Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Ummm...
Did anyone else have these things pop up on their blog asking if the post was funny or interesting or whatev's? I can't figure it out...how do I get rid of them?
But then I'm struggling opening a door and not walking into walls...
Kelly Down
But then I'm struggling opening a door and not walking into walls...
Kelly Down
Feelin' the Pressure
Literally. I mean, she's pushin' down. YAY!
I had an uneventful doctors appointment, which is GREAT. I also discovered that my doctor has a lazy eye. Brett says this is my 57th discovery of this fact. I believe in placenta brain and will be writing a book about it as soon as I can remember what it is I'm writing about...oh yeah, placenta brain.
What were we talking about?
Anyway, I'm measuring at 34 weeks and have gained a whopping 13 lbs. WOOT!
I have seven weeks left of bed rest.
I will be nesting for the next 7 weeks. Which means, Brett will be nesting for the next 7 weeks. Which means, pray for Brett.
Kelly Down
I had an uneventful doctors appointment, which is GREAT. I also discovered that my doctor has a lazy eye. Brett says this is my 57th discovery of this fact. I believe in placenta brain and will be writing a book about it as soon as I can remember what it is I'm writing about...oh yeah, placenta brain.
What were we talking about?
Anyway, I'm measuring at 34 weeks and have gained a whopping 13 lbs. WOOT!
I have seven weeks left of bed rest.
I will be nesting for the next 7 weeks. Which means, Brett will be nesting for the next 7 weeks. Which means, pray for Brett.
Kelly Down
Bladder of Steel
I love Kegals.
I've sneezed 6 million times today, but haven't had to change my under-oo's.
I'm pregnant, I can talk about these things unabashedly.
On another, less uriney note, can you believe it's almost my birthday?
Well, I mean, can you believe it's almost the 4th of July?
I know, right. I'm so ready for Fireworks. And Red White and Blue everywhere. And BBQ's. And birthday presents.
Did I say that? No, I wrote it. Okay, good.
Happy Monday!
Kelly Down
I've sneezed 6 million times today, but haven't had to change my under-oo's.
I'm pregnant, I can talk about these things unabashedly.
On another, less uriney note, can you believe it's almost my birthday?
Well, I mean, can you believe it's almost the 4th of July?
I know, right. I'm so ready for Fireworks. And Red White and Blue everywhere. And BBQ's. And birthday presents.
Did I say that? No, I wrote it. Okay, good.
Happy Monday!
Kelly Down
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Feelin' Baaalluuuue
Today has been a rough (physical) day. I've been spoiled, disillusioned, with delicious pills that I now think I'm immune to. Is that the word? Immune? Anywho...deys ain't workin' so good no mo'.
Friday I was really sick, which was poopy (a very appropriate term for what I was going through) and I haven't slept well in several nights.
I'm feeling physically and emotionally exhausted. And I'm sure I'm the only woman 30 weeks pregnant who has ever felt this way.
But things are going to start looking up. TOMORROW.
I demand it.
So let it be said, so let it be done.
Kelly Down
Friday I was really sick, which was poopy (a very appropriate term for what I was going through) and I haven't slept well in several nights.
I'm feeling physically and emotionally exhausted. And I'm sure I'm the only woman 30 weeks pregnant who has ever felt this way.
But things are going to start looking up. TOMORROW.
I demand it.
So let it be said, so let it be done.
Kelly Down
Friday, June 25, 2010
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Cosleeping: What's Your Opinion?
I've been reading a fabulous book recommended by a friend called, "Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent" by Meredith F. Small. (If you click on the link, it will take you to a fairly good book review.)
And as books often do, this one has got me thinking.
And I'm coming to you for your opinion. Mainly, about cosleeping.
I'm frustrated that I have this fear of cosleeping. Mainly, that I'm going to kill my baby, because that's what all the books and pediatricians and consumer health reports tell me. But Meredith Small says that is unlikely, and that our babies biology is actually set up to cosleep. That we can help teach them to sleep by following our sleeping rhythms like breathing and heartbeats. This makes sense to me. Still, and I quote my mother-in-law here, "I was raised..."
But the funny thing is I wasn't raised thinking cosleeping was bad. In fact, (am I really about to share this information on the WWW?...) I slept with my parents until after I started school. Eeek.
So it isn't that I've been raised to think cosleeping is bad. It's that I'm a book worm, and the second I found out I was pregnant with numero uno five years 9 months ago, I started reading all the books I could get my hands on about babies.
And they all stressed a main theme about sleeping: do it separately. Not just do it separately, but also how often and how much and when a baby should sleep was stressed as well. And so when Cohen came along, I stressed about all those things. "He's not sleeping like the book said he should...not as long, not as often, not when..." and it was really hard as a new mom.
Of course, Cohen had medical problems that we didn't discover until he was 3 months, after which we had a whole new, fat, baby. And by then, his internal sleeping habits were well on there way to developing just fine, with or without the help of books. And, without cosleeping.
With Kembry, I let her lay in bed and nurse while I slept. So many people have condemned me for this. I'm not even kidding. "You could've rolled over and killed her!" Uh...not likely. Not only do I sleep lighter with her next to me, so does she. If I so much as tickled her arm, she'd squirm and squack. But my milk supply was there and ready whenever she needed it. It was easier for me. I didn't notice when she was awake and when she was asleep as much* as I would have had she not been laying with me. I didn't stress about the amount she received or when she received it. And she did just fine.
*(Let me clarify: when I say "as much" I mean, I didn't wake up completely, making it really hard for me to fall back to sleep, which is something I have problem with. I simply made myself available, almost still fully asleep. It was nice.)
So, I've done both, sort of. Kembry would go down in her bassinet next to my bed, alone, but ultimately wound up sleeping next to me. Some nights I would put her back, some nights I wouldn't. And we both survived.
Now I'm going to go all conspiracy theory on you. I question the motive behind Western thinking, and why cosleeping seems almost condemnable. Part of me questions why Consumer Safety and Health should have a say on the matter. Possibly because if we did cosleep, we wouldn't buy cribs, bedding, mobiles, stuffed animals, etc., as often as we do now. And let's face it, ours is a land of Planned Obsolescence (not that again, Kelly. Yes, that again.) But this doesn't seem to be a likely reason that the Pediatrics of America would agree that cosleeping is dangerous and bad.
I also feel like all the books and all the t.v. series and all the opinions we're getting befuddles our natural thinking. If we were tabula rasa going into parenting, would we naturally cosleep? I sort of think we would. Would we naturally breast feed? Um, yeah. I think we'd see the streams and milk and the squawking baby with her opening mouth and put two and two together. Would we stress about how much they ate? Probably only if they weren't thriving. Would we worry about how much they slept? Probably not.
What about the other partner in bed? Brett isn't too keen on cosleeping, but when I remind him about Kembry, he realizes he didn't even notice when she slept with us, and has to concede that it didn't bother him one iota. As compared with having to get out of bed with Cohen, wake myself up, feed him, then come back to bed and try to go back to sleep. Yeah, he noticed then as I tossed and turned and some nights just bawled because I couldn't go back to sleep.
And as I read more and more about it, I feel like cosleeping, at least for the first year, is the way to go. It makes sense. It feels right. But the American in me cringes at the idea of rolling over on my baby, or suffocating her with my blankets and pillows, or missing out on "better" sleep which they say I would get or intamacy with my husband (yeah, because I'm so keen on middle of the night romps now). I also don't dig the whole, "I need to sleep with mommy or I don't sleep at all," business. Which is one of the reasons I think putting Kembry down alone, and then bringing her to bed with me, was a smart thing to do.
What do you think? Don't be shy to share your opinion, I'm looking for honest thoughts and experiences.
Kelly Down
Here are some articles about this topic I've read thus far:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/cosleeping.html
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/the-risks-of-sleeping-with-your-baby/ (I kind of scoff at this article)
http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/faq.html (This is more of a website with several different pieces of information on cosleeping.)
http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/298_29656.asp (This is another one of those "scare you out of cosleeping "articles". And who doesn't trust March of Dimes? See, it's frustrating, all the mixed information we get...And again, why is CPSC giving it's opinion? "BUY MORE CRIBS!")
And as books often do, this one has got me thinking.
And I'm coming to you for your opinion. Mainly, about cosleeping.
I'm frustrated that I have this fear of cosleeping. Mainly, that I'm going to kill my baby, because that's what all the books and pediatricians and consumer health reports tell me. But Meredith Small says that is unlikely, and that our babies biology is actually set up to cosleep. That we can help teach them to sleep by following our sleeping rhythms like breathing and heartbeats. This makes sense to me. Still, and I quote my mother-in-law here, "I was raised..."
But the funny thing is I wasn't raised thinking cosleeping was bad. In fact, (am I really about to share this information on the WWW?...) I slept with my parents until after I started school. Eeek.
So it isn't that I've been raised to think cosleeping is bad. It's that I'm a book worm, and the second I found out I was pregnant with numero uno five years 9 months ago, I started reading all the books I could get my hands on about babies.
And they all stressed a main theme about sleeping: do it separately. Not just do it separately, but also how often and how much and when a baby should sleep was stressed as well. And so when Cohen came along, I stressed about all those things. "He's not sleeping like the book said he should...not as long, not as often, not when..." and it was really hard as a new mom.
Of course, Cohen had medical problems that we didn't discover until he was 3 months, after which we had a whole new, fat, baby. And by then, his internal sleeping habits were well on there way to developing just fine, with or without the help of books. And, without cosleeping.
With Kembry, I let her lay in bed and nurse while I slept. So many people have condemned me for this. I'm not even kidding. "You could've rolled over and killed her!" Uh...not likely. Not only do I sleep lighter with her next to me, so does she. If I so much as tickled her arm, she'd squirm and squack. But my milk supply was there and ready whenever she needed it. It was easier for me. I didn't notice when she was awake and when she was asleep as much* as I would have had she not been laying with me. I didn't stress about the amount she received or when she received it. And she did just fine.
*(Let me clarify: when I say "as much" I mean, I didn't wake up completely, making it really hard for me to fall back to sleep, which is something I have problem with. I simply made myself available, almost still fully asleep. It was nice.)
So, I've done both, sort of. Kembry would go down in her bassinet next to my bed, alone, but ultimately wound up sleeping next to me. Some nights I would put her back, some nights I wouldn't. And we both survived.
Now I'm going to go all conspiracy theory on you. I question the motive behind Western thinking, and why cosleeping seems almost condemnable. Part of me questions why Consumer Safety and Health should have a say on the matter. Possibly because if we did cosleep, we wouldn't buy cribs, bedding, mobiles, stuffed animals, etc., as often as we do now. And let's face it, ours is a land of Planned Obsolescence (not that again, Kelly. Yes, that again.) But this doesn't seem to be a likely reason that the Pediatrics of America would agree that cosleeping is dangerous and bad.
I also feel like all the books and all the t.v. series and all the opinions we're getting befuddles our natural thinking. If we were tabula rasa going into parenting, would we naturally cosleep? I sort of think we would. Would we naturally breast feed? Um, yeah. I think we'd see the streams and milk and the squawking baby with her opening mouth and put two and two together. Would we stress about how much they ate? Probably only if they weren't thriving. Would we worry about how much they slept? Probably not.
What about the other partner in bed? Brett isn't too keen on cosleeping, but when I remind him about Kembry, he realizes he didn't even notice when she slept with us, and has to concede that it didn't bother him one iota. As compared with having to get out of bed with Cohen, wake myself up, feed him, then come back to bed and try to go back to sleep. Yeah, he noticed then as I tossed and turned and some nights just bawled because I couldn't go back to sleep.
And as I read more and more about it, I feel like cosleeping, at least for the first year, is the way to go. It makes sense. It feels right. But the American in me cringes at the idea of rolling over on my baby, or suffocating her with my blankets and pillows, or missing out on "better" sleep which they say I would get or intamacy with my husband (yeah, because I'm so keen on middle of the night romps now). I also don't dig the whole, "I need to sleep with mommy or I don't sleep at all," business. Which is one of the reasons I think putting Kembry down alone, and then bringing her to bed with me, was a smart thing to do.
What do you think? Don't be shy to share your opinion, I'm looking for honest thoughts and experiences.
Kelly Down
Here are some articles about this topic I've read thus far:
http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/sleep/cosleeping.html
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/the-risks-of-sleeping-with-your-baby/ (I kind of scoff at this article)
http://www.nd.edu/~jmckenn1/lab/faq.html (This is more of a website with several different pieces of information on cosleeping.)
http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/298_29656.asp (This is another one of those "scare you out of cosleeping "articles". And who doesn't trust March of Dimes? See, it's frustrating, all the mixed information we get...And again, why is CPSC giving it's opinion? "BUY MORE CRIBS!")
Back to Behaving
The last couple of weeks have been great! Sad, but great!
Great, because Brett had some vacation days.
Great, because I wasn't alone for a looong time.
Great, because I got to see a lot of step-family I normally don't get to see.
Sad, because my sweet step-grandmother died.
But it was nice spending whole days at my step-moms', with the entire family there. Nice having the kids home with me every day. I even drove a few times (I love Terbulatine) though I really shouldn't have. Don't worry, I had Brett in the car with me the whole time!
So now it's back to behaving and being lonely. Yesterday was the first day, and it was a cold reminder of how much I dislike "bed rest" and day time t.v. Oh how I hate day time t.v.
So please blog. Please post. Tell me about the state of your butter, or the length of your grass that needs mowing, or the slobber coming out of your toddlers mouth. Heck, you can even tell me about your lactating experience if you want (I did!) haha.
I'm bored, and I'm needy. Just ask Brett.
Kelly Down (again)
Great, because Brett had some vacation days.
Great, because I wasn't alone for a looong time.
Great, because I got to see a lot of step-family I normally don't get to see.
Sad, because my sweet step-grandmother died.
But it was nice spending whole days at my step-moms', with the entire family there. Nice having the kids home with me every day. I even drove a few times (I love Terbulatine) though I really shouldn't have. Don't worry, I had Brett in the car with me the whole time!
So now it's back to behaving and being lonely. Yesterday was the first day, and it was a cold reminder of how much I dislike "bed rest" and day time t.v. Oh how I hate day time t.v.
So please blog. Please post. Tell me about the state of your butter, or the length of your grass that needs mowing, or the slobber coming out of your toddlers mouth. Heck, you can even tell me about your lactating experience if you want (I did!) haha.
I'm bored, and I'm needy. Just ask Brett.
Kelly Down (again)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Stress Is Poopy
I am convinced that stress has a direct link to these little contractions of mine. I know there's no scientific documentation to back this up *chuckle*, but I'm convinced.
Convinced I say.
Brett and I were discussing this incident, and my contractions started getting really hard and closer together the angrier I got. Needless to say, we changed the subject.
And now Brett has both my little children up the tree.
Maybe I should call labor and delivery now, since we'll be on our way to the E.R anyway for head lacerations or broken arms or eye balls popping out...
Kelly Stressed
(Haha, I said that in my mind like "HULK MAD!" Oh dear...I make myself laugh...it's the little things...)
Convinced I say.
Brett and I were discussing this incident, and my contractions started getting really hard and closer together the angrier I got. Needless to say, we changed the subject.
And now Brett has both my little children up the tree.
Maybe I should call labor and delivery now, since we'll be on our way to the E.R anyway for head lacerations or broken arms or eye balls popping out...
Kelly Stressed
(Haha, I said that in my mind like "HULK MAD!" Oh dear...I make myself laugh...it's the little things...)
How The...What The...Who The...?
I'm lactating. Already.
Not like stream of golden milk, or anything. Just the occasional, "What's that on my shirt right near my nipple?"
Sorry men. Wait, do any men read this blog? *Tap Tap* this thing on?
Oh well, testosterone is over rated, if you ask me. Though, the extra estrogen I seem to be puttin' out could probably take a step back...
Anywho, please keep all babies, baby smells, baby names, baby thoughts and baby carrots away from me for the time being. My milk ducts are on overdrive.
What's that moving in my uterus? CRAP! Well, there goes the spicket.
Kelly Down
Not like stream of golden milk, or anything. Just the occasional, "What's that on my shirt right near my nipple?"
Sorry men. Wait, do any men read this blog? *Tap Tap* this thing on?
Oh well, testosterone is over rated, if you ask me. Though, the extra estrogen I seem to be puttin' out could probably take a step back...
Anywho, please keep all babies, baby smells, baby names, baby thoughts and baby carrots away from me for the time being. My milk ducts are on overdrive.
What's that moving in my uterus? CRAP! Well, there goes the spicket.
Kelly Down
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
You May Also Like
