Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
123 & up
Life has been CUHRAZY busy lately. Before my life revolved around OD, and I created a life for myself online. Now I'd rather that my life be played out IRL, and just document it here. It wasn't always like that, and I'm glad it's like that now. I'm just upset that I don't have more time to write! On with the pictures...
123/365, at BW3's as a going away for a coworker, Kate. It was almost awkward because pretty much no one showed up:
124/365, scrubbing shelves in the cafe; there was NOTHING to do Friday, Saturday or Sunday, so I made up jobs for myself.
125/365, I picked this for my 365. I thought it was appropriate and captured the day:
126/365, Adam and I went to watch a softball game on Sunday. A bunch of people from my job are on a team and it was fun to watch, although I did dub it (affectionally) a clusterfuck. But it's just for fun and therefore amusing to watch. Afterwards we went with some people to Pepe's and chatted and snacked. It was a good time and the sky was soooo beautiful:
These are bananas that got sent over to the cafe. We get fruit on Mondays. HELLO, these are greener than GREEN. Cathy said "The bananas are green!" But I had no idea how green they were, and then I HAD to take a picture. They're in a bag ripening up now.
127/365, I actually washed the Fusion yesterday. It was hot outside and the car was filthy, so I dragged out the hose, threw on my bikini top and went to work:
Rejects:
Adam seeded some parts of our ghetto lawn, so he has to water it now:
After yummy Panera and some errand running (baseball supplies), we topped at a little car lot where they were working on tricking out this Monte:
While I was sitting in the car and Adam was checking out a car on the lot, this was quickly approaching all shady-like, so I locked the doors using my foot and snapped this pic:
We went to the Cingular store today where I caved and just got a frickin' free phone already. Check out my sweet old phone on the right:
128/365, sitting in the car waiting for Adam:
To round off the evening, here's a reject: we played catch in the front yard for awhile. I have a tendency to try to hide from the ball. Great! in this pic I was just posing with my glove, but Adam rolled the baseball into the frame just as it snapped the pic (see by my foot):
And that's about it for now! Except: currently obsessed with Timbaland in general, but "The Way I Are" specifically.
123/365, at BW3's as a going away for a coworker, Kate. It was almost awkward because pretty much no one showed up:
124/365, scrubbing shelves in the cafe; there was NOTHING to do Friday, Saturday or Sunday, so I made up jobs for myself.
125/365, I picked this for my 365. I thought it was appropriate and captured the day:
126/365, Adam and I went to watch a softball game on Sunday. A bunch of people from my job are on a team and it was fun to watch, although I did dub it (affectionally) a clusterfuck. But it's just for fun and therefore amusing to watch. Afterwards we went with some people to Pepe's and chatted and snacked. It was a good time and the sky was soooo beautiful:
These are bananas that got sent over to the cafe. We get fruit on Mondays. HELLO, these are greener than GREEN. Cathy said "The bananas are green!" But I had no idea how green they were, and then I HAD to take a picture. They're in a bag ripening up now.
127/365, I actually washed the Fusion yesterday. It was hot outside and the car was filthy, so I dragged out the hose, threw on my bikini top and went to work:
Rejects:
Adam seeded some parts of our ghetto lawn, so he has to water it now:
After yummy Panera and some errand running (baseball supplies), we topped at a little car lot where they were working on tricking out this Monte:
While I was sitting in the car and Adam was checking out a car on the lot, this was quickly approaching all shady-like, so I locked the doors using my foot and snapped this pic:
We went to the Cingular store today where I caved and just got a frickin' free phone already. Check out my sweet old phone on the right:
128/365, sitting in the car waiting for Adam:
To round off the evening, here's a reject: we played catch in the front yard for awhile. I have a tendency to try to hide from the ball. Great! in this pic I was just posing with my glove, but Adam rolled the baseball into the frame just as it snapped the pic (see by my foot):
And that's about it for now! Except: currently obsessed with Timbaland in general, but "The Way I Are" specifically.
Monday, May 07, 2007
24 Hours of Flickr
Check out my 24 Hours of Flickr photoset! Over 20,000 people participated in this event around the world. I still need to pick one photo to submit to the group, so your input is appreciated!
Monday, April 30, 2007
fantasyland
I've had these certain fantasies or ideals throughout my life. I'm not sure where they came from, but through talks with my sister I've discovered she has some of the same. It must have been through a series of events in our childhood that made us kindred in this way. Or maybe it's just genetics because we're sisters.
In any case, I've always had this fantasy... (I'm pretty sure it stems from watching Dirty Dancing and the like.) When we have kids I dream of being the type of people to have a vacation home on a lake... it doesn't have to be anything extravagant; in fact, the cheaper and more quaint the better. Rustic, even. I want to have somewhere that, during the summer months, I pack up the kids and the dogs and we live at the lake house and Adam comes up on the weekends and joins us (because somebody has to bring home the bacon while I take care of the kids, duh!). During the week we build sandcastles and swim and tan and read books and do puzzles and play Monopoly and grill out and sleep on the enclosed screen porch and climb trees and take hikes and ride bikes and go out on paddle boats and listen to music and make new friends and I sit out on the porch drinking iced tea and crocheting something or reading a book while I'm nursing the youngest baby and watch them play in the dirt and make mudpies and I don't care how dirty they are because they're having so much fun.
It's been on my mind a lot lately. I guess because that's something I wish I could have done growing up and something I really would have enjoyed and I think anybody would enjoy. I don't even have kids yet and I'm already worried about them having a real childhood. I want my kids to be kids. Anyway, enough fantasyland! I can picture the cabin in my head already. :)
120/365:
Sunday busy Sunday
Right now Adam and I are zipping along the Kennedy expressway doing 70mph. It's only three minutes to the circle, but that's not really a surprise as it's 9:15 on a Sunday evening. It’s kind of a freaky sensation to feel the car lurching and floating and accelerating while I’m busy focusing on this bright computer screen.
I took the laptop with me because I thought I could work on my 365 pictures and videos while we were driving and kill two birds with one stone. That way, when I get home, I only have to upload the pictures and I’m done. That sort of worked; editing the photos isn’t working as well because of the jerking around, and I can’t really tell what color things are on this screen when it jitters. It will have to wait until I get home.
Adam just informed me, “I kind of got stuck in this lane. I have no idea where it’s going!” The Dan Ryan construction is different every time we go into the city, so I could only shrug. I don’t really care; we’ll get home when we get home. He just groaned “UGH, do you smell that White Castle?!” I had to inform him it’s not White Castle, it’s Chicago’s famous Maxwell Street Polish. The aroma of mustard and grilled onions hangs over the expressway like a fog when you come out of the circle. It’s either mouth-watering or nauseating; today it does kind of smell delicious.
118/365, at the baseball game:
I got to finish my book, Fire Along the Sky by Sara Donati while I was at the game yesterday. I love, love, LOVE her as an author. It really feels like I’m THERE with the characters, like I’m another person living in Paradise with them, dealing with the things they deal with. She’s just really a master at what she does. There’s another book after that one in the Wilderness series, but I’m not sure if it’s done yet. I have horrible fears of “Oh my God. What if she was to DIE before finishing the series?! Could I even handle that!?” I feel like the characters actually existed. I told Adam so many of the characters are so wise and always know exactly the right thing to say/do (of course) but then it dawned on me that the author is also that wise—because she’s the one writing what they say. It makes me jealous. And also makes me want to move to the middle of frickin’ nowhere.
This morning, now that Adam had to sit out a game, we got up late (AGAIN) and then worked in the yard. It was supposed to be warm, so I wore a bikini top and a pair of my favorite workout shorts and a bandana and we finally got a lot of our railroad tie project done. FINALLY. We bought the supplies (mulch, weed paper, railroad ties, nails, etc) back in the fall. I didn’t want to see all of it sit around for months, but sit it did. We’ve had piles of bags of mulch in the backyard since September or something silly like that. Finally today we got some of the railroad tie beds done and then I put down the mulch.
119/365, posing with a truck I spied for Adam's dad:
Before:
After:
OMG. Listening to this “Home Again” pet recovery system on the radio is just obnoxious, especially with the “Reunited and it feels so good” song at the end. I mean, it’s great your pet is back. But… seriously? Now it has adam singing it out loud. GREAT!
More YouTube:
Friday, April 27, 2007
neglected
I've seriously been neglecting this blog! I wish I could say I've been keeping up with my other blogs, but I haven't. I've been so busy that I haven't been doing much online outside of checking the people I read and doing my 365s.
I'm still doing my 365 photo project over at Flickr. You can find all of my pictures here. I can't believe I'm already up to day 117!
I've decided to try a new project using YouTube. I'm mimicking the 365 Flickr project in that I'm going to be taking a short video clip of myself every day. I'm not planning on it being anything exciting and instead very much Day In The Life. I'm working my way toward being a web celeb, gosh! :) You can check out my videos (all two of them!) below:
There's not a whole lot of new things to report about in my life. I got Adam to join a baseball league, so most of our summer weekends are going to be taken up with that (I hope!). I haven't been able to attend any more births as a doula--I've been on call a few times, but have mostly been too busy/unable to be on call. We're down to 1 car and it's going to be extra hard to volunteer now.Enough of this boring post!
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
51/365
I's all about the hat here: the other day the dogs ate my Puma hat. I was pretty upset, as this only left me with a pink Notre Dame hat to wear to work. It gets old quickly. Adam yesterday surprised me and said "I got you a Puma hat!" and presented me with this. I immediately thought the green Puma logo looked a bit jewel-toned... and Adam said "I Sharpied the Puma!!"
Yeah; he couldn't find me a green Puma hat, so he Sharpied--no, dry-erase-markered--the Puma on the hat, just for me. :) When I told people this at work they all thought it was ADORABLE and said I have the cutest husband EVER.
Pretty much.
Monday, February 19, 2007
my mom :)
Not my favorite picture of her, but I can't find any scans and I'm too lazy to scan one in... :) This is me as a baby, freshly born in a hospital! :) The story of my birth is pretty typical--my mom's water broke, and my dad insisted she couldn't possibly be right and made her call HIS mom to confirm that her water had, in fact, broke. They drove to the hospital and had me with NO DRUGS. My mom didn't have any sort of drugs for any of us that I'm aware of. (Sidebar: my youngest sister was breech and they "let" my mom birth her vaginally, which I think is awesome, considering.)
Just for kicks, the new parents with ME, their first born! (You can really see "me" in this pic.)
Saturday, January 13, 2007
the great bedroom remodel!
Well, we finally remodeled our bedroom. I created a Flickr photoset to show the whole process!!
Friday, January 12, 2007
envy.
This is my 11/365 picture. I'm doing 'the seven deadly sins' this week, and yesterday was envy. GREEN with envy.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
365
I decided to rise to the challenge of 365 self portraits in 2007. So far:
1/365:
2/365:
3/365:
4/365
5/365
6/365
7/365
And you can always check it out daily on my Flickr, along with everyone else who is contributing (including my good friends and sister!): http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuschia_foot/
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!"
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.
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!!
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!!
Sunday, November 05, 2006
vacation recap, installment three
Tuesday, October 17th
Up at a decent hour, ate maple doughnuts and peeled an orange with my bare hands. I managed to seperate my nail from my finger. That HURTS, and it smarted for the rest of the day. Of course Opa followed this up with a story of a woman he knew who got a terrible, hospital-stay-inducing infection from peeling an orange with her fingers. Lovely!
We headed out and called every Enterprise in Spokane. NO CARS. Finally I told Adam to call the regional office, this was just ridiculous! So, he did, and the regional office lit a fire under the branche's asses to get them moving on securing a new car for us.
We used a REAL MAP the entire time we were in Spokane. It was fun--normally I rely on MapQuest to get me places, but they inevitably let me down. I felt like a grownup using a real map to figure out where we were going! We went to Bowl & Pitcher. It's at a pretty park in Spokane.
We walked on the swinging bridge, which I remember vividly from childhood vacations.
The planks on the bridge are not very close together. You couldn't ride a bike on it or wear any sort of heeled shoe there (like my favorite boots). You get to watch the water rushing under your feet if you glance down, and that's pretty creepy, especially since I'm not a fan of water. Adam (of course) had to shake and jump on the bridge to make us rock and jump all over the place. OF COURSE.
While we were there we got a call from Enterprise saying they had a car for us, thank GOD. We went to "Francois Ave"--the Enterprise list had it listed as that but it was really Francis Ave. Francois doesn't really fit the Spokane image, so we were puzzled as to how to get there. When we got there, they traded us for a 2007 Dodge Caliber with something like 1800 miles. Now that's more like it!!
We were hungry, so we headed in the general direction of Mt. Spokane and ate at Cinola's in Mead. We had really yummy calzones. I'm craving one now; it was made out of phyllo dough or something similar and very flaky and cheesy and delicious. Mmmm. It was a clear day, so we went to Mt. Spokane. Growing up we always drove to the top of the mountain but we always went in July/August. I've never been out west in the fall, and the road was closed halfway up the mountain!! We parked the car and got out and walked. I had brought my walking shoes so I changed into those.
(our rental car from a ways up)
A ski path/route/whatever you call it. I can't imagine skiing down this slope! Yikes.
We live in the wrong region.
While we were trekking up the mountain we encountered two Church of Latterday Saints elders in suits (one was wearing a name tag that said "Elder Winters") and we took their pictures for them and they took one of us.
We all shook hands and wished each other a good day. It was really odd. I mean, we were the only people on the side of a mountain.
We kept trekking along. Finally I said "Two hundred steps more, and then we stop!" Well, we both counted silently and here's where Adam stopped in relation to where I stopped. It's funny:
Why the road was closed:
We tried to walk all the way to the top, but once we encountered snow and huge paw prints we turned back! This is ADAM'S foot for size comparison (size 13 extra wide):
We walked for about an hour up the road on the mountain, but then decided to walk down the SIDE of the mountain on the way back. This was because we could see our rental car quite clearly from where we were on the road, so it must be pretty close, right? Well, it was, time-wise; it took us about 15 minutes to walk down the side of the mountain back to the car. BUT I was slipping and sliding and avoiding boulders left and right. It's tall mountain grass covered in snow, for heaven's sake. STUPID. A view up about 1/4 of the way down:
Adam trekking down the mountain:
It was much steeper than it looks. I got muddy but it was worth it. I fell asleep on the way home (of course).
We chatted with Mala and Opa and then went to Tony Roma's. The waitress recognized Mala from her being a teacher. That was pretty neat and random. She hasn't taught since the 70s. We had maple bars at home for dessert and then we sat around watching the World Series and chatting.
Mala:
Opa:
Adam read a book about Mayans. :)
Mala makes baby hats just like my mom does:
Can you tell Mala's favorite color is blue? The exterior of their house is blue as well. I told Adam he's lucky I don't take my love of green to this extreme.
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