Pregnancy Update (Finally)

Finally, a picture worth posting! 

Here I am at 32 weeks. 

This pregnancy is flying by!  This baby is so much lower than Coraline was, so it's making exercising and moving around a little more difficult this time around.  I'm thankful though, that s/he is head down and seems pretty snug there!  Still getting a little heartburn. But overall everything is going well!  Yay!  Only 8 (or 6) more weeks left (I'm thinking s/he will be a little early).

Pregnancy Update

My last entry on pregnancy was when I shared that we were pregnant and now, 6 months later, I'm giving you an update (I'm such a slacker)!

This pregnancy is going very well.  It has been different from the last in that I actually did experience morning sickness.  I never got sick but felt nauseous a lot of the time.  I also have been experiencing heartburn almost constantly and since the beginning of the pregnancy.  This baby better have a head full of hair!  But other than those mild complaints, everything has been great.  I felt the baby move at 16 weeks so that has been very reassuring.  Baby L2 likes to be active at night which concerns me because apparently their pattern in the womb is their pattern when they are born.  Hmm.  We'll have to talk about that one Baby L2. 

I've really started showing recently, so I'll have to get a few pictures up.  It took a while for people to realize I was pregnant which really is a good thing when you think about it!  I'm just glad to be past the "chubby" stage! 

I'm still dancing and am on the treadmill quite a bit during the week.  I want to be in the best shape possible to have this baby and have the energy needed for two when s/he is born.  We are planning on having a natural birth again at the Birthing Center.  So far, everything looks good.  I pray the baby likes that plan too!

I'm trying to prepare Coraline for the baby as much as a 19 month old can comprehend.  I really think she has no idea what's going on but we read books, play with her baby and talk about the baby in "mommy's tummy."  She's such a sweet girl and loves babies and toddlers that I really think she'll be fine.  I can see her getting mad when she wants me to read to her and I'm nursing or something like that but I'm sure every child goes through a jealousy stage.  We are also going to move her to a big girl bed soon so we can have the crib for the baby.  I was so nervous about this but just today she started trying to climb out of the crib which is a great indicator that they are ready to move out of it.  Hopefully, that move will go smoothly! 

Here is a shot of me at 14 weeks.  I have more recent shots (24 weeks) I just have to download them from my camera (talk about lazy)!

Hello out there.

Sorry, I've been MIA for awhile.  No excuses really.  Just haven't had much too blog about. 

I haven't been crafting too much lately.  Although, there is one project that I'm dying to share with you-- I receive the Martha Stewart magazine and they had this neat article on creating a cross stitch portrait of your family.  I used to cross stitch all the time and thought a family portrait would make an adorable wall hanging.  So, I got out the graph paper and started drawing our family. . .  


Here is the finished product--

Oh, yes, you've noticed the little addition in yellow-- he/she will be here sometime in April!  I shall call him/her Baby L2.  I guess that little one may have prevented me from crafting and blogging recently.  We will have to do better Baby L2 if we want any readers!

Definitely more crafting to come!

Our Birth Story

After being in complete denial that I was in labor, I realize that our birth story begins on Monday, May 17 (2 weeks before she was due). I remember talking to my sister in the morning and telling her that I was feeling, what was most likely, braxton hicks contractions. I felt a very mild tightening in my lower abdomen that wrapped all the way around to my back. I had not had braxton hicks contractions at all during my pregnancy, so I just assumed that was what I was feeling. This tightening sensation continued all throughout the day at about 20-30 min. intervals. I continued on with my day- walking a mile on the treadmill and hanging out at the house.

I remember on Monday night being woken up once or twice by these contractions. They were so mild and unimpressive, so I was sure they were still braxton hicks. Tuesday came and I was still having them (about 20 min. apart). They were so mild, so Grant and I went about our day. I had a checklist of things I still wanted to get done before the baby was born, so we went to Lowe's to get a carpet steam cleaner and proceeded to steam clean the whole house! Can we say serious nesting here! All the while these contractions were happening at a steady consistency. Still in denial here. Well, that night Grant and Marty installed all our new kitchen appliances. I remember about 8:00 or so going downstairs and telling Grant that the contractions were still happening, but assured him that we were not going to have the baby any time soon.

Right after Marty left the contractions got stronger. They were about 7 min. apart. Now I started feeling the pain! I tried to go to sleep that night, but it was like a switch had gone on and they were real contractions. I still didn't believe that I was in labor. I thought I would be feeling this way for the next two weeks! (I was in denial, because the contractions were in my back- I no longer felt anything in my abdomen). Around midnight, Grant and I decided that we needed to clean the kitchen. If this was the real thing, then we wanted to come home to a clean kitchen. So we cleaned. Around 1:00 that morning, I still couldn't sleep (not from excitement, but from pain), so I tossed and turned for a few more hours. At 3:00 I got up and went to play around on the computer (looking up real labor vs. false labor, of all things). The contractions were 6-7 min. apart. I remember the pain was so intense in my back that I would have to get out of the seat and lean on it to get through it. I also infected our computer with a nasty virus, causing the computer to freeze on itself and never answering my questions about real vs. false labor! Go figure. I never went to bed that night. We weren't too concerned yet, because we had an appointment with the midwives at 8:00 on Wednesday morning.

Well, Wednesday morning came and we packed ourselves up and went to Chapel Hill for our appointment. I thought it might be wise to go ahead and pack our birth bag- you know, in case this was real labor! Well, we got to to the Birth Center and went ahead and got myself checked to see if this was real labor. I was 2 cm. dilated. She said we would probably have a baby later that night or tomorrow. I was in shock. Complete shock. I naively thought this was still braxton hicks and we would have a few more weeks of this. (I know, I'm a genius). The midwife suggested going home, getting a massage and taking a nap.

I happened to have a scheduled massage that day so I went ahead and had that done. My good friend, Meridith, did the massage and she knew some trigger points to get labor going. Sweet! So after that, I went home and took a "nap." Side note: there is no sleeping through contractions! There is resting, but no sleeping! The rest of the day went by with contractions staying consistent and getting closer together. I think that's when it hit me that this was really happening. I tried to sleep that night, but it just wasn't happening. The back labor was so intense. When I laid down the contractions were around 4-6 min. apart. When I was walking they got to 2-3 min. apart. I thought it would be wise to walk around in the middle of the night to get things going (another side note: when it is night time, you try to sleep- you don't keep yourself up)! I remember eating peanut butter sandwiches and bananas. Grant was insistent that I keep myself well fed and hydrated, so I would have all the energy I needed (we learned this in the Bradley classes).

Around 2:30 in the morning we called the Birth Center and told them that our contractions were 2-3 min. apart and they told us to come on in. We got there around 3:30 in the morning (I-40 was a breeze at that time in the morning)! She checked me when we got there and we were 4 cm., so we could be admitted. The only thing we could do at that time was try to sleep. She offered me Nubane or Morphine, but I declined, so she gave me some Tylenol PM and let us "sleep" for a few hours! My sister, Rhea, came in shortly after 3:30. Another thing they let me use was the Tens unit for my back labor. It had four probes that are taped to your back and sends out electrical pulses that I could control with a remote. It was an amazing device and helped my back labor so much. It never took the contraction pain away but helped in between the contractions.

None of us really got any sleep, but we were "awake" and ready to go around 7:00 on Thursday morning. Labor was continuing and it never stopped. I continued to use the Tens unit throughout the morning. I remember trying different laboring positions, with my favorite being standing up and leaning on the bed. I walked around the room a lot and took a shower around mid-afternoon. My contractions never got worse during this period- they always stayed about the same intensity (which was seriously intense, for the record), so we could never figure out when transition actually happened. At first, I didn't want to know how many centimeters I was dilated, but the Midwife was smiling and said it was good news, so we went ahead and found out that we were 9 cm and very stretchy. This was around 12:30 and she said we could go ahead and start our pushing- practice pushing she called it. She also suggested getting into the tub as that might help with the back labor. I remember debating with myself about the tub vs. the Tens unit. I finally decided to get into the water and give it a shot.

(Grant and I after we find out I am 9 cm.)

So, I got into the tub and started pushing. The water was nice, but the back labor was still so intense! The midwife then suggested a sterile water injection in my back. She said that it helps in 75% of women and could take away back pain up to an hour. The payoff is that the needle injection stings like a *&^% (and, yes, for the record it did sting like that). I decided to give it a try because the thought of pushing with the back pain was starting to scare me. They gave me five injections (one injection didn't take the first time) and, amazingly, the back pain immediately subsided. Enough for me to push comfortably. I tried a few positions in the tub and even got out for a few pushes. My water broke somewhat shortly after I got in the tub. I got another set of sterile water injections, so I could get through the next hour of pushing. She was finally born at 2:30 in the afternoon. She came fast and took one look at me and started crying (but just for an minute), because she was very calm after that. I am actually the one that grabbed her and I got to hold her for at least 15 minutes before I got out of the tub. Because we didn't know the sex of the baby, Grant was able to be the one to announce it to everyone. She was able to nurse immediately and was a champ! We were able to leave the birth center around 12:30 that night.

(Our room at the birth center)

(She's here)

(Going home from the birth center)

It really was a wonderful experience. I never once "lost control" (seriously, ask Grant), never wanted any drugs, and never thought I couldn't do it. It was a challenge to say the least (41 hours of hard, "take your breath away" contractions), but I was determined to do this naturally.

The midwives were awesome and respected our birth plan and wishes. They really let Grant and Rhea do all the coaching. And Grant and Rhea were amazing coaches. They never stopped massaging my back, giving me food and water and words of encouragement.

I am so glad that things happened the way they did. Miss C is a beautiful baby and was so calm and alert after the birth. It was truly a great experience.

Baby L is here!!!

And it is a GIRL!


Miss Coraline Lea decided that she did not want to wait until her due date (which, really, is okay with me)!


She was born on Thursday, May 20 at 2:32 pm. She weighs 6 pounds, 4 ounces and was 18.5 inches long (don't let her fool you- she has some LONG limbs- just like her dad).


She is healthy and happy. We were very excited to be able to have the birth we wanted!!! No interventions and no pain medication. I will definitely get the birth story on here soon.


Without further ado . . . Miss Coraline Lea

34-35 Weeks

These past weeks have gone very fast. It was my last week of work and then we took a four day vacation to Charleston, SC. I've been feeling good, but I also think my body is starting to get ready for labor! This baby is sitting low and likes to kick in the morning and evenings. Very gentle kicks as s/he doesn't have too much room to maneuver anymore. Sometimes s/he likes to keep me up at night for 2-3 hour (sometimes longer) stretches at a time. I could do without that for now! Not too much longer!

34 Weeks

35 Weeks

Pregancy Update 31-33 Weeks

I'm a bad pregnancy updater blogger lately!

Weeks 31-33 have flown by (and soon 34 will be gone too)! The pregnancy is going very well. Nothing new to report. I definitely feel some aches and pains in my feet, back and thigh bone. I'm sure it is just the extra weight that my body is not used to carrying around.

Sometimes I find it very hard to go to sleep because it's hard to breathe! That's been interesting.

Overall, everything is going great. I mostly feel him/her kicking and moving in the mornings and evenings and after I eat something. Too fun!

(31 Weeks)


(32 Weeks)



(33 Weeks)

Can't wait to meet this little one. Not too much longer!

Baby Shower

I had my very first baby shower this past weekend. And can I just say how surreal it is to be the guest of honor- so strange (and fun)!

My sisters hosted the event. They did such a fabulous job with the theme, food and games. Everything was so cute and well thought out and I am still dreaming about the delicious chocolate covered strawberries and asparagus wraps. YUMMY!!

My sisters- Lauren, Rhea and me

My mom and niece were there to help too!

Rhea had the most creative idea to have everyone make an owl and write a wish, advice or thoughts for Baby L on the back of it. I don't know how I will display them yet-- a collage, a mobile? Any other ideas?

My owl

Mom's owl


Co-worker's and niece's owl

And of course, we got so many great things for Baby L.

Who can resist duckie outfits!

Lauren was in charge of games. We had guess the amount of skittles in the bottle game, guess Andrea's belly size using dental floss and guess what baby food you are eating.

Some of the girls measuring out the dental floss.

Measuring the belly. She got second place.

Hmm, what on earth are we feeding our babies. I couldn't even discern a vegetable in some of them!

I tasted all of them though. Everyone was such good sports.

Oksana did not particularly like the chicken vegetable mix- neither did I.

I had such a great time. Thank you to Rhea and Lauren for making it so special!!

30 Weeks

This week has been the turning point of the pregnancy for me. Baby L definitely limits my movements now! Up until this point, I was basically doing everything I used to do- the bump didn't get in the way, but now, wow, sitting up can be a challenge, tying shoes is interesting, sleeping is hit and miss, etc. My poor feet also feel the added weight gain at the end of the day. Ouch.

However, despite my "complaints" above and the expression in my picture, I feel good and am very happy with the way things are going. Not too much longer!

28 and 29 Weeks

(29 Weeks)

(28 Weeks)

These past two weeks have been very good. I'm really feeling the baby move a lot. Lots of rolling type movements. Lots of fun! S/he is head down, so we want to make sure that s/he stays that way.

We've got the nursery almost done and I can't wait to post pictures. Just finished an owl pillow for the glider, and it is pretty cute!

That's it.

26 and 27 Weeks

(27 Weeks)

(26 Weeks)

I did not realize that I had failed to post a 26 weeker. Both 26 and 27 weeks were about the same though. I've gotten more energy back this week, but still can unashamedly go to bed at 9:30.

Baby L has taken to acrobatics these past two weeks. Still no kicks that take my breath away or anything, but enough to feel some rolling around.

I can't believe that I have to start seeing the midwives every two weeks now. It's crazy how fast these last few weeks have flown by. Yay for the third trimester!

We bought a travel system and glider this week. We rocked it on the glider and used a 20% off coupon on the travel system, so I'm pretty pleased with our purchases so far. Nursery is almost complete, so I'll be able to post some pics soon.

That's it! Welcome third trimester!

25 Weeks

Ooh, this week has kicked my behind. I am so tired all day it is ridiculous! Also the nosebleeds have returned daily around 9:00 am. Very strange. On the fun side of things though, there are certainly periods of time where Baby L is moving like crazy. I don't know what s/he is doing, but it's quite funny (feels like I'm going on a small roller coaster). I don't feel a lot of movement (midwife said it was because my placenta is on top), so I like to be reassured that s/he is there. So, kick away Baby L.

I did end up making a stuffed owl for the nursery. Pictures should be on my next post. It's quite cute. I will need to make a bigger one so there's a pair of them in there.

The Quilt

Well, here it is. Finally. The quilt.

I wanted to do something different from what I've done in the past- namely, put together my own fabrics instead of relying on a a series from Moda. For the most part the colors work well together and the quilt works well with the nursery bedding. If I could, I would take one or two fabrics out, but hindsight is always 20/20. I also wanted a basic square patch with no sashing material. Fancy may come later, when I know if this baby is a girl or boy.

Can you spot the owl?

A sneak peek at the crib.

At least Sadie approves of the layout. The other two cats have claimed this quilt (and crib) as their own. They will be sadly disappointed when the baby comes along.

Side note: is it ridiculous to make a quilt for your cats out of left over material? I shall ponder this question and get back with you.

24 Weeks

Things are moving right along. Feeling pretty good this week except that fatigue has returned with a vengeance. I fear it will stick with me the rest of this pregnancy. Not that it's the worst thing to happen, but I'm just so tired by the time I get out of work that doing any form of exercise is pretty daunting. And I must exercise because 1) some classes are already paid for 2) keeping in shape is a very strong requirement of a non-medicated birth and 3) I feel like a slug if I don't move around!

People are just starting to notice that I'm pregnant! And these are not stranger remarks- these are people who have worked/danced beside me for awhile! It kind've cracks me up, because I'm almost in my third trimester and well, really people, do you not notice this unproportionate belly I'm sporting? It really doesn't bother me though because too much attention isn't my style.

Grant and I are enjoying are Bradley Method classes. This 2 + hour class can hold Grant's attention which is no small feat, so I'm glad we are doing this. This week we continue on first stage labor. Fun.

We'll see what week 25 brings.

22 and 23 Weeks

This is a very late post, but here I am at 22 and 23 weeks along.

(22 Weeks)

(23 Weeks)

Things are going great. I've gained a lot of baby weight and I definitely feel bigger. Baby L is starting to move around a lot more! Thankfully, it's still in the midsection and not in my ribs.

Big accomplishment this week is that I finally finished a quilt for the nursery. I will post about that later.

Hospital v. Birth Center

I admit I have been lazy lately- no posts- but only because I find it a pain to load pics on my computer and the posts I had planned required pictures. I will try to do better!


Anyway, ever wonder why I chose a birth center (w/ midwives) rather than the hospital? Every single reason can be found in the documentary The Business of Being Born by Abby Epstein. Such a fantastic documentary.


I would encourage any woman who plans to get pregnant or is pregnant to watch it. I especially encourage anyone who plans to be with moms during a homebirth or birth center birth to watch it-- most people have a skewed image of what births are like (they only see what tv and movies portray it as), so this would give them an idea of what to expect during the process.



Some of my top reasons for a birth center birth are:


* birth my way (not strapped to a fetal monitor in the bed)


* no timelines (I'm not on the hospital's schedule, but my baby's)


* no separation of baby and mom after birth


* knowing the staff who will be supporting me during my birth (I would not know the nurses in the hospital who happen to be your support staff for the majority of the time)


These are just some of my reasons. And please don't get me wrong- I am so glad there are hospitals and Ob/Gyns available for the times when women need their expertise. I pray that I will not need to use them, but am so thankful they are there!

Have you seen the documentary? If so, what did you think?

The Bradley Method

Grant and I had our first Bradley Method birthing class last night. It's a husband coached method (3 months long) that encourages methods for a non medicated childbirth. Yeah, you heard that right.

Did I mention that we are going to have Baby L at a birthing center with midwives (gasp) and no medication on site (double gasp). I know, crazy. This is the plan of course- we hope Baby L will cooperate with us here.

Anywhoo, we had no idea what to expect with the class. You just never know what kind of people will show up to these kind of things. I ain't gonna lie- I had visions of incense burning hippies, ultra feminist lesbians, or unwed teenagers (and of course that would be fine, but I wanted to be able to relate to some people, you know). Well, wouldn't you know that these people are just like us- first time parents, upper 20's, married, middle class, a little quirky, etc. I think we'll be just fine.

Last night's class focused on exercises and different things to get the baby in the right position. The exercises were not knew to me, but it was good to be reminded to continue doing them throughout the pregnancy.

I hope to continue learning something here, because I'm giving up The Office to be there!

21 Weeks

Wow, we are officially over the half way mark!

I've notice my forward folds in yoga are less, shall we say, forward. The stomach is a growing.

Definitely feel Baby L active at night, usually right after I've stuffed my face full of food.

Had my first "I'm pregnant and this is uncomfortable moment" this week- had to do with switching sides in the middle of the night.

Over all, I'm feeling great. I'm still dancing and yoga-ing, so I'm sure that helps keep me feeling good.

The nursery is coming together and I bought two more sets of cloth diapers this week. We also visited a HUGE kid's consignment shop this past week and got ourselves a bassinet, pack 'n play, bathtub and a few other random things. This event was monstrous- do not, I repeat, do not go there unprepared- you will not survive (basically, rig up some contraption to carry all your stuff in) and be on the lookout for crazy moms who cannot leave without purchasing 1001 outfits for their 3 month old!

All right. That's it for this week.

20 Weeks

Not much to report this week. I look and feel the same. Which is pretty good.

I bought our first set of cloth diapers and they are pretty cute- I have a thing for cows in case you didn't know.

I've researched the different options of cloth diapering and I thought it would be best to go for a one size pocket diaper (it grows with the child- 8 lb. to 35 lb). It seemed the most economical and the easiest for Grant to handle (didn't want to make him mess with pins and diaper covers). I am going to try out two different brands before I spend more money on them. I'm getting excited though.

I know most people wouldn't even consider cloth, but it has come so far from our grandmother's days. I'm just doing a few more loads of laundry (no dunking, soaking or anything like that). And I happen to like laundry.

Have I mentioned

anything about the nursery? I don't think so.

So, during the Christmas holidays we painted the nursery two different colors. Three walls are green and one wall is turquoise blue (they are complimentary). Grant actually come up with the color scheme and did a great job. I have some second hand kids furniture that we painted white. I also have my niece's old crib which is honey colored.

Then I just waited for inspiration. I really had no idea what theme we were going to go for. I knew I did not want the kind of room where everything matched down to the lampshades and diaper pail bin. I don't know, I just wanted to be able to pull inspirational things from various sources.

Then it came to me. Owls. They are cute, gender neutral and they are brown. I wanted a touch of brown in the room. So, I ordered some owl fabric for a quilt. Then I went to Target and they had owl sheets (go figure) with the same accent colors as the walls (perfect), so I got those and then they had a great brown bumper with polka dots. I had previously purchased a green crib skirt from my church's garage sale that fit right in. Okay, crib complete.

Well, I had contemplated making curtains, but apparently valences are out, and I would have spent more on the fabric (for longer curtains) then I would to actually purchase a set from Target. So, I got a set of basic brown curtains (on sale) and used some old fabric to create tie ups for them (hard to explain, you'll just have to wait for pictures). Windows complete.

Then I went to Art.com and checked out their owl pictures/posters- so cute and just the right colors, so I got two of them. Oh, and I also purchased a "Dream" wall decal that will go over the crib (part of my monthly Stampin Up purchase), so wall art is complete (I still need to get them framed).

Yay! I can't believe how fast and easy everything came together. I am trying not to be too fussy about this and I think I'm doing all right.

Grant hasn't had much input since picking the paint colors, but he told me the other night that he LOVED how it was coming together. Not too overdone was his words, I believe.

What's left- All we need in the nursery is a glider and ottoman. I'm checking Craigslist daily, but we also are able to get one through Grant's work if we need too.

As soon as I get the pictures on the wall, I will post some pictures.