I recorded a bunch of episodes of A Baby Story and some other baby shows, and there have been a few where the mom just stopped progressing and the doctor basically went straight to suggesting a c-section. I think in all of them, the mom had received an epidural, so moving around isn't really an option at that point.

I'm curious because of lingering "what if?" questions from DS's birth - I got the epidural when I was 6 or 7 cm (I think) and then I stalled at 8. I'm absolutely convinced that if I had only moved and tried laboring in other positions, DS would have been positioned better and labor might not have stalled. Obviously, I'll never know.

But since that was my experience and I attribute my c-section partially to essentially lying propped up on my back for so many hours (at least 6 hours after my epi), and I had mostly just been lying on my left side for hours and hours before that, I always wonder how common it is for a woman to just lie in bed after an epi and things progress like they are supposed to.

So...what did you do? Move around? Get an epi and stay in mostly the same position?

Love,

Your wife 

But apparently moms of toddlers weren't the only people who wanted to take advantage of the good weather - apparently pot-smokers enjoy a good smoke in the park on a nice sunny day.

Seriously. I was at the far end of the playground and didn't smell it until one of the other moms pointed it out. Then the dad there with his kid looked at me when I said, "Come on DS, we have to leave," and asked if I was smelling what he was smelling. Yep. It was a group of five or six men who'd been playing basketball, just hanging out in the parking lot, sharing a joint.

Ugh.

Blueberry Muffins

1 egg

? cup butter

1 c. milk

1/t tsp vanilla

2 ? sifted flour

? cup sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 cup frozen blueberries

Beat egg, butter, milk and vanilla until fluffy. Sigt flour, sugar, baking powder and salt together. Blend into batter. Gently fold in blueberries. Spoon into well-greased muffin tins. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 400 degrees.

The Actual Recipe:

Not sure if eggs are still good (they expired today, of course) so put them in a bowl of water. They sink to the bottom which google tells me means they are good. Place eggs on counter. Retrieve butter from fridge but it?s hard as a rock. Put it on defrost in microwave but get distracted because toddler reaches from high chair and knocks all the eggs in the carton onto the floor. Clean up eggs then realize butter has melted completely. Put butter in freezer to use another time and get out another stick. Pour milk and one egg into bowl. Put a fresh bit of butter in the microwave and forget to set a more appropriate time, then chase after toddler who has removed his socks. Butter melts again. Decide it can?t hurt the recipe too much and throw melted butter in with milk.

Begin hunting for vanilla. Curse MIL for cooking in your kitchen and not putting things back where they belong. Find vanilla and don?t bother measuring it. Check recipe. Realize your 1/4 cup is in the bath so just use the 1/2 cup and eyeball it for the rest of the recipe. 

Replace white flour with whole wheat flour since toddler is a picky eater and every bite matters. Replace ? cup of whole wheat flour with ground flax because he?s actually REALLY picky so we hide what we can. Add some chia seeds and hemp seeds because they are in the fridge and healthy. Dough now resembles play dough . Look around kitchen and hold back tears because it?s already a disaster zone. Chase after toddler again, put his pants back on, change diaper, put socks back on, and return to recipe. Add baking powder. Omit salt. Put less sugar (because when you become a mom you just start doing this). Remember you bought zucchini to hide in recipes likes this and grate it in. Add an extra egg and some apple juice because the batter looks so dry. Add some cocoa to hide the zucchini. Omit blueberries because you know your toddler will pick them out and leave all those hemp seeds and chia seeds to be swept up. Get muffins in oven (using a muffin tin with 24 tiny toddler portions). Miraculously, don?t burn the muffins.

Thought it would end with him throwing the muffin on the floor. Instead he takes a big bite, and says ?Mommy home. Max home. Yum. Nother one?? And your heart melts just like the butter and you don?t care that there is a mess everywhere and that your floor has a mix of flour and egg on it and that you?ll have to do all the dishes later, because none of that matters when you?re a mommy.  

Happy Mama Day!  

https://us11.chatzy.com/88570265418965

I get to Sophia's picture. DD2 gets all excited. I tell her "That's Sophia" And now she screams "So-Sha" every time we see your siggy  

So I took Baby Boy into the office last week. While everyone was oohhing and ahhing over my Precious (as they should, right? ), Awkward Co-Worker pulled out his cell phone and started showing me random videos of his kid.

I was like "Umm yeah that's nice, now please bug off while I get back to the conversation I was having before you shoved your phone in my face".

OK. I didn't actually say that - but I wish I did. I really wish I was more blunt IRL.

So since I said some negative things about my dad, I just have to say that he was a total lifesaver this week. I don't think I shared this yet unless it was in a randoms thread.

I had a doctor appointment the day he was in town, and he decided to come with me rather than stay home with DS. My appointments are at a really big hospital, so I park in a huge parking garage that usually has enough space. There was some event going on, and all the spaces were full. Even though we arrived way early for my appointment, I was going to be late because of the parking. So my dad sent me on my way and then spent almost half an hour driving around the parking lot trying to park. And when he finally parked, he entertained DS while they waited for me. I otherwise would have been 30 minutes late for my appointment, and then would have felt rushed. Since he did that, I was able to be relaxed at my appointment and go through a lot of questions and concerns with the OB.

So even though he drives me crazy, he can be incredibly thoughtful and helpful.

Anyone else want to AW someome that they tend to complain about?

We only see my parents a couple of times a year, and my dad drives me CRAZY with some of the things he does. So I kind of want to make a list of things of expectations - mostly things that I don't want my dad to do. My mom understands and listens; my dad thinks he's exempt because he's the grandpa. 

Example: I prefer that DS not share food with anyone except me or DH. My dad thinks it's okay for him to share utensils and give food that he's bitten off of (like bread and stuff) or share his drink. My parents actually had the same rule for us, so I don't understand why my dad thinks it's okay. Sharing utensils/food with anyone except my parents was a BIG deal to my mom.

Another example: My dad has this habit of talking to DS and saying that DS and grandpa should do such and such. The obnoxious part is that my dad doesn't say anything to me about it before he says it in front of DS. Another obnoxious thing is that I know that (even if my dad REALLY wants to do whatever it is) he most likely won't follow through. Eventually, DS is going to understand what my dad says, and it's going to be a big deal because the things my dad wants to do just aren't feasible or appropriate until DS is maybe four or five. And then if my dad doesn't follow through with it, who gets to deal with the disappointment? Me.

There are other things, but those are the two specific ones that came up during his last visit. 

I know that my dad doesn't INTENTIONALLY do things to make my parenting more difficult, but sometimes it really seems like he does it just to get a rise out of me.

So...just curious if you have given your parents/ILs a set of expectations/rules/guidelines or whatever you want to call them. My main goal is to make visits from my dad less stressful because the things that he does lead to arguments, disagreements, hurt feelings, etc. My dad and I are both pretty sensitive, especially to criticism from each other, so I just wonder if laying out some expectations would help us avoid the issues that arise during their visits.

If I'm being completely ridiculous, please tell me.

*poof*

Hope you have a good night at work! Is it still crazy and understaffed? (That's what you said the other day, right?)

Girl 1:  Do you like the name Raelynn?

Girl 2:  Ew gross, are you serious, that's an awful name.

Girl 1:  My mom said so too

Girl 2:  I like the name Ryder for a boy AND for a girl.  It's so cute.

Me in my head:  Ryder?  For a girl?  Like, Ride her???  ::facepalm::

Sorry, Kimbus.  That's all I've got right now.  Work is work today.  There's been some tragic news in the community so waiting to hear about the outcomes of that and we're expecting freezing rain and snow tonight, so kinda hoping for a snow day tomorrow, which would mean two long week-ends in a row!   The thought of snow makes me sick, but if I can get a day off then I can handle it.  It won't last anyway. 

He put them on the wrong feet, but it's progress, right?

I think it helped that I pulled out his new sneakers and he really likes them.

They are succulent "gardens" with faux butterflies.   The boys painted the pots, drip style, picked out the rocks for the bottom, scooped the potting soil and planted the plants.  They did a great job.  It was only minimally dirty.

Kimbus22:

I sometimes miss sex on E.