ER visit

Last week we went to the ER with Jonah. He was goofing around and clunked his head on the hard wood table. We just wanted to be sure he didn't get a concussion or something. It looked pretty bad and we figured better safe than sorry. The doctors said he looked okay and thankfully it was not any more to the right. Anything outside of the forehead causes concern, especially at the temple where the skull is very thin. We had a great experience in the ER and were not only treated swiftly, but they were extremely good with Jonah. Very pediatric sensitive. Hopefully that was our last ER visit for awhile. Oh the joys of boys.

Postpartum Depression

I just wanted to take the time to share something very near to my heart. It's a video about postpartum depression. One of the reasons that I started this blog 7 years ago was because I was suffering from postpartum depression and it helped give me an outlet. I don't think I really posted any of my feelings about the depression, but just being able to share a little bit of my life was helpful. Unfortunately, I think many people have a misconception about postpartum depression. While I knew this was true, I found it surprising that even some individuals in the OB medical realm have no idea. Just the other day I was having a discussion with a couple individuals when I found out that they both experienced postpartum depression. Imagine my dismay when their idea of postpartum depression was about two weeks of crying all the time after delivery. I wish. I'm sorry to say, that's the baby blues and that is experienced by a lot more mothers. True postpartum depression is debilitating. It makes you feel crazy. It's hard on your family. I could barely function. It wasn't just crying. It was walking around Target EVERYDAY, eating a pretzel and soda, pushing my son in the cart just wandering around because I didn't know what else to do. It was having an anxiety attack and hyperventilating when someone you love and care about dearly picks up your baby when you are in the bathroom. It's forgetting to pay bills, not remembering important events, and feeling completely lost. It's going to an amusement park and seeing everyone around you have fun and you feel like everything is just swirling around you in slow motion and you're empty. It was unimaginable thoughts of crashing your car into a side-rail because you just know that you are a terrible wife and mother and your family would be better off without you. And just maybe by doing such an unthinkable thing you would finally be rid of the terrible thoughts and feelings that are perpetually haunting you.

Unfortunately, one thing that is not discussed is that postpartum depression can actually start BEFORE delivery. It's antenatal or prenatal depression. And I'm suffering from it right now. It became pretty apparent when at just 16 weeks I was having trouble getting out of bed, snapped at everything, had anxiety attacks at the stupidest things and just would cry for no reason. I was either barely eating or gorging on junk food. It is not surprising given that I have a history of postpartum depression, had an unplanned pregnancy and was incredible sick while pregnant. Jake has been amazing and suggested that I talk to my OB about it. We are working on it and I now have great support from Jake, my OB and my counselor. One thing that people may not understand is that a mom suffering from depression actually increases risk for the baby. Studies have found that it can cause depression in the baby later in life and it can cause preterm delivery and low birth weight. Often moms with depression do not fully care for themselves and fail to eat right and take their vitamins. It's not that they don't WANT to care for themselves or baby...they just can't. Because of this, we felt it very important for me to seek help. Jake has been amazing and extremely understanding. It's very hard to be the spouse of someone going through what I am. I am really struggling with it right now. I think it's because I'm starting to realize that the baby will be coming soon and I don't feel prepared. Not only that but I'm extremely uncomfortable right now. I'm at the "everything hurts and I'm dying" phase and I am only 31 weeks.

Here's the video. It's helpful to know that other people have been in the same place and I am not alone.

Some Summertime Updates

Wow! How time flies! We are in the final countdown of days in the summer! School in only 3 weeks. I just can't believe it.

We've been pretty busy lately, although I can't exactly say where all the time has gone.

On the 4th we went to our friends' house and had a little get together with some yummy food. I brought this cake. It didn't turn out quite the way I would have liked but it still tasted good. I just added a box of vanilla pudding and 1 cup of sour cream to a vanilla cake mix and baked it in a bundt pan. I then melted cool whip and white chocolate chips and then dyed them to make the different colors. It was an alteration to a Kraft Food recipe I saw but it definitely did not LOOK the same. 

I have still been sewing up a storm. Trying to keep my mind off of how uncomfortable I am getting.

Here's another nursing necklace.

A teether.

Some bibs.

And a changing pad that folds compact for the diaper bag. I used some waterproof fabric on the back.

We took Molly to get groomed for the first time. She just got a "puppy cut" but the girl said that she did great. She went prancing around the house like she knew she was a little princess. I'm glad we can see her eyes now, although it's a bit strange to see.

We went to Chuck E Cheese's with some friends and had a lot of fun. There was a few mishaps with the food and the tickets but the manager was very apologetic (and very short staffed) so he provided us with some extra tickets to get some prizes.

Of course my kids are trying to show off their goods.

I'm still trying to find myself some good baby gear deals. Here I scored a Fisher Price baby bouncer/toddler rocker  from a yard sale for $7. They still sell it on Amazon for $50. It's in perfect shape.

The kids went to the public library for the last week of the summer reading program. They scored a free Eeggee and really nice books. We've gotten some awesome prizes including free public pool tickets, an ice cream from Culvers, a kids meal from Raising Cane's, and a nice bookmark that has a light and a timer on it. Very cool in my book.

Elijah gets a Lego Club magazine and they have a contest going on right now to win a Lego Ninjago set if they pick your Lego design. He was supposed to make a Ninjago trophy. I think he did a great job. He's pretty proud of it.

That's all for now.

Lowes Builder

Did you know that Lowes has special classes for kids? My friend, Lauren, told me that they were going to be having Avengers themed projects so I signed the boys up. Unfortunately for Noah and Jonah they were acting up beforehand and were not allowed to go. Elijah had a great time though. They gave him safety goggles and an apron to keep and a hammer to borrow. He had fun putting it together and at the end received a certificate AND a patch to iron on his apron. Super cool. We just need to remember to sign up for the next one!

Puppy pancakes

We have a great place to go to breakfast out here called Mimi's Cafe. We had been there recently for Jake's birthday and Jonah and Noah got puppy pancakes. Well, Jonah just couldn't get enough of them and asked for them the other day. He was just so sweet about it. So we got some to go and I made some eggs and turkey bacon so they could share everything. I had to take a picture so that maybe next time I make pancakes, I can make him some.

What a little cutie.