Blog Post 5- My whole Pregnancy and giving birth during COVID19!

Yes! thats right, I was pregnant and gave birth during COVID19. I had so many people asked me how was my pregnancy along with giving brith during the COVID19 lockdown. Well one word to describe it is “UNFORGETTABLE”. Here’s how my first pregnancy went:

During the summer of 2019, I was so pleased to find out that me and my husband was expecting a little one. The feeling of knowing I was going to be a mother was indescribably amazing. I had many thoughts going through my mind and I just wished the 9th month was here already.

First trimester:

Not long after I found out I was pregnant, I started having morning sickness or should I say ALL DAY sickness. It was so bad, I couldn’t eat, sleep or go to work and because I couldn’t eat I lost 12 pound within the first 2 week of being pregnant. I know! it was crazy. I had to go on FMLA at work because I could not get up and walk because my leg would feel like they were gonna fall off. Everything I sit, my bum hurt and when I lay down, my body didn’t want to get up. During this time, I had so many thoughts going through my head especially thinking if I can go through this again if I had another kid. I remember crying to my husband about this as I felted so emotional.

Second Trimester:

The second trimester came along and my sickness got better. I notice I was able to get up and do light things around the house. My appetite came back but not entirely, I still did not want to eat everything and anything. As days goes by, I notice I was getting more and more energy and then my craving started. Everyday I wanted bread and cake and so I would always have my husband pick those up after work. My weight started climbing again but it was a healthy weight gain per my doctor. In summation for my second trimester, it was the best time out of my whole pregnancy.

Third Trimester:

Third trimester came and I felt like I was going back to first trimester however I was just exhausted and thankfully did not have ALL DAY sickness again. As you can image, during this time, my belly was of course big and could barely do anything anymore. I just wanted to the baby out as I was super uncomfortable and could not sleep. My back was aching 24/7 and headache came on and off. I did everything I could to help induce labor hoping my little angel will come on time. My due date was March 24th and that week came by and yet baby did not want to come so I went in to see my OB for my 40th week visit. My doctor advised the options I have which is inducement or we can wait till 42 week and see if baby want to come by then.

Due to COVID19 and so many rumors about significant other not being able to be in the room, me and husband was having a hard time debating if I wanted to be induce or wait another two week. As crazy as everything was happening in the world, it seem like our little angel heard our concern and decided to make her entrance the day after her due date, March 25th.

Hospital birth:

Now, this is the interesting part that so many people have been asking me about. Giving birth during this pandemic was tough because first off my husband was not allowed to go with me to my last couple of OB visits which we were okay with. However, when it came to the hospital, there were so many rules. Some of the thing I can remember was I could only have one person with me in the labor room and if that person leave the hospital, they cannot come back in. Meaning, even if they went outside for a smoke or to the car, they cannot enter the hospital again. Patients and visitor were not allow to walk in the hallway or wonder anywhere inside the hospital. They also did not allow people to drop off food for patients and you must only order food from the hospital cafeteria.

Summation:

As crazy as it was to be pregnant and give birth during this world crisis, me and my husband are happy to have our little angel arrived in healthy conditions and praying it stay that way. I wish everyone to be safe and healthy during this pandemic.

Here is link to Saint Paul Hospital Rules:

https://www.healthpartners.com/hospitals/regions/getting-to-the-hospital/find-a-patient/

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Blog post #5

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A post shared by Matthew Scott Trester (@matthewscotttrester)

Racism is a popular discourse today and for many good reasons. There is always the danger that unacknowledged history becomes dangerous of repeating itself, a good quote from James Baldwin: “In the context of the Negro problem neither whites nor blacks, for excellent reasons of their own, have the faintest desire to look back; but I think that the past is all that makes the present coherent, and further, that the past will remain horrible for exactly as long as we refuse to assess it honestly.”. As Baldwin notes not everyone wants to talk about racial relations and history and that has been a narrative for a long time.

People want to be safe, they do not want to engage in discourse that shames their neighbor and they especially do not want to talk about issues that imply they or their ancestors did something wrong and hurt another party. This is why the discourse for racism often happens on main street with people holding signs picketing or on the news with experts weighing in and explaining things. People would rather just continue their lives and not confront the past, they do not want their lives to be interpreted for something so painful and offers so little gain for them.

This is why Black Lives matters exist and why Martin Luther King staged protests; people did not want to acknowledge their oppressive lifestyles and history so King, the Black Lives Matter movement, and others pressed themselves into the national consciousness so that people could not ignore the issues. Indeed, the lives of Whites would in fact be easier if they never where made responsible for the extortion of their fellow man and their life more harmonious if they never had to confront their destructive history. But this is not true for the oppressed, the oppressed are hurt and damaged by their silence: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

Remaining a part of the status quo only encourages the oppressor to oppress the victim and is why King often spoke about how resisting segregation would help Whites become better, more moral people but in the same way alcoholics do not want to recognize their alcoholism oppressors do not want to recognize their hurtful actions. Eisenhower was famously lukewarm to the social rights movement because of his fear of damaging his own image and power base.

Disenfranchising yourself from your own tribe in support of another will always connotate risk and vulnerability and it is a action that many are willing to talk about but many fewer take. It should also be noted that standing against the dominate tribe is also dangerous and Black Americans and others have been killed for nothing less than trying to be heard. Today that risk still exists and Black Americans still rely on interrupting the national consciousness for support and will continue to do so as long as they have issues and interrupting the national consciousness continues to help support their interests.

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The Bermuda Triangle

Also known as the Devil’s Triangle, the Bermuda Triangle is a body of water—you guessed it—in the shape of a triangle that stretches between Florida, Bermuda and Puerto Rico. It’s a 700,000 square kilometer stretch that’s been a region in which several planes and ships have mysteriously disappeared.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BygUxOOgIAx/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

https://www.instagram.com/p/BygVEfvAHZ9/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Finally an answer

For the longest time, no one could ever provide an answer—until now. Researchers at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom put the blame on rogue waves. These wave surges can rise to heights of 30m and last for only a few minutes. The triangle is the perfect meeting point for three different storm systems creating the rogue waves. Researchers recreated a model indoors with the USS Cyclops included—a ship that went missing in 1918 with 300 people on board. The recreation showed how quickly the ship could be overcome and the ability to snap in half by the force of the waves.

A 2-minute long YouTube video published by Discovery

Theories

Other theories included the idea that methane gas was trapped under the ocean floor that lowered the water density causing ships to suddenly sink to the appearance of hexagonal clouds capable of blowing high-speed winds which then create enormous waves.

https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/travel/2018-08-11-have-scientists-solved-the-mystery-of-the-bermuda-triangle/

Social Media’s Influence on Human Interaction

I’m sure if you are reading this that you use some form of social media.  It’s everywhere you look. Social media is a fixture in our lives in the United States. The internet and social media are so embedded in our daily life that it dominates our language. It’s also starting to influence the way we interact with one another.  Social media sites are supposed to bring people together but sadly it seems to be ripping us apart. My goal is to shed light on the issues surrounding interaction via social media and a few simple techniques to mitigate toxic behavior on the internet.

The political climate of the United States is quite turbulent to say the very least.  Everyone has a platform to express their views on the internet without a filter. Our echo chambers are becoming cauldrons of toxicity and it’s changing the way humans interact with one another. It seems as though we are not capable of engaging in debates of any sort without it dissolving into insults, personal attacks and even violence.

How bad is it, really? Well, according to Chamath Palihapitya, former vice-president of user growth at Facebook, claims that social media sites like Facebook are creating “tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works”. What a terrifying thought.  We are supposed to be more connected than ever but we seem to be disconnecting ourselves from one another.

So what do we do? An article written by John Coate, dating all the way back to 1998 covers many steps to maintain an online community. In his article he discusses free speech. I think many of us in the United States take that right for granted.  Our online communities are derailing into silence brigades.  Individuals with opposing view points are expected to hate one another.  These tools of social media are creating online communities that have no chance to incubate thought provoking dialog between two parties.  Coate goes on to explain in the same section covering free speech that public online interactions should be moderated to ensure that the online community is preserved. However, Facebook has no official moderator. There are guidelines Facebook follows to delete or censor content but it is not a transparent process nor does it ensure a healthy interaction between two parties online. I think the solution to this divisive pattern of social media is to use Facebook less and use other moderated forums such as Reddit.com or Sputnik.org.  It would be foolish to say drama and divisive actions do not occur on other social media sites. However, taking into consideration what Chamath Palihapitya has disclosed about what Facebook is doing to our society, we do not have any other choice but to change our actions to ensure we progress as a society.

 

Bridge Safety

With the recent collapse of the pedestrian bridge Miami near Florida International University this brings to the spotlight once again bridge and road safety.

With recent reports stating that an engineer observed, “some cracking that’s been observed on the north end of the span.” How safe was the bridge to begin with and why were workers allowed to work on the bridge when there was cracking in the bridge. The cracking in the bridge should have been enough to halt any other work beside the repairing of that crack.

This brings to mind the 35W bridge collapse that happened here in 2007. There bridge was deemed “structurally deficient.” That meant that there was work that needed to be done, more importantly it was deemed, “fracture critical,” and that means that “the failure of just one vital component could cause the whole bridge to collapse.” And that vital component did fail. Again, once there were obvious signs of failure for 35W the work that was going on at the time of the collapse should have stopped. They should have closed at least one part of the bridge to start the repairs.

With the Miami collapse this just shows that there is still so much work to do with the infrastructure in this country. Last year, 172 bridges in Minnesota are structurally deficient or fracture critical. With such a high number bridge safety in Minnesota and this country should be a top priority. We use pedestrian and vehicle bridges every day and we trust that they are safe. But with those numbers, just in Minnesota alone, shows we have a long way to go.

Networking

As communication majors, college students who are ready to graduate, we know the importance of networking. Although it is nerve wrecking and can be complicated at times, this post will serve as ease and show you the significant impact networking can have on your career.

Lets be real..networking isn’t on the top of our to-do lists. It can be intimidating, and some people don’t even know where to start. According to the San Jose State University School of Information networking is defined as, “establishing relationships with people who will often become your friends and community of colleagues as you go through your career.” Connecting with your peers and colleagues is a significant part in the networking process which can help you attain the dream job that you need. As the old saying goes, ‘sometimes it’s who you know’ and not what you know that can give you that job that you’ve been hunting for a long time. In other words, it’s imperative to understand why networking is beneficial when it comes to not only finding a job, but also getting promotions and moving up a ladder in your career.

In the book The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott he mentions that “We should rethink our notions about who can best spread our ideas and tell our stories.”  (Scott 2017) It really comes down to how willing someone is to find people who are interested in your ideas and get your information out. Building on the relationships you have with your friends, colleagues, and classmates can simply be an essential part in advancing your career. As an individual you must get out of your comfort and reach out to people, not only for jobs but it should be a daily part of your career related efforts. You never know when you will need your career network.

 

Our World to Save

Our World to Save

Nobody is perfect and as a population we sure haven’t been making the smartest decisions that we could.  A major issue we have found ourselves in is a planet full of waste. Recycling is an easy and effective solution to keep our planet healthy for future generations. If you create waste then you should learn about recycling.

A single person choosing to recycle does make a difference. An average person could save 1,100 pounds of waste in a year by caring enough to recycle. If 15 people can be reached from this blog and make the switch we are saving 16,500 pounds of waste from sitting in a landfill and harming the environment with toxins. We could be saving natural resources that support wildlife and conserving energy for new materials to be made. When producing aluminum companies can save 95% of energy! It has the potential to save millions for businesses and can then help boost the economy. More job opportunities can be created if the trend continues to grow. Please be aware and take action in recycling.

Items not recycled can and do also end up in the ocean. This can be catastrophic for animals who become trapped or confuse our waste as food. There’s no excuse for not being responsible with our trash besides the convenience of being extra lazy.

Right now is the time to start practicing healthy habits such as recycling so generations following us grow up taking care of their planet without even thinking about it. Just as we want our kids to put their seat belts on automatically to potentially save their lives, we should want them to automatically take care of their world with simple practices.

I am trying to take the approach of mass self-communication by myself choosing the channel of blogging to send my message of recycling in hope that the message will spread. There are a lot of environmentalist around because it is such a vital part of living in the world we do and it could potentially reach multiplicity of receivers. As Castells discusses in Networks of Outrage Opening, it could just be “connecting to endless networks that transmit digitized information around the neighborhood or around the world”. I am using a horizontal network of communication by starting with my classmates and then who they decide to share with. No person is having more power than another.

#Enough… Calling Students “Dumb”

Audience: Parents and others who support the 2018 Walk Out to remember Parkland school shooting and call for action relating to gun control.

Thousands of students walked out of their classrooms on Wednesday morning. At 10:00 until 10:17,  they rallied in silent protest and in remembrance of the 17 victims of the Parkland school shooting one month prior. Some students held inspiring signs, other students banded together to form peace signs or phrases like the trending hashtag #enough. There were beautiful blogs and news articles highlighting the walkout…others were strongly against the walkout.

Why is it so hard to pass by with a simple click of the like button and NOT read the comments? It never fails to drag me in. How many times on Wednesday did I stop and put my two cents in when someone says “This is so dumb. Why don’t they do something productive that can actually bring change?” ARG! I feel an overwhelming sense of, I don’t know, rage? And just like that my fingers are on that keyboard like wildfire, feeling like maybe I can just change one person’s mind…unlikely I know, but I just can’t help myself!

These protests are not dumb. These students are working to bring about change. People who don’t believe one person can make a change, let alone a whole generation of students, made me think of the Tunisia Revolution of 2011. In Castells Prelude to Revolution, he tells how one person can indeed make a difference. In Tunisia a man ignited the spark of a revolution by literally setting himself on fire. A little more dramatic than we hopefully need here in the good ole USA.

Support our kids who want to feel safe in their schools. They can’t vote (yet!) so they are asking, begging for our help. Stand with this generation. They are powerful. They will not back down. I won’t either. So go ahead– unfriend me, unfollow me, block me. I’ll keep my thumbs on the ready to defend and encourage the students and other fed up citizens who are fighting for change.

Social media depression

Is social media depression a real thing?

This weeks reading helped me come up with the theme to my next three blog posts that all stem from the power of social media. My goal for this posting would be to shine some light on the darker side of social media. The audience for my postings would be anyone who uses social media, students in this class and the teachers.

The first topic I would like to define and discuss is a term called “social media depression.” According to howstuffworks.com, social media depression can be defined as “depressive thoughts associated with using social media.”

I first started using social media as a time filler until it grew into a daily habit and from there to an almost obsession that I didn’t even realize I had. Before I knew there was an actual term for this I started to notice that the more time I spent using social that I felt an almost sad or anxious feeling after, yet I still couldn’t stop using social media and the vicious cycle continued. I subconsciously started comparing my life to the picture perfect lives that I saw on social media because I assumed that people were posting these images of their ‘real’ lives. Now I’m not sure how many real or genuine posts come from social media. Mendelson says “Social media is not a game played from the sidelines. Those who participate will succeed—everyone else will either have to catch up or miss the game.” I came to find out that a lot of those accounts were coming from people who were so busy trying to prove their happiness to their followers that they weren’t actually happy themselves. There is this pressure to post the ‘perfect’ image for followers that most of us don’t even know.

The good news is that if you have ever felt “social media depression” you are not alone. What I have come to find out in talking to my peers is that many of them also felt this way. If we are all feeling the same way then why can’t we come together and stop? I think a solution for this could be to take a step back from social media. Limit the amount of time spent looking at other people’s lives and being more present in our own. Don’t get me wrong, it’s okay to post picture of you being happy on social media but I do think there is a strong difference behind the motives of social media postings. Remember that your social media accounts should be for you.

 

Should Charity Work Be Public?

How do you feel about charity work or giving back being public? Should it be done anonymously? Is it okay to say you’ve made a huge donation? Do you think it’s capitalizing on a situation? Does it matter?

This is all relative, everyone has an opinion, but it doesn’t matter too me. Intentions, are important to the issue, no doubt. Although, charity work as long as it helps, it should not matter too much. As long as it helps and there is no ill intent. There have been people in the public eye that have given back, but with diffrent responses.

This past fall, Tim Duncan asked for support and donations for hurricane relief in the Virgin Islands. He donated 250,000 dollars to the cause. He ended up raising over 2 million dollars for the efforts. He leveraged his donation for good. He used it as a way to get more people to donate. He is also from the Virgin Islands. In this case, it comes off as sincere, it was public, but was for the better of the situation.

 

In this case, Logan Paul pledged to donate 1 million dollars toward suicide prevent.  The narrative on this is much diffrent. He made the donation and video after his own controversy. He uploaded a video on Youtube with a man that committed suicided, laughed, and uncomfortably joked about the incident. He only took the video down after being heavily criticized. This situation is blatantly a public relations move. His apology for the incident was made about him and not the issue at hand. From the energy and method he used it does not seem genuine.

Overall, whether charity work is public or not, doesn’t necessarily matter. It is how it is done and the intent. These two instances have similar actions, but evidently diffrent priorities. Publicizing charity work can carry a message further and impact people positively, or used as a self promoting tool, maybe both. What’s most important is the help that is given, but intent does matter. What type of person are you?