24 Hours?

It seems like every day I say "tomorrow I WILL do a blog post or a video", then suddenly the next day comes and goes and did I do either? Of course not! I seriously question time. I feel like there aren’t 24 hours in a day!

[I’m going to track the date and time of when I’m writing this blog post so that you can track how long it takes me to finish a post!] I started this blog post on 11/28/2012 at 1:17pm while Ryder is napping. He decided to wake up at 1:20pm so we’ll see when I get to finish this blog post! The way things are going, probably not until a week from now! At least he fell back asleep, so hopefully I can continue for a few more minutes.

I have a very full schedule. Even though I do not work at the moment, I go to school Tuesdays and Thursdays in addition to being a full time mom. On school days I leave the house at 6:30am and do not come home before 3pm. There are 576 hours in a week and I am away from home at least 17 hours a week, usually more. That does not seem like a lot compared to the amount of hours in a week, so you'd think I would have more time. Well with a 4 month old that is NOT the case. 1:24 pm and he woke up so lets see when I get to finish this blog post.

Today I asked my 13 year old brother (who should be in school since it is 1:30pm, but he is "sick") to feed Ryder and he said yes. This is a rare occurrence, but he told me its national stay home on your older brother’s birthday day. So usually this doesn't happen and I would not have had time to go to work on this post until next week.

So today is a good example for how the time gets away from you. To start, I told Tyler I would clean the room today (like I have been saying for the past week). Ryder and I woke up at 9:30am and I fed him, played with him, and then I put him down for a nap at 11:30. Naps are hard right now so I can't go too far. Before I started cleaning I said to myself "I am going to check Facebook real quick." What a funny joke that is, because of course my friend who lives in NH, my cousin who is away at college, my older cousin who I had a question for, and a couple friends from college were all online and I just had to talk to all of them. Suddenly it is 2 hours later. It wasn’t a complete waste though, I got the idea for a blog post from it. I finally start writing the post and Ryder wakes up. COME ON! I was so mad, and I know Tyler would be too when he got home from work to the same messy room.

You might say "well, just clean later on tonight." But of course that’s not an option! Its my brother's 18th birthday and we are going out to dinner, then when we get home it will be time for Ryder's night time routine and then I have some homework to do, which will take way longer than it should because of that stupid Facebook site! There should be a time limit for a day before you get logged out.

Now it is 1:40pm. I have finished this blog entry and I am going to clean my room while my brother finishes feeding Ryder. But I’m still not done yet! There’s a catch: I might have finished this entry, but now I have to find a time my cousin Meg and I can both get onto google docs so she can help me edit the post before it goes on my blog.

 

I am now posting this entry at 1:47am on 12/2/2012, oh yeah and I never cleaned my room!

I honestly do NOT believe there are 24 hours in a day!

Intro for Vlogs!

I am so proud of my new intro for my vlogs! I just had to post it! I made it all by myself!

Controversial Parenting

On YouTube I saw many "Controversial Parenting Tag" videos, I had thoughts on most of the issues so I thought why not make a video. First off like I said in the video, they are MY oppinions. My views on what I will do with my children and family. My opinons are what is right for us, not everyone else. I am a very open minded person and I am not going to judge you for how you choose to raise your child, so please don't judge me. I am like every other mom out there, age doesn't matter, we are just trying to raise our children the best we can.

Topics:

Pro-life vs Pro-choice
     I personally am pro-choice. I think every woman has a right to her own body. I would not have an abortion though.
Baby Wearing
     I baby wear. I also use a carriage but I prefer baby wearing. I have a bjorn and a moby wrap.
Circumcision
     I feel circumcision is very personal. I do not have a preference so I let Tyler make the final decision.
Adoption
     I am all for adoption. I would love to adopt some day! Give an innocent child a family!
Surrogacy
     This I added myself. I am for surrogacy. Some people say it is wrong by I have no issue with it
Breastfeeding vs Formula Feeding
    Read my other posts. You know how I feel. (:
Spanking
    I don't know my full view on spanking. I will try not to spank. It will not be my first action when punishing Ryder.
Co-sleeping
     Co-sleeping: Sleeping in the same room/ at arms reach of your baby. Different than bed-sharing. I co-sleep.
Home vs Public vs Private vs Charter Schooling
     Public
Vaccines
     Ryder is vaccinated. I see nothing wrong with it.
Medicating Children
     Touchy subject with my family at the moment, if he ever needs to be medicated we will dicuss it then.
Cloth vs Disposables
      I use disposables, you can say I am lazy (;
CIO Method (cry it out)
     When done correctly I am for the CIO

I go into more detail in the video!

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Vlogging!!

From the start I really wanted to do "Vlogging" on Youtube but I was too afraid to get in front of the camera. Well I faced my fears and uploaded my first video! A What's in my diaper bag video! I hope you enjoy and I will probably do more vlogs in the future!

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Oh So Fun Stage of Teething!!!

Well it is official! Ryder is teething and I am not sleeping. He has been extremely drooly for the past 3-4 weeks, and Friday night he would not stop crying. Earlier in the night we noticed he was chewing on the nipple of his bottle instead of drinking it. So after trying everything to calm him down we gave him some infant ibuprofen and some orajel. He finally fell asleep in my arms. I didn't want to disturb him and I knew he was in pain so I let him sleep in our bed. Last night same thing around 7pm he started crying so I gave him some infant ibuprofen and that worked for about an hour so around 8pm I gave him orajel, his bottle, and he slept in my arms again. Last night he moved around so much and kept kicking me in the rib cage (I thought those kicks ended after pregnancy but apparently not) that I got almost no sleep. We try to give him teethers but he doesn’t seem to like them. He would much rather his hand, bottle, or a blanket.
If you have any suggestions PLEASE comment on this or on the Facebook!!


Infant Ibuprofen
Day and Night
Single Use Swabs

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Labor and Delivery

Aug 8 2012 was not the best day but from the start Aug 9 was the best day of my life!

At 6am on August 8 I had to call the hospital to make sure my room was available (much better) for my induction and it was! Tyler and I then headed out, stopped got him a coffee (we did not even get 2 hours of sleep the night before) and arrived at the hospital right on time. When we arrived they got me into a room, I signed some papers and then my doctor came in to check me. I was still only 2 cms dilated so she decided along with the pitocin they should do a balloon catheter. What they do is they insert the catheter into your cervix and blow it up on either side of the cervix to create pressure like the baby’s head would to dilate it. Putting in the catheter caused a lot of pain that felt like contractions. They gave me a shot for the pain and I fell asleep for the next 3 hours.

When I woke up, the contractions were still happening but I was not in any pain, meaning that unfortunately the contractions were doing nothing. At around 2 a nurse came in and said my doctor was in delivery but was going to come in when she was done to check me and decide what to do. She also said that there was a possibility that I would be going home. I was devastated. (After being in the hospital all day and pregnant for 9 months I was more than ready for that baby to be born!) At 4:30 she finally came in and took out the catheter and thankfully I was 5 cms dilated! Since I was finally moving along she decided to break my water. She told me I needed to walk around for 2 hours before I could get an epidural if I chose to get one. The contractions were coming every 1-2 minutes and started getting stronger and stronger. My 2 hours were not up yet so they suggested I get into the tub. It worked for the first 15 minutes but soon was doing nothing.

I got back into bed and it was time for my epidural. Right before I got nauseous and ending up getting sick which was no fun. The anesthesiologist came in and FINALLY gave me my epidural. I was concerned it would hurt but I was so focused on my breathing that I did not even feel it. I started feeling better in minutes. I even told the doctor (anesthesiologist?) he was my new best friend.

By the time the epidural fully kicked it it was about 7pm. For the next few hours I just laid in bed and tried to rest a little. At about 10:30pm my doctor came in and checked me. I was 10 centimeters. I thought it was finally time to push but my doctor said she wanted me to labor longer since I could not feel anything; that way I would not have to push for very long. They had me sit up more to let gravity help. She warned me I would probably be pushing for 2-3 hours since it was my first time and I had an epidural. I attempted to sleep for the next hour and a half.

At 11:45 she came back in and asked if I was ready to have a baby… OF COURSE I was ready! I was so excited! I started pushing around 12am. I could feel pressure but no pain, so I pushed when I felt that needed to. Between pushes I was taking sips of water and I was on oxygen. To be honest I don’t even remember why I was getting oxygen because I was a little preoccupied when they told me. At 12:33am I finally met the little man that had been living inside of me for the past 9 months. It was the best moment of my life. They laid him on my chest for a few minutes before taking him to measure. He was 7lbs 15oz, and 21 1/2 inches. At first he had a slight fever and was no really crying as much as he should have been. While they were doing all they had to do with him they finished with me. The placenta came out very easily, I didn’t have to push. I got 1 stitch, but she said I did not really need it. They brought him back to me and allowed the grandparents in to see him for a few minutes but they could not hold him due to his slight health problems. After about 15 minutes Tyler left with Ryder to go to the nursery and I got to finally eat something. 

It may have been a rough nine months (and certainly a rough 16 hours!) but it was all worth it to be able to finally meet my son, Ryder James.

My new PERFECT family<3

My little man and I<3

Daddy and Ryder<3

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Breast is not ALWAYS best

            This is one argument that no matter what not everyone will agree on. I hate seeing things that say "breast is best", because it is not always best.  That may be your personal opinion but its not a set in stone fact. To see mothers saying I am a bad mom (not me personally, formula feeding mothers), because I formula feed absolutely kills me. My family tells me to ignore it but how can I? It hurts. I was 100% planning on breastfeeding my son, because I know it is the BETTER choice when it comes to feeding most babies. Like I  wrote on my other breastfeeding entry I can not breastfeed. I was devastated that I couldn't breastfeed, I cried a a lot and seeing women saying I was a bad mother because I couldn't made it worse.
              The medication I am on would not be good for Ryder. I was not going to chance the chemicals going into my milk and then to him. I considered holding off on my medication until Ryder was a little older and breastfeed for a few months and pump like crazy to last me a little bit after that. I formula fed in the hospital, never once tried breastfeeding. The day I came home I could tell I needed to go on my medication. I was a mess, crying randomly, mood swings like crazy, I just was not me. I know that every mother has their hormones going nuts after having a baby but mine was a little worse. 3 days after we came home we had to go for Ryder's first doctors appointment, on the way home we almost got into an accident. I was a wreck. I couldn't stop crying, I was freaking out, couldn't stop thinking about what would have happened if we did get into the accident. My mom looked at me and said you need your medicine. Once I started taking it I noticed a huge difference. I was happier, not crying as much, and not blaming myself for the stupidest things. I feel that Ryder deserves me to be myself and formula fed than breastfeeding him and have a legit crazy mom.
             Do you think the crack addict's baby should be drinking his mom's breast milk? No, he shouldn't. So breast is not always best. Think about the reasons why a mother is formula feeding before you say she is a bad mother because she could be in a situation like me, when in fact I am being a good mother because I am formula feeding.


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Breastfeeding vs Formula

*I am not a doctor, I have done my research but nothing of what I am going to talk about are facts for everyone. These are my PERSONAL opinions and experiences.*

One of the biggest decisions a mother has to make is how they are going to feed their newborn baby. You essentially have 2 choices: breastfeeding or formula. Immediately my heart was set on breastfeeding. I thought it was best for my baby, the healthiest for him and honestly the cheaper way to go. I read a bunch of books, watched videos on YouTube and talked to other breastfeeding mothers. Then a few weeks ago my aunt came over with some things she picked up for Ryder. One of the items she brought happened to be a box of formula. I asked why she would need to buy that for me. She and my mother looked at me and I knew it wasn’t going be a fun discussion. I was put on ADD medicine in the 4th grade and then added a depression medication in 8th grade. When I found out I was pregnant I stopped my medication. I’ll admit that I have seen a difference since I stopped the medications, especially with my depression. Some days are better than others. Some days I want to go out and do things; other days I just want to sit in my room. That being said, my depression is not severe. My doctor and I do not think I am a threat to myself or Ryder. My mother, aunt and I discussed the high possibility of me having to deal with postpartum depression. We also  discussed the possibility that I might have to immediately go back on my medication once I leave the hospital, but that meant would mean no breastfeeding. I did some research to see if there was any medication that is safe to take while breastfeeding. All of the medications said this medicine is a “safer” choice if you are going to breastfeed. None said “safe.” To me there is a huge difference. I was crushed. My heart was set on breastfeeding Ryder and now I might not be able to. My family said it was my choice, I didn’t have to go back on my medicine if I wanted to breastfeed. I decided it would be best for me to be in my right mind, happy, enjoying my son and formula feeding, than to be miserable, miss all the good things and be breastfeeding.

Soon after I came to terms with me having to formula feed, I came across a controversial argument on Facebook about breastfeeding. As I was reading the comments some things mothers were saying were pretty nasty. There were comments like “every mother should breastfeed” and “its wrong to formula feed”. These things made me feel like crap. Is it really better for the baby of a crack addict to be drinking his/her mother’s breast milk? No, I don’t think so. Is it better for my son to be getting my breast milk but having his mother not be completely in her right mind? Again, no, I don’t think so. People try to say formula is not good for babies and it causes a bunch of different health problems. Well from my personal experiences, the 2 kids in my family that were breastfed have ADD. A friend of ours breast fed her 3 children religiously and all 3 of them have autoimmune digestive health issues. The kids in my family that were formula fed are perfectly healthy, physically and mentally. If formula was not good for babies doctors would not have it in their offices and people would not be able to buy it. I will not be using formula as an easy way out or because I just don’t want to deal with breastfeeding. I probably will not be able to breastfeed. There are mothers physically can not breastfeed, so I feel that saying it is wrong for any woman to formula feed is offensive. People may think my decision is not the best for MY baby. But in the end, he is MY child, so I feel that I know his, and my, needs best.        

~Ryder is almost a month old, strictly on formula and he is amazingly healthy and growing at a perfect rate~

Quick Little Update

I am being induced tomorrow!! Ahh! Saying that seems so unreal!!! It is official though! Labor and Delivery called to verify and as long as they do not fill up over night I will be in the hospital tomorrow getting induced at 7am! Today has consisted of last minute laundry and packing, cleaning, over due Thank you notes from the baby shower and some food shopping. Thankfully it has been a pretty busy day so I am not getting too anxious! I know I probably will not sleep much tonight so I am planning on going to bed early... doubt that will happen! I will try to do another blog post as soon as I get the chance!
Let me know if there is any blog posts you would like me to write, I have trouble coming up with ideas!

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Birth Plan

I am being induced a week from tomorrow (August 8). Now seems like a good time to come up with my birth plan since I tend to leave everything to the last minute. At least I am not doing it the night before. Now I understand labor and delivery is completely unpredictable so if something comes up and I can not go by my birth plan I will not freak out. I did not know how to start but I found a really helpful worksheet. Worksheet

 

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Catch up

I must say I think I have had a pretty good, uneventful pregnancy. I found out I was pregnant at about 6 weeks along. First ultrasound went really well. It was pretty amazing to see him on the screen. It definitely made it much more of a reality. Even though he was only a tiny little peanut it was still breath-taking. 

The second Ultra-sound was called the First-Look. It was to check for signs of certain chromosomal abnormalities like Down Syndrome. I was very nervous going into this appointment but was relieved to hear everything looked great and he looked healthy.

 

The third ultrasound was the one most people are excited for. It was the ultrasound when you can find out the sex of your baby. We chose to find out the sex but not at the appointment. Easter was 3 weeks after this appointment. My aunt wrote up a nice card to send to the Easter bunny and have him tell us the sex of our baby. It was a great way to find out, surrounded by family. 

And the last ultrasound at 36 weeks. We found out our little man is about 7 pounds already, he is head down, and his head is slightly larger than average but not abnormal. Thanks to Tyler for the big head, his mom told me he had the biggest head out of her kids. Yay for me.

 

Car Seat Installation

Let me start off by saying Tyler is 100% a mountain man. He may not have actually grown up or lived in the wild, but he might as well have. This may seem to have nothing to do with getting the car seat installed, but growing up he would make things out of other things. Tyler often came up with all these random contraptions of his own instead of spending money he didn’t have to spend. So when I told him about having to go to the Police Station to have them install the car seat he went off. He insisted he could do it himself. When I asked how he would go about that with no prior knowledge on the subject, his mountain man instinct came into full view. He started telling me about how he would take rock climbing rope and tie the base of the car seat into the structure of my car and somehow use all the seat belts. Thanks babe but I think I’d rather have an officer do it the correct way.

Once we got to the station, I was expecting some complex way of installing the seat. Well I was wrong; it was pretty much 2 clicks and some tightening then boom it was done. Looking back, I am pretty sure I could have done it myself. I think the ride to the station and back home was longer than the time it took to install. Now I know the officer who installed it very well and am very glad she installed it so I am 100% sure it is in there right and Ryder will be safe, but I think I wasted her time. She even said (in a joking matter) that it really is not that hard to do. She told me about an  MIT rocket scientist who came to her to fix what he did with the car seat. I was surprised to learn that he did pretty much exactly what Tyler said he wanted to do. Tyler is still not 100% convinced it is really necessary to go to a police station to have a car seat installed, but at least I know its done correctly. The car seat is ready to go for when our Little Man decides to make his big arrival into the world.

You can make a call to your local police or fire station and find out if they have a car seat service. Only those who have been certified in car seat installation know how to install your car seat the correct way.

http://www.babycenter.com/car-seat

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December 16, 2011

Hanging out with my best friend Morgan was just about an everyday occurrence. Since we met we had a very unique friendship, always doing the most random things imaginable. On this day, however we did something we had never done before. My period was late (which it never had been due to the birth control I was on). So we thought why not take a test just to settle my mind? Sitting on the stairs I could not get up to look. She walked out of the bathroom with this look of shock on her face. I yelled at her to "cut the crap" and informed her that I did not find her funny. When I got up to look myself I realized she was not joking. 2 pink lines. We immediately ran to her car and off to Walmart for more tests. I took 2 more, both positive. I made her take one cause we were 100% sure there was no way she was pregnant, so if hers came out positive we knew they were faulty. Hers was negative. Wow. I really am pregnant.

Around 2am Tyler woke me up to let me know he was home from work safely. I told him I needed to tell him something. All I could say was "I'm pregnant." I now realize I could have gone about it in a different way but I was half asleep and scared out of my mind. At first he didn't believe me but then when he saw there was no smile and no laughing, he knew it wasn’t a joke. He went outside to call his best friend. When he came back in he looked at me and told me everything would be okay and we would get through it.

The next day we went to his parents house for the weekend. We decided it would be best not to tell his family till we were 100% sure. However his mom knew something was up from the moment we walked in, but I just told her I wasn't feeling well. We did tell a couple of our close friends who were pretty supportive... until they started drinking. The pregnancy jokes started when they realized I wasn’t participating. I know they thought they were being funny but since I had just found out the jokes really hurt. Otherwise, the weekend was pretty uneventful.

On the way home I decided I should probably tell my mom. I knew it would be difficult but I had to do it. I went down to my room to put a few things away and realized my room was completely clean. She must have cleaned it while I was away. The bag the test was in was moved and my heart dropped. I went upstairs and said "I need to tell you something." She immediately burst into tears and said she already knew. Most of the conversation consisted of "what are you going to do" and "I don't know." Tyler and I discussed our options. I knew I couldn't do abortion and I also knew I would not be able to carry a baby for 9 months then give it up for adoption. Those choices are good for some but they were not for me. I felt that the only other option would be keeping the baby and becoming parents. I knew that was the right decision for me, and I was lucky enough to have his support which solidified my decision. It was a hard and an extremely serious decision to make, but it is what was (and is) best for us.




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Very First Post

I was always an average teenager. I had a wonderful boyfriend, lots of great friends and a very close family. When I found out I was pregnant I had no idea what I was going to do. I did not know how I could be a mom at 18 years old. How am I going to raise a child, go to school, work, and have any sort of a life? One thing that helped me wrap my head around the idea of being a young mother were some blogs and vlogs I found of other teenage mothers just trying to figure out how they were going to make it work. I have considered starting my own blog for a while now in order to hopefully help out others who find themselves in my position, but it was hard to get started.

Here's a little bit about myself. My name is Jenn I am 18 going on 19 in September. I graduated from high school in 2011 and I currently go to a local community college. My boyfriend Tyler is extremely supportive and I could not ask for a better man to be by my side as we experience this crazy life event. In December of 2011 with my best friend by my side I discovered 2 pink lines. 2 pink lines that would forever change my life. I am expecting my son Ryder in August, and even though I have no idea what the future holds I'm just trying to keep up with it all. Join me as I Ryde through the adventures of being a mother.

 

Me (:

 Tyler (:

 

Ryder<3

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