Birth Story Part One

Oh sweet Lord this post seems like it's been a loooooooooong time coming!

Let me start off by saying that I had been feeling like a giant for about four weeks. Seriously. I didn't think my body could stretch any more than it already had. Turns out it could. My stretch marks have stretch marks! I had also been having contractions on and off since 37 weeks. Those are a picnic.

On Thursday the 21st I had my last OB appointment - I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. I probably had been for a while because I had been feeling as if Nicolas would fall out at any given moment. My OB also told me my bag of waters was bulging. Of course the whole time I'm there I'm thinking: How is this kid not here already!? On Friday I was hanging out at the cottage with my parents and timing some really regular contractions. These puppies were 2-4 minutes apart and lasted 1-1.5 minutes. I thought this might be it.

I called L&D to see what they would recomend. They paged the on-call doctor who called me back and told me to come in and get monitored, especially since I was GBS positive. So, my parents, being awesome, took the kids for the night and Matt and I headed to the hospital. Well, they hooked me up and it turns out I had not made any progress, and my contractions weren't painful enough to keep me there. And we were sent home. :( I spent Saturday feeling contractions as well, but the on-call doctor had told me on Friday if they weren't painful enough to take my breath away or wake me up then I didn't need to come in.

Enter Sunday morning... 4:30AM strong contractions that wake me up. I waited though, and waited, and waited. I did not want to be sent home from L&D again! We went to the cottage that day to let the kids play, and Mom and Dad offered to take them home with them just in case I went into labor (since we don't have any babysitters on hand). We took them up on it and waved goodbye to our babies around 5:30PM. At around 8:30PM I told Matt bouncing on the exercise ball, and breathing through the contractions weren't working anymore and we needed to go in. I was in some serious pain at this point. I thought for sure it was the night. I was wrong. Again.

We got to the hospital and once again I hadn't progressed. I asked if there was anything we could do because I was in some serious pain (they kept saying I was uncomfortable... whatever triage nurses. I was in PAIN). They said take a Benadryl and some Tylenol and go to bed. Right... I told them that neither of those would mask the pain I was in enough for me to sleep. So, they gave me an Ambien. Great. I should also note, the on-call doc didn't want to induce me because she didn't want to deal with it "at this hour." And I should call the office tomorrow and talk with my doctor about my options.

So, I left crying. Not because I was upset but because every thirty seconds I doubled over from a contraction. It took us 15 minutes to get to the freaking car. It should have only taken five. Jerks. I was pretty mad about the whole thing, too, because I didn't want to have the little guy at home without antibiotics for the GBS. That, and Avalyn had her first bowel movement inside of me and I had an awful feeling Nicolas probably did, too, since he was overdue. Those were two things working against me. I just wanted to be admitted so my baby would be safe! I told Matt if I gave birth at home the hospital would be facing a huge lawsuit.

Needless to say even with the Ambien I couldn't sleep. Strong contractions that don't let up aren't stopped by a sleeping pill. Instead I was groggy and in pain. Great combination. The next morning I called my doctor's office right when they opened and left a message for the OB nurse. She called me back an hour later (meanwhile my contractions hurt more than ever), and told me to come in at 2:45PM. Ugh! Another six hour wait. Thankfully she called back and said there was an 11:30AM that opened up. I jumped on it. 11:30 could not come fast enough.

When I got in there, the doctor who saw me was the on-call doctor from Friday night. She was surprised to see me and to hear that my contractions were so painful. She did another cervical check (those are the most fun ever), and said, "Well, I've got to tell you something..." I was thinking, "Oh, no I still haven't progressed and I'm going home!" Turns out Matt was thinking the same thing. Thankfully she ended her sentence with, "You're four centimeters! I'll call the hospital and let them know you're on your way. You don't even need to check out, I'll do that for you."

Praise the Lord! By the time we got to the hospital (it's literally across the street from my OB's office), and got the car parked, it was a little after noon. We got all checked in and found our room. The nurse gave me some water to drink and a beautiful hospital gown to wear and I got into the bed and time flew while I was hooked up to a billion machines. My contractions were still killing me, but I was just happy to be in the hospital where I was going to get those amazing antibiotics for my beautiful baby!

Nicolas Ira Is Here!

Welcome to the world Nicolas Ira!

9 pounds, 24 inches long! Born on June 25, 2012 at 6:54 PM!

Birthday Tutu!

So, yesterday I went out and bought 5 yards of tulle from Joann Fabrics - best part? It was on sale. $0.74 per yard! That means my first attempt at making a tutu wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg if I messed it up somehow. I wasn't looking to make anything fancy, just something for Avalyn's 2nd birthday picture.

I'll post step by step how I made it, and what the finished product looks like. I really like it, and so does Avalyn, I suppose that's all that matters!

Here are the colors I picked. A bright pink, lime green, orange, teal, and lavender. I chose a deeper purple for the ribbon.

I measured Avalyn's waist and cut my elastic to size and sewed it together.

I spread each yard of tulle out on the floor (easier than a table for me right now).

Then I folded it in half, and sliced it down the folded edge.

After that I measured  and cut six 6 inch strips. Thankfully the squares on my rug are six inches each so it was super easy to measure!

Ta-da! All the tulle is cut!

I looped the elastic around one of my lovely pillows (it's so well dressed now). And tied on the tulle. I folded each strip in half - the long way - as shown above.

Then I looped it behind the elastic.

And pulled the bottom of the strip through the loop.

Then I tightened it down (not too tight!).

And pushed it up against the rest of the strips.

It took me about an hour to do. Cutting took the longest. Yow! I didn't take pictures of putting the ribbon on, but it was super easy. I took an inch wide ribbon and wrapped it around the elastic and knots of the tulle. To start I left a foot of ribbon (to tie the bow), and started to wrap it. I did it around every other strip of tulle. At the end I tied it like I was tying a shoe.

Here's a picture of what I've done so far.

I actually made the bow a bit smaller and then put a stitch or two in it to keep it tied (kids love to untie bows), then I cut the edges on an angle and sealed them with a lighter so they wouldn't fray.

Viola! A tutu! And here are some pictures of my big girl - she's 2-years-old today - in her new "pretty dress." :)

Happy birthday to my 2-year old baby girl! Love her bunches. She's the best birthday gift I've ever received! :)

Keith's Birthday Party!

Keith turned 10 on the 1st! Hard to believe we have a ten year old in the house! We had a party for him yesterday - a Lego Party. The boy loves his Lego's, just like his Dad.

I made a Lego "Keith" and utensil holder out of Lego's for the occasion. Not pictured are the napkin holders I made to match! :)

Lego banner! Handmade by me! I used construction paper and washable markers (things every mom has in her house, I'm sure) to make the Lego's, then used twine to hang them on and clothespins to hang them with.  I really like how they turned out!

Matt blowing up balloons in standard Lego colors.

Yep, I sorted the cups, plates, and napkins to make a Lego rainbow!

The kids "helping" with the party prep.

Oh, static electricity, you are so fun!

How I decorated Keith's door while he was sleeping. :)

The table is all set up for the party!

This is as far as I could go with streamers. Too much work for being 38 weeks pregnant!

Keith's big gift!

The birthday cake (in Lego colors), topped with Lego men (and women).

Blowing out his candles!

Fun in the pool after the party. I love this picture because Avalyn is yelling at Andy for being on the slide, and Keith is trying to dunk Anthony under water. My kids are vicious! 

Hope everyone else had an excellent weekend! I love birthdays... and I love that all of ours are in June!

Four Year Anniversary!

It's Matt and my four year anniversary today!

In honor of that he accompanied me to my doctor's appointment and went with me to fill Keith's script! Clearly, we don't know how to celebrate...

What we did do today was the kids hand prints in cement for their grandparents (a combo of Mother's day and Father's Day).

Keith's already finished stepping stones.

Seeing if his hands still fit (it's been a week, they may have grown ^_~).

Time to get Avalyn's prints!

Success!

I think the grandparents will like these.

Keith showing Avalyn how small her hands are compared to his.

He's finally realized that "she's so little!"

Amazing.

Can't wait to see the finished products!