She's Here! Birth Story and pics

When Wyatt was born, we delivered at 38w 2d. My due date with Willow was 10/30, but I had the 18th or 20th in my head the whole time. When those days came and went, it almost felt like I had gone "over due" and my pregnancy really started dragging. I was having contractions at night everyday, and right before I went to sleep, I'd think, ok, this is it. In the morning, I'd wake up, still pregnant and no contractions. Every day past 38w 2 days I'd think "I've never been this pregnant before!". Every day brought their birthdays closer and closer together.

I was checked at my 38 week appointment. 2 cms. Over the next week I walked for hours, the mall, the zoo, we even went to the state fair! I started taking EPO (evening primrose oil) each night and drinking red raspberry leaf tea. I started losing my mucus plug that Friday. On Tuesday night (10/23) I even had acupuncture! I knew that the contractions I was having were real, and had to be doing SOMETHING in there. I just couldn't keep them constant enough to get labor going. I was sincerely hoping that the acupuncture would be the kick in the pants I needed, so to speak.

I woke up the next morning (10/24) and was still having contractions. Nothing too painful, but not BH anymore either. Consistently inconsistent. If I was walking, I would have them regularly. If I stopped walking, so would the contractions. I went to the dr at 9:30 to get checked again at my 39 week appointment. If she said still 2cms, then I was just going to quit. Go back to work and resign myself to the fact that Willow just wanted a November birthday.

Lo and behold, progress! I was 3 cm, and she stripped my membranes. She said that my cervix was 75% effaced and so soft she could stretch to to 5! I asked her what should I do from here, and she told me to go walk. No work for me today, walk walk walk. Got to the mall around 10:15 or so and walk walk walked until almost 2. At this point I was getting extremely frustrated. I would have noticeable (but not painful) contractions 3-5 min apart while walking. As soon as I stopped, they stopped. 

I was starting to get a little crazy. I can look back and admit this now. I was taking my lack of labor personally. As if I could WILL myself into labor. And it wasn't working, so I took that to mean that I was failing at going into labor.

Scott and I went to bed around 9:00 or so. He fell asleep right away. Of course, I couldn't sleep, being so busy WILLING labor to start. Around 10:15 I noticed that the quality of ctx had changed. I needed to breathe through them. Just one long "whew" was all it took, but that counts. Contraction master said that they were coming 1, 3 and 5 min apart, but I didn't put much stock into that, since I really stink at timing ctxs. When it had been an hour, I thought I'd take a shower to see if anything changed. In the shower my ctx actually intensified. I was still ok to handle them, but the water was amazing. I only showered for about 10 min or so, hopped out and could immediately tell the difference. "Scott, wake up. I'm in labor. Call my mom, we have to go".

It's now about 11:30. Scott got up, and started to get ready to go. I was trying to brush my hair, which was incredibly difficult. If you have long hair, teach your DH how to braid! That would have been extremely helpful. He asked if he had time to shower, and I said of course, I did. After all, we rushed to the hospital with Wyatt and he was born 24 hours later. We had plenty of time. I just wanted to get to the hospital so I could get my epidural already. I noticed that I was having bloody show as well, and peeing more frequently than ever. Cxt weren't fun on the toilet, but it was better than nothing.

At about 11:45ish my demeanor started changing. Why haven't you called my mom?? I felt like Scott was moving like a sloth. Wasn't I clearly communicating a sense of urgency? What are you doing? Call my mom. He said he was trying to put his contacts in. He can't function blind. Totally reasonable, but in my demented labor mind, I thought a phone call needs your mouth, not your eyes! Anyway, they did get called and we called Jaye as well, so she could come take pictures at the hospital. She asked us to call when we got there, and she'd head over. My parents got there about 10 min later and off we went!

We only live about 10 mins from the hospital, but that was the longest 10 min of my life. I kept telling Scott to go faster, run that red light, GO FASTER. Obviously he didn't listen to me. We passed no less than 3 cops. Scott saw them as tickets avoided. I saw them as lost opportunities for police escort to the hospital.

We finally got to the hospital and I jumped out while Scott parked the car. I waddled to triage, opened the door, said "My name is Mya, and I'm ready for my epidural now". Everyone laughed and I promptly had a contraction. They rushed through admitting questions and got me on the scale. I had another contraction. Walked the 15 feet to the triage room and had another contraction. They asked if my water had broken as I climbed on the bed. Nope. Have you been checked? 3 cm this morning, and wait, my water just broke! They noted the time as 12:15, and checked ny cervix - 5 cm. FIVE?? I was really hoping for 6 or 7 as I thought I may have been in transition in the car. Five was my personal green light for an epi though, so I thought it was better than nothing!

The 10 min we spent in triage was awful. I kept asking every one to please hurry up and get me upstairs. They were very nice, but again I found my self wondering if I wasn't conveying my sense of urgency. They kept telling me that I needed to hum through, and that it would be over in one minute. I told them that I wasn't getting a break. It wasn't over in a minute, they just kept coming. Eventually they believed me, and we raced through the hospital. As we passed the waiting room I saw Jaye, and she joined our entourage.

We got to the delivery room, and it was about 12:30. They asked me to climb onto the bed, and I told them I didn't think I could do that. They told me to take my time. I waited until the next cxt wa over and got out of the wheel chair. As soon as I stood up, hello cxt. I managed to get my knees up on the bed, and Scott was applying counter pressure on my hips. The nurse asked if I was pushing. What, no, no I'm not? Wait, you're right! I am! Why am I pushing, and WHERE IS MY EPIDURAL? They said that they were going to get him now. She said well let me check you. She checked, and said "Why don't we get the doctor instead, and have this baby? You're complete!". Huh?

My mental calculations went like this. Epidural man will be here in 10 min. Then I have to sign paperwork. Then it will take 10 min to kick in. Estimate 30 minutes before pain relief is effective. Hmm. Push out a baby? I bet that would be faster....

I looked at Jaye and my husband, did a fist pump in the air and said "I win! Let's have a baby." I sort of faked it for a contraction or two, waiting for the final lip or cervix to go. Pushing wasn't a relief so to speak, but it gave me something active to do, rather than tolerate labor. 2 contractions  and 3 long pushes later, we had a baby. My first thought (because obviously i was completely coherent) was "still no penis?? STILL NO PENIS!" then "whoa, she's so tiny!" I was waiting for the "ring of fire" but I didn't really get it. I could tell when she was crowning, compared to just pushing, but it didn't burn like I was expecting. Pushing out her shoulders was harder than I thought it would be, but I feel like they just slipped out with Wyatt. We got to do skin to skin this time, and I made Scott cut the cord. He didn't with Wyatt, and would have chosen not to this time again, but I needed him to. When they asked if he wanted to he said no, I said yes. I looked at him and said I just had a baby with no meds. You are cutting the cord. And so he did.

Lane Amelia entered this world at 12:56 pm. 6 lbs, 6 oz 19 inches long. Once again, there was no newborn team at the warmer, simply because there wasn't time.

So I had a 2.5 hour labor with no meds. On accident. I still can't wrap my head around it.

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35 Weeks!

Wow, how time flies. First, a recent bump shot. This was a teaser from our maternity shoot!

How far along? 35 Weeks

Total Weight Gain: 23 pounds total 

Maternity Clothes? I am in maternity full time now. I'm actually beginning to outgrow some of my maternity items. The boobs have stayed pretty stable, still in DDD. I ordered a nursing bra, but have also found a tutorial on how to convert regular bras to nursing. When I try it, I'll let you know how it goes!   

Stretch Marks? I have been very lazy. No vit-E regulation for me. So far, so good. A few new ones on the heiney, but still nothing yet on the bellah. 

Sleep? Eh, not so much. I have sporatic pelvic pain, as well as new acid reflux. I've started this week getting up a few times a night to pee as well. 

Best Moment This Week:  Growth ultrasound today! We confirmed that Willow still doesn't have a penis! Best news ever!

Movement: Constant.

Food Cravings: Ice cream. Mmm. Jamba juice. 

Gender: Girl! For sure!

Belly Button - In or Out? Totally flat. 

What I miss: My jeans! Sushi. Beer. Sparkltini. 

What I am looking forward to: Outside baby. No heart burn. Breastfeeding. 

Weekly Wisdom: Pregnancy sucks. It's supposed to suck. Otherwise, why would you be looking forward to the pain of labor!

I was able to fix the poofy mobile thing! Thanks to a few good friends! This is 100000% better, and I love it! Please don't mind all the stuff that has found its way to her room. 

  

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Almost Finished! - The nursery reveal!

Well, we are thisclose to complete in the nursery! Close enough that I'll call this a big reveal! Only things left is the other curtain, and to recover the glider.

First, Wyatt loved Sophie so much, he wanted one of his own. His room has lions, monkeys and elephants, not giraffes, so we had to find a new friend. Elephants it is!

He loves them!

 We bought a glider on craigslist. I was so excited to find one with white wood! The cream cushions however leave much to be desired, and they clash horribly with the gray on the walls. So I'll be recovering them over the next few weeks.

I am trying to do one of those cool paper lantern/pom pom mobile things, which is apparently much harder than it looks. I wanted something like this... 

And I got this instead. I need some serious design help. Ahem, Brittany. 

It looks even worse than I remembered! I've also been crafting up a zillion hair bows! I made all of these for Little Willow. I sure hope she has hair!

My mom and I were working on a ruffled curtain, and she was awesome enough to finish it for me! I absolutely love it, and it may be my favorite piece of her room!

 We used this tutorial , although we purchased twin flat sheets, as we wanted more colors. they were around $4 each, and we bought 1 of each color (3 white, to be used as the base as well). I was able to get enough for both curtains and the matching crib skirt. Super easy, but time consuming for sure. I used the same ruffle technique that we used on the crib skirt. I just love the way it turned out! Thanks mom!

Scott was able to do the dresser refinish too! I feel so much better having all the furniture in the room, instead of just masking tape lines, haha. 

 I wanted to add a little extra something, so I painted the sides of the drawers! A little peek a boo blue! I still need to do the touch up on this, but I'm very happy with the way it turned out.

Above the shelf that her name letters will set, we put up a vinyl quote from Coco Chanel. "A girl must be two things: classy and fabulous" I love this quote. To me in is extremely feminine, without being too "I am woman, hear me roar" or pink princessy. If I can raise my daughter to be classy and fabulous, I will consider it a job well done. 

 

I even got her drawers organized! I didn't take drawer by drawer photos, but I had to show her stash of newborn diapers! These things are just sooo cute!

She also already has more shoes than I do! We were also able to finish the closet doors. We do need to get new molding for the top, but that should be bought tomorrow. In the meantime, please ignore the ugly wood strip. 

So cute shoes!

Now that the dresser is in, I was finally able to get the closet set up the way I want it.

Newborn clothes on the left, 3 months on the right. The blue and gray bins hold bibs, baby wearing pieces (2 slings, a moby, a mei-tai and a water sling), the bigger sized diapers. These will probably move, but it will be at least 3 months until she's able to wear them, so they'll stay in the closet for now. 

Here is the fabric that we will using to recover the glider. 

I think it's perfect! Once we actually do the recover, I'll try to do a detailed post on that. Not a full tutorial, but lots of pics! I'll also share which tutorial I used. 

Just a few more little details. I love this lamp!

Final look at right side of the room. Minus the rest of her name, of course. 

What do you think??

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Coming together by leaps and bounds!

We have lots and lots of projects off the list!

I made Willow 2 crib sheets. This was actually easier than I thought it would be. A little daunting to think about, but totally doable. I used this tutorial. I highly recommend it. Crib sheets in anything except pastels or pink get pretty expensive. I bought a sheet set (twin sized) on sale for $14, and had enough fabric for 2 crib sheets, Willow's name letters and plenty left over for various projects. To get more than one crib sheet per adult sheet, I'd buy a full or a queen next time.. 

I also have yet another reason to add to the list of why I'm so glad I married an engineer. I told Scott that I wanted to buy this vinyl wall decal from etsy. He said that he really liked it, but he didn't want to spend the money. He'd rather paint it himself. Enter skepticism. 

Then, he came home from work with this. Ladies and gentlemen, this is how an engineer creates a paint by number. I was less skeptical, but not yet sold. This..

 turned into this. His declaration of "I'll just tape it off and paint it" hadn't inspired my confidence initially. Until I saw this. 

At this point I had full faith in my husband and his mad math skills.  I will say that part of the secret to success is taking the wall color (gray) and painting a rough coat just on the inside of the tape lines. This ensured that if any paint seeped under the tape, it would be gray, and we'd still have super clean lines. 

Wha-la! Wyatt has named her Susie, and has said that he wants to ride on her neck. 

I also finished all of Willows name letters! We still aren't sharing her name until she gets here, so I chose to photograph the most generic letter as my example. I used a mix of this tutorial and this one. I didn't use any brads, just teeny tiny little buttons, and I liked the layering.   

I also made 2 changing pad covers! I only have pics on one, but the other matches the 2nd hairbow holders. I used this tutorial which worked pretty well for me. I have the super thick contoured changing pad, and I wish that I had added an inch all around to compensate. I didn't however, because I am lazy, and it worked out just fine. I little snug, but it works!

One of the projects I was the most excited about is the crib skirt! This is one of the touches that makes this blue and yellow room girly, and I am so happy with how it came out!!

My mom was a HUGE help and I couldn't have done it with out her! I used this tutorial for the skirt itself, and this one for making ruffles on my Brother 1034D serger! This was literally 100000 times easier than the old school method of gathering by hand. More tutorials on that here , here and here. It isn't perfect, but neither am I, so I'm good with it. I figure it's just the crib skirt, and as long as it looks good at a glance it works! THere is a 3rd layer that is being hidden at the bottom. It's gray, and as we lower the mattress it will be easier to see. 

We also hung shelves, and put up decor. The next really big project is the dresser, but refinishing that will be a beast and I'm inpatient. so we taped off where it will go in the room, to get the shelves hung where we want them. I also wanted to be able to visualize the changing pad spatially. 

Here is the whole wall. As long as the shelves were up, I thought I may as well add the decor pieces that we already have. The empty shelf will be her name letters. 

The bird cage that was my color inspiration, I got it at Ross for $10 and I was soo excited! This is her first baby, sent from Aunt Jill in Ohio. I found this picture frame in the dollar bins at Target. Of course, the Sophie teether. Thanks Jaye!

Plenty of room for her name letters! These were from the same Ross trip, on clearance for $1.29! Every girl needs a little bling!

  
 I got these little pails from the Target dollar bins as well. The shelf is way too high, so nothing will be kept in them for now.  

Here is the whole wall, all together. I still need to add some white vases, and hooks to hang her headbands.

What do you think??

Projects left to complete:

• closet doors
• refinish dresser
• hang paper lanterns
• make mobile
• quilt
• finish vases
• make curtains

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