Selfie Mental Disorder

While browsing (read: wasting time on) Facebook, I stumbled upon this article, informing me that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has declared a new mental disorder: selfitis.

Borderline selfitis : taking photos of one’s self at least three times a day but not posting them on social media.

WHAT?!

Like me, you might be thinking the APA has lost their freaking minds.

Selfitis is apparently the obsessive compulsive desire to take photos of one’s self and post them on social media as a way to make up for the lack of self-esteem and to fill a gap in intimacy, reports The Adobo Chronicles.

Apparently, and I can't say I'm shocked here, the medical community was quick to criticize.  The suffix "itis" refers to an inflammation, such as bronchitis and the inflammation of bronchial passages.  An "ism", such as alcoholism, is an addiction (selfism?).

However, the APA comes back by saying that it's an inflammation of one's ego.

All the while I'm still over here, dumbfounded, with a big WHAT?! written all over my face.  Why do I feel like I've just been Punk'd?  I'm thinking the APA board of directors all need psych evals so we can figure out what the heck is wrong with them!

Can someone please explain to these people that not everything is a mental disorder.  If we're following what the APA says, I'm really certain that every single one of us might as well give up now; we're all doomed to some disorder or another.

If so-called selfitis were a mental disorder, I think it's more likely accurate that whatever makes a person have a mental disorder is probably linked to outlying problems.  I just can't fathom taking selfies as a disorder within itself.

How many selfies have you taken recently?  Do you think this new mental disorder is bogus or do you think the APA is on to something here?

Photo courtesy of Thomas Leuthard under Creative Commons. Text added.

Improving Me: Financial Goals

Money, money, money. It's a hot button issue in most relationships (mine included) and is important to everyone's life. We cannot disregard the importance of money. Whenever someone has told me how unimportant money is, I have quickly reminded them that food, shelter, and clothing (among other things) are bought with money. Nothing is free.

Money is everywhere.  It's in every aspect of our lives.  Pretending that money isn't important is foolish.

Should money run your life? No, it shouldn't.

Unfortunately, though, money is often a stress inducing, fight causing fact of life. I did not grow up financially secure. I'm not even sure I knew what that was or that it was possible until I became an adult. Many arguments in my household have been money-based. In fact, it's one of the few things we (now) fight about.

I think it's pretty accurate to assess the majority of people as no good at managing their finances.

How I'm Getting Financially Smarter

Budgeting (with help)

In order to improve my quality of life and my family's quality of life, I want to improve how we manage our finances and become financially fit. Lucky me, I stumbled across Six Figures Under and her article about You Need A Budget (AKA: YNAB) budgeting software and how it changed how her family budgeted for the better.

YNAB is self-described as personal budget software with a four step method that I plan to cover a little more in a later post. It's even free for college students or you can download a free 30 day trial, if you want to try it out.

My Financial Goals

• Pay off credit card debt.
  
• Start living off last month's income.
  
• Build a 90 day emergency savings.
  
• Save $1000 for a car down payment.
  
• Start paying on student loans (and don't take out any more).

To Dos

1. Create my budget.
   
2. Assess what's going out (my bills and expenses).
   
3. Eliminate unnecessary bills and expenses.
   
4. Stop mindless spending by giving ourselves an allowance.

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Image courtesy of Chance Agrella on freerangestock.com. Text added by Moming About.

What is Exclusively Pumping?

Exclusive pumping is something I did for 10 months or more with my first born, a few months with my second, and am now doing after a surrogate pregnancy.  While there was a huge lack of support or even knowledge about 6 years ago the first time I did it, it seems to be something people are more aware of now which, thankfully, means there’s more support for moms who are exclusive pumpers.

There was a point in my life that I thought exclusively pumping was easier than breastfeeding.  After I found my way back to breastfeeding with my daughter, I no longer feel that way.  Exclusively pumping is hard work and can be taxing on the emotional health of moms—life tied to a pump/pumping schedule is no fun—but there are a variety of reasons moms find themselves as EPers and life, as we know, isn’t a one size fits all kind of think.

Related post: Storing Frozen Breast Milk

What is Exclusively Pumping?

Exclusively pumping is when a mother relies on her breast pump—rather than her baby—to express milk and maintain her supply.  Except in unique cases—such as mine, being a surrogate—these women are pumping milk for their babies’ consumption.

You may hear this referred to as exclusive pumping, exclusively pumping, or EPing and the moms doing it as exclusive pumpers or EPers.

Lack of EP Awareness

The non-traditional nature of exclusively pumping likely contributes to the lack of widespread knowledge of it. That and many local communities have little to no support of this method for feeding baby.

A close friend of mine was even told by her lactation consultant that it wasn't possible to maintain milk supply that way and, unfortunately, this same advice is often given to other women.

Related Post: Breast Milk Storage Guidelines

Exclusively pumping breast milk for baby is in limbo between the traditional, all natural breastfeeding and formula feeding. Because many women see breastfeeding as a pass/fail or something you either do or don't, they have no idea that this method is even possible.

The reasons women turn to exclusive pumping are numerous and very individualized. Exclusively pumping requires a lot of self-discipline and is something you definitely have to want to do in order to maintain an appropriate milk supply. However, it is a viable alternative to either breastfeeding or formula feeding and there are many moms to stand as proof that it can be done, me included.

Do you know anyone who exclusively pumps?  Had you ever heard of it before now?

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Weekly Shopping List #1

I'm modifying how I share my shopping list with you and not tying myself down to one particular day like I tried to do before. It's easier this way for me, especially since I don't always shop the same day every week and sometimes I don't even bother looking at the weekly ads until mid week. This week I haven't shared anything that's not a sale item, but I'm not really planning on buying anything other than these on sale items.

Ads

No need to buy the Sunday paper! Save your money and view ads online! These are links to the ads I use to price match. More or less, they are in order of significance/likeliness to be used. The first two are typically the best deals.

Kroger | Meijer | Aldi | Millers | New Market
CVS | Walgreens | Family Dollar | Dollar General

Weekly Shopping List #1

Item & Size	Price & Location	Amount
Tyson Breasts, Drumsticks, Thighs Kraft Shredded Cheese 8oz Lettuce Ekrich Bologona Store Brand Butter 16oz Sweet Corn on the Cob Mt Dew 6pk Bottles Blueberries Pint Russet Potatoes 5lb bag Kraft Singles 12 oz Post Cereals 12 to 20oz Store Brand Bread Pineapple Seedless Watermelon Green Giant Baby Peeled Carrots 16oz Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Dean's Iced Tea Capri Sun 10pk Gatorade 32oz Coke 12pk	.99/lb @ Kroger 1.50 @ New Market .99 @ Kroger .89 @ Meijer 2.50 @ Kroger 1.00 for 7 @ Meijer 10.00 for 3 @ Dollar General 4.00 for 2 @ Meijer 4.00 for 2 @ Meijer 3.00 for 2 @ New Market 6.00 for 2 @ Meijer .88 @ Meijer .89 @ Aldi 2.99 @ New Market 1.29 @ Millers 1.77/lb @ New Market 1.99 @ New Market 1.89 @ New Market .85 @ Dollar General 5.00 for 2 @ Dollar General	5lb @ 5.00 2 @ 3.00 3 @ 2.00 2 @ 2.00 1 @ 2.50 14 @ 2.00 3 @ 10.00 1 @ 2.00 1 @ 2.00 2 @ 3.00 2 @ 6.00 5 @ 5.00 2 @ 2.00 2 @ 6.00 2 @ 3.00 5 @ 10.00 1 @ 2.00 1 @ 2.00 10 @ 9.00 1 @ 2.50

Total: $81

Yes, this total is definitely rounded up for simplicity's sake.

Creamy Lemon Garlic Herb Sauce for Steamed Vegetables

So, I absolutely love to make a mix of steamed or semi-fried veggies.  Best part is that almost everyone else in the house enjoys this smorgasbord of veggies, too, because there's always something that each person loves (I say almost everyone because my four year-old can be a real picky turd sometimes).  Anyway, this sauce is absolutely delicious and makes cooked veggies taste even better! (And yes I know that it kind of looks like mashed potatoes in the photo.)

Creamy Lemon Garlic Herb Sauce

Details

• Prep Time: 5 minutes
  
• Cook Time: 5 minutes
  
• Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, cubed
  
• 1/2 c. milk
  
• 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
  
• 1/4 or 1/2 tsp. garlic salt
• 1 tbsp. basil seasoning

Instructions

1. Heat cream cheese and milk over low heat, stirring until smooth.
2. Add remaining ingredients.
3. Serve over hot cooked vegetables.

Adapted from this recipe.

Birth of Baby Luna

So, I know I kind of disappeared for the past week (or so?), but I have the best news to make up for it! My baby girl is here! I have decided not to go back and finish up the A to Z Challenge, even though I really loved it and wish I'd have been able to keep up. However, I'm ready to move on to fresh new things and share my birth story with you!

To Induce...or Not

Ironically, this story starts with me debating whether or not choosing to be induced on my son's birthday was "right" or not. Would that make me a bad mommy? As my friend jokingly chastised me about "scheduling babies", I was weighing whether or not I would accept the opportunity to be induced if it was on Gabriel's birthday. I wanted to be induced Saturday morning (May 3) for my own convenience, but good luck convincing your doctor to come in on a Saturday to induce you (that's basically what the receptionist said, at least). Can't say I blame her either.

I wasn't even due until Monday, May 5. However, my doctor was leaving town as of the 9th, so I figured she'd be a little more willing to let me "schedule my baby". I only had to wait until 3:45PM to find out.

Gabriel stayed with my sisters while I took my last final exam. I had made arrangements to take all my exams the week before finals. Lucky me. I was due finals week.

The drive from my sister's back toward my house and my doctor was a long one. My kid being in mysterious, agonizing pain did not help the hour drive, either. He finally told me it was his ear, and I'd already called the office to let them know that he was coming with me and needed to be seen. Then he had an accident in the car and I didn't have any extra underwear or pants (of course!), so we stopped and put him in a spare diaper. Then I consoled him with french fries and finally made my way to the doctor.

Not too hard to believe that my blood pressure (for the first time ever) was a little high, right?

You know what is hard to believe? The fact that my water broke on the floor while getting undressed to see the doctor. Talk about timing. And irony.

This was, apparently, a first for my doc, too. After being given a mom diaper and getting back dressed (oh and getting confirmation that my kid had an ear infection), I was admitted upstairs to delivery...where I hadn't pre-registered. Apparently, you still need to do that when your doctor's office is attached to/part of the hospital. Who knew?

My husband was seriously bummed that he'd missed all the fun. By the time he arrived, Gabriel was wearing about as much clothes as me. He'd leaked a little in the diaper and refused to put it back on. Therefore, I was sitting there in a gown, those weird mommy underwear, and a mommy diaper and my son was in his shirt, socks, and shoes. He had no shame crawling around on the floor and having a good ol' time, his naked little butt flashing to all the nurses who entered.

Let's Get This Party Started

It was at least an hour before they started the penicillin for B Strep, which I'd tested negative for this time but was getting treated for as a precaution since I was positive once before. I didn't get any Pitocin until around 8PM, because the nurse was under the impression that Doc wanted me to wait. She was wrong, by the way.

So, still no contractions or real labor going on. I was dilated at roughly 3CM and hadn't ate since 11AM. I was just ready to have this damn baby and I only had 4 hours until it was Gabe's birthday.

The contractions started shortly after, with "real" labor going on by 9-9:30PM. Around 12:30AM (yep, we skipped right into Friday), I got a bathroom break and asked for the birthing ball. The one in my room was deemed unworthy (AKA: not tall enough) for me, so I labored in the rocking chair while my nurse never did find went to go look for a better suited one.

Being upright was better, but only marginally. It's a good thing they never did let me eat. With every contraction came waves of nausea. Well that and excruciating pain. It was at this point that I stopped giving a fuck about the pressure to birth au natural (again) and society's pressure to skip the drugs (something Jenny Mollen mentions in her humorous birth story).

I don't know how I did that for 20 hours or so the first go, but it was not happening this time. The big kicker was when my husband insisted I was at least 7CM dilated and wanted me to be checked. I didn't want the disappointment of hearing 5CM, so I had been happy to forego and cervix prodding. Guess what! I was only 4CM dilated. Yep. Epidural here I come.

Drugs, please!

Paperwork, waiting for the anesthesiologist, and roughly 1 hour later and I was back of my knees pressed against the side of the bed, clutching a pillow, and burying my chin to my chest. I was also thinking: "Why didn't I labor like this, it isn't as bad as every other way I've tried, thus far". I was thinking that as I rode out another contraction and had my spine numbed. I didn't even feel the first needle and barely the second.

After everything was said and done and I had a constant drip of labor numbing drugs, I received a nice compliment from the anesthesiologist about how well I did/that went and that meant the epidural would be most effective. Glad to be of service, sir!

As soon as I could, I passed out and indulged in some much needed sleep. The nurse woke me to roll to my side, mentioning her dissatisfaction with baby's heart rate. I only had a moment to feel worried and panicky before I fell back asleep. I woke when I started feeling hella contractions on my left side. My nurse told me to roll to that side so gravity would pull whatever drugs were in that epidural drip of awesome over there.

I slept off and on until around 5AM, when their was a shift change and my new nurse (doc's sister) came in to check me. Apparently, we were just waiting for baby to swim on down so I could push her out. Well guess who was kindly waiting for me to do just that?

Who knows how long she'd been hanging out, ready to come out of there. I'd been sleeping on my side and hadn't felt all that pressure of her being there until rolled onto my back. I'm thinking night nurse had just decided she'd let next shift handle baby delivery. She hadn't checked me for hours.

Pushing was a cinch compared to what I remembered. I pushed for 90 minutes with Gabe! This time I didn't even feel like I was doing much of anything for the first several pushes. Of course, after push number one my doc announced baby had a full head of hair. That was encouraging. I figured I'd get stuck with a bald baby girl, since I was so looking forward to the hair accessories.

5:33AM: Luna Sue is born

...on her brother's fourth birthday, whether I liked it or not.

Need Some Other Good Reads?

• Photos of Real Women in Various Stages of Pregnancy (NSFW)
  
• What It's Really Like Giving Birth
  
• 20 Things No One Told You About Birth