Mind, Body and Soul Manifestations

Well, I am happy to report that I gave birth to my beautiful baby girl on Tuesday October 11th. It was a pretty scary day actually, but it had the best results! I wanted to share my story with you and express how absolutely amazing Anne Arundel Medical Center is! I went into labor while teaching classes on Tuesday (for those who don't know, I teach 6-8th grade art so it was an interesting experience - my students were pretty understanding, but I hope I didn't worry them too much!). Around 11am, my contractions began to be around 5-6 minutes apart consistently. I called my Doctor during my planning period to see if I should come in or continue working. She said she wanted me to wait until my contractions were 3 minutes apart for 2 hours. Since this was my first baby, I guess they weren't concerned with her coming early, but it made me nervous. My contractions continued to get worse and by 6th period, they were only a little over 2 minutes apart so I called my Dr back. The ...

I have had Salt n Pepa's "None of Your Business" stuck in my head since yesterday. In case you don't know what people say about opinions, they're like a$%holes. Everybody's got one. I have been trying to take people's unsolicited advice and opinions with a grain of salt, but I've got to be honest, I'm getting a bit sick of people feeling like just because I have a baby bump that they are free to discuss my choices about birthing, breastfeeding, and other personal topics even if they are complete strangers. I will say that it's one thing if I'm already discussing something and I've put it out there. I realize that opens me up for feedback (desired or not). However, when I am sitting at lunch trying to discuss Labor Day plans and someone interjects with "Are you planning to breastfeed? You should totally do XYZ." Umm...thanks, but no thanks. I don't recall asking for your opinion about what I will do with my breasts curren...

I have so many things on my mind and in my heart and I'm not sure what else to do but write them down. This week has been hard for all of us; at least I'd like to think that if you are a human being, you have been impacted or touched by the recent events in the news. We had a guest speaker for our sermon at church today and she discussed a passage from Luke chapter 9 in which Jesus gets a bit impatient with the people who want to follow him. She made some great points about how we need to stop being distracted by our past or our own personal issues and just commit to being a part of God's kingdom. In addition, she challenged us to DO something about the issues that we are experiencing as a society. Stand up for others whose voices are being drowned out and stop trying to make other people agree with your opinions without being open to seeing things from their perspective. We all need to love a little more, hate a lot less, and provide each other with support and understan...

I feel incredibly blessed to be carrying a baby girl right now; however, all of the news stories in the past week have me really struggling with what kind of world I am bringing her into. The most recent story of the shooting in Orlando just breaks my heart. I have always had a hard time processing how someone can hate another group of people so much simply for their religion, the color of their skin, their sexual preference, etc. It just seems that our world is becoming more and more hateful each day and that scares me. All I know is that I want  my girl to grow up feeling loved, being tolerant and accepting of others, and spreading positive energy. I want her to feel safe and to know that there is justice in the world...even when I can't quite see it myself. I never thought of myself as a feminist until I was in college and I read/saw/participated in the play The Vagina Monologues by Eve Ensler. I was quite moved to be a part of this amazing movement about ending violence again...

So last night, I found myself wide awake at 1:30am with a million coaching-related thoughts running through my brain. I tried to breathe and shut it out, but it just didn't happen. I did what my Dad always told me helped him. I got up and wrote a "brain dump." I just wrote down everything that I was thinking about. I'm not sure that it made everything better, but it certainly calmed my stress and anxiety enough that I could go back to bed without tossing and turning every few minutes. Being a teacher and coach is a stressful position to be in, especially toward the end of the school year. Over the past week or so, I have found myself second-guessing a lot of my decisions. I don't like to be in that place mentally; however, I am also self-critical by nature on top of being a people-pleaser, so I find myself overthinking everything most of the time. It's a blessing and a curse. On one hand I think it makes me a better person and a better employee. I hold mysel...

Okay Moms of America, I have a serious question: How in the hell did you survive taking off for 12 weeks unpaid?? I appreciate that the FMLA helps me not to lose my job when I have a baby, but I think it is appalling that I am expected to be able to sustain my current lifestyle (by this, I mean paying my mortgage, electric bill, phone bill, and maybe the occasional dinner out) PLUS a baby without a paycheck for 12 weeks...or maybe 8 weeks if I use my 4 weeks of sick/personal leave that I have accrued/borrowed from the next year. I never put much thought into the family medical leave act prior to becoming pregnant, but now that this potential financial crisis is looming ahead of me, I am freaking out a little. I won't even get started on the fact that if I was a single Mom without a husband who has a job/income, I don't know how I'd be able to stay out of work more than a week without pay... If you are a Mom who had unpaid maternity leave, did you take a full 12 weeks? W...

A lot has happened since my last post. Most of you know by now that Ben and I are expecting our first child in October. I can't describe what an incredible blessing it is to finally have our dreams of becoming parents closer to being a reality. However; I also struggle daily with my nerves and anxiety. I can't explain the amount of relief I feel when the Dr. finds the heartbeat at our appointments (it's happened twice so far!). Being a women in general is such a roller coaster, but after having a miscarriage, I feel like being pregnant is even bumpier than my previous life. I think it's normal for all women to have a fear of the unknown: will it all work out, will the baby be healthy, even though I've made it through the first trimester should I still be worried...these are things that run through my brain daily. I also struggle with feeling guilty for sharing my "woes" about being sick or tired or feeling off when I still have friends who have been unab...

I have had a lot on my mind this weekend/week. A friend of ours, who was just 38 years old, passed away on Friday night. I can't imagine the pain, shock, and frustration that her family must be experiencing right now. I was speechless when I heard about her passing. I have to be honest that I had a hard time accepting the truth from her when I was going through a tough time. However, being the amazing and patient person that she was, she was forgiving, understanding, and supportive during one of the toughest times in my life. I will forever be grateful to her for that. Due to this news occurring prior to the Superbowl and its multitude of controversy, I have just looked at things from a unique perspective. I have seen a plethora of hateful Facebook statuses and media coverage as well as positive messages and support for the events of the Superbowl...I am referring both to the halftime show and Cam Newton's reaction to the loss. The messages of hate regarding the "gay-...

So, today was my third snow day in a row (score!). I spent a lot of the day cleaning, coloring, and walking. I also perused Facebook quite a bit as I am inclined to do when I have free time. I have been inspired by a friend from college who is also writing a blog. (Thanks Nicole!) She has decided to bare it all and be extremely honest and up front about how she is feeling and what she is going through. I greatly appreciate that. Too often, we portray ourselves as these perfect, happy, wonderful personalities on social media when really we are struggling inside. I don't think this helps anyone...most importantly ourselves. I appreciate when people are their genuine selves, even when I don't always agree with them. I think it takes a lot of guts to stick to your gut and express your feelings whether they are good or bad. You learn a lot from your struggle and the struggle of others and I enjoy reading and hearing about other people's lives. In that same vein, I am going thr...