Just awhile ago I created a whining post about my pregnancy discomfort. I then went to read a few blogs. Isn\’t it funny how Tish wrote about pregnancy. I needed a refreshisng perspective to help me work through these next several weeks! Lovely post Tish!
Monthly Archive for January, 2005
The recipe for Mississippi Mud Cake said to brown the marshmallows, not set them on fire. Oops. I smelled something burning - the marshmallows! I ripped open the oven to find my 9×13 pan covered in flames! Being the \”bright\” and \”calm in disaster\” type of person that I am, I blow the flames. Yeah, bright as a house engulfed inflames!
I yelled for my husband. I did manage to turn off the broiler. He had me get flour and threw a large scooper-full onto the raging inferno within my oven. It reduced the flames quite a bit. He then asked me to get the squirt bottle. In all my pregnant glory, I sprinted to retireve the squirt bottle. In the chaos, a kitchen towel had been thrown on the floor. In my athletic moment of truth, I stepped on it, and it caused my foot to slip from beneath me. In a not-so-graceful manner I hit the floor, in all my pregnant glory. I laid stunned while my husband got the squirt bottle.
By this time, the fire was out, and Paul was able to help me from the floor. The Mississippi Mud cake was ruined, but the dump cake (situated below the other) survived. The 6 teens that arrived 15 minutes later were able to enjoy some homemade dump cake and Oreos.
I called the doctor on-call about my fall. Apparently these little dumplings within are pretty well insulated. She had me sit, do a kick count, and be attentive to contractions. Baby is moving, hiccuping, and contractions have been limited to the normal, random Braxton-Hicks-type kind. I am relieved. Our house did not burn down and baby is just fine. Whew, what a night…
I have approximately 6 weeks to go. I feel MIS ER A BLE! Oh my goodness. I had a hunch the last trimester would be uncomfortable (the third time around), but I wasn\’t prepared for this.
My stomach feels as huge as the day I delivered the first two, but I still have 6 weeks. I walk slower than a turtle, but in the manner of a duck. The biggest issue is my back. I have the most uncomfortable pain, that is aggitated by activity, like getting off the couch! I can hardly lay down, so I mostly sleep on the couch - which I modify to be a large recliner! I must nap every afternoon, or I pay for it in the evening, then even if I do… the evenings are still hard to get through. At this point, I feel it will be easier to care for a newborn than live in my body!
I still get the special perk of feeling my precious little one hiccup and work at dislodgeing my ribs:) I am comforted that the weeks are passing. I am encouraged and can carry on because my husband is so helpful and supportive. Though he doesn\’t have to \”carry\” the baby, he is definitely carrying quite a bit on my behalf. I simply cannot physically take on many of the simplest things. I am so thankful for my dear husband, for his effort to understand and his precious attitude while taking on a lot more.
I still feel terrible. I want to sleep in my bed so bad. I want to feel energetic and mobile. Ahh, that time will come, until then, I\’ll just take advantage of having a guilt-free reason to NOT be busy - and breathe through the pain:)
is a waste of my time. Bring on dark chocolate, bring on semi-sweet, but milk chocolate only wastes my calorie alotment.
I grew up in a small town, and I went to a small private school from 5th grade on. I graduated with 12. I grew up in an environment where it was pretty easy to attain success. With minimal competition, it was easy for a fairly shy pre-teen to blossom into a confident, self-assured teen. Sure, I had to apply effort, but….
In high school I was a cheerleader, in the ensemble, student government, yearbook, on the volleyball team, graduated salutatorian. In a school of 50 - class of 12, there wasn\’t much I couldn\’t do or be involved in. It gave me a terrific sense of self-importance… to succeed at anything I tried. Careful little fish…
In college I swam in a bigger pond, yet small for college (under 1000 students). I didn\’t try out for chorale, but I did for another group. Rejected. Didn\’t even try to take on volleyball, I had half the height and half the muscle of the other girls. I did apply and was accepted for a new-student orientation team my sophomore year, and resident assistant my junior year - thank God. I was too afraid to run for student government. I wouldn\’t be the only name on the ballot! The pond was bigger and the fish was smaller.
Real world, it\’s a great lake, not a mere pond now. I am an average mom to 2.5 children. I drive a white minivan. I scrapbook, bake and head-up crafts at my local mom\’s group. We don\’t play with play-doh much, because it is too messy to mess with. I let my kids watch more TV than I think they should, and lately let my son spends more time playing video games than I want to allow. I seldom work on the ABC\’s with my kids and my main destinations are Target and the grocery store. I do sing loudly in the car by myself, or sing at church with the rest of the bunch, or sing kids songs in the car.
As life progresses I find unique things about myself, I am not identity-less. I am in the \”occupation\” I desire. However, I feel more mediocre than in my more more self-assured, youthful days. Some has to do with maturity , some has to do with rejection, some has to do with little opportunity, and some has to do with being too insecure to look for or take opportunity.
The pond has grown much bigger, and sometimes I feel like one of the tiny fish who just fills up space. I know I have purpose and value, yadda, yadda, yadda… but it doesn\’t change the fact I struggle with feeling bland. I\’m not Sheri Oteri but not boring… not Martha Stewart but able to take on a glue gun… not Barbara Streisand but not tone-deaf… not Mother Teresa but don\’t brandish a wire hanger… not Oprah Winfrey but have important things to say at times… Catch my drift?
The world is now falling apart in my little home… I must tend to my children, it\’s time for lunch and an orange must be peeled :)
where one can get just about anything and everything anytime — shouldn\’t a pregnant woman be able to get and eat as many Girl Scout chocolate covered peanutbutter cookies as she needs (it truly is a need)? It is that time of year yet???? Or did I miss it the last time? Ahhhh!!! I have a craving!!! Shouldn\’t the craving of a pregnant woman have some weight (so much pun in that) in the decision whether or not to allow that bad, bad indulgence be available all year long!!!!!!
Tuesday I was soooooo tired. I desperately needed a nap. I put Livi down for her nap, and let Joel play Star Wars on the XBox.
I woke to Joel\’s feet running to the bathroom, and the full strip down of clothing began. That means poop. Poop requires parental intervention — i.e. I gotta get up from my nap, ugh!
Half asleep I wait for the call, \”Wipe me!!!!\” Instead I hear a small whisper, \”Now what am I gonna do? I don\’t have anybody to wipe me…\” Being the good mom I am, I got up to help my boy. As I walked in he said to me, \” Oh Mom, I didn\’t want to wake you up from your nap. I was going to wait until you were done.\”
Poor guy. I doubt he would have been able to wait an hour, but the swwet intention was there.
This evening he got me a cup of water as I checked email and a blanket when I sat on the couch. I didn\’t ask for either. He just knows him mom:)
Joel and his buddy Sam sat in the third row of the minivan. The 2 five-year-old boys chatted and giggled and discussed the deep things of life. I did my best to listen and remember what I heard…
Joel: Do you know what Christmas is? It\’s Jesus\’ birthday.
Sam: Yeah, everyday is Jesus\’ birthday.
Joel: But Christmas Day is Jesus\’ birthday.
Sam: Yeah, Christmas Day is Jesus\’ birthday and the other days aren\’t.
Joel: Yeah… How old is he? 7?
Sam: Yeah, probably like between 7 and 18.
Joel: Oh… but he\’s still REALLY strong… Do you know why there are rainbows.
Sam: Yeah.
Joel: Because God loves us….
They went on to talk about the many colors of the rainbow and Skittles (you know, \”Taste the Rainbow\”)…
At my last MOPS meeting, my friend Karen talked about peace. Karen had 3 boys witin 4.5 years… they are now 7 and up. The woman has walked through the fire of being a mother of 3 preschool boys and is worthy to be listened to. She is a well-spring of joy.
So, peace. Peace and preschoolers are about as polar-opposite as north and south. Karen shared stressors that keep peace from motherhood, no big surprises. It was interesting when she compared the similarities between moms and POWs - sleep deprivation, noise, loneliness…. Man, motherhood can sure sound awful! It certainly has it\’s moments, but God knew what he was doing when he made little ones so stinkin\’ cute!!!
What hit home for me was a discussion question… \”Is my stress primarily from raising children or might there be some underlying issus I need to look at?\”
I definitely feel stress related to mothering. However, I am coming to realize my reactions/responses/apathy may be fed by some \”underlying issues\”. For me, underlying issues would be anger, resentment, my obesssion with why the \”squeaky wheel\” always gets the grease, forgiveness… maybe I am revealing too much. Ahh, who cares. I\’m not alone in this.
I am one to recognize and admit all my ducks are not in a row. But I am just really realizing how these issues impact my family, though any particular \”issue\” may not be at the immediate surface. If I have become more generally angry/put-upon/resentful, how can those things not ooze from my tone/expression/movement? If these things are UNDER the surface, isn\’t there potentially always some amount of contortion ON my emotional surface???
As the days tick by and the arrival of my third child draws near, my longing to work towards resolving inner conflict/chaos grows stronger. More peace in my heart means more peace in my home. That\’s the environment I want to create. If this could be my only success, it would be a great legacy of blessing for my children…
I am staying up much too late. I am exploring the blogosphere, something I rarely do, but something I so want to do (I should be prepping my tax stuff - yuck!!!) I ran acrossSleeping Mommy tonight. I have to copy and credit her witty tagline, \”If sleep deprivation is an effective form of torture then the CIA should seriously consider employing my children.\”
My kids too!!!
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