38 weeks today and I am ready to be done. It's not really that I'm super uncomfortable, I'm just ready to meet my newest offspring, and to find out if it's a boy like everyone keeps predicting or another girl. And I hate waiting.
With my daughter, I wasn't expecting her to come early. It was a complete shock to me at 37 weeks, 6 days when my water broke. 17 hours of labor later, she was born. 2 years, 10 months later here we are, and I still haven't finished recording her birth story. Bad mommy!
This pregnancy was a ton different than my first, at least in the way of how my life was. Obviously, having your second child typically means you already have one that you have to take care of. This has kept me more active (if not on my feet as continuosly as I was when I was pregnant with my first and still working evenings in the laboratory). I have to carry around a petite person (so glad she only weighs 25lbs!), chase that little person, and get on the ground to play with that little person. So different than when I spent my free time reading parenting books and napping during my first pregnancy.
I also have been preparing in different ways for this new baby. I realize now how much cooking is going to be an afterthought once this new baby comes, so I've prepped and frozen a bunch of meals for our family so we don't need to stare blankly at one another when 5:30pm rolls around. I also have a group of mommy friends who take care of one another by bringing meals after new babies arrive, and my husband and I couldn't be more excited by this prospect. They have it so organized, they even use a website to coordinate who is bringing what on specific days (check out http://www.takethemameal.com/) and allow me to see what to expect and when so I can plan other meals around these wonderful gifts.
Today, to beat my impatience, I've decided to bake some cookies. I might as well indulge and enjoy myself, plus there's the added excuse that I must bring something to share to a Super Bowl party this evening. Check out this wonderful recipe, the yummiest cookie recipe I have ever come across. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Feelings of Mommy Inadequacy
For months I have procrastinated... well, infact, it's been almost a year since we enrolled our daughter in our dental plan so we could take her to see the dentist. I had heard different suggestions: take them soon after they get their first baby teeth. No, you can wait until they're two. Well our dentist won't see kids until they're three. My daughter is 3 months shy of her third birthday and I am weeks away from my due date for baby number two... I figured I need to get this done and over with.
I never expected it to go so terribly.
Ok, so that's probably an exageration. She did pretty well for her age. She let the hygentist brush her teeth with a tooth brush. She didn't let her clean her teeth or anything like that. But she didn't scream or cry or bite or anything horrible. Instead, we just found out that she has two cavities in her two year molars.
I feel like the world's worst mother.
How could this possibly be? How could a child who refuses to drink anything except water and white milk, who is incredibly fantastic at eating vegetables and often only eats vegetables, and who is only fed minimal sweets have two cavaties in teeth she's had for only a year or less? We brush her teeth twice daily. She was nursed for over 20 months. The water we give her is filtered tap water, so she's getting a decent amount of flouride. What did I miss??
I know deep down that this isn't my fault. We were just delt a random case of weak enamel or something like that. I know I am extremely fortunate that this is our biggest health concern. We have been blessed to have such a healthy little girl, who has never had to be on antibiotics in her life and has not had a single ear infection. But my irrational mommy guilt, coupled with 9 month pregnant hormones, is getting the best of my emotions and has caused me to cry hysterically almost constantly since walking out of the dentist's office.
We all have something that causes us to feel inadequate, that maybe we have slacked at our job of mothering our children. We all have a chink in our armor somewhere, a weak spot, where we feel we haven't done the best to be the best mom we can for our children. In fact, we probably all feel that we have more than one weak spot. Most of the time, as in this case, our failings are imagined. Knowing this doesn't make it easier to deal with. I'm doing my best to bring this to the Lord, and to stop with this huge pity party for one. I am trying to remind myself that these are cavaties that we're talking about, not a serious genetic defect or a life threatening disease. And I pray for the mothers who have children with true health issues to deal with.
I never expected it to go so terribly.
Ok, so that's probably an exageration. She did pretty well for her age. She let the hygentist brush her teeth with a tooth brush. She didn't let her clean her teeth or anything like that. But she didn't scream or cry or bite or anything horrible. Instead, we just found out that she has two cavities in her two year molars.
I feel like the world's worst mother.
How could this possibly be? How could a child who refuses to drink anything except water and white milk, who is incredibly fantastic at eating vegetables and often only eats vegetables, and who is only fed minimal sweets have two cavaties in teeth she's had for only a year or less? We brush her teeth twice daily. She was nursed for over 20 months. The water we give her is filtered tap water, so she's getting a decent amount of flouride. What did I miss??
I know deep down that this isn't my fault. We were just delt a random case of weak enamel or something like that. I know I am extremely fortunate that this is our biggest health concern. We have been blessed to have such a healthy little girl, who has never had to be on antibiotics in her life and has not had a single ear infection. But my irrational mommy guilt, coupled with 9 month pregnant hormones, is getting the best of my emotions and has caused me to cry hysterically almost constantly since walking out of the dentist's office.
We all have something that causes us to feel inadequate, that maybe we have slacked at our job of mothering our children. We all have a chink in our armor somewhere, a weak spot, where we feel we haven't done the best to be the best mom we can for our children. In fact, we probably all feel that we have more than one weak spot. Most of the time, as in this case, our failings are imagined. Knowing this doesn't make it easier to deal with. I'm doing my best to bring this to the Lord, and to stop with this huge pity party for one. I am trying to remind myself that these are cavaties that we're talking about, not a serious genetic defect or a life threatening disease. And I pray for the mothers who have children with true health issues to deal with.
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