Cesarean Awareness Month

April 1st marks the beginning of Cesarean Awareness Month. The ICAN website that I have joined has asked that we as members share our stories along with the information available through the ICAN website. Lucky for you I am a step ahead of them and I started a new blog today dedicated to my journey from C-section to VBAC. So instead of posting my birth story here, which I have already done (sugar coated and all) I will let you take a look at my new blog if you so desire. I will just say that Cesarean Awareness is something that I feel very strongly about. At first I wasn't sure whether I wanted to have this new blog be public because it's such a personal thing, but I hope that by doing so it will help other women out there who may be looking for support. Please forgive the large picture as I don't know why it is so large, and know that you will encounter words that start with "V" and such.

Here is some information on ICAN for those interested, their link is on the right side of my blog.

Mission statement: ICAN is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve maternal-child health by preventing unnecessary cesareans through education, providing support for cesarean recovery and promoting vaginal birth after cesarean. There are 94 ICAN Chapters across North America, which hold educational and support meetings for people interested in cesarean prevention and recovery.

Here is my new blog, she's just a baby so please be kind.

Cousins are for sharing...

in the latest discovery whether big or small, in the confusion that follows an awkward and sometimes unwanted kiss,in times of excitement as well as the occasional worry, in their jaw dropping secrets,
and unfortunately, their sippy cups too.

Brownie Points

First off I would like to say that I'm not the type that writes a lot of mooshy- gooshy-love stuff on my blog. This week was rough, so I am making an exception and I figure it wouldn't hurt to score a few brownie points along the way. While this letter would be more appropriately placed on a pillow or windshield, neither are currently available and this is the next best place. I am not offended if you stop reading now or choose not to comment, because this post is for Kevin.

Dear Kevin,

After much thought I have decided to make a list of things that I really like about you. This is not in any specific order and is not a complete list in any means. I already know that after a long day at work you will come home, spend time with me talking, watching shows or what not and then you'll be off to the computer to play your commander 2000 while I sleep. I know that at sometime tonight you will check my blog. I hope this makes your day a little better.

What I like about you:

You smell good.
You have nice hair.
You are really funny.
You are good at killing insects that scare me.
You are good with directions.
You know a lot about the scriptures.
You are good at playing with the girls.
You can make chicken primavera or whatever that chicken pasta dish is called.
You watch shows with me.
You listen to me talk even when I talk a lot.
You work full time so I can be a stay at home mom.
You are educated and have a bachelor’s degree.
You do your home teaching most months.
You aren’t a cheap wad.
You have many talents and skills. Movie making skills, drawing skills, listening skills, playing with children skills, opening bottles of juice skills.
You care about your eyebrows and their growth patterns.
You are manly and like sports even though I don’t really like sports, which is ok.
You clean out the kitten poop box.
You take out the trash on occasion.
You have gorgeous eyes and thick eyelashes that make me jelly.
You can catch flies with your bare hands.
You humor me when we are watching Full House and I say “Eh, it’s a re-run”.
You are my baby’s daddy.
You are upbeat and optimistic.
You don’t complain when I’m running late for church on Sunday, which is usually every Sunday.
You don’t get mad easily.
You aren’t offended by my relatives.
You let my dad hug you and don’t make it all awkward-like.
You know all the Newsies songs.
You try to annoy me by singing Creed songs, and yes it annoys me but in a funny way.
You watched Labyrinth with me.
You watched Twilight with me and let me call you Kedward while reading the books.
You don’t get mad at me when I accidentally fluff in front of you.
You always try to think outside the box when buying me gifts, and while it doesn’t always pay off, the thought means a lot to me.
You work out with me at the gym and don’t want to become a tubby hubby.
You are an easy going person.
You love me, despite my imperfections.

Love,

Missy

If only I had a little more toddler in me

I would be more friendly to strangers when passing them on the street.

{The ever infamous Dizzy}

I'd spend less time worrying about my outfit and more time having fun.

{notice that the poop-protecting bloomies come in several colors}

I would be brave enough to pick my nose in public.

{and the drivers seat would be a lot cleaner}


I would no longer be intimidated by stretchy fabrics, and would be perfectly OK with just letting it all hang out.

{because when you are a grown woman sometimes you wear stretchy pants in your room, for fun}

I'd spend less time watching TV, and more time reading books about puppies.

{and puppies that turn into vampire puppies, and fall in love with normal puppies etc etc}

I would wear high heels whenever possible, and love it.

I would go outside more and stay inside less.

I would smile my way through bad hair days.

I would find ways to make noise play music in any environment.

I wouldn't be so hard on myself when I make mistakes.

{because I am only human}

I would be a better person.

Candy Bar Cake

{only my new favorite dessert}

1 box chocolate cake mix

(whatever variation you like)

1/2 can of sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup caramel topping

1 tub cool whip

1 butterfinger

(or candy bar of your choice)

Follow directions on the box to bake the cake. After the cake is done and still hot, poke holes in it using a fork or other poking utensil. Drizzle caramel topping and sweetened condensed milk on cake allowing it time to soak in. After the cake has completely cooled, top with cool whip. Crunch up butterfinger bar in Ziploc bag using a rolling pin, or the baseball bat under your bed and sprinkle on top. Refrigerate for a few hours and serve. Enjoy, and try not to eat it all:)

This is Ladies Night

{courtesy of my cell phone}

Now that Kevin works at night, I find myself trying to find ways to fill up the time before the girls go to bed. Friday night would normally be date night, but since the hubby wasn't available I decided to take the girls out for some ice cream.

It made for a very sweet date indeed:)

Quit playing games with my ♥

About a year ago I was diagnosed with a heart condition called Superventricular Tachycardia. Now before you start sending meals, taking dibs on my children and preparing my funeral, you should understand that it isn't life threatening. It's basically small episodes where my heart begins to beat at around 150-180+ bpm. The average (resting) heart rate is 60-80 bpm. I've been told it's fairly common in people who are 20-30 years old and mostly women who are tall or pregnant. I'm tall and a woman, so there you go. I've experienced these episodes a few times here and there but never had a serious case until April of last year, and then again today.

It all started this morning while I was in a spinning class at the gym with my MIL Shirley. Things were going great, we were burnin lots of calories, sweatin up a storm and then 30 min into the class my heart totally wigged out. I immediately knew what was happening, so I stopped and just sat there to let it get back to normal. I finished the class, taking it easy and then went out to check my heart rate on the treadmill. It read 220.

By the time I got home it was still beating really hard and I knew I was going to have to do something. So we googled it on the computer and found a few ways to try and slow down my heart rate and this is what we found:

1. Take a deep breath and then strain like you are having a bowel movement.

2. Cough really hard.

3. Stick your face in a bowl of ice water.

Although these solutions might not seem very appealing, the other option is much much worse. Last year, when I ended up in urgent care after my heart rate wouldn't go down on it's own, they used a drug called Adenosine. First you are given an IV, then they administer the drug through the IV and warn you that it might feel "a little funny". According to wikopedia the side effects are described as "a feeling of death," or "a sense of impending doom." The drug basically stops your heart so that it can restart with a regular heart rhythm. It felt like a car was being crushed into my chest. Ouch.

Naturally I wanted to stay as far away from that drug as possible. So I strained with all my might (after using the restroom mind you) and I coughed like I had the black lung, and I thought about how ice water would feel on my face. None of it worked so we took a break and watched some Lost, hoping the magic of the island would reverse my heart issues. Another hour passed with no change and I decided to have Kevin give me a blessing. Immediately afterwards he told me that I should continue trying because faith without works is dead.

Fast forward another hour and I'm at urgent care getting an EKG. They tell me to cough and "bare down"and put a bag of ice water on my face. Nothing works and I am so devastated. A few minutes later the IV is in, a few tears are shed, and they tell me they will be back in a few minutes with the drug. "Keep trying", the nurse says "I'm not giving up on you yet". So I take a deep breath and strain as hard as I can, not caring what might end up in my pants. I do it again and again, and lo and behold just minutes before they came back, my heart rate went down to 100bpm.

HALLELUJAH!

I was so grateful at that moment. I knew Heavenly Father was looking out for me. He knew I was alone and scared to go through that procedure again, and he answered my prayer. I was grateful for yet another small miracle in my life.

I have a hunch...

...back.

Ok, I'm over exaggerating, but according to personal trainer Dave (his name is not really Dave) I really need to improve my posture. Believe me, I was completely unaware. After paying more attention and staring at myself in the mirror, I realize that I do slouch... A LOT. We figured my slouching habits were caused by bending down to pick things up so often. Really? It's all starting to make sense now. Eventually, my back figured it might as well just stay down there and make things easier.

So here's yet another goal to work on:

* Improve my posture and buy one of these grabber deelys.

With PT Dave's approval, I am making a more conscience effort to stand a little straighter, roll back my shoulders, and stick out my chest for all the right reasons.
So don't be hatin'!

Thank you PT Dave:)

My Hammies

Tag, I'm it!

Here is the 6th picture in the 6th folder.

(I started counting from when the girls were born, I hope that is allowed.)

This is little miss Brenna, bald and beautiful at only 2 months old.

She looks round and plump like a delicious ham. Are you drooling yet, because I am.

As a special treat, here is picture #7 of Brooke and her bountiful chin. How I miss my little hammies with their never ceasing rolls:)

Now for a little history lesson...

When the girls were born and I first laid my ( less drugged) eyes on Brooke in the recovery room, the Johnston resemblance was obvious. My first thought right then was "Hello Reed," (my FIL). As everyone tells me, "They are definitely Johnston babies".

9 months of carrying these babies around and they don't even look like me?!

Harsh...

Good thing they are so stinkin' cute:)

I tag Aimee, Robyn, Staci, and Elise.

A Progress Report

Lately I've been trying to be more content with life, realizing that things will never be "perfect" and that I should find happiness in progress.

So last week to I tried to find some progress in life and here is my report.
(warning:I 've been using the word alas a lot, not because I know what it means per say, but because I think it makes me sound smart and scholarly like. Thank you for understanding.)

Would you believe that at this very moment (which was several hours ago, mind you) there is not a single item of dirty clothing in my house? Ok, I can't speak for that lone sock , but you know what I mean. It's shocking. I somehow managed to get all the laundry through the washer and dryer and into their designated drawers....well most of it. Just one more heap of clean clothes to put away. You know the one that nests patiently in your bedroom for at least a few days, until you slowly pick at it hoping it will eventually be depleted? Can I promise those same clothes won't be sitting there tomorrow? No, (because tomorrow is today and they are still there) but alas there is progress.

Brenna continues to inflict me with "Code Brown Trouts" on a weekly basis. I figure my fishing skills are now as keen as any professional sportsman. The last time they were in the bathtub, the girls were both playing as usual; Brooke standing by the faucet proudly filling her cup, Brenna in her usual squat. Suddenly Brenna looked up at me with those sweet, baby blue eyes and said "Poo." This was the first time she had ever attempted to alert me of the situation, as it was happening. I still went fishing that day, but alas there is progress.

I've been thinking a lot about Emergency Preparedness/Food Storage lately and trying to get my act together. After a few trips to the cannery we've got some beans, sugar, wheat, oats, and dry milk. Probably enough to get through a week or so on a diet rich with bean pie and milk. We went to an Emergency Preparedness Fair on Saturday and got a lot of great information. At the grocery store we picked up a few cases of water, just as a start. It isn't much, but alas there is progress.

The girls are at that fun age where they are learning and understanding more and more words. As their vocabulary expands so does my expectations, and this doesn't always work out. So when I say "Don't pick your nose," I naturally expect them to understand. Well, at least they know what their nose is, and that it is only appropriate to pick your nose while driving in a car, and alas there is progress.

I wish my bedroom looked like this. All comfy and cozy like a luxurious hotel room, a place to relax and unwind. So after much thought I did some dusting, took out some decorative pillows, yanked off a picture and added some new inexpensive decor. I decided to make the bed every day, while Toby decided to ruin it every day with his stinky fluff ball self. It's no king suite, but it's becoming more inviting, and alas there is progress.

One of my goals for 2009 was to become a healthier more active person. I had the eating-healthy-food thing down pretty much, but was lacking in the moving-around-physically area. I was so excited to get a gym membership for my birthday because working out is easy peasy, right? A week at the gym and one personal training session later and it hurts when I sneeze. I'm no where near Kelly Ripa but alas there is progress.

Kevin has just completed a month at Godaddy.com. He made it through training and into the "deer in the headlights stage," which consisted of placing most of his customers on hold while scrambling to find a solution to their problem. Sales were low, accents thick and customers impatient, which only added to his stress. He is now answering phones and providing technical support to customers on his own, and is doing much better in sales. He doesn't know everything yet, but alas there is progress, and that makes me happy:)