I usually like being efficient. I like getting things done. I'm the type of person who would put "wake up" on a to-do list just to feel like I started my day accomplishing something.
Why then, have I lost the will to be efficient?
There are a million things that I could do with the precious time that my hands are not full of a baby. I could get my home organized. I could wash dishes, sweep and mop floors and put laundry away. I could make the bed. I could put all of our documents in order and get everything prepared for doctor's appointments, passport and embassy appointments. Heck, I could even brush my hair or put on make-up or something.
But, no.
Here's what I do instead. I watch Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on youtube. I check, recheck, and check facebook again. I paint my fingernails. (I painted them an awesome shade of orange and I'm actually pretty psyched about it) I read People magazine. (I actually paid 7 bucks to be able to waste my time reading People magazine in English) I read blogs.
Oh well, efficiency and productivity just may not be all they're cracked up to be.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
How did this happen?
It wasn't my intention for this to become another "Mommy blog," but when your only human contact for 12 hours of the day is a tiny little human you created called a baby, well, things happen. Maybe, once I start having some more adult human contact, I'll start writing about that. Maybe not.
The learning curve for parenting is a steep one. Like Everest, excepet minus the snow and add in some more oxygen. Here are some tidbits that I learned this week.
1. I may never drink a warm cup of coffee again.
2. Babies have shower radar. Just when you think they're asleep enough to jump in the shower, you get your hair all sudsy, like clockwork, the babe starts crying.
3. Babies also have meal radar. Just when you think you'll be able to have a warm meal, baby decides she'd like to eat, too. I'm convinced this, along with #1, is why microwaves were invented.
4. All-nighters in college are for wimps. You may have crammed for a total of two days, then you took your finals and slept for a week. Try doing that every night, with no end in sight.
5. Like a moth to a flame, baby poop is inexplicably drawn to a clean diaper.
6. It is possible to carry on hours-long one-sided conversations without getting bored or annoyed by no response.
7. Most things baby are proportional to their size. Tiny fingers. Tiny toes. Tiny body. Everything except for baby farts. It's like a grown man after a week of eating beans for every meal. They could make for some serious competition in a fart contest.
8. It doesn't matter what provokes the smile or noise, anything that can be deemed as non-crying communication is amazing.
9. After 5 hours sleep, a shower and a little bit of make-up, you feel like a million bucks.
So there's my Mommy wisdom for the week. And here is a family photo.
The learning curve for parenting is a steep one. Like Everest, excepet minus the snow and add in some more oxygen. Here are some tidbits that I learned this week.
1. I may never drink a warm cup of coffee again.
2. Babies have shower radar. Just when you think they're asleep enough to jump in the shower, you get your hair all sudsy, like clockwork, the babe starts crying.
3. Babies also have meal radar. Just when you think you'll be able to have a warm meal, baby decides she'd like to eat, too. I'm convinced this, along with #1, is why microwaves were invented.
4. All-nighters in college are for wimps. You may have crammed for a total of two days, then you took your finals and slept for a week. Try doing that every night, with no end in sight.
5. Like a moth to a flame, baby poop is inexplicably drawn to a clean diaper.
6. It is possible to carry on hours-long one-sided conversations without getting bored or annoyed by no response.
7. Most things baby are proportional to their size. Tiny fingers. Tiny toes. Tiny body. Everything except for baby farts. It's like a grown man after a week of eating beans for every meal. They could make for some serious competition in a fart contest.
8. It doesn't matter what provokes the smile or noise, anything that can be deemed as non-crying communication is amazing.
9. After 5 hours sleep, a shower and a little bit of make-up, you feel like a million bucks.
So there's my Mommy wisdom for the week. And here is a family photo.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Mystery Madness 101
Parenting in the earliest days of your child's life, I'm coming to find out, is like trying to solve one of those murder mystery dinners. or figuring out who did it, with what, and where in Clue. I'm not good at either of those things. I don't have the patience. I just want someone to give me the answer.
You might think that someone like me would find satisfaction in solving complex mathmatical problems, or figuring out super hard mazes. Or, you might know me, and realize that no, I'm a fan of just being told the answer.
Unfortunately, my child can't talk. She can't tell me the answer. I have no choice but to play along in the mystery madness. I'm not a fan, Ana Victoria. You can start talking any time now.
Last week, and all the weeks prior of her life. All 2 of them. She'd been a great sleeper at night. She would wake up every 3-4 hours to eat and go right back to sleep. It was new-parent heaven.
She has decided the last 2 nights that she needs to wake up every hour and a half. She has also picked up this awesome sleep habit of grunting. Awesome. I love it. And by "I love it," I mean, "I hate it."
I solved one mystery last night. She was too hot. I took her blanket off and she slept merrily for 2 full hours. I thought I had the mystery solved.
Then the grunting started up, again. Stretch. Grunt. Squeek. Grunt some more. Stretch again. Grunt. Grunt. Gruntidy Grunt.
What is that? Can anyone enlighten me? I need some sleep!
You might think that someone like me would find satisfaction in solving complex mathmatical problems, or figuring out super hard mazes. Or, you might know me, and realize that no, I'm a fan of just being told the answer.
Unfortunately, my child can't talk. She can't tell me the answer. I have no choice but to play along in the mystery madness. I'm not a fan, Ana Victoria. You can start talking any time now.
Last week, and all the weeks prior of her life. All 2 of them. She'd been a great sleeper at night. She would wake up every 3-4 hours to eat and go right back to sleep. It was new-parent heaven.
She has decided the last 2 nights that she needs to wake up every hour and a half. She has also picked up this awesome sleep habit of grunting. Awesome. I love it. And by "I love it," I mean, "I hate it."
I solved one mystery last night. She was too hot. I took her blanket off and she slept merrily for 2 full hours. I thought I had the mystery solved.
Then the grunting started up, again. Stretch. Grunt. Squeek. Grunt some more. Stretch again. Grunt. Grunt. Gruntidy Grunt.
What is that? Can anyone enlighten me? I need some sleep!
Thursday, April 15, 2010
My baby story
I won't get too gorey and I'll try to spare the unnecessary details, but here is how baby Ana Victoria came into the world.
It was a beautiful, sunny day on March 30th, 2010. Oh wait, this isn't a fairy tale. Anyway, we went to the hospital to be induced at 9:00am. The doctor said it was because my placenta was starting to age, but part of me thinks she didn't want to have to hang around town during the 4-day Holy Week break. But, that's just my opinion...
The doctor started my induction with a tablet that softens the cervix and begins dilation. Within 15 minutes, I was feeling the contractions. They didn't hurt, but they were strong enough to make me notice. Ramon and I went for a walk around the hospital, got settled in in our room, and watched some TV. (We had to take advantage of the fact that the hospital had cable!)
The doctor checked me around noon and I was only dilated to barely 2cm. She advised us to get ready for a long haul. Another young mom was being induced at the same time as me and she was already to 4cm. I was jealous. I had a talk with AV about how the Alvarez Hickey family likes to come in first place. She listened because about 30 minutes later, my water broke. Now, that is a weird feeling. Like peeing your pants, not from laughing and you can't control it. Not the prettiest event of my life. I ran to the bathroom. Ramon ran and got the doctor.
For the next two and a half hours, I was monitored more closely and my contractions were coming about every 2-3 minutes. They were strong. They were painful. I wasn't happy.
At 3:00, they checked me again and I was only 4cm. They wouldn't give me meds until I was at least 5cm. I was not a happy camper. I had always said that I was going to go the 100% natural way, no drugs, no nothing. That's a nice idea when you're not in labor. I changed my mind. I wanted drugs. I wanted them right then and there. They didn't want to give them to me.
Then I had an epiphany. I pulled out the C word. C-section. If I told them I wanted a c-section, they'd have to give me meds, right? Right.
I convinced them. Oh, I'm so tricky. I told you the Alvarez Hickey's like to win. We also like to be tricky apparently.
AV had some of her own trickery on it's way. Remember how at 3:00 I was at 4cm? Well, at about 3:15, I was at 9cm. Open the gates, said little Ana V, I'm a-coming. I got the meds. I was now much happier. I might have heard the following things in my spinal block-induced bliss.
I can see her head!
Um, this baby is going to be born now!
Hurry!
Ramon, thinking he had hours on his hands, had gone back to the room to change his clothes. He was summoned with yells down the hall, "Shannon's husband! You'd better get in here!"
I pushed about 3 times. Then, she was here. Hello, little one. Welcome to the world!
The first night, they kept her in the nursery to monitor her. Standard procedure. I convinced the pediatrician to let me have her, but she wasn't going to be ready until about 2 in the morning. Ramon convinced me to just get some rest. They brought her to us early the next morning. She was beautiful. She was amazing. She was hungry!
The second night, we were so excited to have her with us. Then, my hormones went on a wild addict in withdrawal-type rampage. I was shaking violently. I was burning up. I felt awful. I couldn't deal with it all at once, so they took her to the nursery for a couple hours again. I shook and sweat and had all sorts of glorious other side effects for the rest of the night. I was really bummed, but was thankful that we were still in the hospital and there was someone who could take her.
We came home on Thursday April 1st. It's been a whirlwind since then. We've had some good days and nights. We've had some bad days and nights. She generally hates her bath. It's torture. She screams. Sorry kid, you have to be clean. No stinky babies in this house.
She's amazing. I look at her and it's still hard to believe she's really mine. She's not my neice, she's not my friend's baby. She's mine. I love her with all my heart. I love my husband even more than I ever thought I could. It's incredible.
Being a parent, two thumbs way up.
It was a beautiful, sunny day on March 30th, 2010. Oh wait, this isn't a fairy tale. Anyway, we went to the hospital to be induced at 9:00am. The doctor said it was because my placenta was starting to age, but part of me thinks she didn't want to have to hang around town during the 4-day Holy Week break. But, that's just my opinion...
The doctor started my induction with a tablet that softens the cervix and begins dilation. Within 15 minutes, I was feeling the contractions. They didn't hurt, but they were strong enough to make me notice. Ramon and I went for a walk around the hospital, got settled in in our room, and watched some TV. (We had to take advantage of the fact that the hospital had cable!)
The doctor checked me around noon and I was only dilated to barely 2cm. She advised us to get ready for a long haul. Another young mom was being induced at the same time as me and she was already to 4cm. I was jealous. I had a talk with AV about how the Alvarez Hickey family likes to come in first place. She listened because about 30 minutes later, my water broke. Now, that is a weird feeling. Like peeing your pants, not from laughing and you can't control it. Not the prettiest event of my life. I ran to the bathroom. Ramon ran and got the doctor.
For the next two and a half hours, I was monitored more closely and my contractions were coming about every 2-3 minutes. They were strong. They were painful. I wasn't happy.
At 3:00, they checked me again and I was only 4cm. They wouldn't give me meds until I was at least 5cm. I was not a happy camper. I had always said that I was going to go the 100% natural way, no drugs, no nothing. That's a nice idea when you're not in labor. I changed my mind. I wanted drugs. I wanted them right then and there. They didn't want to give them to me.
Then I had an epiphany. I pulled out the C word. C-section. If I told them I wanted a c-section, they'd have to give me meds, right? Right.
I convinced them. Oh, I'm so tricky. I told you the Alvarez Hickey's like to win. We also like to be tricky apparently.
AV had some of her own trickery on it's way. Remember how at 3:00 I was at 4cm? Well, at about 3:15, I was at 9cm. Open the gates, said little Ana V, I'm a-coming. I got the meds. I was now much happier. I might have heard the following things in my spinal block-induced bliss.
I can see her head!
Um, this baby is going to be born now!
Hurry!
Ramon, thinking he had hours on his hands, had gone back to the room to change his clothes. He was summoned with yells down the hall, "Shannon's husband! You'd better get in here!"
I pushed about 3 times. Then, she was here. Hello, little one. Welcome to the world!
The first night, they kept her in the nursery to monitor her. Standard procedure. I convinced the pediatrician to let me have her, but she wasn't going to be ready until about 2 in the morning. Ramon convinced me to just get some rest. They brought her to us early the next morning. She was beautiful. She was amazing. She was hungry!
The second night, we were so excited to have her with us. Then, my hormones went on a wild addict in withdrawal-type rampage. I was shaking violently. I was burning up. I felt awful. I couldn't deal with it all at once, so they took her to the nursery for a couple hours again. I shook and sweat and had all sorts of glorious other side effects for the rest of the night. I was really bummed, but was thankful that we were still in the hospital and there was someone who could take her.
We came home on Thursday April 1st. It's been a whirlwind since then. We've had some good days and nights. We've had some bad days and nights. She generally hates her bath. It's torture. She screams. Sorry kid, you have to be clean. No stinky babies in this house.
She's amazing. I look at her and it's still hard to believe she's really mine. She's not my neice, she's not my friend's baby. She's mine. I love her with all my heart. I love my husband even more than I ever thought I could. It's incredible.
Being a parent, two thumbs way up.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Oh jeez...
I'm one of "those" moms.
I have to check to make sure my baby is breathing because I haven't heard her make a noise in approximately 4 seconds.
I can't stop worrying about if and when she will or won't poop.
I wake my husband up at least twice each night telling him to put the baby in the crib. She's already there.
I convinced myself that a tiny baby had swallowed a giant piece of plastic and made aforementioned husband turn on all the lights at 4:00am to find the aforementioned piece of plastic.
But, look at this face, wouldn't you do the same thing??
I have to check to make sure my baby is breathing because I haven't heard her make a noise in approximately 4 seconds.
I can't stop worrying about if and when she will or won't poop.
I wake my husband up at least twice each night telling him to put the baby in the crib. She's already there.
I convinced myself that a tiny baby had swallowed a giant piece of plastic and made aforementioned husband turn on all the lights at 4:00am to find the aforementioned piece of plastic.
But, look at this face, wouldn't you do the same thing??
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