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Motherhood: The Measuring Stick – Part 1
By nature, I am a student. I love the entire process – the initial curiosity, the exploration, finding answers, applying the answers, and the evaluation. When I finished my PhD back in 2007, I found myself at a loss. I switched to the role of teacher and suddenly the only measurement of my work was if I was kept employed and student feedback. Typically the students that give you feedback are the disgruntled ones. As a mom I feel it’s…
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PPD and Me
For the sake of learning to be more transparent and hopefully so that other new mamas don’t feel alone in their struggle to adjust to a new “normal”, I’m going to keep journaling my experiences with postpartum depression. Newborns don’t give a mama much sleep. I knew this, I’d done it before. I probably could have used some help last time as well, but the difference is that with the second baby, you don’t have the luxury of napping when…
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Elastic Strain, Plastic Strain and Hysteresis
When you add weight to a rubber band, it stretches. When you remove that weight, it returns to its original shape but not along the same path. As you remove the weight incrementally, the band contracts slightly less than it was stretched until the last weight is removed – this property is called hysteresis. If you were to observe a diagram of the stress and strain during the loading and unloading, you’d see a loop – as long as the…
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Final Belly Pic
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In A Year's Time
Today marks the one year anniversary of the loss of my baby in the twelfth week of pregnancy. It blows my mind how just a year ago I was overcome with such grief, and here a year later I can gaze into the face of this beautiful, healthy one week old baby boy. God’s blessings abounded then, and they certainly abound today. I don’t have anything particularly poignant to say other than I feel extremely thankful. Wookie seems aware that…
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Good Doctors
My 37 week appointment (technically 37.5 weeks) was this morning and everything went smoothly. I don’t think I’ve gained any weight in a couple weeks, which is pretty normal considering I’m in the final stretch and there isn’t much room to be stashing large pizzas and Mexican feasts. I’m doing my best to keep my feet up, the water down, and my toddler from tearing the house apart. I hear so many people complain about doctors, specifically OBGYN practices and…
