Thursday, June 7, 2012
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Breastfeeding woes
Okay, just a forewarning. This post may be a little more information than you want to know so read at your own discrepancy.
I knew without a doubt that I wanted to do everything within my power to breastfeed my daughter once she was born. I didn't know that it was going to be such a struggle. When I was a wild & crazy teenager I got my nipples pierced with a girlfriend while on spring break. I never realized that that decision would impact my ability to breastfeed easily. I wish I would have been informed that it could cause problems in that area, but I guess the piercer didn't much care about that...I was just $ in their pocket. Anyways. Both of my nipples are inverted, one mostly so. The first time I tried to nurse my daughter after she was born we knew there was going to be some issues. The nurses in Labor & Delivery had to get me a nipple shield to use "temporarily". Well, the entire time we were in the hospital I had to use the shield to nurse. The doctor & nurses all said it was okay because my daughter was small & therefore had a small mouth so she would eventually be able to nurse without it when her mouth was larger & her sucking ability was stronger. Well, they were wrong. My daughter is 4 months old today and we still have to use the nipple shield at every feeding. It is the biggest pain in the booty.
Other than just having to make sure I have it with me at all times I didn't mind it too much. I hated that my body wasn't able to do what it was meant to naturally because of a stupid decision I made. However, the end result was all that mattered & the end result was my daughter WAS getting breastmilk. So, I was happy. However at our first few checkups the doctor didn't like that my daughter was not gaining weight they way she should be. After trying a few different things (upping my calorie intake, breast compressions, etc) I went ahead and took my doctor's advice to start supplementing with formula. This was not a decision I made lightly. Do not get me wrong, I am in no way saying formula feeding is a bad thing. I was a bottle baby, as were all my siblings & we came out just fine. I just was set on exclusively breastfeeding so doing this left me feeling a little defeated. However, I knew it was best for my baby so I started supplementing with formula two times per day. I would mix the formula with breastmilk to give her the maximum calories possible. This worked wonders. My daughter has gotten back on track with her growth.
Unfortunately the bottle has seemed to make my daughter lazy. Now when she nurses she gets easily distracted & doesn't stay latched on for very long. Sometimes she won't even latch on because with the shield there is nothing there her first few suckles. This upsets her and then she just gets really mad because she is hungry and thinks there is no food to be had. We have been having this battle for about two weeks now and it is really wearing on me. I do not want to stop breastfeeding her, for both of our benefits, but I feel i am almost at the end of my rope. I know that she will be a healthy & happy baby either way but I really enjoy the closeness we have during feeding time. I am not sure though that the stress, on both of us, is worth it. I am trying to not let this get the best of me but it is hard.
What are your opinions on breastfeeding? Do you have any battle stories of your own?
I knew without a doubt that I wanted to do everything within my power to breastfeed my daughter once she was born. I didn't know that it was going to be such a struggle. When I was a wild & crazy teenager I got my nipples pierced with a girlfriend while on spring break. I never realized that that decision would impact my ability to breastfeed easily. I wish I would have been informed that it could cause problems in that area, but I guess the piercer didn't much care about that...I was just $ in their pocket. Anyways. Both of my nipples are inverted, one mostly so. The first time I tried to nurse my daughter after she was born we knew there was going to be some issues. The nurses in Labor & Delivery had to get me a nipple shield to use "temporarily". Well, the entire time we were in the hospital I had to use the shield to nurse. The doctor & nurses all said it was okay because my daughter was small & therefore had a small mouth so she would eventually be able to nurse without it when her mouth was larger & her sucking ability was stronger. Well, they were wrong. My daughter is 4 months old today and we still have to use the nipple shield at every feeding. It is the biggest pain in the booty.
Other than just having to make sure I have it with me at all times I didn't mind it too much. I hated that my body wasn't able to do what it was meant to naturally because of a stupid decision I made. However, the end result was all that mattered & the end result was my daughter WAS getting breastmilk. So, I was happy. However at our first few checkups the doctor didn't like that my daughter was not gaining weight they way she should be. After trying a few different things (upping my calorie intake, breast compressions, etc) I went ahead and took my doctor's advice to start supplementing with formula. This was not a decision I made lightly. Do not get me wrong, I am in no way saying formula feeding is a bad thing. I was a bottle baby, as were all my siblings & we came out just fine. I just was set on exclusively breastfeeding so doing this left me feeling a little defeated. However, I knew it was best for my baby so I started supplementing with formula two times per day. I would mix the formula with breastmilk to give her the maximum calories possible. This worked wonders. My daughter has gotten back on track with her growth.
Unfortunately the bottle has seemed to make my daughter lazy. Now when she nurses she gets easily distracted & doesn't stay latched on for very long. Sometimes she won't even latch on because with the shield there is nothing there her first few suckles. This upsets her and then she just gets really mad because she is hungry and thinks there is no food to be had. We have been having this battle for about two weeks now and it is really wearing on me. I do not want to stop breastfeeding her, for both of our benefits, but I feel i am almost at the end of my rope. I know that she will be a healthy & happy baby either way but I really enjoy the closeness we have during feeding time. I am not sure though that the stress, on both of us, is worth it. I am trying to not let this get the best of me but it is hard.
What are your opinions on breastfeeding? Do you have any battle stories of your own?
Friday, April 15, 2011
Scrapbooking
I so badly wish that I had learned the art of scrapbooking before my daughter was born. In a perfect world I would already have our first scrapbook well on it's way to completion. I would have a nice little work station set up where I could work on it every night after I put my daughter to bed. I would have every snapshot and milestone recorded for us to be able to flip through at our leisure. However, I do not live in a perfect world. I do not know how to scrapbook. I do not have a cute little workstation. I do not have anything to share with loved ones of my daughters first 4 months of life. This fact totally bums me out! Now I feel like I am behind the 8 ball so much that I don't even know where to begin. At this point all I have is a stack of photos, several scraps of paper where I just scribbled down dates of all of her firsts, and other little mementos.
So, where do I begin? How do I even start this process now that we're 4 months into her life? Any helpful suggestions? Any good websites to order supplies? Any useful tips you'd like to share?
So, where do I begin? How do I even start this process now that we're 4 months into her life? Any helpful suggestions? Any good websites to order supplies? Any useful tips you'd like to share?
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Pregnancy to Birth
After finding out we were pregnant I did what most woman do, I bought every pregnancy book on the market! I read and read like my unborn child's life depended on it. I was constantly on the internet researching this and that and let me tell you I was scared nearly to death. The internet, while a useful tool, is absolutely NOT the place for a hormone filled woman to be. I think that the authors of most of those books sit at home and just chuckle to themselves at the sheer panic they cause for poor unsuspecting women. Not really, I am sure they think they are doing us a service by giving us every mind numbing thing that can go wrong with a pregnancy but let me just tell you...I could have done without knowing. Thank God my child was and is a healthy little bundle of joy.
Truthfully my favorite pregnancy book was "Belly Laughs" by Jenny McCarthy. I read that book in a mere 3 hours because I could not put it down. I must have read it 10 times while I was pregnant. If you are pregnant right now or have ever been pregnant I strongly suggest you read this book. It is one of the funniest books you'll pick up.
Overall my pregnancy was amazing. I didn't have any of the typical pregnancy symptoms or side effects. I never had any food aversions or cravings. My sense of smell never got any stronger. I never had the first second of morning sickness. I never had any swelling. I thought I would escape this pregnancy unscathed but then about 3 weeks before having my daughter I got stretchmarks on the front of my bulging belly. After having my daughter I was devastated that I would have these hideous marks for the rest of my life. Then, one night in the bathtub it just suddenly clicked in my brain. My life is forever altered by having this sweet child so why should my body be any different. Since that night I have learned to love my new post baby body, stretch marks, jiggly parts, and all.
The only thing that happened while I was pregnant was a blood clot scare. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like an elephant was on my chest. I felt fine when I went to bed that night so it was a very sudden ailment. I couldn't catch my breath and I felt like I was smothering. Since my husband works nights I was all alone and scared to death. I managed to call my sister and she came to pick me up to take me to the emergency room. Upon arrival my oxygen saturation level was good so they weren't too concerned. Then when the er physician came into the room she was alarmed at the sudden onset of my symptoms. They did lab work which was inconclusive. They did a chest xray which was inconclusive. They did an ultrasound which was inconclusive. This all happened over a process of roughly 7 hours. The entire time I was there I was not allowed to eat and was only allowed minimal sips of water. They didn't want me to have anything in my stomach in case I needed surgery for a blood clot. They had the nerve to tell a pregnant woman she couldn't eat...pretty insane if you ask me. :) I was scared to death. The ER here is understaffed so most of the time I sat in the exam room with my sister not knowing what was going on and just staring at the walls scared. Then the doctor told me they wanted to do a CT scan with contrast to make sure that 100% there was nothing wrong. They explained to me the risks of such a procedure while pregnant, which scared me further still. The main risk that loomed in my mind was a higher risk of childhood cancer. I still pray that this will not be something we will have to endure but it is in His hands either way. After praying with my sister, our Pastor and Associate Pastor I felt a calm come over me that the Lord would watch over me and the baby. I had the test done and they did not see any clots. Thank the Lord! I was discharged from the ER after 12 hours of treatment. They still never really gave me a diagnosis as to why I had such a problem breathing out of nowhere but as long as it wasn't something that was life threatening I was happy.
Other than that scare my pregnancy was perfect. My daughter was born at 40 weeks and 4 days. I woke up at around 6:15 in the morning on Sunday December 19th 2010 and I thought I was leaking fluid. I called the Labor & Delivery department and they wanted me to come in to be checked out. I woke my husband up, called my sister, grabbed our hospital bags and off we went. Sure enough, my water had broke and this baby was coming! Unfortunately I was only dilated to a ONE so I knew I was probably in for a long day. We walked the hallways for hours and my progress was slow. I am a huge football fan and I pull for the New York Jets. The Jets would be playing the Pittsburgh Steelers that night so I knew that I would be glued to the television. Sure enough, here I sat hooked up to monitors screaming like a lunatic at the tv during my football game. The Jets won, I was elated! I then watched the Survivor season finale in its entirety. This labor thing was going fabulous. I couldn't believe what all the fuss was about!?! Pan ahead about 2 hours and holy mother of pearl I was singing a different tune. I never really wrote out a birthing plan because I knew that it would probably just be a waste of time. I did however decide that I was going to try pain medicine before I got the epidural just to be sure it was not something I would handle on my own. After about 2 hours of hard contractions I decided that the pain medicine just wasn't going to cut it because I was not dilating quickly. I informed the nurse & they called the anesthesiologist in. I have never been so happy to see a strangers face in all my life. He got the epidural in and I was happy as a clam. Another few hours later the nurse came in to check me and I was fully dilated! The nurse called the doctor and he arrived quickly. After about 30 minutes of pushing my daughter was born at 6:31 in the morning on December 20th 2010. She weighed 6 lbs 4.8 oz and was 18 1/4 in long. She was the most beautiful thing my eyes had ever seen. She was my heart, and now it was located outside of my body for the whole world to see.
How was your pregnancy? Did you have any or all of the typical symptoms or were you lucky like me? Did you make a birthing plan? What is your opinion on natural childbirth vs the use of medicines and epidurals?
Truthfully my favorite pregnancy book was "Belly Laughs" by Jenny McCarthy. I read that book in a mere 3 hours because I could not put it down. I must have read it 10 times while I was pregnant. If you are pregnant right now or have ever been pregnant I strongly suggest you read this book. It is one of the funniest books you'll pick up.
Overall my pregnancy was amazing. I didn't have any of the typical pregnancy symptoms or side effects. I never had any food aversions or cravings. My sense of smell never got any stronger. I never had the first second of morning sickness. I never had any swelling. I thought I would escape this pregnancy unscathed but then about 3 weeks before having my daughter I got stretchmarks on the front of my bulging belly. After having my daughter I was devastated that I would have these hideous marks for the rest of my life. Then, one night in the bathtub it just suddenly clicked in my brain. My life is forever altered by having this sweet child so why should my body be any different. Since that night I have learned to love my new post baby body, stretch marks, jiggly parts, and all.
The only thing that happened while I was pregnant was a blood clot scare. I woke up in the middle of the night feeling like an elephant was on my chest. I felt fine when I went to bed that night so it was a very sudden ailment. I couldn't catch my breath and I felt like I was smothering. Since my husband works nights I was all alone and scared to death. I managed to call my sister and she came to pick me up to take me to the emergency room. Upon arrival my oxygen saturation level was good so they weren't too concerned. Then when the er physician came into the room she was alarmed at the sudden onset of my symptoms. They did lab work which was inconclusive. They did a chest xray which was inconclusive. They did an ultrasound which was inconclusive. This all happened over a process of roughly 7 hours. The entire time I was there I was not allowed to eat and was only allowed minimal sips of water. They didn't want me to have anything in my stomach in case I needed surgery for a blood clot. They had the nerve to tell a pregnant woman she couldn't eat...pretty insane if you ask me. :) I was scared to death. The ER here is understaffed so most of the time I sat in the exam room with my sister not knowing what was going on and just staring at the walls scared. Then the doctor told me they wanted to do a CT scan with contrast to make sure that 100% there was nothing wrong. They explained to me the risks of such a procedure while pregnant, which scared me further still. The main risk that loomed in my mind was a higher risk of childhood cancer. I still pray that this will not be something we will have to endure but it is in His hands either way. After praying with my sister, our Pastor and Associate Pastor I felt a calm come over me that the Lord would watch over me and the baby. I had the test done and they did not see any clots. Thank the Lord! I was discharged from the ER after 12 hours of treatment. They still never really gave me a diagnosis as to why I had such a problem breathing out of nowhere but as long as it wasn't something that was life threatening I was happy.
Other than that scare my pregnancy was perfect. My daughter was born at 40 weeks and 4 days. I woke up at around 6:15 in the morning on Sunday December 19th 2010 and I thought I was leaking fluid. I called the Labor & Delivery department and they wanted me to come in to be checked out. I woke my husband up, called my sister, grabbed our hospital bags and off we went. Sure enough, my water had broke and this baby was coming! Unfortunately I was only dilated to a ONE so I knew I was probably in for a long day. We walked the hallways for hours and my progress was slow. I am a huge football fan and I pull for the New York Jets. The Jets would be playing the Pittsburgh Steelers that night so I knew that I would be glued to the television. Sure enough, here I sat hooked up to monitors screaming like a lunatic at the tv during my football game. The Jets won, I was elated! I then watched the Survivor season finale in its entirety. This labor thing was going fabulous. I couldn't believe what all the fuss was about!?! Pan ahead about 2 hours and holy mother of pearl I was singing a different tune. I never really wrote out a birthing plan because I knew that it would probably just be a waste of time. I did however decide that I was going to try pain medicine before I got the epidural just to be sure it was not something I would handle on my own. After about 2 hours of hard contractions I decided that the pain medicine just wasn't going to cut it because I was not dilating quickly. I informed the nurse & they called the anesthesiologist in. I have never been so happy to see a strangers face in all my life. He got the epidural in and I was happy as a clam. Another few hours later the nurse came in to check me and I was fully dilated! The nurse called the doctor and he arrived quickly. After about 30 minutes of pushing my daughter was born at 6:31 in the morning on December 20th 2010. She weighed 6 lbs 4.8 oz and was 18 1/4 in long. She was the most beautiful thing my eyes had ever seen. She was my heart, and now it was located outside of my body for the whole world to see.
How was your pregnancy? Did you have any or all of the typical symptoms or were you lucky like me? Did you make a birthing plan? What is your opinion on natural childbirth vs the use of medicines and epidurals?
Surprise...
Since this blog is a documentation of my adventures in motherhood it seems appropriate to start at the beginning. Obviously we'll skip over the conception part since we all know where babies come from. When we got pregnant it was definitely not a planned event. I had been on birth control pills since I was 17 years old. My husband and I started discussing having kids so I did some research and asked my doctor about how long it takes to conceive after stopping the pill. Every answer I received was that it would probably take several months to a year to conceive since I had been on the bill for a lengthy amount of time. As an afterthought my doctor advised that a "small percentage" of woman will be very fertile and become pregnant immediately after stopping the pill. Well I assumed it would take a while to get pregnant so I went ahead and stopped taking my birth control pills around the beginning of March 2010 because we wanted to start "trying" towards the end of the year. A couple of weeks into April I thought I had started my period but it was not a normal menstrual cycle for me. My best friend, who was very much wanting me to be pregnant, urged me to take a pregnancy test. I thought she was being a lunatic but nonetheless I hopped in the car and headed to the store for a test. I got home, did my business, and waited not so patiently for the answer. When I seen those little lines my jaw hit the floor. I could not believe it, merely 1 month after stopping my birth control pills I WAS PREGNANT! I proceeded to lay in my bathroom floor near hyperventilation at the thought that there was a little life growing inside me. I did what any rational woman would do...I called my big sister. She did not believe me at first but I assured her that I was indeed pregnant according the little piece of plastic sitting on my bathroom counter! I then went in to wake up my husband, who works night shift, that we were going to have a baby. In a sleepy haze he looked at me with the most proud face I have ever seen and I knew right then that our lives would never be the same. I made an appointment to see my doctor to have another pregnancy test done so it would really be "official" and sure enough, I was already 4 weeks. So, as it turns out I was in the "small percentage"....go figure. So instead of "trying" at the end of the year it looked like we would indeed be parents by the end of the year. God knew what we needed, even when we didn't know we needed it then. After losing my mother my heart had an enormous hole, my daughter has helped heal my broken heart more than I ever thought was possible.
Are you a parent? Was your pregnancy planned or was it a surprise like ours?
Are you a parent? Was your pregnancy planned or was it a surprise like ours?
Church family
I just want to brag on my church for a minute. I am a proud member of Revival Baptist Church in Blairsville Georgia. We are a KJV preachin', old fashioned, shoutin', spirit filled church. As Bro Mark Stroud said, we're not a Burger King church where you can "Get it Your Way", we are a Wendys church where it's "Old fashioned, hot & juicy"! :) I can't thank God enough for putting us in this amazing church around such amazing people. Almost every member of my church is a dear friend. People truly care for one another. Our church members lift one another up in prayer, daily. Our congregation has endured quite a lot through the past few years. There has been a lot of illnesses & deaths. My own mother passed away in July of 2009 after a brief but hard battle with lung cancer. There has been a sudden death of a very dear lady who was a huge part of our church. There was a young man who was involved in a motorcycle accident and the family had to make the choice to 'pull the plug' or not. Thank God they kept the faith because now although he is in a wheel chair most of the time he CAN walk again, he can talk again, and most importantly he can praise God with all his might. There is another sweet lady who was my neighbor for my entire life who has been battling cancer for years. Through this entire ordeal she has never let it take away her spirit or love for God. Seeing those two in church, raising their hand, worshiping God absolutely makes my heart overflow with love for my God. All the things that our church has been through has just brought us closer together and closer to Him. Through these battles many lives have been touched and even some have given their life to the Lord because of these hardships. He truly can do anything and still works miracles every single day if it is His will. I am so thankful for a merciful God who still saves the lost.
Like every strong family there is a strong woman at the core. The same goes with a church, in my opinion. Once a month we have a Ladies' Meeting. During these meetings we all bring a covered dish and have a nice meal. We fellowship with one another, laugh, cry, and get encouraged. More importantly we have faith based lessons. The ladies take turns 'teaching' a lesson. Some woman do just that, they teach straight from God's word. Some woman do little interactive games to get everyone involved and hands on. Some woman share their life experiences and give their testimony. No matter the method these meetings truly help me each and every time. I am so thankful to be a part of such a group of Godly woman. I love that I know I have all these strong and wonderful ladies behind me, praying for me, lifting me up. I do not know how people make it through this life without a strong church family backing them and even more importantly how people get through one single hour in the day without Jesus. I know I sure couldn't.
Are you blessed with an amazing church & church family? Do you know the peace & love of my Lord Jesus Christ?
Like every strong family there is a strong woman at the core. The same goes with a church, in my opinion. Once a month we have a Ladies' Meeting. During these meetings we all bring a covered dish and have a nice meal. We fellowship with one another, laugh, cry, and get encouraged. More importantly we have faith based lessons. The ladies take turns 'teaching' a lesson. Some woman do just that, they teach straight from God's word. Some woman do little interactive games to get everyone involved and hands on. Some woman share their life experiences and give their testimony. No matter the method these meetings truly help me each and every time. I am so thankful to be a part of such a group of Godly woman. I love that I know I have all these strong and wonderful ladies behind me, praying for me, lifting me up. I do not know how people make it through this life without a strong church family backing them and even more importantly how people get through one single hour in the day without Jesus. I know I sure couldn't.
Are you blessed with an amazing church & church family? Do you know the peace & love of my Lord Jesus Christ?
Monday, April 11, 2011
My 1st official blog
Hello world! So, I have decided to start a blog and I am going to jump in head first. One of my dear friends is a highly successful blogger, among many other trades and she turned me onto blogging. I guess I will start out with giving you a little background about myself.
My name is Tara. I live in North Georgia and love it to death. I am definitely a country girl. My husband and I have been together for approximately 7 years and have been married for almost 2 of those. We welcomed our first child, Loralei Anne, on December 20, 2010 at 6:31 am after 24 hours of labor. Thankfully only about 4 of that was 'hard labor'. I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mom to my beautiful daughter. My husband, whose name is Jeff, is the grocery manager at a grocery store here in our town. I am blessed to have a husband who isn't afraid of a hard days work. I currently breastfeed which means a good portion of my day is spent on the couch with my baby. My daughter is what they refer to as a "grazer". This means she likes to nurse for a few minutes, doze for a few, nurse a little longer, and so on. This means I have ample time at my computer so I think blogging is a perfect fit! I love to talk, especially about my daughter and my new life with a baby. Before this blog I would use Facebook as my outlet. Well, blogging semed like a much better avenue so here I am.
I look forward to sharing my trials and tribulations about my life as a new mother. I hope sharing my experience will make you laugh, encourage you, help you, amuse you, and hopefully you'll enjoy this rollercoaster ride as much as I do. Even if I am only blogging for myself I still think this will be a great outlet.
Until next time...God bless you & yours.
My name is Tara. I live in North Georgia and love it to death. I am definitely a country girl. My husband and I have been together for approximately 7 years and have been married for almost 2 of those. We welcomed our first child, Loralei Anne, on December 20, 2010 at 6:31 am after 24 hours of labor. Thankfully only about 4 of that was 'hard labor'. I am lucky enough to be a stay at home mom to my beautiful daughter. My husband, whose name is Jeff, is the grocery manager at a grocery store here in our town. I am blessed to have a husband who isn't afraid of a hard days work. I currently breastfeed which means a good portion of my day is spent on the couch with my baby. My daughter is what they refer to as a "grazer". This means she likes to nurse for a few minutes, doze for a few, nurse a little longer, and so on. This means I have ample time at my computer so I think blogging is a perfect fit! I love to talk, especially about my daughter and my new life with a baby. Before this blog I would use Facebook as my outlet. Well, blogging semed like a much better avenue so here I am.
I look forward to sharing my trials and tribulations about my life as a new mother. I hope sharing my experience will make you laugh, encourage you, help you, amuse you, and hopefully you'll enjoy this rollercoaster ride as much as I do. Even if I am only blogging for myself I still think this will be a great outlet.
Until next time...God bless you & yours.
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