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No SuperMom here! Let me start by saying the truth: I'm not SuperMom. I wanted to be, but it's not realistic (for me at least). Another truth: I hit the wall with being a stay at home mom around 5 months. I was starting to get frustrated because there wasn't a clear-cut, well-defined schedule for when I would get...

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How being Type A has helped me as a parent Those of you who know me, know that I'm not Type A in everything but I think you can definitely say that I have Type A tendencies. Prior to having a child, there were certain things that would have to be a certain way or all hell would break loose. I would (and still do!) create lists in my head...

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Baby food with meat that an adult could eat My husband and I are were fortunate enough to receive a ton of free baby food from my sister in law. One of the items was chicken and chicken broth from a well known maker of baby food... We weren't sure how bad it would be, but had heard from other parents that many baby foods with meat tend to be...

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Taking control Being the sleep deprived mama that I was this morning, I opted to take a nap when Felix went down for his morning nap. As per usual when I take naps during the day, I ended up have a nightmare: I was teaching again! Duh Duh Dunnnnn! Yes, you heard correctly! I had a nightmare that I was teaching. In...

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The best invention since the pacifier: travel high... I honestly never would have thought that I would like it as much as I do, but I can't sing high enough praise for my travel high chair. If you've ever been to a restaurant with a young child, you know: they don't clean their high chairs and they are disgusting. My solution: buy a high chair that...

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Aug

26

2011

No SuperMom here!

Posted by Anne

Category : My 2 Cents, Parent Stuff

Tags: ,

Let me start by saying the truth: I’m not SuperMom. I wanted to be, but it’s not realistic (for me at least).

Another truth: I hit the wall with being a stay at home mom around 5 months.

I was starting to get frustrated because there wasn’t a clear-cut, well-defined schedule for when I would get free time and a break from everything. It might be hard for some people to understand this, but everyone needs to recharge. I needed time away for myself and my sanity.

A happy Anne is a happy family! :)

Here’s what it came down to:

By not specifically setting times and boundaries, I would tend to let myself get sucked into helping out with my son, Felix, or just not getting that time away from everything to bring myself back to center.

Here are three more things that I feel are important:

  1. Mom AND Dad both need to get regular exercise
  2. Mom AND Dad both need a break
  3. Mom AND Dad need ‘date nights’

Some people might be able to pull it off, but for most of us here it is: SuperMom OR SuperDad is something out of a comic book.

Here’s my self-revelation: I can’t do it all. Don’t try. I’ll burn myself out or get frustrated and frazzled. Are you pleasant to be around when you’re like that? I’m not.

As a “Type A”, I had a full plan of ALL of the chores that need to get done around the house. Seriously: I detailed everything. I listed different rooms of the house in zones and designated one or two zones each day of the week. I created a spreadsheet in Google Docs with everything – including several different sheets to handle the different types of information. I even went out of my way to set up calendar events!

For the first week, it worked great! But, as life happens, I just couldn’t keep that up every week.

The best part was that I honestly felt guilty because I wasn’t able to do it all. Seriously?

Solution: be realistic.

My first and most important job is to take care of my son. It’s great for me to have a plan for all of my household chores, what should be cleaned, when it should be cleaned… But I needed to be realistic about it. I’m still working part-time from home. When there’s a rush on a work task and Felix is napping, can I also get the daily chores done too?

In terms of house chores, I’m to the point where I’m happy if I get the laundry done every week, take care of the dishes on a semi-regular basis, and prepare dinner for myself and Michael.

Solution: talk to your significant other and create a plan.

Here’s a method that Michael and I developed:

  1. Figure out times during the weekdays that one of us can work out.
  2. Figure out who will be covering the overnight shift during weeknights
  3. Divide the weekend:
  • Take 4-5 hours for Saturday and 4-5 hours for Sunday and block them off for one person.
  • Decide who gets which day.
  • The parent who takes the weeknight overnight shifts SHOULD get one night of reprieve for a weekend night.
  • Each parent should take one weekend morning.

As I’ve always suspected and have come to fully realize: parenting is hard work. If you’re unhappy with your situation, you need to speak out.

Silence serves no one. Silence will only bring frustration, anger, resentment… Bad stuff if you want a happy family and a happy life!
 

Aug

26

2011

How being “Type A” has helped me as a parent

Posted by Anne

Category : Parent Stuff

Those of you who know me, know that I’m not Type A in everything but I think you can definitely say that I have Type A tendencies.

Prior to having a child, there were certain things that would have to be a certain way or all hell would break loose. I would (and still do!) create lists in my head of all of the things that need to get done, the order of the list based on priority, and exactly how the list items should be done. In fact, it’s calming for me to come up with a list and then execute it flawlessly.  :)

So why should anything change with parenthood?

As soon as I noticed that my son was beginning to get beyond feeding to feeding and napping regularly (around 5 months), I started browsing the web for sample schedules that might fit him. So of the try, try again vein, I worked with Felix until we finally worked out a schedule that works for him and me.  You can view a copy of the schedule here! I’ve told my husband and everyone else: stray off the schedule at your own risk (and possible face the wrath of mommy)!

Naturally, once I got the schedule down I had to then make an electronic copy of it, share it in Google Docs with Michael, and also hand a physical copy over to him so that he could tack it to his corkboard. (Oh and did I mention that I’ll be giving anyone who babysits him this same schedule? Haha.)

I think you’ll find if you read enough parent blogs, parenting books, ad nauseum, that with babies and toddlers consistency is key.

Create a schedule, see if it works, modify it, see if the new schedule works, rinse, repeat…

Until you finally get the one that works for you. Then stick to it as much as humanly possible!

Aug

23

2011

Baby food with meat that an adult could eat

Posted by Anne

Category : food, Reviews

Tags:

My husband and I are were fortunate enough to receive a ton of free baby food from my sister in law.

One of the items was chicken and chicken broth from a well known maker of baby food…

We weren’t sure how bad it would be, but had heard from other parents that many baby foods with meat tend to be disgusting. This one was no exception.

It was so bad that my husband and I fed it to the cats! Felix wouldn’t even touch it!

On a whim, while at Target I decided to have another go with a different brand: Earth’s Best. It’s now the only ‘dinner’ item with meat that I’ll feed Felix. He also really seems to like it.

Kudos Earth’s Best!

Aug

22

2011

Taking control

Posted by Anne

Category : Dreams

Being the sleep deprived mama that I was this morning, I opted to take a nap when Felix went down for his morning nap. As per usual when I take naps during the day, I ended up have a nightmare: I was teaching again! Duh Duh Dunnnnn!

Yes, you heard correctly! I had a nightmare that I was teaching.

In the dream, it was the first day of class and it seemed like every time I would attempt to write something on the board, a student would walk in and claim that he/she had gotten there before the bell rang. (Which I knew to be a total lie!)

I would speak and the students wouldn’t pay any attention. OR I would find that students would just randomly leave the classroom. I didn’t have any control over the situation.

As I was trying to give the students a pre-test in order to figure out what they already know and what they don’t, I couldn’t find more than one copy of the test!

I got so frazzled! All seemed lost…. and then I woke up.

A wise man once said that you should enjoy what you do for your profession because you’ll spend nearly a third of your time doing it. It is with this sage advice, that I reflect on all of the things that could have gone differently if only I had made a different decision.

I can’t say how very happy I am with my past decisions and how they’ve brought me to this point in my life! I feel that I am doing exactly what I’m meant to be doing: working part-time as a web developer and working full-time as a stay at home mom.

Aug

20

2011

The best invention since the pacifier: travel high chair

Posted by Anne

Category : Mah baby, My 2 Cents, Reviews

I honestly never would have thought that I would like it as much as I do, but I can’t sing high enough praise for my travel high chair.

If you’ve ever been to a restaurant with a young child, you know: they don’t clean their high chairs and they are disgusting.

My solution: buy a high chair that hooks onto any stable table.

My husband, who is typically a naysayer when it comes to buying all of the different gadgets and extras, absolutely loves it.

NOW I have the freedom to feed him even at a family member’s house without having to worry about dragging a high chair along! It collapses down and can be stored in a shoulder bag that is provided with the product.

Here’s what I have: http://www.chiccousa.com/gear/highchairs-hookons/hippo-travelSeats/hippo-travelSeat-adventure.aspx

Aug

20

2011

Things that I take with me everywhere as a mommy.

Posted by Anne

Category : Mah baby, My 2 Cents

As a first time parent, if I were to have been asked a year ago what I think that I would need to have on hand if I were out and about with my child, I wouldn’t have had the first clue how to answer!

I’m sure I would have thought of diapers, wipes, baby powder, and food but I’ve found that there are other items that you should probably pack as well. After all, you never know when you’re child will have a diaper blowout or if he/she will be extra hungry..

So this got me to thinking that it would have been nice to have a checklist of items that I might want to think about bringing with me everywhere. I’ve gotten to the point where I typically have everything already in his bag so that all I have to do is grab one or two bags and I can walk out the door… With my son, of course!

  • Diaper bag: change of outfit, diapers, divided container(s) of predetermined formula scoop(s),  bottle filled with amount of water I will need, cap for said bottle to shake and take, baby food, baby spoon, wipes, pacifier wipes, baby powder, plastic bag (for used diapers), small blanket to be used for Felix to crawl around on, a toy or two, hat, sunscreen
  • 2 bibs: 1 for drool, 1 for baby food feedings
  • Pacifier
  • Travel high chair
  • Baby carrier / sling
  • Stroller (The newborn seat is WAY too heavy with a 19 lb infant in it!)
When my son was first born, I had a large diaper bag that I had registered for with my baby shower.  I had the thing loaded with different items I thought that I might need.. Turns out that I only really needed a few items (as seen in the list of the diaper bag contents above) if I were to be leaving the house for up to 5 hours, so I was able to downsize the bag that I used in favor of an across the body bag.
Don’t get me wrong: for long trips I still use the large diaper bag, but I’ve found that for regular, everyday use it is typically more than I need.

Aug

20

2011

My 6.5 month old son’s daily schedule

Posted by Anne

Category : Mah baby, My 2 Cents

So I’ve looked on plenty of other websites to view sample schedules for babies that are in the same age range as my son.. Obviously every child is different and so too will each child’s schedule be different.  In our case, I’m a formula-feeding, stay-at-home-mom (sahm).

In an effort to give back, here’s my son’s current schedule:

Felix’s Schedule (6.5 Month)
Please note: These times are estimates.  If you look at the schedule, you’ll note that you can adapt this schedule by using time estimates between the scheduled items.

8:00 AM: Felix wakes up.

  • Take off his helmet & clean with rubbing alcohol
  • Change Felix’s diaper
  • Feed Felix 6-8 oz bottle of formula (Make an 8 oz bottle)
  • Felix Play time! :)

8:30 AM: Put helmet back on
9:15 AM: Feed solid food (Stage 2) – Fruits!
10:00 AM – 11:30 PM:  Nap time
11:30 PM: Felix wakes up.

  • Take off his helmet & clean with rubbing alcohol
  • Change Felix’s diaper
  • Feed Felix 6-8 oz bottle of formula (Make an 8 oz bottle)
  • Felix Play time! :)

12 PM: Put helmet back on
1:30 PM – 3 PM: Nap time
3 PM: Felix wakes up.

  • Take off his helmet & clean with rubbing alcohol
  • Change Felix’s diaper
  • Felix Play time! :)

3:15 PM: Feed solid food (Stage 2) – Veggies!
3:30 PM: Put helmet back on
4:45 PM: Feed Felix 6-8 oz bottle of formula (Make an 8 oz bottle)
6:30 PM: Feed solid food (Stage 2) – Meat!
7:00 PM – 7:30 PM: Felix goes down for the night

Aug

19

2011

It’s oh so quiet

Posted by Anne

Category : Mah baby

As I lie awake in bed right before I fall asleep each night I find myself singing a song in my head:

It’s oh so quiet.
Shhh. Shhh.
It’s oh so still.
Shhh. Shhh.
You’re almost asleep.
Shhh. Shhh.
And so peaceful until…
Your baby cries: Wah Wah!
He shouts and he yells!
Helloooo!
He broke the spell!
Of falling asleep.

Jan

29

2011

My epidural experience

Posted by Anne

Category : Mah baby

Tags: ,

Epidural: to do or not to do.

When my husband and I were going to our baby classes, epidurals and other pain management techniques were discussed.

One activity that we were given during this discussion was for the pregnant lady and the significant other to specify whether they thought the pregnant woman would choose an epidural and at what point of the labor the pregnant woman would choose the epidural.

I, naturally, felt that I would wait until I was in quite a bit of pain but would try my best to NOT have the epidural. My husband, on the other hand, felt that I would definitely get it – no question.

In the end, he was right.

After requesting the epidural, it took another two hours to actually see the anesthesiologist. When I did, she seemed to be competent and went about her work. 

During the procedure, she said that I needed to let her know if I started to feel pressure to the left or to the right as it isn’t always a sure fire thing when inserting very small tubes and whatnot into a person’s back..

Bear in mind, that I was in quite a bit of pain at this time and really just wanted anything that would help me alleviate it. I wasn’t thinking of anything beyond the pain. SO I was a little freaked out that while the doctor was doing her thing that I suddenly had pain rapidly shoot from the left side of my body at the hip region down to my toes.

“Left! Left!” I said quickly. She was able to make the adjustments and soon I was feeling quite a bit better and didn’t think anything about it.

I was surprised because I expected to go completely numb from my waist down, but I could actually feel my legs and could move them if a nurse asked me to do so. This was completely the opposite of what I expected from everyone else’s experience!

What mattered at the time was that the contractions in my abdomen and back were no longer severe and I was actually able to sleep for seven hours.

After the birth of my son, I noticed for the next two days while in the hospital that I was getting occasional headaches, but I really just assumed it was because I was no longer pregnant… Boy, was I wrong!

My headaches progressively got worse until the point four days later when I contacted the emergency number for my OB to ask him why I would have these headaches. It seemed that as long as I was laying down, my head wouldn’t feel as though it were about to explode. Anytime I would stand up or even sit up, the headache would come back full force. I felt completely incapacitated! I just gave birth to a baby and I couldn’t even take care of him! I felt like the worst parent ever!

As it turned out, I was having spinal headaches due to the epidural.

As they’ll tell you, the process of giving someone an epidural is by no means an exact science. Everyone is slightly different and each insert can bring its own challenges. My challenge was that the anesthesiologist accidentally caused some of my cerebral spinal fluid to leak beyond the confines of my dura and into my body.  As a result, when I would be sitting up or standing all of the padding of the cerebral spinal fluid would drain from my head and I would get a headache.

The fix: I had to go to the emergency room and have another procedure in the same spot called a blood patch. The idea is that they draw blood from your own body and insert it back into the same spot that you had the epidural and the blood will cause the region that is leaking to clot.

From what I heard from the various doctor’s that I spoke to this can happen to 1 in 100 people who have epidurals. Those that are reported anyway…

When I go to give birth to my second child, I haven’t decided whether or not to opt for an epidural. The first go-around was quite an experience, and knowing what I know now I’m not quite sure how to feel.

Of course, it’s possible that it might not even be an issue as I could have a c-section OR I could give birth without getting the chance to have one.

You never know.