my baby story

A week ago today (9.30.09) I woke up at 5 am to call the hospital to get instructions for coming in for my induction. My previous labor was very complicated and both my son and I ended up with some medical complications which were most likely from his large size (8 lbs. 14 oz.). So this time we scheduled an induction 1 week early (39 weeks) to avoid the complications and have my doctor on hand if any problems were to arise.

The labor and delivery nurse told me to come on in at 7 am and so we all got dressed and headed to the hospital. My mom and son hung around for a little while but they ended up leaving early because my son was having a hard time seeing his mommy hooked up to all the machines. He was getting worried about me so we decided to not let him come back until it was time for baby.

I was so fortunate to have a fabulous nurse and doctors. They really make all the difference. I went in at 2-3 cm dilated and so they started the pitocin and kept upping the dose to get me contracting and dilating. Around 4 centimeters I was ready for the epidural. I held out as long as I could and originally considered going natural but that changed quickly. The pitocin induced contractions weren't like the ones I had with my son when I went into labor on my own. The pitocin ones were awful.

After the epidural I took a nap and watched some tv with my husband. Our goal was to get the baby delivered that evening to avoid any complications and I was dilating a cm/hr so that would put me delivering around 8pm or so. The epidural worked so well that we decided it was safe to let my son come back and see us. When my mom and son got back my husband decided to run across the street and get something to eat. I was 6 cm dilated so we were certain he wouldn't miss anything if he hurried.

About 10 minutes later I started feeling a lot of pressure and noticed that the baby's heartbeat was dropping so I called the nurse who came in and assured me that it was all normal. So I rested and just a few minutes later the doctors came in to check me. It turns out all I needed was to have my husband leave because I was 9 cm dilated and about ready to start pushing. I was in complete shock that it happened so quickly. They came in a set up for the delivery and my mom called my husband who was in the elevator heading back up to my room. Less than 20 minutes later I was pushing. And about 20 minutes after that my daughter was born. My husband says I did five cycles of 3 pushes. At 5:29pm I delivered a 7 lb. 4 oz. and 20 in. long healthy baby girl.

We stayed the night and both baby and I were healthy and on our way to recovery so we went home the next day. We had the option to stay the night again but really just wanted to get home to our son. Our daughter has brought so much joy to our family and we are so blessed. I thank God every day (even at 3 am when I can hardly stay awake) for this precious miracle he has blessed us with.

decorating for fall

The leaves are starting to fall and turn beautiful shades of orange, red, and yellow. The weather is finally starting to cool off (don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the warm weather), and it's starting to feel like fall.

I am less than two weeks away from baby day and so I have made a point to start getting up my fall/ Halloween decorations while I still can. My husband and son will add the rest of the Halloween once we get into October but I put up a few things just to set the mood (and because I wanted them a certain way). This is our first fall in our new home and so I am still trying to buy decorations for this home and figure out where I can put what we already have. I know that trying to get this all done with a new baby seems a little crazy but I LOVE decorating for the holidays!

Please forgive bad photos. I have my baby/hospital bags packed and refuse to take the camera out in case I forget to put it back so these photos were taken with my cell phone.

Of course, there is much more to get done but here is my modest start. I am hoping to pick up some more of those fall berry vines from Michael's this week. They are so fabulous and addicting!

And no, I don't have a horse. I just haven't managed to print out the photo for that frame yet.

dreaming

Lately I find myself daydreaming about the baby. What she will look like, what characteristics she will get from me or her dad. I am really hoping she gets my hair and his persistence. Her big brother got my husband's hair.

And it only got worse as he got older. His hair was his trade mark. I worked so hard to get it to lay down. I eventually just embraced the crazy hair.

Luckily, a boy can get away with a buzz cut and that is the style my son wears now that he is a little boy.

I also wonder if she will look like my son. He really didn't look like himself at all on his first photos (the hospital photo above). I suppose he is still a bit squishy in that photo and the birth was pretty hard on both of us.

I know one thing I pray for is an easy delivery this time. It has to be easier than my first. It took him 24 hours, an infection, fever, decelerations of his heart, and a whole lot of stress and trouble to come into this world. The poor boy stopped breathing afterwards from all the stress. Luckily, he is a fighter and didn't let all that get in his way.

But as you can see, he wasn't happy about it...at all. I swear he cried for the first 4 months of his life. I probably cried along with him many of those days.

Nothing can prepare you for the roller coaster ride of becoming a new parent. As soon as you think you have figured out one thing they grow up more and you have to figure it all out again. And of course, no two children are the same, especially a boy and a girl. I think the hardest part so far for me is having to watch my heart walk around outside my body and it just gets worse the older and more independant they get. I will do my best to remember this at 3 am when my daughter is screaming for milk.

Oh, and I miss the crazy hair now.

m.i.a.

It's been too long since my last post. I realized this today when my husband made a comment about me not posting any new blogs lately. I have just been so busy with my 5 year old starting school and getting ready for baby.

My son is officially a kindergartner and loves it. The first couple of days were hard on me but I am starting to enjoy the quiet time around the house where I can get stuff done. We are down to around 4-5 weeks until my due date and I still have a mound of baby clothes to wash, hospital bags to pack, the car seat needs to be installed, and I have a baby shower next week.

Oh, and we bought a new van. We had a Honda Odyssey that was coming out of warranty and starting to give us trouble so we decided instead of spending the extra $$ to get our van ready for winter we would just trade it in early and save ourselves the trouble later. We absolutely LOVE having a minivan and couldn't imagine anything else while our kids are still so young so we went with the Toyota Sienna and so far really love it. My son named the van Dave. The van looks like a Dave to me.

So as you can imagine, I will most likely be missing more often in the coming weeks. I have a lot to get done before the baby comes and lots of nesting to do!

the nursery

As you might remember, my lovely crib bedding set I bought many months ago was back ordered with no date set for shipment. I went on a search for another set I loved and found the perfect one. It's very different from the first set but so cute and girly. I got it on sale at Land of Nod. Here is a picture of it from their website.

The problem with buying things on sale is that the coordinating pieces are usually sold out and that was the case here. Luckily, I'm crafty and will make do. I am still waiting on another shipment from them with the rest of my items so I will wait to show you the bedding in my nursery until I get all the pieces in but I will share with you last night's $5 craft that I made to match the baby's decor.

I blurred out her name for obvious security reasons. I don't think any of you are psychos but when it comes to my kids I like to be on the safe side.

I bought the 8x10 canvas at Michael's (on sale this week) and some acrylic paint to match (also on sale) and made these two canvas pieces to accent her bedding.

The secret to the polka dots was using those little round garage sale stickers.



They peeled right off with a toothpick afterwards. And for the stripes I just used regular painter's tape (cause we have enough of it around here). One thing I did learn is that you want to pull it off shortly after painting it or it will pull off paint around it.

I have many crafts in the process as I prepare the baby's room for her arrival and I hope to get them all done soon so I can share them with you.

fashion for this nursing mom

My time as a pregnant woman is coming towards an end now. I am 8 months pregnant and done buying maternity clothes. I am however ready to start buying clothes for after the baby. I plan on nursing with this one as well and will be needing some tops that are boob accessible and forgiving around the tummy area as my mine will still be shrinking.

I am thinking that after this baby I will have a few extra lbs. to loose and so I decided to check out Target's plus size department so that I can go with some tops that will give me some extra room. I tend to run in between the teenie bopper sizing and plus so I have the luxury of shopping both. And to be honest the thought of wearing a size 1 is pretty cool. (if you don't know that would be a 1x. This appears to be how Target sizes the bigger girl's clothing). Shopping at Target is a good idea since their clothes are affordable so I won't be bummed if I only wear them this year.

So here is my list of fall must have tops for the breastfeeding/postpartum mom (me) in no particular order. I tried to go loose around the tummy and give easy access to the milk bags. If you must have one of these items just click on it to go directly to it on Target's website.

repurposed door

We have this annoying old storm door that opens the wrong way as you enter our home from the garage. I often hear my husband mumble to himself how he is going to rip this obnoxious door off it's hinges and burn it. This usually happens when it smacks him while he walks through it or it closes when it's supposed to stay open. Hey, it's an old door.

While trying to figure out what we will do for a headboard in our room one day the light bulb turned on and I knew right away that we could use that old door. We have a white romantic shabby thing (but not too shabby) going on in our room and this door would work. I have seen it done before above a couch over at the nesting place.


I approached my husband with the idea and within an hour that door was off it's hinges. He was more than happy to remove it. We got some L brackets and then next day we hung that baby up.

I absolutely love the way it looks. I plan on putting something up on the wall above it soon. I am thinking about using vinyl wall words. (I might even add some to the glass on the door.)


I am thinking in the dark green cause we have a lot of green shades in our room.

Wouldn't it look good above the bed?

Oh, and because I am sure you are dying to know what this room looked like before we moved in...

Our bed is now up against the wall with the mirror. And please know that I am not knocking the previous owner's decor. Everyone has different taste, right?

At this point our room is a blank canvas but it's definitely coming along and I often find myself just wanting to curl up in bed with a book.