If you know me, you know that working out and physical fitness and all that shiz has never been my top priority. Do I want to be skinny? Yes. Do I want to look good naked? Sure do. But if it's at the expense of giving anything up anything that I love (booze, saturated fat, etc) then count me out. My history with working out has been spotty at best. I will work out consistently for a few months, and then I will let it go and not do a single exercise (other than walking to the bar) for months, until something motivates me to drag myself back to the gym or to the park to run with the dog. The sad part is that when I was working out consistently in college or in my twenties, I actually saw real results, which was awesome. But again, working out has never meant as much to me as it does to some.
Fast forward to two years post-baby and my late thirties, and I'm learning quickly that working out has become more of a crucial necessity than a laissez-faire attitude. Now that my kiddo is 20+ lbs, and with the specter of a second baby lurking in the back of my mind, I've realized that I absolutely have to make my physical fitness and strength more of a priority now than I ever have. And with that realization, I'm happy to report that I have actually managed to integrate this into my life rather successfully. And it's all due to an article I read on NPR's website about a little 22-minute workout.
I used to assume that in order to get an effective workout in, you had to be able to devote at least an hour or two at the gym. Because that's what I used to do when I was working out consistently. Whether it was in college or my twenties when I had both the time and inclination to spend it at the gym, I would usually spend a minimum of an hour on my workout. Since becoming a mom, I'm lucky if I have half that amount of time in the daylight to do jack shit for myself.
Disclaimer: I am totally the mom that spends just about all of my time with my kid or doing stuff for my kid, and yes, that makes me totally lame. I pass up opportunities all the time to go to Pacer games or concerts because it's bath night, or because my kid will die if I'm not there to put him to bed. Or maybe it's me who will die if I'm not part of every single minute of my kid's existence. Yep, that's me. Winner. Right here. But I digress.
So I read this article on NPR about how a 22-minute workout is just as effective as, say, an hour-long workout in terms of improving physical fitness, weight loss, etc. And since time for myself is at a premium these days, I thought why the fuck not. The reality is I do not have two hours to spend at the gym. We joined the YMCA back in December, and if I'm being honest with myself, the most ideal time for me to go and get a decent workout in is early in the AM before work. Talk about a daunting task. So I started to implement this 22-minute workout on the evenings that my husband put the kid to bed. I would quickly kiss my kid goodnight, rush to change into workout clothes and dash downstairs to the treadmill where I would do about 10-15 minutes of cardio, then 10 minutes of weights and then a few minutes of stretching. That routine would vary; sometimes I would spend more time on cardio if I was feeling particularly energetic or motivated. Sometimes I would get interrupted during strength training because my kid would start crying for me to come and rock him to sleep. Sometimes I would forget to stretch because I would get distracted by dishes or laundry. But the point is this: I was moving my fat ass and finally focusing on my body.
Some people can't relate to this reality: pregnancy fucks you up. Forever. Unless you're a teenager and your body bounces right back, carrying and birthing a baby will have significant effects on your body. Boobs sag and never come back up. C-section scars will magically push those mom guts out and over your waistband. Bladders will never feel quite right and you'll pee yourself when you sneeze. It's really easy to become very disheartened by this and, as a result, just not give a shit about how your body looks. If you're me, after doing the most major shit I've ever done, I just flat out didn't give a fuck about how I looked anymore. I didn't care about my gut or my saggy boobs or my ugly skin or my unkempt appearance or the spit-up stain on my shirt. I approached it with a "what? fight me" attitude. I had a baby, and these were my battle scars. This was my reality now, and I silently dared anyone to criticize my appearance. In hindsight, I'm sure I was also subconsciously (ok, consciously) making excuses for letting myself go. Though, I will defend the fact that having a C-section is a major fucking event and is not to be taken lightly.
Finally, two years after having a kid, I've decided that I'm sick and tired of still not fitting into some of my pre-pregnancy clothes or having to size up in pants because of my mom gut. I'm worried that when it comes time to have another baby, my sciatica with constantly flare up because I've failed to move my body in any meaningful way. And even after just a few months of working out whenever I possibly can find time to do so, I'm thrilled to report that I feel so much better, in every way possible. I feel empowered by the conscious decision to exercise, even if it's for a mere 45 minutes. I feel the bliss of devoting 100% of however much time I have to me and only me. I feel a sense of achievement when I push myself a little more at the gym. I feel pride when I wear workout pants to the store because I've actually just finished a workout, as opposed to when I wear them because I just don't want to wear real pants (which is most of the time). I walked around today consciously aware of the fact that even though I didn't necessarily look any thinner in the mirror, I actually felt thinner. I felt like I was walking around with better posture and an engaged core. Me. The girl who hates working out. I know, right.
I guess the point I'm trying to make here is this: It's never too late to care about your body and your wellness. It's never a waste to spend even the smallest amount of time on your body, and it may just motivate you enough to get you to a point where you actively seek out time for exercise, wellness, meditation, or whatever you feel like you need to feel your best. The other night, I felt a little guilty because rather than jump on the treadmill for fifteen minutes when I had the opportunity, I opted to lay in bed and finish reading my book instead. But I eventually reminded myself that my needs and priorities for my wellness go way beyond just a physical, aerobic expression. Contributing to my wellness may mean some quiet time reading or browsing aisles at Target or potting some indoor plants. Fitness doesn't always limit itself to gross motor activity. You absolutely have my permission to skip the gym today and spend some time reading or getting a massage or catching up on sleep. Do what you gotta do.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Pregnancy loss (warning: some graphic details about miscarriage)
I've posted about my previous two miscarriages that occurred prior to having my son, and for some reason I thought after having a healthy pregnancy and birth with him, there wouldn't be any more major hurdles to jump when the time came to try for another. As usual, the universe was like "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHA, fuck you."
Late last year, I experienced a chemical pregnancy. This is a very early miscarriage where you are technically pregnant and that pregnancy is viable enough to show up on a pee test, but then something happens and the pregnancy just goes away and you have your period instead. If you're not tracking things closely enough, you probably wouldn't even know you're pregnant and just assume your period was a few days late. Because of my previous multiple miscarriages, I get early blood draws to make sure the hormones are at a good level based on how far along I am and that the HCG then doubles every 48 hours as it is supposed to do. If I recall correctly, it was maybe only an hour or so after that second blood draw that I started to spot and then bleed. I figured I was having a miscarriage, contacted my doctor and was confirmed in my assumption when the blood draw results came back and showed that my levels had already started to decrease. It was a blow to the old psyche, for sure, but I was grateful that it happened as early on as it did. Miscarriages are so much easier to deal with when you're not far along in your pregnancy (at least for me) and haven't gotten hopes up too high yet.
Skip ahead a few months, and I get another positive pregnancy test. I was a little more cautious this time and I didn't tell my husband right away, for fear that it would just be another chemical. After a few days, though, when my tests continued to show relatively strong lines, I shared the news with him with some optimism behind it. But again, I had to face the dreaded blood draws to see if hormone levels were good and doubling. First draw: good levels. Second draw: levels had risen, but not doubled. Third draw: levels had a good rise, but still not doubled. Fourth draw: levels had almost doubled, and the doctor was optimistic for a healthy pregnancy. With excitement and a positive attitude, I scheduled my first ultrasound for the next week, what would've been my 7th week of pregnancy. And then the other shoe dropped.
I woke up on a Friday morning with a moderate amount of bleeding and cramping. As soon as I saw the nature of the bleeding, I was almost positive I was miscarrying. I shared the news with my husband and decided that I was going to stay home from work and contact my doc to see what I should do. As the day progressed, so did the bleeding. It was extremely heavy and like nothing I'd ever experienced, not even after having given birth. I could literally feel the blood coursing out of me, along with medium-sized clots that would just fall out of me while I sat on the toilet. I remember thinking there's no way this is anything but a miscarriage. My doctor's office ordered a blood draw to see what my hormone levels were, and if they were good, I would most likely then have an ultrasound to see if the bleeding had any other cause. I was barely able to make it to the lab for the blood draw; I had to stop on the walk to the lab from the car to change my pad because I was bleeding so heavily. Afterwards, I went home and continued to hemorrhage blood and have heavy cramping. I just laid in bed, only getting up when necessary to change my pad, since it was pointless to move around or do anything; that only exacerbated the situation. Later that afternoon, I called my doctor for the results of the blood draw. The levels had only risen a little since the last blood draw; they hadn't even doubled. So it was clear at that point that I was definitely miscarrying. I was given instructions for monitoring the bleeding and had to schedule an ultrasound for early next week to make sure I had passed all the products of conception.
For the rest of the afternoon, I laid in bed, bleeding and wishing for those huge phone book-sized diaper pads you get in the hospital after you give birth. Up to this point, I had actually been relatively calm through it all, considering the circumstances. I was, of course, extremely sad and disappointed at this turn of events, but it wasn't my first walk down this road. My catharsis, though, came when I drifted off to sleep at one point and then later woke up to find that I had bled through my clothes and onto the bed. It so happened that the mattress protector we normally have under our fitted sheet had been taken off earlier that week to be washed, so I was pretty upset when I saw the mattress had a blood stain on it. I tried to get as much of the stain off, but it wasn't really coming up. At this point, it was time to change my pad again, and as I was walking into the restroom, I felt my body pass a large amount of something. Upon sitting down on the toilet, I observed a large piece of tissue or something like it in my underwear. I remember thinking it looked like it could've been a piece of umbilical cord but I had no idea if the umbilical cord was even formed or could be that large at 6 weeks pregnant. It was at that point that I lost my shit, and everything crashed down.
For a few minutes, all I could do was sob hysterically. A thousand things were going through my mind, and I felt so many emotions all at once. Grief and sadness for my loss, regret and anger at myself for letting myself think this pregnancy would work out, frantic confusion about what to do with this "thing" in my underwear...this "thing" that had been a part of the life growing inside me and was now dead and evacuated from my body. I remember closing my eyes while I sat there crying and hoping so badly that when I opened them, this piece of me would be gone and I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. I felt scared and unsure about what to do with it--do I just flush it down the toilet where all the other clots and tissue that had been falling out of me all day went, too? A part of me felt like that was a horrible thing to do; after all, even though this wasn't the actual embryo it was still a part of the whole being. However, on the other hand, I figured the embryo had probably already been expelled during one of the numerous trips to the toilet that day, so what was the big deal to just place this in the toilet and be done with it. I wanted so desperately to have someone there with me to tell me what I should do, what the right thing was. After some time, I eventually decided to flush the tissue down the toilet since I didn't want to just put it in the trash can. I wrapped it up, crammed my eyes shut and placed it in the toilet. A fresh wave of sobbing commenced as I flushed the tissue down the toilet, and I felt a profound sadness in my heart that I was wholly unprepared to experience.
As traumatizing as the above incident was, it was also the catalyst I needed to actually grieve my loss in a real, tangible way. Throughout my multiple miscarriages, I internalized so much of those experiences, so the act of sobbing and shaking and feeling all those things I did while I sat on the toilet for those few minutes was actually a welcome reprieve from the stoic tension I had been holding onto all day. My guess is that so many women go through their pregnancy losses feeling that tension, and hopefully they get to release it and grieve, but maybe they don't for whatever reason. I just know that for me, I needed that hysteria to work through this latest miscarriage and to allow myself to feel a multitude of emotions.
After the miscarriage, I decided that I wanted to take some time off from trying to get pregnant. At first, I wasn't entirely convinced it's really what I wanted deep down, but it seemed like the appropriate thing to do after two losses. Plus, after a miscarriage, the OBGYN will usually advise you to have one or two cycles before trying again, which mine did. So I put everything fertility-related out of my mind; I didn't chart a goddamn thing or pee on a single stick. After some time, I did chart any menstrual activity, just so I would have some idea of where I was in my cycle. Miscarriage can fuck your cycle up for a little bit or a long time, depending on how far along you were. My cycle got back to normal relatively quickly, probably within a little over a month.
The farther I get from my most recent miscarriage, the more I realize how stressful this latest saga of trying to get knocked up has been on me and how much I really just needed a break from it. It was a crushing blow, but in the aftermath, I focused more on my kiddo and my husband and I indulged the fuck out of some wine and sushi. And let me tell you, when sex isn't primarily about conceiving and more about just being with your partner, it's pretty great. As I type this, I'm ovulating. And enjoying a beer. And I have no plans to try and get my hubs to have sex with me tonight, because I'm actually in a pretty good place right now, and it has nothing to do with being pregnant or trying to get pregnant. It has everything to do with the fact that I'm taking care of me in whatever way is necessary. I went to the gym today for the first time in more months than I care to admit, and it was FUCKING AMAZING. Anyone who knows me knows I hate working out, but the forty minutes I spent at the gym today felt like I had found a golden ticket. It was the first time since my son was born that I really felt like I was reclaiming time for myself with zero guilt about anything. I recently changed my work schedule, and it allows me to leave work an hour early three days a week, which I plan to spend that extra "me time" working out or doing whatever I feel like doing. That freedom and opportunity is exactly what I need right now, and perhaps a pregnancy will eventually come back around as the priority. For now, though, it's all about me.
Late last year, I experienced a chemical pregnancy. This is a very early miscarriage where you are technically pregnant and that pregnancy is viable enough to show up on a pee test, but then something happens and the pregnancy just goes away and you have your period instead. If you're not tracking things closely enough, you probably wouldn't even know you're pregnant and just assume your period was a few days late. Because of my previous multiple miscarriages, I get early blood draws to make sure the hormones are at a good level based on how far along I am and that the HCG then doubles every 48 hours as it is supposed to do. If I recall correctly, it was maybe only an hour or so after that second blood draw that I started to spot and then bleed. I figured I was having a miscarriage, contacted my doctor and was confirmed in my assumption when the blood draw results came back and showed that my levels had already started to decrease. It was a blow to the old psyche, for sure, but I was grateful that it happened as early on as it did. Miscarriages are so much easier to deal with when you're not far along in your pregnancy (at least for me) and haven't gotten hopes up too high yet.
Skip ahead a few months, and I get another positive pregnancy test. I was a little more cautious this time and I didn't tell my husband right away, for fear that it would just be another chemical. After a few days, though, when my tests continued to show relatively strong lines, I shared the news with him with some optimism behind it. But again, I had to face the dreaded blood draws to see if hormone levels were good and doubling. First draw: good levels. Second draw: levels had risen, but not doubled. Third draw: levels had a good rise, but still not doubled. Fourth draw: levels had almost doubled, and the doctor was optimistic for a healthy pregnancy. With excitement and a positive attitude, I scheduled my first ultrasound for the next week, what would've been my 7th week of pregnancy. And then the other shoe dropped.
I woke up on a Friday morning with a moderate amount of bleeding and cramping. As soon as I saw the nature of the bleeding, I was almost positive I was miscarrying. I shared the news with my husband and decided that I was going to stay home from work and contact my doc to see what I should do. As the day progressed, so did the bleeding. It was extremely heavy and like nothing I'd ever experienced, not even after having given birth. I could literally feel the blood coursing out of me, along with medium-sized clots that would just fall out of me while I sat on the toilet. I remember thinking there's no way this is anything but a miscarriage. My doctor's office ordered a blood draw to see what my hormone levels were, and if they were good, I would most likely then have an ultrasound to see if the bleeding had any other cause. I was barely able to make it to the lab for the blood draw; I had to stop on the walk to the lab from the car to change my pad because I was bleeding so heavily. Afterwards, I went home and continued to hemorrhage blood and have heavy cramping. I just laid in bed, only getting up when necessary to change my pad, since it was pointless to move around or do anything; that only exacerbated the situation. Later that afternoon, I called my doctor for the results of the blood draw. The levels had only risen a little since the last blood draw; they hadn't even doubled. So it was clear at that point that I was definitely miscarrying. I was given instructions for monitoring the bleeding and had to schedule an ultrasound for early next week to make sure I had passed all the products of conception.
For the rest of the afternoon, I laid in bed, bleeding and wishing for those huge phone book-sized diaper pads you get in the hospital after you give birth. Up to this point, I had actually been relatively calm through it all, considering the circumstances. I was, of course, extremely sad and disappointed at this turn of events, but it wasn't my first walk down this road. My catharsis, though, came when I drifted off to sleep at one point and then later woke up to find that I had bled through my clothes and onto the bed. It so happened that the mattress protector we normally have under our fitted sheet had been taken off earlier that week to be washed, so I was pretty upset when I saw the mattress had a blood stain on it. I tried to get as much of the stain off, but it wasn't really coming up. At this point, it was time to change my pad again, and as I was walking into the restroom, I felt my body pass a large amount of something. Upon sitting down on the toilet, I observed a large piece of tissue or something like it in my underwear. I remember thinking it looked like it could've been a piece of umbilical cord but I had no idea if the umbilical cord was even formed or could be that large at 6 weeks pregnant. It was at that point that I lost my shit, and everything crashed down.
For a few minutes, all I could do was sob hysterically. A thousand things were going through my mind, and I felt so many emotions all at once. Grief and sadness for my loss, regret and anger at myself for letting myself think this pregnancy would work out, frantic confusion about what to do with this "thing" in my underwear...this "thing" that had been a part of the life growing inside me and was now dead and evacuated from my body. I remember closing my eyes while I sat there crying and hoping so badly that when I opened them, this piece of me would be gone and I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. I felt scared and unsure about what to do with it--do I just flush it down the toilet where all the other clots and tissue that had been falling out of me all day went, too? A part of me felt like that was a horrible thing to do; after all, even though this wasn't the actual embryo it was still a part of the whole being. However, on the other hand, I figured the embryo had probably already been expelled during one of the numerous trips to the toilet that day, so what was the big deal to just place this in the toilet and be done with it. I wanted so desperately to have someone there with me to tell me what I should do, what the right thing was. After some time, I eventually decided to flush the tissue down the toilet since I didn't want to just put it in the trash can. I wrapped it up, crammed my eyes shut and placed it in the toilet. A fresh wave of sobbing commenced as I flushed the tissue down the toilet, and I felt a profound sadness in my heart that I was wholly unprepared to experience.
As traumatizing as the above incident was, it was also the catalyst I needed to actually grieve my loss in a real, tangible way. Throughout my multiple miscarriages, I internalized so much of those experiences, so the act of sobbing and shaking and feeling all those things I did while I sat on the toilet for those few minutes was actually a welcome reprieve from the stoic tension I had been holding onto all day. My guess is that so many women go through their pregnancy losses feeling that tension, and hopefully they get to release it and grieve, but maybe they don't for whatever reason. I just know that for me, I needed that hysteria to work through this latest miscarriage and to allow myself to feel a multitude of emotions.
After the miscarriage, I decided that I wanted to take some time off from trying to get pregnant. At first, I wasn't entirely convinced it's really what I wanted deep down, but it seemed like the appropriate thing to do after two losses. Plus, after a miscarriage, the OBGYN will usually advise you to have one or two cycles before trying again, which mine did. So I put everything fertility-related out of my mind; I didn't chart a goddamn thing or pee on a single stick. After some time, I did chart any menstrual activity, just so I would have some idea of where I was in my cycle. Miscarriage can fuck your cycle up for a little bit or a long time, depending on how far along you were. My cycle got back to normal relatively quickly, probably within a little over a month.
The farther I get from my most recent miscarriage, the more I realize how stressful this latest saga of trying to get knocked up has been on me and how much I really just needed a break from it. It was a crushing blow, but in the aftermath, I focused more on my kiddo and my husband and I indulged the fuck out of some wine and sushi. And let me tell you, when sex isn't primarily about conceiving and more about just being with your partner, it's pretty great. As I type this, I'm ovulating. And enjoying a beer. And I have no plans to try and get my hubs to have sex with me tonight, because I'm actually in a pretty good place right now, and it has nothing to do with being pregnant or trying to get pregnant. It has everything to do with the fact that I'm taking care of me in whatever way is necessary. I went to the gym today for the first time in more months than I care to admit, and it was FUCKING AMAZING. Anyone who knows me knows I hate working out, but the forty minutes I spent at the gym today felt like I had found a golden ticket. It was the first time since my son was born that I really felt like I was reclaiming time for myself with zero guilt about anything. I recently changed my work schedule, and it allows me to leave work an hour early three days a week, which I plan to spend that extra "me time" working out or doing whatever I feel like doing. That freedom and opportunity is exactly what I need right now, and perhaps a pregnancy will eventually come back around as the priority. For now, though, it's all about me.
Monday, February 4, 2019
The quest for baby #2
When I think about how difficult the adjustment was to being a first time mom with my son, I have to question my sanity over the fact that we're currently trying to get pregnant again. The truth is, I want another baby for multiple reasons, but deep down I'm terrified at the idea of having a second kid, also for multiple reasons.
One of the pros of having another kid means a sibling for my son. I have six siblings myself, and while I definitely do not want to have six of my own kids, I'm happy with the fact that I've been blessed with a hoard of brothers and sisters who all have my back and who I can go to when I need support. And lemme tell you, we are a diverse bunch. It gives me perspective about the big wide world and the variety of humans that inhabit it. I want my kid to experience the joys and pains of a sibling; learning how to share space and share toys and share a car and a room and how to coexist with others and what it means to make sacrifices. Also, hello, built-in playmate! It can be difficult getting dinner ready or doing any kind of menial task when your kid is pulling you this way and that way and wants to be held and wants to take your hand and run back and forth and fall down because he thinks it's hilarious. A sibling, when old enough, is the ideal playmate for my son when I have to get shit done. Another pro for having more than one kid: knowing that when I'm old and dying, my son can lean on his sibling(s) to help him bear the burden of whose house I'm going to move into and who gets to take care of their dear mother when she can no longer care for herself. Time for someone to change MY diapers, am I right?
Simply put, I have baby fever. I've had three miscarriages, and I felt those losses deeper than I ever could've imagined. And even despite that, I still have the motivation and desire to continue trying. Now, that may not last too much longer because I might just decide I'm too old for this shit if I'm 40 and still trying for that second baby. But right now, I'm not ready to give up. When I was pregnant with my son, despite the gestational diabetes and the constant worry in the back of my mind that I would lose him, too, I had a pretty easy pregnancy, and I loved just about every minute of it. Every day that I was lucky enough to carry that sweet baby, I was grateful and happy to do it. Selfishly or not, I want to experience that again.
Obviously, a second baby is not without its disadvantages. Though temporary (I hope!), the jealousy my son has in his heart any time he sees his mama holding another baby is stronger than the radiation emanating from a thousand suns. This kid is a jealous Joe to the max. The other day when I was holding my 3 week old niece, my son came out of nowhere, made a beeline for me and tried to claw his way up into my arms to right the treasonous act of me holding another human that isn't him. It was sweet.
I tend to not handle stressful situations involving the kiddos the best I probably could, but I am learning to do better. For example, when I'm bone-tired and my kid will not settle and go to sleep, I can't just put him down and walk away like a normal person, so I usually find myself fighting back tears of desperation and frustration. I've had my share of crying episodes while my kid sits on my lap and stares at me with curiosity. It's magical, let me tell you. But most of the time in these moments where I'm feeling like I'm hanging on by a thread and I'm sobbing in front of my child, that little jerk will inevitably do something to make me laugh, and then I remember why I decided to give up my life and my freedom and my sleep.
A few months ago, I actually did get pregnant again, only to miscarry immediately, aka chemical pregnancy. Of course I was sad and disappointed, but I figured it was super early and honestly if I hadn't been tracking a possible pregnancy so closely with test strips and an app on my phone, I wouldn't have even known I was pregnant. So if a miscarriage was inevitable, it's probably a good thing that it happened when it did. And to that point, I am actually pregnant right now, but I'm also spotting off and on and have been for several days, so the outlook isn't good. In my heart of hearts, I'm almost positive I'm going through another chemical pregnancy. That would bring my total miscarriage count up to four, which feels rather shitty, to be honest.
To the point I made above of still feeling motivated to try even after having multiple losses, I will concede that each loss I have does indeed chip away at my defenses, and I do believe it will eventually weaken me to the point where I will need to make a conscious decision to stop trying to get pregnant. Time seems to stop when you're trying to get pregnant, at least for me. I wake up thinking about it, I float through my day not focusing on work because I'm thinking about it, I probably don't put myself 100% out there for my family because I'm preoccupied with it, and I go to bed thinking about what test strip I'm going to pee on the next morning. It's mentally and emotionally exhausting, and it's starting to wear on me. I know I'm not doing my best as a wife because experiencing miscarriage does something my brain; I think it makes me more guarded and standoffish for whatever reason.
After the chemical pregnancy I had a few months ago, I was able to sort of let the quest go and I didn't chart anything for days at a time and I didn't open my fertility app much, mostly because I was so sick of being consumed with all of it. I hope I can get back to that state of mind, because I feel like I'm in this kind of limbo, and it sucks ass. Adulting is fucking bullshit.
Obviously, a second baby is not without its disadvantages. Though temporary (I hope!), the jealousy my son has in his heart any time he sees his mama holding another baby is stronger than the radiation emanating from a thousand suns. This kid is a jealous Joe to the max. The other day when I was holding my 3 week old niece, my son came out of nowhere, made a beeline for me and tried to claw his way up into my arms to right the treasonous act of me holding another human that isn't him. It was sweet.
I tend to not handle stressful situations involving the kiddos the best I probably could, but I am learning to do better. For example, when I'm bone-tired and my kid will not settle and go to sleep, I can't just put him down and walk away like a normal person, so I usually find myself fighting back tears of desperation and frustration. I've had my share of crying episodes while my kid sits on my lap and stares at me with curiosity. It's magical, let me tell you. But most of the time in these moments where I'm feeling like I'm hanging on by a thread and I'm sobbing in front of my child, that little jerk will inevitably do something to make me laugh, and then I remember why I decided to give up my life and my freedom and my sleep.
A few months ago, I actually did get pregnant again, only to miscarry immediately, aka chemical pregnancy. Of course I was sad and disappointed, but I figured it was super early and honestly if I hadn't been tracking a possible pregnancy so closely with test strips and an app on my phone, I wouldn't have even known I was pregnant. So if a miscarriage was inevitable, it's probably a good thing that it happened when it did. And to that point, I am actually pregnant right now, but I'm also spotting off and on and have been for several days, so the outlook isn't good. In my heart of hearts, I'm almost positive I'm going through another chemical pregnancy. That would bring my total miscarriage count up to four, which feels rather shitty, to be honest.
To the point I made above of still feeling motivated to try even after having multiple losses, I will concede that each loss I have does indeed chip away at my defenses, and I do believe it will eventually weaken me to the point where I will need to make a conscious decision to stop trying to get pregnant. Time seems to stop when you're trying to get pregnant, at least for me. I wake up thinking about it, I float through my day not focusing on work because I'm thinking about it, I probably don't put myself 100% out there for my family because I'm preoccupied with it, and I go to bed thinking about what test strip I'm going to pee on the next morning. It's mentally and emotionally exhausting, and it's starting to wear on me. I know I'm not doing my best as a wife because experiencing miscarriage does something my brain; I think it makes me more guarded and standoffish for whatever reason.
After the chemical pregnancy I had a few months ago, I was able to sort of let the quest go and I didn't chart anything for days at a time and I didn't open my fertility app much, mostly because I was so sick of being consumed with all of it. I hope I can get back to that state of mind, because I feel like I'm in this kind of limbo, and it sucks ass. Adulting is fucking bullshit.
Saturday, January 5, 2019
The struggle is so fucking real, man.
Is it possible to have post-partum depression 21 months after giving birth? Because things in my head haven't been all that great lately. It's probably not PPD; it's probably just the fact that parenthood is HARD AS FUCK. The balancing act of wearing multiple hats--mom, wife, friend, daughter, employee--is taking its toll. I feel like I'm in a place right now where real issues are possibly being mistaken for just the natural rut that most people my age may find themselves in on any average day. Nothing prepared me for motherhood. And while I'm so in love with my kiddo and wouldn't trade him for the world, the small (and large) adjustments I've had to make in my life have added up to a mountain that I have trouble climbing sometimes.
Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that no matter how rosy those pics of people and their families on IG and Facebook appear, they, too, have probably felt the same way I feel now. I am certainly guilty of comparing myself to others based on their life reports from their social media. I know that people out there are so much better equipped to handle stress and anxiety than I am, and I'm learning to accept my weaknesses as a mother, wife and human.
I'm constantly asking myself "am I doing enough?" Am I remembering to touch base with my friends? Did I remember to text a dear friend to see how she's coping with a stressful life event? Am I checking in with my pregnant friend/family member enough and being as supportive to them as they were to me when I was pregnant? Am I giving enough attention to my marriage? How many times this week did I unnecessarily snap at my husband? Did I thank him for making dinner last night? Is my son spending enough time with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins? Is he getting enough quality experiences each day? Is his diet balanced? Am I giving the pets enough attention? Am I letting my life interfere with my job? (other than being late to work every single day)
Being a mom, a wife--a human--is difficult and exhausting, and the struggle is, indeed, real. But man, I'm so fucking lucky for everything I have. Every day I get to spend with people I love is such a privilege, and this is what I have to remind myself of, even when I'm having the hardest of days. Things can always be worse. Case in point: a co-worker recently lost her son, her firstborn. He was older; early 40s. Not that that matters; the pain and anguish to go through losing a child has no age limit. So each day I get to hold my boy, kiss my husband, have a drink with dear friends makes the stress and anxiety just a little easier. I do hope to seek professional therapy in the near future. My personality and impulsivity don't always make for the best of coping skills. I'd like to learn how to channel some of this stress into a positive outcome, and I feel like I'll need more help figuring that out.
Sometimes I have to stop and remind myself that no matter how rosy those pics of people and their families on IG and Facebook appear, they, too, have probably felt the same way I feel now. I am certainly guilty of comparing myself to others based on their life reports from their social media. I know that people out there are so much better equipped to handle stress and anxiety than I am, and I'm learning to accept my weaknesses as a mother, wife and human.
I'm constantly asking myself "am I doing enough?" Am I remembering to touch base with my friends? Did I remember to text a dear friend to see how she's coping with a stressful life event? Am I checking in with my pregnant friend/family member enough and being as supportive to them as they were to me when I was pregnant? Am I giving enough attention to my marriage? How many times this week did I unnecessarily snap at my husband? Did I thank him for making dinner last night? Is my son spending enough time with his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins? Is he getting enough quality experiences each day? Is his diet balanced? Am I giving the pets enough attention? Am I letting my life interfere with my job? (other than being late to work every single day)
Being a mom, a wife--a human--is difficult and exhausting, and the struggle is, indeed, real. But man, I'm so fucking lucky for everything I have. Every day I get to spend with people I love is such a privilege, and this is what I have to remind myself of, even when I'm having the hardest of days. Things can always be worse. Case in point: a co-worker recently lost her son, her firstborn. He was older; early 40s. Not that that matters; the pain and anguish to go through losing a child has no age limit. So each day I get to hold my boy, kiss my husband, have a drink with dear friends makes the stress and anxiety just a little easier. I do hope to seek professional therapy in the near future. My personality and impulsivity don't always make for the best of coping skills. I'd like to learn how to channel some of this stress into a positive outcome, and I feel like I'll need more help figuring that out.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
WTF is wrong with me?
Anyone who watches "Modern Family" remember that episode where Cam is jealous that Lily is giving all her attention to Mitchell and as he tries to elbow his way back into her favor, he inadvertently keeps causing her to get hurt? Like, he accidentally throws her into the pool; he gives her one of those motorized mini cars and she drives it into something and gets hurt; he throws rice during a fake wedding and some gets in her eye, etc. Hilarious!
Not so funny when it actually happens to you. Especially if you're having a stressful day or you're anxious already for whatever reason.
To make a long story short because I have some shows to catch up on, I was at the zoo with my kiddo enjoying the Halloween stuff they had going on. At one point, I stopped to check and see if his diaper was poopy, and I stood him up on the bench of a table in a food area so I could better see down the back of his diaper. I didn't have a great hold on him with the one hand, and my other hand was pulling his pants away from his body, and in this five seconds my kiddo took a step back into nothingness, and he fell off the bench onto the ground under the table. Obviously he was terrified because he thought he was stepping onto a stable surface and there was nothing there but empty space, and we've all done that before with a stair step or something, so we know how startling that can be. Luckily he was bundled up in a thick hoodie so he didn't hit his head at all; he kind of just fell on his side and rolled a little. But in the split second I saw my poor baby hit the ground, I almost died of fright and panic. Of course he immediately started crying and I'm trying to pick him up as he's struggling to sit up to check him for injuries and apologizing profusely for not catching him and also holding back my own tears because I don't want to have a meltdown myself in the middle of the fucking zoo. After sobbing for a couple of minutes, he calmed down when his cousin gave him a little stuffed football and some pieces of cookie from her ice cream cup. I watched him walk around for a little bit to make sure he wasn't hurt, at which time I managed to hold back my tears of guilt and shame. I let my baby fall on the fucking concrete...who does that??
Fast forward to the next day, we're playing outside and he wants to put the basketball in the basketball hoop, like you do. I'm a short person. I have short arms. My kid is still pretty small, so he doesn't have long arms either. The idea crosses my mind to try and sit him on my shoulders so he can reach the rim. I raise him up over my head, but I can't quite get my head under him properly because he's wearing these stupid sweat pants with the drop crotch. Well, in my attempts to get him on my shoulders, I'm completely unaware that we're standing almost right under the backboard, so when I lifted him up over me, I accidentally hit his head on the corner of the backboard. Yeah, that's right; the pointy, sharp, METAL corner of the backboard. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. It's a good thing I'm so weak, because it was just a slight bump, but the fact that it happened at all was crushing to me. I had just had a scare the day before with him falling at the zoo and now I was pulverizing his soft little head on a metal shard. MOM OF THE YEAR.
These aren't the first instances where the kiddo has fallen or had a head bonk on my watch, and of course they won't be the last. And these certainly weren't instances of life or death. All kids fall or trip or bonk heads or get scrapes or bruises. Those minor injuries throughout childhood are probably helping teach the little ones how to survive long enough to get to adulthood. I just couldn't help but feel like I failed at being a mom in those moments, and the thought of that brought me to tears and stressed me the hell out.
Being a mom is hard. Some days are harder than others. I guess those days are what Target and wine are for. Cheers!
Not so funny when it actually happens to you. Especially if you're having a stressful day or you're anxious already for whatever reason.
To make a long story short because I have some shows to catch up on, I was at the zoo with my kiddo enjoying the Halloween stuff they had going on. At one point, I stopped to check and see if his diaper was poopy, and I stood him up on the bench of a table in a food area so I could better see down the back of his diaper. I didn't have a great hold on him with the one hand, and my other hand was pulling his pants away from his body, and in this five seconds my kiddo took a step back into nothingness, and he fell off the bench onto the ground under the table. Obviously he was terrified because he thought he was stepping onto a stable surface and there was nothing there but empty space, and we've all done that before with a stair step or something, so we know how startling that can be. Luckily he was bundled up in a thick hoodie so he didn't hit his head at all; he kind of just fell on his side and rolled a little. But in the split second I saw my poor baby hit the ground, I almost died of fright and panic. Of course he immediately started crying and I'm trying to pick him up as he's struggling to sit up to check him for injuries and apologizing profusely for not catching him and also holding back my own tears because I don't want to have a meltdown myself in the middle of the fucking zoo. After sobbing for a couple of minutes, he calmed down when his cousin gave him a little stuffed football and some pieces of cookie from her ice cream cup. I watched him walk around for a little bit to make sure he wasn't hurt, at which time I managed to hold back my tears of guilt and shame. I let my baby fall on the fucking concrete...who does that??
Fast forward to the next day, we're playing outside and he wants to put the basketball in the basketball hoop, like you do. I'm a short person. I have short arms. My kid is still pretty small, so he doesn't have long arms either. The idea crosses my mind to try and sit him on my shoulders so he can reach the rim. I raise him up over my head, but I can't quite get my head under him properly because he's wearing these stupid sweat pants with the drop crotch. Well, in my attempts to get him on my shoulders, I'm completely unaware that we're standing almost right under the backboard, so when I lifted him up over me, I accidentally hit his head on the corner of the backboard. Yeah, that's right; the pointy, sharp, METAL corner of the backboard. JESUS FUCKING CHRIST. It's a good thing I'm so weak, because it was just a slight bump, but the fact that it happened at all was crushing to me. I had just had a scare the day before with him falling at the zoo and now I was pulverizing his soft little head on a metal shard. MOM OF THE YEAR.
These aren't the first instances where the kiddo has fallen or had a head bonk on my watch, and of course they won't be the last. And these certainly weren't instances of life or death. All kids fall or trip or bonk heads or get scrapes or bruises. Those minor injuries throughout childhood are probably helping teach the little ones how to survive long enough to get to adulthood. I just couldn't help but feel like I failed at being a mom in those moments, and the thought of that brought me to tears and stressed me the hell out.
Being a mom is hard. Some days are harder than others. I guess those days are what Target and wine are for. Cheers!
Thursday, October 4, 2018
HBIC
Most of the time now, I feel like motherhood has turned me into a snarky bitch who's quick to attitude. Not to my kid, mind you, but to everyone else. Anyone else feel the same? Just me? #wifeoftheyear
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
Just be cool, man
A lesson I've learned since becoming a mom: you have to have a sense of humor about most things. And you have to accept that things are going to happen that you'd normally freak out about but you mostly just have to keep your cool for the sake of your kid and your own sanity. If you're as neurotic as me, that's a tall order.
In a recent post, I lamented about the fact that my kid got hand foot and mouth disease, and I mused about what affliction would befall him next. I specifically mentioned pinworms. And guess what? A couple of months after HFM was over with, I got a call from my kid's school. *DUN DUN*
I was at work and had missed the call from school. When I listened to the vague voicemail message, I immediately panicked and figured my kid had gotten hurt. I called back, expecting them to tell me he fell and broke his arm or something. Instead, the secretary attempted to explain that while his diaper was being changed after a poop, his teacher saw something hanging out of his butt, and she had to pull it out. She then informed me it looked like some kind of worm. After mentally breathing a sigh of relief that my kid wasn't maimed, a fresh wave of dread washed over me as I came to realization that he probably had pinworms. I had read about pinworms before. I was disgusted by them in general and horrified by the methods you have to take to confirm that your kid has them. For those who don't know, it involves flashlights and tape and checking your kid's butthole at night. I know, right?
I explained to the secretary that it was maybe pinworms and quickly commented that I had read it's a common occurrence in daycare settings, at which point she informed me that she'd never heard of them and that another administrator who had worked there for 20 years had never seen anything like it. Awesome, thanks ladies. The secretary informed me that they saved the worm so I could take a look at it. I told the secretary I would call my kid's doc to see what to do, hung up the phone and proceeded to internally melt down. As I said before, I had already read up on pinworms and knew what was in store for me. But I called the doc and spoke with the nurse a couple of times. I decided that after work I would hit the pharmacy and get the OTC med, which actually sounded pretty simple; one dose and then a follow up dose a couple weeks later. Pretty easy for such a disgusting malady.
Fast forward to later in the evening after my kid has gone to bed. I'm getting ready to head out to the pharmacy to pick up meds, and I thought "lemme just take a quick gander at that worm they saved for me." I put some gloves on, open the plastic bag up and proceed to unwrap the paper towels and baby wipes that were stuffed in the bag. Obviously since they collected the specimen during a poopy diaper change, it was super pleasant to be pawing through a bunch of shit-stained wipes. Eventually I got to the worm in question. While it certainly looked like a little, white-ish, grub-like worm, I quickly realized with immense relief that it was definitely not a pinworm. Looked nothing like it. And then I recalled that the night before, my kid had zucchini noodles with his dinner. And I realized that's exactly what this was. A fucking zucchini noodle. Oh. Em. Gee. See, this is why a sense of humor is a necessary quality in a mom.
I don't think I've ever been more relieved in my life, other than maybe when my kid was born healthy. With the giddiness of a fucking school girl, I broke the good news to my husband that we, in fact, do not have to get our kid out of bed that night and put scotch tape on his butthole to collect pinworm eggs. Nor do we have to launder every single piece of fabric our kid has come into contact with. YESSSSS!!!!!
Honestly, the most mentally-taxing part of the whole scenario of my kid having pinworms was the idea of having to get him up in the middle of the night, two nights in a row, to check his butthole. Anyone with any sense knows you don't wake a sleeping baby; well, I guess pinworms and a poopy diaper are the exceptions to that rule.
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