productionMaven part deux

heroic

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 15:56:10 -0500

I've addressed 100 birth announcements and they're going out tomorrow. I am a super mom. I've been agonizing over getting this done and lo and behold, it's done. It's like holiday cards. It has to be timely, but it takes for friggin ever. Now I just have to write our return address on the envelopes and it's gone, baby!

(if you want one, ring in on the comments, below, and be sure to e-mail me your address - my e-mail is jennb33 [at] gmail [dot] com)

Briefly

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:42:58 -0500

I know I haven't posted anything lately. I have been beyond busy. I never thought that another 8 pound (he's now 14 lbs at 8 weeks old) creature in my life would throw things into such a tailspin. Orson is a great baby, even if he isn't doing so well in the sleeping-at-night department. It will come. It's just a phase. I've been back at work for 3 weeks (in the office 2 days a week) and it's a lot to juggle. Orson was coming with me, but I've asked G if he can manage him for one of the days, because I can't get much done when he's here with me. Parker's adjusting to life as a big sister fairly well - she's vocalizing when she needs "mommy time". It's hard, having a baby and a small child, but I keep reminding myself that it's just a phase, it will pass. G and I have taken to living life one minute at a time. I guess that means we're in recovery from parenthood.

I hope I'll get back to posting on a more routine basis. Maybe when both kids are in daycare and I'm not cramming 5 days of work into 2 days into the office.

Hope you're all having a nice summer!

Interface

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:21:52 -0500

I am kind of hating this Serendipity interface - I just tried to do an entry with a link and it didn't post it.... and photobucket has been crashing Safari when I try to edit photos (thus the lack of images lately). Tell me - what are you using for a blogging interface that doesn't require any knowledge of coding or the like? Do you like it? Can you do pictures and trackback links easily?

I might want to switch. Maybe I'll go back to blogger. Who knows. Or maybe I'll just hang up the spurs for a while. I haven't been posting too much. So many options.

Still here

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 11:38:18 -0500

I'm still here. I realize it's been almost a month since I last posted.... life with 2 kids, even when one is in school 4 days a week and the other is sleeping for most of the day, is tough. Harder than I imagined it would be. P was sick a couple of weeks ago with an early-summer cold, which she then gave to G, me and then O.... and O had a fever for a few nights. When your kid is sick, that's alarming. When it's a tiny 3-week old baby with a fever, it can be a little panic-inducing. G and I took him to the doctors, where they decided it was just virus, but we had to have blood drawn, just to make sure it wasn't a bacterial infection. There's nothing like watching a phelbotomist draw blood with the teeniest needle possible from your baby, then decide they need more, and trying it again three different times, in three different spots. P was home for 5-1/2 days of togetherness, and I just have to say that I am not at all cut out to be a stay-at-home mom.... I am just not that entertaining. When Monday came earlier in the week, we were all very excited for her to go back to school.

So we've kept busy, to say the least. (And, no, it wasn't bacterial, so we just had to wait the fever out. It is now gone). I've been working from home, and I learned that work won't credit me the 20+ hours per week that I've been working the last few weeks, so next week I'm taking a full week of vacation. We're headed to my parents on Thursday for the holiday weekend.

We've been doing a lot of "stuff" - going out to dinner, going to see friends, chamber mixers, strawberry picking, summer concert attending. G's birthday was Tuesday (he's toeing the line of 40! Yikes!) and he and my dad played in a golf tournament, then came home to dinner with some friends and my mom and I. I made an awesome chocolate mousse pie - per his request - that was really to die for. Last night, along with my parents, we met up with some friends and went to the VSO's summer concert kick-off. It had to be held inside due to some sopping wet fields, but it was really a lot of fun and there were fireworks thisclose after, in the fields outside. A wonderful way to kick off the official start of summer. Next week, we will enjoy 4 days on the lake, along with family, fireworks, my favorite parade in the entire state of Vermont, long walks in the cooler evening temperatures, and I'm sure an ice cream or six. I'll be forgetting about work for 4 whole days, and will start to prep for it on Sunday night.

Do tell: what are your plans for the Fourth?

Well, we did it

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 15:41:28 -0500

I'm sure you've guessed by now that my absence last week was due to the arrival - finally - of the baby, and here he is:

(by the way, Photobucket keeps crashing on me whenever I try to resize things, so my apologies for the hugeness. Anyone know of any other photo website like photobucket with less bullshit associated with it??)

On Thursday, 29 May, early-early in the morning, I thought I was in labor, so G and I headed off to the hospital at 2:30 in the morning. We were allowed into a room where a night nurse with the stubbiest fingers EVER checked my cervix (not the most comfortable sensation, let me share that with you) and found me to be 2cm dilated. They told me they would give me a couple more hours, and would check again. We were both able to sleep, and in a couple of hours - telltale sign, here: we were able to sleep - I was checked again and told that there was no change, so I could proceed home. In other words, we were sent home. O, the horror!! How embarassing!

The next day, I went to my OB appointment and was checked again. Cervix still at 2cm, and "soft", but nada. We decided to get me on the schedule for induction on June 11, in case he wasn't born by then - the birthing center has been insanely busy and the options were either June 3 or 11. I wanted to avoid being induced as much as I could, because of the complications that could arise from being induced - long, hard labors that often result in a c-section, from what I've gathered from friends. Also, pitocin? No thanks, if I can avoid it. I went home again, not as pouty but wishing that I had been at least 4 cm and told to report to the hospital immediately if not sooner.

Saturday morning - around 2:30 - I woke up with pains that seemed to be regular and increasing in intensity. However, I wasn't going to go to the hospital again to be told that I needed to turn around because it was false labor again, so I waited and timed and waited and waited and watched the clock. At one point I called the hospital and they told me that because the start-to-start time of the pains was kind of all over the place (3 minutes, 5 minutes, 1 minute, 2 minutes), that I needed to wait until they were mostly consistent, then to come in. Our friend M arrived at 9 to watch P until my parents could come, and off we went to the hospital again, and this time I was sure that this was really labor. I bet G that I was around 5cm dialated, when we got to the hospital. We were escorted into one of the last available rooms - huge! Private bathrooms! Big windows! Labor & delivery is all in the same room! - and when I was checked, this time by a nurse with mercifully long fingers - I was, indeed, 5cm dilated. The heavens opened up and we were admitted.

I asked for the pain meds - there was no way I wasn't going to have hospital-regulated morphine, no way no day!! - and they were administered by 11:35. I was told that they would have maximum effect for 2 hours.... and I did say a little prayer: "please let this baby be born by 1:30!!" so that I wouldn't have to worry about the meds wearing off. At one point, when I was around 8cm, a nurse walked in and couldn't believe that G and I were just in the room, reading our books. I told her that I was saving the drama for another time - I wasn't worried about getting to the pushing point. Just worried about the pushing duration, because with P I pushed for 4 hours. Ouch.

By about quarter to 1, I felt like I was about ready to push. The doctor came in, had a feel around, and declared that I was fully dilated and whenever I wanted to push, I could go for it. They got my legs into position, gave me some little handles to hold onto and bear down on, and the race was on!!! I pushed for 20 minutes, and out the baby came, at 1:15pm. There was minimal tearing, compared to P's birth where I was torn from front to back in a most unpleasant manner, and I only required a couple of stitches. The best part, by far, was holding our new baby. His name is Orson Auldus Tuttle Brown - Orson because G likes the name, Auldus for my dad and grandfather, Tuttle for my mom and her father, and Brown because it's our last name.

I will say that I did have to have my bladder cathatarized which was highly unpleasant and required several nurses and tries to get that done - since I didn't pee on my own after the pain meds, they had to make sure that everything bladder-wise was ok and that required a long scary tube in a painful place. I don't wish to go through that again. Orson is feeding well, though, and thriving in many ways. I realize this is not a glowing write-up, but it's the end of a long day and I have to go upstairs and do the one tennant I have been told NEVER to do: WAKE A SLEEPING BABY but it's time to feed him again.

I will say this: having 2 kids is challenging as all hell, but so worth every moment. They are awesome together, and I feel like our family is complete.

Care to place a bet?

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:00:47 -0500

Anyone interested in placing a bet on the date and time of arrival for the Lad? Here's what I'll tell you: there is NOTHING going on - no contractions, no water breaking, nothing. My 40-week due date, as you well know, was on Monday 5/26. I will go in to be induced on 6/11 if he doesn't come by then.

So, leave a comment here as to your best guess on date and time that he'll be born, or e-mail it to:
jennb [at] gmail [dot] com

Whoever guesses the closest to the actual time on the date that they have specified will get a prize of some sort. I don't have an idea for a prize, perhaps the honors of changing the first poopy-diaper blowout.... or an uninterrupted hour of sniffing his little newborn head..... or I'll think of something fun.

So let 'er rip!

For purposes of distraction

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:27:22 -0500

The rules: Post these at the beginning. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer. Play nice, children.

With thanks to Kathleen for the much-needed distraction!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?Ten years ago would have been 1998 - I was working at my first publishing job (I was there from 5/95-5/00), hating it. G and I had moved in together, and I think right about now we had gotten engaged. No dogs, no kids, just a $700/month mortgage and a few cats. No wonder life seemed so much simpler - it WAS! We were living in Jamaica Plain, outside of Boston. Nothing else springs to mind.

2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today
Go to a doctor's appointment at 9:30 only for them to tell me, I'm sure, that there's no action going on, blah blah blah see you next week.
Take a walk with the dogs and kid to hopefully get some action going
Errands like getting some things at the grocery store, go to the library (I've stopped buying books in an effort to save money so that requires that I go weekly to the library), go to the bank.
Enjoy life as I know it without a new baby, because he's coming, I'm sure of it!
Perhaps have a baby (am enjoying some raspeberry leaf tea, just in case)

3. Snacks I enjoy
Anything chocolate, for the most part. Homemade baked goods, perfectly ripe fruit, monterey jack cheese and butterfly crackers. Sometimes nuts.

4. Places I've lived
Colchester, VT; Essex, VT; London, England; Ithaca, NY; back to Essex, VT; Atlanta, GA; Burlington, VT; Brighton, MA; Jamaica Plain, MA; Pittsfield, VT; Sudbury, VT (current)

5. Things I would do if I were a billionaire
I've always said that my dream job would be as a philanthropist. Here's what I would do philanthropically: call the Vermont Humane Societies and ask them what their annual budget is, and set it up so that I could be their benefactor. I would support the local arts organizations around Vermont. I would help the Planned Parenthood Organization, and the area women's shelters, to educate and empower battered and abused women and help them get a fresh start. I would pay to listen to Public Radio. I would take care of my family - pay off any debt that people have, then give them each a million bucks or something to get them going. Selfishly, I would find a parcel of land on the lake - 100 acres or so - and build my dream house (all green energy, o'course, with reclaimed materials), a dream barn, a dream pool, and have staff to upkeep the things - like the yards and gardens - that I just don't have time or inclination to do. I would want a big vegetable garden to supply us with produce. I would also travel extensively with my family.

6. Peeps I want to know more about
Dearest Cupcake, even though I've known her since we were 4
Michele, my friend who has done an outstanding job of fighting her cancer and I think this would be fun for her.
Shelb because it would be neat to hear from her.
Kristen, who is trying to move back to VT

Gun, consider yourself jumped

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:20:38 -0500

Last night, after a nice day and a free dinner at our town's elementary school of spaghetti and bread and salad, I put my feet up, watched a little TV, then we went to bed at 9:30 to read. I felt like there was some contraction action, so around 10 we started to time them. Start-to-start, they were 3 minutes apart. That's good. They seemed to be getting stronger and stronger as time progressed, so we called the hospital and, after timing them for a while, I called my parents. They hopped in the car to get down here to be here for P, and at 2 we took off for the hospital.

We were checked in, I peed in the cup, changed into a gown, hopped into the bed, and got strapped up to the monitor. 20 minutes went by, the heartbeat was good, the contractions were regular. They checked "under the hood" - about 2 cm dialated. I was told they would check me again in a couple of hours, so G got into his temporary bed, and I stayed in mine, and we got an hour or so of sleep. When they checked again, I had just woken up, the contractions had slowed, and I was still only 2cm dialated.

So the hospital bounced us.... home we came at 5:30am, tails between our legs. It's a little embarassing to admit that I didn't know what was going on with my body, but it's hard to tell. Contractions and cramps are all painful, and they just get more so as they progress. Does it hurt now? Yes. Does it still hurt? Yes.

We got home, and went back to bed. My mother-in-law called us at 7:15, announcing that she was at the hospital. Where we were not. So we're having a little family reunion this morning. My mom's making pancakes, G is trying to finish up some work, my dad took P to get some bacon, my mother-in-law's chatting with my mom about all of their grandbabies. And me? I am doing what I've been doing: waiting, feeling contractions (some strong, some not), and I will wait until the baby is crowning, probably, before heading up to the hospital again.

Still waiting

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Wed, 28 May 2008 10:04:46 -0500

Baby update: nothing.
It's been a full week since I lost the 'plug, though, so I expect to be slammed into labor any moment now. It's a little alarming, I must say.

Stay tuned!

Preg Week 40 - Due'd

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:00:18 -0500

Today is week 40 of this pregnancy. Day 280. To say I'm ready for this baby to be born is a slight understatement. I've had weeks of Braxton-Hicks contractions (basically my abdomen becomes a steel ball for anywhere from 5-10 minutes), all just my uterus getting ready. Last Wednesday, after a day-long off-site retreat for work, I rid myself of my "plug" which is a good indication that labor is imminent (for the uninitiated: the plug is the mucus that covers the opening of the cervix, and keeps it extra safe from bacteria and the like durning pregnancy). When P was born, I lost it on Sunday around dinner time at our friend's house; by 12:02 the next morning I was having regular contractions and she was born Monday morning at 11:18. Well, let's just say that the plug's been missing for 5 days, and there's no definitive signs of labor commencing any time soon.

My doctor's appointment on Friday was somewhat helpful, and entirely frustrating. Yes, my cervix is softening - meaning it's getting ready to open. Yes, it's "short" - meaning it's moving into the position that it needs to be in, to facilitate the baby moving down the birth canal. But.... they don't have any way of telling when it will happen. I'm still having the Braxton-Hicks contractions (I know they're not real contractions because they're not coming on any kind of regular basis), but aside from that, there hasn't been any signs of real labor. It's killing me because I know that it's going to be soon, I just don't know when. You know that Christmas is always on December 25th - there's no guess-work involved. It's just a matter of counting down to that day. You know what day your birthday is, or when you're going on vacation, or when you're getting married. Sure, there's a lot of anticipation, but you can cross off days on a calendar and count down the hours until the plane leaves or the Wedding March starts, down to the second. Having babies is more like hoodoo guru; you don't know when, exactly, it will happen. You get an arbitrary date according to your cycle, and all eyes focus on that date.... but if the date comes and goes, it's a shrug of the shoulders, and then everything that comes out of your body is suspect. Every internal move begs the question: "Is this it? Is this it?" It's a constant questioning of when, when, when???

Needless to say, for someone who is schedule-driven, as I am, this can be hugely frustrating.

So we're in the waiting pattern. We've been doing things around the house, which is great, like putting in the garden (very modest this year - mostly flowers and pumpkins and a couple of tomato plants), and laundry and yardwork. We've had an amazing holiday weekend, with beautiful weather, so we've been outdoors. We've been sleeping in. We've socialized on a limited basis (gas is, still, $3.89/gallon so we're not doing much driving around), but have had early nights. And we're waiting.

Here are some belly-shots taken last week at work. I'm done working in the office, there's a little too much question as to "when" and the last thing I want to do is go into labor at work. Since work is 40 miles and 60 minutes away from home, I'll be working from home until the kid is born.

So, here's to hoping there's no Preg Week 41 update, and instead an entry about our new child, what he's like, who he looks like, what his birth-stats were, and how awesome it is to hold a new baby again, for next week.

Trifecta of so much awesome

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Fri, 16 May 2008 15:15:38 -0500

Joining my other two favorite pregnancy symptoms (that would be massive swelling of EVERYTHING - ankles, carpal tunnel, boobs, belly, etc and the sciatica that I'm having so much fun with lately), the "hemmer-row" has joined the party just in time to enjoy the last 10 days (or, hell, maybe 20 days, if this kid extends his stay like P did) of this pregnancy.

We call it the hemmer-row because even the OB was impressed with my growth after P was born. I won't go into great detail - it's no fun for any of us, really - but I will say that there will a laying-in and application of massive amounts of Preparation H going forward. TMI? So sorry.

Since we're meeting our deductible this year, in addition to me scheduling weekly chiropractic appointments and a date with a dermatologist to get my skin reviewed closely, and G going in for the snippy-snip at the end of the year, I guess I'll be looking up a proctologist to remove the 'row. And it won't cost me one fucking red cent. By the by - who on earth would ever want to be a proctologist? Who wakes up one morning and says "I think I want to go to medical school to study assholes, polyps and hemmeroids"? God bless 'em, whoever they are.

Have a nice weekend, all.

New agey

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:55:14 -0500

I've come to a strange conclusion.... my sciatica is my version of Yoda. Why is that? you say. Well, let me tell you.

My back and ass have been killing me during work days for the last couple of weeks. Probably it's the extended amounts of time that I sit in front of my computer, with my feet up on a make-shift ottoman under my desk. I could do more getting up and moving and stretching, to be sure. I get home at night and promptly get my feet up above my heart. I can feel my pulse in my shins and toes as I try to deflate the monster feet. (Just for the record - my blood pressure is fine. It's been in the low 100s over 60s for the entire duration of the pregnancy, and has only just started to elevate slightly - the last 2 checks it's been high 120s over high 70s. My doctor's not concerned, as that is still "normal" for woman. So preeclampsia isn't at play here. Thanks in advance for your concern.) In the mornings I wake, relatively refreshed, feet back to normal size, ass and back not hurting me.

But by the time I get to work - about 2-1/2 hours after waking up - my feet are already swollen, and the moment I walk in the door, my sciatic nerve starts pulsing. It could be because I've just driven for an hour and change to do daycare drop off and to get to work. Or... it could be my Yoda sciatic nerve reminding me that work is, literally, a pain in the ass.

She really is my child

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:11:20 -0500

We burp in our family. We let it all out unencumbered, when the situation allows for it, and then we say excuse me, regardless of the company we're currently keeping. We've never laughed or made a joke out of burping, we just let it happen, excuse ourselves, and move on. We don't let Parker think that burping is "cute". The other day, she let out a respectibly loud burp, and followed it with "'suse me".

Then followed that by saying, "That was a real Cheerios burp".

And then I proceeded to fall off my chair. I guess she's heard me say that I had a Cheerios burp, and adapted it. To the best of my knowledge, she had not had any Cheerios prior to this expellation.

Preg Week 38 - Puzzle pieces

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Mon, 12 May 2008 11:09:00 -0500

We're getting down to the wire on this new baby thing. I packed my bag last weekend, and with the exception of throwing my glasses and deoderant and moisturizer in the bag, I think we're ready. I washed the car seat cover, too. G has to install the car seats next, then I'm calling us "ready as we'll ever be".

With time comes contemplation, though. I have 2 weeks and 2 days of work to get through, to finish things that I'd like to have buttoned up before the kid gets here. Of course, I don't know if he'll be accomodating and understanding enough about my dates at work to wait until 5/29 or beyond to make his arrival. The house keeps getting clean on Saturday, and a few days later there are little dust bunnies and scraps of paper floating around, along with toys lightly scattered hither and yon, laundry that needs doing, bathrooms that need cleaning. The house can never be clean enough for me. This is going to continue to be my challenge after this new baby comes, and grows into a member of our family, and then starts to make his own messes. I can only hope that P will have outgrown the mess-making stage by the time he hits it, as she has become potty-trained well before I have a newborn's diapers to monitor and change, so that I'm only cleaning up after one kid at a time.

And just today my friend M asked me how I was feeling, and I realize I'm feeling a little aprehensive. I'm not worried about the labor (not looking forward to it or the aftermath - let's be clear - but not feeling scared about it); instead I'm wondering how this little boy will fit into our lives. How will he grow into being a member of our family? Will he fit in? How will the dynamic change? You can lay in as many diapers and wipes and clean onsies and car seats with freshly-laundered covers as you want. You can buy new nipples for the bottles that will be used later, sterilize the breast pump's pieces and parts, have new bedding and some new pictures to hang on the wall, fill the dresser with less pink and girly and more blues and greens with puppies and jungle animal appliques. One question that can not be answered is, how exactly is this all going to work? What role will he play in my life?

I'm looking forward to meeting him, and seeing his little face and counting his fingers and toes. I look forward to his wonderment at this world that we live in. But I'm a little scared to rock the boat of something that is pretty damn good. I have a wonderful, clever, darling, tempermental daughter; a loving, moody, willing, helpful husband, great dogs and cats that are comfortable in the house. How will a new baby fit in? What will he like? Will he be colicky? A good eater? A good sleeper? An easy baby or one that will throw a wrench into all things that I know about parenting?

This, along with the when will he be here, are two things that I absolutely have no answer to. I have no crystal ball to peer into, no one who has "been there and done that" that I can ask their advice of. Of course there are plenty of people out there who have two children - and more - so this isn't unique. I'm not the first mother to have these questions. But since each experience is different, just as each child is different, it's a path that I'll have to forge on my own. I'll be sure to report back on my findings.

It's really NOT easy being green

jennb33@gmail.com (Jennifer Brown) — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:18:06 -0500

I've been meaning to post some significant carpet remnants on freecycle that we have had around the house since last fall when we completed the new guest room. This spring, when we replaced the rest of the upstairs carpet, we got even more.

So now we have rolls and rolls of carpet remnants. What does one do with them? I'm not going to have them bound off, that might look a little silly (although I might do some for our master bedroom, where one of the dogs likes to sleep - he's a messy boy). Seriously, though. We have a BUNCH.

And trying to post something to freecycle? Well, how much time do you have in a day? I'll tell you what I don't have, and that is lots of minutes to dork around on their site trying to figure out how exactly I post something. I had to join yahoo groups, so that's done. Whenever I try to post the carpet, it asks me to verify my web identity. So, I'll turn to you, dear internets:

Anyone know someone or an organization that could use some really lovely carpet rems? We have a tight berber in either a gray-green or beige, and also a looser-looped berber that is on the light-brown end of the spectrum. Do you have any ideas as to who might be interested in this windfall? If so, leave a comment. A friend of mine suggested that I cut it down and give it to the humane society.... I'll give it to the humane society, but I don't have the time to cut it down to certain sizes.

I welcome your suggestions.