Sunday, November 29, 2015

It's Almost December!

We have been busy busy bees around here lately and I see I haven't posted in MONTHS! Emily is already 9 months old. I've done a super bad job of taking her 7, 8, and now 9 month pictures! We have a dr appt on Wednesday so I think that might entice me to take photos since we will have her weight/height given to us. So let's see what is new!!
  1. Emily and I went to Mommycon and we found out we love AIO (all in one) diapers. So we are in the process of selling off her old stash and collecting AIO's. Trying to get a lot of them this weekend during the specials of Black Friday weekend.
  2. I opened up my business in October. It's doing well and I am trying to organize everything!
  3. Jesse is now in a new roll at work ~ doing sales more than being a superintendent. Not sure how it's going to all work out, but he just started doing this new role a week ago.
  4. Emily has gone from crawling, to pulling up on things, to cruising along the furniture. She may even try walking on her own by Christmas? I'm not sure, but she is being way more independent and exploring the house.
  5. We sold Emily's crib! We are in the process of turning her room more into a Montessori room verses a regular room. We will be doing a floor bed where she can be independent and get out of it in the mornings and play a little bit.
  6. We hosted Thanksgiving this year and had Steve, Dorothy, Arne, Kendra, Jack, Sophia, Daniel, and Lacy over! We made an awesome turkey! It was also Jesse's birthday and he had a wonderful time.
  7. We are still going to a catholic church and have started the RCIA program ~ the class to join the church. Today is actually the first day of advent! :D
Gosh, I can't think of anything else that's new, but I can see all the housework to do, so I'm going to end here and hope I come back soon! :)

Saturday, September 19, 2015

I have finally finished the 10 (technically now have 11) different types of soaps I wanted to make before opening my soap business! I made my 11th one today ~ a Christmas one. I can't wait to cut it. It's green with some brown swirls and white snowflake micas on the top - I made it thinking of Christmas trees with snow on them in the outdoors. Next on the soap making list is a spiced apple cider one that I will use red and white swirls. 

I also got word that my application was accepted to do the bazaar the first weekend of November! I am going to be promoting it like crazy, because I don't think there is an online presence yet. :(

We also started the RCIA class. Emily came along of course, and that was a little interesting, but I think it will be okay. I'm so glad they are understanding and allow the little one there. If not, I'd probably have to postpone the class to another year as I don't have a sitter every week at 7pm for 6 months. That's just not do-able at her age and our situation.

We also got our first rosaries. My friend Allison has a business making them, and Jesse and I each got one! :D So excited. I just need to make time to do the rosary. It will be SO much easier when I know the words... I think.

Monday, September 7, 2015

Soap, Jobs, and Food!

We have been very busy here! I've been making a ton of soap. I think I now have about 200 bars of soap on the curing rack with plans to make another 60-100 in the next few weeks. I'm getting ready to open my business at the end of October. I have signed up for a holiday bazaar at a local catholic church. I also may see if I can come one morning to my mom's work after people get off their morning shift and have a little table set up for people to purchase my soap. I can't wait to see how sales turn out. Will I have enough, will no one purchase, and will people like the soap? So many unknowns, but I am going to try either way! Heck, if it's not super successful, everyone gets this soap for Christmas ;).

Jesse is in the middle of deciding what to do with his career. He either plans to go into a sales position at his current company or go back into the field. We shall see what he will do. We are praying about it and trying to figure out the best thing for him and the family.

Emily has started solids. She wasn't a complete fan. She did like cheddar cheese and has surprisingly eaten a little bit of carrots in a baby jar. We shall keep trying foods with her. :) She is definitely going to start crawling or pulling herself to a standing position soon! She is definitely trying to go all over the place. She cries more if someone other than me holds her. She definitely loves attention.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Soap Business Coming Along

I am really coming along with my soap business. I can't believe it! I really felt like it was just another nice dream, but I really am going to have my own small business making and selling soaps. I am so excited. I was not aware however, how time consuming it would be! I read once that making the actual soap should only be 10% of your time. The other 90% is working on the business, marketing, etc. I wish making soap was 100% of the time, but it is a business so I have to sell it too!

I have my Washington state business license and a reseller's permit. I've applied for a city of Tacoma business license and a home based business permit. I got samples of packaging materials, picked out what I want to use, and ordered them. I have worked on my Etsy listings so I can open my shop when I am ready. I need to get insurance, make lots more soap, and take lots of good photos for the listings. I still have a lot to do, but I am making so much progress. I am pretty proud of myself for sticking to this. It's scary opening a business and putting money into it. It's risky since the market is completive. I want to do it though, so I am putting 100% into it. 

It's late and time for bed. Good night! :)

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Soap and a Prayer

Last August I started making soaps as I thought it sounded like fun and eventually I wanted to start a soap making business. You can't really open a business unless you know how to make the soap, and it's quite a process making them, so you can't be too impatient. I allow my soap to cure for 6 weeks so it takes a while for me to even test the finished product. I make all my soap with lye so I also have to test it when I unmold it to make sure the ph is in a good range. I haven't had a bad ph batch yet, so that's good!

Lately I have been stocking up supplies and things for opening a business. I have now made 3 loafs of soap and plan to make more. It's not the easiest thing when you have a little one to take care of. I can do a lot of the soap making, like getting the oils ready and things like that while watching Emily. Once I have to pull out the lye I make sure there is someone else watching Emily. I've made soap when my grandma is over playing with her, which is perfect! 

On Monday I made my first big step and am finally committing to my goal of opening my own soap making business and becoming a master soap maker! I applied for my WA business license and I have been waiting for their approval - approx. 5 business days, so I can go get a business license in my city. Once I get these things, I will get insurance which is the biggest cost of them all. Luckily the licenses are fairly cheap, especially because I am getting a 12k or less in revenues license. I can dream big, but I am going to assume I won't make 12k my first year haha. :) 

I am so excited because I have always hoped for years and years I would find a crafting passion that I could actually turn into a business, and now I finally am. I am jumping all in, because that's just what you have to do!

I'm also adding my faith into my business too, which is awesome because it's a big part of my life. I am calling my business "Soap and a Prayer!" I am still figuring out the logistics of incorporating my religion and everything into my business, along with figuring out how to package, design everything, and more. Either way, I am at the beginning of my journey and I'm excited for the new beginning.

Thursday, June 11, 2015

It's Becoming Summer

Here's what we have been up to lately:
Swimming at the YMCA!

Trying out the high chair so she can be in the kitchen while mommy cooks/bakes/eats.

Strawberry picking!

Hiking trails around near our house





Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Flat Diaper Challenge Results

So about that flat diaper challenge. I did not make it the whole week handwashing diapers. :-/ I felt pretty bad, but on day 4 I had to stop. I never quit on anything, I really try to finish everything I start. But I couldn't get my cooking project done while doing this challenge, and we spent a lot of money on that. So my cooking project came first. On day 4 I had 30 dirty flats and no time to wash/dry, so she went into the fitteds and for my sanitary, and my husband's sanitary, I washed them in the W/D. Looking back at the weekend we had during the challenge, we were hardly home so I'm not even sure what we would have done if we would have ran out of clean diapers while out and about?

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Cooking Project!

I got 40 pounds of ground beef from Zaycon Fresh on Tuesday. It's Wednesday night and I'm still working with it! :'( It's such a big project to do with a baby. 

So far used this much ground beef:

  • 5 pounds for sloppy joes (Wednesday)
  • 5 pounds for enchilada meat (Tuesday)
  • 5 pounds for spaghetti sauce (Wednesday)
  • 10 pounds for taco meat. (Tuesday)
I still need to do:
  • 5 more pounds for spaghetti sauce
  • 5 pounds of raw (need to package by the pound)
  • 5 pounds of browned ground beef
The spaghetti sauce was BY FAR the most time consuming to do because I had to chop up 1 onion and 1 bell pepper per pound - so 5 of each. For the 5 pounds, I had to slice a pound of mushrooms and do 40 garlic cloves. I should really try to chop up more onions/peppers tonight, but I am exhausted and it's already after 9pm. I am really not looking forward to making another 5 pounds of it. I have to make to batches of 2.5 pounds because I don't have a pot big enough for 5 pounds. 

I am already committed to this, so I will deal with it. I have packaged everything in about 1 pound packages as that's about what we eat. We are going to have A TON of meals so I am not sad about that. 3 hard days of work for months of easy meals makes it not so bad at all! :)

Let's pray Emily will actually nap tomorrow for a good nap so I can finish this project up before Jesse gets home tomorrow. That would be a miracle! 

Day 3 - Flats and Handwashing Challenge

Today's question is open topic. I am going to choose this: What are your challenges?

Oh man am I having challenges, but I am not giving up! The last two days have been super rough especially since I am doing another big project - making freezer meals from 40lbs of ground beef. The beef was pick up only this week, so it really didn't make it fun for me. I've been working my butt off the last two days trying to do both of these things. By the time I get to my diapers, my almost 3 month old is fussy, wants to be held, and my husband gets home from a long day of work and wants to relax. Poor husband has helped me out a lot the last few days after work since the cooking project is taking so much of my time. I have been still cooking and needing to bag all my food when he is getting home. How do people other people do this with little babies?! 

Tonight I ran into an issue. Emily pees in her diaper SO much! I have 30 flats and when I went to do the last rinse on my first batch of dirty diapers, I had 1 flat diaper left! I am having to use her GMD fitteds until this batch of 9 diapers dry. I am still handwashing everything, but I just didn't get to them in time. I have washed 9 each day so far, and that is clearly not enough.

Tomorrow I am finishing the cooking project and will probably only have time to do another batch of 9 diapers. On Friday I have no plans so I plan to do all the diapers and actually dry them outside. So far I have only dried them inside because it's been raining, plus it's 9pm when I am putting them up to dry.

Also, my flats are drying super stiff! :( I think it's because they are drying indoors. I have to shake them all around to make them some what soft. I miss my soft flats from the dryer. :(

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Day 2 - Flats and Handwashing Challenge

Today's question is: What is in your stash?

Just to let you all know first, I did not buy anything extra for this challenge, so I used what I had. I know some people are using receiving blankets and flour sack towels, but since I already owned a whole stash of flats, that is what we used. I also wasn't going to go out and buy anything since my stash meets the requirements. 

My diapers:
  • 30 Green Mountain Diaper Organic Cloth-eez One-Size Flats - $75.00
  • 2 Large Hemp Doublers $7.50
My covers:
  • 3 Sloomb Wool Covers $144.00
  • 1 Disana Wool Cover $29.00
  • 1 Imse Vimse PUL cover $18.95 (was given this from a friend)
My accessories:
  • Bucket with lid $4.00
  • Plunger $1.50
  • 1 snappi $4.35
  • Rubber Gloves $2.00
The total comes to $286.30. If I was in a situation where I didn't have cloth diapers or much money, I would do the wool covers still, but use upcycled covers or much cheaper ones. I had already purchased these, so that's what I used. Also, my stash of 30 is probably a lot to use for this challenge, but I want to point out that I am planning to use them with our next baby, so I wanted to get a nice rotation of them, plus, newborns go through a TON of wet diapers! Emily has wet diapers every time I check her, even if it's been 5 mins since a change! 

I am trying to do wool full time, but when I started this challenge, Mother's Day was the day before and she got poo on 3 of her covers and I didn't have a chance to wash them until Monday so they were drying and I needed to add a PUL cover for just in case. :)

What is in your stash?


*I'll try to add photos later - I'm currently cooking 40lbs of ground beef and trying to hurry with that while baby sleeps! 

Monday, May 11, 2015

Day 1 - Flats and Handwashing Challenge

Today's questions are: Am I taking the challenge, and if so, why?

Yes! Although I feel like this is a terrible week to do so! The challenge started the day after Mother's Day so the house is a disaster this Monday after our busy weekend out of the house. I already use flats during the day, and with the busy weekend, I had half of my flats stash in the dirty pail this morning!! :( 

The point of this challenge is to show that if someone doesn't have much money to diaper their child and/or a washer and dryer, that it is still possible! Actually, if someone were to do cloth diapering this way, it would be super cheap compared to other cloth diapers or disposables.

The reason I am taking this challenge is for several reasons:
  1. If someone tells me they can't afford to CD or they don't have a w/d, I can have the experience to tell them it's possible and show them how, as well as give them good tips from what I learned.
  2. I am always nervous about what could happen. I have been without money before and know what it's like to really like as minimally as possible. If for some reason we get into a situation where we have no money and not much stuff, I can still hand wash cloth diapers for way cheaper then any other means of diapering.
  3. We are going camping and to a week long girl's camp at a state park. I want to be able to learn how to handwash now so I am prepared when we are in the great outdoors!
Are you taking the challenge? If so, why? :)

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Mother's Day

This is my very first Mother's Day! It's been a Mother's Day weekend for sure! I had Emily help me make all the grandmothers and great-grandmothers Mother's Day gifts - Flower pots with her feet/toe prints to create a butterfly, flowers, and a caterpillar.


Painting all the pots white. 
Letting the pots dry!

Getting the area ready for Emily!

Practicing painting her feet. She was super ticklish.

All done - letting them dry.

This one is Nana's.

Bringing them with us Saturday to give to everyone!


We had brunch Saturday morning at my mom's house and then we did dinner at Jesse's mom's house. 


Meme, Grammie, Emily, and Me!



Mommy and Baby Emily!

Our new little family!
Today Jesse made me breakfast - here's him cleaning up afterwards:

After breakfast, we got ready and went to a Catholic mass that I mentioned we would go to. I thought there would be a nursery, but perhaps this specific church did not? So I went in thinking I could give my full attention to the service, but I ended up spending a lot of it holding Emily. Eventually she got a little fussy and I had to move her around, pat her back and after a while she fell asleep. She is like 12 pounds, so she is very heavy after a while of holding her. Besides this, we both really liked the service. I will be prepared next service and probably wrap her before we head in as I can't hold her like that for over an hour. My arm almost fell off after mass. But like I said, we enjoyed the service. Jesse definitely seemed to give his stamp approval. He kept saying "ohhh, I like this." He liked that we prayed over the children before they went to Sunday school and the hymens. He actually liked the up/down aspect as he always has to get up during church and stand in the back as it hurts his back to be on certain chairs. I'm glad he liked it, as I want to find a good place to go and I like the idea of the Catholic church. I am excited to go back next weekend. We also saw a friend couple there too. They normally do 8:30... I doubt we will ever make that mass time at this point. We get up at 7:30 just to get to the 10:30 mass in time. OH! I was so proud of us! We got there 15 minutes early! Last week we were 15 minutes late to church. I love being early, and it seems like such a win to do so with a newborn. 

We had Jimmy Johns for lunch and now Emily and Jesse are taking a little nap. After they wake up we will do something. Jesse keeps asking what I want to do, so I need to figure it out! :) I kind of want to go to a baby boutique store. Hah. I also wanted to go to Macy's. I really want to find some skirts that go just below my knees or mid-calf. Why are they so hard to find?! 

I hope every Mom out there is having a great day! :)

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Organize All The Things!!

Seriously! I am trying to deep clean and organize our house this week! It really needs it, and I really want to get it done now! Our kitchen has no food storage space, so we are using a 5 tier wire rack from Target to store our food. Unfortunately, it's such a huge mess. I went to Target today and seriously bought 24 different sized clear storage containers to organize our pantry and have extras for the house. I've already started the pantry organization, and hoping to finish today or tomorrow. It's not as easy to complete full projects with a little one ~ she is currently on my lap with hiccups while I type away haha. :)

My grandma also came over today with ziplock vacuum seal bags. I have no vacummed sealed all of Emily's clothes that are too big by size, and sadly all of her newborn and 0-3 months :(. I need to get a bin or something for throwing in her clothes that are too big until she's out of her current size - then I will vacuum seal those clothes. She is growing so fast it's ridiculous. She is already wearing Medium GMD fitted diapers! I actually just ordered them and they are currently being prepped. I'll come back later to add photos of my before and after! :)

Seeking A Church To Call Ours

Jesse and I have been looking for a church to call ours for a while now. We were going to one before we moved to start attending church. Now that we moved, we are looking for a permanent church. We went to our friends' church for several months, but we aren't feeling like it's the right fit for us. We tried a different one last weekend - basically worship was a concert (dark, loud, and full of different moving lights). We talked and found out what we both want in a church:
  1. Traditional/structured.
  2. A good program for children/youth for our kids to grow up with ~ especially things during the week, not just Sunday service.
  3. Jesse wanted hymns ~ I suppose you can put this under traditional.
We both researched the different Christianity faiths - Lutheran, Episcopal, Catholic, Methodist, etc. I liked parts of all, and some of them I found things I didn't like. 

This coming weekend we will be trying a Catholic mass to see how we like it. I've actually been researching Catholicism a little bit the last few days and have learned a lot. I have always had ideas of what it was all about, but now I am learning what's really the truth about the meanings behind it. A lot of the things I am learning are way different then I have perceived them to be. I'm hoping we both like this church as I really want to find a good place to call home. I want to grow my faith with the Lord and bring our child up from the very beginning in a good church and a Christian household.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

04/28/2015

April is coming to an end and May is almost here. This last weekend we went to the Orcas Island work party and it reminded me of girls camp. I look forward to going again - it's my 3rd time, Jesse's 6th time oh and Emily's 1st time :). This is Jesse's last year as the survival instructor as he will become director next year (and I will be his co-director/helper). He has always wanted to do this, so I am happy that he gets this opportunity! 

It's crazy how busy we are as a family. It seems that weekends just seem to book up so quickly and it's not even summer! This coming weekend we are staying home to really work around the house. Our yard is atrocious! Seriously, the backyard grass has spots that go up to my hip! :O So embarrassing! 

May 10th is my first Mother's Day! :)

May 11th - 17th I am taking The Great Flats Challenge

May 12th - picking up Zaycon ground beef and making a bunch of things to put in the freezer like sloppy joes, taco meat, regular ole cooked ground beef, etc... 40 pounds worth!

May 16th we are doing the March of Dimes walk. I am actually hosting a walk through Hike it Baby Tacoma to try to get more walkers. :)

Memorial Day weekend - no plans yet!

That's what we have going on right now. :)

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Update 04/14/15

Alright, it's been weeks since I last wrote. It's definitely been a whirlwind since Emily was born. I absolutely love being home with our little girl. I also can't believe I thought I would be able to do all the housework I wanted to do and take care of her. Haha, silly me! But, I do get what I think is adequate sleep... maybe that's why I'm not getting all of the housework done? 

Our typical day looks like waking up around 9am - I think we will start waking up earlier as I have been better about getting her to go to sleep a little earlier each night. She wanted to party until 1am when she was weeks old haha. Now it's more like 10-11pm. She wakes up a few times to eat, but it's no big deal as she quickly falls asleep after eating. We wake up at 9-ish, she takes a few short naps until around noon and then usually naps for 1-2 hours or so, sometimes 2 naps depending. She is usually up from 3pm until bedtime, with maybe another 30 minute nap somewhere in between.

She bedshares, so that makes it SO easy... unclasp the bra, feed, fall asleep. I know a lot of people frown upon that, but hey, we are one of the only places in the world that try not to do that. It seems like most countries bedshare, babywear, etc... and we have one of the higher rates of SIDs. I follow safe bedsharing with her. I waited until she was 4-5 days old before I allowed her in bed as I had a c-section and was on pain meds. I took them for a few days and as soon as it had been 24 hours I allowed her in bed. We also have a rail on the side of the bed for when she is older and can roll. I sleep in between Emily and Jesse, as that's what's safe for us. I always know where she is, but Jesse is a deep sleeper. And so on and so on. I just make sure she is safe in bed. I love having her in bed, love the cuddles and being close to my little one. I can easily check on her by just opening my eyes.

I have also started cloth diapering! I will just go into it a little bit right now. We had so many newborn diapers, and with the c-section I was not in a place to even start cloth diapering. I barely remember the first week or two with my lack of sleep, baby blues, being super sore from surgery, etc. We started between 3-4 weeks old. I use flats, prefolds, and fitteds. I love them all and use them for different things. Flats for when she is awake and I will change her often. Prefolds for when I think she will nap or if we are out and about. Fitteds for overnight and I usually change her once in the middle of the night (after the 5 hour sleep session she gives me)- so we use two fitteds. I actually also throw in a hemp doubler at night too as she eats and eats at night so she can get her diaper very wet. I wash them every other day. I just ordered some wool covers as I would love to use only natural fibers vs synthetics as a personal preference. Wool also seems so much softer. Plus it kind of goes with my kind of crunchy nature. ;)

TMI alert: Breastfeeding! What an adventure to say the least. It was very painful the first few weeks, and it made me cry a few times from the pain. I didn't realize how important for me it was to keep the nipples lubricated. I got cracks because of it and it hurt so bad. I tried just breastmilk and then breastmilk and coconut oil. Eventually at day 10 I used the Earth Mama's nipple butter after every single feed. After 2-3 days things felt way better. It wasn't until 4-5 weeks that it started feeling comfortable though. I think that's because she got bigger and my body was more used to it. I'm so happy we pushed through it (I was determined to) and now it's nothing. We lay in bed and side-lay nurse and it's the easiest thing ever. I almost look forward to it because then I get to relax and cuddle Emily, watch TV or play on my phone. :) Jesse fed her a bottle a week ago to try to get her used to it, so eventually we can go on a date night. She didn't like it at first, but eventually took it. I think our first date will be short enough to not need a bottle though. I am so looking forward to Monday's 2 month appointment to see her new weight/height/head measurement. I am so excited to see what my superpowers are doing for her! :) It seriously makes me proud that my body can feed her.

The best thing I think I have done for myself is to get out of the house. That means our house isn't the cleanest, but it seriously helps my mood. I barely got out of the house the first two weeks and I had bad baby blues. I cried all day long about nothing. Once I started getting out I felt so much better. Even if we go to the grocery store and back, it lifts my mood.

Well, Emily is awake and I hear her "calling my name" or grunting to be picked up, one of the two. Haha! :)

Saturday, March 7, 2015

Our Birth Story

We had our baby girl! It's been a little over two weeks now. It's been a lot more work than I thought it would be, so it's taken me a while to get a chance to write our birth story. Here it is...

On Tuesday the 17th of February we decided to try to slowly induce naturally to see if we could jump start anything. This was all under the guidance of my midwife. We tried taking an herbal tincture every 30 minutes for a few hours. No contractions. So the next day as soon as I woke up I drank a disgusting castor oil shake that I will never forget. It made me go to the bathroom like super crazy all day long. No contractions. 

Thursday the 19th we went in for another biophysical ultrasound and it only scored a 2 out of 10. Baby had a good heart rate and good fluid levels, but she wasn't moving the way they needed her to be. The technician wasn't too concerned with it, so we left the hospital/medical building to go meet up with my midwife. When we got there she asked why we had left and the doctor of the office we went to needed us to come back to the hospital. My midwife was very concerned that the baby was not engaging at 41w6d. She said she had never seen anything like this and was worried the baby's cord was wrapped around her body/neck or something else was wrong. She came out telling us we needed to return to the hospital and have a c-section. Obviously this was something serious as midwives aren't in the business of having their patients do c-sections. Luckily we had our bags packed in the car as we were planning to do some serious inducing that day.

We returned to the hospital and we got setup on the monitors. Baby's heart rate kept going up a little too high in waves, so they pushed the c-section up an hour earlier than the anesthesiologist normally would perform them. Our little Emily was born at 1:40pm. She came out and we heard her little cries. She was a healthy little 7lbs 8oz and 19.25 inches baby girl. 


As the doctor was leaving the surgery room, he told us that Emily had been engaging the side of my uterus instead of the cervix and we had been very close to uterine rupture. I was so relieved that we did not try to induce any more than we had, as all that inducing could have caused the uterus to rupture - a very serious thing for baby and me. The doctor later talked to us and said my uterus is positioned to make babies posterior, which makes it harder for the baby to go through the birth canal. On top of that, my hip/bone structure was angled even more than normal, so a posterior baby would unlikely be able to come out. Knowing that the second baby is bigger than the first usually, we will opt to do a c-section next time in order for everyone to be safe. I really am not one to want a c-section. I had been trying to go natural the whole time, but my body apparently isn't designed to do that. The doctor said in his 35 years of working as an OB, he had only seen 1 other patient that had a situation like me. This is so crazy to me, but it is what it is.

Emily latched on right away when I got into the recovery room. As of writing this 16 days later, we are finally doing well with breastfeeding. The first 2 weeks were painful and hard, but my midwife helped me perfect her latch and I think everything is healing. It takes a while for your nipples to toughen up. Now it's not so bad.

We were able to go home the following evening which is uncommon, but we told the doctor that I wouldn't get sleep in the hospital - and sleep allows you to heal. I hadn't slept the first night. Too much noise and commotion. I was told healing goes better when you have a c-section without inducing/laboring beforehand. I am truly happy that I didn't spend 20 painful hours in labor to only go in for a c-section and have to recover from both situations. 

Well, that is our birth story. I should add that I do not feel sad about not being able to do the natural birth I had wanted knowing now that my body wasn't very capable of doing so. I am much more thankful we are both safe and sound and healthy. That's the most important thing.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

40 Weeks & 4 Days Appointment

Today I had my weekly midwife appointment. Here's an update on what is going on:

  • I am finally dilated - 1cm. Tried to do a membrane sweep, but Emily wasn't far enough in the pelvis so she couldn't. But the scar tissue was all gone!! :)
  • There is too much (who know it was possible) amniotic fluid so little Emily is basically just moving all over the place. She hasn't been in my pelvis very far, so I need to lessen the fluid so she has less run to move. We need to make sure she can get into my pelvis so we know for sure she fits and because she is too high for labor right now. So I will be taking mag-cal vitamins, epsom salt baths, and drinking drinks with electrolytes every day.
  • I also need to use the breast pump, walk, do the miles circuit, and take evening primrose oil daily to help move things along.
  • My midwife will try to make an appt for Thursday (2 days) for an ultrasound biophysical to make sure everything looks good for baby to stay another week. 
  • My next appointment is Tuesday the 17th. Let's hope I don't make it to that appointment though!! :)
  • The 18th would be trying induction methods at the birthing center. The 20th I would go to the hospital for a medical induction (pitocin). This is the plan if all else fails.
Let's hope she comes sooner than later though! :)



Edited to add:

40 weeks & 6 days - I had my biophysical profile ultrasound. Emily is weighing approximately 7 pounds & 11 ounces. She is a happy little camper - she is practicing breathing, the amniotic fluid was a 13 AFI (norm is 8-18) which is good, and everything seemed fine. They will send the information to my midwife now. 

Friday, February 6, 2015

40 Weeks


How many weeks?: 40 Weeks - yes, I am still pregnant...

How big is baby?: Small Pumpkin - 20 inches & 7.5 pounds ~ Let's just say baby is as big as a newborn baby ;)


Gender: Girl


Weight Gain: I have gained 38 pounds total. 


Symptoms: I feel big and tired. I feel like I will always be pregnant and it will never ever end. At my last appointment my cervix was not dilated, and it was soft and facing out more. 

Cravings: Fresh berries sound amazing. I wish it were summer only for the fruit.


Sleep: I've been sleeping a little better. Feeling more rested.


What I Miss: Having a body with no bump. 


Best Moment This Week: I hit 40 weeks! I wanted to hit 40 weeks ever since I was pregnant to give our little girl the best. They still do a lot of good growing between 37-40 weeks IF your pregnancy is healthy and low risk. 


What am I looking forward to?: Holding our baby girl.


Next Appointment: February 10th.


Additional Notes: 

  • A few years ago I had a colposcopy (procedure where they scraped a few cells off my cervix when my pap came back abnormal). It wasn't a big deal, but it left a little bit of scar tissue on my cervix. At the next appointment my midwife will massage the tissue to break it apart. People that have scar tissue seem to have a harder time getting their cervix to dilate. I've read that people can have contractions for days or it just won't dilate. I want my body to be able to naturally progress when it's time for me to be in labor. I don't want to stall my labor at all.
  • I was really trying to be good about letting my body naturally decide when to go into labor. Now that I have hit 40 weeks I will try to do a few natural things to see if it may work, but other than that, I don't have any plans of trying anything more until the 18th - 2 days before 42 weeks. My midwife will try doing a number of things, and if nothing works I get transferred to the hospital on the 20th as I can no longer give birth at the center once I hit 42 weeks. We have a plan with my midwife on the outline in case I don't go into labor.
  • I am now at the point where I am over being pregnant. I am glad I expected to go past due as I would be a lot more disappointed at this point. I keep seeing everyone having their babies and I am just sitting here pregnant and not having an end in sight. I need to remember 65% of babies are born after 40 weeks. I just need a little more patience and to just enjoy this time I have alone and with my husband.
  • I have also been doing the Miles Circuit to encourage baby to be in the right position. It is helping as she is on my left side a lot more now. Before she always wanted to be on the right side.

Friday, January 30, 2015

39 Weeks

How many weeks?: 39 Weeks

How big is baby?: Mini Watermelon - 20 inches & 7.25 pounds


Gender: Girl


Weight Gain: I have gained 35 pounds total. 


Maternity Clothes: Sweat pants and the same shirts. Pretty much just have about 3 outfits at this point. Even my sweat pants are feeling super tight on me right now! :( I can't wait to for my sweats and yoga pants to fit better once baby is born.


Nursery: Besides two boxes I need to go through in the closet, the nursery is done. I said this last week. Oh well. We also got the cute rug, a teal lamp, and another wall art picture! :)


Symptoms: Not sleeping well. Belly too big to sit comfortably at times. My belly is very itchy and almost painful. I have stretch marks on my lower tummy, and a little bit going down my inner thigh. I do put body butter (coconut oil/shea butter) on everyday, but it's caused by genetics. 


Cravings: We had Mongolian Grill last week - yay! I want it again though ha. We won't be going because it is kind of pricey. However, my birthday is in March so I know that I can go there postpartum (as well as a nursing mom) and be able to get a lot of food... My stomach will have a lot more room!!


Sleep: I'm just going to say "9th month of pregnancy" and that should sum it up.


What I Miss: Being comfortable.


Best Moment This Week: We got to take maternity photos and my sister in law had her baby a few weeks early so we met him!


What am I looking forward to?: Baby's arrival - I'm the type of person that likes plans and knowing what's going on. I can be spontaneous, but I am much more of a planner. 


Next Appointment: February 2nd for my 39th week appointment.


Additional Notes: 

  • I gave in got my cervix checked. On January 27th I was not dilated - 0, but my cervix was thin. 

Friday, January 23, 2015

38 Weeks

How many weeks?: 38 Weeks

How big is baby?: Leek - 19.75 inches & 6.8 pounds


Gender: Girl


Weight Gain: I have gained 34 pounds total. 


Maternity Clothes: Sweat pants and the same shirts. Pretty much just have about 3 outfits at this point.


Nursery: Besides two boxes I need to go through in the closet, the nursery is done. Oh, and we are waiting on a rug (it's on it's way) and need to get a lamp at some point (probably after she is born).





Symptoms: I can't sleep at night. I wake up often and pee every 2 hours. My body feels tired and uncomfortable. I am getting huge. My body is ready.


Cravings: I really want Mongolian Grill. I've been waiting forever to get it, but it's never the right time. Was supposed to go tonight, but after Jesse's week at work I am not going to drag him out. Maybe we can go tomorrow.


Sleep: Sleep?! I finally got decent sleep last night when I took Tylenol PM. 


What I Miss: Having a body with no bump. 


Best Moment This Week: Almost have the house all nice and clean and organized. 


What am I looking forward to?: Finishing the house up.


Next Appointment: January 27th for my 38th week appointment.


Additional Notes: 

  • Midwife said baby girl is close to the 7 pound mark when she felt her at the appointment on the 20th.
  • My sister in law was due 3 days before me. She had her baby boy this morning!! It's getting real. Our's will be here within 4 weeks - at the absolute latest.

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Laundry Room to Bathroom

We have been in the process of remodeling our house since we bought it. Or should I call it fixing it up? Anyways, one of the areas we are working on is turning the laundry room into a second bathroom with a washer and dryer. It is actually going to get finished next week. We need to get sheet rock, paint, a fan, a heater, and finish adding the fixtures to the bathtub and sink. Once that is complete it will be done! So glad to get this done before baby comes. Construction around here always sucks as it seems to interfere with the plumbing and/or water. While they are working on this they will have to turn the water heater off/on some of the days as well as disconnect the washer and dryer. I can't wait to have the plumbing/laundry area/water heater not messed with for a long time. We have gone through having to repipe the whole house, having contractors here when there were no doors on the only bathroom, having tile put in bathrooms - thus removing toilets. All the while I am at home and pregnant. Luckily I didn't have a newborn with more laundry during this. Here is the progress so far:

This is what it looked like when we moved in:

Water Heater side
Washer and Dryer side
This is during the re-pipe of the whole house and to add plumbing to this room:
Water heater side
Facing the washer/dryer side. One door goes out the back and one goes to the house.
This is what the room currently looks like:
Water heater side - now includes new stackable w/d and a working toilet!! :)
Now there is a shower and a sink on the other side of the room!
You can see from the photos that we still need the insulation/walls, but you can also see the tile is done and it is coming along.

We have a contractor starting Monday to finish the room out so hopefully I can show a finished room at the end of next week! :) I'll also try to show other parts of the house and how we have transformed them.