Doctor Visits & Mommy Kisses

Doctor visits with Hayven always make me overly emotional, and highly anxious. For one, they are an all too real reminder of how fast time is flying by. Secondly, they bring back the memory of just how much I hate needles. Having to sit there today and listen to Hayven cry, while the nurse poked her four times in a row, was heart-wrenching enough. I never, and I mean never, liked shots. Even as a kid, it would take three or four people to hold me down and give me one (yes, it was as traumatizing as it sounds!!). It's good to know though, that she's a happy and healthy 6-month old "string bean", coming in at 27 inches and 14.5 pounds. Here's a tip for the new mommy's out there:

Wear zippered PJ's to immunization appointments. Having to undress and then redress a fussy baby can be a pain in the butt. Wearing pajamas with zippers makes the whole process go so much faster, and trust me, every second matters when your little is all worked up after those damned shots!

XoXo Shea L.

Hello Cold Season!

After nearly six months of avoiding any contact with sick people, Hayven has mysteriously come down with her first cold. Seriously, if someone looked like they wanted to cough, or made even a mouse-sized sniffle with their nose, I high-tailed her out of the building, no lie. Now she's the one who's all congested with a stuffy nose. I took the day off work to stay home and make sure she didn't get any worse (that was my new mommy OCD kicking into hyper-drive). Plus, her stuffy nose kept her from sleeping through the night, and had her waking up at freaking 5 in the morning (she usually sleeps until 7), so we both could use a little bit of rest.

Unfortunately, all we can do is wait this cold out. My mom bought Hayven one of those Vicks waterless vaporizer plug-ins. Basically, it saturates your entire room with the smell of Menthol, and is supposed to help ease your baby's congestion. It hasn't really been working for us, as far as the congestion goes. But, you can smell the Menthol in our room from downstairs! The added bonus of the Ninja-Turtle green night light is pretty cool too!

I'll probably get sick of the smell in the next day or so and end up tossing the thing, so hopefully Hayven starts feeling better before then. All I can say is, I'm kind of glad the cold happened early on, before the weather gets really bad. It gives me a chance to make a list of things I need to do to prepare for next time, like stock up on hand sanitizer, buy some Boogie Wipes, and look into getting a humidifier for our room.

XoXo Shea L.

Single Motherhood.

Some women choose to be single mothers, and some have it thrust upon them. My experience was a little bit of both. I was in a really toxic relationship, and was taking care of Hayven on my own, despite living in the same house with her father. I made the decision that I wanted better. I wanted better for myself, and for Hayven. So, I packed our bags, moved in with my sister, and haven't looked back since. Yes, her father is still in her life, and I am thankful for that. Even though things didn't work out between us, we are trying our best to get along and work through these co-parenting issues, but as we all know, that's easier said than done. 

All I want to do now is focus on me and Hayven, and bettering out situation. Being a single parent has been a struggle. I am working full-time, and going to school full-time (getting my Master's in Marriage & Family Therapy), on top of caring for my baby girl. My mom and sister have been nothing short of amazing when it comes to helping me out. Trying to find a balance between everything has probably been the greatest challenge of all. I know it will be hard doing this on my own, but I know that it is not impossible One thing I can say about single motherhood so far is that it pushes you to your limits, and that you will find out just how strong a person you really are in the end.

XoXo Shea L.