Too Much Information

So it seems, per the peanut gallery, I need a nanny so that I can blog more often (personally I blame my employer for filling my working day with actual work, but then again, I haven't been laid off so I'll shut my trap).  Last time I wrote (in April), it was about the Decorah Eagles that are pretty much all grown up and hanging out on a branch near the nest.  Talk about empty nest syndrome.  I had to stop watching them every moment of everyday because I was getting anxiety about their first flights!  Ha!


But a lot has happened since then that I haven't told you about.  Birthday, Mother's Day, Father's Day, camping with awful cicadas, layoffs at work, baby milestones, annoying bastards, finding money, etc.  See, it's been a lot. (b o r i n g g g g)

Normally I like to keep the baby stuff to the baby blog (Dani is 8 months old today) but I figured while I'm here, I'll do what I do best and vent in my blog.  Stress at work has doubled over the last two weeks as a supervising engineer has left HOK and put me in the position of taking on more responsibility with my Wishard  project (now called Eskanazi Health).  Just the tasks alone are overwhelming.  Add to that working on good relationships with those I now have to work with regularly (not a people person).  And then add even more to that, an individual had me in tears Tuesday for something that ended up being nothing. 

So the point of mentioning all of this is to tell you that the stress levels that I have been under have been making my milk supply drop. Yes I know, too much information, oh well.  But the reality is that I am a full time working mother who has chosen to try and feed her child with what breast milk I can produce while I am away from her.  That alone, being away from her and trying to pump every 3-4 hours has put a toll on production.  Now with the stress and what has become the end of nursing as we know it at home, the girls are just not up to making the liquid gold.

So you may ask, why not just stop?  Good question!  I was being encouraged to stop by one engineer at work (same person who left), and an being encouraged to stop by my husband.  In their defenses they see the stress that pumping with little reward is putting on me (and the disappointment of "failing").  But I can't, this milk is the one thing that I, and only I can give Dani, and I'm joyed to be able to do so.  I had a one year goal and I want to make it.  It's absurd I suppose, I don't know many working mothers that essentially exclusively pump and continue past 3 or even 6 months and I've made it to 8.

So I've made a deal with myself that I will stop when, for an entire week,  I no longer produce each day as much as she consumes in a day (and we're close).  Until then, I'm going to drink my beer, eat my oatmeal, take my fenugreek, and try some relaxing breaths at work and see if I can get the girls pepped up and producing!

But a fun note, we decorated a coworkers desk today for his 40th birthday!  Happy Birthday Andrew!

The Birds

Ever since I heard about the Decorah Eagles, I've been obsessed with watching the family of eagles hatch and then grow into some fine specimen of bird. It's unlike anything you'd ever get to see otherwise if this live webcam did not exist. Here are a few pictures of the birds and the link so you can also become addicted.

http://www.ustream.tv/decoraheagles











Also, there was an owl in the office today, so I had my picture taken with it. It's been really cool to hear the owls hooting and calling to one another these past few weeks. Glad to see one close!

Just Some Stuff to Say Real Quick

I've been sitting here at my computer since quarter 'til 5am doing a hodge podge of Internetty things (browsing, social mediaing, paying bills, etc.) and am finally tired enough I might just fall asleep at the computer! Hopefully I make it to a comfy location before my body decides to shut down.

Anyway, today is 10/10/10 and I felt it was only appropriate to point that out (because no one else will today)! It's a busy day for a lot of people. Emily, Andy, and Tim are running in the Chicago Marathon today; Amanda is patiently "watching" the race. Today would have been my dad's 56th birthday. There are a whole horde of parties happening today for a variety of reasons. That's just to name a few things that are going on this fine October day.

I myself will be going to a party, blogging, shopping, writing out Thank You cards, addressing invitations to Eva's shower, and hopefully getting together with a friend for dinner who surprised me by coming home for my shower before she has to head back!

With that said, I'm off to hopefully catch at least an hour of sleep. I hope to blog later over at Baby-Blog about the amazing baby shower I had yesterday. As a baby-blog reminder, I need to make a post about all of the anxiety dreams I had been having (and some still to continue I'm sure); the shower of course with some highlights that include many a sheepy things and Chris' Infant Relief drops.

A few things to specific peoples

To Seth, I am sorry I didn't make it out to your birthday party, I didn't have it in me. To all that attended my shower, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, I honestly have been in tears worrying about how to work in getting items for the baby (with considerations to both time and money). You not only made it fun, but more helpful than you will ever know. To DMA and Marc, thank you for giving Chris work this week. You not only helped with our financial situation, but his mood/stress as well. Rachel, thank you for traveling all the way here, it was a wonderful surprise. To those ladies that helped plan and do stuff at my shower, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! It seems to me that everyone had a great time first of all, and secondly, I think everyone was very happy with the food and treats. I don't know what I would do if I didn't know such amazing girls like Eva, Becky, Amanda, Marie, and Brandy who would be willing to take time out of their own lives to help me. It takes a lot of stress off of me, and while you may think you know how much you've helped me, you will never know how much you've helped my sanity (which as you know is questionable at best). To Mike, congrats bud, 6 months is amazing, I tear up just thinking about it! To Aunt Pat and Aunt JoAnne hang in there ladies, your babies will be okay, we've got to tell ourselves that.

What NOT To Eat For Breakfast

This blog stems from a conversation with Eva from last week. We were discussing things we should maybe avoid eating. I for one, prefer all carbohydrates (simple and complex). Eva is a fan of the proteins, but for some reason is craving less of that and more carbs during her pregnancy. This got us started on the glucose test for gestational diabetes in pregnant women. Since I already monitor my blood sugar levels I've not had to take the test; Eva's is coming up soon.

That same evening after our conversation, I received the following article about glycemic indices of foods via mail...


Anyway, I thought it was interesting enough to share (courtesy of Anderson Hospital). Now, having learned what not to eat, and knowing how terrible sugars are for breakfast (even Jodi warned me), one might guess I would know better than to eat ice cream for breakfast!



Did I listen? No. How were my sugars? 170 [egads!] Did I learn my lesson? Well, only time will tell!


Keeping tabs on Baby Yadi? I've written more over at BabyBlog [with new ultrasound pics]
Still not in the gender poll? Better get in there over at the StephySite Poll!

As always, thanks for stopping by to read!

Starting Now

Due to some prompting by Holly, I've started a blog devoted to that which is Baby Yadi and my daily (if I can keep up) rantings about pregnancy. Basically, I just want to be able to record the things I'll otherwise one day forget. For example, right now the kid is jumping on my bladder giving me this urge to run to the bathroom, but as soon as it starts, it stops thus giving me the giggles (it's funny to think what this thing can do). While it's really more of a personal diary for me, I am keeping it public so that those who wish to follow along may do so.

Should you wish to follow the baby stuff go to...

StephySite BabyBlog

For the record, I'll still be writing here as randomly as I have been. I will attempt to keep most of the baby stuff relegated to BabyBlog, with the occasional sharing of information here at My Moblie Blog.

Questions, Answers, and Congratulations

I'm going to start this blog off with my quick whiny rants. Skip to the next paragraph to avoid my negativity. Why must I sit next to the loudest people in the office? If you thought I was potentially the loudest person you knew (ahem, Christine), you haven't had the joy of sitting near the people I have the tremendous task of enjoying...loud drink sipping, loud belching, loud mouth-slap chewing, and ridiculously loud speaking volume. Not all of them are loud, not all of them have these annoying traits, but when my patience is thin, I can't bear the annoyances of others (like loud sipping).

Okay, I got that out of my system, and I feel a lot better already. The only reason I'm even really writing today is to update everyone on some of the questions I've been getting a lot of lately.

When is your due date?

I don't know. I have a range of given dates between November 29 to December 8. I think when it comes time for the baby poll, it should be fun to see what people think will happen.

What baby poll are you talking about?

Chris and I are going to have a 50-50 Baby Poll (50% of proceeds go towards the baby, gambling is illegal, but I will donate 50% of the proceeds to the "winner"). Each person is to guess the baby's gender, the due date, and lastly the weight. Only those who guessed the correct gender can win. The winner is the person who is closest to the actual birth date (with correct gender). Weight is tie breaker (closest to weight). I've not set this up yet, so stay tuned! Also, think of ways to spend the money for baby (college, savings account, diapers, toys, sheep, shoes for mom, or whatever).

Are you having a baby shower?

Yes, the date is October 9. If you want to come please let me know (with address (by email)).

Where are you registered?

Uh, yea, I still have to do that.

And you still think you want cloth diapers?

Yes, why, what are you saying?

Have you gotten anything done on the nursery?

I cleaned it out, though, the mattress doesn't fit down the stair well, so it's propped up along the wall, and probably will be for some time. We're leaving it painted yellow. Otherwise, no nesting has been incorporated into my lifestyle.

How's that quilt coming along for baby?

Okay, stop picking on me for being so lazy and lacking motivation. For your reference, I have ironed fusible backing to THREE of the shirts. That's more than you thought I bet!

When is Eva due? [note: NOT "What does Eva do?" - that was an awkward moment for me]

Eva is due at the end of January. Her shower is November 13, if you want to come, please let me know, I'll run it by her of course first to make sure you aren't her mortal enemy.

Okay, do either of you couples have names picked out?

Maybe, but would we share them yet?

Anyway, thanks for your time, thanks for your concerns; I really do appreciate everyone.

A quick congrats to Andrea, Aaron and Rudy for the newest addition to the family, Veronon. Congrats to Crystal and Mark, the newlyweds!

...That's What?

For those of you that have ever had an ultrasound, be if for gall or kidney stones or your everyday baby, you will know how confusing it is to interpret some of the images that they give you. I'm sharing with you now, some newer ultrasound images of Baby Yadi.

The first is of my third ultrasound (July 2, 2010)...you should see [in this order]: Head with attached spine (happy to see them attached); a face (see the eye sockets?); another view of the face.



The next set is from my fourth ultrasound (July 27, 2010) [Why so many ultrasounds? Technically I'm high risk, though it'd be low on the spectrum of high risk].

For fun, I decided to give you the ultrasound images first without explanation and then with notation as to what you should see...

What do you see?	What you should see!

IF YOU ARE VIEWING THIS VIA FACEBOOK, YOU MAY WANT TO CLICK HERE IF IMAGES ARE NOT SHOWING UP!

Yes, I AM Pregnant

As many of you have heard, I'm pregnant.

Also, as many of you may know, I don't take serious things serious (unless you're talking about licensing exams, that's a whole different bucket of worms). For example, my pregnancy announcement to the world (via Facebook, heh) stated that I was parasitically infected. It's not a lie, pregnancy is in fact, until birth, just like being infected by a parasite (there is the minor difference of species variation, but for the sake of argument, just shut up and let it be).

Additionally, I compared babies to dogs. This is apparently not an accepted comparison, but think about it for a moment. You don't wash babies or dogs often as their skin is sensitive, you simply wipe them down often. There's a lot of teaching in the beginning, "don't beg for food", "don't put the knife in the socket", "go potty on the lawn", "go potty in the toilet". Dogs and newborn babies, sleep for 16-20 hours. Humans grow out of this habit, which is a bad thing. Dogs, the obviously smarter species do not grow out of this habit, though they are infinitely less productive!

For all of my current pregnancy mockery, I do not apologize, as it is after all ME. Would you expect less? Would you expect more? Didn't think so! I will however, to appease the masses (and myself just a tiny bit) share the joyfulness of this all with some images and info...

-Will you find out the gender? No

-So, are you calling the fetus 'it'? Yes, as well as 'him' out of habit, and 'Baby Yadi'

-What are you doing for the nursery? We'll be converting the sheep room (the sheep stay), it's already yellow so no need to redecorate.

-You are fairly psycho about the environment, so what are you doing about diapers? Preferably the G diapers, and even cloth, as you know, I'm opposed to destroying the environment for mere convenience. I will on occasion use what is available, but my goal is to minimize the impact of baby diapers in landfills!

-When are you due/How far along are you? I'm due around late November, early December. As of today (May 18, 2010), I'm 12 weeks (out of approx. 40 wks)

-What are you most excited about? My cousin's baby is due earlier in the year, so cousins will be of the same age; Santa Claus; school supplies; Christmas at Grandpa's.

-What about the dogs? I imagine Riley will take this all in very well. Bella, who is the baby of the house will be my problem. I anticipate carrying around a baby doll that whines to teach her what is allowed and not allowed from dogs around babies. Though stubborn (she IS a bully) she's smart, she'll learn, and she'll always be my baby girl as Riley will always be my baby boy!

-How are you feeling otherwise? Well, honestly, it's hard to be excited through all the nausea. Until Monday the 17th I had a vomit free pregnancy. It all changed with some projectile stuff accompanied by a severe headache and about 16-20 hours of sleep. I have otherwise been feeling okay. The nausea comes and goes all day long. Let's hope it passes. I want to throw out a huge thanks to Maureen for the suggestion of Greek yogurt. Others suggested it as well, but Maureen gave me some insider tips!

-Any names picked out? Nothing besides Yadier Molina.

-When are you going to start taking this seriously? What, I HAVE to do that?

-How many horror stories have you heard? Lucky for me, I avoid the people that tell me of horror stories, I can't deal with them. Instead, I hear from Maureen and Michel who are both very positive about their current and past pregnancies (respectively). SO, if you want to tell me about something good and positive, great! If you have a horror story, don't even bother!

Are you making anything for Baby Yadi? Yes, I plan on making a quilt out of all my old punk t-shirts I can't bear to toss but can't wear for one reason or another. Also, there is some scrap booking happening. Eva is drawing some stuff up for the room, I imagine Chris will make some kind of furniture, I expect at least one children's book from @ibificus, and I'm sure all my dog buddies on Twitter will work up some slimy drool kisses for me too (virtual drool works great for me)!

NOW...the images... [If you only see blobs in the ultrasounds, don't worry, that's really all they are...well that and a baby]

The image on the left is the 8 week ultrasound where you should see a blob/baby about the size of a kidney bean and the yolk sac. The image on the right is the 12 week ultrasound (bottom right is "3d") where you should see a lime sized blob/baby.