieORAvml_sjiBOWdVWAgNjvX8zVwAnIOhvGNcP_1qrVL3spebG36sn0U011BJtB3B0jua1ZKZo2nV4l087dsCrPDcrwbbW0WqpGTo403SCrM3RIo642ifU9ntztMxDrJVl3Kg/s1600/IMG_20140422_155041_007.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I don't know what was going on here but this was right after he was born</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">During these first few minutes I remember everybody
remarking about how his face looked and all I could see was the top of his
head!! I remember at one point
exclaiming “Are we bonding!? We are
supposed to be bonding right now!!” And
the nurse kind of laughed and said “Sweetie, you two <i>are</i> bonding right now.”
After about 30 minutes, I tried to nurse Everett and it went pretty well,
impressively well, actually (although after that it would take about 7
frustrating and painful days to get the hang of nursing). Also somewhere in that first hour the nurse
had me get up to pee – I had been drinking LOTS of water throughout my entire
labor. They told me I had to go because
a full bladder could lead to increased uterine bleeding. The thing that impressed me when I first got
up was how weak I was…I definitely needed help to get through the trip…at the
same time, I was happy that I was able to get up and move around so soon
afterwards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Around 3:00 or 3:30 they moved us from labor and delivery
to post-partum. I remember when they moved me, there was a sign with patient
information that got updated each day, it had the nurses’ names, medicines I’d
be taking, etc. One section was titled
“Goals for Today,” which when I saw it I thought it should be labeled
“ACCOMPLISHED!!” Only a few hours went
by before I realized that the true work had only just begun. Recovering my own body, while learning how to
nurse in the hospital setting where nurses and doctors are constantly coming
and going, was an extremely daunting task.
Over the next two days we were also supported by all the grandparents
and an aunt, who all brought lots of food.
My mom also helped me invaluably with the steep learning curve of
nursing, showering, and a million other things that I had never even considered
I would need help with. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53Yl2UC7I_M9rhM9X58P0fvvOrTnVvvfptltMuifmaR3DxcTwdtIcKNqcAYoh2QrttDbs8VHXzmw-04Wcw94SWb3hmhefF8lm1yZV1s3HjR-qTE421SAWR0SQAZCg3ZD7XduuVh6EIHc/s1600/IMG_20140423_132935_537.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj53Yl2UC7I_M9rhM9X58P0fvvOrTnVvvfptltMuifmaR3DxcTwdtIcKNqcAYoh2QrttDbs8VHXzmw-04Wcw94SWb3hmhefF8lm1yZV1s3HjR-qTE421SAWR0SQAZCg3ZD7XduuVh6EIHc/s1600/IMG_20140423_132935_537.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Everett and Mommy!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overall, I would say that Chad and I were able to get the
best birth experience possible in a hospital setting (especially with the help
of my mom, who was able to help advocate for me on several occasions). Because we were informed we were able to stop
some procedures that we didn’t want (internal monitoring of baby, episiotomy,
cutting the cord early, and routine procedures interfering with initial bonding),
but it was still a very medical environment in which I found it difficult to
rest and recover after the intense and physically draining experience. It would have been better for both Everett
and me if they would quit coming in to check him – for example his blood sugar
(by pricking him and making him cry!) every couple hours, and instead just let
us sleep and actually recover. In the
end though, we had a quick labor that I was able to fully experience without
putting drugs in my body or Everett’s.
I’m proud of what I know my body can do – when surrounded by loving
support. In switching my body from
preparing for marathons and instead preparing for the big “race day event” of
labor, I was able to physically and mentally prepare for the challenges of the
day. Given the parameters in which we
had to work, we had the absolute best experience possible!! I have lots more to say and could probably
write another four pages about the next two days of our hospital stay/Everett’s
life, but we’ll have to end it here for now!!
If I could sum it all up in one sentence I would say: “Corey and Chad had a successful birth event
resulting in a healthy and beautiful baby boy named Everett Alan, surrounded by
the love and support of family.”</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmP7n7KeHMtzMpQj0kmkn-IRkEonwAERtsrAwUt0xooTFSMA6O-ajn3OetO2Ck2Bz9SlDCRccBTLiuEqDHK5t7ZmoPqZIOsZm37Nkwm_92pbFQRvfhyyYb6uxErB66S19UyM4Urod1bXE/s1600/IMG_20140424_140135_474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmP7n7KeHMtzMpQj0kmkn-IRkEonwAERtsrAwUt0xooTFSMA6O-ajn3OetO2Ck2Bz9SlDCRccBTLiuEqDHK5t7ZmoPqZIOsZm37Nkwm_92pbFQRvfhyyYb6uxErB66S19UyM4Urod1bXE/s1600/IMG_20140424_140135_474.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Little Everett Alan going home from the hospital!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5989601676075384105.post-58831508575361527962014-04-19T09:41:00.000-04:002014-04-19T09:48:55.480-04:00Pregnancy Update: Week 35 Recap!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">How far along</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">? This is the end of week 35…I just
realized my due date is ONE MONTH from yesterday!!! </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Total weight gain</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: I weighed 160.5 this morning...started at 131
pounds. 29.5 pounds so far….not bad!!</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Baby’s size/development this week</b>: Only one more week until the baby is
considered full term (37 weeks).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Maternity clothes</b>: I had a day off today so I wore a skirt and
tank top and felt pretty darn comfy </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Miss anything</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">? Feeling like a normal human being!! I took a walk on the bike path today and all
these people were jogging past me and it occurred to me that the experience was
a lot like going to a bar and not being able to drink. Bah!!
I can’t wait to go fast! And run
people down!! Also there are a lot of
volunteer opportunities this weekend for Earth Day (including one on our block
even!) and I can’t participate because I’m too pregnant. Boo!!
I just don’t think planting trees or picking up trash or whatever would
be all that productive for anyone at this late date.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Food cravings</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: Wednesday I felt like total crap (my stomach was
upset and I was super tired) and I ate peanut butter puffins cereal for dinner
(with some strawberries and milk). I don’t
usually buy boxed cereal, but I just NEEDED it.
The box only lasted like….16 hours.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Anything making you queasy or sick</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">? I was kind of queasy several
days this week due to a stomach bug or something.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sleep</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: I have felt REALLY tired this week – so glad it was only a
four day work week.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Best moment of the week</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: Last weekend Chad and I went for a walk
and we saw three snakes along the bike path (which I heard is a sign of a
healthy ecosystem) – that was pretty cool because how often do you see
snakes!? Two of them were cuddling. Aww.
Friday was nice because I just got to hang out at the house and clean or
nest, or whatever it is that it’s called at 9 months pregnant.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Nursery</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: I did some cleaning of the changing
table Friday and this morning I lined it and put all the diapers away. Before yesterday there were large piles of
diapers and diapers hanging on drying racks even though they were dry. Sunday morning I hope Chad can put together
the pack and play so it’s one less thing we have to worry about (he doesn't
know this yet – ha)</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Weddings rings on or off</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">? Wedding ring is definitely still on. Little bit of swelling in the hands this week
though, especially after going for walks in the warm weather.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Belly Button</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: Dude, my belly button is still in. This thing is amazing!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Movement</b>? Moving all the time!
Yesterday afternoon when I was eating a tuna salad sandwich I felt my
stomach shudder…so then I thought that the baby really hates tuna or really
loves it </span><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Labor signs</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">? I don’t think so.
When my stomach was upset on Wednesday I had some pains in my stomach—that
felt like the kind of pain you have with an upset stomach, and not at all what
I imagine a contraction to feel like.
But then I started getting paranoid and thinking “What if this is what
it’s like and I am just totally misreading it!?
Better safe than sorry – I’ll call my doctor just to make sure.” They told me to take some tums and be sure to
drink enough water. So instead I went
home and ate lots of cereal and drank lots of water.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Weird pregnancy thing of the week</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: I've just been really tired
this week. My stomach is getting
HUGE. Chad said he felt like it sort of
grew out of nowhere in like a day and I agree with him. Like one day it was quite large and the next
day it was HUGE. Still though, at our
doctor’s appointment on Wednesday my stomach was measuring 35 centimeters,
which is spot on for 35 weeks.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Daddy is feeling</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: <i>Note from Mommy: Daddy is still insanely busy. I think I’ll make him update next Friday though </i></span><i><span style="font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></i><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Mommy is feeling</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: This was kind of a stressful week. Lots of distractions on top of feeling tired
and having that stomach bug. I’m letting
all the stressors of the past week roll off my shoulders though. Three day weekend with beautiful weather –
what more could you ask for!! I’m using
the weekend to get lots done: continuing
to clean out house and take stuff to Am Vets for donation, I made more peanut
butter yesterday afternoon, doing all the laundry this morning.</span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Workouts this week</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Saturday: 4.5
miles/1 hour on elliptical</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Sunday: 1.6 mile
walk on the bike path with the husband (saw snakes!)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Monday: 3.09
miles/40 minutes on elliptical</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Tuesday: None</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Wednesday: None –
missed yoga. Super pissed about that!!</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Thursday: None</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Friday: 2.75 mile
walk along bike path</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Books I'm Reading/Media I'm Ingesting:</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lots of interesting
pregnancy-related material this week, but none of it in book form.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.thelongestshortesttime.com/">The Longest Shortest Time</a></b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (podcast/blog about early parenting) – <i>This American Life </i>(TAL) posted a link
to an interesting podcast episode about a woman who felt cheated by Ina May
Gaskin's (the godmother of modern midwifery) birthing philosophy when her own birth
experience didn't go as planned (and actually ended fairly traumatically with long-term
perineal damage). I can’t say that I
agree with the sentiment in the podcast, but it is an interesting perspective I
hadn't considered.</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.radiolab.com/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Radiolab</b></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> "</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>23 Weeks 6 Days</b>” (science podcast) – Babies “born” before 22 weeks
are medically considered miscarriages and not viable outside the womb. Babies born after 25 weeks are considered to
be possibly viable and doctors will fight to save them. This story, which aired last week, is about a
baby born in that grey area between 22 and 25 weeks. It was a heart wrenching and emotional story
but we really enjoyed it.</span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.pbs.org/call-the-midwife/home/" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b>Call the Midwife</b></a><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> (PBS TV show) – I watched a lot of this earlier in the week when I was feeling
pathetic and crappy and spending all my time laying on the sofa.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Looking forward to</b><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> gorgeous spring day!!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Dinner with friends at our house this evening.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Easter dinner at Chad’s mom’s house tomorrow. Ham! Carrot cake!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I want to die Easter Eggs!! I hope we can make this happen.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Planting pumpkin seeds Sunday morning.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lazily waking up on Sunday morning with my husband with no reason to get out of bed.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yoga this afternoon to make up for Wednesday’s bust!</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Week 35 Photo</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here is a photo of me at the start of week 35 rocking the pregnancy cut offs!!! :)</span></div>
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Cats With Thumbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02040754404089698043noreply@blogger.com0