Friday, July 16, 2010

Hair soaks up oil video

When was the last time your haircut saved lives?

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Short Family Update

So it's been about 6 months since I blogged last. I feel like it's time for an update.

Kendall is now 11 months old and getting so big and so smart. She loves to sing and to play outside. She picks up rocks and grass. It took a very long time for her to learn not to put them in her mouth. She has one little nub of a tooth and I can't wait until the teething stage is over! She says "dada", "DAG!" (dog), and "nom nom" (mama). She has such a big personality and I love hanging out with her.

Everything is mostly the same with me. Still working. Still figuring out how to be a parent. Being a mom has given me such respect for the people who are parents and do it well. Kendall is patient -thank you, Jesus!

A friend told me I need to write down funny stories about Kendall to remember later. Here is my funny Kendall story of the week:

I was matching socks on the bed while Chris and Kendall were watching "Monsters, Inc" next to me. The movie froze and Kendall got bored with a blank screen so crawled over to see what I was doing. She then, one by one, took the socks and threw them behind her back. Seeing that there was just one sock left, she took it, put it in her mouth and crawled away back to Chris.

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

ERs and Baby Food

I've grown slightly accustomed in the last six months to dealing with hospital staff, doctors and nurses. Hospitals are just no fun. I try not to hold it against the people who work there.

Chris and I spent eight hours in the emergency room last night with Kendall. We were there so late that I cuddled up with Kendall in the hospital bed and slept for two hours while we waited for the doctor to find out test results and get a second opinion from the on call pediatrician.

Kendall had an ear infection at the beginning of the month that never fully healed and then turned into slight pneumonia. She also had a very high white blood cell count. Her condition was almost to the stage where they had to admit her overnight. The doctor said we looked like capable enough parents and sent us home with an in-home breathing treatment.

As we were leaving the hospital, the doctor realized that the nurse had written Kendall's weight down wrong. We were asked by three different hospital staff what her weight was and if they could weigh her again. I said, "No!". I was not about to wake her up one more time to get information that they should have communicated better in the first place. (She is 14.2 lbs by the way.)

She is doing much better today. The breathing treatment is working nicely and she spent a good deal of cuddle time with mama today. Most of her appetite is back, too. She even ate all the carrots I made.

On a side note: Baby food jars are about 80 cents. I spent that same amount of money on organic carrots; peeled and mashed them myself and got 10 baby size portions. I don't see why more people aren't making their own baby food!

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Back at Work

I've been back at work for a few months now. Things are settling down around the house. I've found that trying to find a balance between work and family is easier than I thought it would be. My goal is to love work while I'm at work and to love my family while I'm with my family.

Right now Kendall is napping in her car seat behind my chair.

Oops. No she's not. Don't make eye contact...maybe she'll go back to sleep.

Today I was accused of being a bad parent.

A customer was following me down the grocery aisle talking all about how corn syrup was bad. I regretfully told him that I have a six month old and that I have been reading up on how to make baby food. He then went on a rant on how baby formula has hidden chemicals that will harm my baby if I feed it to her. He added some information about the government and china in there too. I stop listening to people when they insult my ability to make informed parenting decisions.

I might google this chemical he was talking about. It started with an M. But then again, I might not.

Kendall is now sitting on my lap.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Nine months

When you get pregnant, its only natural to assume that that pregnancy will last nine months. A lot of planning goes into that nine month time frame; when to enroll in birthing classes, when to have a baby shower, when to go out on maternity leave, etc.

So, needless to say, when my baby was born eight weeks early I had a lot of plans that needed changing. I was 5 weeks into my 12 week birthing class. I had not yet trained my replacement for work. I didn't even have my baby shower yet.

Kendall Grace Jensen was born August 19, 2009 because of a premature rupture of the membranes. It's actually more common that I originally thought. I was in the hospital a grand total of three days. Kendall, however, stayed a day short of 4 weeks.

My plan was to have a water birth sometime in the beginning of October at the hospital in my hometown. Because of the premature labor, I did not get the birth experience I was planning. Not only did I have to deal with the loneliness of leaving my new baby in the hospital, I had to overcome feelings of guilt and helplessness.

I couldn't help think that this situation was somehow my fault. I felt betrayed by my own body and blamed the early labor on a combination of stress and certain physicalities. I felt guilty that Chris had to deal with all the stress as well; especially since the idea of having a baby was largely a result of MY hormonal timeclock.

Leaving your baby in the hospital for someone else to take care of gives you such a feeling of helplessness. Kendall was hooked up to so many different machines, I felt my role as a mother was taken over nurses and doctors. I knew I couldn't give her the specialized care she needed and that was one of the most painful things about the whole experience.

Kendall is now home and so beautiful and healthy. If it weren't for the attention and care of the hospital staff and nurses I don't even want to think about where Kendall would be right now. I am so happy to be able to now bond with her and love her. Although it was not the experience I was planning for, it was still an experience; and one I will savor always.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

March of Dimes

As many of you know, I avoid most politics and debates. I try to keep a neutral stand on most issues; especially the issues in which I am not educated in.

However, after having a premature baby, I did some research on preemie care. In my research, I came across the March of Dimes organization which raises money to help find treatment for prematurity and birth defects in infants. This may sound very peachy on the outside, but in researching this subject further, I came across some information which upset me. I have come to the conclusion that I cannot support March of Dimes. Here is a link to one of the articles I read.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Kendall Grace Jensen

I wanted to upload a picture but blogger is being weird and not letting me upload an image. Oh well!

Lots of pictures on Flickr!