i wish i kept up with this more. I ended up putting Jaycie in dance. I think the closer I become to graduation (this is my second year) the more I end up wanting to dance. I took a balletfit class over the summer.. and Joe (my co-worker) asked me to dance a piece in his show. It was awesome. This will be Jaycie's first year performing in the nutcracker. Her pictures came out adorable. I stopped reading books since I started the program for Library Science (ironically) and then this semester I have a class called Literature for Children and Young adults. I read 3 books a week and review them. I never thought I would be able to read three a week. It has definitely been a struggle but it has been so fun and I am learning so much. In my other class I also have an awful partner that I have to work with. She runs hot and cold and can be so rude but I guess I am getting experience with that kind of person. It will only make me stronger.. right? I'll try to update this more. I love going back and reading stuff.
Still no...
Thursday, November 14, 2019
Books Books Books
Ok, so my current obsession is books. It's been an obsession for a while now and I most recently applied for my masters in Library Science. I want to become a librarian. I figure I can't teach dance forever and how else can I make a living by screwing the things I love most into the ground? Ok, so the last one was a little of a joke.... but not really. I actually told my mom that if I never see another dance competition in my life I would be happy. I haven't even put Jaycie in Dance. I am so tired and so burnt out by 13 years of dance teaching. I am actually dreading this upcoming year because it will be the 10 year reunion for the Silver Stars. We should do something big but all I want to do is quit. Seriously. So to distract myself for a while I set a goal of 3 books a month. I've read where some people read 50 in a year or even over 365 in a year.... I guess you can say I'm starting out small. 3 a month sounds good. So far I am almost on track with the exception of one book. "Carry On" by Rainbow Rowell took so long to read partially because it was so slow to start. I love the Harry Potter books and this one felt like a "knock-off" so it took me forever to read. I started a new one called "The Hate u Give" by Angie Thomas. It was recommended by our librarian.
trying
trying
Thursday, November 9, 2017
Bye Week
We finally have a week off from football. Going ten weeks through non-stop is so intense. We usually do a new show for every home game. This year I had to adjust and repeat a show. Technically we were not home but it was still at our stadium so it felt like a repeat. I was really just happy that we got through it. Now it is our bye week and I have really enjoyed waking up at a normal time and taking Jaycie to school. We had to do a fundraiser for her. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Apples and Pretzels. She sold to 54 people for a total of $590 dollars. Not bad for her first fundraiser. Well... ok so it's not her first fundraiser ... last year we got bombarded with fundraiser after fundraiser and we were so busy that we kind of didn't participate in any of them. I felt really bad, so this year I said I would try harder. Luckily enough this is her first one for this year. It doesn't look like there are going to be so many.
I haven't read any books since my last posting..which makes me kind of sad. I have a book on hold at the library that I really need to go pick up, plus some books Jaycie and I need to return. Maybe we can take a trip today.
The library is fun but when only one parent goes it is hard to look for a book because the children's section is in a different section than the adults and that means she has to go to the "boring" part of the library. The last time we were there Jaycie got in trouble for throwing a toy to another kid. To be fair the other kid was showing her how to throw the toy and only Jaycie got caught doing it. I had to get mad at her and say "You're not making good choices". That's kind of her thing at the moment. At school they are taught to make "good choices" and now we are using that against her. She knows that a bad choice will have consequences and the good ones will lead to rewards. I'm really happy with the school this year. She seems happy and is learning a lot of things. Just the other day she was showing me the parts of a book. I know it sounds silly but how many of my high school kids know that the side of the book is called the "spine". She is only 3 and she was telling me about the spine, the title, the front, and the back. I was so proud to hear her say all these things, especially because I love to read. We read to her every night. 3 books a night. They are small books but she always gets three books.
frustrated because its been months
I haven't read any books since my last posting..which makes me kind of sad. I have a book on hold at the library that I really need to go pick up, plus some books Jaycie and I need to return. Maybe we can take a trip today.
The library is fun but when only one parent goes it is hard to look for a book because the children's section is in a different section than the adults and that means she has to go to the "boring" part of the library. The last time we were there Jaycie got in trouble for throwing a toy to another kid. To be fair the other kid was showing her how to throw the toy and only Jaycie got caught doing it. I had to get mad at her and say "You're not making good choices". That's kind of her thing at the moment. At school they are taught to make "good choices" and now we are using that against her. She knows that a bad choice will have consequences and the good ones will lead to rewards. I'm really happy with the school this year. She seems happy and is learning a lot of things. Just the other day she was showing me the parts of a book. I know it sounds silly but how many of my high school kids know that the side of the book is called the "spine". She is only 3 and she was telling me about the spine, the title, the front, and the back. I was so proud to hear her say all these things, especially because I love to read. We read to her every night. 3 books a night. They are small books but she always gets three books.
frustrated because its been months
Monday, October 23, 2017
Curiosity and the Cat
I'm sick.
Health wise.... I can't sleep and have to be up in less than four hours. I went to the doctor today and got a shot and two antibiotic meds along with allergy meds. Other than that I feel like almost nothing in my life has changed. I still work at my high school and the drama remains. I live day to day and still feel like a jumble of emotions all the time. The only changes in my life are my family: My king and my princess. My rock and my life force. I swear I have never loved anything or anyone like I love Jaycie. She brings joy, energy, playfulness, and smiles into my life. I'm such a serious person about 95 percent of the time and she just brings me back from the darkness and cold when I need it. I know I can't rely on her so I have been reading a lot lately. I find I have an addictive personality to a certain extent... I will watch a show all the way through ... which btw a couple of my favorite shows have ended :( Pretty Little Liars and Vampire Diaries. I recently watched all seasons of Game of Thrones and after that moved to books. I have read a three part series of The Selection, The Couple Next Door, and See Me ... while all 5 books were interesting in their own way I find that most were predictable and one was just downright written badly .. to the point that I didn't want to read her latest book that came out in August I believe. Don't get me wrong, I could never write a book and would never presume I knew more about writing style than the author.. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea. I have a couple of others in my que ready to go and I am looking forward to those.
Feeling nostalgic and wanted to write to help clear my mind .. missed it
Unblocked
Health wise.... I can't sleep and have to be up in less than four hours. I went to the doctor today and got a shot and two antibiotic meds along with allergy meds. Other than that I feel like almost nothing in my life has changed. I still work at my high school and the drama remains. I live day to day and still feel like a jumble of emotions all the time. The only changes in my life are my family: My king and my princess. My rock and my life force. I swear I have never loved anything or anyone like I love Jaycie. She brings joy, energy, playfulness, and smiles into my life. I'm such a serious person about 95 percent of the time and she just brings me back from the darkness and cold when I need it. I know I can't rely on her so I have been reading a lot lately. I find I have an addictive personality to a certain extent... I will watch a show all the way through ... which btw a couple of my favorite shows have ended :( Pretty Little Liars and Vampire Diaries. I recently watched all seasons of Game of Thrones and after that moved to books. I have read a three part series of The Selection, The Couple Next Door, and See Me ... while all 5 books were interesting in their own way I find that most were predictable and one was just downright written badly .. to the point that I didn't want to read her latest book that came out in August I believe. Don't get me wrong, I could never write a book and would never presume I knew more about writing style than the author.. I guess it just wasn't my cup of tea. I have a couple of others in my que ready to go and I am looking forward to those.
Feeling nostalgic and wanted to write to help clear my mind .. missed it
Unblocked
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Rules of the Teacher Jungle
Rule #234
If snack machine is empty, anything is fair game
I stole a snack from a teachers box today :(
It was left there since teachers appreciation week.
There were no more snacks in the machine so I was forced to steal it.
If snack machine is empty, anything is fair game
I stole a snack from a teachers box today :(
It was left there since teachers appreciation week.
There were no more snacks in the machine so I was forced to steal it.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Well I know this is sort of late but I wanted to get as much of my experience down as possible. I want to remember everything that I went through and the only way to do that is to write it down. I must warn the reader though.... this will be graphic. If you don't want to read about one woman's labor and delivery then close the blog... read something else.
It all started on April 29, 2014 when I had a routine check up at my doctor's office. I had high blood pressure and before I know it, I was told to go to triage at DHR. I stayed for a little over 3 hours. I was monitored, and given a really long sonogram to determine if everything was OK. I got sent home, but was told to monitor my BP and take a 24 hour urine test to determine if the proteins in my urine were high. I was scheduled for another office visit on Thursday of that week. I actually went to school on Wednesday and had one of our last performances for the Hair show for our school. The next day I went to my appointment and my BP was a little high but not high enough to be worried. I turned in my urine that morning so I knew results wouldn't be in that day. I was told that we were going to make "a Plan". "The Plan" was that if the results from the urine test came back high that we would induce on Monday May 5th... if they were normal then we would keep our appointments of twice a week and keep monitoring. I was told to call the next day for results.
I did... around 9 in the morning (because I know that's when the technicians get there) and I was told all were busy and that they would call me back. I waited ....
and waited....
and waited....
finally I couldn't wait any longer and called again at 11:00 am.... Still they were busy and I was told that they had the note there and when they got time that they would call me.
So I waited more...
.....
....
The whole time I was trying to wash all of Jaycie's clothes so that she could have something to come home in if need be. Let me tell you... it is crazy the amount of "tags" and fasteners baby clothes have. In order to wash everything the little plastic fasteners had to come off. That alone is frustrating... so you can just imagine what kind of state I was in when I finally called back at 2:30 in the afternoon.
I was told they were all busy yet again but this time ... I insisted that I speak to someone and that I would wait on the line until someone was free.
I waited around 10 minutes until a technician finally came to the phone. She took all of 2 seconds to look at her computer and tell me that the results were not in yet and that they should be here by Monday. Monday! I started to freak out.... how could I go all weekend long and not know whether or not I was going to be induced that week. I had to notify work. I had to finish Jaycie's room. Not to mention the 5 hour class that Mike and I had to take that Saturday on labor and delivery. We got into a small argument and it ended with me insisting to speak to the doctor. Well I waited another 45 minutes and when she got on the phone she promised that she would call me on Saturday to tell me results and our plan, and if the results were not in by then, then she would call Sunday as well.
....
Did I get any phone call?
nope... and I really didn't expect to get a phone call anyways... I knew she was just telling me that to shut me up, but it's OK... Mike and I did as much as we could (which included, buying and installing blinds, a fan, and anything else we needed to finish her room) and I went to school Monday morning and tried to do as much as possible in one morning to figure out what loose ties I had to make.
I went to the appointment on May 5th at 4:15 in the afternoon. Just when I was going in to check my vitals the stupid nurse asks if the doctor called me on Saturday and that she was responsible for reminding her to call me. Needless to say that made my BP rise and low and behold I was ordered to be induced that evening. I called my parents and Mike drove me to DHR. I was admitted pretty fast because we had pre-registered that Saturday at the class. Soon I was laying in the bed that I unknowingly would spend the next 3 days in the most uncomfortable experience known to a woman.
Here is where it gets detailed and graphic. So look away if you have a weak stomach.
No one tells women the details of labor.... Oh they think they do... we saw videos, we were coached. The videos lie. They paint a beautiful picture of different kinds of deliveries where women are walking and their husbands loving rub their back or coach their breathing. The videos show different scenarios of medications and whatnot and in the end the families leave together to embark on their wonderful journey.
No one tells you what can go wrong. What happens if you're induced... what happens if your baby has to go into N.I.C.U. .... well here it is
First they "check you" to see if you are dilated at all. Of course you're not because your body is not ready to have a baby, you're being induced. Now "check you" means that a nurse shoves her fingers inside you and you feel pain like never before. I have had sex before.. hell, that's kinda how I got in this position in the first place...but nothing is more painful than being "checked"....
Since you're no where near being dilated, the process is taking a pill that contains prostaglandins being cut in to four pieces and inserted your vagina in order to thin out your cervix. This medication helps to "ripen" the cervix. Small pills called Misoprostol are placed in the vagina every few hours... for the first hour you can't get out of bed... not even to pee. So since I had to have an IV AND I was pregnant this complicated things a bit. I would hold it until the moment I could get up and out of bed. Every time they put in another pill I would be "checked", and then they would try to get up as high as they could to put in the stupid pill. I did one round of this ... 4 pills, 2 different nurses, 1 whole day, and when they went to "check" I was still at 1 cm dilation. Doctor said lets take a break, let you eat, and start again. The entire time I was being monitored and vitals were taken so much that the blood pressure cuff was permanently attached to my arm. 2nd round of Misoprostol and still I think the highest I got to was 2 cm dilated. It was then that the doctor decided to break my water. This was around 2pm on Wednesday.... Remember that I was admitted and started the induction process on Monday. Breaking my water really got the ball rolling. They also used Pitocin: This drug mimics the hormone oxytocin, which signals your uterus to begin contracting. It can be used to get labor started or rev up sluggish contractions. I started to feel the contractions more. I was having small contractions from the beginning but I couldn't feel them. Now I really was feeling them. I asked to have the epidural at 4 cm. I wanted to try to wait until 5 or more because that was the advice I got from most people. The nurse warned that it takes a while for the doctor that performs the epidurals to come. So that's why I asked for it then, and sure enough the nurse was right, it took a while. When he did come he couldn't get it the first time, so he had to go higher up my spine. I'm still not sure it was correctly administered because I could still feel things that they would do down there, just not the contractions. This was probably around 4 o'clock on Wednesday. After the epidural I really couldn't get out of bed. I had to have a catheter. It still feels strange when I pee. The contractions did their work and by the time I knew it, I was 8 cm dilated. Around 7 we started the actual labor, meaning we were pushing, and constantly being checked. By now I had already gone through 4 nurses and now we had a nurse named Felicidad. I have to give her credit. She is the one that got me through labor.... Even though I hate her...still....lol. She tried all the techniques. She had me holding towels, holding bars, grabbing my legs, rubbing my back, the whole works. She was not afraid to get mad at me and at one point told me I couldn't cry...because if I cried then I couldn't push. I still hear her in her Spanish accent telling me to "push, push, push, push". It haunts my dreams...j/k. Let me tell you that delivering a baby is nothing like the movies. There is no doctor. Not yet anyways. They don't page the doctor till hours later. It's just you and that nurse. When she finally does page the doctor .. it becomes a show... with a stage ... complete with spot lighting. Tons of people show up. In my case, there were more complications. I started to have blood in my urine. I spiked a fever. A baby is supposed to be born in an anterior position. If your baby is in a head-down position, with the back of her head slightly towards the front of your tummy (anterior position), your labor is likely to be shorter and easier. In an anterior position, your baby fits snugly into the curve of your pelvis. Most babies get into this position by the end of pregnancy. Of course mine didn't. A posterior position is where your baby has her head down, but the back of her head is against your spine. By the time labor starts, about one baby in 10 is in this back-to-back or posterior position. That's where mine was. So because of that the doctor had to use the ventouse (vacuum extractor), that has a cup attached to a suction device, and a handle to pull on. The cup fits on top and towards the back of your baby's head, and a vacuum is created within the cup. She also took her first bowel movement before she came out so the doctors were afraid of sepsis. And to top it she was born with her umbilical cord around her neck. As soon as her head was out the doctor cut her cord. Jaycie Marie Gutierrez was born at 11:44 pm on May 7th 2014. She weighed 6 lbs 1 oz and she was 19 inches long. After she was born, she was placed on my chest for a full 2 minutes and then she was swept away. Afterwards, I had to be sewn up. I was super thirsty too. Felicidad got mad that I started to drink a powerade. I was only allowed water and tea. Jaycie was in the N.I.C.U. for 5 days. I was there at almost every feeding. She had to have a feeding tube inserted and was only having a bottle every 6 hours. I couldn't drive, so I was dependent on having someone take me to the hospital to see her. Oh yeah, that's another thing... that pretty little picture where a family goes home together didn't happen. I went home baby less. It was the saddest experience a mother could endure. I wanted the perfect picture. But life isn't perfect and my delivery certainly wasn't either. I also spent mother's day visiting my daughter in N.I.C.U. Then she came home. Even though her labor and delivery was long and flawed ...she isn't ....she is perfect. A beautiful princess...an angel sent from heaven...she is mine.
It all started on April 29, 2014 when I had a routine check up at my doctor's office. I had high blood pressure and before I know it, I was told to go to triage at DHR. I stayed for a little over 3 hours. I was monitored, and given a really long sonogram to determine if everything was OK. I got sent home, but was told to monitor my BP and take a 24 hour urine test to determine if the proteins in my urine were high. I was scheduled for another office visit on Thursday of that week. I actually went to school on Wednesday and had one of our last performances for the Hair show for our school. The next day I went to my appointment and my BP was a little high but not high enough to be worried. I turned in my urine that morning so I knew results wouldn't be in that day. I was told that we were going to make "a Plan". "The Plan" was that if the results from the urine test came back high that we would induce on Monday May 5th... if they were normal then we would keep our appointments of twice a week and keep monitoring. I was told to call the next day for results.
I did... around 9 in the morning (because I know that's when the technicians get there) and I was told all were busy and that they would call me back. I waited ....
and waited....
and waited....
finally I couldn't wait any longer and called again at 11:00 am.... Still they were busy and I was told that they had the note there and when they got time that they would call me.
So I waited more...
.....
....
The whole time I was trying to wash all of Jaycie's clothes so that she could have something to come home in if need be. Let me tell you... it is crazy the amount of "tags" and fasteners baby clothes have. In order to wash everything the little plastic fasteners had to come off. That alone is frustrating... so you can just imagine what kind of state I was in when I finally called back at 2:30 in the afternoon.
I was told they were all busy yet again but this time ... I insisted that I speak to someone and that I would wait on the line until someone was free.
I waited around 10 minutes until a technician finally came to the phone. She took all of 2 seconds to look at her computer and tell me that the results were not in yet and that they should be here by Monday. Monday! I started to freak out.... how could I go all weekend long and not know whether or not I was going to be induced that week. I had to notify work. I had to finish Jaycie's room. Not to mention the 5 hour class that Mike and I had to take that Saturday on labor and delivery. We got into a small argument and it ended with me insisting to speak to the doctor. Well I waited another 45 minutes and when she got on the phone she promised that she would call me on Saturday to tell me results and our plan, and if the results were not in by then, then she would call Sunday as well.
....
Did I get any phone call?
nope... and I really didn't expect to get a phone call anyways... I knew she was just telling me that to shut me up, but it's OK... Mike and I did as much as we could (which included, buying and installing blinds, a fan, and anything else we needed to finish her room) and I went to school Monday morning and tried to do as much as possible in one morning to figure out what loose ties I had to make.
I went to the appointment on May 5th at 4:15 in the afternoon. Just when I was going in to check my vitals the stupid nurse asks if the doctor called me on Saturday and that she was responsible for reminding her to call me. Needless to say that made my BP rise and low and behold I was ordered to be induced that evening. I called my parents and Mike drove me to DHR. I was admitted pretty fast because we had pre-registered that Saturday at the class. Soon I was laying in the bed that I unknowingly would spend the next 3 days in the most uncomfortable experience known to a woman.
Here is where it gets detailed and graphic. So look away if you have a weak stomach.
No one tells women the details of labor.... Oh they think they do... we saw videos, we were coached. The videos lie. They paint a beautiful picture of different kinds of deliveries where women are walking and their husbands loving rub their back or coach their breathing. The videos show different scenarios of medications and whatnot and in the end the families leave together to embark on their wonderful journey.
No one tells you what can go wrong. What happens if you're induced... what happens if your baby has to go into N.I.C.U. .... well here it is
First they "check you" to see if you are dilated at all. Of course you're not because your body is not ready to have a baby, you're being induced. Now "check you" means that a nurse shoves her fingers inside you and you feel pain like never before. I have had sex before.. hell, that's kinda how I got in this position in the first place...but nothing is more painful than being "checked"....
Since you're no where near being dilated, the process is taking a pill that contains prostaglandins being cut in to four pieces and inserted your vagina in order to thin out your cervix. This medication helps to "ripen" the cervix. Small pills called Misoprostol are placed in the vagina every few hours... for the first hour you can't get out of bed... not even to pee. So since I had to have an IV AND I was pregnant this complicated things a bit. I would hold it until the moment I could get up and out of bed. Every time they put in another pill I would be "checked", and then they would try to get up as high as they could to put in the stupid pill. I did one round of this ... 4 pills, 2 different nurses, 1 whole day, and when they went to "check" I was still at 1 cm dilation. Doctor said lets take a break, let you eat, and start again. The entire time I was being monitored and vitals were taken so much that the blood pressure cuff was permanently attached to my arm. 2nd round of Misoprostol and still I think the highest I got to was 2 cm dilated. It was then that the doctor decided to break my water. This was around 2pm on Wednesday.... Remember that I was admitted and started the induction process on Monday. Breaking my water really got the ball rolling. They also used Pitocin: This drug mimics the hormone oxytocin, which signals your uterus to begin contracting. It can be used to get labor started or rev up sluggish contractions. I started to feel the contractions more. I was having small contractions from the beginning but I couldn't feel them. Now I really was feeling them. I asked to have the epidural at 4 cm. I wanted to try to wait until 5 or more because that was the advice I got from most people. The nurse warned that it takes a while for the doctor that performs the epidurals to come. So that's why I asked for it then, and sure enough the nurse was right, it took a while. When he did come he couldn't get it the first time, so he had to go higher up my spine. I'm still not sure it was correctly administered because I could still feel things that they would do down there, just not the contractions. This was probably around 4 o'clock on Wednesday. After the epidural I really couldn't get out of bed. I had to have a catheter. It still feels strange when I pee. The contractions did their work and by the time I knew it, I was 8 cm dilated. Around 7 we started the actual labor, meaning we were pushing, and constantly being checked. By now I had already gone through 4 nurses and now we had a nurse named Felicidad. I have to give her credit. She is the one that got me through labor.... Even though I hate her...still....lol. She tried all the techniques. She had me holding towels, holding bars, grabbing my legs, rubbing my back, the whole works. She was not afraid to get mad at me and at one point told me I couldn't cry...because if I cried then I couldn't push. I still hear her in her Spanish accent telling me to "push, push, push, push". It haunts my dreams...j/k. Let me tell you that delivering a baby is nothing like the movies. There is no doctor. Not yet anyways. They don't page the doctor till hours later. It's just you and that nurse. When she finally does page the doctor .. it becomes a show... with a stage ... complete with spot lighting. Tons of people show up. In my case, there were more complications. I started to have blood in my urine. I spiked a fever. A baby is supposed to be born in an anterior position. If your baby is in a head-down position, with the back of her head slightly towards the front of your tummy (anterior position), your labor is likely to be shorter and easier. In an anterior position, your baby fits snugly into the curve of your pelvis. Most babies get into this position by the end of pregnancy. Of course mine didn't. A posterior position is where your baby has her head down, but the back of her head is against your spine. By the time labor starts, about one baby in 10 is in this back-to-back or posterior position. That's where mine was. So because of that the doctor had to use the ventouse (vacuum extractor), that has a cup attached to a suction device, and a handle to pull on. The cup fits on top and towards the back of your baby's head, and a vacuum is created within the cup. She also took her first bowel movement before she came out so the doctors were afraid of sepsis. And to top it she was born with her umbilical cord around her neck. As soon as her head was out the doctor cut her cord. Jaycie Marie Gutierrez was born at 11:44 pm on May 7th 2014. She weighed 6 lbs 1 oz and she was 19 inches long. After she was born, she was placed on my chest for a full 2 minutes and then she was swept away. Afterwards, I had to be sewn up. I was super thirsty too. Felicidad got mad that I started to drink a powerade. I was only allowed water and tea. Jaycie was in the N.I.C.U. for 5 days. I was there at almost every feeding. She had to have a feeding tube inserted and was only having a bottle every 6 hours. I couldn't drive, so I was dependent on having someone take me to the hospital to see her. Oh yeah, that's another thing... that pretty little picture where a family goes home together didn't happen. I went home baby less. It was the saddest experience a mother could endure. I wanted the perfect picture. But life isn't perfect and my delivery certainly wasn't either. I also spent mother's day visiting my daughter in N.I.C.U. Then she came home. Even though her labor and delivery was long and flawed ...she isn't ....she is perfect. A beautiful princess...an angel sent from heaven...she is mine.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)