Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes!

 So many changes are happening in this ginger's life right now, it's near impossibale to keep up blogging anymore!
 First it's summer so we are out of the house often! Playing in the pool, sprinkler, with the water table, whatever it may be we have been running crazy! Mister and Ladybug have also been staying up a little later before bedtime to enjoy the summer evenings! Ladybug LOVES catching blinky bugs aka fireflies!!!
 Ladybug recently had her THIRD birthday and it was a wonderful amazing party! She also attended Vacation bible School for the first time ever at the church her Nana and Papa attend regularly, which we attend when we can. She loved it! Mister and I spent that week together just us two and had much needed bonding and love time going on! His speech also came like 5 miles that week because his sister wasn't doing everything for him! Go figure! He now has the normal number for words for his age!!!
 I GOT A JOB!!!!! Yep a job!!! My first job since having kids! It's a part time job at our fun local indoor play place for kids ages 9months-10years! We often play there so why not get paid for it?! I get to bring the kids with me, they play while I keep things under control and clean things every few hours! It couldn't be more perfect actually. I love it!
 I've decided to work on myself and finally get back to the skinny bitch I have always been. I shamefully gained so much weight with both pregnancies and now I am over weight by a lot. I weigh in at a horrid 217lbs and I want to be down to 140-150lbs. I have been drinking protein shakes twice a day instead of two meals and then eating a good dinner. Ive also started the biggest Loser workout dvd. I'm proud to say I lost 3lbs the first week! I have a lot to go but it's a start!

 So I'm going into blog hiding until I have more time and no distractions! TaTa for now!!

PCS'ing

 PCS is a term military families know well, very very well. It can be a new adventure, a blessing, a change of pace, something scary, or something welcomed. It can be everything and it can also be sucky at the same time and I personally right now hate it. PCS stands for permanet change of station or in other words moving from one base to another. It is something you will have to do if you spend more than one enlistment in the military, really there is almost no way around it unless you have some rock solid MOS or like my younger brother you PCS from one base to another that is right down the road...lucky!
 Right now we are not moving but it seems all my friends here are and I hate this. I have made some great mommy friends here and after July I won't have but a few which honestly I don't hang out with outside of playgroup because I am socially stupid but I am willing to change...for those who read this that is me saying I wanna hang out ha ha! I have been on this side of the move before and it never really bothered me, heck I even PCS'ed before and didn't bat an eye. This time around sucks some big green balls.
 I made this one friend and formed a cool bond with her. Ladybug has formed a sweet little bond with her son J as well and it is the most adorable thing in the world! Our husbands even are friends, both are Marines so they have that in common! She even has this sweet teenager whom I like as well. She let me pratice photography on her and her then fiancee, and even do pictures of their super sweet and intimate courthouse wedding. She is a wonderful person and I really like her but is she effing leaving in a few days and I couldn't be more sad by this. ok seriously don't think I am some really weird person for saying that...I'm not but as stated above I am socially stupid and so friends for me are like gold! ...ok that sounded really weird...maybe I should stop talking?
 UGH I hate you PCS ...why must you suck so much? Ladybug is going to be upset when she can't to her the friends house anymore and swim with him. She will probably ask me about him for months to come, that will suck. ugh I hate Ft. Lee for having my friend move there....you suck Ft. Lee!!

 ok... life will go on and we have facebook but it's not the same dang it!

Oh Mister You Can Hear!!!

 In a little over a week Mister will have his big hearing test and for once I think he will surely pass! He has been doing so well lately since his tubes were in place. He is forming new words daily and his comprehension  is going up and up! He isn't the best at the new sounds he is forming but he is trying his hardest to do them, most of the time.
 Today he started saying bye-bye and waving at the same time, he did this perfectly to the lady who always delivers our pizza no joke whenever we get from Papa Johns the same lady always comes, I think she loves us cause she knows our names now.. weird? kinda He said up to a friend's husband this morning at playgroup when he wanted him to pick Mister up and hold him. He has been signing way more lately and I think it is because he can hear us and he understands that signing is effective in communicating to us! He wanted me to blow some more bubbles yesterday for him and he said the word bubble along with signing please so essencially he just had a two word sentence! I am so excited for him!!!
 He is still resorting to screaming at the top of his lungs when trying to communicate to people his size, and all the kids at playgroup will tell you about this. He also resorts to pinching and biting when he isn't being understood the way he wants, or throwing his tantrum which involves gently throwing himself on the ground and doing this wimpering cry that is so sad and sorry you nearly laugh. I know these things will over time improve as his speech and comminucation improves, I know not to rush it either. Mister has always been the type to do something in in own time frame not anybody else's frame for anything. He can hear now, everything else is coming along. With the help of his speech therpist and OT lady who comes to see him he is moving along perfectly!
 Now if I can get him to call me Mommy instead of Daddy I will be extremely happy! I think he does this on purpose cause he laughs everytime I try to get him to say momma or mommy and then looks right at me and says daddy then laughs more. He does say momma when he really and truly needs me, so I know he can...it's our game! He is a goof ball!

Charting Tells Me

 My chart is telling me I have some sort of hormonal imbalance that needs fixing. Normally a chart is nearly flatline for the first part of a cycle, then a temp jump when ovulation happens and from there two things can happen 1.) the temp stays up or even higher if you get pregnant or 2.) the temps plumet and you get your period. My chart however seems to be all over the place which makes me sad.
 I started charting this cycle because we have been not exactly trying but not avoiding at all for about 7 months now and nothing has happened. I have a feeling that the fertility problems I had when trying for #1 are coming back into play (Mister was this weird crazy fluke and a total surprise). So I wanted to chart to see what is going on and I now have a good idea. I am looking into some herbs and oils to help regulate things and maybe we will have success. Trying to keep doctors out of this. Going on the more natural path!
 So I also guess this is my big announcement that we are wanting to welcome a third into our lives! As crazy as that sounds this day we do!

A Little More About Your Body

 I had wrote a blog earlier about getting to know your body (here), I hope it sparked a little curiosity in some of you which lead to your own research. I did not want to go too in depth with that blog, mainly just a starting point to jump from for yourself. I want to write now about how you can pin point conception and why it is important in today's health care for you and your future child.
 First let me raise your awareness about the horrid rates of inductions in America. Roughly 1 out of every 3 women have their labor induced, most for very unnecessary reasons big baby, being post dates, doctors convenience, mothers convenience.. Most of these inductions are around 40 weeks when a woman is "term" and surprisingly horrible is that doctors induce women before the baby is even "term". What does this mean exactly? Well having an induction is an almost guarantee that intervention after intervention will be used. Pitocin is sure to be used I will not get into the effects of pit labor right now and some studies say that your chances for a c-section increase by 50% or more. Nobody wants some major surgery, ever. If you do then stop reading my blog and find a shrink please.
 Let me talk about one major thing with inductions before 40 weeks of pregnancy, they can bring out pre-term newborns. A pre-term newborn is not a pre-mature baby but still faces a lot of the same complications and some of their own as a premature baby would. A pre-term newborn is born between 35-37/8 weeks of pregnancy. They can be born with immature lungs, inability to regular body temperature, low blood sugars, poor suckle reflex, they have higher rates of infantile reflux. A pre-term newborn can spend time, and very costly time, in the NICU for these things. When they do come home they have higher chances of contracting RSV, flu, ear infections and a few other things. So who wants a pre-term newborn?... if you said yes then please again stop reading and find a shrink. Even with all of those things pre-term newborns are being born every single day, why? Well because doctors induce women on their  due dates or sooner without knowing exactly when conception happened. They use their best guesses like basing it on your last period, and if you have some pretty wacky cycles that guess can be way way off...like 2 weeks or longer. So just think you are 40 weeks and doctor Mc Stabby Hands wants to induce but your cycles were longer than whatever normal is and so really your baby can be like 38 weeks, now imagine the same doctor doesn't "let" women go to their due dates and wants to induce around 38.5 weeks..so now the baby is what 36 weeks? ..... well now you have a pre-term infant on hand. While most pre-term babies are fine (sorry not percent here couldn't find one) some do not do alright and that is a chance I DO NOT wish to take.

 Ok so here is my education, if you can pin point conception by charting your daily waking basal body temperature as described in the book Taking Charge of Your Fertility then you will know when to accept an induction if that is the path you so should choose. You will be able to know exactly how far you are and how developed your baby is and when it should be safe for them to come into the world if you choose not to let nature be. Charting is easy actually, it is just something that becomes a part of your morning wake up. The alarm (or in my case crazy energetic 3 yr old) goes off you pop the thermometer in your mouth, it beeps, you write it down. Some women then take the temps and chart them to see when the thermo shift happens when ovulation occurs. When you are able to pin-point this you know exactly how far along you are when you become pregnant, and education is your best weapon against unwanted inductions! Seriously, think about it!!

Summa-time

pardon my sausage feet

 Ah summer has hit Northern Alabama, well the temputure says it has, ok well it did last week anyway (this week...chilly!) I set up the pool we got the kids this year, which is nice and big and deep if we want for all of us to relax in our yard if The Marine ever cuts the grass in the back. We bought this pool months ago from toys r us for around $25, a steal! Both kids this year can walk and are able to do decently in a pool, you know with me watching so Ladybig doesn't try to drown her brother and blame it on something else. Her evil streak is coming through, yep she is 3 years old and thats worse than 2.  The 90 degree heat last week seems to have been a fluke as right now it's barely 65 out there, cloudy and a little rainy, boooo, but I will take it as I do not fair well in heat. Never have, I get nicely overheated and passout-able, always a good time. Also as a ginger I tend to burn and sunburns suck along with the insane crackhead like itching that comes along with the healing.

 Ha ha Mister has a slightly harder time getting in and out, it requires him to use his special climbing talents. Maybe we should think about a ladder for him! Our pool sides come up to his chest!

 The kids also got a water table this year, which has been a huge hit since we bought it. Shown above is one part of the table they love so much, going off their love for dumping cups of water onto whatever is around.

 we say it was an early birthday gift for Ladybug, but really it is just because I thought they would enjoy it and they do!

 So summer time! What are you doing now that the weather is nice and enjoyable?!

Knowing Your Body

 Disclaimer: This blog may be too personal for many of you. I am about to talk a lot about womanly things, so if you do not wish to read more about me personally than you think you want to know click away. I warned you.

 So in general knowing your body and it's functions is a good thing. You can become in tune with your body and know illness coming on, tummy troubles, headaches and when they come. However when it comes to women knowing their own body the less known is better attitude happens a lot. Who really likes talking about their periods? Not many, let alone talking about how your period is totally normal, natural, and needed or the reasons behind the period. Most women know about every 28-34 days on average things start sucking. Cramps hurt, PMS sucks for everybody around you (ha ha sorry Marine!), bloating makes sweatpants seem fashionable suddenly. But how many of you know tell me how your cycle really works? ...I am guessing not many, which is sad we women need to know our bodies and take charge of them! Especially those looking to increase their fertility and pregnancy odds. Even more those try to conceive and having troubles, you REALLY need to be in tune with your body. There are some things to learn to help. I want to talk about them here, now.

 There is this book that I recommend to anybody wanting to know more about their body, fertility, and anything related to being a woman. It's Called Taking Charge of Your Fertility. It is an amazing read. It teaches you things I know the majority of you have never known about before. Example have you ever felt your own cervix? ...nah I didn't think so. Have you ever heard about charting your daily basal body temp to track ovulation patterns? Or ever take notice your personal vaginal fluids during the month? All of those relate to your fertility and are important to be aware of.  I know this isn't for everybody and I am not saying everybody needs to go ahead right now and shove your hands up there, but it is your body maybe you should know how it works. Maybe you should get over your high schoolish giggles and stop being grossed out or whatever and understand yourself a little better.

 The cervix is quite the amazing little thing. Did you know it changes positions, textures, opens up and closes all throughout your cycle? Did you know it also produces mucous when you are most fertile, mucous that is stretchy-clear almost like egg whites actually. Have you ever even seen one? If not hop on over to The Beautiful Cervix if you dare, it's pretty cool. You might learn something!

 Have you ever heard of a woman who takes her temperature every morning and charts it? Probably not most likely. It really informative and a great tool to track and pin point ovulation in a woman. During the beginning of a woman's cycle her body temp is low (like around 97degrees) and it should stay pretty steady. As the body ovulates the temp jumps up (know as a thermal shift) and after ovulation the temp stays higher and can either drop back down low when the new cycle starts or can stay high or even higher if pregnancy occurs. It's pretty neat, though can be a pain to remember your temp every morning at first. If you so should choose to read the book above it can teach you more about this method and even has software that tracks everything for you, all you have to do is plug in your temps. Check out the galleries here for some examples of charts. I have been doing this for years, since before Ladybug was born.

 Ok so have you been informed a little yet? You really should read that book, or check out the fourms that go along with the book on their website http://www.tcoyf.com/forums/. Maybe some day you will find out what Mittelschmerz means! I will give you a hint...it sometimes hurts!!!

 We all know our periods suck, what is to love about them? How many of you have been using tampons or pads all your life? Did you ever think there were other options? Ever think about them chemicals in those products you use? Or how much money you have wasted on them? Ever hear of the toxic shock syndrome? If not maybe you should look it up, and come back and read about how to avoid that and probably makes your period way more comfortable (including the elimination of cramps, cause ya know those suck monkey balls). So there are many options out there for you but first you need to get rid of that yuck or eww factor like asap....is it gone? ok here we go

 OK here is option number 1 and the option most women use. It is called a menstrual cup (this particular one is called a diva cup) and I personally use this one. I love it. I never would go back to anything else honestly. So how does it work? Well it's a cup, it goes in (ok yes there is a learning curve on this but once you get it, you get it!) and it collects. It is not gross, you simply carefully take it out and empty it twice a day or more if you have a heavy flow. Rinse it out and put it back in. simple. It's not messy, I personally have never had a spill or a total gross moment using the cup ever. I can personally say I used to get some nasty cramps, like make you think about taking more than one perocept at a time cramps and since using the cup I ever have no cramps or extremely mild whatever mainly annoying cramps. Want to know why? ...well simply put I am not putting some awful chemicals from a tampon in my body. Another reason to love the cup is the no trash factor....like on vacation recently it was simple and easy...no embarrassing trash in the bathroom for all to see. Be honest when you go into a bathroom and see nasty bloody trash you are grossed out aren't you? Or ever had a dog enjoy that trash and bring it out for all to see? Yep...that doesn't happen here with this...nobody knows besides you! When your period is over simple wash/boil (whatever the cup says to do) and store for next time around. It isn't big at all, most come in sizes to perfectly fit you and your needs. It's made of silicone or some have natural rubber so it is soft and flexible, and once in you nearly forget you are even on your period! Seriously this is way easier, cost effective, less gross, and more green than what you are doing now. For about $30-$40 for a cup it will last a few years, how much do you spend for a few years on tampons or pads? ...think about it!  

 Next is a pad, a washable pad. Now I personally do not do this route but plenty of women do. Pictured above is a popular brand called Luna Pads. The idea with these is the same as the pads you use now. The have wings that snap into place and some in light, regular, heavy, and overnight pads. They have fun cute prints (cause I am not sure...women like cute things?). The backing is waterproof so they do not leak and They are super soft and you can buy some with minkee tops, have you ever felt minkee? It is heavenly soft! Your vag would thank you for being so nice if it could! (or that might be creepy....) So these are for those who do not like inserting things, like if it's not comfortable for you or hurts but you want something green and healthy. You would change these like normal and then place them in their own bag (most starter kits come with waterproof bags to keep by the toilet and can be washed too) or I have seen some women keep a wet bucket near the toilet and place in there so they don't stain. You throw these in the wash with a little natural detergent and wash for next time. It's a little more involved than the cup above but a very great product and plenty of women use these. I know a few and they love and swear by them. Me personally I have enough laundry to do, just saying.

 Ok so this one is in my personal opinion a little too out there for me and therefore not for me BUT i do know somebody who uses these. This is a natural sea sponge tampon. It is a sea sponge that is small enough for you (these also come in sizes including teen sizes which I find pretty cool!). When they come to you they are hard but you prep them to get the softness. The idea behind these is simple, they absorb. When you change it out you rinse in the sink, yes you do have to squeeze out these which is where I personally draw a line. You wash them in a little water and some mild soap I think (feel free to correct me if I am wrong) and maybe some tea tree oil to keep bacteria away. They are good for 4-8months and are nice and cheap. Sorry I cannot offer more info on these I just don't have much as I only know the one person to use them!

 There are plenty of more options out there including cotton bamboo washable tampons. You just need to figure out what level of comfort you have with yourself and go from there. I never in my life thought I would be this out there I guess, but honestly the cup is the best thing ever and I would NEVER go back from it. I love my diva cup I really wish somebody had told me sooner about it. So go out buy or rent the book above, use google, browse the fertility fourms, read about options you have and take charge! You may even come back and thank me some day....maybe!