Bone Marrow Donation

A couple of years ago I wrote an email to the Bone Marrow registry in Ireland saying I'd like to register . They JUST YESTERDAY sent me an email saying they were ready for me to register.  Well, it turns out you cannot donate bone marrow if you are too overweight.  For me to be allowed to donate, I'd have to be no more than 203 pounds.  So now I have my goald set.  Eye on the prize to 203 pounds, a lofty but good goal to have.  So now I need to figure out how to go about the weight loss process.  Yes yes, eat less, move more.  The moving more bit is tough as it's so easy to not!  I need some movement buddies, I think. People who will be pull me out into the rain for a windy walk!  I need to d oit, not just for myself, but for my kids and husband.  I'd like to be here for as long as possible on this earth, and if I keep on going as I'm going, I won't be.  It's time to get off my a$$!

Fit by Fourty

So I've been thinking about this for the past week or so.  And now, as I turn 37, I think I'm going to go for it.  My new mission is Fit By Fourty!  What does fit mean?  Well, healthy, I suppose.  Able to keep up with my children, and a healthier dress size.  I still have the specific goals to work out, but now I'm putting it on my blog, it's a contract!  Fit by 40! FbF here I come!

Wait a Second, Shouldn't I be LOSING Weight?

I think I might have become a bit backwards.  While I was pregnant with Josie, I kept losing weight.  All in all, I lost about 8 kilos from when I went in for my first check up to my last prior to the induction/ birth.  And then, I lost a slew just after (which is, of course, expected).  But then isn't the downward slope supposed to continue?  Am I not due for more weight loss?  Well, apparently no.  This pregnancy blessed me with weight loss.... but in that, it cursed me with a sense of entitlement.  Hey!  Here goes the weight, of COURSE it'll keep going this way!  Yea well.... now that the baby hormones are gone, and the reality of living with two young children has arrived, the consistent meals and focus on what I eat is out the window.  In comes the 'grab breakfast when you can' mentality!  So now is the time to shake off those thoughts and put new ones in my head.  Time to get organized (wish me luck!) so that I DO eat healthy meals daily, so that I DO get my 5 fruit and veg in, my 8 glasses of water AND productive movement/exercise.  Oh the days when I had no life! 

Bra Bind- Come on Designers, Cop On!

I know I have written about my bra woe's in the past, but they are now starting to come to a head.  A few years ago, Lane Bryant discontinued my favorite bra.  To date I have not found a suitable replacement.  I'm now starting to get very worried as my only bra left from this collection is soon going to need to transition to the great brazier pasture in the sky.  I don't think bra designers truly think about comfort and realism when it comes to plus size bras.  Now, I'm sure for the slightly larger women of the world, you are able to find perfectly comfortable and attractive bras that you can wear on a daily basis.  When you are my size, though, your pickings are very limited.  Even my favorite Cacique bra wasn't as supportive as I would have liked. 

So now I'm on the hunt for a replacement bra.  So far, there's none to be found in Ireland.  The ONE plus sized ladies shop, Evans, needs a wake up call when it comes to their bras.  While they are gorgeous and I would LOVE to be able to wear many of them, they are flimsy, with narrow straps.  The material is not comfortable, and when you get to be my size, proportions change.  I'm not sure the designers have fully researched HOW proportions change in larger women's chests, to be honest.  It's not just about the size of the breasts.  It's also about the size of the entire upper body and how the elastic and fabric of the bra interacts with it.

I've even tried Evan's ugly granny bras, but they too are terribly uncomfortable.  Yes, you do want support, and they give you that in abundance.  But there is no give in them so you feel like you are being held in a vice. 

Where's Gok Wan when you need him!   How about upping the ante on plus size bra's for us with even more amplitude??

Brag Book

About a month ago I took some pictures of the kids using my new fancy camera.  I've always wanted one of those cameras that, just because it's so good, the pictures are great.  Now, I know if I had the time to actually LEARN about the camera, aperture, etc., that I could take even better photos, but I'm quite happy with these.  And I get to show off my gorgeous children, so it's win win!

All photos are copyright 2012, and are not to be used without author's permission.

Baby Girl!

As I did with my announcing of the birth of Jacob, I have taken a LONG time to proudly announce the birth of the most beautiful and charming baby girl,

Joanna Mae!

Joanna, nicked named Josie, was born on Friday the13th (muhuha ha) of January at 7:45 pm, 7 pounds
11 ounces. Pictures to come once I can get some onto this computer (iPhone snafu's recently).

Josie is named after my mother, Joanne and her other grannie, Mary.  My mom passed away in 2009 from ovarian/peritoneal cancer, so I'm so glad to be able to honor her memory by naming her newest granddaughter after her.  

The birth of Josie was MUCH easier this time around.  I hear that's typically the case, but I'm so thankful it was!  I went in for an induction 1.5 weeks early because of the gestational diabetes.  Apparently I was the LAST on the list for prostin that night as I received mine at 3am!  At 8am the doctor came in to check me internally and said that I'd need a second dose.  But this doctor, who I'd been seeing at the diabetes clinic often, is rather rough-handed, and by 9am, I was feeling the love.  When she came back for my second dose, she had a look and sure enough, her internal exam had got me going and I was 2 cm dilated.  

Up I went to the delivery ward around 10am.  I got to sit on a pilates ball for a while as the contractions got a little stronger... but not strong enough.  So unfortunately I needed to start oxytocin.  UGH!  Luckily I was allowed an epidural pretty soon after the oxytocin started.

Now, because of my size, the anaesthetist had to use an ultra sound to guide the epi into my spine. He also added what he called a 'block' (I'm guessing spinal block, but I forgot to ask) which allowed me to push a button to top up if the pain was coming back.  Hurray!

Well, the pain DID start coming back on my left side, to the point where the button was doing jack, especially as I could only push it every 20 minutes.   So in again came Dr. Make-the-pain-go-away who topped up the epi.  Of course, it was with the provision that if it didn't kick in in about 20 minutes, he'd have to take out the line and reinstert. And if THAT didn't work, than the epi was a no go and I'd just have to deal with other pain meds. So apparently I'm a huge wimp.  The idea of more than 20 minutes of labor pain was terrifying.  I did talk to mom and ask for her to help get those drugs going. And bar that, just knock me out and take the baby!  Luckily, all it took was the top up and for me to lie on my left side, and the meds kicked in.  BLISS!

From then on it really was smooth sailing.  This time I could move a bit... with Jacob I was paralysed from the waist down the entire time.  But I needed to stay on my left side to let gravity help the epi work.  So there I lay.  To monitor Josie, the midwife insterted a heartbeat monitor to her scalp.  This was actually a blessing as the CTG monitor has never liked me and would keep on losing baby's heartbeat.

So a few hours later (could have been sooner, I really wasn't paying attention), my doctor came in to check on me and I was 9cm dilated!  MUCH faster than Jacob.  And I basically had to just lay on my side until I was 10 cm.  Then after that I lay around again for about 2 hours to allow the contractions to do their work getting Josie's head into the birth canal.  

Eventually I was allowed to push. An hour later Josie Mae was born.  I was allowed to hold her as soon as the midwife did her checks, which was wonderful (especially as I wasn't allowed to hold Jacob who was sent up to baby ICU for a checkup and some oxygen). She came out with a LOT of vernix all over her... apparently babies born after 38 weeks have less vernix. But she was beautiful and mucky and all mine (and Rob's too I suppose).

Love at first sight.

Yes, You DO Lose Your Balance! (Gore alert)

I should have posted this earlier, but just, well... didn't.  This is just a reminder to all preggo's out there that, yes, you can and WILL lose your balance the larger you get (with your pregnancy, that is).  A month ago, I was getting out of the car to bring my son to daycare, and bam! I tripped on a pot hole and down I went.  My bump was too big for me to keep my balance and there was nothing for me to reach out for.  Luckily, I kept my head about me and did my best to 'fall well.'  So instead of falling bump first, I fell knees and then hands and side of bump.... and then proceeded to bash my head well and truly into the ground.  Luckily there was a father who saw it all and came over to me, who lay bleeding on the ground, who was able to call the ambulance (who arrived 30 minutes later... gotta love Tallaght), and a grannie who brought Jacob into the creche.

Well, a 13 centimeter gash and 5 staples to my scalp later, I am living proof that your balance does go WAAAY off when you are pregnant.  So please!  Mind yourself.  Watch for pot holes, slippery things on floors, etc, and TAKE CARE!

(And baby is fine, don't worry. I went straight to baby hospital to have babaloo2 checked out after I was stapled up at the first one)

GORE ALERT!  I've posted pics of the day below, so if you don't want to see a bit of blood and head staples, don't scroll down.

 Triage did a fine job of temporarily bandaging me up.

Me and my bloody-matted hairdo 

 Post-stapling and loving my new bandages...sexy.

 Very thankful I wore a hat (and a red one to boot).  I had to rinse it well to get all the blood out, and it was still wet, but it was better than walking around mummified.

My staples.