this temporary existence

Sunday, January 13, 2013

new blog

I've moved blog names :)

allow me to redirect you here

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

I never planned on being pregnant.

Certainly not this time, but more importantly not ever.
Don’t get me wrong, for as long as I can remember I’ve wanted children,
just not biologically.
The idea of ‘being pregnant’ was never remotely appealing,
the magic of it all was lost on me.
To me a child has always been a child
and family didn't necessarily mean blood.
This attitude was slightly bizarre but for whatever reason,
sharing the prenatal bond with my child was never that important to me.
My dreams involved travel, adventure, an artistic career
and eventually adopting a child sometime in my mid-thirties.
But God, or Fate, or Jameson’s,
whichever you prefer,
had a different plan and two weeks before my 24th birthday
I found out I was 7 weeks pregnant.
A lot flashed through my head in the moments that followed the arrival of the second pink line,
mostly expletives that I won’t share
but somewhere in there I made a decision to keep this baby
and from that moment forward everything changed.
Many of the things that scared me about pregnancy
have turned out to be frighteningly accurate
but there have also been those fears that
have turned out to be exceptionally beautiful.
And ironically, the few benefits I associated with pregnancy
have ended up falling short.
Allow me first to elaborate on what I call “the frighteningly accurate”

o Hemorrhoids – a very real and alarming fear,
I have actually stood butt naked with one leg propped up on the toilet,
checking my booty in the mirror to see if the agony between my cheeks
was as horrifying as the results of my Google image search.
*I've yet to confirm their existence but the discomfort is there*

o Morning sickness – I've yet to miss alcohol
and I mostly attribute this to the 4 month long hangover
that welcomed me into my pregnancy journey.
During these nausea laden months I actually got to experience
throwing up in a bush while biking to work,
as well as on the side of the highway and finally into my own lap.

o Hormones – It’s frustrating to question everything that you feel
and to constantly wonder if all your emotions can
or should be attributed to changes in your hormones.

Some honorable mentions include:
o Leaky breasts – I’ll never forget that moment
when I realized what the “drool stains” in my bra actually were.

o Food aversions – A previous favorite food, French Fries,
became a source of contention for a solid 5 months.

o Exhaustion –To this day, if I manage to put on mascara and a clean shirt,
I consider the day a success.

Of the few things I declared “benefits of pregnancy”, the following have fallen short:

o The Glow – Although I’ve been fortunate enough to avoid stretch marks,
and although there have been several comments on my being “adorable”
I feel completely unattractive. All. The. Time.

o Registering – A decided bonus of pregnancy,
I found registering daunting, time consuming, overwhelming and exhausting.
I preferred to nap and let people, who knew better than me,
buy what they deemed appropriate and necessary.
Amazingly enough I ended up with quite the well rounded selection of loot.

Alright, enough with the negativity,
I will admit that previously the thought of something,
other than Taco Bell,squirming inside of me, freaked me out--horrified me would even be appropriate.
But alas, I live for those gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) kicks, jabs and nudges.
I also can’t get enough of the ultrasound photos or, in fact, any photo or video of a newborn.
Pregnancy has improved my time management skills and redirected my priorities for the better. I’m more focused and less concerned with petty bull-crap, it’s funny how huge life events can really put things into perspective.Over the last few months (I’m currently 34 weeks) I've had a handful of hysterical breakdowns,
experienced my fair share of alarming and fascinating bodily changes and I've mourned the loss of a life I wasn't ready to part with. But as I near the end of this unexpected journey, I can honestly (and humbly) say
that I’m grateful to have been blessed with the experience of pregnancy, and all its frightening surprises.

Friday, December 7, 2012

and then Graco made me lose my mind

it was going really well

the whole day

I managed to shower this morning

I wasn't overly grumpy at work

and I finally got the carseat

it's been quite the process

an ongoing debate between me, myself and I

travel system? convertible that lasts longer? infant seat without stroller?

ultimately I decided on what I knew I would all along...a travel system

it made the most sense

and it was easy on all fronts -- pushing, breaking down, putting up

the carseat/carrier doesn't weigh too much,

the stroller itself is surprisingly compact -- a pleasant surprise

and it's Graco --

the only label I could name, if I ever found myself being asked about popular baby brands

...probably on a game show

but I digress

the set up of the stroller started out so simple and straightforward

that should have been my first clue

40 minutes later I found myself beating my forehead into one of the wheels

cursing Graco, God and anything within 3-ft of me

it's just one little screw,

the last little screw,

once it's in I've got myself an assembled travel system

but alas, the stroller is in the back bedroom, unassembled

and my thumb and pointer finger are badly bruised from trying to push this stupid pin into it's place

I managed to pull myself out of my hormonal rage long enough to focus on a new project

taking inventory of what I have and making a list of what I need

this was quickly derailed when the infamous pug darted under my bed

eliciting a Hulk-like anger inside me

there I was, lying on the floor beside my bed

risking rage-induced pre-term labor

and then I sneezed

blood saturated snot

(a lovely side effect of pregnancy)

all over my face

and shoulder

and sweater

...it's been quite a night

and I've decided to blame Graco

Thursday, November 29, 2012

timeline of {an unexpected} tuesday

{10:20a} the start of what should have been a regular Ob-Gyn appointment

weight gain=normal blood pressure=low belly measuring=average

{10:45a} doctor asks if baby has been moving normally

"I haven't felt her move since I woke up at 5a...this last week I've been having menstrual-like cramping...should I be concerned?

{11:00a} doctor issues non-stress test to monitor baby's heart rate and test for any signs of contractions

{11:20a} nurse comes in to tell me that the doctor is concerned because baby's heart rate dropped suddenly

and didn't recover for several minutes. She wants me to get an ultrasound this afternoon at 2p

{simultaneously}

baby's heart rate drops a second time, nurse leaves room, returns several minutes later, "the doctor is going to have you admitted to Labor & Delivery so they can monitor you there, the ultrasound tech will meet you there to check the baby"

{11:45a} call my mom to tell her I've been admitted me into Labor & Delivery, she's on her way

{12:00p} they hook me up to same devices used during non-stress test, explain that they will be monitoring

me and that the ultrasound tech will be in shortly. Mom arrives at same time.

{12:30p} ultrasound tech shows up and shows me my beautiful baby, who now has the perfect chubby cheeks, belly and lips...she's sucking on her hands.

{2:00p} doctor and nurse come in to tell me that baby got 8/8 on the ultrasound and after 10 more minutes of monitoring I can go home.

{2:30p} nurse comes in to tell me that baby's heart rate has dropped unexpectedly again, which buys me two more hours of monitoring.

{3:00p} I start complaining of terrible back pain, presumably from the awkward position I've been laying in for 3 hours, mom tries to help me get comfortable to no avail. Nurse enters and says that she's contacted the doctor.

{3:15p} Nurse returns and says that my back pain is actually contractions, which are currently coming minutes apart...they'll be giving me an IV to help stop the contractions, as well as performing a series of tests that would indicate I've gone into pre-term labor.

{3:30p} Nurse blows vein out in my hand while trying to hook up IV...only important because it was painful and my hand is now visibly bruised.

{5:00p} All tests come back negative (woohoo) but my contractions are still coming every 2 minutes and I'm extremely cranky and uncomfortable.

{7:00p} On-call doctor issues a urine test to rule out UTI as possible cause of "uterine activity"

{8:00p} Urine test comes back clean, no signs of UTI, on-call doctor is contacted and says that he would like to come in and be "hands on" to figure out what's causing the contractions.

{9:30p} I haven't had a contraction in over an hour, on-call doctor still hasn't arrived, my awesome mother tells nurse that if the baby is fine, I'm fine and there's no risk of pre-term labor, we'd really like to go home because I haven't eaten and I need to sleep.

{10:00p} Nurse removes IV and goes over any symptoms that would warrant my return...I look down to discover that I've bled through my IV bandage and am dripping blood allover the floor. Nurse cleans me up and (finally) lets me go home.

This may not be exactly spot on as far as timing is concerned but it's close...in the end they ruled that dehydration was causing me to contract. And now I have a gray, plastic pitcher that I have to drink two of a day (filled with water only, of course). All in all Tuesday was scary and exhausting and frustrating and stressful but I'm grateful for the baby that is still in my womb (where she belongs for 8 more weeks) and for a mom that will advocate for me and I'm praying that next time I'm in Labor & Delivery baby will be full term and I'll be (at least a little) more prepared.