Excersizing my Mommy Rights

On Thursdays, Mia has Book Babies at the library. The library is located in the same building as the community center, where I have a gym membership; a membership that I haven't used since probably September. So Yesterday, I decided that I'd take Mia to the child care provided at the community center ($2/hour) and I'd get in a little workout for myself after Book Babies. This ended up meaning a great deal to me for two reasons.

First of all, I don't know how other SAHMs do it, but every so often, if I don't get out of the house away from my LO for a little bit (the days I work do not count), I kind of start to lose it. So doing this for myself was pretty huge for me. It means I have a way to carve out an hour of time for just myself without having to rely on DH or other family members. And I don't need to make a huge production of it. It just requires $2 and an appointment (its required for the little bitty ones like Mia, and hopefully I'm not fooling myself by thinking that I can make it like an hour before I want to go to the gym... I'll find out eventually). Unfortunately, their hours are only 8-12am and 4-8pm and don't really fit well with her nap schedule, but I can probably find a way to work around that.

The other great thing that came of this was in a small comment made by the child care provider. A little back story: Mia was diagnosed with torticollis and asymetrical brachiocephaly when she was 6 months old. Torticollis is a condition where one side of a person's neck is tighter than the other; in her case, she always turned her head to the left and tilted it to the right. The brachiocephaly is a flatening of the back of the head, basically caused by this and too much time on her back (asymetrical because it was more on the left side). Often the brachiocephaly, and a similar condition called plagiocephaly, is treated with a helmet or doc band.

Anywho, because of the torticollis, Mia hated tummy time. It was always a challenge to get her to spend any amount of time on her tummy and subsequently, she was a little behind on some developmental milestones such as rolling over. Once she did start rolling over, it was from her tummy to her back, basically negating any possible tummy time. But I digress. She started going to weekly physical therapy appointments and we worked on different stretches and excercises to try to "fix" the torticollis. She hated them and so did we, but we pushed through and accomplished amazing feats. She started crawling at 8 months, something that I was afraid she'd never do (and the PT made my apprehension even worse by telling me that crawling is the single most important physcial milestone a baby will accomplish in their first year of life). And now she's pulling up on things and cruising like a little champ. Even on these teeny-tiny feet of hers. After 12 weeks of PT, the doctor was amazed by the improvement in the shape of her head and she never needed a helmet.

So about the comment made by the child care provider was after I returned from my work out. She turned to me and said "is she really 9 months old?" I said yes, expecting to hear how she's so small, like usual. Instead, she said "she's so advanced for her age! She's feeding herself and drinking out of the sippy cup. She was crawling around everywhere and pulling up on everything! The other girl and I couldn't believe she was only 9 months."

What a way to make a mom beam with pride!

Let's get started

Ok, so I've always wanted a blog, a place to share my thoughts and ideas. A way to get out what I think are interesting thoughts, but my husband thinks are silly notions. Even if I never have a follower (oh, but how I want followers!), I think this will be a creative outlet and a way to journal. If my experiences make someone smile, that would be great. I know I will never get a book or movie deal from this (a la Julie and Julia) but maybe I'll fulfill the need for intelligent conversation. Even if it's just with myself.

About me. I've been married to my DH, Joe, since September 2008, but we've "been together" since 2002. In April 2010, we were blessed with the arrival of our beautiful baby girl, Mia. She's a constant joy and I'm amazed everyday by how she grows and changes. Our little family also includes a fiesty, 3 year old Pomerianian-Rat Terrier named Zoe.

As a profession, I'm a Medical Laboratory Scientist. That's the new name. The old name is Medical Technologist, sometimes known as Clinical Laboratory Scientist. Basically, I perform the tests on the blood, urine, and other bodily fluids that is taken from you at the doctor's office or hospital. No, I don't draw blood. Since having the baby, I am now "on reserve" at the hospital, which means I work a few days a month. I'm not going to lie, it's OSM to only work a few days a month. It's a great opportunity to get to stay at home with my baby and still keep my skills sharp in my field. And the little extra spending money doesn't hurt either.

As for my mommy-style, I'm kind of a hodge-podge of everything. I exclusively breastfeed my baby, and we chose to do baby-led weaning/solids instead of traditional purees. I like to say I baby-wear, but I don't do it often or very successfully. As much as I'd like to try cloth diapering, I haven't been able to pull the trigger on that, so we use disposables. Oh, and I'm pro-vax.

So that's that. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Hope you enjoy my blog!