A Spoonful of Sugar

I feel like I may have watched Mary Poppins too many times growing up.  I truly do believe that something with a high enough sugar content can make any shitty situation completely better.  Think about it, what was the best part of going to birthday parties? It wasn't watching your friend get cooler toys than you.  It was the cake.  What do they give kids after they get shots at the doctors office? A sucker, unless you had my pediatrician growing who gave you band aides and stickers. Yea I was deprived as a child.  What do pregnant women crave? Sweet stuff in every variety .  Face it, I am right and you know it.  Well, Mary Poppins was right.... I guess I'm just riding the coat tails in this one.  With that being established though, I had a shitty day yesterday.  One of those days where the stress just boils over.  And I am sure we all have our vices and knacks that we go to to relieve stress.  Normally I would power smoke a pack a cigarettes while baking enough for a small town.  Seeing as I am cutting back in all things in that statement, I only baked enough for half of that town.  Because not only do I bake when I am under a lot of strews, but duh! Sweet things are the cure to my shitty day. 

I actually started off cooking.  I guess you can call it cooking.... I made tuna pasta.  Basic little ditty really.  Celery, onions, frozen peas, tuna, sour cream, mayonnaise, and of course noodles.  Now I use these cute little noodles, they're like little bands and super adorable.  I don't even know the correct name for this noodle because I literally call them the tuna noodles.  Its a simple and quick dish that it a summer time staple really. You need it in your life. Are you doubting this? You're missing out, I promise.

But then of course I needed to bake some sweets.  I started off cheating, and thought that baking ore made cookie dough would suffice. Sadly, or maybe dumbly (is that even a word?) I was wrong.  I should have known better haha.  So it was time to whip up a batch of homemade cookies.  And of course I choose peanut butter because no one can go wrong with peanut butter.  Well, I guess if you're allergic you could go wring with peanut butter..... but most people can't go wrong with peanut butter. So on went the apron and on to baking we went.

For this recipe you're going to need:
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter (I use creamy, but I have heard amazing things about crunchy)

I don't believe in double cookie sheets going at once.  I know this drags out the process but honestly if you want to perfect cookie, you need your rack in the center of the oven and only work with one sheet at a time.  With that being said, preheat your oven to 350°F.  Go ahead and butter (or Pam) your cookie sheets.  Whisk together your flour, baking soda and salt in a medium to large size bowl and set it off to the side. 
Now its time to pull out the old electric mixer.  You want to mix beat your butter with both sugars for about three minutes on medium speed until it becomes light and fluffy.  Next you're going to reduce speed slightly and add the eggs and the vanilla; beat until smooth a d well combined.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl.  Reduce speed to low and beat I n the flour mixture in two parts so as not to overwhelm the mixer (and make it easier on yourself).  Mix until its combines evenly. 

When you're adding the floor, make sure you go slow or you will end up with flour on your feet like I managed to do....

Roll one inch balls and place on your cookie sheet.  Flatten each ball by pressing the tined of a fork into a crisscross pattern.  Don't squish all the way down or you will have very crunchy, paper thin cookies.  Bake for 13 minutes, or until golder brown on bottom and barely colored on top.  Cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.  Allow to completely cool. 

And voila! You have amazing peanut butter cookies! This recipe makes an obscene 80 cookies or so.  Make sure you have a crowd who will devour them, mine were gone within two days.  Yes its possible.  And no I didn't eat them all.

My tip, between each sheet of cookies, pace your self.  I normally took the out and let the cool for five minutes.  Then I waited another five before trying to put more cookie dough on that sheet,  otherwise your dough melts before you even get it into the over.  And who wants a gooey mess?  These cookies would be great during Christmas or just because you need some sugar.  Definitely a great rainy project for the kids! Hopefully y'all enjoy and it brings some sunshine to your afternoon. 

Coffee, God and Cigarettes

Does anyone else have this almost morning ritual?  I have had the same morning ritual for about five or so years now (with a few tweaks here and there). Every morning I get up and pour myself a nice cup o' Joe with a splash of creamer, sit down and hop on tumblr.  I'm not sure if it's the combination of something visual instead of reading that I prefer or the fact that sometimes I just need to look at a fitblr (for those who aren't familiar, that is a fitness blog on tumblr) for some extra motivation to get through the day, but tumblr has never been replaced with a newspaper or even an ebook.  However, now with a little one I have come to  realize how important those rituals can be.  We have fallen into a pattern (at only 3 months) and everyday like clockwork we stick right to it.  And no matter what I do to change this routine, the NICU made her sleep and eating patterns and she has not (a stubborn little one) been willing to let these times go.  

So you may ask what this NICU schedule was? Basically she ate at 1, 4, 7, 10 and repeat. Now I have been blessed by the Gods with an extremely good baby.  At 3 months (almost) she sleeps through the night. We haven't perfected night time yet but hey once she goes down, she is down for the night.  But our morning routine is a little like this...

6:30- Wake up and demand breakfast in bed right NOW

7:00- Now I want you to dance with me to whatever is playing on CMT 

7:30- Did I say stop?

7:45- This room is boring now, remind me what the rest of the house looks like

8:00- Now we will go outside or I will cry until we do. 

8:15- Let's cuddle on the couch, oh and I want 2 more ounces of milk

8:45- Oh it's 8:45 AM? More like PM, goodnight. 

By nine we are back asleep until at least about eleven.  Which gives me the perfect time for coffee and tumblr to unwind and finish waking up before I launch into my school books and take advantage of the sleeping beast.  Now as for the rest of the day its a crap shoot.  Lately we have been boycotting our afternoon nap so I have a cranky baby by 5, but that normally is cured by new people getting home from work.  Ya know, cause mom gets boring after awhile.  We are also going through a mommy stage, which means that during the day I better have that sling out and handy because if she isn't touching me, she isn't having it.  Only for someone so cute would I put up with that.  

Now on a completely unrelated note, I have found a song that speaks to my morning routine (not the routine with my child).  And as the song goes, those things really are the only things that keep me sane some days when the stress is just too much. 

I'll just leave that right here.... yea, right there. That works for me. 

And Tonight, Mommy Needed a Drink

There are always those days that you just sink into the couch at the end of the night and know that you deserve a drink.  Lately the little one had just been crying up a storm.  I am not sure who thought the terrible two's were the worst; but honestly I would take a child throwing a temper tantrum any day to a child who can't tell you why they're crying.  And then there are always those special nights where you have been run so ragged you can't tell ice cubes to Legos.

Lately the little one seems to know when I am trying to put her down for a nap, or the night.  And it is really starting to run me ragged.  How can someone so small be so smart?  Is this Baby Genius?  She will do anything to get out of sleeping.  She will start cooing so sweetly, smiling her little happy face right off.  Then she breaks out the A game, she reaches out and start holding your hand, or cuddling into the crook of your neck.  She is quite the little player to try and get what she wants.  And of course when all else fails she resorts to straight screaming until she is bright red and gasping for breath.

The struggle the other night just happened to be her ability to wake up at the most inopportune times.  No matter what we did her little eyes would pop right back open the second you tried to do anything other than give her your full and devoted attention.  Which is great, if you haven't been holding it for three hours, and now you need to go NOW.  So while you're doing the dance down the hallway, only inches from freedom, she starts to wail.  Normally I would just quick pee and run to her, a few moments of crying won't hurt her.  But she has been battling a cold and when she starts crying she gets so fired up she stops breathing.  Yea, its serious to her.  So I can't fathom letting her cry for even a moment.  But I can proudly say I have now mastered pulling down pants with one hand, seeing as you can't hold it forever... and she just had to come with.

Our new favorite game she likes to play is to projectile shoot the pacifier out of her mouth at the dog.  Only at the dog. Because apparently the dog is the best target.

That is love on both of their faces...

But as fun a Spa-tooey is (that is what we named her new favorite game), she has been an absolute doll with allowing me to study.  She has no problem curling up and listening to me talk about different body parts or the construction of the body.  As long as I am talk, she doesn't fuss.  And they said you're supposed to read to your children, they never specified as to what you're supposed to read.  Watch ten years from now you'll find out I did her right haha!  One can only hope; I mean we all damage our kids, one could hope something good comes from what we're doing! 

Now back to that drink? Just in case you needed a new one for the back to school weeks, I have one just for y'all! It's called the Slutty Soccer Mom.  It's 2 oz. vodka, 1 part grape juice and 1 part cherry juice. Come on, don't play dumb, you know you have all those ingredients in your van right now... including the vodka. 

And then I decided to rip out my hair....

I am not sure how some of you handle being a mom.  I mean, you get the smiles and the cuddles, you hold this magical power to cure pain with a kiss, and don't forget those wonderful coo's.  That alone makes almost everything worth it.  But you also get the screaming at 2 in the morning, and the poo everywhere that you inevitably end up wearing at some point during the day. You battle other people who think they know what is best for you child, even those who have never had a child of their own (because obviously they know how it is supposed to work, and its NOT what you're doing).  Clearly I am a new mom, and a single one at that, but hot damn this is not for the faint of heart.  I am currently juggling going back to school to finish what I started (getting my BSN), raising my daughter, and acquiring a part time job to fund this madness.  But some mornings I swear to you, there is no desire to get out of bed or even think about trekking up those mountainous things they call stairs to go make a bottle.

This picture is brought to you by...

exhaustion and a tummy full of milk!

I have noticed my biggest problem.  I have tried to combine to lives that don't easily combine.  Let's review here:

-I am still trying to exercise like a 21 year old.  I want to jump into these crazy routines and slam protein and lose weight.  Have you ever tried to work out with a newborn?  You can have them fast asleep and the second you pick up a weight or start up that elliptical their little eyes shoot open and they decide to summon their inner demon and shriek while their head spins round like the exorcism.  Any groove you had or your heart rate has no plummeted and you get the start the task of starting all over.  Give it about 4 rounds of this and you start to question whether it really matters if you lose that baby fat.

-College has no benefits while raising a child.  It is another time sucker and it will eat away at your soul.  It adds stress and gives you 87 hours of homework and studying you need to accomplish.  That in itself is a full time job.  Oh wait, so is raising a child.  When was the last time you worked two full time jobs? Probably never because you like your sanity.  Some of us like to gamble with that sanity and see how much we can take on. And sometimes we find ourselves taking class notes on a diaper, and that's perfectly okay (give us two more cups of coffee and we might even notice what we're doing).

Give us a minute... or forty

-Speaking of jobs, you have to make money somehow, right? Ah yes, you have to pay for diapers because the last time I checked the magical pacifier fairy (who steal/hides all the pacifiers from me) doesn't have a sister who makes formula and diapers appear.  As lovely as that would be.

-Here is my biggest struggle.... I am only 21!  Do I love my daughter? To the moon and back. Are there nights that I just wish I could go out drinking without having to worry about finding a baby sitter, or the extra cost of that night out?  YES! Does this make me a bad parent? No.  I have seen too many new moms who have fizzled and burned because they are all baby all the time.  No breaks creates a mental break, and you need your sanity to be a mom.  Every mom needs a free night.  Whether you use that free night to go out and drink at the bar, go to a concert, or just get a solid night of sleep- we all need it.

At the end of the day you're exhausted, you have laundry piled high, you realize you have really only had coffee to eat that day, you still have yet to have a shower, and you might want to consider brushing your hair. But then you notice that sweet angel next to you fast asleep, and you soak it in.  Because no matter how hectic your life is, no matter how backed up you are in what you need to get done, nothing will compare to seeing that sweet smile at you, hearing those early morning coo's, or when she curls up and grasps your shirt and won't let go.  It won't matter how many days it has been since your last shower, or when the last time you had a conversation that wasn't in baby talk.  You would take on more if it meant she will have a good life, and then do it all over again.

Much love y'all :)

Miracles Come in Different Forms

A few months later and I have neglected my page, but for good reason.  I finally had that precious little girl I have been talking about.  Yes, Ella Mae was born into the world on May 31st at 5:31 AM.  She weighed in at 9 pounds and 6 ounces, measuring 22 inches long.  She was not little baby!

So many wires... definitely scary!

After much thought, I have decided to share with you how my labor went.  A lot went wrong with my delivery and I and hoping to share this experience with you and you can prepare yourself.  In no way do I intend to scare anyone.  I know during the last few months of my pregnancy everyone thought this was the best time to share their horror stories with me.  Most were just women complaining they had the WORST contractions ever, and how I would be miserable etc.  But looking back, those were not true horror stories, and I found that most women have a true horror story, don't walk around telling their story.  I also found that sometimes, going through something really hard like a horrible labor and then your child spending time in the NICU can make you friends that are more important than anything.  

I am going to start this off by telling you that I wanted a natural birth, with no medical interventions. My entire pregnancy I wanted no pain medications, I really wanted nature to take it's course.  However during my second trimester I began to have complications.  Little miss had a cyst on her brain and I was having problems with keeping hydrated.  Then around 31 weeks I began having contractions.  Over the next 8 weeks, I was in and out of the hospital with regular contractions, each time they would monitor her and make sure she was doing okay, since this could have put too much stress on her little body.  Around 33 weeks I was put on complete bed rest, only allowing 30 minutes to get food and pee a day.  Once I hit 35 weeks, my high risk doctor was concerned the cyst was still there, so my OB decided to have me going in every five days or so for a NST (non-stress test, or fetal monitoring).  

One of the many NST's

I went in on a Thursday morning for a check up, I was 39 weeks and 5 days.  I was only 1 cm dilated and had been having string contractions since the previous night; my doctor was highly concerned.  When she checked her heart rate it was slightly low.  Between her heart rate being low, the contractions that had been going on for almost 10 weeks, and the fact that they were not helping the labor progress had her concerned.  She decided that it was time to induce me.  Now since I wanted my labor to be natural she suggested we start with the Cervidil pill, and that should help speed things along.  We discussed that since her heart rate was low she wanted to keep me in the hospital until I gave birth.  After the pill, if it didn't work we would go to the gel.  I was never okay with Pitocin, as this can bring the contractions on too suddenly and can harm the baby.  I went home, made a few phone calls and then it was off the the hospital for me.  That night was the hardest to get sleep.  Between the uncomfortable bed to the nerves coursing through my body, I was wide awake.  If you don't know anything about Cervidil, once administered you can not walk for the first 4 hours, and they take it back out after 12 hours and check your dilation to see if it helped or not.  

At 4 AM my nurse came in and removed the pill, and I had no progress.  She then went out to the nurses station and called my doctor.  When she came back in she started to adjust my IV, and before I realized it (it was about 4:30 AM and I was only half awake) she was administering Pitocin.  So now as you can imagine I am extremely upset since that was the last thing that I have ever wanted.  By 8 AM I am at maximum dosage and there is no progress.  My doctor comes in and tells me she wants to break my water.  I have my concerns but I ask her why she wants to and what the benefits are of having this procedure done.  She told me that my daughters stress was starting to show and that by breaking my water that it would help speed labor along naturally as it would just move her down father in my uterus against my cervix and help to dilate me.  My biggest question was, is there a time limit that once expired I would have to have a cesarean?  She talk me that there was not a time limit, but that once my water was broken I could not go home. She kept hounding and hounding so I finally gave in.  At 9 AM Friday she broke my water.  

Throughout the day she increased my dosage of Pitocin until it was double the maximum dosage.  My contractions were hard and strong, yet they were not doing anything.  I tried breathing through them, I tried walking, I tried my labor ball.  Nothing was working or helping.  I was running on 2 hours of sleep and the exhaustion was setting in.  My contractions were 2 minutes long and I was only getting about 15 to 20 seconds between each one.  Normally they should last about one and a half minutes and you should get about a minute between when you are 7-10 centimeters and ready to push.  I was only 2 centimeters.  At 8 that night I finally gave in.  After almost 48 hours of labor, I told the nurse to call for the epidural.  Before you give me grief for giving in too soon and everything else, let me explain my reasoning.  I had no sleep under my belt, keeping my mind off the pain was becoming harder and harder to do.  It was consuming me.  I was also only 2 centimeters.  I had hours to go before I was ready to push, and even if I magically jumped to 10 centimeters I had no energy to push.  I knew that I needed sleep.  

The anesthesiologist came with the epidural, and I was terrified to say the least.  I am petrified of needles, and I knew how big that needle was and where it was going.  I have to say, he was such a sweetheart, trying to crack jokes to keep my mind off of things.  Right as he administered the local anesthetic I began to have a contraction.  I was screaming in pain, I could feel the medicine burning at the same time as the contraction.  He then told me he was going to put in the epidural needle.  He missed the spot the first time and I was in searing pain.  He backed out the needle and tried again, this time with success.  With each contraction, the pain got less and less.  I climbed back into bed and once my contractions were only able to be seen on the monitor and no longer felt, I passed out for about 4 hours.  When I finally woke up, I was hoping to have progressed some.  I was still just 3 centimeters.  I felt distraught.  As the night progressed nurse after nurse checked me.  I slowly climbed; 3, 4, 5.  I finally felt like things were coming along.  

My face after the epidural took effect

At about 3 during shift change my new nurse came in.  She checked me and I was hoping for a 6, and to be finally more than half way there.  To my surprise I was back to a 3!  I have no idea how I can regress, she claims I was never a 5 and that the nurse must have been lying to me.  She went back out the the nurses station and about 20 minutes later she came rushing back in with a handful of papers and informed me that they had decided to do a cesarean.  The next thing I know there are 4 other nurses in the room prepping me for surgery.  I yelled for everyone to stop.  I was furious.  I had no consented to this and was beyond pissed this was happening.  My doctor came in and explained that I had spiked a fever and that it suggested an infection, and since my water was broken this could be bad news for baby.  She was also showing signs of stress.  But her biggest reason for the surgery was the fact that I had been rupture for so long.  This set me off, since I was told it didn't matter how long I was ruptured for.  Then we found out that they hadn't given me enough fluids, so they began pushing bag after bag of fluids just so they could up my epidural.  I was shaking violently I was so terrified. My heart rate was stuck at 180, and nothing they said could calm me down.  As the wheeled me off to the OR, my person was still putting on scrubs to come back to the room with me.  

As they prepped me in the OR my shaking continued.  My heart rate was up to 220, and I now had a new set of nurses and a new anesthesiologist. He was also a sweetheart and tried to crack jokes with me and calm me down.  He allowed me to have my arms free and unrestrained since I was already a nervous wreck.  They started the surgery before my person was in the room with me.  Unfortunately everything after this point gets fuzzy, and I will explain why.  I began to bleed uncontrollably on the table.  In the haste to get my daughter out, they ripped my incision site.  They got her out onto the table and everyone laughed as I guess she stretched all her limbs out.  However she wasn't breathing right so the nurses whisked her away. I was bleeding horribly internally and it became extremely hard to breathe.  And suddenly I felt EVERYTHING.  It felt like they were tearing everything or stabbing me.  I started screaming and crying in agony.  My doctor wanted them to push Versed.  My anesthesiologist argued, he was afraid I wouldn't remember anything and didn't want to give me it.  They had to push 6 units of Versed before I was no longer in pain.  I then passed out.  I never got to see my daughter.  

   As she was starting the stretch

I woke up to my doctor talking to me, but she sounded like the Peanuts teacher.  I can barely remember her making any sense at all, she sounded like, "Wah wah wah baby girl wah wah 9 pounds wah wah good job wah wah mom."  Yupp, that is all I understood.  I promptly passed back out and woke up in recovery with a woman yelling at me to move my feet.  I asked how my daughter was and she told me she was perfectly healthy, and waiting in my room to meet me and all I had to do was be able to move my feet and that I could then go back.  I struggled for the next hour to get my damn feet to move.  She finally gave in and told me it was close enough (since I could only move one foot and one toe on the other foot).  As she started to wheel me to my room, he shift replacement showed up.  The following conversation took place between the women.  "Is this room 184?" "Yea, were headed up there now so she can see her baby." "Oh! Her baby is in the NICU, didn't you know?"  And that is how I  found out my daughter was in the NICU.  I started to freak out.  We got to my room and my family greeted me with pictures of my daughter.  This was one of the harder moments during this, to know everyone else had seen her and yet I hadn't. 

But the hits kept coming, I started having clotting complications.  The nurses then informed me that I could not go down and see my baby for a minimum of 6 hours.  This meant that it was 8 in the morning now and it would be a minimum of 2 PM before I could see my daughter.  I burst into tears.  People were taking turns going down to see my daughter and bringing me back videos and pictures.  But nothing would compare to seeing her for the first time.  Finally the nurse came back and told me that if I wanted to see my daughter, that I would have to stand up and walk to the bathroom by myself to be cleared.  So 6 hours after major surgery I was forced to walk.  I think she was doubting my ability.  But I forced myself to stand and walk to the bathroom door, tears streaming down my face the whole time.  But I was cleared and down to the NICU I went. 

The first moment I held her.

It was hard to see her in all of those wires.  She was NPO (which means nothing by mouth) for the first day.  Which of course meant no breast feeding.  But I pumped for when she could start eating.  She was in the NICU for one whole week.  I stayed in the hospital the entire time with her.  I went down for every feeding.  I made friends with another girl who had her son the same morning in a very similar situation to mine.  Her NICU stay was hard on everyone and I am glad she became healthy and could go home.  The wait was worth it though.  

I am thinking about going into the problems we ran into with the NICU in another post, let me know if you guys would be interested in it.  I hope this helps someone out there.  I guess what I am trying to convey is, no matter what your birth plan is, be prepared for anything.  I never researched a c-section so when it came time to go into it, I had no idea what to expect or how to mentally prepare myself.  I wish I had known more about rupturing of the membranes and Pitocin prior to going into the hospital.  Hopefully you can learn from my mistakes and make yourself prepared for the unknown, and don't be so hard on yourself if it doesn't go your way.  But my biggest word of wisdom here if things don't go as planned? You are not defective, it is not your fault, and you did not do anything wrong!  I felt like it was all my fault, and I felt like a failure as a mother and just plain defective.  But you can't feel this way! Stay positive! You will get through it!  Much love y'all, can't wait to start blogging about baby things now!  

The day we finally got to go home! 

A Pink Bump

A month later and quite a bit bigger, we are already in March!  I can't believe that I am 6 months along! My belly feels like it could be a load or jumping jacks, not a small child inside.  She is always moving and sometimes, in the worse ways possible.  She seems to pick the most inopportune time to find the worst possible position resulting in the most pain (but isn't that what kids are for?).  Work is getting harder and harder for me to continue.  Have you ever tried to take care of others while also taking care of a tiny little person inside of you?  It can be exhausting.

I have finally tried a new bra.  Call me crazy but the girls got out of control. So I finally took the advice of a fellow mom and got a nursing bra by Medela from the store and I am never going back!  It is easily the most comfortable bra I have ever worn in my life.

It is called the Medela Ultra-Stretch Nursing Bra.  It took me awhile to find it, but the Babies R Us had a huge selection of different kinds too.  I trusted the Medela brand and am more than happy that I did. They also have a nursing tank top that I plan on purchasing, if it is half as comfortable as this bra it will be completely worth the money.  

I have also gotten something for tummy support while I am at work. Believe it or not it is completely comfortable.  It was definitely daunting to put on the first time, with all the strap A to point B directions, but it not only supports my bump- but it also relieves the stress from my back.  It also seems to help my posture and thus makes my feet hurt less at the end of a shift.  I would definitely recommend to anyone who spends long shifts on their feet while pushing into their third trimester.  I went with a Babies R Us belly support.  I needed something a little more than a simple band.  Definitely worth it as well.  

I did have a little fun moment, by that I mean I figured something out for the little one.  I set up an email account for my little one.  I have been sending her emails almost everyday.  Pictures and just little somethings for her to have to mark the entire journey.  I plan on sending her pictures and stories and everything throughout her entire life, and for her 18th birthday I will give her the password and she can have a time capsule of her entire life, even the parts she wasn't quite here for yet.  

Hopefully I can keep up with it.  I am clearly not the best at things like this.  But I hope I can for her.

   

I had to share this darling picture from the shoot. I might let y'all see more soon, but I definitely love how this picture came out.  Any questions or suggestions for me, please let me know!  I would love to talk about things you guys would actually want to read about!

New Chapter?

Today is the first day the boyfriend is away.  I never thought it would be so hard to do long distance. And maybe its only because we were together everyday for a year and now going through 6 months of a pregnancy everyday together and now he is 2 hours away.  Being 2 hours away from the man who is your other half... I am not sure how military spouses do it.  I guess having 6 months of the pregnancy with him is lucky, I could have been without him for the entire thing... Gah!

Has anyone else seen adorable nurseries?  I can't control myself! Maybe it's because I am only 3 months away from holding my little one, and all I can think about is making a nursery fit enough for her to come home to.  Is this that nesting thing that some women talk about?  That I need to make this place for her perfect so she just fits right into her little home... I just want to make her a cute little jungle nursery.  With baby tigers and baby elephants.  Or a giant tree, with branches and vines and just full of cute little baby animals.  And no ducks.  I hate baby ducks. Call me strange, but for some reason I can't stand stupid baby ducks.

My newest complaint is when people question how far along you are.  When a doctor, a medical professional tells you that you are 6 months along, why would family repeatedly tell you that you aren't 6 months.  I mean even mathematically speaking, 26 divided by 4 does equal 6 with a remainder right? Just thought that a doctor might know what they were talking about.  At least that is what we pay them for right?

I'll stop my rambling since this post truly had no organization... but like always love y'all!

Fuel, Bugs, and a Jawbone?

Omgosh, I am horrible, I know.  I haven't blogged since last year, hahaha I have been waiting to say that one.  First off, happy holidays and I hope everyone is doing well!

As some of you may know, I used to be a avid runner and fitness freak (part of that is still true, just hard to do while pregnant).  So as you can guess, when the Nike Fuelband came out, I had it pre-ordered and showed up at the Nike store in Chicago and waited for the debut.  I was beyond excited, as it was the first wearable that was practical (and didn't require you to sell your first born to acquire one).  Yes, prior to the Fuelband, the Body Bug was the greatest invention ever, premiering on Biggest Loser.  The Body Bug was a band you put around your arm that tracked your temperature, your movements and could calculate the calories burnt, steps taken, activity levels, and sleep quality. On your personal profile, you would enter the amount and what kind of food you had eaten that day, and it would project the time it would take you to lose the weight your wanted.  It seemed like it was the best thing that could have ever came out for the fitness world, especially with its backing with The Biggest Loser.  It was even ahead of it's time with its capability to sync via Bluetooth to your smartphone to record the data.  The only downside was, you had to have a subscription to use their data.  On top of the expensive unit price, the fact you had to buy a membership was an added expense people just weren't ready to splurge on.  Everyone was just floored at what it could do, that is until Nike had to show them up.

The Body Bug, a very simple design. 

BASICS: The Fuleband came out, and the buzz was incredible.  Already having coined technology that could track your work outs with the Nike+ technology in the shoes, Nike took the concept to a new level.  With its sleek bracelet design that kept it extremely lightweight, you nearly forgot it was there while wearing it.  The bracelet is made with a rubber like material that is easily cleaned.  The band tracks your daily activity in NikeFuel, calories, steps, and of course displays the time.  I love the concept of the Nike Fuel because it removes the focus on how many calories you burned, and zeros in on the activity you do in a day.  This was an added bonus for those who just wanted to be healthier in general. It also sync wirelessly to your Iphone, sorry Androids!  You can also set a goal for your earned Nike Fuel that helps motivate you.  Who wants to not reach that goal?  The social feature is also an amazing motivational tool. You combat with your friends to see who has the most fuel.  You can also play "tag" which puts whoever has the least amount of fuel for that day as "it" and the rest try to "run away" with their fuel points.  

Other specs include being water-resistant, connecting through a USB 4.0, and coming in three different sizes.  You can find sizing on the Nike website, or go to a Nike store to find the right size.  However your Fuelband does come with to connectors which make the band larger, so if a medium is too big, the small with a connector might be better for you.  Unlike when I bought mine, they have since made them in multiple colors and are made of better, longer lasting materials.  

MY EXPERIENCE: I absolutely LOVED my Nike Fuelband!  I wore it almost everyday (not very fashionable to wear with a formal dress to a wedding) and it never gave me any problems.  I am allergic to nickel and never had a single problem with the metal around the connection.  The syncing was flawless, though some people do have problems with theirs.  I found the display very stunning and fun too.  I did shower with it, but never swam with it as I was afraid to break it.  While my Fuelband definitely shows it age, the material never scratched or gauged.  I got so many compliments on it as well!  Since it did also double as a watch, it was practical to wear to work and I did not have to double up on arm accessories.  The battery life was incredible, I could go about a week with multiple syncs per day before I needed to charge this band.  However, after two years of loyalty (haha, that was a joke) the button broke, resulting in losing the ability to switch through the displays, sync, or even see the time. However, it still works as I can still plug into the computer and sync this way.  A little less convenient, but not a loss completely (and after two years of abuse, I am surprised it lasted this long!  

The Fuelbands in the original 3 colors.

However, I thought I would try out a different wearable and bought the Jawbone UP at the end of November for a early Christmas present to myself.   

BASICS: Jawbone, a company know for its Bluetooth speakers finally emerged into the wearables market with the UP.  However, they crashed and burned with too many problems and were quickly taken off the market.  Their bands couldn't withstand the sweat and showers as the Fuleband could (and that they said they could).  The water and soap and sweat would seep into the band and ruin the technology, rendering the band an expensive rubber bracelet.  They reemerged with the UP again, this time with confidence their product wouldn't suffer the same problems.  Made of the same rubber material as the Fuelband, the embedded chip monitors your motion, sleep, idle time, and steps.  While it won't track non moving activities like cycling, you can manually log those onto the Iphone and Android friendly app.  You can also log what you have eaten and it will preform the same functions as the Body Bug would.  Some added feature that are pretty cool, the idle alert will vibrate the band if you have been sitting for too long (customizable) as well as smart alarm that will wake you (within 30 minutes of your alarm time) at the most optimal point in your sleep cycle.  

Unlike the Fuelband, there is only a small light near the button that will like a sun while you are awake and a moon while you sleep.  No watch function here!  Also, for a company that is known for Bluetooth, you must uncap the microphone jack on the end of the band and plug into the microphone port in your phone to sync, no wireless.  Plus, the cap is very small.  

MY EXPERIENCE: I absolutely hate my UP.  I know, those are very strong words.  However, I felt the UP was just too rushed in manufacturing.  The fact that it comes from a company who is known for Bluetooth capabilities, yet can not wireless sync is absurd.  Jawbone made a statement about this notion, stating the obvious solution (making it able to wireless sync) is too complicated and requires components that are too big for a wristband.  Yet Nike was able to do it... I found the app was not user friendly.  The app also is supposed to give "insights" into what you log, yet I was never given anything useful as an insight.  More general things like, "Don't forget you need 8 glasses of water a day!" Maybe I just didn't give it a chance, or was biased because of my amazing experience with Nike.  The UP prides itself on a 10 day battery, however it was more like 10 syncs.  Within one week, I had to charge the band four times.  I may not have a Masters in Math but I know something isn't adding up here.  I was already upset with this product, then within one month of using it, it would not sync to my device. I had to reset my band a lost all progress I had made within that month.  Not durable at all. Also, recently Jawbone has released a new UP called the UP24 which can wireless sync to your smartphone vie Bluetooth.  The price is much more however.   

The UP bands many colors. 

Since I own both, and both still sync I have decided to compare the two.  I am going to wear both for about a month, each week I will post how the progress is and any other flaws I find.  It would be interesting to see if the calories are accurate as well as the steps.  Hopefully, this helped a few to decide, or maybe you will wait and see which works better.  All in all, I personally can't wait to see how they match up to each other.  

Don't forget also, there are more wearables than what I have mentioned!  Besides the Fuelband and UP, there are also the FitBit, Fit Bug, Striiv, and the Motoactive.  The FitBit alone has three different wearables!  All have their own perks and downfalls.  I personally, after research, picked the UP to be my next wearable (although now I think I might buy myself the rose gold Fuelband as a push present when little one arrives).  

Much love, as always :)