Right now I am not one of those women who wishes the pregnancy was over. I have too much to do and our little boy is not quite ready for the world outside the womb.
At the end of last month I scared myself my taking my blood pressure at the store. The number came out too high so I called my doctors office. They sent me to labor and delivery for monitoring. Everyone thought things were going to be fine but of course they have to find something wrong. I was having mild contractions that I couldn't feel every 2-3 minutes. Apparently, the medical community has no idea how often a normal pregnancy has mild contractions because they don't closely monitor them.
The nurse, being on the nervous side, begged my doctor to let her take a culture of my cervix. After much talk the nurse got what she wanted along with a few vials of my blood. The doctor thought everything would come back normal (or so she told me later that week). The blood results came back normal but the cervix swab did not.
After another consultation with my doctor over the phone the nurse came back and told me that I would be getting a few shots and some antibiotics. I'm not a fan of drugs, they stress me out and I usually have unusual responses to them. Take codeine, not only does it make me violently ill it also makes me very hyper and I end up cleaning and vacuuming at 2am just to work off the jitters. Or Valium, that makes me very anxious and want to bang the doctor's head against the equipment for touching my eyes during LASIK surgery.
They ended up giving me betamethasone which was to help the baby's lungs develop faster just in case he were to be born early. That shot gave me the shakes for hours. I think I got it at 11pm and I was still shaking at 2am.
A concern I have is that they gave me steroids that make my baby's lungs develop faster. From all that I've read, it is the baby who signals labor to begin when he is ready. What if by taking that drug the baby will want to come sooner rather than on the date he would have come if we did not take the medication? Will my baby come a month early? Weeks? Days? Will he be late? Is it possible for him to come later than my due date in spite of that stuff I was given?
It's making me nervous that I will not have everything ready for his arrival.
Then there are the concerns about what my labor will be like. I'm more like my grandmother on my dad's side than my mother. Will my labors be as short as hers (35 and 25 minutes long)? I never experienced morning sickness. I haven't felt any contractions. My pregnancy has been completely normal other than that incident at the hospital. My doctor says I'll feel the contractions and "know", but then I read wonderful stories about unassisted childbirths and some women give birth without feeling any pain, they let their bodies take over rather than fight the contractions. They have their children very quickly and without much noise. I know that this is very possible because it is normal for many women in 3rd world countries. We've terrified ourselves of the posibility of pain and labor when it doesn't have to be that way. I know it can be painful. I know it can be very painful. God made it so that it would be that way. But I think the medical community is using fear to keep itself in control of women in labor. It irritates me because I don't think that medical intervention is all that helpful in most cases. I think it makes labor more painful, longer and more difficult.
I want to be able to accept the pain so I can get out of it's way. I've broken bones and torn ligaments many times before. At first it's a battle of the will to hold as still as possible. Then, shock takes over and I can relax and stop fighting the pain. How fast will I be able to accept the pain and let the labor happen? I hope that I will be able to surrender myself to God's will and accept his way for my baby's birth. It's going to take a lot of prayer.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Pregnancy is Funny
I'm into my 9th month of pregnancy and every day gets more humorous.
When I first get up from sitting for a while, I waddle until my body finally realigns itself after about 5 or so steps.
When I put my socks and shoes on I try to see how long I can get my arms to go without my belly getting in the way. I thought flexibility would make things easier but when you can't bend your torso at all, you're just not flexible anymore. Try putting socks on with a torso cast that keeps your back straight.
Nighttime runs to the bathroom are me hopping around trying not to pee while trying to not freeze (fall has finally arrived and it was 39 degrees outside last night).
And while I say ouch when my baby moves, it doesn't really hurt, it's just a lot of movement and there really is no word for the uncomfortableness it creates.
Or what about the concern that the baby will be born sooner rather than later. Most women I know are ready to have the baby early, but I have work on the house to do. I still need to wash all the baby clothes and sort them. I still need to make up the bassinet and crib. I still need to buy baby supplies, like a sling and first aid kit. I still need to finish my Christmas gifts that I'm making because I certainly won't have the time to work on them after the baby is born.
Hopefully, all will be ready and done by the time he arrives.
When I first get up from sitting for a while, I waddle until my body finally realigns itself after about 5 or so steps.
When I put my socks and shoes on I try to see how long I can get my arms to go without my belly getting in the way. I thought flexibility would make things easier but when you can't bend your torso at all, you're just not flexible anymore. Try putting socks on with a torso cast that keeps your back straight.
Nighttime runs to the bathroom are me hopping around trying not to pee while trying to not freeze (fall has finally arrived and it was 39 degrees outside last night).
And while I say ouch when my baby moves, it doesn't really hurt, it's just a lot of movement and there really is no word for the uncomfortableness it creates.
Or what about the concern that the baby will be born sooner rather than later. Most women I know are ready to have the baby early, but I have work on the house to do. I still need to wash all the baby clothes and sort them. I still need to make up the bassinet and crib. I still need to buy baby supplies, like a sling and first aid kit. I still need to finish my Christmas gifts that I'm making because I certainly won't have the time to work on them after the baby is born.
Hopefully, all will be ready and done by the time he arrives.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Fighting Sleep
I didn't realize that when I got to my last few weeks of my pregnancy I would be fighting sleep. I feel like I'm a little kid again and not wanting to take a nap because things are so interesting. I definitely need sleep though. I don't sleep well at night anymore. My favorite sleep position has always been my stomach but when you're pregnant it's too painful to be in that position. Any pressure at all and you're rolling over to get air. I have a hard enough time letting my husband rest his hand on my stomach at night and that is not very heavy.
Why do we fight sleep? Why don't I just go to bed and curl up and go to sleep for a little while? Especially now that my body is so tired. My mom told me that we would have mandatory nap times so she could get some sleep. I see now that I'm going to need to do the same thing. Good thinking Mom.
Why do we fight sleep? Why don't I just go to bed and curl up and go to sleep for a little while? Especially now that my body is so tired. My mom told me that we would have mandatory nap times so she could get some sleep. I see now that I'm going to need to do the same thing. Good thinking Mom.
I Made My Own Laundry Soap
I have been hunting the web for a while on laundry soap because I wanted a cheaper alternative that I knew what the ingredients were. But all I found were liquid soap versions. I don't like liquid soap. I tend to spill it, use too much and it makes a sticky mess everywhere. Then one day I stumbled across this website: http://tipnut.com/10-homemade-laundry-soap-detergent-recipes/ I thought these were great ideas and they even had powdered laundry soap in there. My pick was #4. Then I had to gather the ingredients and since I figured the soap would be the hardest part to find I started my search there. I was in luck when I went to Winco and found Kirk's Hardwater Castile soap (3 bars for $3.25). I liked the smell of it and it wasn't too expensive. Then, on another trip to Walmart I tried to find Borax and Washing Soda. I was out of luck. They don't sell either in the city where I live at Walmart. These are and were common ingredients for household chores. Since when did they become so unpopular?
For a few months I procrastinated in finding the rest of my ingredients. Then my cloth diapers came. I knew I would need special laundry soap for them so they wouldn't become waterproofed by commercial detergents. This happens all the time to new mothers who are trying to cloth diaper. Those nice detergents that smell so good are wreaking havoc on our budgets and make the laundry waterproof. That is not something you want in a clothing item that is supposed to absorb liquid.
I did some more research and found that the laundry soap I wanted to make was good for cloth diapering. I could have shouted for joy. My hunt was back on and I found Borax in Target for $2.99 for a 76 oz box. That is a good price. Washing Soda was not so easy. When I asked a worker there he had to radio in the request because he had never heard of it. I tried to explain that it was like baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) but was for laundry. I also said that there was a difference in it's composition so I wasn't going to use baking soda because what I wanted was sodium carbonate. After more research I found that you could get sodium carbonate in the pool isle at Walmart. It's used to help the PH balance in a pool. But then I wasn't sure if I was going to get a good price for it. Would it be cheaper if I bought it in the pool isle rather than in the laundry isle? Baking soda is cheaper in the baking isle than if you find it in the laundry isle. You have to look out for those things. I did more research and found that Ace Hardware will sell it for $3.79 for a 55 oz box. This was better than Amazon.com who wanted to sell it for $5.53 per box.
Keeping these prices in my mind I found myself once more at Winco and took a detour to their laundry isle. Imagine to my joy finding Washing Soda right next to the Borax. And they only wanted $2.70 for it. The Borax was 3.99 so I saved myself a dollar by getting it at Target.
I rounded up all my ingredients and set to work shaving down the bar soap with my cheese grater. It was tough work. Bar soap is a lot harder to grate than cheese. After 4 minutes I finally grated 1 whole bar. One 4 oz. bar comes out to about 2 cups. I found an empty Tupperware container that I used to use for sugar and put in the bar soap. Then I poured in 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax (I had to break the lumps up on the borax). I used a wooden spoon to mix it all up and realized I had plenty of space for a second batch (or even a 3rd or 4th batch). I got to work making up the second batch and when it was all finished I labeled my container with the recipe and how much you are supposed to use for each load of laundry. Did you know you only need 1 Tbs for a load of laundry? I think of those huge scoops they give you in the commercial boxes and wonder if you really need all that soap.
I've been pre-washing my diapers to get them to quilt up and become absorbent all day. They need to be washed about 5-7 times until the lint screen comes out clean on your dryer. You also have to wash the diapers in a very particular way. Here is what I found:
1. In your washing machine (regular not HE), cold rinse the diapers
2. Then, add your laundry detergent (not too much), and do a Hot Hot wash
3. Next, dry your diapers in the dryer or hang to dry (hanging to dry takes less time than in the dryer) - Never use dryer sheets (fabric softeners waterproof your diapers).
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until your lint trap comes out clean.
The laundry soap recipe is:
1 bar of soap (Fels-Naptha, Ivory soap, Sunlight bar soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, and Zote)
1 c. Borax
1 c. Washing Soda
Mix together and store in an air tight container
1 Tbs - light load
2 Tbs - medium load
3 Tbs - heavily soiled load
Cloth diapers should use the least amount so you don't accidentally make them waterproof with too much soap.
I've tried it and so far my diapers don't have any scent to them. I like the scent of Kirk's because it's so mild and isn't offensive.
My total expense:
Soap $1.08 per bar
Borax $2.99 per box (about 9 cups) - $0.33 per batch
Washing soda $2.70 per box (about 6 cups) - $0.45 per batch
Each batch is $1.86 and can do about 64 loads max. That's about $0.03 per load.
I love saving money.
For a few months I procrastinated in finding the rest of my ingredients. Then my cloth diapers came. I knew I would need special laundry soap for them so they wouldn't become waterproofed by commercial detergents. This happens all the time to new mothers who are trying to cloth diaper. Those nice detergents that smell so good are wreaking havoc on our budgets and make the laundry waterproof. That is not something you want in a clothing item that is supposed to absorb liquid.
I did some more research and found that the laundry soap I wanted to make was good for cloth diapering. I could have shouted for joy. My hunt was back on and I found Borax in Target for $2.99 for a 76 oz box. That is a good price. Washing Soda was not so easy. When I asked a worker there he had to radio in the request because he had never heard of it. I tried to explain that it was like baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) but was for laundry. I also said that there was a difference in it's composition so I wasn't going to use baking soda because what I wanted was sodium carbonate. After more research I found that you could get sodium carbonate in the pool isle at Walmart. It's used to help the PH balance in a pool. But then I wasn't sure if I was going to get a good price for it. Would it be cheaper if I bought it in the pool isle rather than in the laundry isle? Baking soda is cheaper in the baking isle than if you find it in the laundry isle. You have to look out for those things. I did more research and found that Ace Hardware will sell it for $3.79 for a 55 oz box. This was better than Amazon.com who wanted to sell it for $5.53 per box.
Keeping these prices in my mind I found myself once more at Winco and took a detour to their laundry isle. Imagine to my joy finding Washing Soda right next to the Borax. And they only wanted $2.70 for it. The Borax was 3.99 so I saved myself a dollar by getting it at Target.
I rounded up all my ingredients and set to work shaving down the bar soap with my cheese grater. It was tough work. Bar soap is a lot harder to grate than cheese. After 4 minutes I finally grated 1 whole bar. One 4 oz. bar comes out to about 2 cups. I found an empty Tupperware container that I used to use for sugar and put in the bar soap. Then I poured in 1 cup of washing soda and 1 cup of borax (I had to break the lumps up on the borax). I used a wooden spoon to mix it all up and realized I had plenty of space for a second batch (or even a 3rd or 4th batch). I got to work making up the second batch and when it was all finished I labeled my container with the recipe and how much you are supposed to use for each load of laundry. Did you know you only need 1 Tbs for a load of laundry? I think of those huge scoops they give you in the commercial boxes and wonder if you really need all that soap.
I've been pre-washing my diapers to get them to quilt up and become absorbent all day. They need to be washed about 5-7 times until the lint screen comes out clean on your dryer. You also have to wash the diapers in a very particular way. Here is what I found:
1. In your washing machine (regular not HE), cold rinse the diapers
2. Then, add your laundry detergent (not too much), and do a Hot Hot wash
3. Next, dry your diapers in the dryer or hang to dry (hanging to dry takes less time than in the dryer) - Never use dryer sheets (fabric softeners waterproof your diapers).
4. Repeat steps 1-3 until your lint trap comes out clean.
The laundry soap recipe is:
1 bar of soap (Fels-Naptha, Ivory soap, Sunlight bar soap, Kirk’s Hardwater Castile, and Zote)
1 c. Borax
1 c. Washing Soda
Mix together and store in an air tight container
1 Tbs - light load
2 Tbs - medium load
3 Tbs - heavily soiled load
Cloth diapers should use the least amount so you don't accidentally make them waterproof with too much soap.
I've tried it and so far my diapers don't have any scent to them. I like the scent of Kirk's because it's so mild and isn't offensive.
My total expense:
Soap $1.08 per bar
Borax $2.99 per box (about 9 cups) - $0.33 per batch
Washing soda $2.70 per box (about 6 cups) - $0.45 per batch
Each batch is $1.86 and can do about 64 loads max. That's about $0.03 per load.
I love saving money.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The Joys of Cleaning
Sometimes, cleaning is overwhelming. I remember my mother telling me to clean my room, thoroughly. I'd tuck everything away, see that everything was straight and tell her I was finished. She'd come in and at a single glance see that I had only glossed over the surface. My room really was a big mess. Since, I had had the chance to clean it on my own first, I was in for no mercy. My mom told me it wasn't clean and then before my horrified eyes would proceed to put everything in the middle of my room on the floor. My clothes from the drawers, the sheets from the bed, my toys from the shelf, my books, my whole closet, in a sense: everything. Then, once she was done piling she gave me a bowl of cleaner and a cloth and told me to clean every surface (window sill, bed, bookshelf, dresser, closet, etc) and that I wasn't allowed to leave the room until it was neatly put away and finished (if I did, the whole process was restarted). I would rearrange (I love changing my room around) and vacuum under all the furniture (the pile of stuff was usually out of the way so I had moving room). The next task was to put everything away in it's proper place, and not just where it landed the last time I played with it. When all my stuff was put away, I'd vacuum under where the pile was and check to make sure everything was clean, neat and orderly. I always felt better after wards.
While this method is very daunting to contemplate, it has never ceased to impress me with it's efficiency and thoroughness. I've told others about it for using on their children and they say it works very well. I know it worked for me and often I find myself gathering up all the miscellaneous stuff around the house and dumping it on my bed for inspection, sorting, and putting away or throwing away. I also use this method for when I want to rearrange a room so that I have lots of chances to get rid of all the gathering dust and cobwebs.
We should enjoy the process of cleaning rather than hate it. Just think of what a clean room really is? Do you enjoy living in a dirty room? What if you went to someone's house and it was really dirty? Would you want to sit on the couch? Would you want to touch the counter tops? I've had such experiences where I would visit at a friends place and the whole time I was yearning to kick them out and to clean. I didn't know what was dirtier, their carpet or their couch.
A clean home is inviting, welcoming, relaxing, and loving. It can be very discouraging to see the dirt on the floors that you just swept an hour ago or to see that bathroom towel getting grimy from dirty hands that didn't get washed all the way. But remember the end result. How much happier would you be if it was just clean? Would it brighten your day? Would it make you smile? Would you sigh happily? Cleaning clears the cobwebs from your brain as my mother always says. It helps us think better when we are in a clean and orderly environment. My extra curricular projects (knitting, sewing, etc) always are more productive and fun when I'm doing them after my house is clean. If my house is not clean while I'm trying to work on a project, all I can think about is what needs to be cleaned. It's very distracting and my work always comes out less than desirable.
Fear not to clean. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. And cleaning can be fun. Put on some fun music, sing at the top of your lungs and dive in. Make a plan for yourself, and clean only one room at a time (don't let yourself get distracted by another room's messiness).
While this method is very daunting to contemplate, it has never ceased to impress me with it's efficiency and thoroughness. I've told others about it for using on their children and they say it works very well. I know it worked for me and often I find myself gathering up all the miscellaneous stuff around the house and dumping it on my bed for inspection, sorting, and putting away or throwing away. I also use this method for when I want to rearrange a room so that I have lots of chances to get rid of all the gathering dust and cobwebs.
We should enjoy the process of cleaning rather than hate it. Just think of what a clean room really is? Do you enjoy living in a dirty room? What if you went to someone's house and it was really dirty? Would you want to sit on the couch? Would you want to touch the counter tops? I've had such experiences where I would visit at a friends place and the whole time I was yearning to kick them out and to clean. I didn't know what was dirtier, their carpet or their couch.
A clean home is inviting, welcoming, relaxing, and loving. It can be very discouraging to see the dirt on the floors that you just swept an hour ago or to see that bathroom towel getting grimy from dirty hands that didn't get washed all the way. But remember the end result. How much happier would you be if it was just clean? Would it brighten your day? Would it make you smile? Would you sigh happily? Cleaning clears the cobwebs from your brain as my mother always says. It helps us think better when we are in a clean and orderly environment. My extra curricular projects (knitting, sewing, etc) always are more productive and fun when I'm doing them after my house is clean. If my house is not clean while I'm trying to work on a project, all I can think about is what needs to be cleaned. It's very distracting and my work always comes out less than desirable.
Fear not to clean. Cleanliness is next to Godliness. And cleaning can be fun. Put on some fun music, sing at the top of your lungs and dive in. Make a plan for yourself, and clean only one room at a time (don't let yourself get distracted by another room's messiness).
Monday, October 11, 2010
No rejection here...
Doesn't it feel wonderful to have a comment you made posted on someone's website?
For the most part I love reading the articles on www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com. They have great encouragement for women to act and be women without getting sucked into feminist morays. It is dominated by Protestants so as a Catholic I don't know how often my comments will be published because the comments may not fit in with their world view. I was a Protestant growing up and only came to Catholicism when I was in my 20s. I remember how I was taught to be wary of the Catholic church and its teachings and when I became Catholic I fell under that same suspicion from my deeply religious relatives. Which can hurt. So, on those websites, I have to be careful how I word my comments so I can still share but not have them turn away my message.
Which brings me to my point. Isn't it great to have yourself be heard on touchy subjects and on websites where you walk the thin line of possible rejection?
For the most part I love reading the articles on www.ladiesagainstfeminism.com. They have great encouragement for women to act and be women without getting sucked into feminist morays. It is dominated by Protestants so as a Catholic I don't know how often my comments will be published because the comments may not fit in with their world view. I was a Protestant growing up and only came to Catholicism when I was in my 20s. I remember how I was taught to be wary of the Catholic church and its teachings and when I became Catholic I fell under that same suspicion from my deeply religious relatives. Which can hurt. So, on those websites, I have to be careful how I word my comments so I can still share but not have them turn away my message.
Which brings me to my point. Isn't it great to have yourself be heard on touchy subjects and on websites where you walk the thin line of possible rejection?
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Okay, Ouch...
For the past two weeks my arms and hands and fingers have been going numb. I'm off work, so it's not the typing that I was doing as a data entry clerk. I was knitting for hours every day while listening to great podcasts on pregnancy. I stopped knitting over a week ago and started wearing wrist braces to sleep in because I like to sleep on my hands. But my fingers are still numb. Then as I was driving to the store I gave a thought to the bra I was wearing because it was really uncomfortable. I've always had a large chest. I got breasts in the 4th grade and was bound and determined to beat up any boy who made fun of me, including my brothers. Before getting pregnant I was wearing a 38DD. I wore my favorite bra brand, Lilyette. I loved that it kept my breasts separate and they didn't fall out the bottom of my bra. All the bras I wore were underwire.
I've heard that when it came time for breastfeeding that I would want to switch to a non-underwire bra so my milk ducts wouldn't be blocked by the pressure of the wire. I loved my underwire. I went to a lactation bra fitter and she said that I was going to be most comfortable in a wire and that I could wear a wire and breastfeed without hurting my supply. The bad part was that each of her bras were at least $60 for an underwire nursing bra. I went out and bought new regular type bras in my favorite brand figuring that my breast size would change by the time I delivered.
So, my fingers are still numb and I'm thinking that the underwire bras are pressing on my armpit nerves in such a way that that is what is causing the numbness. I decided to get some regular non-underwire bras and see if that helps. So far, it is more comfortable, despite the saggy boob effect I dislike. Hopefully in a few days my fingers will return to normal. I'm really hoping this solves my problem because the finger numbness is so painful and really annoying.
I've heard that when it came time for breastfeeding that I would want to switch to a non-underwire bra so my milk ducts wouldn't be blocked by the pressure of the wire. I loved my underwire. I went to a lactation bra fitter and she said that I was going to be most comfortable in a wire and that I could wear a wire and breastfeed without hurting my supply. The bad part was that each of her bras were at least $60 for an underwire nursing bra. I went out and bought new regular type bras in my favorite brand figuring that my breast size would change by the time I delivered.
So, my fingers are still numb and I'm thinking that the underwire bras are pressing on my armpit nerves in such a way that that is what is causing the numbness. I decided to get some regular non-underwire bras and see if that helps. So far, it is more comfortable, despite the saggy boob effect I dislike. Hopefully in a few days my fingers will return to normal. I'm really hoping this solves my problem because the finger numbness is so painful and really annoying.
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