Category Archives: health - Page 2

Awesome & Win

Posted by on August 9, 2010 8 comments

The nurse-in last Friday was made of awesome and win.  Thank you all.

I was so proud of the turnout — a photographer from the local newspaper pegged us at over 20+ mamas strong, not including daddies and babies and other supporters.  KUAC-FM mentioned us during the 12 pm newshour before the event.  CBS News 13 interviewed me before the nurse-in, and we were featured in the 6 pm and 11 pm news that night.  Two photos from the event were featured on the front page of the Fairbanks Newsminer the next day.

The energy from the participants was amazing, and the sentiments from passersby seemed largely positive despite a couple of unfortunate encounters.  The media was initially kicked out of the store, but were later invited back in.  John and I guessed that they didn’t want any more bad publicity.

We were there for about an hour inside the store, nursing, visiting with other parents, reveling in the positivity, enjoying the moment.  We had sort of descended on Starbucks en masse, and they were so patient even though I’m sure they were a bit overwhelmed.  The clerk nearest to us was very pleasant and polite.  Management stood by, looking rather nervous or insecure, possibly both.

I’m still so excited that it all went so well.  Overall it was such a wonderful experience.

Click images to enlarge


I’m so proud of the nurse-in, and of all of you out there who came out to support us, or sent your support from wherever you are.

I had mentioned to a few people how I’ve been wanting to expand my social circle, to meet like-minded people to hang out with and have playdates with, and one fabulous mama put it in an  awesome, empowering way:  I manifested a community around me, I manifested friends.  I guess I truly do have powerful magic.  I know I’m blessed to have had the support that I did, that I do.

What a great time it was.  I’m so hopeful that I’ve helped spread the message that there is nothing indecent about breastfeeding, and even more hopeful that at least one more mama will feel comfortable feeding her baby whenever and wherever he’s hungry.

At the nurse-in. Photo by Georganne Hampton, cropped by me.

A Friend in Need

Posted by on August 8, 2010 1 comment

My friend Benah has been diagnosed with breast cancer.  She is a lovely, intelligent, compassionate, funny, kind, fabulous mother of two, and her diagnosis breaks my heart.

She is set to have a double mastectomy next Friday, and chemotherapy is likely on the horizon.

She is participating in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in Phoenix, AZ.  You can help her reach her fundraising goal.

Her family is transforming the guest room in their house into a healing & recovery room for her.  I think this is absolutely brilliant.  I’m working on a contribution myself, and will gladly forward on anything that you all care to send to me.  She could use all the positive healing vibes she can get!

Sending you lots of love, Benah!

Call for a nurse-in and a boycott!

Posted by on August 1, 2010 22 comments

You read my blog, presumably because you like (most of) what I have to say.  I don’t always address you directly, but that’s because I treat this blog more like an online diary.  I know you’re out there, and I appreciate your readership.

Now I’m going to ask you to help me out.

You all (should) know that I breastfeed my children.  My boys are uncircumcised.  All the kids wear cloth diapers, many handmade by me.  They have all slept in our bed with us.  We eat organic & free range wherever we can.  We support local ventures whenever possible.  I fight the fights worth fighting (and some that aren’t, but I’m not afraid of confrontation), and this is a fight worth fighting.

I want you to join me (or just come and support me) in a nurse-in at Safeway grocery store here in Fairbanks, Alaska, located at Airport Way & University Drive.  It’ll be Friday, August 6th, 2010, at a time yet to be determined.  I want it to be at a time convenient for enough people to show up.  Here’s why.

They told me to stop nursing my baby and leave.  I’m sure y’all know I didn’t comply with this “request.”

Here’s the story:  My newborn son started crying at approximately 7:25 pm on August 1, 2010. I figured that he was in need of a diaper & sent my husband to the truck to get one.  While my husband was outside, I remained inside with our 3-year-old son, our 16-month-old daughter, and our newborn.  My newborn started his hungry cry, so I sat down at a stool next to the Starbucks coffee stand and began nursing him while our other two children sat in the kiddie car portion of a grocery cart in front of me.  My husband returned from the truck, ordered a coffee, and came back to stand next to us.  It was at that point that the shift manager approached me and said while pointing at my chest, “You can’t be doing that.  You’ll have to leave.” I said, “I won’t do any such thing.  I’m protected by Alaska state law.”  Some woman I couldn’t see said, “Yeah right, like it’s protected for you to just be indecent in public.”  My husband said, “If you want, you can call the state troopers.”  The unidentified woman said she would.  This was about 7:30 pm.  No such call appears to have been made as I continued to sit there nursing for another ten minutes and the Alaska state troopers never came in.  When my son finished nursing, we left the store without making any further purchases.  [An employee in the parking lot collecting grocery carts told me he believes the shift manager's name to be Josh.  "Josh" is in his late 20s to mid 30s, is Caucasian, has dark hair, wears glasses, stands roughly 5'8 to 6', and is heavy-set.]

There is nothing indecent about breastfeeding. My body grew a tiny, perfect human being (three times, at that).  Now that my child lives outside of me, my body continues to provide him with sustenance.  Without my body, he has no nourishment or comfort.  My body has done amazing and beautiful things.  My body is useful for so much more than sex.  My body feeds my baby (and occasionally a thirsty or upset toddler).  Breastmilk gives my children so many more benefits than formula-feeding.  Learning their cues also means that I am more in tune with their needs and personalities, in turn letting me become a better parent.  I will not let my child cry it out when I have the ability to calm him and meet his needs by breastfeeding.  I will not let some ignorant jackass stop my child from eating, wherever the fuck I am.  If I am breastfeeding, I am protected by Alaska state law, anywhere I go that I’m allowed to be.  I should be protected anywhere I ever go in any state, but some places haven’t caught up with what should be yet.  You can help raise breastfeeding rights awareness.

Alaska is among 44 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands, in that it has laws with language specifically allowing women to breastfeed in any public or private location.

Alaska is among 28 states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands, in that breastfeeding is exempt from public indecency laws.

AS 29.25.080. Breast-Feeding.

A municipality may not enact an ordinance that prohibits or restricts a woman breast-feeding a child in a public or private location where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be. In a municipal ordinance, “lewd conduct,” “lewd touching,” “immoral conduct,” “indecent conduct,” and similar terms do not include the act of a woman breast-feeding a child in a public or private location where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be. Nothing in this section may be construed to authorize an act that is an offense under a municipal ordinance that establishes an offense with elements substantially equivalent to the elements of an offense under AS 11.61.123 (indecent viewing & photography). This section is applicable to home rule and general law municipalities.

AS 01.10.060. Definitions.

(b) In the laws of the state, “lewd conduct,” “lewd touching,” “immoral conduct,” “indecent conduct,” and similar terms do not include the act of a woman breast-feeding a child in a public or private location where the woman and child are otherwise authorized to be. Nothing in this subsection may be construed to authorize an act that is an offense under AS 11.61.123 (indecent viewing & photography) .

So here’s what I ask of you —

NURSE-IN:  Join me in Safeway at University & Airport this Friday, August 6th, 2010, to nurse your baby in public.  Leave a comment below or email me at crystal@hippiediva.com and tell me what time is best for you.  I want to set this up so that as many people as possible can participate.  Get the word out!  Also,

BOYCOTT:  After the nurse-in, let your voice be heard with your dollars!  Boycott Safeway!  Get the word out!

Please, pass this along.

What a way to ring in World Breastfeeding Week.

Anticipating Baby

Posted by on July 2, 2010 1 comment

Hi, Baby McDonald #3.  This is your story.

I found out I was pregnant with you in a WalMart bathroom in San Antonio, TX, at the end of our coast trip with your daddy’s family.  I was shocked, to say the least.  I was finally able to tell your father about 45 minutes later.  I held up the test and asked him if he thought that looked like a plus sign.  He was shocked, too.

It’s not that we didn’t want you, and aren’t ecstatic to have you.  But, you see, your sister Camilla had just turned 7 months old.  I wasn’t expecting you, but am beyond thrilled to have you in our lives.  Clearly you were destined for our family.

You gave me a scare at 13 weeks (just like your brother and sister did).  Whereas I had a subchorionic hemorrhage with them, I actually had a tiny amniotic fluid leak with you.  That scared the crap out of me.  I was on edge for weeks, terrified of losing you.  I actually spent a great deal of the pregnancy worried that you were going to come early.  There’s no danger of that, as I started writing this the day I hit 41 weeks.  Clearly you are stubborn.

The pregnancy itself was pretty uneventful, for which I am grateful.  I’ve been in great health, and you have too.  JR is amazing, and you’re going to love having him as a big brother.  He’s so kind and sweet, smart and funny, and a million other fantastic things.  Camilla is pretty awesome too.  She’s a feisty, bright, willful, adventurous little girl who brings us all a smile.

I don’t know where to start to tell you how lucky you are to have the father that you do.  Maybe that will be a different story altogether.  I’ll leave it at this for now:  I’m lucky to have married my best friend and bore his children.  Really lucky.  Wait.  Not lucky — blessed.

Your due date was approaching, and I was starting to fret about my limited mobility.  We had just bought our first house, and your daddy had to pack the old house and move all by himself.  Then there was a fire on the road to the mine, and he had to take a week off which turned out to be okay because he was able to finish moving and cleaning.  We thought for sure that you’d make an entrance right after that, but no.  I’d had some Braxton Hicks contractions, but no signs of labor.  On your due date, June 25th, I had my OB’s nurse do a (very quick) membrane sweep.  I was barely 1.5 cm at that point.  With some help, I lost my mucus plug the next day, and started having bloody show the day after.

Then things stalled.

There was a lot of walking involved.  We all saw Toy Story 3 at some point.  There was a day we all walked up to Denny’s (with daddy pulling JR & Camilla in the wagon) for breakfast and back to the house.  There have been about a million trips to WalMart to walk around, probably resulting in the purchase of more crap than we ever thought we needed.  I figured out you were facing the wrong way — you were sunny-side-up, occiput posterior — and knew that you were going to have to turn around if I had a hope of ever getting you out.

I started doing all the things from Spinning Babies.  I have spent most of the last week on all fours, tushy up in the air, trying to encourage you to turn.  I felt drained, like I would be pregnant forever.  I was also starting to be in immense pain, so I scheduled a chiropractic appointment with Dr. Bill McAfee.  On July 1 (at 40w6d), he gave me an amazing sacral adjustment and did the Webster technique.  I had a contraction immediately upon standing up.  I felt you wiggling.  I had contractions all day and night, feeling you wiggle with them all.  The adjustment/technique opened up my pelvis and loosened up my uterine ligaments.  I felt fabulous and re-energized, and even got a good night’s sleep.

Today is July 2nd.  Today I am 41 weeks.  Today you turned around.  Today is also your (middle) namesake’s birthday.  Happy birthday, Uncle Darrell!  45 years ago, my mother gave birth to him.  Today I hope to give birth to you.  We’re all eager to meet you!

Ouch, Again

Posted by on June 22, 2009 No comments

So at 2:45 am two Mondays ago, I came down with a sudden high fever and extreme abdominal pain. At 6 am, my husband said I needed to be seen. I called my local physician, told him my symptoms, and he said I’d be best off by going in to Fairbanks to the emergency room. He said that chances were that I had acute appendicitis. Fun times.

I was nearly doubled over in pain all the way there. Once in town, JR went to M’s place. I had to drink about a gallon of blue crap and then got a CT scan. By late afternoon it had been confirmed that I had appendicitis, and the doctor told me I was going to have it removed. More fun.

Surgery was uneventful, though it seemed there were a million more people in the operating room than I thought necessary. I thought I’d be able to go home the next day, but instead spent the next day feverish, somewhat delirious, sleeping, and vomiting. Wednesday I was well enough to be discharged, and it was so nice to be recovering in the comfort of my own home. John took excellent care of me, the kids, and the house all week. I spent Thursday and Friday barely upright, and hardly held anything down. John went back to work on Monday, and I was mostly better by Wednesday. By this past weekend, I was my old self again, with just occasional abdominal pain.

I have a nifty new scar forming, and am wonderfully minus one useless, troublesome organ. Stupid evolutionary blip.

Catching up

Posted by on January 5, 2009 No comments

because I haven’t written in a bit.

The day we were flying back from Texas, I went into false labor. We had just gotten to my sister-in-law’s house, and I realized that my “stomach ache” was turning into something quite different. I had a gut-wrenching, can’t-stand-still-can’t-move-well-can’t-breathe-well contraction. Out of nowhere. Then, like 3 minutes later, I had another one. And then another one. We decided to bag it and go to the hospital seeing as how I was just 32 weeks along and could barely breathe through them. We left a confused JR with my in-laws, and drove off into the unknown parts of Ft. Worth to find a hospital. After getting sort of lost downtown, and me having 9 or 10 super strong contractions in an hour’s time, we got to the hospital’s ER entrance. Everything stopped. Not another contraction.

I talked to the on-call OB who stands in for my OB when he’s out of town, explaining that we had a plane to catch and that it’d been over half an hour without any activity. I signed a form to get out of being seen at the hospital, and we headed back to my in-laws’ house. We loaded everything up, said our goodbyes, got to the airport, dropped off the rental, then were given the runaround by TSA agents who were clueless about where the Alaska Airlines ticket counter was located. After walking like 1/2 a mile through and around the airport just to be sent back, it turned out to be right next to where the damn agents were standing when we asked. We checked in, checked our bags, got some Taco Hell, and made it to the gate just in time to board the plane. Whew!

The flight was fairly uneventful, and we switched planes without a hitch in Seattle. It seemed like it took forever to get to Fairbanks, and we were so ready to be off the plane when we finally landed. Holy crap was it cold though! It was -43*F when we landed. That was heartbreaking, given that it was 88*F when we left Texas. My nose started bleeding as soon as we hit the baggage claim area, it was so dry.

John left to get the truck from the parking garage downtown, we stopped at Safeway for groceries, then drove 100 miles to get home. Oh, the relief to finally be home!

John had to leave insanely early the next morning for work. JR and I were still sick (and still are) so we took it easy the first day. I had (and still have) so much cleaning to do though as we trashed the house in our extreme hurry to get ready to leave in the first place.

Thursday I woke up super early and went on a mini-cleaning spree. I scrubbed the downstairs bathroom, cleaned the living room, did the dishes, the laundry, the diapers, swept and mopped the kitchen, and decluttered the countertops, all before noon. I managed to get dinner in the crockpot (which was super yummy: beef short ribs, slow cooked in barbecue sauce) and had it ready to be served when John walked in the door that night. So tender it was falling off the fork!

Friday I was up early again (gotta love pregnancy insomnia), and had showered, eaten, made and drank coffee, checked all my usual websites, and straightened up the kitchen before anyone else even woke up. We went to town that day for our usual shopping trip. I went to Joann’s and got some cool new knitting supplies (thank you Bec) as well as a baby elephant and hippo for JR that he adores (they’re Schleich, and I love them). We ate at Chili’s because I was craving buffalo wings like nobody’s business, which was so not worth the final ticket price we paid for dinner. Doubt we’ll go back (John had a ribeye, I had shrimp & chicken). I discovered later that night taht I must be allergic to shrimp.  Nice.

Then we picked up a doggie coat & booties for our wussy indoor dog — and before you make any snide comments, those things are totally necessary for creatures in -40* and colder weather. We went in search of a new winter coat for JR too, though kept coming up short. FYI, Big Ray’s had a sign saying they were open until 8 (it was 7:15) and they turned us away. Frontier Outfitters is entirely too floofy, too. Sears was dead, and we speculate that they’ll be going under soon. Then it was off to WalMart for some random crap, then Freddie’s for groceries, then finally back home.

Saturday I was going to try to get together with M (who is this sweet woman that we’re trying to get to watch JR when I go into labor), but I started feeling even sicker and decided to nap with JR. John went back into town to pick up my meds and a handful of other things we’d forgotten (as he’s working this coming weekend and so won’t be home until next Thursday night).

Yesterday was a mellow day, thankfully.  John cleaned up our files downstairs, JR played, and I worked on a fun new knitting project (the Noro Striped Scarf).

Today, John headed back to work.  JR and I have just been hanging out for the most part.  I’ve scheduled John’s sinus surgery/pre-op/cat-scan, and also renewed my belief that Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center majorly sucks.  We got our home heating fuel delivery, and we’re now settled in with some simple snacks to watch the Fiesta Bowl (Hook ‘Em Horns!).

Then…

Posted by on December 25, 2008 No comments

…on Tuesday I felt like a superstar, so I asked John to take me to a clinic.  We got to a walk-in clinic at 2, and he dropped me off so he could go to the bank.  I went in, and they told me they were refusing my insurance, yet I could be seen as a cash patient for a ridiculous sum of money.  I politely told them to screw themselves.  At 3:30, John finally got back.  410 was backed up.  Traffic is that much fun in SA.  We drove to one Gonzaba Med Center, and they told us to go to their walk-in/urgent clinic, right by where we just were.  I waited for a bit over an hour there, but once I was brought back and actually seen by a physician — bam!  Yep, you’ve got a full-blown sinus infection, here’s a prescription, bye-bye.  So awesome (and I got to eat too, which this prego likes).

After going back to the house to retrieve my boy, whom I missed greatly by this point, we stopped at HEB to get my meds, then went across town to drop gifts off to my niece’s kids.  The kids were all fine, and she and I managed to keep it civil for fifteen or twenty minutes.  I don’t know if I could have done much longer than that.

Then we headed out to find a Babies R Us.  There was supposed to be one on Rector St., but we didn’t see it.  We went to the one by Ingram Mall, and I got to go in for like ten or fifteen minutes before they gave the closing bell-get-the-f-out announcement on the PA system.  A quick stop for stuff at HEB, then back to the house.

Yesterday, Christmas Eve, we ate at Jim’s then headed back to the mall to do our shopping for each other.  Yes, we both waited until the last possible moment.  We’re awesome like that.  We’re going to do that every year from now on, it was so much fun.  Seriously, Ingram was insane, yet we were able to get a parking spot fairly quickly.  I didn’t see anything I truly wanted to get him there, and he picked up something for me, but I did find a kick ass pair of jeans that make even my seven-months-pregnant-huge-ass look good so they were worth buying.  Then over to a couple of other stores, and then back to the house where the rest of the family was waiting for us.

We dined quickly, then got to the gift-opening.  Opening gifts with 7 small children and 8 adults can be quite entertaining.  It was great, the stuff we got and gave was all awesome, and everyone had fun.

Late last night we drove around looking at lights.  In Windsor, they have a lighting competition that is just insane — we saw things that must have been visible from outer space, and one house whose lights were synchronized to a low-power radio station they set up playing Christmas music.  Absolutely nuts, but very cool to see.  JR said “wow! wook at dat!” which made it all worth it.

Today, I’m not sure what we’re up to, but Merry Christmas.

So far in our travels…

Posted by on December 16, 2008 1 comment

We left Delta Thursday afternoon.  I had been sick for a day and a half with some uber-fun gastrointestinal bug, rendering me useless and miserable beyond belief.  We got all our stuff packed on time though, without forgetting anything major.  We did manage to forget the Christmas cards.  I was so proud that I had gotten them all done, addressed, signed, ready to go, and on time… then I left them on the kitchen counter before walking out the door.  Oh well.

We picked up a couple of last minute things at WalMart in Fairbanks, ate dinner at Gallo’s, then headed to the airport after dropping the truck off at the parking garage downtown.  We got the dog situated with TSA, I had a brief glare-down with the security assholes about JR’s baby food, and fairly soon we were on the plane.  JR was awesome on the first leg of the trip — he was so fascinated being on a plane and seeing all the other planes go by.  It was a great distraction for me to watch his excitement (I’m terrified of flying).  Anchorage to Seattle was another story; he was soooo tired, and couldn’t figure out how to comfortably fall asleep in his carseat while on the plane, and poor little guy was crying during takeoff and landing because of the pressure in his ears.  It broke my heart.  We had a three-hour layover in Seattle where we grabbed a bite to eat, then fell asleep in front of the gate.  We nearly missed the guy announcing our flight, and all three of us were passed out on the way to Dallas.

Family friend Evelyn met us at the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport.  Buffle was absolutely exhilerated to see us and get out of her kennel.  John took JR with him to the car rental place, and Evelyn stayed with me at the airport.  We got a bite to eat at this shady McDonald’s on the way to Cara’s house; it made me feel queasy, and gave John a great case of the same gastrointestinal fun that I’d had (which rendered him useless for the next 36 hours or so).

We settled in at Cara’s, JR hung out with the kids, we chatted it up, and eventually passed out.  Saturday John slept all day, and JR wasn’t feeling too hot himself (ear tugging, crying, low-grade fever) so we didn’t go anywhere or do anything.  I had craft time with Maddie and Ryan, making a countdown to Christmas.  They really seemed to enjoy it, and Cara and Mike seemed to enjoy that I made it last a couple of hours.  Sunday, which was also Tori’s birthday, we went to the Ft. Worth Zoo and had an absolute blast.  JR still wasn’t feeling so hot and kept laying down on the ground so we put him in the Ergo on John’s back.  We saw a rhino, and JR insisted it was a dinosaur.  He loved the tigers, the elephants, and the carousel (which I rode on with him).  Total protest when the carousel ride was over.  Rosa’s takeout for dinner, some shopping at Target, then back to Cara’s to pack up our stuff.  JR drew a couple of pictures for Uncle Mike, one of which he said was Uncle Mike himself (totally cute of him, and they’re now on Mike’s wall).

Monday we got ready for our road trip down to SA.  JR had fully picked up a cold, and we had spread our gastrointestinal bug to the Ws.  The cold front had fully arrived, making it windy as hell and mightily cold.  Texas humidity and 30* weather with a 15 mph breeze make for bone-chilling conditions that even this Eskimo wasn’t too fond of.  I know it gets damn cold in Alaska, but it’s a dry cold, making it much more tolerable.

We drove down to SA in our humungous rented Hummer (sweet ride, by the way), stopping in Waco for lunch.  John let Buffle out in the parking lot behind Subway to let her run while I ate; he threw the ball before he noticed the six inches of standing, stagnant, putrid funk that Buffle of course immediately ran into.  She got back in the truck, furiously licking herself, then looking extremely guilty for it, because anything that nasty that tasted that good to my stupid dog must have been something she wasn’t allowed.  She kept hanging her head when I looked at her, which was mildly amusing, but mostly just stinky.

We stopped in Austin to get her bathed at a groomer’s next to Petco; when the groomer went to take her into the back, JR pitched an all-out fit, complete with little tears.  I think he thought we were just letting someone take our dog away, and she’s his closest companion in Alaska.  He was so inconsolably distraught that I almost told the groomer to forget it altogether.  We took him over to Petco though to look at animals, and soon things were a little better.  After Petco I went to Wheatsville.  I love that store so much.  The cashier was like two inches thick total, wearing a hat and scarf and coat indoors, complaining about the weather, wondering how on earth I manage to live in a place that inevitably hits -50* every winter, and called all manner of attention to both of us by proclaiming rather loudly that I said I was an Eskimo from Alaska.  John was right; people really look at me like I’m a leprechaun when I tell them I’m an Alaskan Eskimo.  Too freakin’ funny.

We got to his parents’ house in SA Monday night, caught up a little bit with Mona and John the elder, got unpacked, got something to eat, and finally got to sleep.  I had amassed about 6 hours of sleep over the last two days at Cara’s, and crashed so amazingly hard.  I woke up feeling like a new person, but one complete with new aches and pains.  John and JR slept like rocks too, though JR had a little more trouble as he kept waking up to cough or gasp.  His nose is still leaking like a bad faucet, but he has moments of utterly charming joy.

Mona made us eggs and bacon for breakfast (admittedly served at lunchtime since we didn’t wake up until after 11 am), and we hung out for a little while before heading out.  We checked out a few stores I wanted to see in town.  We went to Eden’s Baby to see if there were any good cloth diaper finds, and I was rather unimpressed with the selection.  She had some very fine items for sale, all generously marked up, and nothing of note that I couldn’t find elsewhere for a better deal.  Our local store, Blueberry Baby, in Fairbanks has so much of a better selection with better deals.  After Eden’s Baby, we ate lunch at Canyon Cafe in the Quarry (where I got this awesome white chocolate pecan tamale as a complimentary dessert) and checked out some stores there.  I went into Whole Earth Provision Co., where I walked out empty-handed; I literally could not justify a single purchase there because their markups were so ridiculous.  And that’s saying something because I can almost always justify a purchase.  I checked out Learning Express toy store, where I picked up a cute stuffed giraffe, a Schleich camel, and a great placemat for JR.  We also went to James Avery, where we got matching wedding bands.  They have so many beautiful shiny things that it’s hard to tear myself away from the store without going broke, but I always manage to show restraint.

Then it was a quick stop at Old Navy; I was looking for a hoodie because I wanted a warm layer, but wasn’t ready to bust out my Alaskan Carhartt jacket.  The place was so unbelievably picked over, there was like nothing left.  Then we were going to pick up some groceries at HEB, but JR’s nose sprung a leak and he had a little meltdown.  So we’ve been hanging out at MiMi & PoPo’s the rest of the night.  John left a while ago to play cards with Alex and get in the guy time I’m sure he’s been wanting.

I had an impossible time getting JR to sleep, though he’s finally down.  I’m getting his cold, which makes me extremely grumpy as I just finally got over my last one before coming down here.  Tomorrow I want to check out Babies R Us since we don’t have one in Alaska, as well as Sun Harvest, and possibly Ingram Mall.  We’re having dinner at Becca’s tomorrow night, and it’ll be a blast to watch JR with the S boys.  I’m tempted to hit up the LLL meeting Thursday morning.  Friday I think we’re getting together with the gang, though I don’t know for sure.  I think John mentioned Austin for Saturday, but I’m not sure about that either.  Sunday I believe we’re going back to Bec’s for Christmasy stuff with her in-laws.  Ultimately I’ve lost track of what our plans our now.

I’m off to find Sudafed for my newfound cold, then attempt some sleep.

Another reason I’m demanding a VBAC

Posted by on December 1, 2008 No comments

“C-sections tied to higher asthma risk for babies” — msnbc.com

I know that my c-section with JR was medically necessary.  I know that there are very real possibilities that I may need a c-section with Milla.  However, barring anything life-threatening to me or to Milla, I am demanding a VBAC.  This is just another reason why.

Calling All Babywearers

Posted by on November 17, 2008 4 comments

Boycott these sons of bitches.

They’re owned by Johnson & Johnson. Stop giving them your money. I don’t care that Motrin has posted an “apology” on its website. They shouldn’t have run the ad in the first place.

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# SAVLON®
# COMPEED®
# TUCKS® Hemorrhoidal Ointment
# DAKTARIN®

Oral Health Care

Care for your whole mouth.

# LISTERINE®
# EFFERDENT®
# LISTERINE® WHITENING
# REMBRANDT®
# REACH®

Women’s Health

Products for women’s health care needs.

# STAYFREE®
# MONISTAT®
# CAREFREE®
# e.p.t.®
# K-Y®
# O.B.®


Over-the-Counter Medicines

Relief for pain, colds, coughs, allergies and more.

# TYLENOL®
# SUDAFED®
# ROLAIDS®
# DOLORMIN®
# MOTRIN®
# MOTILIUM®
# MYLANTA®
# ZYRTEC® and ZYRTEC-D®12-HOUR®
# BENADRYL®
# IMODIUM®
# PEPCID®
# NICORETTE®

Nutritionals

Products for a healthier diet.

# SPLENDA®
# LACTAID®
# BENECOL®
# SUN CRYSTALS™
# VIACTIV®

Vision Care

Products for vision care.

# VISINE®
# ACUVUE® Brand Contact Lenses

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