Petite Clothing

Today, I read a post that petite women should focus on fitting pants in the hips and thighs and not worry about the length. ONLY a non-petite person would say something like that - PETITE clothing is more than length. The rise of garments is also adjusted to fit our bodies. Only a person who has never worn a pair of pants with a too long rise would ever forget the importance of the proper size in all areas of the garment.

Non-petite people should stick to their world.

I also found a generic search engine site http://www.thepetitewardrobe.com/ that has a nice beginning to petite lines for average stores.

I love this jacket. I have never purchased from Metrostyle. The clothing reminds me of Chadwicks, which I consider short term purchases because of the quality of the garments.

I should start my own petite blog. We need real advice.

It's time to make some changes - The Four Day Win

Hmmm . . . where to begin. Chloe is now 6 months old. I still feel and look like I am entering my second trimester, so it's time. It's time to make some changes. I read an article in Oprah by Martha Beck that really talked about changing the way you view food and dieting. It was my light bulb moment. It really intrigued me, so I bought the book "The Four Day Win" by Martha Beck. I am reading it slowly and it is making me connect with my thoughts and feelings, so I am spending less time eating to erase feelings. It's great. I have stopped my lunch time desserts. I would eat Reese's peanut butter cups regardless of what I ate for lunch. I could be stuffed, but I would crave this as a finality to my lunch. Guess what! I am bored to death at work. I acknowledged that and I stopped the candy. I'm not sure how I got there, but it happened. I am going back to reread chapters 3 - 10 before completing the rest of the book, because these are foundational chapters. It is really interesting.

Today, I decided to move my body. So, I'm going to try T-Tapp again. I'm making some mental changes and this seems like a good time to restart this exercise. It's really hard, but it has worked for me in the past. I am such an overachiever that I always try to do too much, but not today. When I felt fatigued ( because I was pushing too much), I stopped. I congratulated myself on the work accomplished and took a shower. Nice. Martha Beck may be an actual genius.

I am moving towards a place where I am happy with me. It's not easy to accept myself as is, but this inability to love myself generously is what stands in my way. This book is helping me to see that I am my most harshest critic. I am too judgmental and it is damaging to my own sense of being. Heck, the next 40 years are going to be so cool. Stay tuned.

Boy, these kids are getting old.

Rodney turns 18 this week. Naiyah is now four years old. We celebrated Nai's birthday at the house and the same is planned for Rodney.

Chloe is growing quickly

My tiny little daughter, who actually weighed several ounces more than Naiyah at birth, is growing like a weed. She is three weeks old and now weighs 7 pounds and 2 ounces. If she's anything like her sister, she will quickly move away from the 5th percentile to a more average percentile. In fact, Naiyah is taller than most of her peers.

We are currently battling the woes of thrush. The medication prescribed isn't doing much, so I am trying Gentian Violet (on the approval of the pediatrician). It turns everything purple, including Chloe's mouth.

19 hours of labor - now that's a surprise

This was, by far, the most interesting labor of all three children. I had an amnio yon Friday, which was like the earlier one (painless and very easy). The results confirmed that Chloe's lungs were developed. I was admitted around 10:30am. All paperwork and consultations were completed and I was on pitocin at 1:00pm. I walked into the hospital 3cm dilated. I honestly believed that I would have Chloe before dinner. In fact, I asked the nurse what would happen to my dinner, if I was transferred to the recovery floor. Well, that wasn't an issue. Because of my previous c-section (baby #1), I received a slow induction. They would increase the drip every 1/2 hour by 1 step. In other women, it might go up 2 or more steps each 1/2 hours.

I handled the increases in the drug without a problem. I used Hypbirth (hypnosis) to handle my contractions. I was in the zone and feeling pretty confident, but my body wouldn't create a nice pattern, so they kept increasing the drug. After about 12 hours, my body stopped responding. They increased the drugs and the intensity of the contractions decreased.

Around 4am, they decided to take me off the drug for an hour. I was at 6cm and tired. I went to sleep for an hour. At around 5am, they started the drug again. My body responded with very intense contractions, but still no real pattern, so they increased it at 6am. Around this time, I was beginning to struggle with my hypnosis. The contractions were so erratic that I couldn't sync them to the audio script. I stopped using my Ipod, which was a bad idea because I didn't have a back-up plan.

Sometime after 7am, I began to vocalize the idea of medication. The midwife and nurses kept telling me to take it one contraction at a time. I knew they were trying to get me to 10 cm, but the pain was so intense. I kept saying that I couldn't do it and they kept telling me I was doing it. Finally, they checked me and I was 10cm. No drugs were coming. I felt scared. What would the contractions feel like to push her out?

Once again, pushing was an ordeal. If birth is so natural, why don't I know how to push a baby out. After a little remedial coaching, I began to push. After each round of pushing, I would complain that I was too tired to do it. Yes, a real whiner. Finally, I decided that I was really tired and I just needed to push until the baby popped out. I did that twice until I felt the incredible pressure of her head. I took a deep breath and pushed until I felt her head come out. The rest of her was very easy and she slid out. The midwife told me to open my eyes and take my baby. She had vernix on her body, but very little other fluids. I was so excited to grab her.

I was very lucky, no tears or stitches and one completely healthy baby. Her head was normal. The ultrasound result was not accurate. She was small but not too small (5 pound 15.2 ounces). Happy Birthday Chloe!!!

Chloe will arrive in a couple of weeks

The midwives and consulting doctors have decided that Chloe should come at 37 weeks. It's a result of my semi-high blood pressure and an ultrasound that showed poor head growth. It seems that Chloe's head growth is not the same rate as her limbs or abdomen. Chloe is small, but her head seems to be smaller than normal on the ultrasound. So, they will induce me at 37 weeks, but first I must have another amnio. They need to see if her lungs are developed. This is very stressful, but I am not surprised that they want to take her early. Between the gestational diabetes and the blood pressure that is erratic, I knew that I wouldn't make it to my due date. Luckily, my blood pressure never required medication.

The End of Football Season

Well, the season has come to an end. The team didn't make it into the playoffs. We weren't surprised. The guys played their hearts out, but it may be time for some new ideas on the coaching staff. Rodney had a great four years playing with the team. I'm glad he's done and he came out of without an injury. So, it was a success.