Weight loss with a lil Zantac

First let's talk about weight loss after pregnancy. Pumping/breast-feeding is like a secret magic tool.  It conveniently makes weight quickly fall off. Two weeks postpartum I was down 5 pounds pre-baby weight. That is all of my baby weight plus an additional 5 lbs if you couldn't do the math. Four weeks postpartum I was down 10 pounds pre-baby weight. Pre baby weight!!!! That is a total of like 31 lbs. At this point I pretty much felt like a rockstar.  Then comes along a little thing called a plugged milk duct. (If any of you need to know how to get rid of said plugged milk duct refer to this post). 

After that little treasure of an experience showed up I could only produce one ounce of breastmilk so I stopped pumping. Gasp I know, my child only got one month of breastmilk so I'm sure he will not thrive or prosper (insert mom shaming that my child was not breast-fed for one year). I wasn't really even a fan of pumping anyway so I was impressed I made it 4 weeks. I really just wanted to know what it felt like to be a milk cow. (Kidding........kind of). 

So now fast-forward to week five postpartum where I am only down 5 pounds pre-baby weight. Yes that means I in fact gained 5 pounds back.  We are now at six weeks postpartum and I am only 2 pounds lighter than pre-baby weight. Dammit, I am going backwards. I suppose I should stop eating ice cream multiple times a day since I am no longer excreting milk from my tits. So there's that.

On to the Zantac.  I like to update you all on my angry baby situation for what reason I don't know, other than maybe this will be a cute timeline for later on to refer to as to why my hair turned grey so quickly. We started my adorable lil peanut on Zantac last night for his reflux. Zantac.....not Xanax.  Everyone pauses when I mention Zantac thinking I am treating my child for panic attacks.  No.  After about an hour of medication I had a laughing and smiling baby......yes, I said laughing not crying.  

Look at that precious thing.....How can it really ever be mad and scream for hours you ask....I'd like to know as well

So the good news is that the happiness lasted about 2 days.  The bad news is that the happiness lasted only 2 days.  We now have screaming gas pains......I took him to meijer to get a new formula to try (Gerber soothe please be my saving grace).  He screamed the whole time.  The check out lady was like, "are you a new mom?" I replied, yes, how can you tell?  She laughed and said "the anxiety in your face and spit up down your shirt."  She then said "Don't worry it gets better".  If I hear that one more time I may go bananas.....I need gets better to happen pronto!!! 

 So now we wait to see if the new formula will help.  I mean if we get rid of the gas and screaming he would literally have no reason to cry.......but what fun would that be?

Thank you Old Milwaukee Light

I have officially become my grandma.  I have aged myself a solid 50 years.  I had an Old Milwaukee Light this past weekend and it has never tasted so good.  Or it could be the fact that this is only the second beer I have had in the 5 weeks following the birth of my lil nugget.  I used to wrinkle my nose at the thought of having to drink an Old Milwaukee Light, but after a month of trying to figure out what a newborn baby wants when he cries......I was willing to drink anything at this point.  Pure deliciousness, that's what that tasted like.

We are now officially into week 5 of this adventure called parenthood.  I think it is important to keep it real because so many people try to make child raising sound so easy and glorious.  Everyone's child is an angel and never cries or makes you want to drink a 30 pack of Busch Light in one sitting in an hour time period.  I have quickly realized that they are all liars.  Lies I say!!!  All babies cry and drive you batty at times.  I'm not buying it that they don't.  No shame here in admitting that.

I love examples.....so here is a good one.
Everyone told me about a time that would come when my little angel would have a blowout in his car seat. Not my child I thought.  He has cute lil baby poos and I quickly change him and all is well in our wonderful world. Today that all changed.......

As I was sitting waiting for my sister to show up to go for a walk in 90 degree weather with 100% humidity......dumb....I noticed my lil angel grunting.  Grunting and turning his face red.  I thought, awe lil peanut, you gotta poo?  So I go sit in the back seat waiting on the arrival so I can quickly change him.  Because I am johnny on the spot like mentioned earlier on the diaper change end.  He finally pushes out what I thought was a turd along with some farts.......  Nope.  All poop.

I pull his hand up, which was conveniently by his side, to get him out of his car seat and his had is covered in baby shit.  I slightly freak out.  Naturally when i grab his had to keep him from so kindly putting it in his mouth he smears it across his face. Baby. Poop. Everywhere.

I lift him from his seat......Woah....

 My lil dinosaur took a dino sized shit......clearly

Car seats have little to no nooks and crannies that poo can nicely get stuck in.  Said no one ever.  So here's to you Old Milwaukee Light!  Thank you for being so tasty and getting me through yet one more milestone in baby's life.  Also, let this be a lil public service announcement for all you soon to be moms out there.  Don't buy a car seat that doesn't wipe down easily.......

Moms and the influence of Google

I get it!  I totally get it!  All of these years I have never understood why people believe anything and everything that they read on the internet........until now!  In the industry of Agriculture and more specifically food, I was completely mind boggled by the mis information that people believe because they read it on the internet.  I used to sit and wonder why others would believe random people with no experience growing food over someone like myself who lives and works in it everyday. Well, I can tell you now that I understand fully how this happens; desperation and the top Google answers.

It's called become a first time parent with a baby that is fussy most of the day.  You will go to Google in hopes of finding anything that might make your baby happy for longer than 5 minutes.  Over the past 3 and a 1/2 weeks I have spent many hours searching a million different baby symptoms and cures.  I have read a thousand mommy threads in hopes of finding something to make a difference.  I finally understand.

When you are experiencing a situation in your life that is either a struggle or a challenge, you seek out information to help make it easier.  When you are desperate you may just try anything and everything.  It all makes sense to me now.

Examples:  My child, if he is not eating or sleeping is fussy and crying.  He cannot just be awake and happy.  It doesn't happen.  So this mom goes to Google university for any glimpse of a chance of finding something that makes my baby happy. I now understand how people can be influenced to believe things when all evidence says it's probably not true.  It's called being desperate.

Another example:  I got a plugged milk duct.  This shit is for real.  I wasn't about to get mastitis like I've seen in cows.  Gross.  Wasn't going to happen.  So, what did I do?  I of course went to Google to find a cure.  All the professional websites said to just put a warm compress on it and strip it downward in hopes of unplugging it.  Didn't work.  I then go to a mommy thread where a woman explains that you should get on all fours and pump from the ground.  Sounds crazy but it worked!!!!  Mommy thread for the win!  No mastitis here......but to prove my point.  The suggestions from professionals didn't work and some lady that tried something crazy and it worked just saved my boob from curdled milk.  I might believe anything she tells me at this point.  Now i'm not saying that is a reason to not believe the professionals, I'm just saying that I can see how people look to other sources when things don't work.

So what is the lesson here?   I really don't know.......but what I do know is that I totally understand how people believe off the wall information when they are desperate for an answer. It definitely makes me want to keep telling my story so that if people are looking and searching for info about where their food comes from, I hope they stumble upon me in their frantic search. Or if they have a plugged milk duct.....you now all know the secret!  You can thank me later :)

And here is a random off the wall fact......This is what I look like in 80 degree weather in the evenings when i take my dog out to go potty.  We have man eating mosquitoes.  Not exaggerating.  And that is the annoyed look I keep on my face the whole time I am out there as well!

This isn't a Mommy Blog....I swear

I have no intentions of making this a mommy blog....but some of this stuff you just can't make up and is too funny not to share. So here are my mommy confessions part 2!

I had a hair appt made for Saturday and after 2 weeks of being in my house with a newborn all day everyday I was so excited for this appointment, for a of couple reasons.  Reason # 1: I just needed a lil me time.  Judge if you may but for real, I was ready to just relax and not hear a baby cry for a couple of hours. I have never had anything need me this much in my life, not even my puppy, so it has been a life changing experience.  A wonderful blessing of a change, but life changing nonetheless.  Reason # 2:...............

Holy frizzy fly away madness.  It was time for a Tibolli treatment.  If you have super frizzy hair that turns into a brillo pad such as above in even the tiniest of humidity, then you need to ask your stylist about getting one of these!  Life. Changing.  

I left early to run into walmart to get some formula.  I used to spend my money on cowboy boots, now I spend my money on formula.  As I was walking through there was a new mom with a very tiny baby doing some grocery shopping.  The baby was screaming.  I walked by and smiled thinking to myself, I get it and it's ok.  You let that baby cry my dear.  I then also realized that the baby screaming was an instant trigger for milk stimulation.  I have been pumping (couldn't do the breastfeeding thing) and quickly realized I came to town without any nursing pads......fail.

I quickly ran to the bathroom, found a maxi pad in my purse (all you fresh moms know exactly why I had one of those), ripped it in half and made some make shift nursing pads.  No one wants to be walking around walmart with 2 wet spots on their shirt and then you find yourself on the people of walmart facebook page.  I started laughing in the bathroom stall thinking to myself.....this is real life.  I know someone else out there has been in this situation.......no?

I think that documenting these lovely times in my life will give me a chuckle later on when this nugget is like 12 years old and thinks he doesn't need me anymore and is way too cool to be around me.  

It also will remind me of the adorable moments like last night when he was fighting sleep and wanted to cry for hours and all of a sudden smiled and laughed for the first time.  He even startled himself when he laughed.  It made me forget about the crankiness......for a short minute :)

Happy week friends!

New Mom Confessions

You read that correct......I finally calved!!  I'm a mom!  Woah.....that still gives me anxiety a lil to say out loud.  Don't get me wrong, it has been a pretty awesome experience, but I have to admit that I was so unprepared for new mom status.

Here's the deal;  you spend 6 hours in labor and after you push out that little bundle of joy you have an army of nurses that are at your every call.  They check on you every hour, bring you anything you need, and take care of the baby while you get some rest.  Then all of a sudden they tell you that you are ready to go home after 2 days of nonstop care and your quick advisers for any and all baby related questions and concerns. My instant thought: But wait, you all aren't coming with me?!?!

You head home and it honestly feels like you are just babysitting and someone is coming to pick up this lil nugget at anytime.  It is all trial and error.  Then after a wonderful evening and first day home with your new lil one he all of a sudden gets pissed.  When I say pissed, i mean pissed.  Like scream at the top of his lungs for 4. HOURS. STRAIGHT!  I bawled.  I was a horrible mom. I couldn't even sooth my baby.  I didn't know what was wrong.  Thank god for a wonderful husband and sister that came over to attempt to calm the storm.  After a healthy poop and some serious burps we finally had a sleeping baby.  Did I mention 4 hours later?

All I wanted to do was go back to the hospital and have the nurses care for me and my new baby that I felt I was failing at miserably.  I cried.  I have never been a crier.  Very rarely do I have emotions that soar or even get expressed.  That changes with a baby.  Those hormones that people speak of are legit.  I sometimes just burst in to tears and not even have a reason or know why.  So strange.  Hopefully that goes away........it does right?

With all that being said, we are slowly but surely getting adjusted.  Through the ups and downs and just going day by day its moments like when he shits his diaper with a big grin on his face that I realize I wouldn't change a thing.

Happy Day!

Monday Inspiration for this Frizz Hair Filled Day

The title of this couldn't be more fitting as I have had little to no inspiration to write lately........don't judge.  Planting has drug on forever and with rain in the forecast every other day I feel the end isn't as close as I would hope.  Plus I am getting pretty close to calving out this child that's brewing inside of me, so as you can imagine that has added some extra things to get finished up.  But enough with the excuses......IT'S MONDAY!

Monday is really the bastard day of the week.  Nobody likes Monday.  It reminds you that you have 5 days until the weekend. To top it off it's grey and gloomy outside with drizzle that does nothing but make my already frizzy hair into a Brillo pad.  Legit what I look like today:

Thank you google search

In other news.....I recently attended Alltech's Rebelation Conference in Lexington Ky and I cannot begin to explain how amazing this conference is.  It seriously is the best conference/symposium I have ever been to.   I feel that says a lot because I have been to my fair share of conferences.  Alltech really knows what they are doing and leave you blown away with inspiration and that feeling of wanting to take over the world when you leave.

This year was my third year attending and it only gets better and better.  So what that means, you really need to plan to attend next year.  Bottom line.  During the conference, so many amazing speakers say so many amazing things that I just have to share them with you.  Hopefully it will turn this Monday into a Friday (yeah right) and you will be just as inspired or it will get your thinking cap going.  

 I can't agree with this more!  I feel a good leader is someone that isn't afraid to put their neck out on the line for the greater of the team instead of following all others and just going through the motions.

 This is huge.....all of you leaders/managers/bosses/CEO's.......ask this to yourself honestly

 Truth!^

I leave you with the last question from Dr Lyons.  I think this is an excellent question we should all ask ourselves.  I hope that in some small way I am impacting the world.  Are you?

Happy dreary, cloudy, frizz hair filled Monday friends!!

Spring has Sprung!

It is officially spring!  The weather is finally nice out which means outside work has officially begun.    This past weekend my boo and I spent a lot of time outside cleaning up the landscape, rolling the yard, and cleaning up the mess that was created from the kitchen remodel.  I'm pretty sure I even got my first suntan of the year.......or wind burn, but I'm gonna go with tan.  One of the best parts of the weekend was building a raised bed for my garden!



So to be completely honest, my husband has me on garden probation.  A couple 6 years ago I had a garden at the old house. It was huge and I had big plans for it.  I planted everything and anything.  Needless to say...........it got away from me and might have been overgrown with weeds.  It kind of all started with the appearance of a tomato worm.   I can handle a lot of things........tomato worms aren't one of them.  Anything that big with horns is not ok.

So because of that he agreed to give me another "chance" at a garden with this much smaller raised bed.  I'm so excited!  My mom does all the canning for me (don't judge), so this year I'm going to raise my own green beans and tomatoes for salsa and sauce. I will also learn how to can!  Mom, I promise!

What are some other garden plants that are a must have?

Happy Spring friends!!