Posts Tagged ‘Motherhood’

Kristi, Guest Writer, Live and Love…Out Loud (@TweetingMama)

Motherhood is a gift. Though extremely taxing, it’s one of the most rewarding experiences you’ll ever have. We spend years unconditionally loving, nurturing and encouraging our children. Our mission? To raise responsible, honest and compassionate adults who contribute their very best to society. Sounds easy, right?

I hate to break it you folks, but somewhere between infancy and adulthood our precious bundles of joy morph into hormonal teenage nightmares. Believe it or not, the teenage years put the “terrible two’s” to shame. Really. Lucky for you I’m here to help. These super awesome tips will take your parenting to the next level and bring you one step closer to surviving the “Terrible Teen’s”. You can thank me later.

1. Get lots of rest, plenty of exercise and eat a well-balanced meal. Parenting teens is a full time job – one that requires a quick wit, stamina and a lot of creativity. Let’s face it, you’ll need all the energy you can muster to keep up with those crazy kids.
2. Invest in a pair of commercial grade ear plugs. Seriously folks, teenagers are loud. Period.
3. Car, cell phone, keeping up with the latest fashions… Providing for your teen’s “needs” requires a lot of moolah. Get a second job. The additional income will come in handy. And the time you’ll spend away from your kid? Score!
4. Teenagers are like cows. They’ll graze all day if you let them. Hide the snacks. Unless you’re on a diet. If that’s the case, never mind.
5. Put an end to your teen’s hour-long showers today! Remember: The water shut-off valve is your friend.
6. Forget bribery. Threats of public embarrassment work best. An impromptu visit to your teen’s school should do the trick. Showing up with a head full of curlers and your ratty old pajamas requires extra effort, but the rewards are tenfold.
7. Grow some thick skin. It’s totally normal for parents and teenagers to butt heads. They’re raging with hormones and experiencing physical and emotional changes. Yadda. Yadda. Yadda. Look, it’s about time you “man up” and grow some thick skin. It’s your only defense against the inevitable “I-hate-you’s.”
8. Last but not least, schedule an appointment with your doctor. Pronto. Prescription meds are the way to go! By the way, they’re for you. Not the kid.

Armed with these super awesome parenting tips, you’re sure to survive the “Terrible Teen’s”. Unfortunately I can’t say the same for your teen.

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Kristi’s navigating a sea of teenage hormones, dirty diapers and a family with ever-changing needs and finding humor in it all. She blogs her butt off at Live and Love…Out Loud. Oh, and she loves her kids. Really.

Dana, Guest Writer, My Three Little Ducks (@my3littleducks)

February 24th 2007 was the day that everything changed. It changed how I parented my 3 week old. It changed how I was a sister, a daughter, a mom and wife.

That was the day I lost my dad to cancer. That was the day I became a member of the awful dead dads club. That was the day that everything went black for a very long time. The only thing that kept my head above water was the sweet little human that needed me and only me. She kept my heart beating.

Months went by and I wish I could remember them. Thankfully I have pictures. Pictures that reminded me that I was a good mom and I did smile, laugh and I did play with my sweet little kids. Who both needed me.

June 17th 2008 was the day that everything started to heal. That was the day I donated my right kidney to my uncle. My dad’s younger brother, the man who most looks and sounds like my dad. My Uncle Johnny’s kidneys where failing and all he needed to have a healthy life without dialysis 3 times a week was a new kidney.

When I found this out six months after I lost my dad I knew I had to do this. My uncle has a 21 year old daughter who my dad adored. The thought of her having to go through the pain of losing her dad was too much to think about. I picked up the phone and asked my uncle if I could give him my kidney, and he cried. And I cried. And then he said “Of course”.

Ten months later, and hundreds of tests, a ton of paperwork and a bazillion phone calls brings us to June 17th. The whole process was amazing. Everything was in slow motion. My sister flew to Denver with me for the two weeks. My mom stayed back to help my husband with my 2 kids and 2 dogs and my sisters 2 kids and 2 dogs.

In Denver I had an amazing support team. My sister, my aunt Kimmy, aunt Dee, Johnny’s wife Linda and the amazing staff at U of Colorado hospital.

Dana & Uncle Post-Op

Once I got home my amazing friends and family stepped right in helping us where ever we needed it. Everything seemed to be going like it should until my 6 week post operation mark. I was so nauseous and I couldn’t sleep. Something was wrong.

My transplant nurse wanted me to go see my primary care doctor and see if maybe my left kidney wasn’t adjusting to single life very well.

Turns out it was adjusting just fine. I just happened to be ten weeks pregnant! I frantically did the math and realized I would have been 4 week pregnant when I donated. No longer did I feel the pain from the surgery. All I could think about was this little fetus growing inside me and what it had gone through.

Since it was only Friday I had to wait what felt like forever, but only 2 days to see my OB. When I did see her she reassured me everything was going to be fine and then she figured out the due date. February 24th.

“What! That can’t be right!” I yelled.

What kind of crazy universe do I live in that my unexpected little gift was suppose to come on the day that my dad died two years later?

When February 23th 2009 rolled around and we finally got to meet (one day early) our sweet little blue eyed Molly and I locked eyes with her. I knew at that moment she was going to be my daily reminder that life is amazing and everything is for a reason.

Molly - A New Gift

The “Our Mommyhood” team is off enjoying today with our children and our mothers. We hope you’ll enjoy this poem in place of a post!

Before I was a Mom;
I made and ate hot meals,
I had unstained clothing,
I brushed my hair every day,
I had quiet conversations on the phone,
I slept as late as I wanted and I slept all night long.

Before I was a Mom;
I cleaned my house each day,
I never tripped over toys or forgot lullabies,
I didn’t worry whether or not my plants were poisonous,
I had never been puked on, pooped on, spit on, chewed on, peed on, or
pinched by tiny fingers.

Before I was a Mom;
I never thought about immunizations,
I never held a screaming child so the doctors could give shots,
I never looked into teary eyes and cried,
I never felt my heart break into pieces when I couldn’t stop the hurt,
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.

Before I was a Mom;
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn’t want to put it down,
I never sat up late hours of the night watching a baby sleep,
I never got up in the middle of the night to make sure everything was okay,
I didn’t know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.

Before I was a Mom;
I had complete control of my mind, my thoughts and my body,
I didn’t know the feeling of having my heart outside of my body,
I didn’t know that having something so small could make me feel so
important,
I had never known the warmth, the joy, the love, the heartache,
the wonderment, or the satisfaction of being a mom.

Before I was a Mom;
I never knew that something so small could effect my life so much,
I never knew that I could love someone so much,
I never knew I would love being a Mom,
I didn’t know the bond between a Mother and her child,
I didn’t know I was capable of feeling so much.

Before I was a Mom.

By Cheri

Interested in being a guest blogger on “Our Mommyhood”? Email us and let us know!

Hello, My name is Cheri from ItsSoVeryCheri. Come along, on our journey of infertility, a search for something that would work to make us go from a couple, to a family. If you need to catch up click

HERE

to read PART 1.

continued from…

The horrible realization came flooding in-I was bleeding. Was I going to
loose this baby that we wanted so much? This little baby that I was
already in love with. Would I be able to tell this little baby how much
I loved him/her?

I called for my husband and told him what was going on. I could tell I
was going into shock. I was cold and shaking uncontrollably. I laid down
on the floor and got my feet up on the bath tub while my husband called
and left a message with my Dr’s answering service.

My Dr was out of town, so one of his female partners called back and told
us she would meet us at a specific hospital, even though we told her it
was not on our insurance plan. Regardless that is where she needed us to
go, so we went.

We waited and waited. She never arrived. The hospital was verifying with
my husband, making sure we had come to the correct hospital. They called
the Dr and she had gone back to bed and fell asleep. She asked that they
have one of the ER Drs check me and then let me know I would need to be
in their office the next morning.

We were told that we had not lost the baby, by the ER Dr. but the Dr who
had sent us there would meet us in the office the next morning. Other than
that, we were given no additional answers to our questions. I was also
told to drink lots of water for the sonogram, the next morning.

We arrived the next morning and another of my Drs partners meet with us.
We figured the other one was too embarrassed to meet us. We had a
sonogram and saw our baby on the screen. tiny but still there, fighting.
We were more hopeful. The Dr came back in and said my blood
work from the night before did not look good, my numbers were a little
lower than they would like and she thought it was best to schedule a DNC
for the end of the week.

My head was spinning. My baby was still alive and they wanted to end it
just because it didn’t look promising. What was I to do-follow my Drs
office instructions or fight.

We walked out of the office with an appointment for the end of the week.
We talked in the car about other options.

A girlfriend, who is a nurse, would have been my first call, for a
friend’s opinion, who was also familiar with medical practices, but her
parents had just sold their home and were moving into her family’s home
while they had a house built. I knew she was busy, TOO busy for my call.

I called the Dr’s office trying to ask questions and get more info, so we
could make a wise, informed decision but I was treated like I should not
question them. I wondered if my Dr realized how they treated people
while he was not in the office.

One night my husband laid his head on my stomach and began talking to our
baby, telling him/her to fight and how much we loved him/her.

I was off work and instructed to stay off my feet. It was hard to watch
TV. Every commercial seemed to be a baby or toddler product or a
pregnancy commercial. It was equally difficult to just rest, with nothing
to keep my mind occupied, my mind could only process what was going on and go over all the WHAT IFs.

The night before my scheduled DNC, my girlfriend-the nurse called. She
didn’t want to tell me what to do but wanted to let me know from a medical
standpoint and from a friends viewpoint what was going on. She had been
struggling with whether she should call all week, and I had been
struggling with calling her and bothering her. It was the call I needed.
I was fragile and very confused, at this point. All I could think was
“how could I take my babies life, if it only had a 1% chance of making it,
I had to give it a fighting chance”.

Until next time…..

By Shell

Junior high. I absolutely hated junior high.

It was the cliques that did it.

I’ve never been one who fits in well with a group.

Instead, I liked this person and that. Even if they weren’t in the same clique.

That didn’t go over so well in the grand scheme of the junior high pecking order.

Entering the world of mommy groups can be a lot like being the new girl in junior high, standing at the entrance to the cafeteria, looking for somewhere to sit.

Photo Courtesy: Everyday Parenting

There are the SAHMs, the working moms, the breastfeeding moms, the bottle-feeding moms, disposable or cloth diapering, attachment parenting, schedulers, the Gymboree-clad and the Target-clad. Those whose kids are all in the same preschool or Kindermusik class. 

It can feel overwhelming, trying to find your place. Trying to find a mom who understands.

Me? Once again, I don’t fit nicely into any of the “groups.”

So, I try to find a friendly face here and one over there.

It does take a lot of trial and error. But, I keep trying.

Even in the middle-of-nowhere small town where I live, there are still about three online mommy groups with message boards and meetings. Along with MOPS groups, the moms you meet if your kids go to school or take classes, and whoever you can meet at the park.

I sometimes feel like I’m being “punked,” as I try to make friends in the mommy world. Are these women for real???? They do make for hilarious blog fodder, though.

But, I keep trying. Keep putting myself out there.

I even started a book club through one of the moms’ groups, hoping to get to know some other moms.

In the end, it’s worth it to be able to find other moms whom you can confide in and have someone to talk who isn’t a child.

And, you’ll learn that, despite what it may look like from the outside, those choices that might appear to separate us into mommy cliques really don’t matter.

Because, after all, thank God, we aren’t in junior high any more.

How do you make “mommy” friends?

 Shell is a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom of three boys. Sometimes, she has to bite her tongue irl. But, at Things I Can’t Say, she spills it all on her blog, giving you the straight story on motherhood, marriage, and life in general.