Boarded the Pregnancy Train. . .

I am always looking for ideas on what to feed my picky children. If I had my way I would eat gourmet meals but grew tired of the chants of "ewww gross!". So I get a book on family meals and almost every one of the meals looks gross. I look online for healthy family meals and again everything looks disgusting. I guess I prefer the fake redneck food.

Part of it comes from the fact I had a meat and potatoes dad and four brothers who would protest worse than any of those occupiers on Wall Street if my mother dared to serve us "health foods". Organic food crap didn't exist, no seafood (I didn't discover that was a good thing until Prom Night), and squash and pumpkin were forbidden. I remember a certain relative throwing a fit over eating zucchini when I was real small. (I will let you guess who it was!)

Part of it is because in my family we were taught to question everything. I think that is why one of us got into nutrition and the other is a scientist. This has saved us many times. When it seemed that everyone was telling us to buy a house the market was hot, we questioned it, did research and decided that it was a false market and that eventually prices would crash. We were proven correct. Organic food is the same way. We researched it and discovered a lot of it was based on crap. Most of it was even political and can be traced back to pre-WWII Germany. (Not by the NAZI's though some in the organic movement became NAZI's)

So I am reading this book about healthy dinners for kids and the entire time feel sorry for the kids in these families. I also wonder if the moms really feed their kids McDonald's.

Every recipe had organic veggies, ground turkey, turkey or vegetarian sausage. The vegetables were steamed plain. Everything was whole wheat this or that and I am sorry but whole wheat noodles are gross. I CAN eat those things and even love tofu but my kids aren't going to eat it and I've tried and tried but they just don't make good family meals. A good meal must savor every sense. It must have a combination of bitter, sweet, salty, sour, and savory. (umami) I lot of those "healthy meals" skipped out on "savory". (oh and East Asians add fishy but that could count as umami I guess.)

To me a good family meal is a hearty loving meal with flavor that feels the belly and warms the soul. My favorite family meals from my own home weren't salad or healthy low-fat versions of good food but the warm full meals. My favorite meals were country vegetables (our vegetarian night), barbecue chicken, and ranch style hash which was basically beef and rice. I loved stew and my mother's turkey and dressing. When I talk about these meals with women I have literally seen their noses sneer at me as if I said I ate roasted racoons.


A savory meal can be healthy as long as you don't eat 5 helpings of it. None of my kids are overweight and all of them are healthy. I freak out so much that I have the doctor check on them to make sure they are getting enough nutrients. They always pass. So there is nothing bad about feeding your kids foods with flavor and no need to torture them with bland health foods. Even the vegetarian Indian dishes are full of flavor!

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 12:22 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

The main reason why I was unable to write is because I caught a terrible cold. It was one of those colds that last for two weeks. It started with a sore throat, then chills, then a runny nose, and finally the worst part, the cough. The cough part lasts the longest unfortunately. So, I was exhausted from staying up all night with my newborn, sore from just giving birth, and hacking my lungs out all at the same time. I didn't get out much. I think of it as God's way of making me slow down and recover from child birth.

Just as the coughing was beginning to stop, I caught the stomach virus. I did not throw up, but had trouble the other way if you know what I mean. Then my son sat in my bed one morning crying and then threw up right next to me. My husband happened to be at the gym. I think I had three hours sleep the night before being up with Aron. I gave up by then. Cleaned up my two year old, washed my sheets, then back to my feeding, burping, pooping routine with my newborn. My poor little two year old was sick for three days. Then my daughter kept complaining about a lot of spit in her mouth. Two minutes later she was running to the bathroom to throw up. She was sick for four days and missed preschool.

Finally, we got through all of the illness. I went to the mall three days in a row and had the most fun I've had in a year. I hung out with my three kids. I really enjoyed spending time with them and realize that having three kids is such a blessing. With each child your love grows bigger, for love never runs out. You can have 10 kids and your heart will grow big enough for each one. I love having my three kids and have no regrets. The nine months of pain was worth it.

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 9:48 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Sorry it took a while to write again in my blog!! I took a maternity leave!

At about 9 PM my parents arrived to stay the night at my house to watch my older kids. It was difficult to go to sleep that night. I was scheduled to be induced at 5AM. I was also not allowed to take any medicine so I knew I would have a hard time going to sleep. At 10 PM I ate my last meal, chicken stir fry and talked to my parents until 11 PM. I then laid in the bed until I fell asleep. At 4:30 I woke up to go to the bathroom and then got ready to go.

At 4:45 AM my husband woke up and then we left to go to my scheduled inducement. It was strange driving so early in the morning. The construction workers were out fixing the road and there was no traffic. Only the Steak N Shake was open.

We finally arrived on time at 5AM. The nurses started my anti-biotics for the Strep immediately. My contractions were good but were not in any order. I went to sleep until 7AM when they began the pitocin.

At first the contractions were small and I could talk through them with no problem. My mother arrived soon after and we watched the boring news about the cops catching the polygamist, Warren Jeffs.

They gave me more pitocin and finally at 10:30 AM the contractions were strong. They came every two and a half minutes. I did ok, except I was real hungry suddenly. All I could think about was food. I think my blood sugar fell as well because I began to feel faint. I wanted to eat, but at the same time I felt so nauseous. I started to feel dizzy and weak. That is when the nurse asked if I wanted an epidural. I went ahead and got one.

Getting the epidural was painful because I was having a contraction at the same time I was getting the epidural. I didn't feel the instant relief afterwards either that I normally felt. I still felt my contractions and was still in pain, even feeling when I was getting examined. I also felt a lot of pressure but it was not the head coming out. In fact, I was not dilated much. Because I felt too much pain I got another epidural.

The epidural was TOO strong. I could not feel my legs at all. In the past, I could feel my legs a little bit, enough to hold them up by myself when giving birth. This time my legs were dead weight. They felt like fleshy bags. It was a horrible feeling. I felt more and more weak and nauseous and my blood pressure dropped extremely low. I felt like passing out and I almost threw up. Right about then at 2:40 PM I went up to 10 centimeters. I only had to push a couple of times and at 2:49 PM I finally gave birth to my beautiful baby boy, Aron Bek who was 8 pounds 1 ounce and 21 inches.

He is beautiful, with a full head of black hair and dark skin. We think his eyes may be blue but we are not sure yet.

The first thing I did after giving birth was order some food. It felt so GOOD to eat. I was unable to move my legs well until the next morning.

My two older kids were happy to see their brother and we haven't had any problems. Jon Jon was upset that I wasn't at home for three days but that was all.

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Tuesday is the day I will be induced. I will go into the hospital at 5AM. I will be induced using pitocin.

This will be my third time being induced using pitocin. I was induced with my daughter because I was overdue and was not contracting properly on my own. I was also not dilating. My water broke with my son at 38 weeks. I never started labor, so I was given pitocin to start the labor and had my son a few hours later.

As I wrote before, pitocin is really oxytocin, a hormone that your body naturally creates when in labor, or when having an orgasm.

I have heard many horror stories about pitocin. I know that everybody responds differently to the hormone. Some people have terrible labors with little rest between contractions. Some do not have strong enough contractions. I have heard about women given pitocin that had labor for two days and talked through most of their contractions.

My experience so far has not been bad. It regulated my contractions better and really helped me start my labor. Both times I used it, I had my babies after 6 hours. The only problem I had with my daughter was a reaction to pain medication I took. The experience with my son was easy. The contractions did not get too bad until after three hours. I was given an epidural 45 minutes later.

Some interesting articles:
Pitocin:Friend or Foe
Pitocin-Does it Increase Pain?

Please share your induction stories!!

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Oxytocin is a hormone released during labor. It has many uses:

1. Causes milk to be "let down" when nursing
2. Causes uterine contractions and cervix dilation. It also causes those painful cramps when you nurse your baby the first week or so.
3. It is secreted during orgasm or nipple stimulation or even during a romantic massage
4. Reduces anxiety and increases tolerance to pain
5. It is sold as pitocin (I didn't know that before)

That is why when you are having pain caused by pregnancy, a romantic massage does relieve the tension. It is also the reason for the rumor that intercourse causes labor to start. (I still don't believe it though, and no I won't try it)So I guess our husbands are our natural pain relievers and labor inducers. They are needed during labor after all!! They can not only be our coaches, but they can give us hugs and rubs during the tense times of labor.

I would like to hear comments from people who know more about oxytocin and know more about biology. This is real interesting to me.

(info from Wikipedia)

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 2:31 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

For the past three days I have had menstrual like cramps. These cramps are the worst I have ever had. They disappointed me because I had no contractions afterwards. I refuse to take tylenol at this point because I heard that pain medication can inhibit labor. I am insane I know!

I asked around what to do to relieve the cramping and of course the best advice came from my sister-in- law. She suggested I soak in a warm bath. If they go away they are nothing. If it is true labor, the bath will help labor intensify more quickly.

I also tried walking, which helped me and of course, a massage.

The cramps are gone for now and I feel much better. Going to physical therapy also helped relieve the tension and cramping.

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

What the heck is it? Does losing it mean that labor is hours away?

The mucus plug is a build up of secretions on the opening of the cervix that protect the uterus and baby from infection. Usually sometime in the ninth month you lose this mucus plug because the cervix is dilating. The mucus plug is a gooey substance that looks a little like gelatin. Sometimes you find it in your clothes, sometimes after wiping when using the bathroom. It kind of looks like a plug.

To be honest, this is the only pregnancy where I noticed that I lost the mucus plug. Quite often you can lose the mucus plug gradually and it seems more like a heavy discharge. Sometimes it has blood in it, sometimes it is clear.

The bad news is that it doesn't exactly mean that labor is hours away. You can have at least two more weeks to go!

It is strange that I looked up a lot of information on "mucus plug" but found it beneficial to read message boards on the topic and read what other women went through. Some said that theirs was clear, some said there was a bloody show, one lady said she wiped it up and showed it to her husband. (ewwwww!)

I don't have any weird stories to share, and this is the only time in my life that I will describe discharges. Pregnancy changes women, that is all I will say.

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 2:13 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

1. Dropping: Check. I feel like I have a bowling ball in between my legs. At my last check up the midwife confirmed that the head was very low.
2.Frequent Urination: Check.
3. Low Back Ache: Check Check! I had to take medication, the pain was so bad.
4.Stronger Braxton Hicks Contractions: Check. Though there is still no regularity.
5. Diarrhea: No. In fact, I am constipated. For once in my life I am wishing to have diarhhea. Can you believe that?
6.Increased Vaginal Dischage: Check
7. Passing of Mucus Plug: Check, with not a lot of blood
8. Water Breaking: Well, I am still at home am I? So no.

I was almost 3 centimeters dilated at my last check up as well. I also feel nauseous and have the worst menstural like cramps. WHY ISN"T ANYTHING HAPPENING THEN????

I gave up timing my Braxton Hicks Contractions. I just live life like normal. I was not meant to have a baby early I guess. This boy needs to grow a little bit more.

List from askdrsears.com

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 1:19 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Well, nothing yet. I am almost 3 centimeters but not soft enough to be induced. No regular contractions, though I am crampy. I am scheduled to be induced next Tuesday. Sorry I am not writing too much. It is difficult for me to get in the mood to write about pregnancy. I am too busy getting angry at the news for showing John Mark Karr's every move. I'd rather see a war or something. Now I am watching a documentary on the Emperor Trajan. That is how I survive the final month of pregnancy. I obsess over politics. During my son's birth we were in an election year at least. I think this year I will obsess over ancient Rome. Those Romans were crazy!

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 8:58 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

One thing that I haven't read anywhere about the third of fourth pregnancy is how differently you carry the baby by the ninth month. This time I feel like someone lodged a bowling ball in between my legs. It is the oddest feeling in the world. I feel like I am walking on my baby's head! This is not how I felt with the other pregnancies. Sure I felt pelvic pressure, but never this low!! I can hardly walk. If I take to wide of a step I feel that pressure and it feels unnatural. I called my doctor and was told that was normal if you have had more than two pregnancies. Your body doesn't hold the baby as high anymore causing that bowling ball in a bag feeling.

Ways to prevent that from happening: kegel exercises and yoga! Good physical therapy also works.

Posted by Duchess of Purple at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post