Simply Singer

So with the new year, EVERYONE is making resolutions which we all don't keep some if not most. This year I want to try to keep ALL my resolutions. I bought a  weekly planner  to try to keep up with everything. As of right now, it is January 1st. So I am trying to get everything that I have thought about down into the  weekly planner . I have been thinking about everything I want to do but we just do not have the funds for it. So something I cannot write down to accomplish daily/weekly/monthly is to actually pay debt off. I know my husband hates when I talk about money in any aspect but we currently have a house, two vehicles, a couple or so credit cards, and some other loans. So we owe a lot, just use your imagination. My goal is to get at least 2 but hopefully 3 of these paid off. We do have a few that are no interest for 12-18 months but beside the point I want 2-3 of anything paid off. I would love to begin looking for a house to live in until the kids graduate high ...

Rosella just hit her due date and was 2 months old and Steven and I had the time off work due to parental leave, so we decided to take a nice family vacation. Somewhere where the kids can go, or at least Logan can have fun. So we decided SeaWorld, San Diego Zoo, LegoLand and SeaLife Aquarium. Logan loves animals as do I and LegoLand is for kids. Day 1 - SeaWorld. A ton of walking (granted that was the whole trip) and seeing all the marine life. Logan absolutely loved seeing all the animals and even more so when they were interacting with him. He was very excited with all the movement of the different animals . Surprisingly he did so well without a nap, but fell asleep the minute we drove back towards the hotel. Logan would run towards the different tanks because the marine life would be swimming around and it would catch his eyes. His favorite words were wow and ohh. He liked to point out all the moving animals, which was mostly everything. As expected Rosella slept most of...

So as many of you know, I was asked to guest speak in a medical conference. This conference was about preterm labor and birth as a whole. I was asked by one of the ladies in the hospital staff before I was discharged after having Rosella if I was interested. I said sure that sounds like fun. So we now fast forward a bunch of months and now we are before the holidays. She asks again if I’m still interested. Of course I would love too. I told her I would and I will keep my promise. The beginning of the year I tell her I was able to get the day off work and we are good to go. As the day drew near, and we are about 6-10 weeks away I’m starting to have doubts. Starting to have anxiety about reliving this all over again, see some of the staff that took care of me. I get the email with what she wants me to talk about. Ok that seems simple, just four things. Why I was there and how long with a bit of backstory, positive things I liked and what I wish would have been done differently. So I ...

So we are going to get a bit personal here, so please don't judge, it is hard enough for me to write it but sharing it will be even harder. I ask not for your pity or anything, you do not need to say anything to me about this post, just know this is how I feel.  Rosella is just over 10 months old. It has been a struggle for me here and there with everything that I went to. Being a strong headed person, I never reached out for help. Always told myself it would get better. Has to get better. Have to be strong and healthy and ok for my family. Well was a dead wrong. Not addressing these issues I have been having, it has taken a huge toll on me. So I finally reached out to Rosella's developmental therapist and told her that I think I need some help. I write this feeling like I should not be but mental health is VERY IMPORTANT. And If yo have doubts, always get help. I am pretty sure I have some form of PTSD from the whole pregnancy, birth and NICU experience but I am not a doct...

Rosella spent the first 3 weeks of her life in the NICU . It was very hard on us emotionally and physically. Not only my husband and I, but our families as well. She was born just over 8 weeks early . Everyday we hoped she would grow and not have any issues. It was a long three weeks. Logan was still in preschool at the time so at least I was able to visit her everyday.  Rosella was born 31 weeks and 5 days gestation. Just over 2 months early. She was only 3 pounds 9 ounces. Just a little thing. She was born 3:33 in the morning. I did not get to see her until about 8:30 and I still was unable to hold my baby. Granted I was so drugged up from everything (if you read the Arrival of Rosella's post ). We went back a bit before 2pm and then I was able to hold her.  The rules were a bit strict. To those who never have experienced a child in the NICU, you will not understand how emotional it can be. We could only hold her right after care and feeding and you had to hold her for ...

If you have read my previous posts about how my pregnancy had gone, then you know that with all the issues, you could figure it would be not how I could imagine. Well being in the hospital and monitored (baby's heart rate and uterine contractions) twice a day with access to nurses any time I may have needed one worked in my favor leading up to the birth. When you read thru this, remember that most things I was going thru was considered normal for my pregnancy issues. And that I honestly had no idea I was actually in labor until moments before. So I woke up very early in the morning, around 1 am on May 3rd with contractions but they were not too bad. Manageable and spaced out enough there was no call for concern. But being only 31 weeks and 3 days pregnant with steady contractions, I was administered magnesium. For those who do not know what that does, it is used for neuro support of the baby. It can also help stop false labor. Which when you get it, it feels like you are laying...

pPROM - or preterm premature rupture of membranes - is when your water bag breaks and you leak amniotic fluid. While this is a scary situation, there is nothing that can really be done about it. As I have experienced this, I have had time to join support groups and learn more about what exactly pPROM is. Though I am not a doctor or even in the medical field, I have reached out to other ladies around the world via these support groups and collected some of my own data based on their experiences. If this happens to you, please visit your doctor or the hospital right away to be seen immediately. Always seek medical advice when in doubt. My Story I had ruptured at 18 weeks and 4 days. It was hard to hear that my water had broken and the baby might not make it. When we finally went to see a perinatologist, or high risk doctor, he was optimistic on the outcome. He though we would be able to continue the pregnancy and make it hopefully past 28 weeks. He did give us hope which was good ...

I always knew I wanted another baby. I have always wanted one boy and one girl. Eighteen months apart, a boy first. It was how I always pictured my future. So after the issues getting pregnant with Logan, I decided to try something more natural. So I took supplements that helped regulate women's hormones, which was what I needed. I know I did not go into details but it took us about 18 months to get pregnant with Logan after taking progesterone pills for 6 months. So back to this pregnancy, I decided natural supplements , with ovulation predictor kits and temping. Unlike with Logan, Rosella's pregnancy was more "planned" if you will. I was trying what I could to get pregnant without seeing my doctor. I knew exactly when my body would ovulate based on the tests and my temperature. So when I was 12 days past ovulation (DPO) , I took a pregnancy test... lets be honest I started like 8 days (which it usually takes 6-12 days to begin producing HCG if you are pregnant...