Tuesday, December 26, 2006

B rocks

B said she got me something really cool for Christmas. I almost didn't believe her, but she she whipped this out!

Friday, December 15, 2006

50, aka Ferrari, F-50

1. Height? 5'3. It's really like 5'3 1/2, but I always leave off the 1/2, I'm not that type of person.

2. Have you ever smoked heroin? No.

3. Do you own a gun? A few.

4. Do you have a b/f, g/f? I have a husband. Sidebar: I don't know if I've ever really referred to Adam as my boyfriend, even when we were sort of dating or whatever. It was always weird; and he was always just 'Adam', which was nice. Boyfriend always sounded so middle school. ;)

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? No. I don't go to the doctor that much.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? Well, here's the thing. I could so easily be a vegetarian (if it weren't for the occasional steak craving) and a lot of meat really grosses me out. But GOD I love a good hot dog!!! I think my brain just blocks out the possibilities of the hot dog's contents and instead just focuses on "Mmmm, it's so bad for you, but it tastes so good!"

7. What's your favorite Christmas song? I have one, and the lyrics and title of it eludes me. It's a hymn, and I can't think of it for the life of me. I hate when it's just on the edge of conciousness and I can't grasp it.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Water.

9. Can you do push-ups? If it were life or death, maybe. Otherwise, not so much.

10. Is your bathroom clean? It's not dirty. It's not tidy either.

11. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My engagement ring, of course. (It's vintage and the epitome of what I always wanted in a ring.)

12. Do you like painkillers? Nowadays I prefer the all natural route. In the past I would lunge for my ibuprofen (600mg minimum, please).

13. What is your secret weapon to lure in the opposite sex? My curls or my hips.

14. Do you have A.D.D.? No, but sometimes I act like I do.

16. Middle Name? MarthaMarie. (Still can't believe my parents dared to combine the first names of both of my grandmothers into one name with multiple capitals. If you knew my parents... you would understand.)

17. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment? I love how the dogs are flipping out yet ADAM HAS THE GLOCK, oh wait I have a Doberman, but he's the spazziest Doberman ever and probably wouldn't even attack!!!

18. Name the last 3 things you have bought? Gas, a candy cane smoothie, Jamba Juice.

19. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, water, and water.

22. Current worry? Not getting the bedroom completed in 2006.

23. Current hate? This is fabulous: none!!! In the past I could have given you a frickin laundry list. But that was my old life!

24. Favorite place to be? Before it was always "home, asleep" but now it's like "work, home, car, playing doula..." see previous paragraph, "But that was my old life!"

26. Where would you like to go? Everywhere!! I really want to go out of the country soon.

27. Do you own slippers? I probably have some lurking in the basement, but they're not my footsies right now, no (and actually I woud love some for Christmas).

28. What shirt are you wearing? A magenta longer length Old Navy ribbed tank with a brown vintage super thin long sleeved chocolate brown henley over it.

29. Do you burn or tan? I used to tan, even on bc, but now I sort of burn first. And then tan. But it's weird to get pink.

30. Favorite color(s)? If you know me... you know it's green. All the time.

31. Would you be a pirate? Pirates are super fun this year and I think I could make a sexy pirate, so yes.

33. What songs do you sing in the shower? Lately it's been Nelly Furtado "Maneater". I play the CD when Im' getting ready in the morning.

34. What did you fear was going to get you at night as a child? Stuff under my bed, shadows under the door. I used to visualize hands coming up over the sides of my bed looking for me. Pretty morbid stuff.

35. What's in your pockets right now? I have no p ockets. I'm in my pjs that I've had for ages!

36. Last thing that made you laugh? Oh gosh... I stayed at work an hour later today off the clock laughing my butt off because work is fun!

37. Best bed sheets as a child? Oma's ladybug sheets.

38. Worst injury you've ever had? Getting hit by that bike and the 7 stitches that followed. I'm still not over it, 9 years later.

40. How many TVs do you have in your house? I think two. There might be one in the basement.

41. Who is your loudest friend? I wouldn't use that term to describe any of them really.

42. Who is your most silent friend? Again... wouldn't use that term to describe any of them really. Well, maybe Kelly; but she's more of a plotter when silent I think.

43. Does someone have a crush on you? I'd hope Adam does.

44. Do you wish on shooting stars? I've never seen a shooting star!

45. What is your favorite book? I'll list my favorite author: Anita Shreve. I have so many favorite books...

46. What is your favorite candy? CHOCOLATE. Anything, just gimme!

47. What song do/did you want played at your wedding? I was going to have Sunflower River Blues playing as my wedding party went down the aisle and then we didn't have a wedding, so that's that.

48. What song do you want played at your funeral? Probably Coldplay, "Kingdom Come" and other assorted tunes.

49. What were you doing 12 AM last night? Sleeping!

50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? "Is Adam leaving already?" and then when I woke up the next time "What was that?!!?!" (baby gate crashing from the cats jumping on it" and then when I woke up the next time "UGH, do I REALLY have to get up and pee now!? I just want to sleep!"

Thursday, December 07, 2006

yanked from Stephanie

A - Available or Single? Hrm. I'm married!

B - Best Friend? Adam, B, and Anna.

C - Cake or Pie? I love cake! I also make a delicious cake. I don't like pie!

D - Drink of Choice? Water, mostly.

E - Essential Item you use every day? MOUSSE! I don't want no 'fro, yo.

F - Favorite Color(s)? Green. If you know me IRL, you know this.

G - Gummy Bears or Worms? I haven't had anything gross like that in a long time.

H - Hometown? Chicago! (South Side!)

I - Indulgence? Chocolate. All the time.

J - January or February? I guess January. I got married in January. (I not-so-secretly hate that I got married in January. It's just such a crappy month. I forget my anniversary all the time. Or, I did. I have it memorized now.)

K - Kids and Names? None yet, but lots some day soon. :)

L - Life is Incomplete Without? Adam.

M - Marriage Date? January 21st, 2005

N - Number of Siblings? Two younger sisters, Rebekah and Anamarie.

O - Oranges or Apples? Orange. Clementines!

P - Phobias or Fears? Nothing too major; pretty run of the mill.

Q - Fave Quote? "Stop thinking about it so much."

R - Reason to Smile? Life is just good. <---I hear ya, Stephanie!!

S - Season? SUMMER. I'm the flip flop queen.

T - Tag Three people... I have nobody to tag.

U - Unknown fact about me? I think everyone pretty much knows everything there is to know about me. Um... I have a birthmark on my butt! There's one that might be new.

V - Vegetable you don't like? Brussel sprouts... I don't like cabbage either. (I'm a bad Serbian/German.)

W - Worst Habit? Staying up late when work starts at 6:45 (and lookie here: I'm going out to BW3s tonight. Ha! I'm trying to act 21.)

X - Xtremely BIG Husker Fan? Do I LOOK like I'm from Nebraska?

Y - Your fave food? MEXICAN, MEXICAN, MEXICAN.

Z - Zodiac Sign? Capricorn, and I fit the bill.

Monday, December 04, 2006

my first birth!!

Saturday I ran around like crazy, including to the gym for an hour and a half workout. When I was at PetsMart (haha, mispelled it 'pestmart' first) my mentor called me--she had a woman in labor requesting a doula!

So, I rushed home, changed my shirt, and went to the hospital. My mentor and I went in together. I was happy that we made it there around the same time--since it was my first birth I didn't want to go in alone. I could do it if necessary but I wasn't exactly looking forward to it.

The parents were really, really friendly and had a doula with their first child. They were funny and liked to joke a lot. We were even laughing through contractions. She even had a page from her job at one point during labor and CALLED SOMEONE ABOUT IT during a contraction. Literally huffing and puffing "I'm in labor! Please take care of this!" Hilarious. My mentor led me through some things but after about an hour she was only in the room occasionally and was seeing if I needed anything to drink/eat, etc.

She was stuck at 3cm for a long time so we walked the halls, did lunges with the birth ball, did rolling exercises on the birth ball to open her hips and eventually used Pitocin, which of coursed kicked up her contractions considerably. We then made good use of the birth tub. She claimed she was still in the same amount of pain but outwardly she was handling the contractions much better, even if she didn't realize it.

The doctor had to be pulled from a Christmas party and everyone was freezing on the floor so the doctor was sitting on a birth ball wrapped in a blanket in the corner of the bathroom while mom was in the birth tub and we were all sitting around chatting. It was really neat--and as I told Adam, not at all uncomfortable for me to be around a totally naked woman in labor. It felt completely natural.

After the tub we got back in bed and she had eventually progressed to 5cm but stalled out there. Pitocin made everything worse so she eventually wanted Stadol for the pain, she had used it before and liked it. Her husband had to massage her back through every contraction, otherwise she flipped out--touch can be so important in labor. The whole time I would be stroking her arm and guiding her through breathing, as she had a tendency to tense up. I would hold her hands and tell her to relax her fingers--she wanted to make fists but that creates tension in your body, so I tried to keep her loose.

Eventually she said Stadol did nothing for her (although outwardly I could see her contractions had less of a peak) so she requested an epidural. I had wanted her to change positions but she wasn't having any of that. Luckily a nurse told her she had to pee before they came to administer the epidural, so gravity was on our side there. When she moved the nurse said "Wait! You have a lot of bloody show, let me check you!" and suddenly she was 6-7. The woman came in to do the epidural and the nurse said "Let me check her one more time." This is about five minutes after the last check, and now she's 8-9! With the next contraction we told her to push and the head was RIGHT THERE, so we said "Epidural is pointless! Let's try doing this without!"

My mentor and I held her legs for her (unfortunately, she was in the 'stranded beetle' position) while she pushed. Ten minutes and three pushes later we had a healthy baby boy! It was really amazing to be so close to a live birth, my first ever. I don't think it will ever get old. I still can't believe that's REALLY how we get babies! Totally mind-blowing. The dad had my mentor and I take a picture with her and we said "You don't have to!" and the mom says (like a minute after birth!!) "No, we HAVE to have a picture of YOU, of all people!!!" my mentor and I stayed over an hour afterward to help establish breastfeeding. He was pretty cranky/weird about latching but eventually got the hang of it and nursed for over 20 minutes on one side. Mom repeatedly said she couldn't have done it without me and that the massage I did was awesome. The doctor attending thanked me several times. My mentor even came in mid-labor to tell me that the doctor had said she really liked me, which is a REALLY good thing.

Afterward my mentor asked me what I felt was the hardest thing, and I said I wouldn't classify anything that happened as 'hard'. I felt like maybe I could have been a little more supportive vocally but that will come with time. It was somewhat awkward saying "You're doing such a great job. PERFECT breathing" over and over, and there was a time when mom just didn't need any more vocal praise and I could sense that and didn't say anything to her except to guide her through her contractions. I told my mentor I think my biggest hurdle will be supporting breastfeeding, I feel totally unprepared for that, although I did notice mom trying to bring herself to the baby when the cardinal rule of latching/feeding is always bring baby to breast, not vice versa. I also told my mentor I would feel comfortable going into a birth alone--i.e., if I get there before her next time I'm fine introducing myself/getting started.

I left the hospital at 3am, got home around 3:30 and went to bed around 4. Long night! I was with her for ten hours, pretty much nonstop, aside from one bathroom break and one trip to get some chocolate from the breakroom to keep me going. Today I ran over to my mom's and got a bib/receiving blanket set to give as a token gift and then went to do my postpartum visit, where they totally *insisted* that I hold the baby saying "If anyone should hold him, it's you!" We relived some parts of the birth, and I told her she did an AMAZING job--and she did, she went from 5cm to complete in an hour!! She went from 7 to 10 in about 15 minutes or so. And then only push for 10 minutes--she really was working hard and it showed.

Overall, a really pleasant birth experience, especially considering the hospital setting. I couldn't have asked for a better mom my first time either--she was very willing to do whatever we suggested, which really helped her out a lot overall. I can't wait until I get called to another birth! I'm on call every weekend but not next weekend, I have a lot of things going on. Exciting!! I feel like I can really say I'm a doula now, even though it was just one birth. :)

Today we had our monthly doula meeting and as I finished sharing this story with the other volunteer doulas, my mentor left the table and came up behind me with this:













The family totally got me a gift basket!! I was blown away, and so touched. It couldn't have been a better first birth experience!!