Work-life balance. What does that even mean? It surely can't mean that there would be an equal distribution of time spent on work activities and personal activities because unless you are Super Mom, Super Employee and Super Annoying, I just can't fathom that achieving this is anything beyond a miracle. Plus, let's face it, who wants to spend the same amount of time on both. If I had it my way I would spend my days lying on a beach, sipping cocktails while I listened to the giggles of my husband and daughter while they built sandcastles next to me. Work wouldn't be a factor in my ideal work-life balance equation. BUT the reality is that I wouldn't be able to do any of the things that I love (including vacation with my family to this tropical paradise I wish I was in today) without actually working and bringing home some bacon. Plus, I kind of like my job. Don't get me wrong, if I won the lottery tomorrow it would be hasta la vista (in my best Arnold voice) and I'd hit the ground running, but since I've been told that my chances of being struck by lightning are greater than winning the lotto (plus I'd have to actually play to win) I won't hold my breath that I will become a multimillionaire anytime soon. So while I wait for my winning lottery numbers to be picked I need to figure out how to do this whole work-life balance thing. I thought I had a pretty good balance before Baby G was born but looking back on it I really don't think it was balanced fairly at all. I produce my best work when under pressure and have tight timelines and since my job can be done from almost anywhere I tended to put in my 'normal' daytime hours and then go home and work more. At times I was working every night and on the weekends and I still never felt like I was caught up. My husband rarely complained but at one point he did ask if we could have a night that we could watch TV together that I didn't have my computer on my lap. Looking back on it, I don't think that was a fair balance at all. Not fair to him anyway.
Then I went on maternity leave. I took off 3 weeks before G was born. I thought I would get bored at home but by that point in my pregnancy I was tiring pretty quickly and still trying to wrap up last minute things in the house and nursery before I went into labor. I would run a few errands, take a nap, put away any new items I had purchased that day and then start dinner before my husband would get home from work. I got into a pretty good routine and never got bored once. Baby G arrived on 8/2/11 and I was fortunate to be able to stay home with her for 3 months. My husband was home for the first 7 weeks after she was born and just as we started to get into a good balance he went back to work. I spent the last the last 5 weeks of leave at home with G by myself and just as I thought I was getting into another decent routine (aka being able to take a daily shower) I had to prepare to go by to work. I have been back at work since the beginning of November and even though I have managed to keep up my daily showering (thank god!) I now have to figure out how to juggle many, many more activities. My daily schedule roughly looks like this; get up at 6a, nurse G, do hair & make-up, load the car and head to the sitter, one hour after I leave my house I arrive at work (roughly 8:30a), work until 5ish and pick up G, arrive at home one hour after I left the office (6p), nurse G, start dinner, bathe G at 7:15p, eat dinner, nurse again, put G to bed by 8:30p, make bottles, pack the diaper bag, shower, blow dry hair, in bed around 10:30p. Lather, rinse, repeat. At almost 5 months old my daughter still nurses for 45-60 minutes every time so if you were actually paying attention to the timeline above you will notice that there isn't much time for anything else. My husband is usually stuck doing anything that doesn't fit into this timeline (grocery shopping, dinner dishes, trash, bottle washing, etc.) I barely have time to eat my own dinner.
SO, how in the hell are you supposed to have a balanced home life let alone a work-life balance? Since I've been back to work I have spent 6 days away on 3 different business trips. Coordination of these was nothing short of a miracle. Thank god for my husband and my mom for helping out tremendously. My workload is insane but nothing I haven't been capable of handling in the past. The difference now is that I am unable to do any work at home, AT ALL. I've tried. Most would think that's a good thing but when you can't possibly get into the office any earlier or stay any later, when do you catch up? Do you know how many times I have tried to write this single blog post over the last 4 days?!? My co-worker says "You will never be able to get everything done. Something always has to give and you just have to rotate what it is so you don't go insane".
Pandora just cued my exit with Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain". It must be a sign. My husband will be checking me into the nearest Looney Bin before the end of FY12.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Sunday, July 17, 2011
17 days?!?!
Our estimated due date is in just 17 days?!? That's it?!? Where did the last 9 months go?!?!? Holy....
In preparation for the baby we have narrowed down our list of names to three, packed our hospital bag, washed and put away any clothing, blankets and bedding we think we might need for the first few weeks, organized the nursery, attended baby classes, stocked the freezer with food and we have loaded up on toilet paper and basic household necessities that we won't want to run out to grab once Baby has arrived. This weekend Brett installed the car seat in both cars, assembled the Pack N' Play, the Swing and the Bouncer and I trimmed our out of control rose bushes and plants in the front yard while Brett mowed the lawns. Did I mention that the house has been remodeled? The nursery, the master bedroom and the family room officially have new paint, door and window trims, floors and baseboards!
So what's left?? Clean the house, bathe the dogs, wash the dog beds, clean the house, load the DVR with shows for midnight feedings, get a pedicure, did I mention clean the house? Oh, and we kind of need a baby at some point to make sense of all of this madness! Just not today, I still have a lot to do!!!
In preparation for the baby we have narrowed down our list of names to three, packed our hospital bag, washed and put away any clothing, blankets and bedding we think we might need for the first few weeks, organized the nursery, attended baby classes, stocked the freezer with food and we have loaded up on toilet paper and basic household necessities that we won't want to run out to grab once Baby has arrived. This weekend Brett installed the car seat in both cars, assembled the Pack N' Play, the Swing and the Bouncer and I trimmed our out of control rose bushes and plants in the front yard while Brett mowed the lawns. Did I mention that the house has been remodeled? The nursery, the master bedroom and the family room officially have new paint, door and window trims, floors and baseboards!
So what's left?? Clean the house, bathe the dogs, wash the dog beds, clean the house, load the DVR with shows for midnight feedings, get a pedicure, did I mention clean the house? Oh, and we kind of need a baby at some point to make sense of all of this madness! Just not today, I still have a lot to do!!!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Life Happens
A lot has happened since my last blog post. I have been wanting to write something creative but I just haven't been able to focus on one specific thing. Who needs focus? Why write about just one thing? Screw it. Here's a quick recap of what's been happening around here.
Family:
My mom is engaged! Congratulations! Her and Ken are getting married on Oct. 1st which means that our family is continuing to grow! I am really excited for them and I am excited for the path this will take all of us down and especially for what this means to my mom. Fingers crossed I can lose some baby weight by the time I need to squeeze into a dress! The Army has relocated my brother Steven and his family from Ft. Rucker, Alabama to Ft. Campbell, Tennessee. Although Ft. Campbell is almost exactly the same distance from California as Ft. Rucker, for travel purposes it is much easier to get to which is going to be very nice for all of us. Especially since they are expecting their 3rd baby this August! She (yes, I will have another niece!YAY!) is due on Aug. 7th, only 4 days after my estimated due date.
Vacation:
Brett and I went to Cancun in March and spent 6 days relaxing on the beach. The trip was dual purpose and was a combination vacation/babymoon and a wedding celebration for Nicole and Lou. We were looking forward to this trip and we were not at all disappointed. The weather was perfect and the wedding was beautiful. The wedding was a little bittersweet for me since I was watching my once sister-in-law get remarried but I am extremely happy for them. The uniqueness of our situation and the fact that I was there to witness this union, never one time crossed my mind as being strange or odd or abnormal. Bittersweet, yes. Strange, no. I realize that this was the union of two families that are not technically mine and I'm not sure if other people find it as 'normal' as I do that Brett and I were there to celebrate it with them. BUT to me (and to my family) they are our family, regardless of the details on how it all came about. My brother has been dead for 6 years, Nicole and Lou are in love and Lou is an amazing father to my niece. What more do you need? I couldn't be happier for them and I am thrilled that we were able to be there to celebrate such a happy moment with them.
Work:
Blah! KIDDING. Sort of. Work is crazy. I'm exhausted. I know how lucky I am to have a great job and as crazy and hairy as it is on most days, I enjoy it. I also enjoy my co-workers which makes it so much easier to deal with the ambiguity that so often surrounds me everyday. We are in the middle of our busy time so let's just say that the vacation I mentioned above couldn't have come at a better time. The next 'vacation' I will get from work is when this baby is born!
House Remodel:
Somehow we thought it was a good idea to start remodeling parts of the house in the midst of the pregnancy. Naturally it all started with the need to convert our office into the nursery but instead of cleaning the carpets and slapping some fresh paint on the walls, we decided that we would gut the entire room (floors, baseboards, door trim, window trim, etc) and start fresh. Go big or go home right? Apparently that wasn't quite big enough so we also decided that if we were going to replace the floors and baseboards in the babies room then we should do the same thing in our bedroom and the family room so they all match. Now if you are going to rip out the floors then it would be stupid not to paint while you're at it and if you're going to replace baseboards in 3 of the main areas of the downstairs then you also have to replace the baseboards in the connecting hallway, adjoining bathroom and laundry room. AND if you're going to all that trouble and already have barren rooms, then you might as well do a little upgrading and do all new window and door casings and add a touch of wainscoting right? RIGHT?!? This IS the natural progression of a home remodel right?? Well apparently it is in my house. I just thank goodness that the layout of my house allows for a logical stopping point in the floorplan so the madness ends somewhere and I'm not living in construction dust for the next 2 years! We (just Brett) have started on the babies room and are kicking ass so far. I feel like we (him again) just started and he's almost done! I can't wait to see the finished room and to start on the other rooms! Let's just hope that he can keep up this momentum through the rest of the project! My goal is to have everything 100% complete by June 1st. I do not want to deal with a construction disaster in the middle of a hot summer while 9 months pregnant! No thank you!
Baby:
She is doing great! We had our 20 week ultrasound before we left for Cancun and our 45 minute appointment turned into 2 hours. The tech wasn't able to get all of the necessary measurements because the baby was bouncing off the walls! By the end of the appointment, I had peed at least twice and my back was killing me from lying on the table for so long but we walked away with a ton of new pictures and it felt good to spend so much time watching her move around in there. I had started feeling her move about a week before the appointment and to see her kick and wave so much was awesome. Since then, I can feel her moving almost constantly and I am starting to know when she is most active. I officially look pregnant instead of like I need to cut back on the beer and ice cream, although I should definitely cut back on the ice cream I'm eating, and I've noticed that my once cavernous belly button is filling in and and it might be an outie before I know it. Overall I've only gained about 5lbs which is great but my sudden need to have dessert every night might increase that significantly if I'm not careful. As much as I should tell Brett to stop surprising me with It's It ice cream sandwiches, I just don't think I can do it yet. They're just so damn good!
Family:
My mom is engaged! Congratulations! Her and Ken are getting married on Oct. 1st which means that our family is continuing to grow! I am really excited for them and I am excited for the path this will take all of us down and especially for what this means to my mom. Fingers crossed I can lose some baby weight by the time I need to squeeze into a dress! The Army has relocated my brother Steven and his family from Ft. Rucker, Alabama to Ft. Campbell, Tennessee. Although Ft. Campbell is almost exactly the same distance from California as Ft. Rucker, for travel purposes it is much easier to get to which is going to be very nice for all of us. Especially since they are expecting their 3rd baby this August! She (yes, I will have another niece!YAY!) is due on Aug. 7th, only 4 days after my estimated due date.
Vacation:
Brett and I went to Cancun in March and spent 6 days relaxing on the beach. The trip was dual purpose and was a combination vacation/babymoon and a wedding celebration for Nicole and Lou. We were looking forward to this trip and we were not at all disappointed. The weather was perfect and the wedding was beautiful. The wedding was a little bittersweet for me since I was watching my once sister-in-law get remarried but I am extremely happy for them. The uniqueness of our situation and the fact that I was there to witness this union, never one time crossed my mind as being strange or odd or abnormal. Bittersweet, yes. Strange, no. I realize that this was the union of two families that are not technically mine and I'm not sure if other people find it as 'normal' as I do that Brett and I were there to celebrate it with them. BUT to me (and to my family) they are our family, regardless of the details on how it all came about. My brother has been dead for 6 years, Nicole and Lou are in love and Lou is an amazing father to my niece. What more do you need? I couldn't be happier for them and I am thrilled that we were able to be there to celebrate such a happy moment with them.
Work:
Blah! KIDDING. Sort of. Work is crazy. I'm exhausted. I know how lucky I am to have a great job and as crazy and hairy as it is on most days, I enjoy it. I also enjoy my co-workers which makes it so much easier to deal with the ambiguity that so often surrounds me everyday. We are in the middle of our busy time so let's just say that the vacation I mentioned above couldn't have come at a better time. The next 'vacation' I will get from work is when this baby is born!
House Remodel:
Somehow we thought it was a good idea to start remodeling parts of the house in the midst of the pregnancy. Naturally it all started with the need to convert our office into the nursery but instead of cleaning the carpets and slapping some fresh paint on the walls, we decided that we would gut the entire room (floors, baseboards, door trim, window trim, etc) and start fresh. Go big or go home right? Apparently that wasn't quite big enough so we also decided that if we were going to replace the floors and baseboards in the babies room then we should do the same thing in our bedroom and the family room so they all match. Now if you are going to rip out the floors then it would be stupid not to paint while you're at it and if you're going to replace baseboards in 3 of the main areas of the downstairs then you also have to replace the baseboards in the connecting hallway, adjoining bathroom and laundry room. AND if you're going to all that trouble and already have barren rooms, then you might as well do a little upgrading and do all new window and door casings and add a touch of wainscoting right? RIGHT?!? This IS the natural progression of a home remodel right?? Well apparently it is in my house. I just thank goodness that the layout of my house allows for a logical stopping point in the floorplan so the madness ends somewhere and I'm not living in construction dust for the next 2 years! We (just Brett) have started on the babies room and are kicking ass so far. I feel like we (him again) just started and he's almost done! I can't wait to see the finished room and to start on the other rooms! Let's just hope that he can keep up this momentum through the rest of the project! My goal is to have everything 100% complete by June 1st. I do not want to deal with a construction disaster in the middle of a hot summer while 9 months pregnant! No thank you!
Baby:
She is doing great! We had our 20 week ultrasound before we left for Cancun and our 45 minute appointment turned into 2 hours. The tech wasn't able to get all of the necessary measurements because the baby was bouncing off the walls! By the end of the appointment, I had peed at least twice and my back was killing me from lying on the table for so long but we walked away with a ton of new pictures and it felt good to spend so much time watching her move around in there. I had started feeling her move about a week before the appointment and to see her kick and wave so much was awesome. Since then, I can feel her moving almost constantly and I am starting to know when she is most active. I officially look pregnant instead of like I need to cut back on the beer and ice cream, although I should definitely cut back on the ice cream I'm eating, and I've noticed that my once cavernous belly button is filling in and and it might be an outie before I know it. Overall I've only gained about 5lbs which is great but my sudden need to have dessert every night might increase that significantly if I'm not careful. As much as I should tell Brett to stop surprising me with It's It ice cream sandwiches, I just don't think I can do it yet. They're just so damn good!
Monday, February 21, 2011
We're having a...
...GIRL! We had our appointment at Tate Diagnostic on Saturday and they were able to tell us that a little girl is baking in my belly! We are so excited! Most places won't tell you the gender of your baby until closer to 20 weeks along but if you know me, you know that I can be extremely impatient! I figure that if there are places out there that will let you know at 16 weeks, why should we wait until 20 weeks? Plus, I hadn't had a picture of our little munchkin since I was 11 weeks pregnant and at that point she still looked like a little blob. A LOT has happened in the last 5 weeks! I couldn't imagine waiting until 20 weeks (even though that's only 3 weeks away)! She has turned from a blob with little nubs for arms and legs into a little baby. She is still very small at less than 6 inches and less than one pound but the pictures we saw yesterday actually look like a little baby! Here is a picture of our little girl :)
It looks like she is trying to suck her thumb but she is actually moving her hands up near her head. At one point she had both arms up and it looked like she was holding her head. My guess is that she is already fed up with us and is covering her ears saying "What have I gotten myself in to?!?"
It looks like she is trying to suck her thumb but she is actually moving her hands up near her head. At one point she had both arms up and it looked like she was holding her head. My guess is that she is already fed up with us and is covering her ears saying "What have I gotten myself in to?!?"
Saturday, February 12, 2011
And baby makes three...
We've done it. We have officially made a baby! Well technically we made the baby months ago but I'll spare you those details. The exciting news is that on November 27th we found out that we are going to have a baby!!!! This wasn't a huge surprise since we had stopped taking birth control a few months earlier but I truly thought it was going to take much longer than it did. Don't get me wrong, I'm extremely happy that it didn't and I know how lucky we are that we were able to get pregnant as fast as we did.
Here's a quick recap of how we found out:
Aunt Flo (aka that time of the month) was due to arrive on Thanksgiving and since we had a house full of family and we spent the day cooking, entertaining and enjoying ourselves, I didn't think much when she didn't show up. I also didn't think much about it when she didn't show up the next day either. I was cramping and feeling like I would be riding the crimson wave at any moment. On Saturday, November 27th, Brett and I slept in, made breakfast and took a lazy approach to our Saturday chores. My goal was to finish cleaning the house from Thanksgiving, put away the fall decorations, pull out the Christmas decoration and put up our Christmas tree. In the early afternoon Brett decided he wanted to take his truck to Les Schwab to have the tires rotated so I followed him there in my car. He made a few jokes through the morning about how he thought I was pregnant but I kept telling him that Big Red was going to rain on his parade any second. On the way back from Les Schwab he suggested that I should take a pregnancy test and I nonchalantly shrugged it off. When we got home I went straight to the bathroom and peed on a stick! I put the test on the counter behind the box so one of us (me) couldn't 'accidentally' see the result before the other one. Brett came into the house a while later and I told him that I had taken the test and asked him if he was ready to find out if we were going to be parents. We walked to the bathroom and grabbed the test. Two pink lines = PREGNANT! According to our timeline this was a 30th birthday present to me! The rest of the day (and weekend) was spent in a state of excitement and shock. It seemed completely surreal and on most days, it still does.
Since then we have been to three doctors appointments. The first one was at about 9 weeks along and we were able to see a picture of our little blob on an ultrasound machine and listen to the heartbeat. Our second appointment was at around 11 weeks and we were able to see that our little blob had grown arms and legs and was waving its little nubs around. Watching the baby move was pretty amazing and I can't wait to see it again! Our third appointment was on Feb. 11th and knowing I wasn't scheduled for an ultrasound, I was prepared to beg (or cry if necessary) my way into seeing our baby. I arrived for the appointment and checked in with the nurse. I was told that for this particular appointment there wasn't a co-pay and I had a seat to wait my turn. I thought it was a little strange that I didn't have to pay but I wasn't going to complain. Once I got in the room I realized why I didn't have to pay. The appointment lasted a total of about 10 minutes. I can sum up the appointment pretty easily; 3 minutes were spent chatting, 3 minutes I was waiting for the Nurse Practitioner, 3 minutes were spent searching (yes, searching) for the babies heartbeat and the last 1 minute was spent by the NP reassuring me that everything was okay. Apparently we have a wiggle worm on our hands! Now I don't know if it took exactly 3 minutes to find a heartbeat but it seemed like it took FOREVER. The nurse lubed up the magic wand, stuck it on my stomach and started moving it around. Nothing. She moved it again. Nothing. She pushed harder. Nothing. She went lower on my stomach. Nothing. Now since I didn't have a monitor to look at during this process and I was only hearing static on what appeared to be the 1980's CB radio they were using to find my missing child, I could only stare at the nurses blank face. After she moved the wand around for quite a while she finally started to reassure me that things were fine and that the baby was still pretty little and could be hiding in there. Hiding in there? Really? Do they suddenly decide to jump the uterine ship and camp out in my butt cheek? HIDE? Come on. So the nurse kept looking and went a little lower and pressed a little harder and there it was, the sound of the babies heartbeat. Apparently this kid likes to play games because as soon as we heard it, it was gone again. So the NP moved the wand, found that beautiful sound and determined that there was a solid heartbeat in the normal range. And then it was gone. Every time the NP pressed down, the kid would move out of the way. This avocado sized jumping bean of a baby is officially on its first time out.
I am currently 15 weeks and 3 days pregnant and we are due August 3rd. I have experienced very little morning sickness, minimal fatigue and overall I feel pretty good! My normal clothes still fit and I haven't gained any weight up to this point. My lower stomach has finally started to pop out a little and when I lie flat on my stomach, it feels like there is a hard ball in there. Like I said, overall I feel pretty good and I can't complain at all! Ask me again in July when I'm 9 months pregnant in 105 degrees and I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune so I'll enjoy this while it lasts!
Here's a quick recap of how we found out:
Aunt Flo (aka that time of the month) was due to arrive on Thanksgiving and since we had a house full of family and we spent the day cooking, entertaining and enjoying ourselves, I didn't think much when she didn't show up. I also didn't think much about it when she didn't show up the next day either. I was cramping and feeling like I would be riding the crimson wave at any moment. On Saturday, November 27th, Brett and I slept in, made breakfast and took a lazy approach to our Saturday chores. My goal was to finish cleaning the house from Thanksgiving, put away the fall decorations, pull out the Christmas decoration and put up our Christmas tree. In the early afternoon Brett decided he wanted to take his truck to Les Schwab to have the tires rotated so I followed him there in my car. He made a few jokes through the morning about how he thought I was pregnant but I kept telling him that Big Red was going to rain on his parade any second. On the way back from Les Schwab he suggested that I should take a pregnancy test and I nonchalantly shrugged it off. When we got home I went straight to the bathroom and peed on a stick! I put the test on the counter behind the box so one of us (me) couldn't 'accidentally' see the result before the other one. Brett came into the house a while later and I told him that I had taken the test and asked him if he was ready to find out if we were going to be parents. We walked to the bathroom and grabbed the test. Two pink lines = PREGNANT! According to our timeline this was a 30th birthday present to me! The rest of the day (and weekend) was spent in a state of excitement and shock. It seemed completely surreal and on most days, it still does.
Since then we have been to three doctors appointments. The first one was at about 9 weeks along and we were able to see a picture of our little blob on an ultrasound machine and listen to the heartbeat. Our second appointment was at around 11 weeks and we were able to see that our little blob had grown arms and legs and was waving its little nubs around. Watching the baby move was pretty amazing and I can't wait to see it again! Our third appointment was on Feb. 11th and knowing I wasn't scheduled for an ultrasound, I was prepared to beg (or cry if necessary) my way into seeing our baby. I arrived for the appointment and checked in with the nurse. I was told that for this particular appointment there wasn't a co-pay and I had a seat to wait my turn. I thought it was a little strange that I didn't have to pay but I wasn't going to complain. Once I got in the room I realized why I didn't have to pay. The appointment lasted a total of about 10 minutes. I can sum up the appointment pretty easily; 3 minutes were spent chatting, 3 minutes I was waiting for the Nurse Practitioner, 3 minutes were spent searching (yes, searching) for the babies heartbeat and the last 1 minute was spent by the NP reassuring me that everything was okay. Apparently we have a wiggle worm on our hands! Now I don't know if it took exactly 3 minutes to find a heartbeat but it seemed like it took FOREVER. The nurse lubed up the magic wand, stuck it on my stomach and started moving it around. Nothing. She moved it again. Nothing. She pushed harder. Nothing. She went lower on my stomach. Nothing. Now since I didn't have a monitor to look at during this process and I was only hearing static on what appeared to be the 1980's CB radio they were using to find my missing child, I could only stare at the nurses blank face. After she moved the wand around for quite a while she finally started to reassure me that things were fine and that the baby was still pretty little and could be hiding in there. Hiding in there? Really? Do they suddenly decide to jump the uterine ship and camp out in my butt cheek? HIDE? Come on. So the nurse kept looking and went a little lower and pressed a little harder and there it was, the sound of the babies heartbeat. Apparently this kid likes to play games because as soon as we heard it, it was gone again. So the NP moved the wand, found that beautiful sound and determined that there was a solid heartbeat in the normal range. And then it was gone. Every time the NP pressed down, the kid would move out of the way. This avocado sized jumping bean of a baby is officially on its first time out.
I am currently 15 weeks and 3 days pregnant and we are due August 3rd. I have experienced very little morning sickness, minimal fatigue and overall I feel pretty good! My normal clothes still fit and I haven't gained any weight up to this point. My lower stomach has finally started to pop out a little and when I lie flat on my stomach, it feels like there is a hard ball in there. Like I said, overall I feel pretty good and I can't complain at all! Ask me again in July when I'm 9 months pregnant in 105 degrees and I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune so I'll enjoy this while it lasts!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Donate Life
In the past few weeks I have come to realize how important the gift of donation is. Up until recently I never knew anyone who had received or needed an organ donation and honestly, I never gave it much thought.
When my brother died I remember how upset my mom was when she received the call about donating my brothers tissue and organs. We hadn't even had the chance to digest what the police had told us about his accident let alone to think about what, if anything, could be donated from his body. It all felt like such a fog that if you had asked me what the result of that donation phone call was, I would have only been able to tell you that I think we said yes but I didn't know what the conclusion was. My mom wasn't upset about the thought of donation but that the question had to be asked and that a decision had to be made immediately. My brother never registered to be a donor but I am positive that if he had known what his fate was going to be, he would have chosen to save someone's life. What I didn't know six years ago was that in order for an organ to be eligible for transplant, blood and oxygen must flow until the time of recovery. My brother died inside of a car as emergency crews used the jaws of life to get him out. Because of that the majority of his organs were unusable. There are large portions of my life that blurred together at that point and I don't think I ever gave that donation call another thought.
When I went to visit my girlfriend last week, she told me about everything she went through with her surgery and I realized what a miracle the process of donation really is. She would not be here today if her donor (or their family) had not made the decision to become an organ donor. She doesn't know who her donor was or how she died but she is extremely grateful to them for making the choice they did. There are a lot of misconceptions about donation and fears about what the process of recovering the organs looks like. Will they try to save my life first? Will I wake up while they are taking them out!?! Stop watching the Sci-Fi shows and do some research, it's not as bad as you might think. After my visit, I called my mom and asked her what had happened with my brothers organs. Since he had already died the only things that could be donated were his heart valves and his corneas. His heart valves most likely went to help an infant and in some weird way that makes me feel really good. Knowing what I know now, I have registered to become a donor.
If you want to find out more information about becoming an organ or tissue donor or if you want to register in your state, visit www.donatelife.net. There are many types of donations available, including living donations!
When my brother died I remember how upset my mom was when she received the call about donating my brothers tissue and organs. We hadn't even had the chance to digest what the police had told us about his accident let alone to think about what, if anything, could be donated from his body. It all felt like such a fog that if you had asked me what the result of that donation phone call was, I would have only been able to tell you that I think we said yes but I didn't know what the conclusion was. My mom wasn't upset about the thought of donation but that the question had to be asked and that a decision had to be made immediately. My brother never registered to be a donor but I am positive that if he had known what his fate was going to be, he would have chosen to save someone's life. What I didn't know six years ago was that in order for an organ to be eligible for transplant, blood and oxygen must flow until the time of recovery. My brother died inside of a car as emergency crews used the jaws of life to get him out. Because of that the majority of his organs were unusable. There are large portions of my life that blurred together at that point and I don't think I ever gave that donation call another thought.
When I went to visit my girlfriend last week, she told me about everything she went through with her surgery and I realized what a miracle the process of donation really is. She would not be here today if her donor (or their family) had not made the decision to become an organ donor. She doesn't know who her donor was or how she died but she is extremely grateful to them for making the choice they did. There are a lot of misconceptions about donation and fears about what the process of recovering the organs looks like. Will they try to save my life first? Will I wake up while they are taking them out!?! Stop watching the Sci-Fi shows and do some research, it's not as bad as you might think. After my visit, I called my mom and asked her what had happened with my brothers organs. Since he had already died the only things that could be donated were his heart valves and his corneas. His heart valves most likely went to help an infant and in some weird way that makes me feel really good. Knowing what I know now, I have registered to become a donor.
If you want to find out more information about becoming an organ or tissue donor or if you want to register in your state, visit www.donatelife.net. There are many types of donations available, including living donations!
Saturday, January 8, 2011
New year, new goals
Let me start by wishing all of you a very, very happy new year!!! I can not wait to see what 2011 has in store for all of us. Don't get me wrong, 2010 was a pretty good year and overall I don't really have any complaints but I'm pretty sure 2011 is going to be excellent!! With the new year comes new goals and new resolutions. I'm not a big fan of new year resolutions, partly because I feel that if there is something you want to change or something new you want to try, just do it, why wait for a new year? Most resolutions are things like lose weight, exercise more, eat better, quit smoking, drink less, save money, etc. If any of you have been to the gym since January 1st, I guarantee that the fitness classes are packed, treadmills are full and you have to jump into a rotation for the weights. Wait a few weeks and you should have your gym back. On the flipside, I know a lot of people that set resolutions and actually stick to them. I encourage everyone to do something that improves their health, happiness or overall well being, even if it is just for a few months. It can't hurt right?
Speaking of health, happiness and well being, I found out some wonderful news today. A friend that has been sick since late November is officially on the road to recovery. After a fluke illness that caused severe liver damage, she was able to receive a transplant today and is officially healing. I don't want to share to much information since it is not mine to share but I just want to say WOOHOOOOO!!!
This is a belated picture from the day we cut down the Christmas Tree I mentioned in my last post.
Speaking of health, happiness and well being, I found out some wonderful news today. A friend that has been sick since late November is officially on the road to recovery. After a fluke illness that caused severe liver damage, she was able to receive a transplant today and is officially healing. I don't want to share to much information since it is not mine to share but I just want to say WOOHOOOOO!!!
This is a belated picture from the day we cut down the Christmas Tree I mentioned in my last post.
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