Don't Mess With Mama Bear!

The day I became a Mama something awoke inside me, an animalistic instinct that felt completely natural, like I'd always had it but was never really necessary until this moment. This primal instinct that takes over and is sometimes irrational and hard to contain. I immediately become unconcerned with politeness, courtesies, feelings, etc. when it comes to matters involving my baby boy.

No, you can not come into my hospital room and hold the baby without heading back over to the door and helping yourself to a couple pumps off the Purell. Come on people, its flu season!

No, weird lady at Target you can not walk up to our cart and pull back the blanket and breathe your possibly contaminated germ breath all over my baby and you certainly cannot touch him. BACK OFF!

Yes, I do mind if you bring in your medical students to examine my child that has been in the hospital for two days and is really OVER IT. Especially after one of your students tried to order a suppository that was strong enough for a 300 pound man. MOVE ALONG and I MEAN NOW!

Yes, I will continue to BLOW UP YOUR PHONE and leave messages regarding my son until you return my call and DO YOUR JOB. Seriously....this has been going on for two months and I'm tired of it. My next call will be to your supervisor.

You get the idea, Mama Bear doesn't play when it comes to Little Bear. Sometimes this Mama Bear instinct can be destructive. I've had plenty of moments I'm not proud of after the fact, but in that moment all rational thinking goes out the window. I think most moms are like this when it comes to our children. Mothers especially are pretty forgiving when it comes to situations where another mothers Mama Bear instinct has kicked in. Even though she may not have agreed with your actions she will at least understand and get where you were coming from in that moment. Sometimes a calmer but still assertive and strong response will get you further than the initial animalistic instinct reaction to claw someones face off. So, as I sit here waiting for a certain someone to return my call I will try and remember this and try not to rip her a new one when she ever does call back. But, I'm not making any promises. I'm still a work in progress.

Trying to take a Family Photo at the Alamo

My Current Quest for baby #2

Let me tell you about what I have been doing for the past couple of months.....Tracking my ovulation.

Now, let me tell you why I have been tracking my ovulation for the past couple of months......To try and increase my chances at conceiving a girl.

When I tell people this I usually get the same responses. A) That's crazy, how will tracking your ovulation help your chances of having a girl, B) Why would you want a girl, so much drama, I would love to have all boys, C) Just be happy with whatever you get.

Let me address each one of those responses here:

A) By pinpointing the exact day of ovulation you increase your chance of conceiving, this applies to anyone trying to conceive regardless of gender preference. There are many different ways to track ovulation and I have only chosen to do a few. The first is a Basal Body Thermometer (BBT). You take your temperature at the same time every morning and over a few cycles, you'll see patterns that indicate when ovulation typically takes place for you. The other way I help pinpoint ovulation is through Ovulation Predictor Kits (OPK's). These are much like pregnancy tests except they test the monthly LH surge- the sudden increase in luteinizing hormone present in your urine just before you ovulate. The presence of the positive ovulation test indicates that you will likely ovulate within 12 to 36 hours. If you are trying to have a girl, you'll need to begin timing sex during the period at least 2 to 3 days before you anticipate ovulation to take place. This method favors the slower but larger and more resilient X-chromosome sperm (girls). Intercourse further away from ovulation favors the larger slower moving X (girl) sperm. The weaker Y (boy) sperm will die more quickly in the more acidic preovulatory vaginal / cervical secretions and by the time of ovulation there will be a much larger concentration of X (girl) sperm available to fertilize the egg. Hence, your chances of conceiving a girl are greatly increased. At least according to this theory of thinking known as the Shettles Method.

B) I'm glad that you would be happy with all boys but we are different and that's ok. Please don't judge my desire to have a daughter. And since when did having a girl automatically invoke people to say things like "Drama and Way more work than boys?" I'm here to tell you that I have a son and OMG he is a lot of work. I just think that boys and girls have different issues than each other, not to say that either are more or less easier to deal with on the whole parenting spectrum, just different. I also want a daughter for things like bows, pink, purple, glitter, dresses, accessories, shoes, dress up, shopping, girly movies, prom dress shopping, wedding planning, being a mother to my daughter when she is pregnant one day, long talks about boys and what all the celebrities are doing, this list could go on and on forever. And Yes, I am aware that not all girls are into all of these things but the likelihood that a girl would be more into some of these things over a boy is pretty high. I already have a son and know I will get to enjoy all the absolutely fabulous things usually associated with having a boy that you may not get to experience with a girl. So why wouldn't I want the same thing with a girl? Sorry I'm coming off so defensive but I have quite frankly been shocked at the response I have gotten to my desire to have a girl. You never hear the same reactions I have received when you hear a father express the desire to have a boy. It just kinda seems skewed to me. 

C) This response bugs me a lot. Of course I will be happy with whatever God decides to give us. But don't look at me like I just told you I'm going to steal the lady next to me on the OB floors baby girl when I tell you that I'm trying to increase my odds of having a girl by tracking ovulation. Seriously, it's not that big of a deal. Yes, I know that many people are desperate to have a child regardless of gender at all. I feel for these people (some of which are some of my readers) so badly and I can not imagine having to go through all the things that you have had to go through mentally and physically just to try and conceive at all. But I also think that it is OK to desire a child of a certain gender and not to be judged because of it.

So, that's my rant for the day. Thanks for listening. I'll try not to drive you all crazy as we begin this wild ride again into parenthood for the second time with all my bodily functions, mental ups and downs and just plain ole' TMI that seems to take over many women when they are trying to conceive and especially when they get pregnant. That could be a whole other post entirely. =)

Wordless Wednesday-Texas Vacation!

Here are a few pictures we took on our vacation to South Texas with some of our friends.