After browsing Pinterest, I was inspired to make my baby a dress. Once I am spending more time making stuff instead of trying to figure out how to make stuff, I'll post tutorials!
Saturday, July 21, 2012
Repurposing an old T shirt
After browsing Pinterest, I was inspired to make my baby a dress. Once I am spending more time making stuff instead of trying to figure out how to make stuff, I'll post tutorials!
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Yo Gabba Dolls
Lemon Ginger Scones
I bought crystallized ginger and discovered I hated it! I hate wasting so I found this recipe on joyofbaking.com to use it up. It was pretty tasty, but not a big hit with the young ones.
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
My Birth Story
My water broke first in the afternoon. At first I thought I peed myself a little bit, it wasn't a lot. So I went to the washroom, and when I got up from the toilet I felt another gush of fluid run down my leg and I wondered if didn't wipe properly. I cleaned myself up and felt another little gush, so I put a pad on and consulted my trusty Dr. Google. I followed found instructions to lay down for a half hour with a pad on and to check how wet my pad was and if it smelled like pee or bleach. After 30 minutes, I had a soaked pad and it reeked strongly of bleach. I called the hospital and prepared myself for the terrible pain to come.
Six hours went by and there was no pain. The hospital told me not to come until morning. I was excited! I couldn't wait to see my baby. I packed and repacked bags, I called family and friends. I thought about eating all kinds of delicious things, then I thought about gas and poohing in front of everyone during labour, so I drank lots of water, and ate good high energy food (complex carbohydrates).
The clear fluid started to turn light pink and there was bits of blood in it and I called the hospital and was reassured that it was normal. I hardly slept. I felt very slight contractions, and amniotic fluid trickled slowly but steadily all night.
The next day I got ready to go to the hospital, without any significant labour pain. It had been about 16 hours since my water broke. I got to the hospital and the nurse took me in to assess me, I was expecting all the stress test stuff (I did a prenatal class and hospital tour) but all she did was ask me to pull my underwear down and she just took a swab of my pad with a giant Qtip. She confirmed that my water broke and set me and my husband up in a room.
The hospital was crazy busy and after a couple of hours, I was set up with an IV and oxytocin to induce labour. Two bands with sensors were strapped around my belly and I was hooked up to a machine. My plan to labour in the jacuzzi and to walk around went out the window. I couldn't really move around and everytime I had to pee I had to unhook myself from the machine and wheel the iv with me. The nurse gave me a birthing ball and we waited for the contractions to begin. I was fully hooked up and ready to go at around 10am.
I was really feeling pain at around 12:30pm and I lost my mind somewhere around 1:15pm! I didn't try to control my grunting anymore, I don't know if it was pee, blood or amniotic fluid all over the birthing ball and I didn't care. I probably could have laboured naked with an audience without shame at that point. Before that I was really good and breathing and visualizing. It got so intense, I forgot everything, I forgot I was having a baby, it was like I wasn't conscious! I am embarrassed to say I was the woman screaming and probably frightening all other labouring mothers on the floor. The nurse asked me if I had considered an epidural and that the labour will last around 10 hours considering it was my first time. Although I had planned throughout the pregnancy to have a natural birth, I couldn't remember a single reason why. I remember the nurse very kindly telling me I could sleep through the pain and that she will wake me when it it is time to push. All I could think was 'I am so tired! Why aren't I doing that?' So I caved and told her I wanted it.
As the nurse was setting up for my epidural, she asked me if I was pushing. She decided to check how dilated I was before giving me the epidural. I think it was around 2pm when she told me that it looked like I was going to have natural birth I was planning! Everything went very quickly after that and my baby was born at 2:40pm. I didn't have the slo-mo movie moment when they put my baby girl on my chest. I was shaking, exhausted and emotionally numb.
That was three months ago and this is truly the first moment I have had any time to sit and write at a desk! The weeks leading up to the birth I combed the internet reading all kinds of birth stories and I figured I should return the favour. I kind of feel like I was lied to though, every story I read about natural birth sugar coated the pain. That being said, I am glad it worked out the way it did, and that I went epidural-free in the end. I think for my next one, I will do my best to go without again (I have had an amazing recovery, and have felt great and completely capable of taking care of my baby). I do want to add that I do not fault any woman who chooses an epidural. The whole experience was not as gross as I thought it would be, I didn't pooh on anyone, the blood was not excessive and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
If I were to do it again I would make sure I had one of those microwavable hot packs. I think it would have helped a lot to have something warm on my lower back. I also think it would have been helpful to have something visual or tactile to concentrate on, I think I let myself go into panic mode and could have used something to keep me focused. And I wished I practiced my breathing, I actually forgot how to do it! I didn't use half the stuff I packed, all I really needed was the pillows and my toothbrush.
I don't mean to frighten other new mothers out there with my experience. I don't even mean that my experience was bad. I actually think I had a very positive birth experience and am happy with how it went. I am so grateful for my healthy baby who has delighted me in some way every single day since the day she was born.
Six hours went by and there was no pain. The hospital told me not to come until morning. I was excited! I couldn't wait to see my baby. I packed and repacked bags, I called family and friends. I thought about eating all kinds of delicious things, then I thought about gas and poohing in front of everyone during labour, so I drank lots of water, and ate good high energy food (complex carbohydrates).
The clear fluid started to turn light pink and there was bits of blood in it and I called the hospital and was reassured that it was normal. I hardly slept. I felt very slight contractions, and amniotic fluid trickled slowly but steadily all night.
The next day I got ready to go to the hospital, without any significant labour pain. It had been about 16 hours since my water broke. I got to the hospital and the nurse took me in to assess me, I was expecting all the stress test stuff (I did a prenatal class and hospital tour) but all she did was ask me to pull my underwear down and she just took a swab of my pad with a giant Qtip. She confirmed that my water broke and set me and my husband up in a room.
The hospital was crazy busy and after a couple of hours, I was set up with an IV and oxytocin to induce labour. Two bands with sensors were strapped around my belly and I was hooked up to a machine. My plan to labour in the jacuzzi and to walk around went out the window. I couldn't really move around and everytime I had to pee I had to unhook myself from the machine and wheel the iv with me. The nurse gave me a birthing ball and we waited for the contractions to begin. I was fully hooked up and ready to go at around 10am.
I was really feeling pain at around 12:30pm and I lost my mind somewhere around 1:15pm! I didn't try to control my grunting anymore, I don't know if it was pee, blood or amniotic fluid all over the birthing ball and I didn't care. I probably could have laboured naked with an audience without shame at that point. Before that I was really good and breathing and visualizing. It got so intense, I forgot everything, I forgot I was having a baby, it was like I wasn't conscious! I am embarrassed to say I was the woman screaming and probably frightening all other labouring mothers on the floor. The nurse asked me if I had considered an epidural and that the labour will last around 10 hours considering it was my first time. Although I had planned throughout the pregnancy to have a natural birth, I couldn't remember a single reason why. I remember the nurse very kindly telling me I could sleep through the pain and that she will wake me when it it is time to push. All I could think was 'I am so tired! Why aren't I doing that?' So I caved and told her I wanted it.
As the nurse was setting up for my epidural, she asked me if I was pushing. She decided to check how dilated I was before giving me the epidural. I think it was around 2pm when she told me that it looked like I was going to have natural birth I was planning! Everything went very quickly after that and my baby was born at 2:40pm. I didn't have the slo-mo movie moment when they put my baby girl on my chest. I was shaking, exhausted and emotionally numb.
That was three months ago and this is truly the first moment I have had any time to sit and write at a desk! The weeks leading up to the birth I combed the internet reading all kinds of birth stories and I figured I should return the favour. I kind of feel like I was lied to though, every story I read about natural birth sugar coated the pain. That being said, I am glad it worked out the way it did, and that I went epidural-free in the end. I think for my next one, I will do my best to go without again (I have had an amazing recovery, and have felt great and completely capable of taking care of my baby). I do want to add that I do not fault any woman who chooses an epidural. The whole experience was not as gross as I thought it would be, I didn't pooh on anyone, the blood was not excessive and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again.
If I were to do it again I would make sure I had one of those microwavable hot packs. I think it would have helped a lot to have something warm on my lower back. I also think it would have been helpful to have something visual or tactile to concentrate on, I think I let myself go into panic mode and could have used something to keep me focused. And I wished I practiced my breathing, I actually forgot how to do it! I didn't use half the stuff I packed, all I really needed was the pillows and my toothbrush.
I don't mean to frighten other new mothers out there with my experience. I don't even mean that my experience was bad. I actually think I had a very positive birth experience and am happy with how it went. I am so grateful for my healthy baby who has delighted me in some way every single day since the day she was born.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
No baby... yet
I am officially 39 weeks pregnant today. I got a 'stretch and sweep' at 3:30pm yesterday and woke up this morning refreshed, and labourless. I guess she is content where she is and will come out when she's ready. She is already like her dad... she doesn't like being rushed.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Pregnancy
I am 38 weeks and 4 days pregnant. I have had a pretty great pregnancy... I think I have had every pregnancy symptom (nausea, nosebleeds, constipation, back ache etc) but in its mildest form so despite it all, I have to say I have been comfortable throughout. I did catch a couple of colds that felt unbearable at the time, but I got over it and have been happy feeling my baby girl bopping around inside me.
I did go through this weird hormonal phase where I really hated my body. I was wanting to be sexy pregnant, you know... hot body with a cute bump. Instead I got all earth mama pregnant- giant boobs, child bearing hips and meaty, motherly arms and thighs. I would sadly look in the mirror at my traumatized torso, a mess of stretch marks and blue veins and wonder about the days I thought I was fat. Once I started feeling her move inside of me though, I got over it. I am actually disappointed that more people aren't putting their hands on my belly, I mean, everyone should find my body fascinating, I am cooking a human being in there!
So here I am now, waiting for this baby to be born. Ever since I hit 37 weeks, I wake and think, "THIS is the day"! Today I woke up, and am hoping like hell this is the day, I am dying to meet this baby. I welcome every little twinge of imagined pain I feel with excitement, hoping it is the start of my labour. I am having some pooh pain right now, which is unlike me for this time of day! Hopefully, my next blog entry will be my birth story. I warn you, I am not leaving anything out, so it might be disgusting!
I did go through this weird hormonal phase where I really hated my body. I was wanting to be sexy pregnant, you know... hot body with a cute bump. Instead I got all earth mama pregnant- giant boobs, child bearing hips and meaty, motherly arms and thighs. I would sadly look in the mirror at my traumatized torso, a mess of stretch marks and blue veins and wonder about the days I thought I was fat. Once I started feeling her move inside of me though, I got over it. I am actually disappointed that more people aren't putting their hands on my belly, I mean, everyone should find my body fascinating, I am cooking a human being in there!
So here I am now, waiting for this baby to be born. Ever since I hit 37 weeks, I wake and think, "THIS is the day"! Today I woke up, and am hoping like hell this is the day, I am dying to meet this baby. I welcome every little twinge of imagined pain I feel with excitement, hoping it is the start of my labour. I am having some pooh pain right now, which is unlike me for this time of day! Hopefully, my next blog entry will be my birth story. I warn you, I am not leaving anything out, so it might be disgusting!
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