Permission to Nag

There are many things I love about Ronnie (obviously, I did choose to marry him after all). One of the things I really love and respect about him is the fact that he is very self aware, especially when it comes to taking care of himself. Let me explain.

I think it's easy to kid ourselves when it comes to how we're doing at taking care of ourselves. For example, I may feel like I'm eating really healthy, and then I sit down and write what I've eaten for the last few days, and soon realize that I've probably had 3 too many handfuls of chocolate chips, not nearly enough fruits and veggies, and slacked on water consumption. Or I may think I'm doing well with my working out, but realize I've gone to the gym half as much as I did while pregnant. These explains seem a little detailed? That would be because in writing this I did a bit of self reflection...yikes! It's easy to have our perceptions be way off from reality when it comes to how we're taking care of ourselves. I'm definitely guilty of this!

Somehow (probably not a fluke, I'm sure it's the way God wired him, knowing he'd have CF and how important it'd be) Ronnie is very aware of how he's doing when it comes to taking care of himself. He knows when he's slacking and he knows when he's kickin' booty. The best part is, when he knows he's slacking, he makes every effort to get back on track. I totally love that about him. Just yesterday he said, "hey honey, call me out about doing my treatments and getting to the gym this week. I can feel myself slipping a bit." How many people ask their spouse to be a nag and call them out? I'll answer that for you, not many. But he knows how important it is for him to go above and beyond to take care of himself as best as humanly possible. And you know what I love even more? "Slipping" meant he was only doing 3 treatments and he wants to do 4, even though his doctors only have asked him to do 2. And he's been going to the gym 4-5 times, instead of 5-6. Even though he was doing well, he was aware of the fact he wasn't doing as well as he should, and recognized he needed some external motivation to get him going. The natural born nag in me was thrilled...permission to nag?! You got it!

It's all too easy to kid ourselves about how healthy or unhealthy we're living (CF or not). And sometimes it's hard to get back on the wagon alone. So this week, do as we're doing, give someone in your life permission to be a nag.

Mckenna Monday: Making the Butter

Have you noticed the trend yet? Mandi Monday's come so late that they practically get posted on Tuesday! I used to write my Mandi Monday's on Sunday and have them automatically post Sunday night/Monday morning (shhh don't tell). But days just come and go and then all of a sudden it's Monday morning and I realize I've been a slacker for another week. So since I'm terrible, I'll send in my replacement...Mckenna. Sooo without further ado: Mckenna Monday:

Things are going pretty well for me. I'm getting bigger by the second. Mom says I'm a tank, but they still call me Peanut, so I'm not sure how that all fits together...maybe I'm a small tank? I had my 2-month check-up last Monday. I came in at 10 pounds 2 ounces and 22 inches long. If you're keeping track, that's exactly 4lbs and 5 inches since I was born. I'm growing like a weed! At that appointment I also got some shots. OUCHY!! I let out a huge wail once I realized what happened and that it didn't feel the greatest. Mom looked sad for me and like she was going to be sick, dad smiled with delight and kept saying "oh my goodness your face is so cute when you cry like that."

I'm pretty sure my name is Mckenna because they say it all the time (although they don't know I know because I don't respond to my own name yet). However, they call me lots of other names too. They call me Peanut a lot, which I've heard all along...I didn't hear Mckenna until much later in my life. But they also call me Goosey, short for Silly Goosey, which they call me some.

If there's one thing I'm good at it's making the butter. "Huh?" you probably thought to yourself. Yeah that's what I wondered too at first. My parents just kept asking "are you making the butter baby?" I finally realized that they're talking about going poo poo. Because everytime I dirty my diaper they say, "oh my goodness, did you make the butter? You're so good at making the butter, baby!" I didn't get it at first until I heard my mom explaining it to someone. Apparently mom thinks my poo poo smells like movie theater popcorn butter (you'll never look at it the same again I'm sure)...and it's yellow in color (I guess theirs is something different?) And because I drink milk and it churns in my tummy and then there's butter. So there you have it, mom and dad think I'm a butter factory.

Hm what else? Oh yeah, I've started sleeping like a champ. Bedtime is fun. I know what's coming because we do the same thing every night. I eat, we play a bit, I take a bath, eat again and then it's straight to bed. I go to bed around 9:30-10:30 and I wake up at 7ish. I either eat once around 4 or I just sleep all the way through. On the nights I sleep all the way through I could swear my mom looks like a different person and man is she thrilled to see me. She comes in and sings about what a good sleeper I am. I mean she's happy to see me every morning, but those mornings you'd think I had been out of town for the last week and she missed me like crazy. So maybe I'll start sleeping through the night every night? I'll try my best.

So, that's it. Life is good!

Learning the Ropes of Pregnancy

As many of you read last week, we're pregnant! And as you can imagine, we're thrilled. We currently are the proud parents of 1 or 2 (we find out in a few weeks) little "poppy seeds". It's so crazy how much I can love something so tiny! I feel completely fine still. No morning sickness (think that doesn't kick in for another week or two). I'm still bloated from the egg retrieval and transfer, but my tummy has gone down quite a bit. I am feeling pretty tired, but who knows if that is from being pregnant, or sleeping on a cot in a hospital room. I've been pretty hungry (not unusual for me in general though). I've been burping more? Not sure if that's actually from anything...just an observation.

I am doing everything I can do get educated. I've started reading anything and everything about pregnancy - including, but not limited to, what's happening in my body, what's happening with our baby(ies), how much exercise I can do, what kinds of exercise, what to eat, what to avoid, you name it. And let me tell you, my head is spinning. I am so nervous that I'll blow it by doing something wrong, eating something wrong, using a product that is wrong, yadda yadda yadda! Every time I go to eat something, use something (like lotion) or do something (like work out), I first google if I'm allowed to eat, use, or do whatever it is. (Anyone have any helpful hints of how they navigated this period in their lives...does it get easier or will I be a paranoid, psycho forever?)

I thought I'd take today's blog to share some interesting findings - ones that have shocked me the most:

1. TOBI - Ronnie's on TOBI this month. And you all know, when you use TOBI, it seems to fill the room with a thick haze. I sat next to him while he was puffing away, and then lightbulb, "I wonder if this is ok for ME to breath in...second hand smoke is bad, what about second hand TOBI?" So I googled it. GULP. A bunch of articles warning pregnant woman about taking TOBI, harmful to fetus, heating loss caused in utero. UMMMM EXCUSE ME. That freaked me out so bad I now banish myself from the room when Ronnie's is doing TOBI. Who knows what it can do second hand, but I'm not taking that chance.

2. Tea - Not all caffeine free tea is safe to drink? What? How does anyone know this stuff? I have now just stopped drinking tea altogether because I can't keep all the hot drinks straight, and I can't even enjoy it as my brain questions if it's causing harm or not.

3. Albuterol - After I read about TOBI, I started googling Ronnie's meds like crazy. Albuterol, in animals, was shown to cause birth defects to babies apparently?! Again, who knows if second hand it even matters, but NO THANKS. Looks like treatment will not be spent together for the next 9 months. I will say though, the Albuterol at least doesn't fill the whole room with a cloud of it's baby harming effects (probably a little dramatic!).

4. Deli Meat - "MMM a sandwich sounds good." I thought last week while trying to decide what to have for dinner. Google. Ok, no sandwiches? Looks like deli meat isn't recommended (I've read mixed feelings on if it's deli meat in general, or if just deli meat that you don't heat WAY up isn't good). Regardless, I'll stay away from deli meat! Goodbye Subway - we will meet again in 9 months.

5. Exercise - Exercise is good. Not so much of a novel fact. But I'm trying to wrap my head around, so I keep trying to read more articles. I am still nervous that someone I will shake the baby(ies) out of me (sounds stupid even typing it). I am nervous that somehow I'll cause myself to miscarry. But I have read a ton, and it looks like by all accounts, unless you're a high-risk pregnancy, that exercise is actually advantageous. So I've gotten back into the exercise saddle (slowly). I still have to be careful, since I still have bloating, it's likely that my ovaries are still swollen from the egg retrieval, and they tell you to take it easy, or you could get ovary torsion (unlikely, but not good). I have started walking daily, and we got an exercise bike in Ronnie's room (hospital provides them), so I've been riding that quite a bit. It feels good to be back in the exercise saddle after not doing anything for 4 weeks (ever since I've started the stim. meds I couldn't exercise).

So there you have it. There are some of my findings over the last week. I will say this though, while it's a little overwhelming trying to learn what I can and can't put into my body for the next 10 months, I couldn't be more thrilled. It's not a matter of being concerned with having to change what I'm doing, it's just me wanting to do everything right for our little poppy seed(s).