 |
| My Thursday Favorite Things! |
September 6, 2012
Thursday Favorite Things!
September 1, 2012
My Birth Story
"Okay... So I've updated my layout and changed a few things on my site... What the heck do I blog about now?" These were just a few of the thoughts running through my head over the past few hours as I've struggled with the subject of what will eventually be this blog post. Then it dawned on me. I never shared my birth story.
So here we go!
When I worked for Hertz Rent-A-Car, several co-workers and I made a betting pool on what day would be Gunner's birthday. Some said way before the 40 week mark because I was so huge... Others said a week or two after my due date because the first child is always late. Little did I know he would decide to come on his due date - February 16, 2011. It's funny to me that I'm writing that HE would decide to come on his due date because at my final doctor's appointment on February 15th, the Doctor penciled me in to arrive at 4 a.m. the next morning to be induced because of my blood pressure. I was NOT happy that I was going to be induced. I wanted him to come on his own. Anyways, after finding out I would be holding my little man within the next two days, I was instantly overwhelmed with the thought of the delivery and being a mother. I called Eric, told him the news, and we rushed to my mom's work where I sat bawling my eyes out. I couldn't believe after 9 months of either feeling sick or being extremely uncomfortable, this was about to happen. Saying that I was scared to death would be an understatement. I was petrified of the delivery, I was afraid of the induction, I was afraid of the catheter, I was afraid of the contractions... What if there are any complications? What if I hemorrhage? What if something is wrong with Gunner?
I think the appointment earlier that day set things into motion - I lost my mucus plug within 2 hours. After a series of other... um... lets just call them "events" I realized that this could be it! That evening Eric and I visited my parents. It was 7:00 p.m., we had just eaten supper and were sitting down watching television when I felt fluid trickling down my pants leg. I remember running down the hall screaming, "Oh my God! I think my water broke!" and freaking out because it was tinged with blood. I cleaned myself up as best as I could and left immediately for the hospital (thank goodness I had put the hospital bags in the car earlier that day). Upon our arrival, they put us in a nice little room, hooked me up to an IV, and started the routine dilation checks - I was only a fingertip dilated. I felt pretty pleased with myself at that point because I wasn't hurting too badly. Nothing more than a few stomach cramps, so we waited. I was so anxious I literally couldn't sleep. I started having more pain around 3 a.m., like "wake Eric up every 5 minutes while clenching his hand" pain. At 4:30 a.m., I was still only dilated one fingertip despite the pain, so they started the Pitocin drip. And that's when the real fun began...
No labor and delivery class could ever prepare me for what would happen next. About an hour later, the contractions started in my back before spreading to the front. That was the most awful pain I've ever felt in my life... And I was having them back to back! The nurses kept asking me if I was ready for the epidural, but i said no. I was clawing the sheets on the bed, squeezing any human arm that came near my person, screaming, and crying. I wanted to die of embarrassment because I graduated from Louisiana College with 3 of the nurses who were witness to my insanity. My Doctor also came in during this most painful time to break what was left of my water - it had only partially broken. At 8:45 a.m. I was checked for dilation again, but had only made it to a 3, so they increased the Pitocin again. My mom finally persuaded me to get the epidural, and it is the best thing I've ever done! I was able to get some sleep and visit with family for a while. They kept having to increase the Pitocin which led to more medicine pumped through the epidural so for the last several hours, I was a giggly, foggy mess. Finally the nurse said it was almost time. We needed to get the Doctor as soon as possible. The nurses propped my legs up and told me to push with each contraction. It took 5 pushes to get Gunner's head where they wanted it to be, and when the Doctor arrived, it took only one push to deliver him. I faintly remember Gunner being placed on my chest as the Doctor stitched me up... It was love at first sight. This baby was mine... all mine, and I couldn't wait to share my life with him! This is one of the most memorable days of my life, and I'm surprised I remember as much about it as I do because I spent most of it groggy from the epidural! I love looking at Gunner's newborn pictures because I relive this day every time I see them. I still look at Gunner, and I can't believe that Eric and I created something so wonderful!
♥
March 21, 2012
Nostalgia
Where does the time go? I feel like it was only yesterday I brought Gunner home from the hospital. He is growing so fast and has become such a sweet little person. I miss being able to sit and hold him like I used to. He is too busy now for that sort of thing! I was browsing through my iPod photo gallery and came across random pictures I've taken since the day be was born! I downloaded a picture editing app on my iPod called Camera + and tweaked a few pictures of him. A lot of them turned out great! Here are a few:
March 12, 2012
The Mommy Wars
Ever since I had Gunner, I noticed that there is this "Mommy War," waged between women. I was reminded of this as I nonchalantly browsed through Facebook and happened upon a Babycenter status post informing fellow mommies about the Gerber formula recall, which by the way is an involuntary recall - apparently the tub of formula is giving an "off" odor. I, being a glutton for reading (but not participating in) internet drama just had to check it out because this happens every single time formula is mentioned. The women who strictly breastfeed are making remarks along the lines of, "See? That's why I breastfeed! Breast milk has never been recalled," and the formula feeders are getting on the defensive as to why they don't breastfeed and highlight every single problem they ever had while breastfeeding. I was appalled at how both sides were treating one other. Some of the breast feeders were calling out formula feeders for not trying hard enough, not to mention the thousands of times "formula feeding cannot even compare to breast feeding" was mentioned. I find this amusing because most formula feeders DO realize that "breast is best." I actually saw a post saying, "Instead of making excuses as to why you failed at breastfeeding, why don't you support us who do?" And then cue the formula feeders calling the breast feeders "breastfeeding Nazis" and so on and so forth.
Why can't we all just get along? I theorize that both groups of women are doing this because they are seeking validation - Validation that they are doing the best they can for their children. And guess what? They ALL are! Breast feeders want a pat on the back for the sacrifice they are making for their children. Yes, it is a sacrifice. Monitoring every single thing that enters your mouth, breastfeeding in public which is actually frowned upon by some ignorant folks, shutting yourself in a room to either pump or feed your child if company is present, not to mention the possibility of pain, and the constant fear of a dwindling supply. It is hard work! I totally get it. I was one of those who did not succeed at breastfeeding, and I was totally heartbroken. This is where the formula feeders come in.
Before I became a parent, I was the perfect parent. I planned on strictly breastfeeding - formula feeding was NOT an option. It was actually to the point I was pretty snotty about it. I planned on making all of Gunner's baby food, cloth diapering 24/7, reading one book per day, teaching Gunner sign language, NO daycare, you name it, I had my plan set it stone. Now that Gunner is here, the only thing I do now is the cloth diapering. I would even consider it "semi" cloth-diapering because when we travel, I prefer to use disposable. I try to read to Gunner, but he doesn't sit still enough to listen to the entire story, so I probably read him one page of a story per day. Every two days or more if he is being fussy.
Being a mom has definitely humbled me, particularly in the area of breast feeding. I expected it to come naturally to me; hell, I'm a woman! That's what these suckers were designed to do! After 3 weeks of pain, bleeding, and crying (both me AND Gunner) until 5 am, I decided to pump. I pumped for 3 months, but my supply got worse and worse. I eventually switched to formula completely, and unfortunately I'm still ridden by guilt today. So what do the formula feeders want from other women? I would say more sensitivity. We are not bad moms because we formula feed. Gunner just turned one and is now drinking cow's milk, and reading some of the awful things I read brought me back exactly one year ago to all the problems and regrets that I had when I decided to formula feed.
What is the point to this insanely long post? It doesn't matter whether you breastfeed or formula feed, use disposable diapers or cloth diapers, have a natural no-meds birth or an epidural, feed your child homemade baby food or jarred food, vaccinate or not vaccinate. Guess what? Either way, in the end your baby is having his basic needs met. As long as that baby is hugged and kissed and feels loved, why are we nit-picking with one another? Who are we to judge what another parent does? We should be supporting each other through this journey! Parenthood is hard enough! At the end of the day, I think we all deserve a pat on the back!
Why can't we all just get along? I theorize that both groups of women are doing this because they are seeking validation - Validation that they are doing the best they can for their children. And guess what? They ALL are! Breast feeders want a pat on the back for the sacrifice they are making for their children. Yes, it is a sacrifice. Monitoring every single thing that enters your mouth, breastfeeding in public which is actually frowned upon by some ignorant folks, shutting yourself in a room to either pump or feed your child if company is present, not to mention the possibility of pain, and the constant fear of a dwindling supply. It is hard work! I totally get it. I was one of those who did not succeed at breastfeeding, and I was totally heartbroken. This is where the formula feeders come in.
Before I became a parent, I was the perfect parent. I planned on strictly breastfeeding - formula feeding was NOT an option. It was actually to the point I was pretty snotty about it. I planned on making all of Gunner's baby food, cloth diapering 24/7, reading one book per day, teaching Gunner sign language, NO daycare, you name it, I had my plan set it stone. Now that Gunner is here, the only thing I do now is the cloth diapering. I would even consider it "semi" cloth-diapering because when we travel, I prefer to use disposable. I try to read to Gunner, but he doesn't sit still enough to listen to the entire story, so I probably read him one page of a story per day. Every two days or more if he is being fussy.
Being a mom has definitely humbled me, particularly in the area of breast feeding. I expected it to come naturally to me; hell, I'm a woman! That's what these suckers were designed to do! After 3 weeks of pain, bleeding, and crying (both me AND Gunner) until 5 am, I decided to pump. I pumped for 3 months, but my supply got worse and worse. I eventually switched to formula completely, and unfortunately I'm still ridden by guilt today. So what do the formula feeders want from other women? I would say more sensitivity. We are not bad moms because we formula feed. Gunner just turned one and is now drinking cow's milk, and reading some of the awful things I read brought me back exactly one year ago to all the problems and regrets that I had when I decided to formula feed.
What is the point to this insanely long post? It doesn't matter whether you breastfeed or formula feed, use disposable diapers or cloth diapers, have a natural no-meds birth or an epidural, feed your child homemade baby food or jarred food, vaccinate or not vaccinate. Guess what? Either way, in the end your baby is having his basic needs met. As long as that baby is hugged and kissed and feels loved, why are we nit-picking with one another? Who are we to judge what another parent does? We should be supporting each other through this journey! Parenthood is hard enough! At the end of the day, I think we all deserve a pat on the back!
March 10, 2012
The Terrible Ones!
I've always heard other parents mention the "Terrible 2's" stage that their toddlers have gone through, but they somehow failed to mention the "Terrible 1's." Gunner has been having temper tantrum after temper tantrum, and he seems to have this mental checklist of things he shouldn't do and does them. Right. After. The. Other.
First he runs to the curtains in the living room and pulls on them (once it actually resulted in the curtains coming down), then he will grab Eric's computer headset and beat it on the floor, then he crawls into the kitchen and dumps out all the dog food and water, then he grabs Kleenex from the tissue box, scatters them about, and then finally tries to pull down all the decorative items on every table in the house. Repeat this over and over again, and we have a typical day in the Jordan house. He has also been pickier about his food, he only wants yogurt, bread, milk, and green beans, and he will flat out refuse his sippy cups - He throws them at me! Not to mention the constant crying and clinginess! I am really hoping this is just a phase because I may end up needing to be committed to an insane asylum! Not really, but it is pretty stressful to deal with. I'm sure the huge bump on the right side of his lower gums sure isn't helping.
And people are seriously wondering why I don't want anymore kids? I love my little Gunner to death, but sheesh!
First he runs to the curtains in the living room and pulls on them (once it actually resulted in the curtains coming down), then he will grab Eric's computer headset and beat it on the floor, then he crawls into the kitchen and dumps out all the dog food and water, then he grabs Kleenex from the tissue box, scatters them about, and then finally tries to pull down all the decorative items on every table in the house. Repeat this over and over again, and we have a typical day in the Jordan house. He has also been pickier about his food, he only wants yogurt, bread, milk, and green beans, and he will flat out refuse his sippy cups - He throws them at me! Not to mention the constant crying and clinginess! I am really hoping this is just a phase because I may end up needing to be committed to an insane asylum! Not really, but it is pretty stressful to deal with. I'm sure the huge bump on the right side of his lower gums sure isn't helping.
And people are seriously wondering why I don't want anymore kids? I love my little Gunner to death, but sheesh!
March 9, 2012
Easy Enchiladas
- 1 package of tortillas (I end up using about 8 tortillas total)
- 1 pound of lean ground hamburger meat
- 1 10 oz can of Rotel (your choice hot or mild)
- 1 10 oz can of Enchilada sauce (whatever type you prefer)
- 1 package fiesta blend shredded cheese.
Brown hamburger meat in a skillet and drain. Add can of Rotel and mix together. Spoon meat and Rotel mixture into tortillas, roll, and place in an 8x8 inch square pan. Follow these instructions until you have a row of filled tortillas. Drizzle Enchilada sauce on the tortillas until all tortillas are mostly covered. Sprinkle with the fiesta blend shredded cheese. Place in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese is melted, and the enchilada sauce is bubbling. Serve with a side of refried beans.
This meal is easy and DELICIOUS! One time I was so upset that my husband finished the leftovers, I had to have Enchiladas for supper again the very next evening!
- 1 pound of lean ground hamburger meat
- 1 10 oz can of Rotel (your choice hot or mild)
- 1 10 oz can of Enchilada sauce (whatever type you prefer)
- 1 package fiesta blend shredded cheese.
Brown hamburger meat in a skillet and drain. Add can of Rotel and mix together. Spoon meat and Rotel mixture into tortillas, roll, and place in an 8x8 inch square pan. Follow these instructions until you have a row of filled tortillas. Drizzle Enchilada sauce on the tortillas until all tortillas are mostly covered. Sprinkle with the fiesta blend shredded cheese. Place in the oven at 350 degrees until cheese is melted, and the enchilada sauce is bubbling. Serve with a side of refried beans.
This meal is easy and DELICIOUS! One time I was so upset that my husband finished the leftovers, I had to have Enchiladas for supper again the very next evening!
March 3, 2012
Crock-Pot Chicken and Sherry
This was an impromptu recipe as I had a ton of chicken and items in the kitchen that were starting to go bad. So what do you? Mix it all together! Here is a great recipe for even the most formal of occasions!
4 or 5 boneless chicken breasts
2.5 cups of Sherry cooking wine
2 handfuls of crinkle-cut (or baby) carrots
1 yellow onion, sliced
6 red potatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Thyme (to taste)
Combine Sherry cooking wine and flour in crock pot and stir until combined. Add chicken breasts, carrots, onion, and potatoes. Top with salt, pepper, and thyme to taste. There is a ton of flexibility with this recipe so add or subtract whatever you like! Set crock pot to 6 hours and serve over rice or noodles.
4 or 5 boneless chicken breasts
2.5 cups of Sherry cooking wine
2 handfuls of crinkle-cut (or baby) carrots
1 yellow onion, sliced
6 red potatoes, quartered
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Thyme (to taste)
Combine Sherry cooking wine and flour in crock pot and stir until combined. Add chicken breasts, carrots, onion, and potatoes. Top with salt, pepper, and thyme to taste. There is a ton of flexibility with this recipe so add or subtract whatever you like! Set crock pot to 6 hours and serve over rice or noodles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)