A "Great" Birth Story

Wednesday, February 13th was my last day of work. I decided on the date because I was going to finish up with the chemistry section of the book and figured it would be a good transition point for the sub. Apparently, the baby liked my idea!

On Wednesday night I was thinking "lets get this baby out," so we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner and I loaded on a lot of spicy salsa. I was hopping to get a little action but both husby and I were pretty tired. Went to bed around 9:30 thinking about Valentine's day and how I really had nothing planned.

Around 1:30am I woke up feeling a little wompty but nothing too crazy. I used the bathroom and then went back to bed. At 2:00 am I woke up again and this time I felt a little worse so I figured, instead of waking up Husby I would go out to the living room and suffer through my discomfort. At this point I was completely unaware that I would be having a baby in about 5 hours. By 2:30 I started feeling like the discomfort, which felt like mild menstrual cramps, was getting more consistent. I called the hospital reported my situation and was told to see where it led.

By 4:15, the cramps were very intense and occurring every 3 - 5 minutes. The only thing that made me feel better was pacing around the house. At 4:20, I woke up Husby and told him he probably shouldn't go to work because I think I am in labor. I also called Auntie Bree who was going to help coach me along during the labor and delivery. I let her know that it might be happening today. At 5:30, Husby called the hospital and they said to give them a call in a few hours. Most first time moms have a long drawn out labor so it wasn't imperative that I get to the hospital right away. Husby told me they said to wait another hour and I figured they knew what they were talking about.

For the next forty-five minutes I paced around the house and Husby started packing up the car. Since the baby wasn't due for another 9 days we hadn't taken care of a few details like the car seat installation of packing Husby's bad. At 6:15, I started feeling a new sensation - the need to push. I told Husby "get the car started we are going to the hospital." The car ride was the worst. I couldn't pace. I suffered through 7 or 8 contractions on the car ride over. After arriving we were put in a room so the midwife could check my progress. I could hear Auntie Bree waiting outside the room until they confirmed I was going to be admitted. At this point, I was so exhausted and was just hoping I was at 8 cm dialated. I had been planning on going au natural with this birth, but was worried if I wasn't past 8 cm that I couldn't handle anymore pain. My fears were unnecessary. The midwife did her check and exclaimed "there is no cervix; you are completed." Well, I had no idea what that meant so I asked "how many centimeters am I?" She said "10 cm!" Before I could process anything another contraction hit me and I needed to get out of the bed. I was told to sit in the wheel chair but I declined, asking to be shown the room so I could walk there. Walking was my only solace at this point.

It was 7:15 am when I laid down in the labor and delivery room bed. They were having a very difficult time finding his heart rate, which caused me incredible worry. I was told that I was going to need to start pushing with my next contraction. I didn't actually know what this meant. Apparently, the technique is to take a big deep breath and hold the push for 10 seconds. It would have been nice to be informed of this beforehand. After my second push, you could see his little head. I pushed about 6 more times before the midwife said she needed to cut me. Both Husby and I said "no." She replied back with "then push this baby out." I tried two more times but it wasn't working. She made the cut and after two pushes his head was out followed immediately by his body. He grunted a little and was placed on my chest. The whole experience was so surreal. It happened so fast and so efficiently that I still can't believe it. Besides the episiotomy, I had the most ideal birthing experience.

The end result was the most beautiful child I have ever laid eyes on: Great Prescott Sandoval. He weighed 7 lbs 2 oz and was 19.5 in long. My best Valentine's Day present.

Pillows and Pregnancy

Still crafting and still pregnant. Now making a concerted effort to start blogging again.

Pillows:

I love making pillow cases and I cannot wait to make some for own bed. My mother-in-law bought me a super cute pillowcase kit. I have never made one before so I looked up a pattern on a very cool blog, http://patches.typepad.com/notes_from_the_patch/2010/07/tutorial-tuesday-24-pillowcases.html. This occurred at 5:00 am on a Saturday due to "a big baby in belly" insomnia.

As a crafter the pattern made no sense, but as I followed directions everything fell into place. It was so fun, easy and the finished product was professional looking. Husby was totally impressed with my skill and I learned how to do french seams. I am not one for branching out on new projects but I have realized that is a bad attitude. I loved completing this new project and the pillow looks so cute in the baby's room.

After I showed the pillowcase to Husby, he got that familiar gleam in his eye when he is plotting and planning on how to make more money. In the end, I was sent to fabric store and by the Sunday afternoon I had made 8 different pillowcases that can be customized and added to our Etsy site, http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoftAsABabysButt


Pregnancy:
At 8 1/4 months pregnant, I am ready to bring this little life in the world. It seems as though my childless time is slipping by so fast and I cannot get ready for him fast enough. So many things to do and I feel I don't know the half of it. At this point, I have had a fairly uneventful gestation. I have only gained 20 lbs and the little man is measuring at what is expected.

What have I enjoyed about this experience:

• Feeling his movements all the time. His little hiccups and squirming. He is not a kicker but he loves to squirm around. 
• The way you feel as though you are special because of this little life you are growing inside you.
• The body changes, but this one is double sided. I am amazed at how quickly my body has adapted. 
• Not shedding all the time. My hair doesn't fall out.
• Knowing he is half of me and half of husby. I cannot wait to see what this little guy looks like.
• Creating his nursery. It is so fun to make a new room and fill it with things you love for the child you love.

• Seeing your husband get more and more excited about the baby. And seeing it dawn on him how quickly the time is approaching. Watching him wheel the stroller/car seat around the house after he assembled it.

What I could do without:

• The heartburn! Oh my goodness, I have never had heartburn and I don't want to feel it again. 
• The gas. I don't not like the feeling of my abdomen filling up with air.
• The hip pains. In the last couple weeks, this boy has been spreading my pelvis and it is uncomfortable. 
• The lack of strength and stamina. I cannot keep up with much for long these days, which is a far cry from how it was before I was pregnant. 

Creating the Nursery Part 1

It has about three months since I did any blogging and that is mainly due to pure laziness. No way around it...this little boy in my belly is sucking out all my motivation. Or at least I blame him so I don't have to take responsibility.

Well, at this point I am six months and ready to create his nursery for him. It is probably the most exciting thing about this whole experience!!! (Yes, it is magical to create life but come on having the opportunity to make a new room...so fun!)

I am going with a yellow, gray, and white color scheme with accents of anything. The yellow was chosen because we already painted the room a very pale yellow. White is always fresh and classic and gray is pretty great too. So here is the first installment of baby boy's nursery creation.

My first step in the nursery was making the chevron wall. I love chevron!
I used a bright white to subtly contrast with the pale yellow and the stripes are slightly crooked and uneven.



I wanted to go for a whimsical and funky look rather then uniform. Painting was the logical first step because I am an extremely messy painter but the carpet was still present so I could go crazy.

We made this house our home about a year and a half ago. The master bedroom was remodeled and the flooring was done in about 80% of the house. The two extra bedrooms were left as storage/whatever rooms until now. The baby's room was the catch-all room, so I cleaned it out and we had wood floors put in. It looks so good!

At this point I have a desk that I need to sand, prime and paint; it will be the main dresser. I started the project but my sander broke so I am waiting for the new one to arrive. After the desk is put in, I will start hanging and organizing the ridiculousness that is the closet.

I have picked up a few little trinkets to hang in the room.

I found this at TJ Maxx for $20 and I love it. 

 A great friend of mine gave me all of these super cute accessories that I know will look adorable in his room.

 His GG (grandma) made him this quilt before he was even a growing babe. 

And last but not least...my babysteals.com find (SO STINKING CUTE).

15 Weeks and 2 Days

How far along? 15 weeks and 2 days

Total weight gain/loss: Not sure...we'll see at the next appointment.

Maternity clothes? A little tiny belly that most people probably confuse for letting myself go, so still in the same clothes.

Stretch marks? Not yet, thank goodness.

Sleep: After week 13 I started sleeping much better and working out makes it a great nights sleep. Without the belly I'm still able to sleep on my stomach. 

Best moment this week: Feeling amazingly energetic and more like myself.

Movement: I should be able to feel the baby any day now.

Cravings: Mexican food

Gender: I will be finding out Oct. 6th at the baby shower.

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? Still in but other things on the body at starting to change and it is weird.

What I miss: Blue cheese dressing and hot dogs

What I am looking forward to: My baby shower and feeling the baby move

Weekly Wisdom: Reading the birth board is not exact good for a worrier like me. I just need to take it one day at a time and not stress.

Milestones: 2nd trimester is here and I'm feeling great. 

Summer Blues and Baby News

Summer vacation...the teacher's best perk! And mine is almost over. This summer has been the most lazy, unmotivating, unproductive summer of my life. I like to pride myself on getting oh so many things done during the summer, but that was not the case this summer. However, the one thing I did do this summer was start the processing of a baby in my uterus. 

What were some summer goals that didn't get accomplished:

Finish the baby quilts
Seam rip that unfinished project and finish it
Clean out my sewing room
Spend time with those friend I don't see often
Work out

What did I do this summer:

Took a nap everyday
Ate a lot of food
Spent a good amount of time with my niece and nephew
Watched many shows and movies

I was completely unaware of how pregnancy will crush your will to do anything but sit around, eat and sleep. Thankfully in the last week I have felt much more motivated to do more. 

I have been told I am extremely lucky during this first trimester. I have had no morning sickness, and the only thing different between now and before was my need for more sleep and more food. I do get slight bloated after I eat but I will take that compared to the alternative.

Now that I am at 12 weeks I think it is time to start blogging about this little Sandoval growing in my belly.


How far along? 12 weeks and 3 days

Total weight gain/loss: 1 pound gained

Maternity clothes? I am not showing at all so all my normal clothes fit just fine.

Stretch marks? Not yet and I have already started slathering lotion on everyday.

Sleep: Sleep at night is not my favorite. Between the hours of 9-12 I toss and turn and then start to settle down after that. This is fine during the summer but is really going to suck when work starts back up again.

Best moment this week: Yesterday we went to the 12 week appointment and heard the heartbeat for the first time.

Movement: Not that I can feel yet.

Cravings: Embarrassingly, I want Taco Bell. Chips and salsa, white nectarines, watermelon and grapes. Anti-cravings: guacamole and too much garlic in anything 

Gender: To early to tell

Labor Signs: Nope

Belly Button in or out? Still in

What I miss: Eating without getting bloated or gassy

What I am looking forward to: Having a pregnant belly.

Weekly Wisdom: I need to stop worrying about this pregnancy when my body isn't showing any signs of distress.

Milestones: 12 weeks is here and the possibility of losing this baby has greatly diminished 

Switch it, Change it, Rearrange it

Do you ever wish you just hadn't said something? You know, it comes out and instantly you know it is going to screw everything up.

Did we have to have THAT conversation at THAT time about THAT thing? The day is going very well and BAM! You said it, the thing that you can't take back and never really comes out how you meant it. Instantly everything is wrong and you know a huge talk is going to happen before it can be right again. How did that happen?

Really, everything was going so well. We were just enjoying each other, laughing, loving. But no...nothing can last like that. Then following the "messed everything up and really was irrelevant" conversation, you started thinking about all those things the conversation really represents and how irritating they are.

So where are you left? Laying on the ground venting to your blog while you stew over all those words that didn't even need to be spoken. And yes, they will be talked about, but its Friday afternoon and you are exhausted and all you wanted to do tonight was eat nachos and watch TV and go to bed.

Herbs

Ever since I can remember I have wanted an herb garden. A little corner where I could pick fresh herbs to add to my cooking.

Thankfully, I got that opportunity when husby and I purchased our house. I diligently started collecting different herbs and planting them. Of course, some died fairly quickly only to be replaced in an effort to succeed where I had failed and not let husby see that I was spending more money on plants.

My first major failure was cilantro; it was dead within 1 week of planting.

My first major success was basil. It was awesomely big and tasted amazing! But then winter came and wiped it away.

Both mint and thyme decided to do a delayed reaction to my gardening after showing great signs of life then bam! death.

The parsley was hit and miss and with the onset of winter wasn't looking good, but we are seeing definite improvement.

Rosemary has been my stablest herb and finally showing signs of rapid growth.

At the moment I am the proud grower of some spectacular thyme, oregano, rosemary, chives, sage, cilantro, and basil.

What I find so fabulous about the herbs is the flowers they are producing. I never knew herbs flowered and as spring turns into summer I am amazed at their simplistic beauty.

Sage: small purple blooms, light green leaves, great smell

Chives: purple pompom-looking flowers, just cut and add to baked potatoes

 Parsely: tiny yellow flowers at the top of very tall stalk

Cilantro: small white flowers

Basil: small white followers, leaves loved by snails :(

Thyme: cutest tiny purple flowers

Rosemary: small purplish-blue flowers, trailing plant

I have all my herbs in pots sitting on the south side of my house. I water them about four times a week and use no pesticides. I fertilize about once every three months. I have found rosemary to be the hardiest. Most of my herbs I have planted together in large pots. Thyme and oregano (my most successful) are planted in an old metal hose organizer.