Breastfeeding

This baby girl has been a piggy.  She definitely weighs more than what I think an average 2 month old should weigh.  Our older daughter got comments like 'she's so small' and 'look how little she is'...this baby gets shocked and fast remarks of 'what a big baby' she is. And I can't help but agree.  She's a heavy kid.  I just did a little research and found that the average baby of 2 months (boy or girl) is 10 pounds.  This was after really loose research...and I know my peanut butter was already 11 pounds at at least 6 weeks old.  She turned 2 months this past Monday and I think she weighs at least 13 pounds now.  Probably more.  And nothing but breastmilk has given her that poundage.  She has never had a drop of formula.  I love that she's getting so big off of purely eating what I provide for her.  I felt that way about her sister, but her sister had formula for a little over a week of her life.  I don't regret that, and I think if I'd have known better, I still would have had to formula feed her in the beginning.  She had a terrible bruise on her head from a vacuum during the birth, and they say that bruises can cause jaundice.  Jaundice can cause drowsiness, and drowsiness prevents the desire to eat...and eating can help bring down the billirubin levels.  It's a bad cycle.  And with peanut butter, I pumped for a few days before the birth (to try to induce labor), which I think helped my milk come down easier, and she was still borderline jaundiced and almost needed to be kept another night for it.  She ate every 2 hours and her levels were still that high.  I wonder how any mother is able to get their baby to breastfeed enough to expel all that yucky billirubin filled marconium (I'm probably spelling all these words wrong) in enough time to get discharged after a day.

So there you go...one of the quickest ways to stop a mother from breastfeeding...pressure her into formula feeding during the first 24 hours because of the billirubin levels.  We think, automatically, we must not be doing something right.  And I have no clue what the real right answer is.  Was I just the anomaly?  Do I just produce jaundice-prone babies?  Or is this possibly one of the reasons a lot of moms out there decide not to breastfeed?  I would have given up on it with my first if I weren't so obsessed with making it work.  So I'm so glad we got it to work, me and my first daughter.  If we didn't, I probably wouldn't have had it so easy with the second, and I'd be formula feeding for both.  The reasons why I am so glad they were/are both breastfed are so plentiful that I'll have to save that for another post, but I will say that it's my favorite part about this stage of my children's lives so far.  I love my toddler girl...but there's a connection I had with her while she was breastfeeding that I just won't ever get again.  A closeness I can't describe with words.

Like I said in an earlier post, you'll hear a lot about breastfeeding over the next year and change.

Time to go to bed, because peanut butter will surely be awake in about 3 hours to eat.

A New Toy for Writing (Asus t100)

I have wanted a MacBook Air for over a year and a half...longer, even.  My main reason--I wanted a portable way to write using my favorite writing program, Scrivener.  Scrivener has been promising an iOS version for over a year now and though I still look forward to that, I stopped waiting patiently a long time ago.  Since the MacBook Air costs a bazillion dollars and I really couldn't justify my desire to stick with the Macintosh operating system just for a more portable computer (my husband recently purchased an iMac, so I'm getting my Apple fix with that)...I have been searching for a more affordable alternative.  I saw a commercial a few weeks ago with something that sounded close to the answer I was hoping for.  It was for an Asus 2-in-1 tablet/laptop that apparently provides the full version of Windows 8 (I didn't particularly like Windows 8 on the 11 inch Asus I already had, but I loved that computer and the fact that it has been reliable for over a year).  After a few days, I did a google search for more specifics on the product (I'm a sucker for good advertising).  I found what I am now writing this blog post on, and it is more fitting for what I want than the MacBook Air could ever be. 

This little guy was affordable (about a fourth of the cost of the MacBook Air), it separates from the keyboard (something the MacBook Air definitely doesn't do), it can handle Scrivener (the RT version of Windows would not, neither, yet, does the iPad), and it gives me the chance to have the convenience of a regular computer in a tiny little size (why were netbooks so unpopular?  I never got my hands on one, but I wanted to).

And I really, really love it.  I got the Scapple program from Literature and Latte and it works really well with the touchscreen (actually, I'm using the trial version...I'll buy the full when it's over though, it's a great way to brainstorm). 

I used the tablet at work today to try and open a couple of difficult pdfs (it didn't work) and it was so easy and natural, I can see me using it more often there and here. 

I wanted this post to be more fun, but it's so hard for me to put into relatable words why I want something like this. Probably because I have an unhealthy addiction to technology (as I sit here and have, from left to right in my view, an iPhone, iPad, this thing, 1TB external hard drive, Bluetooth keyboard, Bluetooth mouse, and a kindle...trust me, I started feeling ashamed at the second 'i' device), but maybe I crave all this stuff for my writing.  Well, the external drive and mouse have nothing to do with writing...nor does the iPhone...and the kindle is for my love for reading...but the iPad and this little guy...and the Bluetooth keyboard, those are all for writing.  Not that I have a boatload of confidence in the writing...more like it's a hardcore hobby, and I take my hobbies very seriously (have you seen my jewelry shop?).

So I hope to be back, writing blog posts more regularly.  And I want to start a new writing project...I've already started outlining it.  I had another I wanted to start first, but for whatever reason, this one took precedence.

My Earths Project queries haven't received a response yet but that's still better, in my opinion, than the form rejection letters.  And I need to go back and reedit it....which sucks...but I started it, and I have to get it right.  Maybe this is all for not, but I'm not the only one out there who has this kind of writing obsession...and even if it's always just a hobby, it's worth it to me. 

Guess I'll close up this long, drawn out post now.  I'm watching Breaking Bad while I type, so I'm distracted.  Plus, my 2 month old just finally fell asleep at 8:20, so I had to juggle doing this and watching that at the same time.  We're on the final season...a poor kid just got killed at the end of this episode.  Sucks.

Off to bed.  Sorry for droning on.

Peanut Butter has arrived (a few weeks ago)

Our second daughter was born on 1/10/14 weighing 8 lbs 4 oz and 21.5 inches.  She's an amazingly good baby and it's incredible how quickly the heart can double in capacity.  My two girls have made me the luckiest mommy in the world.  I can't express how grateful I am for both of them.  They're so different already.  Peanut butter has hair...dark hair, and so far it seems straight.  J was bald for her first year.  Peanut butter is relatively calm, J was constantly discontent.  I love everything about this baby and her big sister.  PB latched right away (it took J almost a week before she was exclusively breastfed).  PB has never had formula (YAY).

Right now the husband and J are on a "date" (at a hockey game).  He's been sending me photos and it looks like she's having a great time.

The editing still isn't done but I only have 46 pages left and I'm feeling consistently more confident about it.  I also have the next idea for a YA thought out pretty thoroughly.  I've written tidbits of an outline and the other night I came up with most of the plot (including the ending).  I want to start on it but I'm afraid of all the unfinished attempts I've had at writing full novels, so I want to wait until I know I can give it at least a little bit a day.

I've been telling my husband that I won't give up on this.  Never.  I've never not wanted it, so now that I've written a complete manuscript, edited it, written versions of a query (hardest part of this, so far), I know I can keep doing this for as long as I have the ability to see and type.  Until I've made it.  And I'll keep going after that (even harder).

Okay, PB is not happy...gotta go :)

Happy New Year!

My baby is refusing to be born.  She's due on Monday, in her defense, but my daughter was born at 37 weeks so I already feel 3 weeks overdue.  I've tried all the self-inducing tricks, I ate two full pineapples, I'm taking walks constantly, I drink raspberry tea leaf all day, the doc did some membrane stripping on Monday (ouch), tried sex, I even pumped for 15 minutes today….nothin.  And when I say nothing, I mean barely any contractions and no other signs that this little girl wants to be anywhere but inside her warm and cozy uterus.  She needs to get moving soon or she's going to miss the visitors that drove all the way from PA to meet her.

I was swamped with jewelry orders last month, along with busy things going on at work and preparations for the holidays and this baby's arrival.  I've still been editing, but I didn't meet my goal of finishing this round of edits before the new year.  I got close, only 100 pages left, give or take a few, but I'm at the area of the book that needed the most improvement.  Some days I'll read the book and think 'this is exactly what I hoped it'd be' and other days I feel like it's awful.  It'll get done.  Right now I just feel like I'm in limbo…I keep expecting to go into labor, and when I don't, I over think how many things can go wrong, or how bad it's going to hurt, or how much sleep I'm not going to get in the next 6 months (wishful thinking).  Then my mind finds some peace and confidence for a minute or two, then she still doesn't come and it all starts again.  I wonder what stage I'll be at when I actually go into labor. If I ever go into labor.

Did I mention we call her Peanut Butter?  As goofy as it sounds, I'll probably start calling the two of them PB & J once she's here.

Today we took J and grandparents to the park.

Now I'm going to get ready to go grocery shopping and walk around a track (maybe hop a bit) to try and coax PB out while the husband goes to the gym.

I can't wait to be able to get real exercise again.  I miss going for runs (ones where my legs don't feel like they're carrying 50 lb weights) and feeling active.  I'm so sluggish and off balance.  

Ughh….any day now, please.

Weekends are the best.

Our friend from Louisiana is visiting us this weekend.  He's one of the three people that read my manuscript for feedback.  He's also the only of the three who isn't related to me, so I really valued his opinion.  Knowing he was coming to visit, I kept telling my husband that I was really worried he'd get drunk and tell me he hated my book.  After reading it, he told me he really enjoyed it and gave me really positive feedback, along with good suggestions.  So knowing he's also the type of guy who is very complimentary and gentleman like, I obviously always wondered if he was just trying to be nice and when the truth would come out.  So last night...after dinner at an amazing German restaurant called Haus Murphy's where my husband and our friend each drank two ENOURMOUS beers

(I'm pregnant, so I'm the designated driver, of course...we couldn't have our toddler drive, duh)

I worried that this would be the time our friend would start telling me the truth about the book.  It did come up...and he brought it up...but the conversation was actually extremely favorable.  He asked what I'm doing with it, so I told him some of the changes I've made and the editing I'm still doing, then he proceeded to tell me what he liked about it the best (after saying 'I like all of it, but this is what I liked the best...').  So even his drunken uninhibited opinion is positive.  Hurray!  And that seriously makes me very happy and reinforces the confidence I've built already in regards to the manuscript. 
I have been lazy about the second round of editing.  I did get done doing the written edits on the manuscript, and now I'm onto the second round of actually writing the changes into the manuscript on Scrivener.  I've fallen behind though, and if I want to finish it before the end of the year, I need to have a bit more discipline.

Otherwise...I've had a fun few days of getting my Christmas gifts really early..one is a Gardenmaster Nesco Dehydrator and the other is a Basis B1 watch.  I'm loving both gifts a lot.  Already dehydrated a batch of strawberries, apples, and bananas and I've been burning around 2700 calories or more per day (I'm pregnant, and trying to stay active), and my heart rate is usually in the 90s (also gonna say that's from the pregnancy).

And just now, I made a batch of no bake cookies. 

I'm going to dehydrate another batch of stuff soon (more apples...they're awesome...zucchini and green beans). 

My domestic streak is in full force...nesting again?  Also, the husband and friend are at the Cardinals game right now so I'm enjoying some mostly alone time (little girl just got up from her nap though, so now it's time to feed her a delicious cookie).

Wish weekends could last longer...just an extra day or so.

Happy Halloween

So I've still been editing. I wanted to try and get this first phase of it done by the end of today, but I'm still about 20 pages from reaching that goal...not bad, all things considered. And I'm REALLY feeling good about the manuscript. I had a good 50 or so pages there where I was cringing with every other paragraph, but the last 30 have been my favorite so far...and they give me that kind of hope and optimism that if I polish up the other rough spots, I'll have something I can really be proud of.

After I finish this round of editing and writing it up in the actual manuscript, I will start querying again. I don't think I'll edit it again at that point until I get an agent (I guess 'unless' is a more appropriate word, but I want to stay positive).

While I'm querying, I'm going to come up with a realistic timeline and outline of my next book (not the sequel to this one, unfortunately, but the next idea I have...since it's something I'm really excited to try and write). If I end up getting this current manuscript represented AND sold (oh my god...the amount of happiness that'd give me could probably inspire world peace), I'd go back to writing the sequels to this series. So if I want to remain optimistic, I should really aim to start this next project at the same time I start querying for agents again. I know from past experience that I absolutely need to write at least 5 days per week if I want to write the thing from start to finish, but I will have a new baby, so I don't know how realistic that will be. I just have to remember that I wrote this current manuscript while I was still in school, moving across the country, and selling our house in PA. I'll probably wait until the baby is born to start the project, even if I do get done editing this beforehand (that's unlikely though).

So to reiterate, before the end of this unlucky year I hope to finish polishing up this current manuscript...gotta stick to a schedule, but I think it's an achievable goal. Then let's hope 2014 is my lucky year. Any year without a '13' in it is okay in my book.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Trying to get back into it...

I'm really having trouble juggling my responsibilities with the amount of time I have (it feels like none). I'm in my third trimester, I'm uncomfortable and tired and excited to have this baby. We got her room together, which is exciting. J got a real toddler bed and her old bed was converted back to a crib. I washed a huge load of clothes from when J was an infant (this little girl, we'll call her A, will have enough to wear a new outfit everyday for a month with just that load of laundry). I washed the cover to my 'Brest Friend' pillow (awesome way to breastfeed a baby...just wait, you're going to hear a TON of stuff about breastfeeding soon...when I breastfed J for 14 months it was sort of an obsession for me, I'm kind of a crazy person when it comes to whether someone should breastfeed if they are able to).

Anyway...I got a little sidetracked...the reason I'm writing today (finally) is because I'm trying to make myself accountable (again) and I really want to finish editing the manuscript before the end of 2013. I hate the number 13...so it's only appropriate that I get this cleaned up and have a fresh start with it in 2014. I'm also due to have A on 1/6/14 so I know I really won't have any time to do this part of it after she's here. So one of the things I'd like to be able to focus on after she's here is working again on the query letter and getting it out to agents.

I also started using a new app to edit the pdf version of my full manuscript (after I make my notes, I'll move over to my light Asus laptop so I can work side by side with the pdf in Scrivener....Scrivener, if you could release an app for your program in the next couple of weeks, I'd be SOO grateful). The new app I'm using is Notability...which is AWESOME. My all time favorite app to date. You can add photos, pdfs, AUDIO notes, handwritten notes etc. AND it syncs between iPhone and iPad AUTOMATICALLY....it's incredible. Below is a note I made about the schedule I'd like to follow in order to get this manuscript edited and finished up.

We'll see how I do!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad