Thanksgiving

On Thursday it was goble-goble day, a day of thanks turned out to be one crazy day for my family. All my family gathered up at my cousin Beatrice's house all the way in Pyuallup. One of my uncle's is about to get married, or should I say already did get married. And the thing is no one in the family not even family pets like his "wife." It all started on her birthday when, their 3 month anniversary when he bought her a simple ring as a present. She took it the wrong way and made him propose that day. The face on not only my uncle but all my other family members was priceless. She had my uncle send his 2 girls that were living with him to their mom, so they wont be a problem for her. But back to thanksgiving night, she was sitting down on the table playing with some rings. No one payed attention to her, till my uncle was like "Dang Daniela just tell them you got married already." And again the face's from my family was priceless. Its turns out that they went off and got married not letting anyone know,which pissed off my uncles. After eating diner someone rang the door bell, we went expecting no one else. Once we opened it it was my cousins next door neighbor and her family. I guess she invited herself because no one else invited her, she was surprised to hear we had already ate. Since she had a big Turkey with her and pies. A couple hours later my cousin who was pregnant started feeling contractions. She thought they were going to go away since she had been feeling them already. My aunt ran to the kitchen and made her "ruda de chocolate." Which is like hot chocolate with this plant in it. In my family they believe that it help make labor go by faster. And its true because 4 hours later my little niece was born.

Discipline

I started reading a book called "Discipline From Birth to Three." I enjoy reading this book because it has other peoples short stories and thoughts on it. I think it's important to start disciplining your child since they are young. Its just that people have different ways to discipline. What someone thinks its right, for another person it might be wrong. For example I'm Hispanic so our way to discipline a child is way different then how someone from a different race would discipline their kids. In one of the short stories a girl named Belia had to deal with a tantrum her 2 year old was throwing over candy. She said she just picked him up and left, leaving all her stuff in the basket. If i was her 2 year old knowing my parents they would just let me cry. Even though it hurts you to see your child cry, its the only way they will know. You have to be hard on them, you cant always let them get their way. Or they will just get use to it and keep doing it over and over again.

Suspension

I got suspended yesterday fro 3 days. Its sucks because since its the last days of the session, I cant make up work and I'm going to miss the final test in science. You see it all started last week at MacDonald's when me and my friends went out to eat for lunch. We were just sitting there when Carlita the girl that goes out wit my son's dad and some girl named Zenaida walked in. Maria doesn't like Zenaida because of stuff that happened between them and me and Carlita fought last year at Evergreen, and she don't like me since I'm having a baby from Moe. That day Maria got up to go to the bathroom and Carlita and Zenaida followed her in there. Alicia knew they were going to try to do something so her and ester went right behind them. I staid watching the food. That same night Maria was talking to her friend Evelyn and told Maria that Carlita called a guy named Hawi and said how her and Zenaida were planning on jumping Maria in the bathroom. On Wednesday me and my friends saw Zenaida with her boyfriend, we didn't say nothing to her maybe just gave her dirty looks. And that same night Maria gets a call from Evelyn saying that Zenaida went to Carlita crying saying we punked her, and that Carlita was mad and was going to get 15 girls to go to our school and jump us. But to jump especially me so that I can lose the baby. And said that she didn't like Maria because she went out with Moe as well. Maria and I both know how Hawi is and how he puts words in other peoples mouths. So we decided to go see what was going on ourselves. We confronted Zenaida and she denied everything and looked like she was about to start crying, but Carlita was quiet the whole time. Once we confronted Carlita she started taking things the wrong way and was just pointless to talk to her. I was in the car with Ester while Maria and Alicia were talking to them. All of a sudden Carlita started calling all of us names and that's when everything started. Me and another girl that was with Carlita and Zenaida were trying to stop them. We left and the whole day I was just receiving messages from friends at Evergreen asking what happened. It was none of their business so I just didn't write back, but Carlita and Zenaida went and told a whole different story making it seem like all four of me and my friends got beat up. When it wasn't even like that whats so ever. Next week at school Maria, Alicia and I got called in to the office and got suspended and yet the other girls are trying to get me and my friends jumped. But I'm the main one Carlita wants.

Getting Ready For Raymond

I been so stressed out this last couple of days. Mostly about school, getting all my work done, and getting good grades. You see I only had 4.5 credits left to graduate in the beginning of the year. I never planned to go back to school, I was just planning on working full time and saving up money. My parents talked to me about how was I going to make my son go to school and get his education when I didn't even finished school. They were right, that's when I decided to enroll in New Start. I really want to finish by December, but if I have to stay till January its okay too as long as I finish before I give birth. Another thing that's been stressing me out is making sure I have everything ready before Raymond arrives. I have like 3 cousins that have baby boys that are like 4 months now. They are being nice enough to save me the baby clothes their kids don't wear no more. Last night one of them came and brought me 2 big boxes full of baby clothes. I been putting everything I got from her and the baby shower away. Raymond is not even born yet and already has a lot of stuff, I had to give up my dresser to put his clothes in there. He has 2 dressers full of clothes and I only have my small closet to store my things. I was making a list of things I need, and its mostly little things like bottles, bibs, small toys and lotions. I still have 2 more months to get ready, but 2 months go by fast, and its stressful.

Chalenging Labors and Cesarean Birth (part 2)

There are also medical methods to start labor, some of the most common once are prostaglandin, pitocin and artificial rupture of the membranes. Prostaglandin is put in the vagina to help ripen, its the same substance in semen. This substance comes in different forms gel, tampon-like or pills. Pitocin is a drug just like the oxytocin made by your body, its given to start contractions. This substance is given by an IV, It starts at a slow dose and once contractions start the dose increase. Artificial rupture of the membranes (AROM) means breaking the bag of water with a plastic hook. Its used more often to speed up labor rather then starting it. When my sister had my niece I remember that she had high blood pressure and they had to start labor early. They did all 3 methods on her. She said that once they broke her water it didn't hurt, but it felt as she had peed. Her mood got really grumpy after, and was complaining about everything. There are also different types of labor like a short but fast labor. Short labor goes by really fast and is more painful contractions come one after the other. There are many things you can do during this type of labor. First of all make sure you get to the hospital as fast as possible and take deep breaths. I would want to have this type of labor since its faster then you can just get it over with, but I just don't know about the contraction parts. As i was reading on there was a small box with information on how you can know if your baby is coming. The scariest one was you can see and maybe even touch his head at the opening. I would get so scared if I just felt something wet and hard down there, especially knowing its my sons head popping out, knowing me ill start panicking.

Challenging Labors and Cesarean Birth

The Chapter i been reading about has to do with the different types of labor and cesarean births. It also gives out tips on different ways to make labor easy. One type of labor would be inducing labor, in other words starting labor when it doesn't start on its own. That is when the doctor uses medical methods instead of letting it start on its own. Another medical term for inducing labor is induction. The doctor should give medical reasons for inducing labor and you have to make sure you know the reason before agreeing. My grandma had this type of labor when giving birth to my mom. She had it a couple weeks before the due date only because my grandpa would be present. And that was the only birth of his my grandpa assisted, because he was a sailor and had to go out to sea a lot he missed on all his children's birth except my mom's. In the book it talks about things you can do when labor is slow to star. Like walking, Castor oil, sex or rubbing your nipples. Walking helps out more when your having prelabor contractions and it keeps labor going rather then starting it. Castor oil is an old method women use to use to start labor because of its strong smell. The only problem is the side effects which is bad cramping and diarrhea. Sex causes contractions especially when you have an orgasm. Semen can also help because of its substance in it called prostaglandi, which is the same thing the body makes so that the cervix becomes softer. But you just cant have sex if the your water hasn't broken.

My Baby's Daddy

Raymond's dad is named Mohamed Sadik, and is from Syria. Moe and I started dating when we were 15 years old and broke up last October. Our relationship was great except for when he listened to his friends and would let them get to him. He met most of my family and would come over every once in a while. In the summer of 2008 he changed a lot, he started thinking he was the big thing and started problems with my cousin. His mood would change one day he'll be all up on me and the next starting fights with me for no reason. My mom would say that he was on drugs or something, most of my family stopped liking him. He became very controlling wouldn't even let me go to family parties, when ever I was with him he would take my phone and check it all. I wouldn't be able to talk to no guys what's so ever, even look at them. He didn't even care if they were my cousins, I couldn't talk to them because he thought I lied to him saying they were my cousins. He wouldn't show up to my house at all, and started talking about my cousin saying how they were want to be gangsters. Our Senior year came and supposedly there was to many thing running through his head so decided to take a break, but told me I still wasn't able to talk to no guys. That day after school my cousin and his friends picked me up and Moe got mad, he turned around and started hugging this little freshman girl, that's been wanting to get with him. Ever since that day they started going out but was still trying to get me back at the time. After 5 months he found out she cheated on him with his best friend and we decided to try it out again. We were together for about 3 months when she came out of no where saying she was pregnant, I told him she was just saying that to get him back or it wasn't even his. But he went back to her and left me, a week later I found out I was pregnant and when I told him he didn't believe me. After a month he hit me up saying she wasn't pregnant and wanted to be back with me but I denied him, and he asked for a chance to at least let him help me out and I accepted that offer. They started dating again and I believe she got stuff stuck in his head, Because he called me denying my kid and talking a bunch of mess. That's the last I heard from him till a month ago when he called to let me know he was going to Detroit, but was going to try to be back before "our kid was born" I just laughed when he said that.

Staying Healthy After Pregnancy

When I was in class Maria was telling me that I should buy a corset or something so that I wont get a gut, which is the last thing I want. So I started researching ways I can stay healthy after I give birth and found a lot of tips. There was a tip I came across that really caught my attention. "It took nine months to get there. It should take at least that long to get back to their fighting weight." Meaning your not going to go back to your old body right away its going to take time. Specially if you don't stay healthy and take care of yourself, like not eating right or exercising. Its easier to loss weight faster if you only gained between 25-35 pound in the pregnancy. Then if you were overweight before the pregnancy or put on more weight then needed during pregnancy. In the research I found a lot of interesting tips, like not going on an official diet. The reason is because playing the new role of a mother can already cause so much stress and adding the fact that you wont be able to eat right can cause you to gain more weight. A big tip for losing weight is breastfeeding, studies have been done and it is said that brestfeeding can help you return to your pre-pregnancy weight faster. Im so glad I decided to look up all this information, since none of it was in the book i wouldn't had known. And knowing myself I would have put myself on a strict diet.

Baby Shower

I'm having one of my baby showers on Saturday, and I'm really exited. I'm having 3 baby showers, the one on Saturday is going to be in Puyallup with most of my family that lives over there. Its going to be a mixed shower for both men and women and all the little kids in the family. Their planning on ordering the boxing match which is going to be fun because all my family is into boxing. Yesterday me and my mom went to buy all the thing we will need for it and there was so many thing to buy, and so many different choices. My aunt is going to bake a tres leches cake that's so good and my mom is making some lasagna. One of my uncles is making a liquor drink, it has different types of white liquor and a bunch of different types of fruit in it. Too bad I'm not going to be able to have none. The second baby shower is going to be at my house with all my friends. My best friend Linda and Melissa are planning them for me, and according to them they invited about 60 people, but we're not counting with everyone coming. The cake is going to be from Costco, they are cheap, big and really good. And we're not planning on having food just a couple different salads and some jello. From my friends baby shower I'm not really expecting a lot more like clothes and small things. I expect all the big things from my family baby showers, like the stroller and car seat and more expensive things. The last baby shower is going to be at my house as well and its going to be my aunts that live in Seattle. This one is going to be only got females no males. I'm planning on having all my showers in late November because then Christmas is coming, and then everyone is going to be broke.

Having Your Baby: Labor And Birth

I already want Raymond out of me, but giving birth is the scariest part. In chapter 5 in the book I'm reading it mentions everything about labor and birth. It talks about contractions and how they come and go during labor. It compares contractions to a wave, saying "Each contraction is like a wave: It's weak at the beginning, it builds to a peak; and then gradually goes away." Just thinking I'm going to have to go through the pain of labor makes me regret getting pregnant. As far as I've heard its the worst pain ever. In the book it says how everything that the mother does during her pregnancy it can affect her labor. Like if she smokes, has an infection, uses street drugs or has a lot of stress it can cause early labor. Which is not good because then the baby wont be a full-term baby and might not be fully developed. But as long as the mother stays healthy then you will have a healthy full-term baby and be able to take him home sooner, and leave the scary hospital faster. When the cervix is dilated it means its fully open which is 10 cm dilated. So the baby is suppose to fit through your 10 cm uterus, which is still pretty small.

Dream Act

The story I posted up yesterday is a story I wrote last year in my Latino club. You may have heard of May 1st being the day Latinos protest. At Evergreen High School the Latino club known as ALAS decided to take the challenge and do a silent protest without having to walk out. We bought white and black shirts with the words dream in Spanish in the back which was Sueno. And we also wanted to inform other students about the Dream Act. For us to be able to do this we had to let the HS3 staff members know what was going on and inform them as well. Our Advisor Brenda Espinoza had us research the Dream Act so we can prepare our speeches, and had a couple group members write stories about how immigration is effecting them. The day before May 1st after school we got up in front of all HS3 staff members and we began describing the Dream Act. The Dream Act is a proposal that was being introduced to the US Congress. This bill would provide millions of immigrant children the opportunity to receive a US Residency only for those who have arrived in the US since before the age of 16, who is between the ages 12 and 35 at the time the law is enacted, must have resided in the US for 5 constant years since their arrival year, Must have graduated from a High school or received a GED, and must have a clean criminal record. After six years with their temporary residency, they may earn a permanent residency. Meaning they have to attend college and earn at least a two year degree or serve in the US military for two years. After completing that they will be granted a permanent residency which then leads to US citizenship. After we informed the staff member with all this information, we began sharing our stories. I never knew it can get this emotional, as I looked at the staff they were in tears. I remember most of my friends including me couldn't even finish reading the stories, we would break down in the middle of them. Finally we told the teachers how most of us have the same fear, which is coming home to an empty house, finding out our parents were being deported, that's the fear that not only Latinos but immigrant's children have in common. We explained to the staff that they can help us out in buying a shirt to wear on May 1st with us. All the teachers bought one which made us very happy knowing they supported us. After our presentation was all over staff and students were still in tears, I remember one teacher saying "I never imagined you guys as the cheerleader, ASB officers, football players, soccer captain, students in general would be going through this, I'm sorry but I cant look at you guys in your eyes knowing what you're going through"

Story I Wrote

Crossing the border, putting herself in danger, just to give us a better life. Leaving memories, loved once, 16 years of her life behind, just to give us a better life. Not being able to go out the country with out her, because she might not be able to come back with me. Driving pass an immigration car without her panicking. She's not able to hold a good job, she worries about bills, but still gives us what we want. She doesn't have enough money to buy groceries, has to go to the food bank to feed us. And yet we'll always see her with a smile on her face. At least she tries, because deep down inside she's hurting. She misses the rest of the family haven't seen them in years. The holidays is when she gets the saddest, she missed her father's funeral. All this just to give us a better life. But is it really a better life, hearing her cries at night but when it comes to the day time her faking her happiness, just to give us a better life, Am I selfish? No, lets just say I'm a lucky girl, to have a wonderful mom that gave up a lot, everything, her life, just to give her children a better life. No one else would do the same, not even the love of your life. That is what you call Amor de madre, Mother love.

Work

Now that I am farther along in my pregnancy I been getting more and more tiered. Especially when it comes to work. Since I work at Orange Julius I'm always standing up and doing something. After work my legs are so sore, I can barely even walk. My co-workers understand so they mostly just have me work the register. In a way I think is harder thorough since I'm just standing there and not moving. Closing has been the hardest part, I feel bad when I close because I feel like everyone is doing all the work and I'm doing just the easy stuff. Ever since I had to go to the hospital last week my doctor said I should slow down and take a couple days off work. But you see I'm going thorough some family problems at the time and really need the money not for me and my son, but to help my family out. And taking a few days off work is the last thing on my mind. I plan on working all the way thorough my pregnancy, unless there is complications. I been talking to my manager and i told him about my plans after birth. My plan is to take at least a month off work after birth maybe even less if I feel better, and if my grandma does fly up here from San Diego. And I told him how closing has been kind of hard on me and told me to just do what I can, but if I still feel it hard on me to let him know. The thing is that if I tell him I cant close the only times he'll be scheduling me for would be the weekends. And like I mentioned earlier I really need the money to help my parents out, so the more hours the better.

Preparing For Birth

According to the book I've been reading, its time for me to start preparing for my birth. Just thinking about it scares me. Listening to my mom and family talk about it, make me not want to go through it. I plan on having a natural childbirth, meaning giving birth without using pain medicine. I really don't want to take the epidural, and a cesarean birth is the last thing on my mind as well. My mom had natural births with all her kids except my youngest brother, and that's because she had high blood pressure and my little brother was wrapped around the cord. Some risk of a cesarean birth are, pain for several weeks after giving birth, more problems with a future pregnancy and an increased risk of a cesarean for next birth. There is other risk too, but just knowing this risk scares me. One of the biggest advantages of having a natural birth is that you can have control of your body. Since my doctor said that the baby can come out anytime i already have my bags ready, one for me and one for the baby. Just thinking about it gets me so exited, just not the popping him out part.

29 Weeks

On Saturday I became 29 weeks into my pregnancy. Which is almost the end of the 7th month, meaning 11 more weeks to go. I'm so exited I really cant wait. My mom says that as time gets closer, time will go by slower, especially if it goes passed the due date. As I was reading yesterday I finally got to the section that talks about 7 months, I found so many facts I didn't know about. Like that my son is between the size of a honeydew melon and a spaghetti squash right now. The baby's brain and nervous system are almost mature, and he can suck on his thumb. I think its pretty funny that being inside of me he can recognize my voice. Not only is he aware of familiar voices but he is also aware of the changes in light. He can now open and close his eyes and his eye lashes are growing, and since he's a boy his testicles are forming. Since I'm getting closer to my due date my uterus is now 3 to 4 inches above my belly button, and the baby is getting crowded in there. In the book it mentions how most babies will settle into a head down position, and some stay that way for the rest of the pregnancy. And now that I remember on Monday when i went to the hospital and they did the ultrasound Raymond was in a head down position. But not only is Raymond going through some changes but I am as well. Like one of the big thins is getting harder for me to sleep, and heartburn especially when I eat a lot of hot stuff which I cant help. Another big thing is that I'm suppose to be gaining 3 to 4 pounds, I already feel fat and I keep telling myself it's because I'm pregnant but it wont go through my head. Other changes that say in the book is feet, ankles and hand swelling, but I haven't gotten to that part yet. Well like I said 11 more weeks for Raymond to be out, Finally!!