melmj’s other blog

I am going to discontinue this blog at this time.  With two kids and my hectic schedule now, I just don't have time to keep up with two blogs.  I have really enjoyed getting to know some of you, and I hope those of you who would like to keep in touch will check out my Praize blog (link is on the right) every now and then.

Thanks for reading this blog and the opportunity I've had to express myself and get to know some of you a little better.

May God Bless You!

I will be going in bright and early tomorrow morning to have this little one, so I will not be blogging for a while.  My computer is old, has a dial up connection, and I am not good at figuring out how to send/post photos.  So, I don't know how many baby pics I will get up.  However, I will post the link to the hospital nursery website, so that you guys can at least see what she looks like.  Thanks to everyone for the thoughts, well wishes and prayers.  If you're up at 7:30 (Central Time) tomorrow morning and you are inclined to do so, please whisper a prayer or two for a healthy baby and a smooth surgery, as Angela will be making her first appearance in this big wide world around that time.

Well, as the day of the C-section approaches (the 17th), I am getting more and more anxious to see little Angie.  This weekend is the final weekend before she comes.  We have some final cleaning to do around the house, but for the most part, everything is ready.  I'm working to get my paperwork completed here at work before I go too.

I have all the normal anxieties about the birth.  My older daughter was delivered c-section and had problems breathing, so I worry about that.  I mainly just want this baby to be in good health and do well.

Probably the thing that I worry about most about the baby coming is nursing.  See, the women in my family mostly bottle feed, and if they do nurse, they go in another room where nobody can see them.  So, I was not as comfortable with nursing, and it did not come as naturally for me with my older daughter as it does some other moms.  However, knowing that it was the best thing for her, I tried to do it with her while I was on maternity leave, as I was really not able to continue once I went back to work.  I did not take a class on breastfeeding with my first child, as I thought, "How hard can it be!"--Boy was I wrong.  Since I had a C-section, my milk didn't let down right away.  I was also very nervous, which didn't help the process.  I also did not know how to latch the baby on correctly.  So, I ended up being very sore and having a hungry frustrated baby.  To top it off, once I was at home, there was nobody who had nursed around to help me figure the process out.  When my milk did come in, I resorted to pumping, which worked out O.K., and it did make it easier to switch her to formula when I went back to work--as she was already used to the bottle.  However, I never really figured out how to nurse correctly.

 This time, I have a job where I can continue to pump after I come back to work, so I really want to nurse and be sucessful at it this time, as I know it is what is best for the baby.  Now, I'm not a person who gives up easily when I can't do something, so I have done a few things differently in preparing for this baby.  We went to a breastfeeding class, where my hubby and I both learned a lot, I have talked to a lot of other moms who have nursed successfully, I have done a lot of reading and research on the topic, I now have friends who have nursed and plan to come assist me with figuring things out once I get home, and I have also talked with the lactation specialist at the hospital, and she plans to assist me with the first feeding and check on us periodically to make sure things are going O.K.  You would think that with all of this, I would feel confident, right?  NOT.  I have these dreams that I am trying to nurse and am failing miserably at it again. 

I know this is probably just me being paranoid, and since God can create the miracle of life and grow another human being inside me, He can certainly show me how to nurse her.  I would really appreciate your prayers and any words of wisdom any of you ladies may have in this area.  Thanks!

How do your hobbies/activities shift from winter to spring/summer?

In the winter, I am inside a lot more.  I tend to get more depressed in the winter, so I try to let a lot of natural light in the house by keeping the shades open as much as possible.  I also try to keep myself busy with little household projects here and there.  I also take my daughter out to the movies, the mall, etc... more in the winter--just to have something to get us out of the house on the weekends.  I bake and make cookies a lot more in the winter.

In the summer, I am outside as much as possible.  I like to work in the garden and spend time in the yard. We build campfires and grill a lot in the summer.  We also have people over for outside gatherings a lot.  We try to go camping as often as we can get away.  We live close to the river, so we also spend a lot of time there swimming and fishing on the weekends.  I definately am partial to the spring and summer months. 

How do you stay in shape?

Since I am at the end of my pregnancy, I don't have a very extreme exercise routine.  However, I do try to do some stretching exercises every day and take walks as often as I can.  I do some light yard work here an there that doesn't require a lot of lifting or stamina.

When I'm not pregnant, I do a lot of walking, hiking and yard work.

Happy Birthday to my daughter Jenna!  She is 6 years old today.  My how time flies.  She is so excited about her birthday.  We went to the grocery store to pick up cupcakes to take for her class at school today, and she danced around and told everyone in the grocery store that it was her birthday and that she was six today.  She even held up six fingers for them to clear up any confusion they might have.

We are having her birthday party at home tomorrow.  She has invited a few little girls she knows over, and they are having a tea party.  I'm baking cupcakes, and we're having little cookies and sandwiches.  The girls are all dressing up and bringing their dollies or teddy bears.  It should be really cute! 

I let her pick her birthday dinner for tonight, so we are having ravioli with corn--Not two things I would usually put together, but it's her birthday, so she gets what she wants!

Just thought I would tell you about some nice things my hubby did for me lately.  This past weekend was really busy for us.  We spent Friday night cleaning and dying easter eggs with my daughter, Saturday traveling and Sunday having friends over.  I am at the point in my pregnancy where traveling is uncomfortable and really wears me out, and I had been up since 6am making chicken and dumplings Sunday.  Our friends left about 8pm Sunday night, and my hubby just looks at me and saysm "You look exhausted.  I'm going to draw you a bath", and he did--complete with moisturizing bath beads.  Then, on Monday I came home from work, and we sat down to dinner.  He looked at me and said, "You still look tired."  I told him I was.  He then told me to go to bed and said he would help our daughter with her homework.  It was so nice!  I slept straight through until the next morning.

He has spoiled me so much since I have been pregnant.  I have not had to take out the trash once since he found out we were expecting.  He always insists on lifting heavy objects for me and helps me with the housecleaning tasks that require a lot of bending, as he sees my belly is getting harder to reach over.  I was telling my friends about this one day, and she said, "Do you realize how spoiled he's got you!"  I do, and I know I'm very blessed. 

When we are young and we date and get married, we all have romanticized notions of what love is, but as I've gotten older and been married a while, those notions have changed.  Love is when you are big and pregnant and totally unattractive, and your hubby still runs your bath water, massages your feet, takes care of your child so you can sleep, cleans the bathtub for you, and at the end of it all, he still smiles, gives you a kiss every morning and calls you beautiful.   

Can your pet do any cool tricks?

Not really.  We have an outside cat, and in my experience, cats are hard to train to do tricks.  The weirdest thing that our cat does is that when she is hungry she will come to the sliding glass door, look in to make sure we are watching, take a running jump and fling herself into the door, meowing all the time she is doing this.  We're not sure why she goes to these extreme measures to tell us she is hungry, as she is fed twice a day like clockwork.  It is kind of weird to watch her do it though.

What do you wish you had more of in life?

Time to visit family and friends.  A lot of our friends and family live out of town.  It seems like we always have a long list of people that we need to go visit, but we never have enough time to visit them all.

When you were little, how old did you think you'd be when you got married? Were your predictions accurate?

I always figured I would get married after I graduated college, and that's what I did.  However I am a lot older when I am having my children than I thought I would be.  I had my first at 27, and I will be having my second at 33.  When I was a kid, I figured I would have all my kids in my 20s, as I thought 30 was SO OLD!  Now 30 is SO YOUNG!