a spud birth story.

[just got the gown on at check in]

Read about part 1 of spud's birth story [here]. Hold on folks...this is a whopper of a post.

Here is part two... spud's birth story...only fitting to be posted on my very first mother's day. Happy mother's day to all of you out there! Being a mom is fantastically amazing...no small feat.

1am

We called the maternity center, and told them that I thought my water broke... they said come on in. So we gathered up our hospital bag....and headed out the door.

2am

After matt and I excitedly got into the car with my mild contractions, we realized just down the street that he didn't pack any pants for himself. Ha. So we turned around, it was rather funny... probably because my contractions were just about nothing at this point.So we get to the hospital at 2am.

They checked my cervix...I was only a 1. ONE?! wtf. I was a one the week before. So, they really didn't believe me that my water broke, and I was kind of doubting it too. They said they might not keep me... but they did an amnisure test, two of them to be exact, to see if I was leaking amniotic fluid. They were positive.... so I was guaranteed a baby in the next 24 hours. Yay! This was pretty exciting news. Holy shit we are having a baby today.

[pain is getting worse...]

[matt's excitement, hard to contain at this point]

3am

We waited for my midwife to come in... and maybe see if my labor would progress. I was 2 cm dilated, nothing big. But my contractions were picking up. I couldn't talk through them at this point. We were calling the grandparents... laughing... super excited.

We went over our birth plan with our midwife again...yes I wanted natural birth...no medications...peaceful delivery, healthy baby.

HA!

4am

This is probably when the excitement died...and gave way to extreme pain. Seriously the worst pain I have ever felt in my life. Like bone ripping apart pain. I couldn't stand nor walk- so those lamaze class prep for positions/walking/etc went straight out the window. I was okay in between the contractions, but they were coming on quick, on top of each other without much rest. I was shaking in between the contractions- which I thought may have been transitioning- no such luck. All I could do was sit, and listen to my dear husband tell me on the monitor when I was 1/2 way through each contraction and hand me ice water. He was fantastic.

[ oh, yes there was that pain]

7am

 I was still dilated to 2cm. I asked for the epidural. My midwife said.... how about you take a bath first. Had I not been contracting I would have thought this was hilarious. Sure, a bath will miraculously take away all my pain. But I was game. Let's do the bath, then the epidural.

8am

 I was 4 cm dilated. I got the epidural. Hell yeah. This epidural was fantastic. The IV start, lumbar poke- no biggie now. I had crazy mind blowing contractions that now were my basis for 10 out of 10 pain on the pain scale. Nothing else compares in life now. Birthing a human is painful. But an epidural was definitely the way to go for me. Fantastic. Natural childbirth. HA. I was so silly. My pain tolerance is not as high as I thought. Hats off to women who can endure without the epidural... or any childbirth. This is a challenging task.

9am

I kept on progressing....without pain now. Little spud's heart rate would decelerate, nurses would rush in....flip me to my other side...then tell me to rest.

The epidural was unbelievably amazing. All was good again in the world. The excitement came back. We laughed about how silly I was... it was grand. Matt got to have me, his wife, back again without intense pain. It was also surprising I could feel my legs, they were a little tingly...I could even move my legs and flip from side to side a little. But no contraction pain. I couldn't even feel the contractions- it felt a little like cheating at labor.

 

[oh the wonderful epidural]

[we were finally able to listen to music once the epidural kicked in...before that point it was too chaotic with the pain]

[external monitoring and bracelets galore]

12pm

They checked me again... I was now 6cm dilated. They don't do cervical checks as often once your water breaks for risk of infection etc. I was just to tell them when I thought I needed to take a dump....for it probably meant the baby was in the birthing canal. I asked the nurse anesthetist if he could please turn down the epidural. He did such a fantastic job, but I really felt like I was missing out. I wanted some of the pain back. I wanted to feel little spud moving about for just one more day....our last day. I loved being pregnant...I loved our bond. Anyways, he thought I was crazy, but he turned it down a bit.

2pm

I told the nurses that I was shaking a bit, uncontrollably. Now this was my transition. They checked and I was 9cm dilated!!!

3pm

A few minutes later I was complete- 10 cm dilated!! Everyone got in their places.... midwife, nurses, infant warmer, matt washed his hands (getting ready to touch our little baby). We were game. She turned off my epidural, and said that I should have a baby in about 5 minutes... she could see her little head. So I pushed. And pushed. And pushed some more.

4pm

Now this was more painful than my contractions pre-epidural. Holy shit. I could feel everything....and it wasn't just for 5 minutes. I had been pushing for an hour and a half now sans epidural. I was getting exhausted. I believe I might have asked for the vacuum to be used.... episiotomy- that sounded like a fabulous idea. Hell cut the baby out of me....c-section anyone?! My midwife said no to the vacuum, that at this point she would have taken the vacuum off.  Her little head was crowning...matt could see it... he was in disbelief. My midwife asked if I wanted to feel her head.... I said eww. no thanks.

4:49pm

I pushed with all of my might...and then I heard my midwife say...Lindsey use two hands!! What?! Lindsey use two hands!!!- and I looked down to see and I grabbed our little cora with my two hands and pulled her out of my body and onto my belly. Holy shit. This was unbelievable, is this even possible?? Did this just happen?? Matt was in awe.... I was blown away... this little human I pulled out of myself was ours! This was our cora.... all hot and red and beautiful and healthy.

Matt cut the cord... they checked her out. Super APGAR scores... Cora Elm was born at 4:49pm April 18th 2012. She was 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and 19" long.

 We tried to breastfeed right away and I thought we had a latch. I hemorrhaged a lot... got pitocin... hemorrhaged more. Whatevs. The fundal massages just about killed me though- where the nurses press on your uterus through your belly to get it to stop bleeding and cramp up. But it was all fine. I'm a mom!! Matt's a dad!! This is crazy.

 

12am

We made it to our postpartum room...very nice....but I just knew we had to go asap. We asked to leave 24 hours after delivery....which was their minimum length of stay possible. Sure, cora wasn't latching.... just had her frenulum cut (tongue tied)....she wouldn't stop crying...matt and I hadn't slept more than 1 hour in 48 hours. But we were done. We wanted to go home. We could be better parents in our own home, less stress. So we left the next day at 5pm as parents, with our little Cora in the back seat. What an unbelievable day.

hospital bag revisited...

So I thought I should re-visit this hospital list that I made back [here]. Some of things were great, others were silly. We had a normal delivery, healthy baby, but a fussy baby. We have been in survival mode every since delivery trying to figure out how to soothe our babe.... so that may have changed a few of our items and hospital stay. But, perhaps this could help the preggers out there trying to pack realistically.

The green writing is what I would change for next time....

Hospital Bag:

• camera- a point and shoot for matt to use...that does black and white for my unflattering labor pictures.-the black and white pictures I love... except we had the shades drawn and lights off for me to focus on being calm...so all of our photos are dark. Ooops. Next time we will know.
• music- our iphones with playlists and pandora and little speaker Pandora wouldn't work for some reason in the hospital, so we had music from our iphones... it was great with the epidural... but during real painful contractions music made me nauseated. I needed silence and my dear husband telling me I could make it through.
• camera and iphone battery charger
• chap stick.... maybe two of them.
• my own disolveable zofran... can I take this while laboring? My least favorite thing in the world is vomiting. I will ask this of our midwife next appointment Funny thing, Matt was the only one to use Zofran. Right before I was going to start pushing matt felt like he was going to pass out or hurl....or a combination of the two. He is a big guy mind you....so I told him to take a zofran and put a chair behind him just in case. He was wonderful about 1 minute after taking the zofran. It was just such an exciting time, so many nerves.
• snacks- I get rather cranky without food...crackers, cheese, granola bars, peanut butter, veggies Thank god I packed powerbars and granola bars- these were crucial. It's the only thing I ate my whole stay.
• matt's swim trunks for the standing jacuzzi- didn't get to the jacuzzi. walking was just not possible for me with the pain.
• matt's change of clothes/ pajamas
• matt's toiletries
• after delivery lounge wear... fresh, clean yoga pants, tank top, sweat shirt- oh man, I hated the hospital nursing gown. It was huge and cumbersome. I just wanted to be naked with my frustrated non-latching little baby. So I took a shower and changed into my own clothes in the middle of the night after we got to the post partum room.
• flip flops
• travel sized: shampoo, conditioner, face soap, face and body lotion, tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant
• makeup (the little makeup I do wear, I don't want to do without)
• hair dryer and curling rod (if I didn't have a short-styled hair cut, I could do without this stuff...but alas, I do. No ponytails for me)- didn't use the curling iron... and they had a hair dryer. It was nice to look "normal" again after being so bloody and goopy.
• spud journal to write about our experiences that I don't want to forget-still haven't gotten around to writing in this. Too stressful with all of the crying and not eating....survival mode I tell ya.
• one newborn pajama and one 0-3 pajama to go home in... extra snugly with fold over mittens and footies-the newborn PJs were even a bit big. She was alot tinier than we thought she would be.
• one blanket to swaddle/cover her on our way home
• infant nail clippers (this is silly, but the hospital can't cut your baby's nails, and I think it would drive me crazy...some of them are so very long! I don't want her to scratch herself)- we did use these! Her nails were very long!!
• car seat safely installed in car
• box of candy for the nurses...maybe I like this sentiment because I will be a nurse soon? But screw it I like it, and I'm doing it. - I thought for sure I'd deliver after being induced like a week after I ended up giving birth. So I thought I had time to buy the candy and put it off. Oh well.
• I did have my own motrin with me, which was great. I got tired of asking for pain meds, and I didn't want narcotics. I was in quite a bit of pain after delivery so I wanted to stay ontop of it myself.

Stuff I don't think I need:

• pads, underwear, my own hospital gown... this birthing process and recovery is bloody and gooey. I'd rather use their disposable gear or they-wash-it clothing- very true. I loved their pads.... LOTS of bleeding. Their underwear however were awful...I think because I was too large for them (umm... 56 pound weight gain anyone?! yeah.) I wore my own maternity undies.
• diaper bag, lots of baby clothes, pacifiers, diapers...they supply all of this- I wish we had brought a pacifier. It would have made things easier (read this post about it)
• breast feeding pillow- I think I can manage without the boppy pillow. They have ample pillows to use and prop in any way imaginable.- just fine without it. They have everything, even a breast-friend pillow.
• books, movies, magazines.... we have each other to be entertained, I think. - yup, didn't need it. Didn't even turn the TV on once.

must-haves for the first week

These are items that helped our survival during the first week of our little spud's life...You may not agree with anything that what we used, but I found our sanity and cora's to be greatly improved with these items. As a mom you have to deal with endless judgements on what you should be doing. I hate the shoulds. So Matt and I did what we felt was best...and here is our list that may help you to be strong too if need be.

1. formula
Yes, my name is Lindsey, and I formula feed our baby. My baby was crying endlessly the first night looking frustrated with the latch or lack there of....and I pleaded with the nurses to just get me some damn formula. Oh yeah...and a nipple! Boy, the looks I got could almost send me to tears (oh, wait that's right...it did, many tears were shed). Cora took to the bottle with a smile and almost a giggle... so excited to just get some sustenance. A few days later it turns out cora wasn't getting any milk/colostrum from breast feeding because she was tongue tied. Thank goodness I used my new motherly intuition to supplement with formula, regardless of the judgements.... my baby was fed and nourished thanks to formula.

2. breast pump
After meeting with the lactation consultant and determining that our little cora was latching great, I was doing my part...and still she was getting almost zilch from my boobs.... we decided to do the pump thang. This enabled my milk to come in and give her breast milk from the bottle- awesome. The pump is actually okay to use. It doesn't hurt...just a little awkward watching and willing drop by drop to come out of the boobies. (gosh, I wonder what kind of traffic I am going to get to this blog now...  boobie searches galore.)

3. dr. brown's bottle with infant nipple
Our lactation consultant recommended these nipples as a super low-flow nipple for using the bottle. Of course having our infant being bottle fed was not ideal, but necessary. My milk still hasn't come in to the volume it should, due to Cora's tongue-tied nature in the first days. So, we supplement pumped breast milk with formula...either using this bottle/nipple combo or a tube and syringe to tube feed. It helps that grandparents, matt...they can all feed cora and soothe her.

4. bouncy chair
This is like a second set of hands in times of need. For instance...so that I can shower, do my hair, prepare the bottles, pump... super helpful. Ours kind of vibrates and has a white noise/music option. She likes it, but it would probably be fine without too.

5. these cheap "precious firsts" PJs from target
Cora turned out to be tiny... like too small for the 0-3 month clothes we purchased. So this newborn sized outfit is adorable and fits perfectly. They are cheap and at target...and simple. No silly writing on them, just great sleepwear that is snug for our little 7 pound 10 ounce babe.

6. soothies pacifier
The hospital actually frowned upon this one. It took me hunting down two nurses to get my hands on a pacifier our first night. As though being a mom isn't hard enough...I had to deal with the negative stigmas of giving my new baby a pacifier. Whatever.... I know the reasoning, but I needed to pacify my baby...and that's exactly what it does. She prefers this big clunky pacifier and will not take the myriad of other much cuter ones I bought. Go figure.

7. tucks pads
Eeesh. Healing from birthing a whole human is a wee bit painful. These tucks pads help to soothe. I didn't have a tear that required stitches, but none the less a tear. One day it should heal I am told. I am still waiting with tucks pads galore.

a spud pre-birth story.

[oh geez I was huge... huge, 39 weeks pregnant.... and had no idea what we were in for]

So here is part one of Cora Elm's birth story...I wrote this part week by week so that I wouldn't forget. And now I need to work on part two- her actual birth. It's funny, I am forgetting already what labor felt like. I loved reading birth stories when I was pregnant and pre-pregnancy. So enjoy if you care for this type of thing...

[38 weeks]
This started off as the longest week ever. Seriously. Time just seemed to drag on. I was 38 weeks pregnant... still working fulltime, and going to school and I just had enough. I was starting to get uncomfortable. The only plus side to this long week is that I got a job offer... which I accepted! Wahoo!! I really will be a nurse!! So with that huge relief off my mind, I felt like I could now deliver a baby. Which....I didn't. I really thought I would deliver on the earlier side.

[39 weeks]
I went into my 39 week appointment. My midwife offered to check my progress, which I declined but she thought I was going into labor so she wanted to check just to be sure. My contractions started to change the night before. Instead of being a squeezing pressure... it was now uncomfortable. Not downright painful... but a little tricky to breathe. I also couldn't sleep- maybe it was the nerves, maybe it was the contractions. But I thought this was it!! It wasn't it. I was 1cm dilated.... thinned...and 0 station....for those of you who care :) So, it was good...she is definitely sitting low, which is why I am a chronic waddler... but a little disappointing, which is why I declined initially. There is no benefit to these checks early on- I will either clearly be going into labor and pop out a baby or I won't.

My blood pressures were high and my lack of sleep with increased discomfort...I was placed on maternity leave a week early. It was a little weird, I love work.... but I really wasn't feeling the 12 hour busy shifts. I needed a break.

I tried to fill my hours of waiting this week at home....I made a new shopping list template for winco, finished sewing a diaper changing pad, dyed some onesies and swaddle blanket, cleaned the house again, did spud's laundry, packed my hospital bag, sat in the sun, made a closet ladder... I know, my midwife told me to get rest, put my feet up... that's great if I want to last 2 more weeks, but I wanted that babe out now-ish.

Throughout the week I had intermittent hours of painful contractions...just hoping that they would ramp up and be unbearable. But no, they would subside to bearable contractions. I guess I had been having braxton hicks- but I didn't find that changing what I was doing would make them less intense. They were just milder, and sporadic. I considered this to be my pre-early labor. A practice round.

A coworker of mine, who was 3 weeks ahead of me in baby due dates said at her week 39.... I feel like I'm going to be eternally pregnant. Yup. Check. I feel the same way. Sometimes I would catch myself thinking... what if I never go into labor?! Like seriously think this. Yikes. Then I realized I indeed do have an induction date. This spud will come out by week 41.  (FYI, my coworker is not still pregnant...she has a beautiful healthy baby girl)


So... on Tuesday I was having serious menstrual-esq cramps. I realized it had been 10 months free of period pains, and how nice it has been. I thought nothing of the back pain and cramping and went to bed, motrin and wine free....which normally would have been my cramp-go-to pre-pregnancy. I woke up at midnight-wednesday morning with intense cramps. I tried to take a dump....eat... move around in bed. Nothing worked, I quietly climbed back into bed next to matt ...spud did a few cartwheel feeling like things in my belly....and GUSH. Yup. My water broke at 1 am. I almost started laughing out loud as I ran to the bathroom in this very wet state I was in. I ran back into the bedroom and told matt my water broke. It felt like christmas morning....no joke. He smiled, laughed...and got up running around like a chicken with his head cut off super excited...ready to do this. Finally...I'm in labor at 39 weeks and 5 days!! Let's do this.

cora's first week...

Here are a few instagram pictures from cora's first week of life....

This week has been full of struggles with breastfeeding, tongue-tied-ness, sleeping, inconsolable crying, nocturnal-ness and figuring out life once again. We honestly had no idea how hard this would be, the first few nights we felt all alone that our baby was trickier than others... but this was just silliness, having an infant takes adapting. But it has also been the most incredible seven days of our lives. Matt and I can't stop smiling or laughing at how sensational our little daughter is. We made this little human.... pretty freakin cool. Her little facial expressions, squirmy body, and adorable graspy hands bring tears to our eyes, she makes us so happy. We love her. So, all three of us are adjusting this week number one... thank goodness for maternity and paternity leave, this time is so very precious.

our spud is born!

[welcome to the world cora elm]

She is beautiful and healthy....and all ours.

Cora was born on Wednesday April 18th 2012 at 4:49 pm.

She is 7 pounds 10 ounces and 19" tall.

She is perfect... We are in love.

I can't wait to tell you all about the whirlwind that our little 3 day old baby has created in our world. She is nothing like we expected...nor is parenthood... nor is the extreme almost unfathomable love and joy that she brings to our lives. These are the best days of our life, without question. Please bare with me as we attempt to leave survival mode, and come back to life.... blogging and all.

[week 39]

Yikes... I made it to week 39?! I thought for sure I was going to deliver early. Guess not! This little spud has some brain growth to do, I suppose.

It has been hard to just let my body do its thing. I have these irrational thoughts that maybe if I run up and down the stairs 10 times (who am I kidding, waddle slowly), bend over to do laundry 2 times and eat 5 fork-fulls of spicy chinese food I will send myself into labor. Like it's a silly math equation...one of those long frustrating word problems. Well, it's not. She will come when she is ready OR...I will be induced around week 41.

So we have been doing last minute projects, just trying to get ready. Each time I have an hour or so of painful contractions...I rack my brain trying to think...if this is it, what do we for sure need to get done before we drive into the hospital? So then it prompts us to finish up some lingering to-dos, because it wasn't it.

However, we have matt's family in town.... and my parents come this upcoming weekend...and my sister the week after... and matt's sisters in May. I can't wait for this little party to get started, a cora-welcome-to-the-world party. We are o-so ready.

hospital bag -packed!

[an over-sized tote bag I whipped up...and the most adorable PJs with fold-over mittens that I seam-ripped off the "brother loves me" or something patch from carters...and don't be fooled by the colors or toy trucks....we are still having a girl]

I thought this was a little silly... why would you pre-pack a hospital bag? Laboring isn't really as quick as the movies show it...oh shit...my water broke and race to the hospital... I think most people have hours of laboring at home. But, then the closer I got I realized, wow...I should really pack a hospital bag. What if I didn't have my chapstick? Yoga pants after delivery?...would I have to resort to my butt hanging out the back of my gown? Yes, I needed to pack a bag, stat.

So after referring to a bunch of fellow bloggers lists out there... I compiled a list of what "necessities" I needed to have. There are a ton of over-packers in this world, I am not one of them...nor am I a minimalist. I like to go tent camping... with our truck....and wine...and nice cheeses and meats...and dog beds... and an air mattress. That's my style of camping, so I find this situation rather similar. Matt calls me moderately moderate about everything in life... usually with some type of frowny face. He is more on the extreme/excessive side of things...he likes to live large, which is something I love about him. Can you tell I am processing how our life of two-dom will be rapidly changing to a family of three soon?! Anyways, I digress.

I like lists... they make me happy... so here is mine...

Hospital Bag:

• camera- a point and shoot for matt to use...that does black and white for my unflattering labor pictures.
• music- our iphones with playlists and pandora and little speaker
• camera and iphone battery charger
• chap stick.... maybe two of them.
• my own disolveable zofran... can I take this while laboring? My least favorite thing in the world is vomiting. I will ask this of our midwife next appointment
• snacks- I get rather cranky without food...crackers, cheese, granola bars, peanut butter, veggies
• matt's swim trunks for the standing jacuzzi
• matt's change of clothes/ pajamas
• matt's toiletries
• after delivery lounge wear... fresh, clean yoga pants, tank top, sweat shirt
• flip flops
• travel sized: shampoo, conditioner, face soap, face and body lotion, tooth brush, tooth paste, deodorant
• makeup (the little makeup I do wear, I don't want to do without)
• hair dryer and curling rod (if I didn't have a short-styled hair cut, I could do without this stuff...but alas, I do. No ponytails for me)
• spud journal to write about our experiences that I don't want to forget
• one newborn pajama and one 0-3 pajama to go home in... extra snugly with fold over mittens and footies
• one blanket to swaddle/cover her on our way home
• infant nail clippers (this is silly, but the hospital can't cut your baby's nails, and I think it would drive me crazy...some of them are so very long! I don't want her to scratch herself)
• car seat safely installed in car
• box of candy for the nurses...maybe I like this sentiment because I will be a nurse soon? But screw it I like it, and I'm doing it.

Stuff I don't think I need:

• pads, underwear, my own hospital gown... this birthing process and recovery is bloody and gooey. I'd rather use their disposable gear or they-wash-it clothing
• diaper bag, lots of baby clothes, pacifiers, diapers...they supply all of this
• breast feeding pillow- I think I can manage without the boppy pillow. They have ample pillows to use and prop in any way imaginable.
• books, movies, magazines.... we have each other to be entertained, I think.

...Any suggestions/thoughts from moms out there?!

Of course I will re-visit this list after delivery for what we really needed... and how I shouldn't have been so silly.

[week 38]

Little spud is 38 weeks along! This week we had a few fun things happen to us...

I had a phenomenal hot stone massage. Oh my, I can't believe I have missed out on this method for so long. I go to an aveda salon/spa... and the hot stones are heavenly. I would recommend it! I left the table feeling... well....not pregnant. It was relaxing and very therapeutic.

I had my first nurse interview. This is something I had been dreading. Not only is it nerve wrecking for a real career type interview...but I am HUGE. Yeah, not my first choice, but it happened and it was fantastic. I don't know that I got the job, but it was a great interview and I feel less nervous now about subsequent ones. How many people interview for a job 38 weeks pregnant? Ha. Well, we did. I even felt okay about my interview outfit... big deal, seeing how I have been living in yoga pants and scrubs for the past 9 months.

This week may be my last prego picture? Not sure... but I will miss them. So I am relishing in the now. Which is probably why you are all inundated by my almost daily posts. I feel like I have so very much to get in before she arrives. So...blog posts galore.

spud box!! (a DIY co-sleeper)

[my dad and matt installing the spud box... in coordinating clothing and beards. nice job guys!]

My dad made Cora a fantastic and beautiful co-sleeper for our bedroom. It's made of pine that he ripped, sanded, and constructed into a "spud box." I got the co-sleeper idea from [here] a while back. I asked my dad what he thought about this project and jumped right to it! When my parents drove out to visit us they brought his creation. It's beautiful and will be incredibly useful.

As you can tell from the pictures, our bedroom is tiny. We have an older 1900-something house that we love for now...but the downside is... small rooms. We want to have Cora sleep in our room to be able to bond with her, provide for easier middle of the night feedings and have the benefits of co-sleeping for SIDS, etc. Pack 'n plays are too big, and why have something plastic when you can have a wood beauty? Plus we are two big people in a queen sized bed, cora needs her own space free of blankets and pillows to rest comfortably.

Spud box dimensions:
36" long x 16" wide with 12" sides

The two long slats slide under the mattress, and it has the two legs for support on the opposite side of the box. My dad says this project took him about 40 hours... but he is a perfectionist and chose to mill his own wood for the project. Hard to say how long it would take someone else.

My dad chose to make the 2 legs of the spud box with the ability to change the height. This will be great for when we move and *hopefully* upgrade to a bigger room with a king sized bed. This may be only a dream, but at least the spud box will fit regardless for our next babe too.

Foam:

I bought 3" high density foam at Jo Ann's. This normally would be about $40 for this chunk of foam, but with those 50% off coupon is was $20...which I think is still pricey. So make the cuts wisely! The foam was cut down to 36" x 16" with just a regular sharp kitchen knife. Super easy.

Spud-box sheet:
I mentioned in the previous post how my mom and I sewed the fitted sheets. Really quick to make. I also cut down a vinyl fitted sheet that usually is for cribs to prevent spill-absorption. This layer goes under the fitted sheet so that it protects our foam from nighttime accidents/spill outs. One fitted sheet came down to about $5 to make and about $7 for the vinyl sheet at Target.

We can use this co-sleeper up to 6 months we think and for our next in-the-future baby...tater tot.

Next step:
Thoroughly clean bedroom and wash all new fresh bedding for Cora's arrival....oh yeah, and kick the dogs out of the bedroom. Something we have been dreading, we love sleeping in the same room with them. Which brings us to the next project- similar to the DIY dutch door....a DIY swing dog-gate for our bedroom!

just waiting...

Um. Pregnancy is crazy. No, I am done talking about swollen ankles (for now)...but this unknown of when it's all going down is craaaazy. When am I going to go into labor? Will my water break? When will the last contraction I have start a rapid fire of consistent contractions that puts me into labor? This is exciting!!

Part of me wants this babe out... like now. I am ready to see her, I am ready to be out of this bulky immobile body, I want our blissful summertime to be here with spud in our arms. I want to see matt learn how to change a diaper and hold his tiny daughter in his big arms. I want this all now. So I dream of stripping membranes and inductions. Seriously.

Then the other part of me wants to relish in this time and put the side effects of pregnancy aside....and just be utterly present. I want to focus on her little body tossing around in my belly for these last days, to relish in matt and I being a two-dom, and process what is about to happen to us and our life. I also really want that thrill of...oh crap...this could be it! Let's go to the hospital!! ...instead of a planned induction. I really do want to be patient, but it's tricky!

The unknown is crazy. Could it be tonight? Could it be exactly on our due date of April 20th?! Maybe I will just have to wait and be induced April 27th? So Matt and I are feeling this unknown...and anxious to finish our long list of spud-to-dos. None of it absolutely has to get done, but it would be nice to check some things off our list. Maybe help us sleep better at night. HA.

So, time is ticking. Just like before when I was thinking every single day...maybe now I could be pregnant... now I fill my head with oh.... maybe this could be the day I meet our sweet cora.

DIY fitted crib sheets

As I mentioned my parents came into town to see the pregnant belly and help with some fun spud projects. My mom and I decided to make fitted crib sheets and fitted spud box sheets. It took us about a day to DIY our 4 fitted sheets. I made a few measuremental errors...so perhaps it could have gone smoother had I been 100% paying attention. But it was fun to make this together and turned out just as I had in my head for her room.

There are tons of great tutorials out there to make fitted sheets, and it's rather simple. (I like this one on danamadeit). I couldn't find sheets that I loved for the spud room...so I decided we could make our own. I bought a twin size amy butler sheet set at Bed Bath and Beyond. It's normally $70 for the set, but we bought it on sale and with a 20% off coupon for $20! They are quirky, amy butler (my favorite) and turquoise! It was perfect because sheets already come super soft and high thread count- where fabric may or may not be....and even though its cute, it's expensive. So this route was the best for me.

A twin sized flat sheet can make 2 crib size fitted sheets, and the twin fitted sheet made 2 spud-box sheets. The spud box is similar in size to a long diaper changing pad...so you could potentially make those if you don't have a spud box to sew for :)

I had a hard time finding conversions for twin sheet to crib sheet (FYI- wikipedia's bedding sizes). We also re-used the elastic in the twin fitted sheet, I just cut it out and I had my own 1/4" elastic to thread through the whole fitted sheet casing. Some people choose to do just elastic on the corners, I like the look of elastic gathering the fabric through the whole sheet. I am sure the other way would be easier though.

Here are my dimensions...if it helps.

2 crib fitted sheets from 1 twin flat sheet:
-flat sheets are around 102" x 72", then we trimmed off all of the seams
-our standard crib mattress is 52" x 28" x 5"
-cut two rectangles of 68" x 44" fabric
-then cut 8" squares from each corner

2 co-sleeper fitted sheets:

-our spud box crib mattress/foam is 36" x 16" x 3"
-cut two rectangles of 48" x 28" fabric
-then cut 6" squares from each corner

From here I'd follow the tutorial for nice instructions on sewing the fitted sheets. 

[my mom smiling the whole project long... amazing to have the help and motivation!]

...I think it looks nice with the grey walls...not overly girly either. More pictures to come as we finish up the spud room!

stretch marks and other third trimester fun.

[why not throw up a non-glamorous shot of pregnancy?!... curlers in the hair... painting my nails outside with the dogs... trying to get some spring-vit D-enriched-sunshine?!...it's me and the spud-belly in our final trimester together...thanks photographer matt]

Yup, I have the marks. I guess it's genetic... so I could use all the creams in the world (ok, I only used 3 of them religiously) and I would still get my destined stretch marks. I found these little squiggly red lines under my belly last week. I don't know why the ones on my hips don't phase me one bit...but on my belly?! Tiny bummer. I think my bikini days were over about 8 years ago....but I still like to do the float the river thing during summertime... and now I have lines that who knows how big they will get this month.

What other fun things can I reflect on this third trimester of pregnancy?!

• close to 50 lb weight gain. Yikes....right?! I'm still shocked by this number, so I don't weight myself at home any longer. Once a week at the OB appointment is plenty.
• swelling in my ankles that makes them feel like logs I voluntarily lug around.
• pregnant butt...thighs...arms...face. Yes a systemic pregnancy. It has engulfed my whole body, there is nothing localized about this.
• waking up every two hours to pee and potentially eat is a norm in our house
• my energy level has drastically plummeted from my 2nd trimester bliss. It feels a bit like the first trimester except sleep is impossible and no nausea.
• my pubic symphysis cartilage (that groin area...wiki says "symphysis pubis dysfunction") feels like it's majorly bruised/ripping apart... I think a nurse at work described it as though you crotched-a-bike. Yup. Check! I got the dysfunction...that will hopefully be uber-functional next month.

I'm not complaining about any of this, pregnancy is just a trip. I wouldn't change any of it for the world... I will actually miss it when it's over. I have loved this process of growing our little human and I hope I this won't be our only time. But for those of you trying to get pregnant or early pregnancy I think its nice to have a realistic idea of what can happen. I know I searched the internet like hell to find the pubis-dysfunction because no one really talks about it. When does "hey...so.. my groin feels like it's severely bruised!" come up in conversation? It doesn't. It's more fun to talk about meandering elbows and rhythmic hiccups in the belly. So here you have it!

[week 37]

I'm 37 weeks (ie. full term)! Feels like I've been pregnant for ever. You know, 10 months is a long time to wait for something. At our last OB appointment the midwife said...okay...we'll see you at your appointment next week if you haven't had your baby yet. Um. CRAZY! Matt and I are collecting our last minute questions and birth plan for next week's appointment. Matt has been awesome and has gone to all of the OB appointments with me...it has been fun and so surreal that it will be over soon.

Pregnancy is a trip....right?! I don't even remember looking like this 12 week photo anymore.
Oh, spud.

...so without further ado here is spud's progression from week 12 to 37 weeks.
Music is M.Ward's-Never Had Nobody Like You.



Want to see spud's first movie?!
[a spud movie]

Want to see my weekly posts about pregnancy and my thoughts/symptoms?!
[weeks]

lamaze!

Matt and I went to our first birthing class a few weeks ago... lamaze! Now, ideally I wanted to take a hypnobirthing class but it just didn't work in my schedule. We decided not to cry about it and instead take a lamaze class and supplement it with our hypnobirthing book.

Let me tell you...we learned a lot and maybe more importantly it was fun and encouraging! It was one night and one full day long. It also included a maternity center tour. The instructor was great and super positive. It's just what we needed. Lamaze as it turns out isn't really about breathing anymore. Crazy right?! It's more about positioning, massage (fantastic), and some breathing/relaxation. We learned about the other interventions that may go down....which is great for people to know what could happen. We don't all get to choose our birthing plans 100%, so that was a nice realistic side of a natural birthing class.

What we took away from the class:

- Matt needs to support me with ample amounts of massage....we learned techniques, just grand I tell you.
- I tried some new positions for comfort and helping spud progress in the birthing canal. So helpful! A bit of squatting, birthing ball use, and positioning using matt as support.
- We both understood a little more of what the interventions can be- episiotomy, amniotomy, pitocin, c-section, epidural....not presented in a scary way just potentially necessary, so it was great to get educated on it.
- We did an exercise where we had about 30 flashcards about a birthing plan. One side said something like "amniotomy" and the other said "let water break naturally"...or "midwife/ OB" or "vaginal/c-section." We had to place all the cards face up with what our ideal birthing plan was. Then we had to flip over 7 of them, because realistically everything won't go as planned. Matt and I then decided to pick up all the ones we just didn't really care about when it came right down to it. We were left with 3 face up: "Hospital birth, baby girl, healthy." Birthing plan complete.
- After the class Matt said...Ok, well I'm ready to have a baby! Sweet, me too. Now we just wait for spud to be ready.

(side note...why is blogger f-ing up my paragraph spacing?! I'm really trying hard to not be OCD about this, but come on blogger...anyone else having issues?)

[week 36]

Well....time sure does fly. Yikes. 36 weeks! In the past two weeks I have tried to relax...but it has been busy!

My parents came out to visit and we pulled off some incredible projects. It was awesome to see my parents, and how blown away they were with their daughter being super pregnant. My dad brought out the finished spud box (that's what my dad calls the co-sleeper for our room) ... much more on that later. My mom and I made fitted sheets for the crib and spud box. The roller-curtains were installed in the spud room. Matt and my dad brewed a cora-red ale. Oh, and my mom and I loved the indulgent mani/pedi. It was a blast.

My wonderful girlfriends out here in Idaho threw me a build-a-library baby shower that was perfect. Matt and I haven't been to babys r us... or toys r us... or any r-us, it's not really us. We don't have a registry... we are doing a little more minimal approach of having a child, but we did really want kid books. So we are starting to grow a little spud library, and it's fantastic.

So, I take that back, we kind of have a registry. I made a wish list on amazon for our families to look at. It's super simple and great that it pulls from anything on the internet...like etsy or ikea. We didn't expect to get too many things from our wish list, but it was a great way for us to budget for all of the items we thought we wanted/ needed with an evolving list. Turns out our families rock, and we have been so fortunate to have been gifted most of our wish list items.

....And how am I feeling being 36 weeks and HUGE?!

I feel good and extremely exhausted with everything. My pelvis feels as though it could rip into two pieces at any moment. I think Cora has dropped a little, for walking is a HUGE feat. But these are good things, all progressing in the right downward trend. She is head-down, which is encouraging too, her little 5 pound self just flops her little bottom side to side in my belly 24-7. The kicking and punching seems to be inwards and targeted at my organs. And at the end of this week spud will be full term!! Yay Spud!

[week 34]

I made it. I made it through my final preceptorship/clinical without having a spud born! Hell yeah. That is a picture of my 34-week-pregnant-body exhausted, but we did it. This is the day I was looking forward to all semester.

And... my parents are coming to visit next week, which will be fantastic. Instead of having my clinical to go to I can just relish in being pregnant with them. We get to do a few spud-room projects, my mom and I can get a pedicure while my dad and matt make a spud-brew-batch to drink when Cora is born. It will be grand.

And... spring is in the air. We are starting to get a few warm days (ie. 50-60 degrees) and birds are chirping like crazy. It's fabulous. I just love it when those first little leaves start to pop on the trees. Soon. Soon Spud will be here. This spring time will be extra fantastic.

music in-utero.

[precious picture from here]

Well... we have been a little cognisant of the fact that little spud hears a muffled version of everything that we hear. Do I want her to hear us potentially yelling? negative tones? ugly music? screaming? Probably not. I want her to hear her dad's voice and my laughter following it. I want her to feel my endorphins pulsating through her tiny little veins and arteries when I speak of her arrival and mention her name. I want her to hear the dogs breathing on my belly and trying to talk to us about wanting bones, car rides, and endless love. I want her to hear only the best of music to start her eclectic open-mindedness now, in utero. I want everything to be cheery in her warm little world. Why not? This world is great. We will make her world great.

I read somewhere about how fetuses start to gain a musical taste in utero. That she doesn't have to come out wanting to hear barney songs... she may want to listen to a little bob dylan and devotchka instead. That would be nice for us. Matt and I have always *loved* andrew bird music. He is fantastic. I made that little spud movie at week 16 to andrew bird's song "You Woke Me Up." We listen to him camping, on road trips, in the house, even walking down the aisle at our wedding (we asked him for a version of our favorite song of his without words... they sent it to us...it was sensational). Anyways, what prompted this post was his newest album that I just can't turn off nor turn down low. This will definitely be playing during my labor. I hope with as many hours as we spend listening to it that she comes into this world wanting andrew-bird-style lullabies. That and being soothed by matt's guitar playing. That would be blissful.

My questions for spudlet...

-Can she hear music when I wear headphones?!
-Can she hear both sides of the conversation on a cell phone?
...Probably not. I like to think she is my little ESP friend. Everything I think, she can feel. But I am sure this is not the case. I've just never had anyone living and thriving in my belly before. It's a pretty grand connection we have, even if she can't read my mind.

a DIY dutch door.

[one dutch door and two goonies]

We have dogs...as I have mentioned before, now 2 big ones. We did the doggy-gate thing for awhile in our house until my legs just didn't want to clear the gate any longer. Something about having a belly and no abdominal muscle tone makes stepping over a gate tricky and rather unsafe. We like to keep the dogs out of our bedroom and now we want them to stay out of spud's room too. I was struggling with the idea of putting a gate up in front of spud's room when I really don't want to be stepping over it holding a precious baby. Yes, a dog-free zone is important but what a nuisance! We have an old house that has super narrow doorways, like 26". The fancy dog gates with the door that opens needs a modern sized doorway that is wide.... not tiny like ours. So, unfortunately those wouldn't work in our house.

[a cute one from pinterest]

So plan B?! Well...I tossed out the idea to matt that what if we made a dutch door? I thought he might laugh at my silliness, but instead he loved the idea. We researched how much a dutch door costs- upwards of $1,000. Ridiculous right, for a door...a nice door but still?! Oh...this is a dutch door, also known as a barn door, stable door, half door (pictured above). They are adorable. So... we thought...hey let's DIY a dutch door! That's perfect!! A little door to open and close with a doorknob when we want to enter spud's room. This will be a door that almost 100% stays closed to keep big dogs out and little Cora in. We can also close the top half when its time to sleep and want to keep the noise out of her room. Perfect.

[completed dutch door!]

Our steps to a DIY door...

1. We didn't want to cut the door in half that is already existing to Cora's room. We are renting our house, and it's just not nice to start cutting things in half that aren't yours.

[the old, very nice looking singular door]

2. Get an incredibly helpful dad to help with motivating to start a project and help with the logistics of completing a dutch door project. So, Matt and his dad went to a second-hand-construction store to find an old door that would kind-of fit in our doorway.

[matt, his dad, and even colby trying to help]

3. It took about 2 days for them to make the door fit. That was shocking. But nothing in our house is level or straight. Not the ground, not to ceiling and definitely not the doorway.

4. Two additional hinges were chiseled and attached to the door and frame. This is so that each 1/2 of the door has 2 hinges to swing on.

5. Once the door was custom fit to the doorway and hinges placed they measured a nice 1/2 way point to cut the door in half. The door was cut in half and then fine-tuned to fit yet again in the doorway now that the load was hanging differently on the 4 hinges.

[in progress]

6. The pre-existing old fashioned doorknob was placed on the door again.

7. Matt added a strip on wood to the top and bottom edge of the door interfacing. This made the door look nice, a little more of a finished look. It also made the door feel a little stronger and more durable. He also filled in that awful hole you see above where the preexisting door latch was.

[the strip being screwed in]

[ready to be painted]

8. We painted the door tailor's chalk white- the same color as the trim in the room.

9. This is an extra step that most people would want to make... add a latch to connect the top and bottom parts of the doors into one door. This would be helpful when trying to close the door in its entirety. We are skipping this step for now because we don't see ourselves shutting the top half of the door that often, and can't decide on a nice latch to connect the two. So, we will address this step in about 6 months when we need it.

10. Marvel over the 1/2 door invention, and love it.....DIY dutch door complete!

[week 33]

Ahhh... week 33.  This week (actually right this second) matt and I are in a lamaze class. Lets all hope I am gaining the courage to do this naturally. As you all may know I have been on a Labor and Delivery Unit doing my last clinical rotation as a nursing student. Let me tell you this has been unbelievable and eye opening. I have been doing two night shifts a week, and I feel like a real nurse... it's phenomenal.

A few things I have learned from fellow pregnant ladies aka-my laboring patients-

• birthing is tough. there is no way around it. baby must come out.
• an epidural looks like a dream, I was hoping this wouldn't be the case...but come on. Its crazy to think you elect to have a baby naturally... all of the pain. Women are amazing.
• knowing how to read fetal monitoring/contractions will freak the hell of me when I deliver. 
• I now know too much to be clueless 
• when baby doesn't line up perfectly it makes delivering about 500 times worse, as though that even possible.
• screaming women have every right to be in pain...they are giving birth to a child. Nothing compares. 
• C-sections look like an easier route, but just don't look behind the blue curtain. It's a massive abdominal surgery that you're awake for. It's no wonder these ladies are sore afterwards.
• Vacuum assisted babies are sometimes a necessary means to an end. All the goofy swelling goes down within 24 hours and they have infant beanies for a reason.
• some women are so pleasant during contractions to their husbands, it's unbelievable... I just hope I am one of them.
• IVs, fetal monitoring, oxygen- they all have a purpose when shit hits the fan.
• A 9 pound baby is HUGE...actually quite a difference from a 6 pounder. I was 11 pounds when I was born, and I believe my sister was too... al' natural. HOLY COW. Go mom.
• A baby being born is phenomenal. Period. Taking its first breath of fresh air... welcomed into the world. I love it. I'm hooked. I can't wait for my turn.

My walk away message from my clinical so far-

I want a healthy baby. That's my birthing plan. Whatever is necessary I will trust my midwife/nurse/OB/anesthetist to do what they feel is safe. 

next month...

So... FYI...we are having a baby next month.

NEXT MONTH!!! Ahhh!!!

That's all.

Best news ever for this first week of March 2012 in our little house.