Great message, terrible delivery

I ran across this photo on Facebook. What a great message to share, but it would have been even better if those babies were being "worn" properly!

The baby on the right looks like she is practically going to fall out of that Bjorn!

Here are some good tips for how to safely and comfortably wear your baby if you're not quite sure what's wrong with the photo.

post partum TMI post

If you are one of the few men who read this blog, I recommend you close your browser instead of reading this post. If you're my cousin (hi Jake!), husband, dad, or anyone else related to me, I especially recommend you do so! This is just for the girls.

This post is inspired by my inability to control my bladder this morning while jumping rope. Yep, I peed myself. In public. Awesome. Since some of you are currently expecting your first child, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of what joys you can possibly look forward to after having your baby!

So, here are a few things that are happening at 7 months post-partum:

• Hair Loss: My hair is still falling out like crazy. Post-partum hair loss usually starts somewhere around 3 months post-partum. Apparently our hair doesn't fall out during pregnancy, and then once all the pregnancy hormones leave the body, all that hair that we had throughout pregnancy begins to shed like crazy. I HATE this stage. For several months, my hair has been falling out everywhere- clumps in the shower, stray hairs in the most random of places like Audrey's diaper or my morning cup of coffee. It's EVERYWHERE and it's SO GROSS.

• Crooked Boobies: My left boob is at least a full cup size bigger than my right! It's from nursing more often on my left side because it's a more comfortable position for me to hold Audrey. My left boob has clearly become the overachiever and produces way more milk and with a much faster let down. I've tried halfheartedly to even them out by nursing more on the right, but since the let down is faster on the left, it's just easier to start there and then Audrey doesn't nurse as vigorously on the right. I assume that they will even back out again once I stop nursing and they shrivel into saggy little raisin boobies. 

•  Bladder Incontinence: Until today, I thought I was doing pretty well with the whole bladder control thing. I've done my Kegels and I don't pee when I sneeze or laugh, like many moms I know. But oh, boy, I cannot jump rope without peeing all over myself! My workout crew did some circuit training this morning that involved some jump roping, and I literally could not jump rope without my bladder completely losing control. Pee was running down my leg. It was extremely embarassing until I mentioned it to another mom friend next to me, and she admitted that the same thing was happening to her! And then another mom piped in too. (Cue Adam Sandler in Billy Madison: "you ain't cool, unless you pee your pants!"

Beyond that, my body is back to normal at 7 months post-partum, more or less. That's the good news.

And here are just a few of the things you can look forward to immediately post-partum, before I get mommy amnesia and forget all about them:

• You will be swollen and hurt. Take everything that the hospital stocks in the recovery room home with you- especially the Tucks pads and the big huge mesh underwear. And the 5 million extra-large pads. (God, I loved those mesh underwear!)
• Your stomach will look like a weird deflated balloon after birth. It goes away, so don't freak out. I avoided looking at and touching my stomach because it just felt weird and icky. I was able to start sleeping on my stomach again a few days after birth, though, and that was awesome!!
• It will feel like your uterus is going to fall out of your body when you take your first walk around the block. I think it was just my organs kind of finding their place in my body or something, but it was an incredibly weird and unsettling feeling.
• Your boobs will be HUGE, HARD, and HOT when your milk comes in. (2-5 days post-birth). It is extremely uncomfortable until the engorgement subsides. (tip: nurse as much as possible and pump when it gets really bad, especially if you're too engorged for baby to latch properly.) On the plus side, I enjoyed the short time that i looked like a porn star!
• You will be very, very tired. And this will probably never end until your children go to college, so get used to it! hahahaha

Have I scared anyone yet? It's not really that bad...most of the time! I'd love to hear from other moms about your post-partum experiences...I know I've left a lot out!

things that make me feel good

I'm finding it hard to have the time to sit down and write much at length that is any way cohesive, but I'd like to include a few photos to tell my stories instead. Here's a few things that are making me feel good this week.

Feeling good that: I live close to much of my extended family so that Juliet and Audrey have the opportunity to know their aunts, grandpa, great aunts, and great grandma. I want to keep the memory of my aunt Sue playing "Pony Girl" with Juliet, and running with Juliet on her shoulders; and also to keep the memory of my Grandma holding Audrey and just loving on my girls. Grandma is always in awe of how much hair Juliet has and now that Audrey is getting some soft hair too, she just loves to rub her soft little head. I'm so grateful that we can live near my family so that my daughters can get so much love!

Feeling good that: Audrey is growing so well! I love her chunky little thighs. This isn't the best photo, but it shows Audrey (7 months) wearing a pair of 12 month pants, and still the button won't fit! She's hardly eating any solids, so this is pretty much the result of all mama's breastmilk. And that makes me happy!

"Why are you shoving that camera in my face again?!"

Feeling good that: my daughters adore each other. I can't believe I ever worried so much that Juliet wouldn't be able to have enough attention. She LOVES Audrey so dearly.

Felt good to: Help. I was in charge of our small group's compassion project, which was to prepare brown bag lunches for the hungry in downtown Fullerton. It was a small project, but it felt good to lead and to serve.

Feeling good: that Juliet is just in the cutest stage, ever. She has had the verbal "explosion" that I kept hearing about. This morning she started saying "Ready, Set, Go!" along with me while I was playing with her and having her race through the house.

And she is also saying "Please" and "Thank you" when encouraged, and that feels awesome- that my daughter is learning to be polite and well-mannered, since it often feels like I'm running a zoo!

My other favorite new word that she's saying is "Baba", which is the name that she has chosen for her Grandpa (my dad). It just warms my heart that she is developing a relationship with him and that she has chosen a special name just for him, all by herself.

She's starting to really enjoy reading books together, too. (I'm sure there's a connection there between the verbal acquisition and the reading.) She wanted to read this Ear book over and over again, while lying on a pillow in my bedroom with a pacifier and my mom's old sweater spread over her like a blanket.

She doesn't want a regular blanket- just my mom's sweater. And that is perfectly alright with me; it's a reminder that my mom is here with us, in my memories and that I can honor her through loving my children daily.

it's the little things

It's Friday which means it is time for my weekly round-up of all the little things that have made this week so lovely.

I've only got time for one at the moment, but it's wonderful.

It's the little things...like Juliet "singing".
Singing for the first time.
Singing nonstop.
Singing in a husky, low voice while she spins in circles and holds up her hands in dramatic operatic fashion.

I am loving this age!! So, so much fun.

on a calling.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. 

And what does the LORD require of you? 

To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)  

It's hard sometimes to be a stay at home mom and become so wrapped up in the never ending daily demands of my children, that it sometimes feel like the world is shrinking and my vision becomes myopically focused on the very, very small world of my household.

I have continued to stay fairly up-to-date on politics and current affairs, thanks very much to the ability to read news on my iPhone while I nurse Audrey. (Thank you, Steve Jobs, for changing my life.) But it's not always easy to know how to help change the world when I'm just simply too busy changing diapers.

But as a result of prayer and providence, I believe God has found me a way to help the world by using me exactly where I am. There is an organization in Haiti called the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission that I believe in and support. This mission supports a special needs orphanage called the Miriam Center, which is directed by a childhood friend named Courtney (who has done wonderful things with her own unique gifts- a post of its own!).

Special needs children in Haiti have a particular need for care and love because, in addition to the pervasive poverty in their community, disabled children are often isolated, ostracized, and neglected due to cultural stigma. My friend who directs this program has made it her mission to have these children be seen by their communities, instead of hidden away.

And that's where I can help. The mission is in need of jogging strollers to help transport their disabled children outside the gates of the mission. The jogging strollers work well because they are rugged and built for rough terrain like that in Haiti (unpaved roads, etc.). They are also in need of traditional-type strollers, to use as seats for what Courtney calls the "severe and profoundly" disabled children who otherwise cannot leave mats on the floor.

And guess who I know? LOTS and LOTS of moms. I belong to 3 separate moms groups here in Fullerton, in addition to dozens of other moms that I am connected with through Facebook. Hundreds of moms altogether. And almost all of these moms use strollers for their children, and then eventually don't need them anymore once the children have outgrown them.

The first stroller made it! Yay.

 So my service and my calling in this stage of my life is to boldly and confidently request that my mom friends donate their strollers to this mission. (And arrange the easy logistics of transport through a flight attendant who is using *her* place in life to help transport items!)

It feels awesome to feel that God is using me in this small way.  So far I have been able to acquire 4 used strollers for their program. I know it may not seem like much yet, but I've just started and I know that I will be able to get more strollers as word gets out and my mom friends know what an amazing impact they can have by donating their strollers instead of selling them used on Craigslist.

It is such a little thing - so many people do so much more - but it is something, and it feels really good to know that I can make a difference, if I just listen to the whispers of where God can use me.

Courtney with some of her boys. She is an inspiration to me.
 

4 more days!

Guess who has tickets to a Sunday matinee of Hunger Games? That's right-- meeeee!
It's going to be a family affair- I am going with my dad, my sister, and my sister's boyfriend and friend.

Yes, I am a geek. I truly have never been so excited for a movie to premiere, ever.

OK, back to my regularly scheduled programming of writing about my kids...

7 months of Audrey

Dear Audrey,

You turned 7 months over the weekend. It also happened to be St. Patrick's Day, but it was a dreary, rainy day so we stayed inside all day and ate chocolate chip pancakes with mommy's best friend Jenna and her children. Well, you didn't eat the pancakes but you loved to grab at them! You are so active and able to wiggle and wriggle these days. You even started pulling yourself up today on the push toy! It's all happened so fast.

I look at you lately, and mostly I see your beautiful brown eyes. They are happy eyes.  Inquisitive, sensitive, curious, joyful eyes.

And they are eyes that I am so familiar with because they are my eyes. I caught my reflection in the mirror recently, and when I saw myself, I gasped and said to myself, "I look like Audrey!", though I suppose it's the other way around.

It's amazing to look at you and see my reflection, and just one more reminder that you will always be a part of me, and I, a part of you.

I love you, always and always.

love,

mama