Category: Mothering

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger

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While my Dad was sick I would often find myself singing this, if I heard it on the radio I’d tear up. I still do. It was a fitting ballad I guess as he was we were fighting and still remains true now that he’s gone.

What doesn’t kill you makes a fighter
Footsteps even lighter
Doesn’t mean I’m over cause you’re gone

I’m not sure it made me stronger. Maybe one day at the end of my journey on this earth I’ll look back and be able to answer that with more certainty. What it did do was change my entire perspective on life. Especially given the fact that I was young when he died, I was 27. Most 27 year olds were worrying about what bar they were going to that evening or which Tinder date they were going to meet up with. Others were stressing out about potty training or wedding planning. Continue reading “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Stronger” →

Breaking Up With My Mirena

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This post was written after I had my second child. We had two kids under 2 and wanted a form of birth control that I didn’t have to deal with, no pills to take on a regular basis. My OBGYN gave me the rundown on Mirena and how wonderful it was! 5 years of hassle free birth control. Sounded great. Popped that baby in and didn’t think anything of it. Until it became a major issue.

I’m finally breaking up with my Mirena. For 5 months I’ve been told to just hang in there, wait it out, deal with the beyond annoying side effects and I’m finally calling it QUITS! No one in their right mind should continue to put up with these kinds of things for this length of time, I don’t care what the “professionals” tell you. Continue reading “Breaking Up With My Mirena” →

Postpartum life, what the books don’t tell you

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There are 5 million books on pregnancy and what to expect, what’s normal, etc. There are 5 million books on your baby’s development once they arrive. But what the heck happened to the advice and tips for MOM afterward? You don’t hear about this stuff in any book or in any birthing class!

I would’ve appreciated a little forewarning, so I offer the following from my experiences. Each kid came with a new surprise! No shame here in sharing.

No one warned me… Continue reading “Postpartum life, what the books don’t tell you” →

Kids Bento Lunch Ideas

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When my older kiddos finally started school I went on an exhaustive hunt to find THE perfect lunchbox for them. If I didn’t find the perfect lunchbox it could possibly ruin their entire school experience, moms stress about things like this because we’re crazy. I loved the of bento lunches that let them have a few bites of a bunch of stuff rather than the typical sandwich in a paper sack.
Continue reading “Kids Bento Lunch Ideas” →

And Then There Were 2. A Birth Story and Life With 2.

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What’s new… well now we have 2 oooey gooey squishy little boys to love on… that’s all! I finally have a snuggly newborn again 🙂 ahhhh how I have missed this feeling, nothing quite like it. That’s what we’ve been up to, having our newest addition “D Mac”. The stork nicely dropped him off May 24th and he weighed in at a large and in charge 6 lbs 7 oz 21″ long. Needless to say we are sleep deprived, a bit comatose at times, and baby drunk in love starting to get the hang of life with 2.
Continue reading “And Then There Were 2. A Birth Story and Life With 2.” →

Breastfeeding hell as a first time mom

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Breastfeeding, Formula, Pumping, bring it on! I was dead set on breastfeeding my son, afterall, that’s the natural way to go, it’s free, it’s easy, that’s just what you do. When our little guy was born so tiny I opted to give him formula in the hospital until my milk came in since he couldn’t afford to be dropping any weight. We attempted to breastfeed every time that we gave him a bottle but neither of us really knew what we were doing. He was able to latch on a couple of times but would instantly fall asleep. We met with the lactation consultant on our last day to find out what I was doing “wrong” and she informed me that my technique was perfect he was just your ‘typical late pre-term baby’. This means that he is healthy and perfect like a full term baby but he eats like a premie. She assured us that the closer we got to his actual due date the better things would be, that he’d be stronger, and to just be patient. So for 2 weeks I didn’t stress about the breastfeeding, we’d try at almost every meal and he’d get frustrated, wouldn’t latch, and we’d give him a bottle. I had rented a breastpump from the hospital and I’d pump during waking hours to keep my supply going. Continue reading “Breastfeeding hell as a first time mom” →

Weaning from Nutramigen

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I have migrated this post over because I still get emails from parents that had the same issues and didn’t know where to turn. Hopefully it helps provide some insight into transitioning off of a hypoallergenic formula. I’m sure it has some relevance to transitioning between any formulas too.

Definitely consult with your pediatrician prior to making any changes to their diet, especially with kids that have sensitivities or allergies. A pediatric gastroenterologist is also a good resource to help sort things out because it can be a tricky and potentially dangerous endeavor with today’s food allergies and intolerances.

Continue reading “Weaning from Nutramigen” →

Our Magical Diaper Rash Cure

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We have dealt with our fair share of diaper rash in this house. Apparently my little dude’s hiney is a sensitive one. After everything we’ve tried we’ve finally landed on a magical cure that has yet to fail us… so far.

None of the creams themselves were enough on their own, NONE of them. Everyone I came in contact with had their go to product and we tried tons and tons, even foreign ones that you can’t buy in the US and none worked.

I seem to find that all of our dude’s bad diaper rashes are yeast rashes, which are usually the worst, they last the longest, and are resistent to treatment. You can tell it’s a yeast rash if the skin looks super “angry,” red, raised, with red bumps on the outer edges of the rash. Even the prescription yeast creams aren’t enough on their own to tackle HL’s booty.

What we’ve finally concocted works and I highly recommend it to any mom out there that has dealt with persistent nasty diaper rashes. Continue reading “Our Magical Diaper Rash Cure” →

Boy Mom Life, Our First ER Trip for the 14 Month Old

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The pictures are graphic. I could choose to censor them but I don’t, because this is real life and more importantly it shows how completely fine he seems during the whole ordeal while I, on the other hand, worked hard to keep my composure! 

Is this what I get to look forward to with ANOTHER boy on the way? Are we going to have a VIP parking spot at the local emergency room?

I have always been one to tell people that my kid is a wild child. I mean he’s amazing, so good, and SOOO happy all the time, but the kid is B.U.S.Y. Constant motion is a phrase we use here often. He can’t sit still for more than about 5 minutes. Ok maybe 5 is pushing it. He happily runs from one activity to another.

5 minutes in our house looks like this.

HL barrels down the hallway for the kitchen, grabs open a cupboard door, pulls a few spices out and drops them on the floor, runs to grab the Swiffer or broom, drags broom into living room, finds sippy cup and takes a drink, sees truck and starts pushing it up the hallway “vrooom vroom”, Continue reading “Boy Mom Life, Our First ER Trip for the 14 Month Old” →

Milestones and Mommy Guilt

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This is a new thing for me in the mommy realm, mommy guilt.

I better get used to it right? This time it’s surrounding the whole concept of milestones. Whoever coined this term should be shot and so should the people, articles, and pediatricians out there that wholeheartedly emphasize the importance of said milestones. Of course milestones are important but they’re not black and white, there’s a lot of gray area and for those of us Type A’s out there we need to know that GRAY is OK. Continue reading “Milestones and Mommy Guilt” →