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Dec 5, 2012

Mothers United in Nausea

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I think the entire world is now aware that there will soon be a new heir to the British throne. The royals announced earlier this week that Kate (Duchess of Cambridge, wife to Prince William) was in the hospital being treated for hyperemesis gravidarum, aka severe morning sickness.

I’m sure that’s not how they had hoped to announce the pregnancy to the world.

I feel for Kate. While I never had the severe nausea that leads to dehydration and medical care, with both of my pregnancies I experienced nausea for the first 14 weeks that I described as “24/7 sickness.” Morning sickness didn’t seem to fully describe it.

The nausea wasn’t limited to the morning. Instead, I had a constant fatigue and ill feeling that lasted every minute of the day. Food was revolting to look at, but I knew I needed to eat. When I ate small amounts of food, I felt worse, but then felt a little better afterward. But if I ate too much, I felt worse. I never vomited, even though I wished for it every day in the hopes that I might feel a little better.

I lost over 15 pounds during the first trimester of my first pregnancy from eating such a small amount. Thankfully the nausea passed around week 15 and I went on to gain back all of it plus five pounds. With Mira I lost slightly more weight and never gained beyond my starting weight. I’d call pregnancy the best diet I ever tried, but at the same time I wouldn’t wish that nausea on anyone.

When I was pregnant with Mira, my nausea forced me to tell others sooner than I had planned. I had only been at my current job for a year and didn’t want to tell them I was pregnant until the second trimester. But the morning sickness hit even faster this time. (I was so miserable I even wrote a blog post reminding me not to do this again.)

Mira at 6wks. How can something so tiny make you feel so lousy?

One day at work, after fighting through two weeks of nausea, I realized I couldn’t use the excuse of getting over a stomach bug forever. Our employer had brought in doughnuts for us that night, presented at the front desk right as I was standing there. The scent hit my nose and I immediately turned green and walked back to my office as fast as I could while my coworkers just stared at me.

I composed myself, realizing I was going to have to tell someone soon. As I walked back into the hallway, I saw the office manager standing there with her eyes closed breathing in and out slowly. “Are you OK?” I asked.

She opened her eyes in shock, unaware that I was there. At that point, she confessed that the smell of the doughnuts made her sick because she was pregnant. She didn’t want to tell anyone yet, but couldn’t take it anymore. I laughed at that point and shared that I was pregnant, too. With that secret out of the bag, we shared our hard candies and ginger ale and were miserable together.

I guess the one positive of morning sickness is that mothers can bond and sympathize together over the shared experience of toughing it out, whether you just felt a little queasy now and then or needed IV fluids and Zofran. Many are lucky to not experience the severe effects of hyperemesis gravidarum, but we understand the nausea, even if it’s not as serious for us. It’s a wretched and agonizing feeling, but we get through it and think about the reward at the end.

I hope this new royal baby gives Kate a little relief soon so she can enjoy the remainder of her pregnancy. Because beyond the nausea (and later back pain), there are some fun moments to enjoy before the baby arrives.

Filed Under: being a mom, memories, pop culture, pregnancy ·


Nov 29, 2012

Itty-Bitty Christmas Trees

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My plans to turn this house into a home have already started. Step one was putting into motion a way for me to feel comfortable opening the curtains in my living room that look out into my backyard. Why? Because with the apartments behind us, it now feels like the backyard and the back of our house are exposed to everyone in that community watching us all the time.

Village Communities/Ardent Communities (if I haven’t made this clear, avoid renting or buying from this company at all costs) FINALLY put up the fence for their apartments, but they didn’t even connect it to the other part of their fence. So anyone could walk 100 feet beyond our house and come around to the other side of the fence and into our neighborhood’s backyards. At the moment that six foot fence also has a packed-down dirt mound three feet high on the other side – you could practically hop over it from their side. Way to do the minimum and still be jerks, VC.

Several people had suggested getting some trees to help block the view, so I didn’t sit on my sofa and stare at a panoramic view of bland, depressing apartments every day. Thankfully, Fall is a great time to buy trees from the local nurseries at a nice discount.

My mom (the one with the green thumb) went with me to pick out the right trees, and we brought home five little emerald green arbor vitae evergreens at half off. At the moment they’re about three feet tall. They grow to be about ten feet tall and about four feet wide, and have the advantage of being trees that require very little maintenance. Plant them in a good spot, water them, and let them grow – perfect for someone who can’t even keep a garden growing.

All of our electric and gas lines are buried just outside of our fence, so we had to plant them inside the fence. Taking visual perspective into consideration, this isn’t a bad thing since they’ll block the view even sooner than if they were planted further away.

My little green sentinels, standing guard.

Of course, Mira took one look at them and exclaimed that they were “the most perfect little Christmas trees!” she had ever seen. They’re still getting used to their new home, but I have a feeling that next year these new trees will be decorated by a certain little girl who can’t stand to see a blank canvas.

Naturally, it’ll take years for them to reach their maximum height. That part isn’t so fun. Maybe I can find some plant steroids to get them growing faster?  I also need to plant a few more to give us full coverage – I didn’t realize just how long my backyard is.

Ah well, if they don’t block the view for me, at least they’ll block the view for the next people to own this house. And just knowing they’re out there makes me feel happy.

Screening trees? Check. (Well, in a few years. They’re just cute evergreens at the moment.) My curtain rod arrived for the living room this week, so that may be my next project. No more spring rod curtains!

Filed Under: daily life, domestic zero, home ·


Nov 27, 2012

Your PSA For The Week: Stop The Flu

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Some of you know I’m a nurse. I may not be working as a nurse now, but I still have my license and all of that knowledge is still stuck in my brain and used on a regular basis. (I even have nursing dreams, where I’m drawing up meds for a patient and making sure the doses are correct. You wish you had dreams this glamorous, no?)

Anyway…have you had your flu shot yet? Winter is coming (and the next season of Game of Thrones), but the flu is already here. I’ve read several Facebook status updates from friends who have been suffering with the flu. And just last week two in my house were struck down by it – first Cordy, then Aaron.

It’s a nasty flu this year, too. High fever, headache, body aches, chills, coughing, and lots of mucous. Having watched it progress twice in one week, I can safely say it doesn’t look pleasant at all. You don’t want this.

So you might argue that you don’t want to get a shot. If you’re against vaccinations for religious, medical or personal reasons, then by all means skip it. I believe strongly in personal choice, as we have skipped a few vaccinations here, too. You might get the flu, and you may feel miserable, but I’m not one to challenge doctor’s advice or a pillar of your beliefs.

But if your reason is just that you don’t want to make a doctor’s appointment, or you don’t like needles, then I suggest you reconsider. You don’t want your life to be on hold for days while you feel weak and miserable.

Just as important, you don’t want to put stress on your family to come take care of you either, right? And I know you don’t want to pass your flu on to others who might not have the immune response that you do to fight it off.

I didn’t feel like waiting for an appointment with my doctor, so I went to the Walgreens down the road for my flu shot.

(Full disclosure: Walgreens and their Balance Rewards program are sponsors of this blog. Please see their ad off to the right for more details.)

My entire flu shot experience lasted less than 15 minutes from the moment I walked into the store until the moment I was walking out. It would have been even less time than that, but they recommend you stick around for a few minutes after the shot just to make sure you don’t have any reaction.

How easy was it? I walked up to the pharmacy counter, told the pharmacist I wanted my flu shot, filled out a quick questionnaire, and then was asked to go to a little private cubicle for the shot.

the only form needed

The pharmacist then came in, gave me the injection, and put a band-aid on my arm. He then walked back behind the counter, rang it out on the register and gave me my receipt.

Because of our insurance, it was free – I would have paid for an office visit if I went to see my doctor! If you don’t have insurance, it’s still inexpensive at Walgreens. (And either way you can earn 500 Balance Rewards points for it, if you’re a member.)

If you are truly scared of needles, you can ask for the FluMist when you get your flu vaccine. It doesn’t use needles and is instead sprayed into your nose. That’s the form Mira’s pediatrician gave her at her annual check-up last month.

Did my shot hurt? Yeah, for a moment. And my upper arm was a little sore for the next couple of days. But that was nothing compared to what I saw the flu do to my daughter and husband this week. In a cruel twist of fate, Cordy’s annual check-up was today, when she was scheduled to get her flu shot. (She got the FluMist anyway.)

When I was younger I never gave a second thought to a flu shot. I didn’t want another shot, so I always turned it down. After going through nursing school, and seeing just how bad the flu can be for some people (as in, life-threatening), I now routinely get them each year. I may be strong enough to fight it off, but I don’t want to be miserable for days, and I don’t want to make others sick.

Of the four people in our house, the only two who didn’t get the flu were the ones who had our flu shots. If I learned any lesson from this, it’s that I shouldn’t wait so long to make sure the whole family is protected next year.

Legal disclosure: I am a registered nurse, but this post should be considered friendly advice and NOT be considered medical advice. Always check with your doctor or a medical professional (like the pharmacist) who can review your health history before any vaccination. And yes, the flu shot only protects against the flu strains that they expect to be the most common. It is still possible – although less likely – to get the flu even if you have received the vaccination.

Filed Under: healthy living, plague, sponsored ·


Nov 26, 2012

What A Week

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Last week at this time, I was expecting to have a relaxing Thanksgiving week. My only concern was for Wednesday, when the kids would be home from school while I was still working. I had an enormous to-do list with confidence that I would get it all done.

So then Cordy, who wasn’t feeling well Sunday night, woke up Monday morning with a high fever, cough, and headache. That meant she was home with me all day, on the couch with her Nintendo DS and watching numerous episodes of Beakman’s World on Netflix. I didn’t get as much done as I had planned because I was caring for her, too, but she clearly had the flu, so keeping her home was the right idea.

Cosmo kept watch, too.

That evening, right as she was fighting sleep on the couch, finally breaking a sweat after a 103.5 F fever, the cable/internet went out. As I tried to reset the cable box, my computer prompted me to restart for a Windows Update. I let the computer restart, hoping I could get my internet back again so that I could continue working.

But then the computer wouldn’t start again. It would try to restart, get to the point of loading Windows, hang, and then reboot. Safe Mode didn’t work, running diagnostics didn’t work…after fighting with it all night, I was computerless and lost an entire night of getting anything done.

Cordy was better on Tuesday, but still not well enough to go to school. Aaron took her with him to work, where she could hang out in his office with her games and books away from everyone else, while I figured out if my computer was dead or not. Aaron’s brother saved all of the data from the hard drive (YAY!), but the diagnosis was that the hard drive was dead.

The afternoon was spent researching new computers and working out how in the world we were going to afford a new laptop. I had been planning to buy a new laptop in a month or so, but this was just a little too early for me to be ready. Tuesday evening, I went computer shopping while Aaron entertained the kids, and by 9pm I finally had a new computer to resume my online life. The kids had no school the next day, but I hoped that at least most of my plan for the rest of the week would be back on.

I wish I could have got it without Windows 8.

And then Wednesday morning came and Aaron had been gifted with Cordy’s flu. Well…damn. To make it worse, we had my family coming over for Thanksgiving dinner the next day, and we had yet to finish cleaning the downstairs to prepare for the event.

I cranked through as much work as I could while tending to the chaos around me during the day on Wednesday. By 6pm, Aaron voluntarily went to bed feverish and achy after shivering on the couch all day. After I put the kids to bed, I dumped as much clutter as I could into boxes and hid it in the garage. (The perfect hiding place when you need a house de-cluttered quickly.)

Then I pulled out the Lysol wipes and Febreeze antimicrobial fabric spray, and completely wiped down the entire first floor of the house. No fabric or hard surface that anyone might possibly touch was forgotten. None of our visitors were going to leave with the flu. I finished this task (and a lot of internet surfing) around 3am and slept on the couch.

Thanksgiving went smoothly. Aaron was still too sick to come downstairs, so Mira and I ran care packages of food up to him while we feasted downstairs. It was great to spend time with family, although I felt bad that Aaron couldn’t join us.

I did participate in Black Friday shopping. I don’t really like the craziness or the crowds, but it does allow us to get great deals on things we need and gifts for others. Luckily, I got most of our shopping done online this year, but did have to go to the stores to get a few items for family members.

By Friday I was completely drained from the week. I had barely slept for days, I was mentally worn down from the stress of losing my computer and having my plans upended, and all I wanted to do was shut down. And for the most part I did.

It’s now Sunday night. I’m still playing catch up, but feel a little better. Everyone in the house is almost well again, and Mira and I escaped the flu. I hate having my plans changed – I can handle the little stuff, but with so many large roadblocks thrown at me this week, I wanted to scream.

Tomorrow morning the kids go back to school, Aaron and I go back to work, and everything goes back to normal. At least that’s the plan.

Filed Under: Aaron, Cordy, family time, holidays, plague · Tagged:


Nov 22, 2012

Thankful for Seven Years

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It was seven years ago on this day that I created a blog on Blogger and typed out my first post as A Mommy Story. It was definitely nothing for the memory books, just a “hey, I’m here!” post, my first time with a fully public blog after spending a few years with a LiveJournal account that was semi-private.

I’m still here. Things have changed dramatically from where they were seven years ago, but I still keep coming back here and writing my thoughts when I get the chance.

Seven years ago I was a first time mom with a 14 month old who was my world. I was still caught up in the honeymoon of parenting, still swooning over all the firsts and panicked over every little detail that could affect her health, safety and happiness.

Blogs at the time were my source of commiseration and education – I found others who shared similar parenting philosophies, those who were in the same stage that I was, and those who were beyond my stage but were models to aspire to. After commenting on many blogs, I decided it was time to start my own, to share my stories in my space going forward that might help or inspire others. Or maybe just make them laugh every now and then, sometimes not intentionally.

Now, of course, I’m a more…ummm…seasoned mother. The story has changed through the years, and my available time has diminished, but I’m still here. I couldn’t imaging stepping away and cutting myself off from the friends and community I’ve found through this blog. 

So today, on my seven year blogiversary (it’s totally a real word), and also being Thanksgiving, I’m thankful for all of the people who have shared this space with me. Thank you for reading, for sharing your thoughts in return, for the occasional emails, and for sticking with me even when the story goes through a slow period. Thank you for being so friendly and kind when we’ve had the chance to meet in person, for helping me when I’ve reached out to some of you for help or advice, and for looking past my flaws and my serious lack of attention.

I’m also so thankful for all of the opportunities this blog has given me. Without my little corner of the internet, I never would have been on local TV a few times, never would have worked for Disney for a little over a year, never would have traveled to so many cities for conferences, never would have walked in a fashion show, never would have fallen into the amazing job I have now, and I would have been completely lost when Cordy was diagnosed with autism.

Most importantly, this blog has helped introduce me to so many amazing people, both via our blogs and in person, some of whom I’m honored to call friends.

So happy Thanksgiving everyone, and thank you for being a part of my life via this little blog. Today I’m thankful for these seven years and for all of you.

Except spammers. I’m not so thankful for you. Although the latest spam comment of “Hello, all is going nicely here and of course every one is sharing information, that’s in fact excellent, keep up writing.” kinda makes me feel all warm inside, in a bad-grammar-compliment kind of way.

Here’s to another seven years. That is, in fact, excellent.

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Filed Under: holidays, me me me, memories · Tagged: