MamaBlogga

Jordan is coaching me (Ryan) through how to do a post here on MamaBlogga, so hopefully I won’t mess anything up too badly. She is currently in a hospital bed holding our new baby girl Rebecca who was born this morning at 4:58 am. Jordan’s contractions started almost 36 hours before, but only got really strong about midnight. About two thirty in the morning Jordan decided that it was time to head to the hospital.

By the time we got all ready and actually got to the hospital it was 3:30. The nurse checked her out and told us she was at an eight and asked if Jordan had wanted an epidural. The moment of truth.

Bit of background: Jordan had a very bad spinal headache caused by a botched epidural during Hayden’s birth. She was basically flat on her back for a whole week afterwards. So when she found out she was pregnant again, she decided she wanted to go natural. She has been practicing self-hypnosis with some good results for several months now. During several of her stronger contractions before we came to the hospital she had doubts that she could go through with it.

Jordan replied to the nurse, “Well, I wasn’t planning on it?” The nurse, sensing Jordan’s hesitancy, told her that she had come this far and Jordan could do it without. So it was—no epidural, au naturel. I believed she could do it, but then again, I’ve never had to go through anything like what she was.

The doctor got there about 4:30 and she started pushing. She had to “learn” how to push all over again since her first birth was with an epidural and she couldn’t feel anything. Only a (what it seemed to me) a short thirty minutes later, Rebecca was born.

A small personal note—I was very proud of Jordan for going through with her desire to go all natural. At times she questioned if she could do it, but she was a champ and did amazing. (With the help of a great nurse.)

All Rebecca’s vitals were strong, which was a relief since Hayden had a few issues after he was born. She weighed in at 5 lbs 13 oz and came in at 18.5 inches long. She almost immediately got to nurse and did so for almost an hour before she was taken away to get some shots and get her first bath. So both mom and baby are doing great other than a bit tired. So hopefully Jordan will be able to get online tomorrow and fill in any gaps that I might have left out.

Monday was our anniversary, and Ryan was lucky enough to get some awesome (and FREE) VIP concert tickets from work. So Hayden was shuttled off to my brother- and sister-in-law’s with the usual supplies: diaper bag, pack’n'play, and a carefully-wrapped DVD.

The DVD in question is Robin Hood (which Hayden likes to say as “Wobin. Hood.”). As of probably about last Friday, it has become Hayden’s favorite movie. Luckily, it is also one of my favorites (favorite Disney film, too), and we have it on VHS and DVD. (This has taught him the word “rewind,” too.)

I wrapped it in an envelope because I knew if Hayden saw it or came across it in his diaper bag, he’d instantly insist on watching it, and I wanted to leave that to his aunt and uncle’s discretion. So I gave the DVD directly to Aunt Jess and explained what it was before Hayden made it in the apartment.

Naturally, none of that mattered in the end. The envelope sat on the entertainment center next to the TV and they watched Nick Jr. shows On Demand. The Blue’s Clues episode that was available was on a treasure hunt.

I don’t know if Hayden was familiar with the concept before, but apparently he caught on pretty quickly. During the episode, he seized upon the envelope by the TV and proclaimed it “Treasure!” He then headed off across the room to open it.

“Wobin! Hood!”

And yes, they watched that next.

So this little post has been languishing in my drafts folder for a week now as I’ve been mostly knitting like a crazy woman to try to get a lace shawl done before the baby comes.

And now, here to entertain you, is Hayden:

We got a new entertainment center. Hayden thinks either he or it (or maybe both) is very entertaining:

Curled up with his best friend:

Watching TV, being big (his daddy lays like that to watch TV all the time!):

Hayden found a broken watch:

My favorite: Hayden has mastered this important sign:

The best part, of course, is watching him carefully manipulate his fingers into place. Now he feels compelled to do it with both hands at once .

Finally, a belly update (though this picture is now a week old, 37.5 weeks):

So, in case you’ve missed this, I’m expecting a baby in about two and a half weeks. And I’m assuming most of you know how life after birth can get pretty crazy. I have a few post ideas lined up, but I’d love to get more of my great readers involved here on MamaBlogga with guest posts.

Interested? Here are the basic guidelines:

• Write a post of fewer than 1000 words on one of the main topics on MamaBlogga: fulfillment in motherhood, parenting, or blogging.
• Send it to me in the body of an e-mail (no attachments) to blog (at) mamablogga.com.
• Include your name (as you would like it to appear), a biography (with credentials, if you have any. Like, y’know, children), and links to your blog and your blog feed (if you have them).
• I’d prefer to receive guest posts by Friday, 25 July 2008. After that point, I don’t know how long my response time will be, but I’ll still try to feature posts submitted.

What’s the benefit for you? Well, this can help drive traffic to your blog, as well as give you a few new links. Plus, you get to feel good for helping another mom out .

How can you make the most of this? Read the MamaBlogga article on tips for effective guest blogging!

How many will I take? I’ll take as many as I can get—who knows when things will get back to “normal” after a new baby!

Any other catches? I reserve the right to edit submitted guest posts for content, clarity, grammar etc., but I will not alter meaning. The original author retains copyright, but grants permission for MamaBlogga to post their submitted guest post indefinitely on MamaBlogga.com.

I like to think that I’m okay with change. I’m not sure that’s true.

It was around 34 weeks into this pregnancy that I finally began to accept that there are really things that I can’t do while pregnant. I mean, sure, I didn’t participate in the litany of contraindicated activities/foods/etc. But it was so easy for me to (still!) forget that I was pregnant, or to want to act as though I wasn’t—walking lots, bending down, carrying Hayden, etc.

And now, less than three weeks from my due date, I’m really beginning to see that there are things I can’t and shouldn’t do at this stage of pregnancy—constantly getting up and down, carrying Hayden all the time, slouching .

I realized today that the fact was I haven’t really been able to do these things for a while, but now I’m finally beginning to accept and admit that.

This made me think back to when Hayden was first born, and my difficult transition into motherhood. A large part of that was, of course, the physical challenges of a deluge of hormones, an inability to sleep for more than three consecutive hours, and the recovery from birth and complications.

But perhaps the more difficult thing to overcome was accepting that my life—my abilities, my time, my needs, and my role in meeting the needs of my family—was not the same and never would be.

Of course, I didn’t think that everything would be the same after having a baby—it’s probably pretty much impossible to understand how much your life will change before you go through it. But resisting the changes and the new role that you’ll have to play really doesn’t help.

Two and a half years later, and I’m still resisting accepting the changes that (impending) motherhood brings. I hope that the changes that come with my new baby won’t be as difficult to accept as they were the first time around.

What helped you to accept your new role as a mother?

The other night I turned to my husband, Ryan, and said, “Do you think Hayden is a picky eater?”

“YES!” he said without hesitation.

I don’t think so, though. He eats a wide variety of foods: the standard toddler fare of peanut butter, bananas, graham crackers, fruit other than bananas, yogurt, bread, milk, juice, desserts, pizza, cheese, TUNA!!! (which has become a family joke), green beans, black beans, corn, etc. He doesn’t care what color his food is, he doesn’t care if it’s touching one another and while he does love his “yunt” (lunch, meaning sandwich, usually peanut butter), he’s not fixated on one single food.

There are, of course, things that he won’t eat: French fries (although sometimes the ketchup will overpower his defenses), chicken nuggets, most other kinds of meat, vegetables other than the ones I mentioned, and almost anything served at dinner (other than TUNA!!!).

Today, I’ll just focus on the vegetables—what can we do to get our kids to eat more vegetables (or is this one of “those” battles?)

• Offer the food repeatedly (without high expectations). Some people say it takes as many as 16 (no, not 16,000) interactions with a food for children to try it. Hopefully these do not all come at one sitting; that seems a little excessive, yes?
• Let them see you eat it. You’re the best example for your children. Hayden won’t eat pepperoni, even though his father does, because he’s seen me pick it off my pizza too many times. This isn’t always mandatory of course—for the most part, Hayden has not yet picked up on what foods I don’t eat. I was 22 when I realized my mother didn’t eat peas. I love peas!
• Have veggies ready and available for snacks (and often nothing else). Also helpful here: let them use ranch dressing, or another dressing they like. Ketchup, if you must (hey, isn’t that a vegetable? ).
• Fill half a child’s plate with veggies. Another quarter should be meat and the last quarter, starch. Quick and easy guide to balancing your meals.
• Serve veggies “family-style,” leave the rest in the kitchen. When sitting down to dinner, only bring the platters/bowls of vegetables to the table. Leave starches and meats in the kitchen—if you really want more of those, you’ll have to go get them, but if you or your children are just hungry after finishing your first plate, the vegetables are the only convenient choice.
• Play games. My mother would play that our thin-cut green beans were worms and we were baby birds. I love green beans (though the thin-cut ones are just a bit slimy for my taste ). Another favorite: your child (this one’s usually better for boys) is a dinosaur and he’s going to eat the trees (broccoli).
• Hide them if you have to. Zucchini banana bread, anyone? (Nope, me neither.)
• A caveat: Don’t bargain, especially not for ‘better’ foods. Apparently, psychologists say that bargaining with your children (”Eat two more bites of peas or no dessert!”) just reinforces the notion that the food they’re averse to is disgusting, worse than the desired food and something to be endured.

And I can’t talk about eating habits without mentioning an awesome book on the subject, Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think by Brian Wansink. Some of these tips come right from his book.

I found this book really entertaining—and pretty shocking. He looks at our hidden motivations for eating, factors that influence us in eating—and strategies for being more aware of what we eat (or just tricking ourselves into eating less!).

But obviously, I’m no expert in getting your children to eat their veggies. What’s worked for you?

Part of Works-for-me Wednesday.