A mark for every breath you took, every blink, every sleepy yawn. One for every time you sucked your thumb, waved hello, closed your eyes and slept in the most perfect darkness. One for every time you had the hiccups. One for every dream you dreamed within me. It isn't very pretty anymore. Some may even think it ugly. That's OK. It was your home. It's where I first grew to love you, where I lay my hand as I dreamed about who you were and who you would be. It held you until my arms could, and for that, I will always find something beautiful in it.
(A friend of mine posted this on Facebook and I thought it was beautiful.)
Friday, August 12, 2011
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Raspberry Filled Butter Cookies
As a mom of five children (and one on the way) I am always looking for quick and easy recipes, whether it be for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or in this case, cookies. I love to make butter cookies, especially when I have two very impatient toddlers begging for a snack, and I'm out of my usual arsenal of graham crackers, nilla wafers, and bananas. This time I decided to try something different. I put raspberry preserves in the middle :-)
Here's my recipe for a delightfully easy/yummy cookie:
1 stick of butter (may use 1/2 cup margarine)
1 cup flour
5 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
raspberry preserves (or whatever flavor you prefer)
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix ingredients together and roll into balls. (I used a tablespoon to measure out the dough so the cookies would be the same size.)
Press thumb into the center of the balls to make a place to put the preserves then add enough preserves to fill that thumb indention.
Bake 10-13 minutes or until done.
I've recently made these using sugar free strawberry preserves and they turned out yummy too!
Here's my recipe for a delightfully easy/yummy cookie:
1 stick of butter (may use 1/2 cup margarine)
1 cup flour
5 tablespoons of sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon of vanilla
raspberry preserves (or whatever flavor you prefer)
Preheat oven to 350.
Mix ingredients together and roll into balls. (I used a tablespoon to measure out the dough so the cookies would be the same size.)
Press thumb into the center of the balls to make a place to put the preserves then add enough preserves to fill that thumb indention.
Bake 10-13 minutes or until done.
I've recently made these using sugar free strawberry preserves and they turned out yummy too!
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
My Preterm Labor Scare
Late Monday/early Tuesday of last week I had a bit of Déjà vu... Just like my pregnancies with Alex and Jaina, I had an episode of preterm labor. Last Monday afternoon I began to have contractions that were a couple minutes apart so I drank a bunch of water and laid down to rest. After a little while they stopped but I had a nasty headache so I took some Tylenol (didn't help). A few more hours go by and at around 9pm the contractions start up again. They were a couple minutes apart and I still had the headache. I laid down again and tried to relax, drank some more water, but this time they weren't going away so finally (after much debate because I didn't want to wake the kiddos) I went to the hospital to be checked out. Tom stayed home with the kids because it was so late.
By the time I got there it was 1:30 Tuesday morning. They hooked me up to the moniter and saw that I was definitely contracting every couple minutes so they did an internal check and found that I was dilated 4cm... I had the nurses pretty concerned lol. While all this was going on a lady from registration came in to get my info and while I was answering the questions, one of the nurses got onto the lady for asking too many personal questions. The lady apologized and said that she was new and that she was just following the questionaire sheet then left. The nurses then had me move to a different room and hooked me up to an IV of fluids, antibiotics, and Mag Sulfate. I also had the joy of getting a catheter since they had to make sure I didn't OD on the Mag Sulfate. A lab tech then came to draw my blood and missed my vein the first time. The nurse went off on him saying if he couldn't get it the first time to get someone else to do it then proceeded to draw my blood. I was thinking in my head by this time that I shouldn't make this chick mad lol. Otherwise she was very nice to me at least... Another nurse then gave me a steroid shot for the baby's lungs.
After I got all settled in for the morning, the nurses would come in every hour or two to check on me to make sure I was doing okay and checked once or twice to make sure I hadn't dilated more. I also had to have my blood drawn every 4 hours to check my mag sulfate levels. After a little while the meds did their job and made the contractions almost non existent. Around mid morning the doctor came by to see me and made sure I wasn't dilated any more also. He told me that I would get the mag sulfate for at least the next 24 hours and then if things were okay then I could possibly go home.
A little before lunch time Tom was able to come up to the hospital when my mother-in-law came to the house to watch the kiddos. She helped them pack up and brought them by the hospital that afternoon to see me before going to stay with her for a few days. The rest of the day Tom and I spent time together watching tv while I laid in bed resting. I didn't like being stuck in bed and getting "poked and prodded" lol but I knew it was for the best and I had Tom with me which helped a bunch. He even stayed the night with me in the uncomfortable chair after I begged him to go home and get a good night's sleep! When I was ready for bed they gave me an Ambien to help me sleep and it did a good job :-)
The next morning Tom went home to shower and I was taken off the mag sulfate at around 8-9am. Shortly after that they took out the IV and catheter then around 11-11:30 the doc said I could go home on bedrest...
Today I had a followup appointment and the doctor said I don't have to be on bedrest anymore but "no marathon trips to Walmart." Those were his exact words lol. He also said that at this point, if I go into labor, they won't do anything to stop it since I'm 35 weeks tomorrow.
So that was my preterm labor experience for this pregnancy. It was unpleasant but luckily the process was made easier to deal with because of wonderful supportive friends, family, and medical professionals. I want to thank everyone who kept me and baby Analeia in their thoughts and prayers. I love you all and God bless :-)
By the time I got there it was 1:30 Tuesday morning. They hooked me up to the moniter and saw that I was definitely contracting every couple minutes so they did an internal check and found that I was dilated 4cm... I had the nurses pretty concerned lol. While all this was going on a lady from registration came in to get my info and while I was answering the questions, one of the nurses got onto the lady for asking too many personal questions. The lady apologized and said that she was new and that she was just following the questionaire sheet then left. The nurses then had me move to a different room and hooked me up to an IV of fluids, antibiotics, and Mag Sulfate. I also had the joy of getting a catheter since they had to make sure I didn't OD on the Mag Sulfate. A lab tech then came to draw my blood and missed my vein the first time. The nurse went off on him saying if he couldn't get it the first time to get someone else to do it then proceeded to draw my blood. I was thinking in my head by this time that I shouldn't make this chick mad lol. Otherwise she was very nice to me at least... Another nurse then gave me a steroid shot for the baby's lungs.
After I got all settled in for the morning, the nurses would come in every hour or two to check on me to make sure I was doing okay and checked once or twice to make sure I hadn't dilated more. I also had to have my blood drawn every 4 hours to check my mag sulfate levels. After a little while the meds did their job and made the contractions almost non existent. Around mid morning the doctor came by to see me and made sure I wasn't dilated any more also. He told me that I would get the mag sulfate for at least the next 24 hours and then if things were okay then I could possibly go home.
A little before lunch time Tom was able to come up to the hospital when my mother-in-law came to the house to watch the kiddos. She helped them pack up and brought them by the hospital that afternoon to see me before going to stay with her for a few days. The rest of the day Tom and I spent time together watching tv while I laid in bed resting. I didn't like being stuck in bed and getting "poked and prodded" lol but I knew it was for the best and I had Tom with me which helped a bunch. He even stayed the night with me in the uncomfortable chair after I begged him to go home and get a good night's sleep! When I was ready for bed they gave me an Ambien to help me sleep and it did a good job :-)
The next morning Tom went home to shower and I was taken off the mag sulfate at around 8-9am. Shortly after that they took out the IV and catheter then around 11-11:30 the doc said I could go home on bedrest...
Today I had a followup appointment and the doctor said I don't have to be on bedrest anymore but "no marathon trips to Walmart." Those were his exact words lol. He also said that at this point, if I go into labor, they won't do anything to stop it since I'm 35 weeks tomorrow.
So that was my preterm labor experience for this pregnancy. It was unpleasant but luckily the process was made easier to deal with because of wonderful supportive friends, family, and medical professionals. I want to thank everyone who kept me and baby Analeia in their thoughts and prayers. I love you all and God bless :-)
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