So I started a new project. A family blog – kindof like a family newsletter – but interactive! I think I’ll still keep this one alive (for now anyway…) for those days that I just need some girl time, but if you are interested in checking out the other, the address is:
www.lynchlaughter.blogspot.com
I hope you can come by for a visit!
So after I posted the previous post, I dove into You Tube looking for some videos of natural births that did not involve a woman screaming at the top of her lungs. I found many beautiful videos, but this one was by far my very favorite. What a peaceful, serene way to welcome a baby into the world! **No worries – no nudity**
What a totally random blog post, right? This weekend my bestie of fifteen years had a baby. A beautiful, healthy little girl – Noelle Claire. At one point Jenn was telling me that one of her nurses mentioned that it was stupid of people not to get epidurals, because “you wouldn’t get your teeth drilled on without Novacaine.” Jenn had an epidural and loved it, so she didn’t think twice about the comment. Immediately though, I’m thinking, “Yes, because that’s exactly the same thing” (at which point I’m rolling my eyes). I mean really Nurse Know-It-All, even if you are a firm believer in epidurals, should it really be your job to share those views with women who may not agree with you? And, getting your teeth drilled on and having a natural childbirth are not even relatively similar. Women were made to have babies, right? Drills haven’t been around forever…
Unmedicated childbirth has been a fascination of mine for several years now. It seems like such a natural process that we’ve turned into something comepletely terrifying! I can tell you the very moment that I became aware of women having unmedicated births, and enjoying them. I was watching a show years ago about this woman who decided that hospitals weren’t for her and that she wanted to have her baby in the water in the ocean. For days, her and her husband drove around the edge of this island in Europe trying to find the perfect place. They found this little cove that looked like a swimming pool. The water was running into it from this small waterfall off of a nearby hill, it was perfectly clear, and shallow enough that she could stand and move around. They actually set up a tent near the cove (so they would be ready when the time came) and a couple of days later she went into labor. A midwife was there just in case, but under strict instruction that he would not say anything at all or even be visible unless there was a problem, so he stayed to the side and recorded the entire thing. She labored in the pool and then had the baby right there with her husband, who assisted with catching the baby. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, and in the midst of her groaning, it was so very peaceful. From that moment on, I’ve had an entirely different view of births. And I’ve done plenty of research! I’ve read TONS of stuff about unmedicated vs medicated births, and the pros and cons of each. Let me tell you, you women who are fans of epidurals – you guys are hard core! There are soooo many articles out there about how ridiculous it is to have an unmedicated birth. The cool thing about an unmedicated birth though, is that your body essentially tells you what to do. If you are having lower back pain, for example, quite often that means the baby needs to rotate a bit. When you move into a position that accomodates your hurting back, the baby naturally rotates. Who knew?!
Will I try to have an unmedicated/natural childbirth? I think so. Obviously, we’ll have to see how things go. I guess the first step in the equation would be to get pregnant! And going “au naturale” isn’t for everyone, I’m sure. In fact, I only know one woman my age (kudos to you Jenn) who has had an unmedicated birth. Let’s face it, the odds of support for no drugs aren’t exactly in my favor! Let me tell ya, I’m a huge fan of modern medicine, and believe me, if I have a 29 hour labor I will most definitely be taking advantage of some!!! But until we get there, I have really, really enjoyed learning about those women who just let it happen…their way.
So I rarely talk about television on here, but do any of you watch The Bachelor? Oh. My. Gosh. Talk about drama. I have never watched it, and, in fact, thought it looked stupid, but this year it came on one of those nights where nothing else was on so I decided to watch. Let me tell you, I have been hooked and watched every single night since.
So if you don’t watch it, here is a little breakdown. Jason, who is the bachelor, starts out with 25 very different women. Each week he narrows them down until the final two, at which point he has the option to propose to one of them. So this year, the final two were Melissa and Molly. Josh and I both have been routing for Melissa for awhile now. We absolutely adore her – she is funny, cute (previous Dallas Cowboys cheerleader), wants to teach, and really genuine. Then there was Molly, who is also great, but just not our favorite. So the final episode he sends Molly home and actually proposes to Melissa, and which point she squeals with happiness and he picks her up and spins her around. It was so sweet, and the show ended with Josh and I really, truly hoping that they would make it and end up married forever and ever. WELL, there is always a final episode where the couple comes on and talks about life after the show. Usually the other girls are on, too. This year when it started, the studio was completely empty and the host said something about protecting the privacy of those involved, blah, blah, blah. So Jason comes out and proceeds to tell the host that he is still in love with Molly and thinks he made a mistake.
?!?!?!?!?!?!
But whatever, ya know, it’s his life and obviously he can do whatever he wants with it. Here’s where the really, terrible part happened. They bring out Melissa and he proceeds to break up with her and tell her he loves Molly on national television. What kindof JERK does that? Literally, you could see her heart breaking. It was devastating! They turned a mushy show into something off of Jerry Springer. Personally, I find it hard to believe that if he cared about her at all, even as a friend, he wouldn’t have broken up with her on television. What a jerk. If that wasn’t bad enough, they bring out Molly, who immediately takes him back and starts making-out with him right there. Ugh.
I’m a sucker for some good reality tv, but this totally crossed a line. Melissa will be on Ellen today telling her story, so I am quite looking forward to that.
We got SNOW!!! For those of you who don’t know, I’m a Tennessee girl, and we just do not get snow very often. We woke up this morning to a good 4 inches, and surrounding counties got up to 10 inches! We haven’t seen this much snow in years and years and I am SO excited! I took some pictures standing in my doorways.
At the beginning of January, I started a new job with my company. New position, new responsibilities, new boss. Let me preface anything negative with gratitude for the opportunity to be in this new role. I am challenged almost daily, I am gaining all kinds of experience that will help me in future jobs, I adore a good majority of the people that I work with, and I am paid well for my efforts.
Having said that, my heart isn’t in it at all.
I don’t like the, “I need it done yesterday,”high intensity, working through lunch, “This is no good – do it over, “kindof stuff. I don’t like having to schedule meetings to have a phone conversation with people because their schedules are so overbooked. I hate reporting to someone who wants to be copied on every little thing that leaves my inbox. I hate commuting an hour to and from work each day. I can’t stand people not doing their work correctly the first time, forcing me to just go in and fix it myself. I hate when people send out company e-mails that are grammatically incorrect from a box that I manage. I HATE being paraded in front of big-wigs in the company to introduce myself and explain my job role. I hate when someone tells me to have something done by a certain time, and then moves that time up dramatically. I hate being scared to approach my boss about anything at all. And I hate, hate, hate feeling so stressed out every single day.
I suppose I wouldn’t feel so bad about all of the above if I felt like what I did made a difference. Sure, I appreciate my cell phone just as much as anyone else, but at the end of the day, did I really, truly help anyone? Nope. Not at all.
I want to teach. That is my heart’s desire. I would do all of the above happily if I felt like I could play a role in bettering the future for a child. How rewarding to be able to encourage and inspire! And I’m getting there – it’s just taking FOREVER to finish school. Even longer since I’m now commuting because I’m limited to online classes and Saturday classes….sigh….
I’m just ready to play a different role.
It happened slowly. First, there was any denial that my grocery bags or chemicals, or bottled water had any kindof negative impact on the environment. Then, I started to realize that maybe they did. Shortly after that, I became a Planet Green, homemade house cleaners, filtered water, and canvas grocery bags kindof girl. I must confess – I love it. I feel like I’m contributing to the environment, and in addition, I feel like my house will be a healthier home without all of the unnecessary fumes seeping from under our sinks.
My favorite thing that I’m working on though, is turning my backyard into a large organic vegetable garden! Do we know anything at all about organic gardening? Absolutely not! But we’re learning. We are learning about companion planting, and organic bug sprays, and all kinds of other interesting stuff. Last year, we signed up with this local garden to pick up boxes of organic veggies for 26 weeks. I was amazed at the difference in taste! Although we loved it, there were some weeks that we got stuff we didn’t like, or didn’t know what to do with, and that’s how the idea of starting our own garden was born. Today I’m mapping everything out – from herbs, to veggies, to flowers (naural bug repellants!) I wish I had something this cool when I was a kid, and it makes me wish I had a kid to share it with….hopefully, we’ll still have it going when a little one finally does arrive!
Here is a “before” picture, that will hopefully be followed by an “after” picture in a few short weeks!
Today was a very, very busy day at work. Well…at least the last half of the day. My boss has been living in NY, so we’ve been communicating via e-mail and phone calls, but she finally relocated to TN and today was her first official day in the office. I felt like it would be busy, and when I met with her – I was right! We went over A TON of stuff, and I definitely have my work cut out for me the next couple of weeks. It’s good work though – I still enjoy it very much, and adore the people I work with 
In other news, I am having knee issues. I think I posted about it awhile back, but I’ll refresh. I used to do competition cheerleading, and in ‘99 I tore my ACL, MCL, and Meniscus. Basically 2 ligaments and some cartilage. I had to have a full ACL reconstruction, and all has been well for 9 years. In December I noticed a bit of pain and swelling, but ignored it for a few weeks thinking it would just disappear. Wrong. It only got worse and then I could feel it popping every time I walked. I went to the same orthopedic doc that did my original surgery, and after a physical exam, he suspects I have re-torn my meniscus. No fun. And the thing is, I have no idea when it could have happened. There wasn’t ever an “ow” moment that made me think something was wrong – it was very gradual. So he gave me some anti-inflammatory meds to take for a few weeks, and then I go back on the 16th for an MRI. If I did happen to re-tear, unfortunately the only repair would be surgery. I have dreaded another surgery ever since the very day I got out of the hospital from the first one. Let’s just keep our fingers crossed that it is more minor than he thinks, and that the meds resolve the problem!
Cue the angels, shine down the lights from heaven – I’m back!! Okay, okay, maybe with not so much enthusiasm from you, but I am quite excited! My life has been a whirlwind of busyness over the last couple of months, and I must admit, I am quite happy to be done with the holidays. It’s always so great to see everyone, but by the end of this year I was ready to avoid everyone altogether. That’s primarily due to my job. Josh and I host Christmas Eve at our home, and we had an insane amount of people over this year. Normally, I’m off and can prepare by baking, decorating, andcleaning, but this year I had to work every single day the two weeks before Christmas, including Christmas Eve day. Because of that, I was averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night – trust me, I don’t fare well on no sleep!
No baby updates from my direction, but I did have a big change – I got a new job! Still with the same company I’ve been at, but just a new position. I moved into headquarters, and I’m on a team that manages our outsourced vendors. I must say, it’s fabulous. I could not possibly be any happier with my job right now. That may change next week, as there will be about five other people joining my team, but for now, all is well
I am amazed looking at your blogs how much I have missed! Melissa and Elaine are almost due, and Sara’s little one is SO big! And those are just the ones I’ve caught up on!! I will be catching up on everyone over the weekend, and guess what my New Year’s Resolution is? Blog at least three times a week!!! I can’t wait to read all of these exciting updates!
HAPPY VETERANS DAY!
Today is a day that brings back a flood of memories from the last five years – both good and bad. For those of you who don’t know, my little brother is a veteran. He completed three tours in Iraq and, thankfully, is out and safe. I will never, ever forget laying in bed and wondering if he would come home, or when I got the call that he was ambushed, or his friends that gave their lives. I will never forget the images that he sent back, or the stories that he has told, or the emotional recovery he made once he was out for good. In honor of him, I thought I would post some pictures.
The first two pictures are of my brother, Michael. The last one is a is memorial honoring all of his friends who lost their lives. To the men and women who serve our country so selflessly, God bless you. You truly are my heroes, and I will never, ever , take my freedom for granted.
I am a 25 year old wife, longing desperately to join the club of motherhood. My faith has been tested throughout this journey, but I know my true hope lies in the Lord. I continue to trust and believe that we will create our own little miracle very soon.
