Semi smart, earthy crunchy MAMA

I have so many things I want to finish before I start back to school January 2 (yes, I am totally bummed out that I have to go back to school and leave my girls once again - oh how I wish I could be a stay at home mom).

Anyway, things I want to accomplish in 2 weeks:
1. Finish poster presentation
2. Hang photos of our family
3. Finish the downstairs bathroom
4. Paint the living room again
5. Organize the basement family room (including shredding, filing, and moving stuff to the attic)
6. Make 2 dolls for Christmas for each of my girls.

Making the dolls will be the most challenging task on my list since I have never made a doll before. I should have started them already, but I have faith I can do it. I plan on having my mom help me do them, since she has made dolls before. I am just keeping the tradition of dolls made by mom alive. I still have the doll my mom made me (and fixed for my bridal shower after Molly ate the face). Thanks mom it means the world to me as I hope the dolls I make for my girls will.

It hit me today…I have to go back to school on Tuesday. It is so depressing. It isn’t even comforting to me that Chris will be home with our kids. I want to be. I want to be the one who gets to see them grow up, watch them and spend time with them. Somehow I convinced myself previously that going back to school was the right thing to do. Again I am at a point where I can’t even understand why. I am not just sad to be leaving Raya, but also Maelin. They are both so special to me in so many ways and I love them both beyond words. I just don’t want to leave either of them.

Maelin seems as though she has grown up so much in the last few days. She is truly not a baby anymore but a little girl. She is smart, engaging, loving and kind. I couldn’t have raised a more perfect little girl, and I certainly could not have done that without the endless support from my loving husband. Thank you Chris for supporting me, supporting our girls and loving them both as much as I do. You are a wonderful papa.

Link: http://www.brucelawson.co.uk/index.php/2006/vasectomy/

My site has been down for some time now and I haven’t been able to post. Unfortunately during that time I had the opportunity to read a very funny post that Chris sent me the link to. I had a few words to say about it….Here’s what I wrote regarding the post mentioned above.

Disclaimer: This is meant in jest. I am not a super evil, man hating person. Just having a laugh! Enjoy.

Bruce,

My husband sent me a link to your blog post, which I found amusing since we are having the same debate. We are about to have our second child in a few weeks and have been going around about it for quite some time. He is a squeamish kind of guy, one who generally can’t stomach the site of blood, let alone the thought of those little nut sacs under a knife. However, I being a proponent of the vasectomy would like you to take a look at childbirth and pregnancy from a female perspective. Not only do we also give our children 23 of our chromosomes we invest a lot of time (usually around 10 months), effort and energy (carrying an extra 25-40lbs is hard – to which my husband lovingly replies “I’ve gained 30lbs since we got married so what’s the big deal?” - that was 4 years ago…not within the last 10 months!) in ensuring that this little bundle of joy arrive safely outside of our bodies. That right there is the key concept…it has to arrive outside of our bodies. Let’s investigate that further.

Now before anyone gets too uptight…may I remind you that this is in jest to all men who are afraid of a simple outpatient procedure. I am not a crazy-think birth is the hardest work in the world-kind of person, so don’t assume I’m a man hater. Thanks!

Anyway, for our purposes, let’s look at my situation. Thus far, I have been pregnant 3 times (lost one at 11 weeks). I have spent a total of 84 weeks pregnant. My body has been hi-jacked and taken over by aliens for 84 weeks of my life (that’s roughly 16%). Now during this time, my teeny uterus has grown to the size of a basket ball, my internal organs have been smooshed into tiny places they didn’t even know they could fit. My lungs have been a diving board for my children’s feet and being an agile mom of a 2.5 year old has since become challenging (not a complaint – just a fact). I have 2x as much blood as I use to and I am 36lbs heavier than I actually like to be. (read = none of my stylish, sexy clothes fit anymore). My skin feels like it could rip in half at any moment (though I am fortunate enough to survive 3 pregnancies with 2 tiny stretch marks that will easily be covered with my belly ring when I get abs back). Those poor women who lose their entire belly to stretch marks have far more to say than I about the topic so I won’t deviate here.

Now for my favorite part…labor which is exactly what it’s called, work. Now the funny thing is that it’s not like the work my husband assures me he does everyday at his job (which consists of “research” on the internet and writing code…these DO NOT equal labor). Labor is the coolest, scariest, craziest thing in the world to me, but not every woman feels the same way as I do. Take my friend who just had a baby last week for example…she would have rather been thrown out into highway traffic than go through it. Ah, but I am deviating from my point. So where was I? Oh yes, soon I will have pushed (completely un-medicated!) 2 babies from my normally tiny and always FRAGILE private parts. When this happens, those little private parts are stretched, ripped, bruised and basically treated like a punching bag for hours relentlessly without any predictability as to time and complications that could arise. Contrast this to the relatively predictable time and complications that a vasectomy entails. It is for sure a much easier task than labor. Women have babies and men should have vasectomies!

For those few complaints about having the vasectomy done….here is my laundry list of why taking an oral contraceptive (OC) for the rest of the female reproductive life sucks too! (I am an educated person about to complete my doctorate in Pharmacy (yeah me!), so I do know a little about the subject.) 

1. Increased risk for some cancers
- cervical and liver cancers
- breast cancer
*owed to the fact that the body is exposed to WAY more estrogen than normal
- in the OC’s defense, there are non-estrogen containing pills
- BUT they are way more complicated than the standard variety

- I will give you that some types of cancer risk are reduced such as endometrial and ovarian cancer (but if I got these they could just take my uterus out…I kind of need my liver…especially if I need to metabolize those oral contraceptives).

2. Rare and dangerous complications can occur due to OC use
(rare like those complications that can arise from a vasectomy!)
- For example:
- Heart and blood vessel disorders (ie clots and high cholesterol)
- Increased blood pressure = Heart and blood vessel problems
- Increased blood sugar levels –> diabetes = lots of other complications
(ie I could become an amputee from diabetic foot ulcers)
- Liver and gallbladder complications
*no liver = DEAD
*no gallbladder = no big deal except surgery
- Cervical changes (increased risk for STD’s)
- Eye problems
* I won’t be able to read medication bottles = no job! Unless they make them in brail.

3. Mood changes can occur in certain women on OC’s
- Do you really want this to happen to your woman?
- It can be scary…they could turn into super…you fill in the rest and it isn’t FUN

4. Side effects, side effects, side effects….they are my life
- Acne (which if bad enough may be its own form of birth control!)
- Breakthrough bleeding or spotting
*as if the one week a month (if we are lucky) we bleed isn’t torture enough!
- Breast tenderness - they will never be an object of fun again
- Depression – this will be fun
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Weight gain – more cushion for the pushin?!

5. You’ll have to rely on your lady to remember to take them EVERY SINGLE DAY. Keep in mind you have children. Everyday is an unpredictable day of bliss. You just may end up with more kids than you ever wanted or pregnant at 65. Sounds like fun!

Reference:
Lawrence A. Oral contraceptives - birth control pills Web site. Available at: http://www.well-net.com/womenshealth/contraception/oralcontraceptiveinfo-1.html. Accessed August 24, 2006.