hello friends.
whew. what. a. wednesday.
today has been a little crazy but why waste time being stressed when there are so many beautiful spring projects on my table just waiting to lift my spirits?
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Monday, November 7, 2011
halloween 2011: little miss ghosties.
good morning monday!
i know halloween was LAST week but i wanted to share a few of the little projects i did. my lofty goals of totally decking the house out this halloween didn't quite pan out but it was nice to be able to fit in a few crafty days where i could!
first up are the 'little miss ghostie' cards that i sent out from abby to the family...
these were a very simple project. i know feet ghosts (and other mutations) have been plastered all over pinterest and other blogs so they are definitely nothing new - but they are such a great, easy idea to send a little growth milestone out to family and friends.
for the base of the card i used Halcraft blank white card & envelope value packs that you can get from any Michaels, Hobby Lobby, AC Moore, JoAnns, etc. i love these value packs. i'm not a huge card maker (trying to change that this year) so having a pack of easy cards and envelopes that i can design on top of is so nice. i've used these value packs for abby's announcements, thank yous, and so much more over the years.
other supplies:
white paint
black cardstock
american crafts remarks: moma
scrapworks motifs: boo stamp (halloween)
versacolor: orange
misc. halloween ribbon from stash
tfl!
love.
i know halloween was LAST week but i wanted to share a few of the little projects i did. my lofty goals of totally decking the house out this halloween didn't quite pan out but it was nice to be able to fit in a few crafty days where i could!
first up are the 'little miss ghostie' cards that i sent out from abby to the family...
these were a very simple project. i know feet ghosts (and other mutations) have been plastered all over pinterest and other blogs so they are definitely nothing new - but they are such a great, easy idea to send a little growth milestone out to family and friends.
for the base of the card i used Halcraft blank white card & envelope value packs that you can get from any Michaels, Hobby Lobby, AC Moore, JoAnns, etc. i love these value packs. i'm not a huge card maker (trying to change that this year) so having a pack of easy cards and envelopes that i can design on top of is so nice. i've used these value packs for abby's announcements, thank yous, and so much more over the years.
other supplies:
white paint
black cardstock
american crafts remarks: moma
scrapworks motifs: boo stamp (halloween)
versacolor: orange
misc. halloween ribbon from stash
tfl!
love.
Monday, July 18, 2011
little miss: just another monday.
{mornings are daddytime!}abby just turned 13 months, and (taking after her momma) already knows everything. she's fiercely independent, smart, loving, and so curious.
mornings are her daddy time and this morning was no exception... despite getting in around 4am this morning he sprang up when she called at 6:30. (don't worry i'm not an awful wife, i took over and let him sleep!) when it was time for daddy to wake up she was so excited to jump in the bed... we always play this ridiculous game where she & i bang on the wall at the head of the bed and say 'help! help! i'm stuck in the wall! how did i get in here?' she cracks up. we crack up. perfect way to wake up!
{always in her book corner}in between meals & snacks (the most important parts of the day) little miss has lots of work to do. she pulls out her toys and puts them back again... takes her blocks out of the drawer to taste, throw, and put back again... watches a couple of shows or baby einstein dvds... takes apart the stereo. yup. she's gotten so good at taking things out and putting them away. she hands things to me and is giddy when i say thank you or give them back.
her reading time is very important to her. it's not my job to read any book she's currently interested in. i can read a book that she's not interested in out loud and show her occasionally... but her special stack of books that she pulls out is off-limits. period. don't touch mom, in fact, stay a few feet away.
abby is constantly learning new things and showing me. it's so amazing to watch her when she 'gets' something new a about a toy or an object. she lights up, gets so ecstatic, claps, waves, yells, babbles. it's phenomenal to watch and you can't help but laugh and be excited with her.
she loves learning about color & music... lots of baby dancing! today we pulled out the crayons for the second or third time...
{picking her own colors}we didn't have to talk to much about eating them this time... she has decided i'm correct and they are not something she considers edible. she did want to pick out her own colors from the box instead of the ones i picked to show her how to draw on the paper.
{all ready! so excited! where to start!?!}
{figuring it out}she did so good this time and was really working on figuring these skinny little things out! she actually made some marks on the paper and stayed near the paper instead of losing interest or trying to use the crayons in another way (i know i'll find them stuck in her train or something at some point, ha). as she does when she's trying to learn anything she did lots of yelling at the crayons to make them work...
{!!!!}
{!!!!}and at the paper!
we had fun and when she got bored of the paper she spent another 10 minutes taking crayons out of the box and putting them back in.
little miss is not quite a walker but definitely pushing herself out of the crawler stage very quickly. she's a perimeter cruiser and furniture mover... if she encounters an obstacle she will literally throw all of her effort and strength into getting around it. sometimes that means moving a dining room chair or using her bouncer (which i move everyday but still think is heavy) as a walker.
until about 4pm we were having a super typical, chase the baby from one room to the next, work on 'no please' (as in no please don't play with mommy's typewriter)... monday. and then tragedy struck!
in an attempt to stand up using the small tub we keep her 'little people' in little miss fell face first and scored herself a bloody lip. oh she was not pleased. not at all. but we survived.
she recovered from the incident & cleanup a lot faster than she recovered from the swelling she woke up to after a tiny sleep. she had rolled into her 'downward sleeping dog' pose and i think the rush of blood exacerbated her condition. not happy, but again we survived.
and so we come to the end of our monday. bedtime was really quite normal this evening... little miss stayed up a bit later than usual so we could take our time with dinner and still blow off a little steam before bed. she told grandma + grandpa about her day and performed a couple tricks before letting me know it was time to call it a night...
cuddles... a song or two... and another monday, all done.
love.
we had fun and when she got bored of the paper she spent another 10 minutes taking crayons out of the box and putting them back in.
little miss is not quite a walker but definitely pushing herself out of the crawler stage very quickly. she's a perimeter cruiser and furniture mover... if she encounters an obstacle she will literally throw all of her effort and strength into getting around it. sometimes that means moving a dining room chair or using her bouncer (which i move everyday but still think is heavy) as a walker.
until about 4pm we were having a super typical, chase the baby from one room to the next, work on 'no please' (as in no please don't play with mommy's typewriter)... monday. and then tragedy struck!
in an attempt to stand up using the small tub we keep her 'little people' in little miss fell face first and scored herself a bloody lip. oh she was not pleased. not at all. but we survived.
she recovered from the incident & cleanup a lot faster than she recovered from the swelling she woke up to after a tiny sleep. she had rolled into her 'downward sleeping dog' pose and i think the rush of blood exacerbated her condition. not happy, but again we survived.
and so we come to the end of our monday. bedtime was really quite normal this evening... little miss stayed up a bit later than usual so we could take our time with dinner and still blow off a little steam before bed. she told grandma + grandpa about her day and performed a couple tricks before letting me know it was time to call it a night...
cuddles... a song or two... and another monday, all done.
love.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
a long daddy-less weekend.
so long.long playtimes... long naps.
long rounds
(resisting the urge to add a lot of o's...)
we didn't have daddy this weekend which was a huge bummer. not having him around means that my kitchen is a wreck, i didn't make sunday dinner, and the laundry is now taking over my bedroom... but i won't think about all that right now.
we did have lots of long laughs, which was lovely. little miss is doing all kinds of new things and just can't stand it when she conquers a task... she screeches, laughs, excitedly chatters to all who will listen, and there are several rounds of applause. she's too much. quite obviously my daughter!
my sister's blanket is coming along. the rounds are getting super long and still haven't decided if i want to end it with panels & then a border, or keep doing rounds and do a thick border. decisions, decisions.
naptimes are really the only time i can work on it, as evidenced above. if i keep working on it while little miss is awake i have about 5 minutes before she wants to help. i've started giving her cast off yarn to play experiment with...
#1 we are working on not eating it. after we settle that she tends to throw it around for awhile, pull it apart, and hand it back to me in little fuzz balls. good times. she is really into handing me anything she comes across that she feels is out of place. she's delighted when you thank her for it!and yes... that is an ipood tee she's wearing. i think i mentioned the laundry earlier.
so now babe is finally asleep, i'm going to think about cleaning the kitchen for a minute while i fake a dinner for myself, and then crochet and watch american pickers on netflix until joey comes home. it could very well be a late night but i'm praying it's not.
is it too soon to start a countdown to california? i think so.
oh. oh. speaking of cali... i almost completely forgot! a little later i'll go more into it but i'm super excited about putting together a real travel wardrobe for our trip. real dresses. put together outfits. vintage for me (and little miss too!). no easy cotton tees... etc. and the plan is to blog the process. putting this together is a little nerve-racking because these are going to be some of my first big fashion purchases since losing the majority of my baby weight and i still have a bit to go before September 1st. so every piece i order i have to pray that it will 'close' to fit, which is scary sometimes when ordering vintage or indie. but i digress...
the cause of my present excitement is my first purchase! i've been eyeing this dress at the red velvet shop and last night i took the leap... into my cart it went.
so i've broken the ice and i'm really happy. i hope to be just as happy when the dress comes home to me! i think it will... i don't want to spoil it but i am 99.9% sure that i'll be choosing this to wear for our friend's wedding. i'm planning on styling it with some off-white/antique white tights (as it will be post-labor day) and wedges.
and now it's time to get back to my hook and yarn zone. i noticed i used 'break the ice' like they do in american pickers... wouldn't that be an amazing job to have? my dream.
love.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
my unrepeatable miracle.
{My Minds Eye Tres Jolie: Paper, Border Stickers & Die Cuts;Making Memories Alpha}
it's super simple but i totally love it. more and more i'm beginning to realize that this is the kind of scrapbooking i love and love to do. i spend so much time trying to over embellish pages (i do really love the way some people can go crazy with them) but i just can't.
i do have to work on journaling more. for abby's book i've been concentrating on just making layouts i love that mostly feature her pictures since i only print them out to scrapbook. i'm not sure if i've said this before but i've been either hand writing or typing letters to abby on the back of each layout. the letter is either about the day/event/subject of the layout or just about her on the day i'm actually making the layout. i find that a lot of the journaling i want to do on my pages is just too personal... i feel like it should be private and isn't important to the beauty of the layout itself if someone wants to look through her books. plus i think it will be so special when she's older and i give her the books for her to be able to read all the notes that are just to her.
i'll be back soon with more!
love.
*oops... forgot to add that the base pp is MME stella & rose!
Saturday, March 12, 2011
busy little miss.
hello.
joey went into work today so little miss and i had a quiet saturday to ourselves (although we REALLY missed having daddy home...) i should have been working on the four layouts i have started on my table but instead i got consumed in a new photo technique i learned at selfie magic.
i think it looks pretty good for my first one... and by the end i just really didn't care about the imperfections i kept seeing. taking these shots of abby really made me want to go out and get a new tripod (ours broke a long time ago and i didn't feel like replacing it right away)... i didn't take them exactly the same way each time so making sure the wood floor lined up right was a bit of a challenge. i had some lighting issues too when roxy decided she didn't want to look out the window anymore... i have some great shots of roxy and abby while abby was playing her piano but i just couldn't make it work into this project, maybe i'll do another one later with a few of abby's other adventures around the living room this afternoon.
oh, and don't mind the grey swatch on the wall by the window... i still haven't decided what color i want the living room to be... i'm sure i'll pick one as we are packing to move to our next place, haha.
for the rest of the evening i'm planning to work on some layouts. i gave up on finishing my daily december for now because i have a greater desire to keep getting through all of abby's photos so far and break into my studio calico kits. into the woods came yesterday and i am itching to work with it... but for some reason i can't when i know i have 3 older kits sitting there untouched. ocd.
i'm really looking forward to having joe home tomorrow. we have a super busy day... church, laundry, grocery shopping, getting a new tire, maybe a little mall time... i'm hoping we can get it all done without too much crankiness.
love.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
hello march.
abby and i are very excited to see you!
we are looking forward to:
starting classes at the little gym of jc
getting two front teeth (they are just about out!)
turning 9 months!
spring weather + trips to the park
our first big nyc parade
losing weight + getting back in shape (that's me...)
lots of scrapbooking
turning off the heat (for good) + opening the windows
spring cleaning!
maybe even learning to stand up... omg.
getting two front teeth (they are just about out!)
turning 9 months!
spring weather + trips to the park
our first big nyc parade
losing weight + getting back in shape (that's me...)
lots of scrapbooking
turning off the heat (for good) + opening the windows
spring cleaning!
maybe even learning to stand up... omg.
really really happy we are headed into spring. it opens up so many more possibilities for little miss & i. it just needs to get a little warmer and then we are spending every single day OUTSIDE. well, close to every single day.
today i looked up from the layout i'm working on...
{little tiny sneak of another two pager. woah.}
and saw little miss doing this...
omg. i have to say that i hadn't actually put her down anywhere near her piano... i usually leave it at one corner of her play area so she can get to it herself when she wants it. and there she is kneeling at it. that's like one push away from STANDING. standing. one her own. without my help. seriously?!? my baby cannot be working on how to stand herself up yet. no no no no. *sigh*
the increased mobility of my little miss in just the past two weeks completely boggles my mind. i'm so proud and amazed by her every day. not to mention just how independent she is. i can't wait to start classes at the little gym next week. we are going to have a blast and i'm hoping we meet some great babies + mommies to organize some more playdates with!
today i looked up from the layout i'm working on...
{little tiny sneak of another two pager. woah.}and saw little miss doing this...
omg. i have to say that i hadn't actually put her down anywhere near her piano... i usually leave it at one corner of her play area so she can get to it herself when she wants it. and there she is kneeling at it. that's like one push away from STANDING. standing. one her own. without my help. seriously?!? my baby cannot be working on how to stand herself up yet. no no no no. *sigh*
{ok mini mommy-tantrum over}
the increased mobility of my little miss in just the past two weeks completely boggles my mind. i'm so proud and amazed by her every day. not to mention just how independent she is. i can't wait to start classes at the little gym next week. we are going to have a blast and i'm hoping we meet some great babies + mommies to organize some more playdates with!
so, i think that's enough blabbing about my amazing kid for today...
i hope that everyone has a fantastic march & that spring quickly shows it's beautiful face in all of our lives!
love.
i hope that everyone has a fantastic march & that spring quickly shows it's beautiful face in all of our lives!
love.
Monday, August 2, 2010
figuring it out.
this new life.
my new "normal".
my new body...
(or the new body i'm trying to get).
our space.
how to have fun.
if i'm doing it right.
and i think i'm getting there.
i've gotten a few things done.
more than a few out...
my new "normal".
my new body...
(or the new body i'm trying to get).
our space.
how to have fun.
if i'm doing it right.
and i think i'm getting there.
i've gotten a few things done.
more than a few out...
and i'm ready for new opportunities.
i'm again working with paper, yarn, needles, and hooks.
i'm having the most amazing time getting to know this little human...
she's even more complex and amazing than i could have ever imagined.
she's made this mommy thing a piece of cake.
this week:
i'm preparing for the road
i'm again working with paper, yarn, needles, and hooks.
i'm having the most amazing time getting to know this little human...
she's even more complex and amazing than i could have ever imagined.
she's made this mommy thing a piece of cake.
this week:
i'm preparing for the road
love.
Friday, June 25, 2010
hello abigail rose: our birth story.
hi there blog.
sorry it's been way too long.
but i'm working on getting you all caught up...
on tuesday, june 15th our little abigail rose arrived and changed our lives for forever. she's amazing! so strong, so beautiful... we are on cloud 9.
if you are a facebook friend or close to joey and i you know how important a natural & drug free birth experience was for us. mostly we just wanted to be in control of our experience, have the freedom to move through it at our pace, and ultimately have a healthy baby and mommy!
unfortunately abby was a little stubborn and at 42 weeks my doctor said it was time to induce. we were really nervous about what this was going to do to our birth plan but the most important thing was making sure abby was ok and delivered safely. joey was super nervous... c-section was his biggest fear, but i was confident that my body would respond to the cytotek & pitocin and that i'd still be able to deliver without the epidural.
we had an absolutely fantastic experience and (without taking all the credit, haha) i totally attribute it to an amazing L&D staff and the phenomenal support of my husband. joey was a superstar... at one point our nurse came in and told us how impressed she was. she said it was like we had an invisible doula there helping us into different positions and move through contractions - but it was all my man. i can't even explain how much deeper i feel in love with him that day!
i want to share the whole day (and then some) here for anyone who, like me, read too many induction horror stories and are begging their babies at the end to come on time. inducing does not have to mean that you can't handle the contractions, stick to a birth plan, and come out on the other side with an amazing experience and 100% healthy baby.
so on monday, june 14th we were scheduled to be admitted at 7:30pm. it was crazy nerve-racking for my mom and joe who didn't have quite the tunnel vision that i did at the time. they really shouldn't admit L&D patients through the ER, lol. we distributed and went over our birth plan with the nurse on duty.
our birth plan was pretty straight forward. augmentation points were kind of mute since we were coming in for an induction but i made sure all nurses knew: not to offer the epidural, that we would ask for it if we decided it was neccessary, i wanted as much freedom as possible to move positions, use our birthing ball (my yoga ball), take a shower if requested, have exams before major increases of pitocin, and that we wanted to avoid an episiotomy if possible. etc. there were a few things on there for baby too - like holding off on the eye ointment to allow for bonding, and the opportunity to breastfeed immediately. as well as a section stressing the importance that no nurses offer sugar water, or formula if she was away from us for any reason. (do hospitals still use sugar water? it was in the birth plan sample i was using...) if you are writing a birth plan there are some great samples online, just do a google search and use what feels right for you!
i was a little dehydrated when i came in and had tested positive for strep b so i was required to be on continuous monitoring for pretty much the whole time and was on fluids and antibiotics through my hep-lock. around 9:30pm the pharmacist showed up with my doctor's order of cytotek. cytotek is a cervix softener that you take orally. with it you are required to be on continuous monitoring for an hour after ingestion... continuous monitoring can be an annoyance but we made sure to talk to the nurse about the equipment, how to maneuver with it and how to adjust and read the monitors ourselves to make sure the information was getting to the nurses without tying me to the bed. if you feel comfortable with the wires you can totally take control and be as mobile as you want to be. that room is your room during your delivery so own it!
when i came in i was actually having mild contractions without really knowing it... they were pretty short and about 8 or 9 minutes apart. i was on the cytotech every 4 hours until the next morning around 10am. at that point there was a shift change and Dr. Chinn came in to see me for the first time. I was 80%/1 still but she thought i was ready for the pitocin so we started.
when the pitocin was started contractions really started heating up. i labored until about 6:30 changing positions when it felt right, using the yoga ball, vocalizing, using breathing and watching a law & order marathon, lol. by 6:30pm contractions were doubling and tripling up and i wasn't getting a ton of rest in between so i really thought we were gearing up for the home stretch. Dr. Chinn came back in and i was only 3cm.
here i probably could have lost it because contractions were really coming and Dr. Chinn said she thought i might have another 6 or 7 hours to go. WHAT!?! but joe really stepped up to keep moving me through contractions and my nurse talked to Dr. Chinn about getting me off the machines and letting me have an hour in the shower. looking back i totally should have thought of a shower a couple of hours earlier because my body was responding so strongly to the pitocin and it was totally what i needed. vicki (the nurse on staff for most of my laboring) was so awesome and could totally sense how fast i would go if i just had a little time to let my body regulate itself.
so i got into the shower and i can tell you it was AMAZING! i had a chair in there to sit... and i stood to lean over it during contractions letting the water release the tension in my back, and i sat and snoozed for a couple of minutes between each one. while in the shower my contractions got stronger but regulated so i was getting one at a time which lasted about a minute and then would have a couple of minutes to rest in between each. joe stayed close giving me ice chips when i needed so i wouldn't get dehydrated in the shower.
when i got out of the shower the room was all set up for delivery. i'm telling you vicki totally knew something that everyone else didn't. lol. i was so sad to see her go! the next nurse came on (they were seriously all great, vicki just happened to help me through the rough spots - i think bringing in the cupcakes seriously helped, lol). i got hooked all back up to the machines and abby was still doing great. they left me off the pitocin for another 45 minutes or so since my contractions were still good and we wanted to wait for what Dr. Chinn said at the next exam. when she told me i only had about 2cm on one side to go i was ECSTATIC! they restarted the pitocin (still not 100% sure why but at that time i wasn't really able to argue about it because i was totally out of my head during contractions...) and things just moved!
at about 9:30pm i felt the first BIG urge to push and was technically pushing and hoped no one could notice. they could, lol. joe called the nurse over and she checked and i was good to push. she sat down and started writing stuff in our charts... a HUGE contraction came and i swear i about broke my husband. poor joey. i wish i would have had a camera (and could have used it) to get his face after that one. he told me later that he thought "uh oh this is where she starts injuring me". after it was over the nurse turned around (i was making some pretty crazy demonic possesion-like sounds) and she ran to the intercom to get Dr. Chinn in. abby was on her way!
three nutso contractions later and she was out! 20 minutes!
she was born with some bruising. her head came really fast and then was caught in between contractions. a lull that i thought was never going to end! literally the longest 45sec. to a minute of my life, eek! and i can't lie that that was another freak out moment... but again with joe's help and the amazing delivery team i got back into control and we got our little squishie face out!
from there it was pure ecstasy. abigail was so strong and very healthy. she immediately wanted to nurse which i was so happy about. joey hadn't decided if he wanted to cut the cord or not but when offered he jumped at the chance! when they took her to the warmer to get her all cleaned up joey went with her and she really responded to his voice, turning her head towards him and looking up at him. all of that tummy talking he did really paid off!
we were instantly in love with our new family!
here's abby's first photo after getting all cleaned up....
and me and my little girl after our hard night's work!
i hope sharing my experience helps some of my friends and others out there who might be a little nervous about inductions or about taking control of their birth experience... every person, their body, and their baby is totally unique so in no way am i trying to claim that this is how things "should" be done... i only want everyone to know that they have the power to own their birth day and come out with a beautiful, healthy baby & mommy!
one tool that really helped us:
the big book of birth. by erica lyon. this book gave us the knowledge and the confidence to move through labor how we wanted to. i really recommend it... skip the L&D section of what to expect and read this instead!
abigail is turning 4wks tomorrow! every day has been so amazing. we are getting into a great routine and are having so much fun watching her grow and develop.
here she is at 3 weeks... i already have SO many cute shots... time to get scrapping!
love.
sorry it's been way too long.
but i'm working on getting you all caught up...
on tuesday, june 15th our little abigail rose arrived and changed our lives for forever. she's amazing! so strong, so beautiful... we are on cloud 9.
if you are a facebook friend or close to joey and i you know how important a natural & drug free birth experience was for us. mostly we just wanted to be in control of our experience, have the freedom to move through it at our pace, and ultimately have a healthy baby and mommy!
unfortunately abby was a little stubborn and at 42 weeks my doctor said it was time to induce. we were really nervous about what this was going to do to our birth plan but the most important thing was making sure abby was ok and delivered safely. joey was super nervous... c-section was his biggest fear, but i was confident that my body would respond to the cytotek & pitocin and that i'd still be able to deliver without the epidural.
we had an absolutely fantastic experience and (without taking all the credit, haha) i totally attribute it to an amazing L&D staff and the phenomenal support of my husband. joey was a superstar... at one point our nurse came in and told us how impressed she was. she said it was like we had an invisible doula there helping us into different positions and move through contractions - but it was all my man. i can't even explain how much deeper i feel in love with him that day!
i want to share the whole day (and then some) here for anyone who, like me, read too many induction horror stories and are begging their babies at the end to come on time. inducing does not have to mean that you can't handle the contractions, stick to a birth plan, and come out on the other side with an amazing experience and 100% healthy baby.
so on monday, june 14th we were scheduled to be admitted at 7:30pm. it was crazy nerve-racking for my mom and joe who didn't have quite the tunnel vision that i did at the time. they really shouldn't admit L&D patients through the ER, lol. we distributed and went over our birth plan with the nurse on duty.
our birth plan was pretty straight forward. augmentation points were kind of mute since we were coming in for an induction but i made sure all nurses knew: not to offer the epidural, that we would ask for it if we decided it was neccessary, i wanted as much freedom as possible to move positions, use our birthing ball (my yoga ball), take a shower if requested, have exams before major increases of pitocin, and that we wanted to avoid an episiotomy if possible. etc. there were a few things on there for baby too - like holding off on the eye ointment to allow for bonding, and the opportunity to breastfeed immediately. as well as a section stressing the importance that no nurses offer sugar water, or formula if she was away from us for any reason. (do hospitals still use sugar water? it was in the birth plan sample i was using...) if you are writing a birth plan there are some great samples online, just do a google search and use what feels right for you!
i was a little dehydrated when i came in and had tested positive for strep b so i was required to be on continuous monitoring for pretty much the whole time and was on fluids and antibiotics through my hep-lock. around 9:30pm the pharmacist showed up with my doctor's order of cytotek. cytotek is a cervix softener that you take orally. with it you are required to be on continuous monitoring for an hour after ingestion... continuous monitoring can be an annoyance but we made sure to talk to the nurse about the equipment, how to maneuver with it and how to adjust and read the monitors ourselves to make sure the information was getting to the nurses without tying me to the bed. if you feel comfortable with the wires you can totally take control and be as mobile as you want to be. that room is your room during your delivery so own it!
when i came in i was actually having mild contractions without really knowing it... they were pretty short and about 8 or 9 minutes apart. i was on the cytotech every 4 hours until the next morning around 10am. at that point there was a shift change and Dr. Chinn came in to see me for the first time. I was 80%/1 still but she thought i was ready for the pitocin so we started.
when the pitocin was started contractions really started heating up. i labored until about 6:30 changing positions when it felt right, using the yoga ball, vocalizing, using breathing and watching a law & order marathon, lol. by 6:30pm contractions were doubling and tripling up and i wasn't getting a ton of rest in between so i really thought we were gearing up for the home stretch. Dr. Chinn came back in and i was only 3cm.
here i probably could have lost it because contractions were really coming and Dr. Chinn said she thought i might have another 6 or 7 hours to go. WHAT!?! but joe really stepped up to keep moving me through contractions and my nurse talked to Dr. Chinn about getting me off the machines and letting me have an hour in the shower. looking back i totally should have thought of a shower a couple of hours earlier because my body was responding so strongly to the pitocin and it was totally what i needed. vicki (the nurse on staff for most of my laboring) was so awesome and could totally sense how fast i would go if i just had a little time to let my body regulate itself.
so i got into the shower and i can tell you it was AMAZING! i had a chair in there to sit... and i stood to lean over it during contractions letting the water release the tension in my back, and i sat and snoozed for a couple of minutes between each one. while in the shower my contractions got stronger but regulated so i was getting one at a time which lasted about a minute and then would have a couple of minutes to rest in between each. joe stayed close giving me ice chips when i needed so i wouldn't get dehydrated in the shower.
when i got out of the shower the room was all set up for delivery. i'm telling you vicki totally knew something that everyone else didn't. lol. i was so sad to see her go! the next nurse came on (they were seriously all great, vicki just happened to help me through the rough spots - i think bringing in the cupcakes seriously helped, lol). i got hooked all back up to the machines and abby was still doing great. they left me off the pitocin for another 45 minutes or so since my contractions were still good and we wanted to wait for what Dr. Chinn said at the next exam. when she told me i only had about 2cm on one side to go i was ECSTATIC! they restarted the pitocin (still not 100% sure why but at that time i wasn't really able to argue about it because i was totally out of my head during contractions...) and things just moved!
at about 9:30pm i felt the first BIG urge to push and was technically pushing and hoped no one could notice. they could, lol. joe called the nurse over and she checked and i was good to push. she sat down and started writing stuff in our charts... a HUGE contraction came and i swear i about broke my husband. poor joey. i wish i would have had a camera (and could have used it) to get his face after that one. he told me later that he thought "uh oh this is where she starts injuring me". after it was over the nurse turned around (i was making some pretty crazy demonic possesion-like sounds) and she ran to the intercom to get Dr. Chinn in. abby was on her way!
three nutso contractions later and she was out! 20 minutes!
she was born with some bruising. her head came really fast and then was caught in between contractions. a lull that i thought was never going to end! literally the longest 45sec. to a minute of my life, eek! and i can't lie that that was another freak out moment... but again with joe's help and the amazing delivery team i got back into control and we got our little squishie face out!
from there it was pure ecstasy. abigail was so strong and very healthy. she immediately wanted to nurse which i was so happy about. joey hadn't decided if he wanted to cut the cord or not but when offered he jumped at the chance! when they took her to the warmer to get her all cleaned up joey went with her and she really responded to his voice, turning her head towards him and looking up at him. all of that tummy talking he did really paid off!
we were instantly in love with our new family!
here's abby's first photo after getting all cleaned up....
and me and my little girl after our hard night's work!
i hope sharing my experience helps some of my friends and others out there who might be a little nervous about inductions or about taking control of their birth experience... every person, their body, and their baby is totally unique so in no way am i trying to claim that this is how things "should" be done... i only want everyone to know that they have the power to own their birth day and come out with a beautiful, healthy baby & mommy!
one tool that really helped us:
the big book of birth. by erica lyon. this book gave us the knowledge and the confidence to move through labor how we wanted to. i really recommend it... skip the L&D section of what to expect and read this instead!
abigail is turning 4wks tomorrow! every day has been so amazing. we are getting into a great routine and are having so much fun watching her grow and develop.
here she is at 3 weeks... i already have SO many cute shots... time to get scrapping!
love.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
my creative 2010.
so i've been meaning to post the layout i did for my 27 before 28. i cannot believe that in 2010 i will be turning 28 & becoming a mommy. totally crazy and exciting! i haven't photographed the layout yet but i thought i'd share some of the inspiration for the more creative items on my list....
so here we go!
knit a menagerie. these are by hansigurami. the book is called amigurami knits. i'm really hoping she re-opens her etsy shop and starts putting out new patterns too because i'd love to make these gorgeous crazies for the baby's room.
p.s. what i love about these is that they are knitted, not crocheted and it seems like the only amigurami out there is for crocheters... grr.
sew/create my own nursery decor. love these sets as inspiration. modern, clean, organic, and beautiful. {source}
knit a trophy head. {source}
i SO want one of these this year and it may take me all year as i've only ever seen crocheted heads which means i'll have to write my own pattern. it's for sure an extreme goal. but wouldn't like a knitted moose head with big antlers just be amazing.... *dreams*
other goals inclue:
giving at least ten handmade gifts in 2010.
making organic dog beds. (and attempt to make crystal use it instead of squeeze between us.)
getting my owl & toadstool tattoo.
making baby clothes & knitting an organic baby blanket like this one....
{source + pattern}
so yeah see any themes? this year is going to be all baby all knitting all the time. with my usual scrapbooking and other projects thrown in the mix. i also want to start a crafting clique with my nyc/nj girls. (well and a poker night... with some of the same company, lol.)
oh and miss elsie reminded me (via her blog) to check for next year's renegade craft fair dates. brooklyn's aren't up yet but last year the show was the 6th and 7th of june. if it's close to the same that means there will be a new little taylor just in time to come visit AND shop baby renegade style. get ready biotches!
ok. or i will be very very pregnant walking around buying too much stuff. lol.
love.
so here we go!
knit a menagerie. these are by hansigurami. the book is called amigurami knits. i'm really hoping she re-opens her etsy shop and starts putting out new patterns too because i'd love to make these gorgeous crazies for the baby's room.p.s. what i love about these is that they are knitted, not crocheted and it seems like the only amigurami out there is for crocheters... grr.
sew/create my own nursery decor. love these sets as inspiration. modern, clean, organic, and beautiful. {source}
knit a trophy head. {source}
i SO want one of these this year and it may take me all year as i've only ever seen crocheted heads which means i'll have to write my own pattern. it's for sure an extreme goal. but wouldn't like a knitted moose head with big antlers just be amazing.... *dreams*
other goals inclue:
giving at least ten handmade gifts in 2010.
making organic dog beds. (and attempt to make crystal use it instead of squeeze between us.)
getting my owl & toadstool tattoo.
making baby clothes & knitting an organic baby blanket like this one....
{source + pattern}so yeah see any themes? this year is going to be all baby all knitting all the time. with my usual scrapbooking and other projects thrown in the mix. i also want to start a crafting clique with my nyc/nj girls. (well and a poker night... with some of the same company, lol.)
oh and miss elsie reminded me (via her blog) to check for next year's renegade craft fair dates. brooklyn's aren't up yet but last year the show was the 6th and 7th of june. if it's close to the same that means there will be a new little taylor just in time to come visit AND shop baby renegade style. get ready biotches!
ok. or i will be very very pregnant walking around buying too much stuff. lol.
love.
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