Things No One Warned Me About: Straws
Cleaning sippy cup straws to my satisfaction has become the bane of my existence in the last year or so. There is seriously no good way to do it, and I'm constantly worrying about what's growing inside (but hesitant to give 'em the toss because it seems so freaking wasteful).
Enter the most obvious solution in the world. So obvious that I hesitate to mention it here, but I will - just in case I'm not the absolute LAST mom in the world to figure it out :)
Michaels (and probably a million other places for a lot cheaper) sells pipe cleaners. But not just any pipe cleaners. GIANT pipe cleaners. 15mm pipe cleaners, to be exact (normal ones are 6mm, in case you're curious). And when run through a straw that's been soaking in hot soapy water, they work LIKE A CHARM.
WARNING: They're so furry that it feels exactly like you're bathing a Muppet.
It's working for us right now. But I hate tossing them every time (and I really feel I need to, because all that fur is just screaming Ideal Habitat For Disgusting Germs).
I recently saw in a magazine that some mom in the States invented - and is now selling - a cleaner similar to bottle/nipple cleaning brushes, but for all types of straws. Has anyone seen such a thing in Canada?
Labels: Mommy Stuff, Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: Crying It Out
Are there parents who sail through bouts of crying it out? This is very foreign territory to us, in a house with a single toddler who's been a good sleeper since she was tiny - right up until this week.
I'm pretty sure that 20 minutes of on-and-off crying is nothing to be blogging about. I'm also pretty sure we're supposed to leave her crying for waaaaay longer in between check-ins than we do.
But I am so very on edge, I could snap. This is horrible. I just want to cuddle her all night and whisper in her ear that I'm not going anywhere at all. Ever.
Labels: Mommy Stuff, Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About
So in my infinite wisdom, I chose 'Everybody's Fine' as the movie I'd watch all alone on my couch tonight. SOMEBODY SHOULD HAVE WARNED ME. Holy tears, Batman. (Good ones, mostly... And a fabulous movie. But STILL.)
Labels: Movies, Things No One Warned Me About
Twenty-Two Days
That's how much time I have left until the end of our Biggest Loser Challenge. SIGH.
My goal for this whole little project was to lose 15 pounds this fall. So far, I've lost *almost* 10. That means I have around 5.5 pounds to lose in 22 days. It's not impossible, but I also don't want to absolutely count on that happening. It's hard not to get discouraged... The scale doesn't exactly read what I'd hoped it would at this point in our competition. But I know that I've also been busy making myself over on the inside, and I know that this internal work can sometimes take just as much energy as all the external stuff.
At the end of it all, I hope that I'll be able to see this project as a success - no matter what the scale says on December 23. It's a journey, that's for sure. I can't say that I love my body. But I don't hate it as much as I used to. And that's progress, right? On top of that, I know that - even if I fall short of my goal - losing 10 pounds is nothing to be ashamed of. It's 10 more than 0 :)
By the way, why did no one warn me that - as some of the residual baby weight comes off your tummy - things actually get FLABBIER?! Ugh.
Anyway. The point of this all is that I've spent this evening watching the *real* Biggest Loser. It's the second-last episode of the season, which by definition makes it The Marathon Episode. Which by definition ALWAYS MAKES ME CRY. It's just that I know *exactly* how these people feel, pushing themselves to finish a marathon even when their bodies say DUDE, NO WAY - and even if it means taking all day and limping across that finish line 26.2 miles after you started.
It's such an inspirational episode, and I'm in awe of how STRONG these people are. But it's an extra kind of inspirational for me because it makes me realize that I have that strength in me too. And I know that I'll kick this weight thing yet - because I'm strong. I'm a girl who finished a marathon. Heck, I'm a girl *with arthritis* who finished a marathon.
I may have lost it, but I know it's there. It's in me.
By the way, THAT'S STILL CRAZY TO ME. Seriously. What was I thinking?! Easily the stupidest idea I've ever had :)
But want to know an even crazier secret? I kind of want to do it again.
Labels: Loser, Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: Babysitters
So I think we have a *very* solid lead on a good babysitter for Briony. So far, we've been calling in favours from family members (or more accurately, we've been taking Briony along with us everywhere), but I think we're getting to a point where we're much more comfortable with the idea of leaving her for a few hours at a time - and I'm craving normal things like date nights with my husband or saying yes to the occasional girls night out when he's working a bunch of night shifts.
But it's incredibly hard to imagine leaving your baby with someone you don't know very well. And it's *so* hard to know what qualities to look for (other than to clone myself). But the hardest thing of all so far is knowing how to pay a babysitter. Seriously. Does anyone know what the going hourly rate is for babysitters?
Labels: Mommy Stuff, Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: Fantasies
I can remember when my wildest fantasies revolved around exotic vacation destinations and... um... other stuff.
Now, I can't imagine anything more amazing than a cleaning service. I swear that my primary motivation in pursuing freelance work is to secure enough income that I can justify paying someone to come in and clean my house for me. Is that wrong? Or just incredibly sad?
Labels: Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: Laziness
Twice this week, I have microwaved old coffee (from the previous day) instead of brewing a new pot. And I'm kind of a coffee snob. That's bad.
Labels: Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: Old People
Yesterday morning at church, a sweet and well-meaning old lady came to make a big fuss over how beautiful Briony was... And then proceeded to ask me if I was expecting again. I'm not going to get over that one any time soon.
Labels: Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: 'Practice' Contractions
So my Week 34 appointment today was pretty uneventful, other than getting my papers to start seeing my *official* baby doctor next week.
The same cannot be said for my life... After yesterday's insanity - between my mom's complications and my speech - I got home from work and was very much looking forward to a relaxing evening. Instead, I got Braxton-Hicks contractions (sonuvabitch, those are more unpleasant than I'd been expecting). Nothing to give a second thought to, I've been assured, but I can see this getting annoying. I frightened a coworker this morning my stopping midsentence and clutching my belly. I'm getting happier and happier about being done work in just over two weeks. I just think that it's getting to be time.
I've had probably around 25 in total during the last 24 hours, just a few seconds each, and totally random. As unpleasant as it's been, it's kind of neat to know that my body is so busy getting ready for Briony to be born.
Baby is still happy and healthy in there, and her head is down now - YAY. My doctor freaked us out today by saying that Baby is good to go any time now... I immediately started to list off all the things we don't have ready yet, and he laughed at me. I'm sure we still have a few weeks to go, but there's nothing like hearing your doctor say something like that (and a few 'practice contractions') to get you feeling extra-motivated to cross a few more things off the 'getting ready for baby' list.
Labels: Baby Talk, Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: Urine Tests
This *may* count as an overshare. But seriously. It is incredibly difficult to keep doing these urine tests at every single doctors appointment once you can no longer see past your stomach. Just saying. There's a little luck, a lot of faith, and some fancy coordination involved.
As for the rest of my appointment today... Apparently, the results of my glucose test showed that my blood sugar is slightly elevated. The doctor wasn't super-concerned yet, but it does mean that I need to go for the second glucose test. This involves fasting for 12+ hours, a two-hour stay at the lab, drinking lots more of that nasty orange drink, and a blood test every 30 minutes during the two hours that I'm there. Not really impressed.
The plan is to go at 8 am on Friday morning. Geoff's working, but I want to get it over with (and I'm in Kenora for work all day tomorrow, so that's not an option). I'd really appreciate your prayers that morning. It's going to be yucky and hard. And yucky.
Labels: Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: The Glucose Test
To: All the people who told me that a glucose test was 'no big deal.'
Um, it was super-gross. I'm guessing that it was worse for me than it should have been because I've had next to no artificial sugar, food dyes, etc in my system since January - and I just chugged a bottle *full* of syrupy-sweet orange grossness. It was seriously a struggle to get it down, then to keep it down, and even now - back at work - to not make a beeline for the bathroom.
And to add insult to injury? Manitoba Health covers the cost of the test, but not the drink. So I had to dig around in the bottom of my purse to come up with $2 in change before they'd hand over my orangelicious treat and allow me the pleasure of drinking it.
Baby, you're lucky I love you. And I'm lucky Geoff loves me, because he sat beside me through this little ordeal while I bitched about every detail, and then he drove a very cranky and miserable Lindsay to work.
Labels: Baby Talk, Things No One Warned Me About
Things No One Warned Me About: Living Without Zippers
One of the oddest things I've needed to get used to in this pregnancy? The rather disturbing lack of zippers on my stretchy maternity pants. It seriously weirds me out to be pulling my pants on and off so freely, like I'm constantly wearing sweats out in public. Shudder.
And I have these regular (like ten times a day) panic attacks because I don't remember doing up my zipper that last time I was in the washroom... Stop laughing, you jerks. This is serious stuff!
Labels: Baby Talk, Things No One Warned Me About
