It’s So Close!
I’m a member of an online group of women who are all due in March. There’s about 30 of us or so, and we all have similar goals for our childbirth experience, how we want to raise or kids, and lead similar lifestyles. We live all over the country, but we talk every day. It’s been the most amazing support group ever. Over the course of our pregnancies, our due dates have been moved around, we’ve learned about minor health complications, and we’ve even lost a couple babies. We honestly consider each other to be very close and dear friends. The first of the group’s babies was born yesterday. I’m eager to read the birth story as soon as Mama recovers enough to share, but in the mean time, we’re getting labor updates from a second mama who went into labor last night. We have established a phone chain to
Pre-Breastfeeding Advice
I’ve pretty much always known how I wanted to raise my kids, specifically all the little things about taking care of babies. My mom was a WIC lady while I was growing up, so I was constantly surrounded by pro-breastfeeding messages and even had the privilege of getting some first hand lessons from my mom and older sisters. At times it was kind of awkward having my mother use her own breast for a close up anatomy lesson, but it was good information to obtain. Now that I’m closing in on my own adventure with motherhood, the advice (and criticisms, for that matter) have started up all over again. I plan to exclusively breast feed (EBF) for the first year of Arbor’s life, then begin introducing solids after that. Furthermore, I don’t plan to wean her. She’ll quit when she’s good and ready. Yes, this is where the criticisms begin.
Falling Into A Routine
While I may be nesting, which proves a very effective way of temporarily getting my house clean, it is exactly that: temporary. I am in desperate need of a system that will help me to fall into a cleaning routine. When I was a kid, my three older siblings and I would clean the kitchen every night after dinner, which included washing, drying and putting away dishes, cleaning all of the counter tops and everything that sits on them, and sweeping the floors. On Saturdays, we would have “thorough chores” that included changing the sheets, dusting, moving furniture to vacuum carpeted floors, sweeping and mopping (on hands and knees) hard floors, scrubbing bathrooms from ceiling to floor with bleach to get up any mold that may have started growing and any other intense chores that needed to be done. All before 10:00 am when my mother woke up. While that system
Oh That’s Right…I’m Pregnant
It seems that this week I realized I am pregnant. Let me give you a little background as to explain what I mean. It took us about a year to get pregnant with Elli. Granted we did not have to go through what many couples go through, but we did have to use infertility medicine and there were many “not pregnant” tests before we saw a “pregnant” one. We found out we were expecting on our 3 year wedding anniversary and I instantly started Googling baby names, nursery decor, and what to eat when pregnant lists. I took pictures of my growing belly and documented everything we did to prepare. This time around we got pregnant right away and I felt so blessed. This time we found out we were pregnant on the day Hurricane Irene hit. We lost every tree in our yard, our shed was crushed, and the
Nesting At The Most Inopportune Times
The other night, I got this intense urge to deep clean the bathroom. I mean take everything out, get on my hands and knees with a green scratch pad and a can of cleaner, and just scrub everything. Evidently, this was at about 9:00 at night. By this hour, I’m usually brushing my teeth, not scrubbing a bathtub. The only time I ever clean obsessively is if I’m upset about something; I suppose I find cleaning to be soothing and a way to regain some control. My husband cautiously craned his head over the couch and asked “…are you… Nesting?” I chuckled a little to myself at his observation. “Yes, I think I am.” Now if only I could keep up this nesting nonsense long enough to make the whole house sparkle at the same time. Last week, it was the floors that triggered a nesting instinct. I just decided the
