Man, you guys did well! I had to put some serious though into a few of these (I’m talking to you Sarah!). Thanks for playing! Fell free to ask more if any of these spark a new one. This is pretty fun.
1. Marlee asks- How did we choose Nathan’s name. This may seem sooo lame but here is the story. There was a show on several years ago called “The Days.” It was about a family and there was a little boy, about 8, named Nathan. I immediately liked the name but as the season went on I started to fall in love with his character. He was a smart, quite, well behaved boy who was a little dorky. Everything I expect our kids to be, heavy on the dorky. I remember telling Mike that I really loved the name, he did too. We never looked back even though it was a good 3 or 4 years ago. Riley is my maternal Grandmothers maiden name. Mike’s family is big on using family names. I had to decide if I should do it or not. My Dads family is Jewish, in the culture you do not name a child after a living family member, plus, we were keeping the name a surprise and I wasn’t sure if I needed to ask her permission. Obviously, we went with it. It could be worse, I have a sister who was named after Stacy on TJ Hooker. hahah- really. Betcha didn’t think I’d remember that, did you Dad?
2. Dad asks- how long I’m going to be at this SAHM bidness. In a perfect world, I will be home until kid #2 is in kinder-garden. Then I would like to do volunteer work for another non-profit OR maybe even get a real job. However, should I loose my mind or we have some catastrophic financial nightmare, either could send me back to work. Hopefully neither of those will happen, so far the loosing my mind is more of a possibility.
3. Sarah asks- Deserted Island- 4 items- GO!- Dude, I hated this question. I thought about it all day and even ran my answers by Mike. I had joked before like, a margarita machine, a string bikini, a cabana boy,, oh you get the picture. This time, I had to answer for real. I’m about to bore you all with my practicality. 1. a knife- so I can eat the fruit I am hoping that the island has an abundance of. 2. Sunscreen. I burn, fast and badly. 3. a toothbrush. 4. a large pad of paper with a pen tied to the spiral. For writing the crazy stuff that will no doubt run thru my mind as I waste away to my dream weight with the best tan of my life.
Items that almost made the list, matches for cooking small animals- barbecue sauce- so I could choke down said animals. nail clippers, glasses-I am hoping that I am wearing them when I arrive.
4. Lizzy asks- How Long were Mike and I married before I got Preg, and did we have any backup names for Nugget turned Nate. – Four and a half years. It would have been sooner if Mike weren’t a professional student, we waited until he was finished with school and we were settled. You can read all about the adventure, if you’d like, here. Backup name? We had half of a girl name, just in case but no alternate boy name. We were both so set on it, I honestly never though he did or didn’t look like a Nathan Riley, I love his name that much. That’s also why we didn’t share it before he was born, didn’t want anyone telling us that they have an aunt who’s dog was named Riley and he ate the neighbor kid,,, you wont believe the crap people tell pregnant woman!
5. Jamie asks- If I could travel anywhere in the world? This has stipulations, I want to go to Paris, Mike has already been. So, our dream joint no kids along vacation? a 14 day Mediterranean cruise. We love cruising! It’s easy, you don’t have to speak the native language (mostly) and you don’t have to rent a car. We are a disaster when it comes to getting lost!
6. Amy, what CD? I cant get enough of the Cold War Kids! I have had this since November and I am still devouring it. Because you are my new reader and you asked me to do the list, i will give you my IPOD play list which you asked. So- these are the artists.
A tribe called quest/Ani Difranco/the beastie boys/ben folds five/built to spill/butterfly boucher/carbon leaf/Fiona Apple/Franz Ferdinand/Keane/The Killers/ll cool J/Marcy Playground/Maroon 5/Modest Mouse/The Raconteurs/ Run DMC/U2/Weezer/White Stripes/Wolfmother—- that’s such a sad list. I have a confession to add, I dont know how to upload music to it. Mike swears its super easy but he has always done it for me. I just give him a stack and he does it. Am so lame! –ps. I fixed the links in yesterdays post to older lists of randomness.
7. Kathie- What has been the hardest adjustment as a new Mummy (love Mum- she’s so cute, and due in 2 weeks!) and was there anything that surprised me that I hadn’t thought of prior to birth. Please read this as my experience only! Not as a hard fast every mother suffering sort of thing- You too ,ALI! Any men reading can just look away.
The hardest adjustment has got to be sleep. Before having Nate I was a 9 hour a night girl, less than that and I was white knuckling the diet coke all day. Those first 10-12 weeks I was a mess. I forgot to take my exit, I’d get in the shower wearing my glasses, I was such a zombie that my absentmindedness was an actual danger to me. I quickly realized that I should not drive, it was scary. There is no reaction time, its more like – huh, whaaa? It was the hardest part by far. There is no way to know how hard it will be, or to prepare for it, I hope it wont be that bad for you. If it is, take the help that is offered to you. When someone is on the way over and they ask if you need anything, give them a grocery list- they wont care. You have to take care of yourself.
What was harder than I thought, or what was a surprise. Breastfeeding. Truly! Nathan was a pro, he latched properly and learned quickly. Thank GOD! What was hard was my body adjusting (still is hard actually) the pain associated with it blew my mind. I knew your nipples would hurt. I didn’t know that it would make me nauseous, nearly gagging each feeding. I would feel so dizzy, almost drunk, the pain would shoot through my right arm (always the same arm no matter which breast) and into my hand. It hurt in my neck and my shoulder blades. I just had no idea that it was a full upper body event! I cried so much, I was sad, I was angry that it was so hard, I was upset that it was this hard and it had to be done so frequently, why cant he just be full for a few hours, rather than one or two. All I wanted was to feed this baby yet it was just killing me. Up every two hours and not just awake but sick, sick from the pain, sick from the exhaustion. The good thing here is, most of this goes away and fairly quickly. Most with in the first 2-3 weeks, the pain of the milk let down took a little longer, maybe 8 weeks. I still feel it now but its not the same, I doesn’t hurt. If you’re interested in a small amount of assvise on this, prepare before hand. I used Lanisoh on my skin for a few weeks before deliver and didn’t have any cracking or bleeding! Just a small amount at night before bed. Also, get some supplies so you have them when you need them. I used breast shields which keep you from touching your clothing, and used a gel patch (made by Playtex) on my skin when they were getting really raw. Have a load of Tylenol on hand. I was not given any RX pain killers after birth (WHY!!??) don’t be afraid to take some to take the edge off, it is safe for the baby. That’s plenty, if you have any other questions about this or anything else your about to go thru you are more than welcome to email me.
I think that’s it! I hope you guys liked that, maybe learned a little more about me?
Thanks for playing!!!
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