Breathe

Do you remember when you were little and you would cry so hard you couldn't breathe anymore? When all you wanted to do was breathe in, but you seemed to be stuck breathing out? Do you remember that sensation? I see my boys do it, James more than Drew; he always looks at me with this half-panic in his eyes saying, "whoa! I think I cried too hard!" I remember the feeling (I also remember the involuntary "hiccups" after you did catch your breath), but was reminded of that sensation once again today, but not because I was crying too hard (well, crying may have happened as a secondary reaction), but because I was laughing too hard. I seriously thought I might never be able to breathe in again.

What might cause me to laugh that hard? Believe it or not, it was not one of the boys and their silly antics, it was actually a book.

Let's Pretend this Never Happened is written by Jenny Lawson, otherwise known as The Bloggess. Many people are familiar with her hilarious story about a big metal chicken; if you're not, go ahead and acquaint yourself. Now imagine 366 pages of that!

If you're in need of a good laugh, or if you just need to feel a little more normal, this is definitely a book you should pick up. I've told Jason he needs to read it (when I finish! Don't touch before then!) just so that he can understand me a bit better (in particular, the chapter entitled "Phone Conversation I had with my Husband After I got lost for the Eighty Thousandth Time) and so that he can appreciate that, in spite of my many quirks, he has it pretty easy.

I just thought I'd share because, if something makes you laugh that hard, I think it's mean not to.

Monday Minute: Story time

Would you like to snuggle in for a little story time? Drew will be happy to read you a book!



Think we should get him in acting or something? With a memory like that, lines will be no problem!

P.S. It is a scratch and sniff book
P.P.S. Yes, he's wearing his Christmas pajamas. But they're are incredibly appropriate, no?

Weird coincidence

So I was reading this book called "Heart of the Matter" by Emily Giffin that a coworker loaned me. It's a good book... I was not overall thrilled with the theme of adultery, but I was happy with the outcome. It was a good, easy read, which I needed after some intense books that kept me up way too late.

Anyways, all of that is beside the point. In the book a doctor is mentioned in passing; her name was Dr. Wolfenden. I used to see a Dr. Wolfenden at the Emory CF Center here in Atlanta. It struck me as an odd name, and seemed even more interesting that she was a female, like my own doctor. I figured it was kind of a coincidence, until I noticed that the author lives here in Atlanta.

Dr. Wolfenden was head of the Emory CF program until she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She passed away last year, the year the book was published. I just HAD to know if the small mention in the book was a tribute to her... so I decided to be crazy and email the author's website.

Sure enough, I got this response:

Not a silly question at all! Emily was dear friends with Dr. Wolfenden from Atlanta. They have children around the same age that attend the same school. Very observant! :) Thanks for writing!

How about that! I was so surprised (that I even got a response in the first place!), I just had to share!

Thank you Dr. Wolfenden for all you did. We miss you! And thank you Ms. Giffin for recognizing an amazing woman!

It's a little TOO quiet...

As most moms will tell you, quiet is often a bad thing. Unless your child is asleep, quiet means they are likely very interested in something... and that something isn't always something you want them interested in. Either that or they don't want to get caught doing whatever it is they're doing. In those "oh, that's nice, Drew is playing quietly... wait... it's a little TOO quiet" moments I have found Drew pulling knives and/or scissors out of the dishwasher; he  has disappeared all the way upstairs (when I wasn't fully aware that he could climb a set of stairs on his own);  and I found him coming out of the bathroom with Jason's wireless mouse- "phew... I caught him just in time... oh wait... is that water dripping from the mouse? Crap!"

But actually, more often than not, I peak around a corner to find something like the sights I found tonight while cooking dinner...

My little genius playing with his abacus

This one actually could get dangerous, but he's been
enjoying emptying and filling the crayon box.

Both of these photos were captured in true "uh oh.. what is he up to now?" moments. Not pictured was the first "it's too quiet moment" which led to me pulling out the camera in the first place- I found him sitting in his play room, surrounded by toys, but with a book open in his lap. He was happily "reading" it to himself. :)

Drew is reading!

Well, obviously he's not really reading. 

He is really starting to enjoy books, though! He will actually drag a book to me then whine until I put him in my lap and read it to him. That, of course, only lasts for a few pages before he's trying to pry the book out of my hands and turn and tap the pages himself. But the fact that he enjoys being read to, even for a few short minutes, is a good step. (And even the fact that he wants to turn the pages and imitate how I try to point out things in the book is great, too!)

He even loves quality content...

But not only does he enjoy being read to, and imitate the way I read the books, he's actually already memorizing the "words" that go with pictures. One of the books we read is called "Baby Faces". It's pretty much just that- pictures of babies' faces with a single word or phrase describing it: yippee, boo hoo, stinky, etc.. Me being me (and have a trace of "drama queen" in me) I read and act out the pages. Boo hoo involves lots of eye rubbing, sobs, and "tears" while stinky finds me plugging my nose and waving away awful aromas. Drew loves this and laughs and laughs. The other day he pulled the book out himself and turned to the page that said "yum-yum" and he started to make the lip smacking sound I make.

Maybe he is reading!

Bookworm

Wow, this picture was taken about a month ago, look how small Drew looks!

Drew is already a bookworm, just like I hoped he'd be! I have been reading to him since the first week of his life (when I attempted to read him Love You Forever and ended up a sobbing wreck!).  We like to lay on the floor with the book above us; Drew examines the pictures while I read, and he often tries to "read along."  He'll start babbling so I stop reading (you know, so I'm not interrupting him!) but he usually stops babbling when I stop reading!  And he'll happily sit through even an entire Dr. Seuss book (did you know they can be quite long??)!

And now look!

He's turning pages himself!  My grandma was playing with him while I did some chores upstairs.  When I came down I found them like this!  He was so interested in the book; he was staring at it, and reaching for it, and grabbing it.  It made me smile. (Of course, this was one of the first few times he's "grabbed" at things at all, so that helped too!)

Hello pregnancy, where have you been?

So it seems like all at once all the pregnancy complaints I have yet to complain about came crashing down on me today.  I attribute it to a mix of things really more pregnancy-unrelated, but today was the first time I really felt like a pregnant woman and wondered if I can handle this...

It started yesterday really when I came down with a cold.... or finally succumbed to Spring allergies... or got a sinus infections... or whatever it is.  My throat was burning so bad and I had so much mucus I could hardly breathe or swallow.  The most miserable thing was not being able to take anything to make me feel better!  Jason was at work so I couldn't even get ginger ale which is my "mental medicine" when I get head colds.

I hardly slept last night... I've actually slept really well throughout the pregnancy only waking up once or twice to use the bathroom then going right back to sleep.  Last night I woke up almost every hour nearly choking.  I would cough and hack, drink some water, go to the bathroom, cough and hack some more, then go back to sleep.  I repeated this at least 6 times.

Needless to say I was not in the best of moods this morning when it was time to get up to go to school.  I still wasn't feeling good and totally would have stayed home if it weren't the last day of school with the prospect of not returning next year.  I wanted one last day with the kids.

To add on top of feeling miserable, my back decided to join the game this morning.  Amidst running late and trying to make parfaits for my News Team (as a farewell "thank you") my back decided to seize up.  I got a sudden sharp pain on the right side and simply could not move.  It eased up a little, so I continued my running around only to have it seize up again.  I was limping around trying to get myself out the door on time wondering why it decided to start doing this now.  I've complained about the occasional back pain, but this was like nothing I've felt before.  I think it probably has more to do with coughing and sleeping uncomfortably last night than with pregnancy, but it definitely didn't make my morning easy.

Because of all my running around I managed to more or less skip breakfast (not something I do these days!).  I got a few bites here and there and intended to eat with the News Team kids, but it just didn't happen.  I always get "emotional" when I'm hungry.... but that mixed with little sleep, uncertainty about next year, and of course pregnancy hormones made for a very explosive situation.  I cried in front of the entire first grade when the music teacher told me I should go home because I didn't look well.  I cried to the principal for half an hour as I tried to get questions answered about the upcoming school year.  I cried to teachers walking down the hallway who offered to help pack up my room.  I would never try to claim I'm not an emotional person, but I have honestly only cried at school twice in my three years there.... to people's knowledge at least.  On top of that I've been really happy throughout this pregnancy, seeming to have avoided the raging hormonal mess I expected to suffer.

Coming home and taking a nap helped me feel a little better, but I think the hunger monster struck again without me realizing.  I was in the middle of making dinner and grabbed a pot off the stove that needed to be cleaned.  The handle had been resting up against another pot that was boiling water... I knew it would be hot so I used a glove.  I set the pot on the counter, walked away, did a few things, came back to the pot and grabbed the handle full on (having forgotten by now that it was hot) and burnt three of my fingers.  I immediately went into hysterics, crying like a toddler having a temper-tantrum!  Jason had to finish cooking dinner...

Sigh... what a day.  I'm hoping the sleepless night, the back pain and the hormonal roller coaster of today will be just that... simply the events of one "bad day".  These typical pregnancy complaints really only came about by being fueled by other factors, but I still thought to myself, "wow, this is how it feels to be 8 1/2 months pregnant! No wonder people complain so much!".

I'm believing that once this cold is over though I shall hopefully return to my happy, relatively comfortable, pregnant-self!



Added later: Wow... not even joking.... no less than 2 minutes after publishing this post I went to the bathroom to get ready for bed and discovered....a tick! On my back! How did that get there!?  We all know how much I love bugs... (I'm paralyzingly afraid of them in fact).  So.... that led to another break down as I freaked out while Jason tried to get it off, which led to uncontrollable coughing thanks to this cold, which led to me throwing up.  Woo hoo!  What a day!  I really should have titled this post "My Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day".  Has anyone read that book?  Maybe I should add it to my list of books for Floodling...

Book worm

I had a great conversation with my dad the other day and one of the things we discussed was reading to children.  My sister and I were read to a lot when we were little; it was bedtime tradition to have a story before bed.  I think because of that we both love reading and writing today.

When I used to babysit it just seemed natural to bring books and read to the children.  I remember reading a story to a 9 month old baby in hopes of getting her to stop crying. Pointless to read to a baby some might say, but I completely disagree!  Having done no background research to support my opinion (so strange for me!) I simply believe that reading helps children (and babies!) to learn not only language in general but communication skills.  I think being read to helps children to learn the rhythms of language and learn expressions and emotions.  I also think it's simply great bonding time!  If you have done research, or know of other great reasons for reading to children, please feel free to share!

So I've already started a collection of books for baby Floodling.  In fact I had a "freak out" moment early on in the pregnancy realizing I not only needed all sorts of baby things, but books too!  I know we will collect books over time but I still felt that I needed to have some now.

I started with some of my own childhood favorites, so this is what his collection looks like so far:

and it's companion...

(awesome repetitive books for preschoolers)

and

Just kidding!!!

My list of books I'd love to have includes:

I love the rhyming and rhythm in Dr. Seuss books

The only book Jason remembers being read as a child is this:

It looks like an adorable book about a boy who refuses to eat his oatmeal, so his father proclaims that he will have it morning, noon and night until he learns to eat it right!  So the starving boy resorts to flowers....

So Algernon cooked long and late, and Peter ate and ATE and ATE. He loved to have petunia stew with morning glories poached in dew, escalloped hearts of peony and forsythia fricassee.

Since I have numerous of my own faves on these lists, I thought I should at least include the only one Jason remembers, but it turns out this book is a collecter's item now and is worth around $200!  He thought his grandmother still had the book so we asked her and she thinks she gave it away at a garage sale, sad!

So I'm curious... What books do you remember reading as a child and/or what books did you enjoy reading to your own children? What books would you consider "must-haves" for a child's book collection?

I want your opinions, PLEASE

I am currently reading two books in preparation for Floodling's arrival.  One in preparation for the actual arrival, and one in preparation for the needs that then follow.

I'm actually writing with the hopes of getting some of your opinions.  You all have been awfully quiet lately!  I know most of the time I'm just writing about daily things that happen and nothing needs to be said, but this time I want to hear from you! :)

The first book I am reading is about the Bradley Method of natural childbirth.  I will start off by first saying I am NOT thinking of having a home birth.  What is meant by "natural childbirth" is a birth that is unaided by the use of medications, whether for pain or for inducing labor, it does not mean I can't be at a hospital or have an obstetrician aiding in the birth.  I've been asked by several people if I plan to have a natural birth (kind of a weird question in my opinion) and my resounding answer for the longest time was "NO!".  You hear from friends and family and see on TV just how "painful" labor is.... so no, I did not think I wanted to do a natural birth.  I am NOT a brave person, nor do I deal with pain very well.  I saw natural birth as something women do to be seen as "heroic".  In addition, I know that I have my own medical needs and complications, possibly making a natural birth difficult.

So how did I get to thinking (notice I'm saying thinking) about natural birth then?  A teacher at my school had a baby over Christmas break.  Upon her return she told me she had a number of pregnancy books and asked if I would like them as this was her LAST child (she had a lot of health issues with both her pregnancies).  The next day I took home a large bag of books, among them The Girlfriend's Guide to Pregnancy, The Complete Book of Breastfeeding, Hypnobirthing, Communing with the Spirit of your Unborn Child, and The Bradley Method.  A lot of them (Hynobirthing and Communing with the Spirit... for example) seemed a little too...weird... for me.  I passed them aside and dug through the others.  I opened the book on the Bradley Method not really knowing what it was and thinking it seemed like something maybe along the lines of Lamaze.  I quickly discovered it was a method for natural childbirth, but read on curious about its theories.

So this is what I've gleaned so far (keep in mind, these are not MY opinions, this is what I've read from a one-sided book):

• Labor drugs do enter the baby's bloodstream before birth, and can carry with them risks to both mother and baby
• Epidurals often slow the labor process then forcing doctors to use pitocin to again speed up the labor which may then again cause very painful contractions
• Epidurals don't always numb all of the pain
• If an epidural numbs the muscles needed to push the baby out then forceps or vacuums have to be used to extract the baby (in turn often leading to necessary episiotomy...or tearing....)
• Unmedicated babies have a natural tendency to help push themselves out and to spin to pass properly through the birth canal 
• A lot of the pain in labor is caused by the tensing of ALL the muscles in the body during contractions.  The theory behind this method is that by relaxing all of your muscles and allowing your uterine muscles to do their job (and understanding what they're doing) you can handle (and maybe even avoid) the pain.

And I thought this quote was interesting (though I don't entirely believe it as I have several friends who say once they got their epidural they couldn't feel a thing and were happy-go-lucky):

"The myth is that the medicated labor is painless.  But it is the medicated mother who later talks most about pain (and it is she who is often seen during labor suffering and out of control).  She may have thought drugs would see her through labor, so she didn't take the opportunity to get her mind and body ready.  In contrast the trained, natural-childbirth mothers talk primarily of hard work..."

I know of one person in particular that after her epidural was still in pain.  She also had to have pitocin to speed up the labor process but things still didn't move at an appropriate pace and she ended up having to have a C-Section.  But I also have (as mentioned above) friends who had epidurals, and one even then had pitocin, and they felt nothing and everything went "normally".

I've searched online for opponents to the Bradley Method curious what they have to say against it.  Honestly, I had a hard time finding anything.  There are a lot of women who have had medicated births followed by Bradley Births who all rave of how much better it is the Bradley way.  The biggest negative factor I've found is that apparently a lot of Labor and Delivery nurses and obstetricians dislike Bradley patients for being demanding and being hostile to medical interventions.  I am obviously not a person that is against medical intervention (who knows where I'd be if I were!) and I don't imagine myself being hostile or demanding.

Some opinions I found (from a neutral site):

"The knowledge about the anatomy/physiology and psychology provided by Bradley can't be beat. And you are smart/savvy enough to know not to incorporate any hostile attitudes about health care providers, if you choose not to. It can't hurt to gain the knowledge you would get taking these classes. And if you do choose anesthesia in labor for some reason, that's ok. You will still be smart and go in informed about your body and its workings in labor and delivery, something NO ONE can take away from you!"

"Tried both methods. Bradley teaches you how to relax and work with the labor you get--hard or easy. It better prepares you for releasing your body to the process of labor, for what childbirth will feel like and how to manage it by not fighting your body.   It helps reduce some of that Fear-leads-to-Tension-leads-to-Pain cycle that birthing can cause so well. Lamaze works OK to start with, but was worthless once real hard labor started. Bradley Method was by far the best...."

If I do choose to go with a natural childbirth, I am not set in any one method (yet, at least).  I did talk to my Ob/Gyn about natural childbirth and the Bradley method.  He said I would likely be viewed as "weird" as it's not the normal thing to do these days, but he often enjoys natural births as it makes his job a lot easier and often times the delivery room environment is more inviting.  I think the fact that his job is made "a lot easier" says something in itself, not to mention a "more inviting" room (ie. no screaming and cussing!).  His concern was allowing him to do his job if an emergency situation should arise, but otherwise he had no problem with it, and of course if it came to the health and safety of my baby I'd do what was necessary.  He also didn't seem to have any concern over my own medical situation interfering.

I should also mention that if I were to take Bradley Method courses it costs about $300 (eek!)... it is a 12 week class though that not only prepares you in this method, but also prepares you for breastfeeding and a lot of other things that come along with childbirth and having an infant.

So this is what I'm looking for... all of you moms out there, what is your opinion?  Am I crazy?  Is this book a load of... you know what....?  Did you have a natural childbirth or a "medicated" childbirth?  Either way, how did it go?  If you had medicated, did you still have pain?  Is there anyone that has done both?  Non-moms, I'm sure you have an opinion too.  What do you think???  I like to think I am open-minded (thus the reason this is even coming into question) so please feel free to share honestly!  Don't be mean, but I would appreciate others' true and honest opinions.

I will share more on the second book I'm reading later... :)