Posted by: smottram in Untagged on
Jul 31, 2008
I lay in bed with my eyes wide open. My husband, John was fast asleep.
All the signs of pregnancy were there -missed period, tender breasts, and I just felt like something was going on inside my body. But I had not taken a pregnancy test yet.
I snuck out of bed, opened the pregnancy test and with the first pee of the morning (recommended by my test) took my home pregnancy test. Then, I waited. While it was only three minutes, it seemed like forever. My heart was pounding because deep down inside, I knew I was pregnant. The small screen finally filled with the word "Pregnant." My mind was racing with thoughts of my body changing, caring for a baby, and how John and my family would feel.
I decided to wait until later that day to tell John. I wanted to do something special. It was the Friday before our anniversary and we were headed up to Seattle for a quick getaway. At lunchtime, I ran to the store and bought some little white booties. I was going to wrap them up and give
Posted by: familybirthcenter in Untagged on
Jul 28, 2008
When I was 27 weeks pregnant with my second baby I was put on bed rest because, my cervix had begun to efface and dilate. I was given medication to control my contractions and was told to stay in bed at all times and only get out of bed to go to the bathroom or take a short shower every other day. These orders to be on complete bed rest with medication would be for the next ten weeks. My only thought was, "Oh my gosh, could we make it for ten weeks?"
I was not sure. This seemed impossible considering I had a two year old at home. Thankfully, my mother lived about a mile from my family and was willing to help. She came over every day to pick up my house a little and then took my little girl to her house. That part was difficult for me because, I felt alone and missed my daughter very much. However, I was not in a position to ask my mom for more than she was already giving. I needed focus on the positive because, I noticed when I became stressed my contractions would pick up to
No matter how many times an expectant mother is warned about the baby blues, when they set in, it feels like you've been hit with a hormonal brick. I did not expect in my wildest nightmares that I would be suseptible to postpartum depression in any form. I had prepared thoroughly, had a supportive husband and family, and had no history of depression. Additionally, labor with my first daughter went incredibly smoothly. If I could make it through childbirth "successfully" what else was there to fear? Or, more to the point, what did I have to be depressed about? Even when we left the hospital and headed home, where my mother (who is also a doula - how convenient!) was staying with us for a week, I felt like I had everything under control.
Then came the first night away from the hospital. At this point I had probably gone at least 36 hours with very minimal sleep, and part of that was spent working hard to birth a baby! Lack of sleep + overwhelming responsibility of a dependent
Posted by: drchang in Pregnancy Delivery on
Jul 24, 2008
Hello, again. It's been awhile since my last entry. My parents have been in town, and the weather has been great. I haven't spent nearly as much time in front of the computer!
Anyway, I was reading some of the comments readers have left in response to my ramblings, and one stood out to me. A lady was speaking of how difficult a miscarriage was for her. I've seen many women through this horrible time. Being a dad, I can hardly imagine a harder time. I've had people say to me that a miscarriage is easier than losing a child. I agreed with that until I spoke with so many women who have gone through miscarriages early in pregnancy or fetal demises later on in pregnancy. That fetus is every bit a person's child. The loss is just as great. What can I say? There really is nothing to say. I hold my patients' hands; I pray with them, but in the end, they have to go home and be alone with their feelings.
For any of you who know people going through this, just be there for them if
Posted by: nikkik in Postnatal Parenting on
Jul 12, 2008
I was sneaky when my first daughter was a toddler. Per advice from my own mother, I secretly laced her apple juice with carrots to add a little somethin' somethin' in the nutrition department. Here's how I did it:
Cut up several carrots, add water to cover about half the carrots, and steam until very soft.
Pour carrots and water into a blender and puree until liquified.
Pour mixture into an ice tray and freeze to create individual-sized carrot ice cubes.
Each time you serve your little one juice, add a carrot cube and a boost of Vitamin A!
You could potentially do this with many different veggies (I occassionally used green beans and beets), I just found that carrots had the right consistency and my daughter really liked the taste of the apple/carrot blend.
Read More...
Posted by: smottram in Untagged on
Jul 08, 2008
We had it all planned out - my Mom came down from Seattle about two days before my scheduled induction. We spent the last few days "pre-baby" relishing in the anticipation and her assuring me that I would have an easy labor just like she did. My induction date was delayed three days - it seemed like three weeks.
After a wonderful experience at the hospital, we brought baby home on the Fouth of July. My Mom had planned a party for our homecoming with friends and family for that evening. What a great way to welcome baby home, I thought. What I didn't realize was how utterly exhausted we would be. I was delighted to show off our baby, but it was difficult to do anything but nurse him, get something in my stomach and keep my eyes open.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have given ourselves a least a couple of days of recuperation time before throwing a party in honor of our newest arrival. My friend Rebecca enforced a two week "no visitors" rule after their daughter was
Posted by: drchang in Pregnancy Delivery on
Jul 05, 2008
I know, I know. A lot of you are thinking, "Uh, I'm not very active when I'm NOT pregnant much less during pregnancy..." HA!HA! Well, that may be true for a lot of folks, but believe it or not there is a significant population of women that doesn't want to stop exercising during pregancy. To y'all, I say.."Go for it."
Exercise during pregnancy is not only OK, but good for you. Ever wonder why they call it "labor" at the end? Cuz it's work. It's nice to be in good cardiovascular shape when you ahve to strain with all of your strength for 3 hours straight. Also, exercise during pregnancy is perfectly safe. There are certain complications of pregnancy that will preclude you from exercising. Your doctor should obviously know what those are.
A couple of other things to remember are the following. Number one - use common sense. Falling is a bad thing in pregnancy. Therefore, any activity that results in possibly losing your balance is bad. Skiing, skating, biking, just to
Posted by: nikkik in Preconception on
Jul 01, 2008
When considering marriage, and eventually starting a family of your own, it's incredibly important to, as Dr. Laura Schlessinger says, "Choose wisely, treat kindly." I've only been married 8 years, but I have learned a thing or two about relationships and how important it is to think through the choice of marriage. In my opinion, love is simply not enough when it comes to building a life with another person. It's more like a business deal than a summer fling, although it's imperative that love is there as well. In other words, the ideal partner is someone whom you love passionately, but with whom you can also agree on important co-habitating and child-rearing issues such as:
religion
education
money
parenting styles
living location
Deciding to have children is a decision that will affect your and your child's life forever, and bind you to the baby's parent, so be sure you choose your spouse well. Then treat that spouse with love and respect the rest of your days. The positive impact on
