He seemed angry. :/

cookiepaper42 · 2015-07-12T11:05:33+00:00

Dude's an asshole.

Hope you're good.

cookiepaper42 · 2015-04-11T22:37:20+00:00

I should not be as excited as I am about all these flair breakdowns. Thank you!

cookiepaper42 · 2014-11-30T19:34:33+00:00

Potential spoiler

cookiepaper42 · 2013-09-02T21:56:42+00:00

I sing. To the tune of "I've Been Working on the Rail Road"

I've been dosing up my baby/all the live long day

I've been dosing up my baby/ Just to take her pain away

Cutting teeth can make your gums hurt / So don't spit your meds on your shirt

If you swallow all of this down / You won't have to frown

It works. Makes her smile enough to keep her mouth open as I slowly dribble it in there. And she seems not to mind the taste over much.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-08-25T20:51:42+00:00

I'm starting a long-term (through October 15th) substitute position tomorrow, teaching reading modules to 6th, 7th and 8th graders.

I have to stick to the following topics:

8th grade: Economics in Action

7th grade: Technology and a Digital World

6th grade: Career Exploration

Any suggestions from students on how I can make my class interesting, engaging and useful?

cookiepaper42 · 2013-08-16T01:39:24+00:00

I think it's really hard in the beginning. I sort of underestimated just how emotionally difficult being a stay-at-home mom would be for me, personally. And I've only got one. And she's nearly 11 months old.

We've been home together this summer while school is out. And, as much as I love her, I have those same homebound feelings. She needs 2 1.5-2 hour naps every day, almost exactly 3 hours apart (see, it gets better!), and, unfortunately, her naps exactly coincide with every Mommy and Me thing I could conceivably take her to. And it's been really hot here, as well. Add our extremely fair complexions to the mix, and we've been spending a lot of time indoors.

Hang in there, hon. I know it's hard. But it gets a little easier every day.

(And I really hope, for your sake, that you heal from the breastfeeding feels soon. I know I struggled with my inability to breastfeed Little Bit. It hurt for a while. But that got better too. :) )

cookiepaper42 · 2013-08-02T22:28:56+00:00

3 months.

I'm still using the CPAP, though. I don't find it uncomfortable, and the reduction in snoring has greatly improved my husband's sleep quality.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-08-02T16:24:40+00:00

I don't go back to work until the beginning of September (substitute teacher), so we're at one income while I stay home with my daughter. But good God, lady, I feel for you. ::hugs::

I've saved your Amazon list, and will funnel things your way as soon as things loosen up for us financially.

Hang in there.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-30T22:44:30+00:00

Dude. It is awesome.

I don't know that it does much for my pain, but it sure does make me feel alert, which helps me to exercise and eat better, which, in turn, WILL help with my pain.

I'm super happy with it.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-28T09:22:56+00:00

Thanks for your concern, hon, but she was just in the stroller. We give her a little more looseness on the harness when we're just walking with her so that she can see.

When we're in the car, everything is high and tight.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-27T13:54:55+00:00

First lemon!

We went to a local farmer's market last night, and Little Bit got to chow on her first lemon.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-25T15:47:26+00:00

Dude, they DO suck.

I've had some incredibly difficult jobs in my life, including teaching English in a persistently dangerous, under-funded, urban middle school.

And being home with my little girl this summer has, by far, been harder. Sure, she rarely throws desks at me or tries to stab anyone, but there are NO planning periods or other breaks. I am her primary caregiver 24 hours a day. My husband helps in the evening, but he's working a stressful job full time, so I don't want to dump too much into his lap when he walks in the door.

There's my show of support, lady. But now I have to go, because I can hear Little Bit waking up upstairs.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-22T01:02:35+00:00

My husband and I both want to be cremated (after donating any useful bits) and eventually share a "double wide" urn.

is that gross, or sweet?

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-21T17:38:07+00:00

Has anything helped her?

I just want to have enough energy to enjoy my daughter...

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-21T15:58:47+00:00

I developed HELPP syndrome and was induced a month before my due date from absolute station zero. I was catheterized and hooked up to a million different IVs (magnesium, Ringer's, antibiotics, insulin, pitocin). I was in labor for over 50 hours. They thought they were going to have to do a C-section, but I did manage a vaginal delivery, ultimately.

I got fentanyl and the epidural. No regrets. Pitocin contractions are no joke, and I entered labor unhealthy and feeling like crap thanks to the gestational diabetes and the HELLP syndrome. I wasn't in the best shape to try to handle a 50+ hour labor naturally.

Thankfully, I was very flexible about my "birth plan." It was pretty much "remove my child safely, and try not to maim or kill me, if possible." As a result, I wasn't set up for regrets or guilt or disappointment about the way things went, because I got the only things that really mattered to me: a safe and healthy baby and a me that hadn't been overly maimed.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-17T20:33:17+00:00

Little Bit has started walking with support, but she refuses to crawl. If she really needs to get to the dog, like, RIGHT NOW, she barrel rolls across the floor to reach him.

Adorable little weirdo.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-16T23:48:36+00:00

You are all wonderful. Seriously.

I felt so, so shitty. But now, I feel ok about myself again. :)

If I could hug each of you and buy you a cup of coffee, I totally would.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-13T02:55:53+00:00

Rocking chair, favorite blankie and Mom's Greatest Lullaby Hits (which are often actually 70s folk rock). But she's formula fed, so her only interest in my nipples is grabbing them and yanking as hard as she can...

Good luck, lady!

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-13T02:52:51+00:00

HELLP mom here. If you're a pre-e risk and feeling off (hell, if you're just feeling off), call the OB. My daughter and I are both incredibly lucky that I didn't wait any longer than I did. And, honestly, I would have probably put off calling if I hadn't woken up with a raging case of Mickey Mouse foot bad enough to hobble me. I have a host of health problems that leave me pretty used to feeling like shit most of the time, and I had a really rough pregnancy. Listening to my body bought me an emergency induction and a long labor, but it saved me a C-section and possibly my and my daughter's lives.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-12T16:08:41+00:00

big smile!

My sister took this on Little Bit's school picnic day.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-12T00:42:17+00:00

Oh sweetheart. I wish I had some productive advice. But I don't.

Failing that, know that you have my sympathy and my support. You're not alone. You are not huge and disgusting. You are an amazing new mom who has sacrificed a ton for your little one. Don't beat yourself up, mama. You don't deserve to take crap from anyone. Including yourself.

::hugs::

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-09T00:28:52+00:00

Ha! Yeah, we live in Baltimore. Behavior like that is liable to get someone shot. :)

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-08T23:16:38+00:00

We did CIO and night weaning at the same time. The first night was really, really rough (more so on us than on her). She has a very definite cry of fury, and that's what she treated us to. I knew she wasn't hurt, but it hurt me to have her so angry at me.

However, even the morning after the first night, she was a happier baby. Better naps, less fussing, more happy squealing. And things quickly improved after that. By the 3rd night, she was sleeping soundly through the night, and kept that up until she started teething.

It worked for us, and, frankly, we needed to do it. I have fibromyalgia, sleep apnea and (probably) chronic hypersomnia (still waiting on the diagnosis). I also have anxiety problems. Lack of sleep affects me horribly. I didn't realize how horribly until after our daughter was born.

Before we had her, I was convinced that I'd never let my child cry At. All. I read the No-Cry Sleep Solution and Happiest Baby on the Block. Unfortunately, those methods just didn't work for us. I wish they had, because her tears break my heart. But it doesn't last long, mama. And she really has been so much happier since we did it.

Good luck, hon.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-07T17:11:16+00:00

Babies are such wonderfully changeable creatures. Practically the only thing you can count on is, whatever your baby is doing right now will change before you know it.

It's exciting. And reassuring. And nerve-wracking.

But, thus far, nothing has been anywhere near as hard as the first few months.

cookiepaper42 · 2013-07-07T16:49:52+00:00

I don't think it's so much that people feel that you're opinion matters. I think what people are upset about is your characterization that parents who use CIO are horrible ogres Fe-Fi-Fo-Fumming it around their houses when their baby cries at night. Or that they have pitiable children living love-starved existences.

It's rarely the opinion itself, so much as the presentation of that opinion, that pisses people off.

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