Rolled Into One

Oh my I don't have much time... my computer is going to be restarting. Although I have several items to write about I'll be uber quick while I try to beat the restart.

First I've been selling my breast milk here and there. I've also donated milk along the way to some mommies who have needed it. Supporting breastfeeding mommies is important to me. There are so many benefits for it. However, I didn't realize how much work it is especially for mommies who are working, struggling with supply, etc.. My breastfeeding experience has not been a secret I've wrote about it before. At the beginning it was a disaster. But now things are GREAT. We have so much milk that I've had to slow production because I have no where to put it. I feel so bad when there is a mommy juggling the breastfeeding war. It definitely can be a fight. One thing I have noticed about new mommies including myself was I would always check the amount. I was really paranoid whether I would have enough when she got 6 months due to my struggle the first five and half weeks. Of course now I don't have that problem and I am able to help others out. But a couple days ago I found this amazing little article that help put things into perspective about tracking the ounces. However, should you find yourself with a low milk supply check out this page for some possible causes and solutions.

KellyMOM.com has also been a wonderful source of information. There are many great articles and tips offered on the site. But one article I wish I would have seen sooner was this one because when I first came home I tried doing a lot of things. Those tips would have been great and in the end I found out some of them on my own.

...Ugh So I didn't beat the timer before my computer restarted. Luckily, it did save what I had. The only problem is that I got distracted waiting for it to restart. I ended up getting ready to celebrate our anniversary (which is on Sunday!). We went to Des Moines to see the Phantom of the Opera. It was fun but made for a late night. Poor Matt had to get up early to be at a golf tournament for Medforce. Oh well more about all that later.

Let's see... my rant about breastfeeding is over. Haha. I'm sure some of you are glad because not all of my friends share my same view points.

Second topic for today is cloth diapering. I LOVE saving money by cloth diapering. Our cloth diapers (we use Sunbaby) seem to be doing well. I usually just wash them without an extended period of soaking. But before we left, for Des Moines, I soaked them, did a cycle with no detergent and then washed them with detergent. I recently joined this facebook group that talks solely about cloth diapering. A lot of them spend a lot more time then I do washing their diapers. But we really have not had a problem. The women on there have said that it is good to do a stripping once in awhile in case there is build up. So I did the above it to see if there would be a difference... make them seem more fresh I guess. I even decided to dry the inserts because I can't find where I read not to and everyone else seems to. This will make it that much better because sometimes waiting for them to dry would make them seem kind of musty.

I'm sure there were a few other rants I wanted to write about. But now I don't remember the rest of them.

Oh well. So yesterday was our anniversary celebration. We went to Des Moines waited for over 40 minutes for the waitress to come take our order. Matt and I must be pretty patient because we waited so long hoping she would come that we didn't even get to order. We ended up leaving without anything because we needed to get over to the theater. Matt said he enjoyed it but liked Wicked better. Although it was fun we were EXCITED to be back with our little princess.

As for today, Juliana and I went to a safety expo at the park. Not that she could do anything but it was fun to get out. Matt is gone as I mentioned earlier. And we are anxiously waiting for him to come back home. It is much better when we are all together.

The house needs some detail cleaning done and I am sure that it won't all get done because I would rather enjoy my time with Juliana. And now that she is napping I wanted to update. It seems like it has been so long.

Juliana is 8 months today! She is so fun. We LOVE chasing her around even though it wears us out. She is cute. I'll have to post a picture later after she wakes up.

Which reminds me... I LOVE that Joanne can watch Juliana. I'm super picky when it comes to watching my daughter. I have just a few people who are on the approved list. There can be no swearing or rude talking including music, they must interact with her...not just plop in a chair with some toys, there should be soft voices used and not fighting or hollering at one another, etc... Something ever mother would want for her child. But Joanne does a really GREAT job with Juliana especially since she has Sadie to watch too. Joanne even sends me cute little pictures or videos once in a while.

Check out the below video and picture she sent me.



Well I can't get the picture to upload from my phone. So I guess I will try another time.

At the Hospital

After having a long journey to join mommy and daddy Juliana had several visitors stop by to see her. There were others would have liked to come visit as well but since the flu had been going around the hospital turned them away unless they were family. In fact we were told only grandparents. But some how Robert was able to get in, which was completely fine with me.

Daddy and Juliana's Hand. She loves her daddy!

Juliana's Arrival

 Introducing Juliana Nicole Clark

Juliana had quite the adventure getting here. Last Sunday I woke early as usual rummaging through the house at three in the morning looking for something to eat, clean or organize... and after not finding anything to keep me busy I decided to hop in the tub to relax before going back to bed. I had a good rest and woke up later than I wanted. After getting up I mosied my way to the couch and since I wasn't feeling real well I laid there for a bit. It was then I realized that I was having regular contractions so I contemplated whether I could get through a day of work or not. I decided I would give it a shot. But thought to myself I should really probably stay home to rest as to not waste all my energy. I really should learn to listen to my gut feeling.

Once at work I monitored the contractions so that if I needed to I could let Matt know he should come up. I hurried through the work day and got home at about 8:00 p.m.. The contractions were not bad. I used an app on my phone to time the contractions. Most were six to eight minutes apart. However, some were longer and others were shorter. Although they were irregular they were become more and more intense. So I decided that I should go get a shower and prepare for a trip to the hospital while Matt went to take a nap. After taking a quick picture out the door we went.

We arrived at the hospital at about 2:40 a.m.. The nurse hooked me up to the various monitors, which showed that I was having some very strong contractions. Then she checked to see if I was dilated and nothing was happening. Ugh.

Anyways, I was tired from working all day so I decided that although I really would like to go for a walk that I would just take a quick nap. Well next thing I knew I was jumping up needing to go to the bathroom. However, it was more than that...my water had broke. It was about 4:20 a.m. now. So Matt went and got the nurse. She got us in a labor room to prepare for the arrival of our bundle of joy. Because I was gushing fluid I felt that it would be best to relax in the tub before doing any activities that would help calm the labor process... as I really wanted a natural birth.

After a little while the doctor came in to check me and I was 2 cm with very strong contractions. So I got some pain medication via IV and to relax I slept between contractions. When all of a sudden I woke up with a severe contraction that about killed me. It was then that I was told "you were given some Pitocin because your contractions were irregular. So they are going to become more intense". Great... I tell myself. I didn't want that. Others had told me how much harder labor is with pitocin. So I told myself oh well I can do this... just remember to breathe through them and relax. That's about when the doctor came in to check me again... and I had only dilated to 3 cm. At that point I was done...the epideral it was. Matt said that within minutes I was out and no longer complaining of pain. Really I don't remember much of that morning past my water breaking. It all seems to be a blur.

A few short hours later the doctor checked to see if I had dilated anymore and I had. I was now a six. And a few more short hours I was at a nine. Several hours went by and I was still at a nine. Ugh. What was going on? The nurse finally said they had to stop the Pitocin because little one was not tolerating it. Well finally they said I was ready and could push. But then I couldn't feel the contractions to know when to push. So they had me "labor down" so I could feel the contractions. By now it was Monday night. At 8 p.m. the staff asked if I could feel the contractions I said yes and they said well let's push. I pushed and pushed but with everything that had taken place since Sunday morning I was exhausted. So I was only making small amounts of progress. Almost three hours later the doctor said I had two options: 1) c-section 2) the aid of a vacuum and if that didn't work c-section. She said that she felt the vacuum would work as I pushed her far enough down. So that's when I tried even harder to stay focused and wake to deliver. I pushed another forty two minutes and she was born. Our sweet little snug-a-bug.

We are so glad she made it here safely! ... and is here with us!

Daddy's Girl

It has been a very long couple of days. Already daddy's little girl.