Slacker.

My apologies for not posting in a while. We were out of town visiting family and letting everyone meet E for the first time. With the exception of the outrageous heat and humidity, it was a great trip. Here is a picture of E meeting his great-grandma for the first time.

Oh, and my souviner from the trip? An itchy case of Eczema that decided to rear its ugly head and stick around for almost two weeks. Awesome.

I Hate WalMart.

Yesterday, D (my fiance) and I headed to WalMart to return three packages of diapers I was gifted during my pregnancy but never used since we cloth diaper. We're greeted at the door by an elderly man and lady. For ten minutes we stand there with this "couple" as the lady scans our diapers, punches in some numbers, and declares to the man that her scanner isn't working multiple times. He replies by telling her to just write us a sticker instead, which of course she doesn't do. She's determined to make this scanner obey her.

By this time I have gotten a shopping cart and placed E, in his car seat, in the cart. We're blocking the entry way but I'm not too concerned. My thought was if we blocked enough people, the lady would realize and let us go, not wanting to disturb the customers. I was wrong.

Three minutes and five blocked customers later, my conscience got the best of me and I moved to the side. D makes a comment and the lady finally decides that writing a sticker for us would be easier than fighting with the obviously rebellious scanner. After attaching the sticker to one of our three diaper packs, we're off to make the treacherous voyage to the customer service area...a mere 20 yards away.

Upon reaching the customer service desk, a second lady retrieves our sticker. After typing in the four numbers the first lady so diligently wrote down, she nonchalantly tosses it in the trash. Our work was gone in the blink of an eye.

"You crispies are weird."

That's what I was told a few days ago while in a discussion about parenting techniques with other like-minded moms. The commenter meant it in a light hearted way and I'll admit I smiled when I heard it. I wasn't offended but it stuck with me. I kept replaying it in my head for at least two days straight. Then it hit me: The people who think this parenting approach is weird are usually the ones who have never researched the style. So, I take it upon myself to share with you a few pointers of the "crispy-crunchy" lifestyle. :)

You might be a crunchy mom/parent if you:

• have an all natural, unmedicated birth (extra points for a homebirth)
• exclusively breastfeed on demand
• are an extended breastfeeder
• tandem breastfeed
• follow child led weaning and/or child led solids
• cloth diaper
• wear your baby
• live a "natural" lifestyle (no makeup, natural or organic products, etc.)
• make your own baby food
• co-sleep
• delay, select, or decline vaccinations for your child
• follow an attachment parenting or full-time parenting approach
• homeschool
• are anti-CIO
• are anti-circumcision
• follow natural family planning

(E at 7 weeks old, rocking one of his cloth diapers)

There are no set rules to the style. You can follow one but not the other, selectively choosing what works best for you and your child.
If you ask any crunchy mama we'll all tell you the same thing: We're doing what we feel is best for our child/children and family. We've chosen the lifestyle we follow because it's what makes us comfortable. ...It's what floats our boat. :)

Birth Timeline

March 12, 2011 (37 weeks, 2 day)

6:30am - Arrived at the hospital for a scheduled induction due to rapidly progressing pre-eclampsia.
7:30am - Completed paperwork, changed into gown, administered IV, started pitocin.
9:45am - Started feeling uncomfortable contractions.
11:30am - Dilated 3cm, water broken.
12:30pm - Requested and received epidural.
2:30pm - Dilated 5cm, intense pressure.
3:30pm - Dilated 10cm, intense pressure, nurses started preparing room to deliver.
4:05pm - Started pushing.
4:20pm - Four 30 second pushes and an elapsed time of 15 minutes later, E was born weighing 5lbs 14oz.

Although it wasn't the labor and delivery I had planned, I still enjoyed it. It's way too soon to toy with the idea of another baby but I am looking forward to my next pregnancy, labor, and delivery.

Pregnancy Story

I was blessed to have a relatively healthy and happy pregnancy. I only had morning sickness for the first 8 weeks and only got sick twice. At 18 weeks we found out our little jellybean was a boy.

 (18 weeks, 2 days)

All tests that I complied with came back great and our little boy was growing well. I found out midway through the pregnancy I was Rh- but had no complications from it. During my routine 35 week appointment my blood pressure spiked and I was sent to labor and delivery for monitoring. Within an hour my BP had returned to normal and I was sent home. The same thing happened at my 36 week appointment and I was again sent for monitoring. I was ordered a 24 hour urinalysis for a protein count and scheduled another appointment for the end of the week. During the end of the week appointment my BP was 190/80; extremely high for a young, otherwise healthy, pregnant woman. I was having horrible, pounding headaches and my vision was blurred or spotted a majority of the time. My urinalysis results had been returned. An average protein count in a "normal" person is anything below 300. Mine was 1500. I had developed pre-eclampsia and it was progressing very fast. Since I was now 37 weeks, I was considered full term even though I was three weeks shy of my due date. This meant induction was now an option as a cure for the pre-e.

Introduction

Hello, I'm Samantha! Most of my friends call me Sam.
I'm a new, semi-crunchy, young mom to a beautiful three month old little boy.
After months of consideration, I finally decided to start this blog as an outlet for my "young mom musings".
I hope you enjoy this adventure with me.