I'm a little behind on my 30 day challenge, but I've got them typed out at least. I won't bombard them on here all at once, I'll just randomly post them over the next few days to catch up.
Unknown Author: "Instead of giving myself reasons why I can't, I give myself reasons why I can."
I saw this quote and knew I needed to use it for my writer’s challenge for WEGO today. I don’t live by it, that’s for sure. It is how I’d like to live my life though. I wish I knew who said this because it is very powerful in a subtle way. In almost everything I do each day I find negative reasons not to do something or negative reasons that are forcing me to do something. I need to look at the bigger picture and look into the positives of things more often. I think in general as a society we are trained to be negative and not try and look at the positive spin on things.
For instance, don’t say you can’t run tonight because you have a load of laundry, say you CAN run tonight because you need to cut out a little bit of time for yourself and do something good for your body.
Instead of saying “I can’t go to the dentist this week because I’m just too busy at work,” tell yourself, “I can schedule my appointment for my cleaning during my lunch hour,” and make time for it because it is important for your body and overall being.
A big thing is telling yourself that you can’t cook a healthy meal because you don’t have anything fresh on hand. Plenty of healthy meals can come out of the freezer and pantry! Defrost some chicken breasts, sauté up some frozen veggies and serve it over brown rice.
It is my belief that most of the time people use the negatives and say they can’t do something because really they just don’t want to, not because they truly aren’t capable of doing it.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Health Time Capsule
2112 – 100 years from now. I’m going to guess I won’t be around then, as that would make me 130, almost 131. If I were to put things in a time capsule that would show my health focus right now, they would scream “Dairy free!”
I’ve been desperately searching the interwebs for meal plans and diets that involve dairy free eating and I’m just not coming up with a lot of appealing prospects. I’ve always been an avid milk drinker and don’t even get me started on the cheese consumption in our household.
I would include the containers to some dairy free products in my capsule as I’m sure in 100 years they will have hopefully changed for the better and people can see where they started at with these types of products. Going dairy free, especially for breastfeeding, is becoming more popular and acknowledged these days. I’d hope that in 100 years there is much more research on this and people are able to more easily adapt their diets to restrict the dairy products they are using.
I’d also love to throw in a pair of running shoes as that is where my butt needs to get in gear these days. I feel a thousand times better about myself when I’ve been actively running and why not, it’s such a healthy way to get in exercise and relieve some stress. I’m sure people won’t question the running shoes one bit and that it will be something people are still out there doing.
Overall I would hope to be able to show people where things came from and hopefully give them an idea of how far they have advanced in 100 years.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Health Activisty Writer's 30 Day Challenge
Hey everyone - I just wanted to tell you about a new activity I'll be doing this April. The Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. I will be writing a post a day for all 30 days. I hope you'll join me in writing every day about health. It's going to be a lot of fun and I'd love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. All you have to do to join is sign up here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012 and you'll be able to start posting once April rolls around. Looking forward to writing with you!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Still pumping away
Well the visit with the LC was a bust (no pun intended) in regards to getting my baby boy to latch. She feels that if I had come to her sooner (before 6 weeks old) that there may have been more we could do, but at this point it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
While there I did get two things to help me in other ways. I got a hands free bra to pump with, which I love! I can pump both sides AND play my word games on my iPhone.
Then she talked me into a wrap to wear Hayden around in. I absolutely love it and Hayden does too. Here's a picture from last weekend of us cuddling in it.
While there I did get two things to help me in other ways. I got a hands free bra to pump with, which I love! I can pump both sides AND play my word games on my iPhone.
Then she talked me into a wrap to wear Hayden around in. I absolutely love it and Hayden does too. Here's a picture from last weekend of us cuddling in it.
He fell asleep a little bit after this picture and stayed snuggled in there for a large portion of the day. I wish I would have started wearing him before he was 4 months old!
In other news I think I'm going to dig my book, "The Love Dare" back out and do the project and complete it this time! Hopefully I can sit down this weekend with the book, read it and organize how I'd like to tackle it. In addition to that I'm going to finish Hayden's birth story and share it on here.
Have a Happy Wednesday!
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Hayden's 4 month stats
Hayden had his four month appointment on Friday, which included a check-up and shots. Poor guy. At his two month appointment you could find his mother hidden in the corner crying while his father held his hand and he wailed like there was no tomorrow. I just couldn’t handle it. My plan was to be stronger for this appointment and let him know I was there for him. My plan worked out. I was the one holding both of his hands while he kicked happily and the nurse jabbed him with a few needles. As soon as the needles hit his legs he burst into crocodile size tears. My heart just broke for him. I know it's for the best but it doesn't make it any easier to watch my baby go through pain.
Hayden is very close to sitting up on his own. He can do it for about 3 seconds before he falls forward from his top half of his body being so heavy to him. He is rolling from front to back with no problem at all, but when he is on his back he will only roll onto his side, not his belly. He is so close though. His arm on that happens to be on the bottom just gets in the way, other than that he'd be rolling all over the place.
He loves his gym mat and if you lay him on it, he can do a complete 360 around it by picking his legs up, kicking them to the side and using the legs of the gym as leverage to get himself turned. One night I was lying on the floor with him and his head was near mine, next thing I knew he was completely turned so that his butt was up near my face!
He giggled for the first time on Thursday, 3/15. It was the sweetest sound. I’m so lucky that Hubby was able to capture it on video.
After his 2 month appointment he was fine. He was a little tired for a few days, but this time was different. After dinner on Friday night he started wailing and was inconsolable for a large portion of the evening. At 4 a.m. on Saturday morning he woke up with a fever of 101.6. He got his first dose of Tylenol and I didn’t leave his side the rest of the weekend. He spent a lot of time sleeping on me or cuddled up with me and by Saturday evening my sweet baby boy was back.
At his appointment his head circumference was 42.5 cm, he weighed a whopping 14 lbs 13 oz and had grown to 25 1/8 inches long. The nurse who first measured him said he was only 23 3/4 inches long but that meant he’d only grown 1/2 inch in a little over two months. I was kind of worried, but then the pediatrician came in and said that couldn’t possibly be right and re-measured him for us. That was a load of relief! He already has my height working against him.
The pediatrician also okayed the use of cereal at this point and said around five months we can start introducing other foods in his diet if he’s okay with the cereal.
These four months have flown by, I can’t imagine what the next four months will hold.
Hayden is very close to sitting up on his own. He can do it for about 3 seconds before he falls forward from his top half of his body being so heavy to him. He is rolling from front to back with no problem at all, but when he is on his back he will only roll onto his side, not his belly. He is so close though. His arm on that happens to be on the bottom just gets in the way, other than that he'd be rolling all over the place.
He loves his gym mat and if you lay him on it, he can do a complete 360 around it by picking his legs up, kicking them to the side and using the legs of the gym as leverage to get himself turned. One night I was lying on the floor with him and his head was near mine, next thing I knew he was completely turned so that his butt was up near my face!
He giggled for the first time on Thursday, 3/15. It was the sweetest sound. I’m so lucky that Hubby was able to capture it on video.
After his 2 month appointment he was fine. He was a little tired for a few days, but this time was different. After dinner on Friday night he started wailing and was inconsolable for a large portion of the evening. At 4 a.m. on Saturday morning he woke up with a fever of 101.6. He got his first dose of Tylenol and I didn’t leave his side the rest of the weekend. He spent a lot of time sleeping on me or cuddled up with me and by Saturday evening my sweet baby boy was back.
At his appointment his head circumference was 42.5 cm, he weighed a whopping 14 lbs 13 oz and had grown to 25 1/8 inches long. The nurse who first measured him said he was only 23 3/4 inches long but that meant he’d only grown 1/2 inch in a little over two months. I was kind of worried, but then the pediatrician came in and said that couldn’t possibly be right and re-measured him for us. That was a load of relief! He already has my height working against him.
The pediatrician also okayed the use of cereal at this point and said around five months we can start introducing other foods in his diet if he’s okay with the cereal.
These four months have flown by, I can’t imagine what the next four months will hold.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Giggles
The day I looked forward to finally came last Thursday, 3/15. Hayden giggled, truly, for the first time and his Daddy captured it on camera while they sat on our porch waiting for me to get home from work. I cried watching the video, then we made him do it again to show his momma.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Pumping
When Hayden was born I tried to nurse, really I tried, but I have nerve damage from my reduction I had in high school and every time he tried to latch, I’d fall flat. The lactation nurse kept working with me but I was so frustrated and Hayden was even more frustrated that I just kept pumping and my milk came in rather quickly. The nurses were impressed how fast it came in, so we just kept at it with the pumping. Hayden was born on a Friday and we were home on Monday. By Wednesday I had a good electric pump.
The early days were HARD. I just can’t get over how much I was doing. I washed 20 bottles per day, Hayden was eating out of Avent bottles about eight times per day and I was pumping six times each day, using two Medela bottles at a time, that came with my pump. I wasn’t even pumping as often as I was supposed to. Looking back now, I’ve learned that I needed to be a little more disciplined about it and more organized if I wanted it to work long-term. Hayden is 4 months old now and I’m still going strong. I’m not making enough for him, he’s using almost eight ounces of formula each day, but I’m giving him something and that’s what mattered most to me. Nothing was natural about my pregnancy. It took me three years to get pregnant and that was with numerous drugs, procedures and two losses. I ended up with an emergency c-section, which is not what I wanted. I stressed the entire pregnancy about whether or not I would be able to nurse Hayden at all. I struggled with the thoughts of whether or not it was a huge mistake to have a reduction when I was younger (yes, it was, but that’s another story). So if nothing else, I wanted to be able to nurse Hayden, which I can’t, but I can pump and he gets the same benefits at least.
Some things I learned for any future babies we have, if I decide to be an exclusive pumper:
· Have a designated place in the home to pump and make it as comfortable as possible.
· Have a spot for a drink (water!), my iPad or laptop and the remote control for the television. It’s important to make this “me time” because you’re already spending time away from the family most likely and it can feel a little resentful to have to do this so often. I read some good tips a few weeks ago on another blog and the mother pointed out that if she could go back, she wouldn’t have spent so much time pumping and spent more time with her family. (You can find her post about increasing your supply here.
· Pump as often as the baby eats BUT (this is the important part) pump AFTER he is done eating. Too many times I would decide it was time to start pumping and lo and behold I had a hungry baby on my hands and would have to stop, lose a good suction and sometimes get distracted and not pump for quite some time afterwards.
· Request a written policy at work regarding nursing mothers. I’m having troubles where I’m only allowed to use my lunch hour to pump, broken up into three breaks of 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 15 minutes. There’s another woman at work in a different division who is allowed to pump 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon and in addition to that take an hour lunch to go home and nurse her son. I’d love to be able to visit Hayden at lunch but I don’t want to make a stink about it and ruin what the other woman has going because I’m sure that’s what would happen, not that they’d let me have that hour to go home also.
Finally, before I even decide to be an exclusive pumper again, I'm going to meet with a specialist lactation consultant. It was recommended to me to do this with Hayden when he was first born, but the place was an hour away and we just kept making excuses for not going down there and checking it out. I just spoke with the consultant and we have an appointment next Thursday to see if she can even help at this point. It's $30, which isn't bad at all. Any future children I have, if I have a c-section again, I will make it a point to book time with this consultant the day the baby is born and have her come to the hospital and help me since the lactation consultant/nurses at the hospital weren't able to help me that much.
I hope these tips and my ramblings can help anyone else who is faced with exclusive pumping. It's a hard job but I am glad I'm doing it.
The early days were HARD. I just can’t get over how much I was doing. I washed 20 bottles per day, Hayden was eating out of Avent bottles about eight times per day and I was pumping six times each day, using two Medela bottles at a time, that came with my pump. I wasn’t even pumping as often as I was supposed to. Looking back now, I’ve learned that I needed to be a little more disciplined about it and more organized if I wanted it to work long-term. Hayden is 4 months old now and I’m still going strong. I’m not making enough for him, he’s using almost eight ounces of formula each day, but I’m giving him something and that’s what mattered most to me. Nothing was natural about my pregnancy. It took me three years to get pregnant and that was with numerous drugs, procedures and two losses. I ended up with an emergency c-section, which is not what I wanted. I stressed the entire pregnancy about whether or not I would be able to nurse Hayden at all. I struggled with the thoughts of whether or not it was a huge mistake to have a reduction when I was younger (yes, it was, but that’s another story). So if nothing else, I wanted to be able to nurse Hayden, which I can’t, but I can pump and he gets the same benefits at least.
Some things I learned for any future babies we have, if I decide to be an exclusive pumper:
· Have a designated place in the home to pump and make it as comfortable as possible.
· Have a spot for a drink (water!), my iPad or laptop and the remote control for the television. It’s important to make this “me time” because you’re already spending time away from the family most likely and it can feel a little resentful to have to do this so often. I read some good tips a few weeks ago on another blog and the mother pointed out that if she could go back, she wouldn’t have spent so much time pumping and spent more time with her family. (You can find her post about increasing your supply here.
· Pump as often as the baby eats BUT (this is the important part) pump AFTER he is done eating. Too many times I would decide it was time to start pumping and lo and behold I had a hungry baby on my hands and would have to stop, lose a good suction and sometimes get distracted and not pump for quite some time afterwards.
· Request a written policy at work regarding nursing mothers. I’m having troubles where I’m only allowed to use my lunch hour to pump, broken up into three breaks of 15 minutes, 30 minutes and 15 minutes. There’s another woman at work in a different division who is allowed to pump 15 minutes in the morning and afternoon and in addition to that take an hour lunch to go home and nurse her son. I’d love to be able to visit Hayden at lunch but I don’t want to make a stink about it and ruin what the other woman has going because I’m sure that’s what would happen, not that they’d let me have that hour to go home also.
Finally, before I even decide to be an exclusive pumper again, I'm going to meet with a specialist lactation consultant. It was recommended to me to do this with Hayden when he was first born, but the place was an hour away and we just kept making excuses for not going down there and checking it out. I just spoke with the consultant and we have an appointment next Thursday to see if she can even help at this point. It's $30, which isn't bad at all. Any future children I have, if I have a c-section again, I will make it a point to book time with this consultant the day the baby is born and have her come to the hospital and help me since the lactation consultant/nurses at the hospital weren't able to help me that much.
I hope these tips and my ramblings can help anyone else who is faced with exclusive pumping. It's a hard job but I am glad I'm doing it.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Yeah...I've been busy
See, I've been busy with this
That turned into this
But now has turned into this
Meet Hayden James. He was born via emergency c-section on 11/11/11 at 9:38 p.m.
More on his birth story this weekend, but I'm going to try and start writing here more. I need an outlet. Especially when I'm stuck away from those beautiful blue eyes for hours on end each day.
That turned into this
But now has turned into this
Meet Hayden James. He was born via emergency c-section on 11/11/11 at 9:38 p.m.More on his birth story this weekend, but I'm going to try and start writing here more. I need an outlet. Especially when I'm stuck away from those beautiful blue eyes for hours on end each day.
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