How Eleanor Came to Meet Us.

Monday night, the 31st, the hubby and I went to bed early since he had to be up at 5:00am for work. Also because we are like old people and like sleep so we go to bed early if we can (well, not so much anymore!). So, around 9:00pm we headed to bed, as usual the hubbers fell to sleep right away. I, however, usually need some time before I fall asleep. Little Miss Eleanor would usually wiggle around a tiny bit then settle in and be calm and I would be able to fall asleep soon after. However, this night things were different (I realize now that this should have been a sign that things were different this night). As I settled into bed, Little Miss Eleanor would not stop wiggling and moving around. At first I thought that she was just having a hard time getting comfortable, so I kept changing my position to see if that would help her settle down in there. After a few hours of this, I decided I should Google what was going on... I searched for "Week 39 lots of fetal movement" - or something similar. I should know by now to never Google things that are happening with my body! I started reading about how extra fetal movement could be a sign of fetal distress... like the cord might be wrapped around the baby and she's moving around so much because she's trying to get untangled. Oh geeze. That did not help. I also read that it could be that labor is coming soon and the baby is getting ready. Oh geeze!
Eventually, I got out of bed and started walking around the living room trying to calm her down and help her find a comfortable position. I tried all sorts of positions, but nothing seemed to help. She kept wiggling around, and when she wasn't wiggling I got nervous that she stopped wiggling!! By this time it was in the wee hours of April 1st, probably close to 12:30am, for about the next hour (warning... a little tmi coming!), I kept having the need to, let's say... empty my bowels. I went to the bathroom a few times during the following hour. By this point it's probably close to 1:30 (I have to say, I'm a little fuzzy on the exact times things were happening from this point on), and I started to have some cramping in my lower abdomen. These cramps weren't bad, but they definitely felt different than any other feelings I'd had during pregnancy. The closest I can come to describing them is to say that they felt like period cramps, I also kept having the need to go to the bathroom. These cramp-like feelings kept coming and going. I finally realized that I should time these "cramps" in case they were contractions. I was timing them at about 5 minutes apart and they were lasting around 45 seconds long. After about 20 minutes of this, I decided I should go wake up Ben. I had been debating on waking him up because I knew he had to get up early and I didn't want to wake him up for nothing! Ha, little did I know!
I went into our bedroom and woke him up, his question to me is, "Are you ok" I responded by saying, "I don't know... I think I may be having contractions. I went on to explain what had been happening since we went to bed, and how I was feeling and the cramps (which, of course, were contractions - I just didn't know at first!) that I had been having. We continued to time them and around 3:00 decided to call my doula and ask her what she thought. I explained what was happening and she recommended a warm bath or shower, and explained that if they were false contractions that would help them go away, to rest if I could because if I were to go into labor a little rest before hand would be nice. She told me to call her if they get stronger, longer and closer together. I hung up and at this point started getting cold and shaky, so I decided to crawl under the covers, and Ben snuggled up next to me to help me warm up. It was less than 5 minutes later that my water broke! So, hubby jumps out of bed to get some towels, and I'm yelling about the mattress being ruined and unsure of if I should move or stay there (this was a rather funny moment as I remember it - the only part of the birthing/labor process that was sort of TV like!), hubby is running all over the place and tearing off the sheets and mattress cover, I'm trying to get to the toilet while holding a towel down there to keep from getting my water everywhere! Meanwhile my contractions are getting worse and more painful, I couldn't talk through them anymore.
At this point, we know that we need to make our way to the hospital, so hubby calls our doula and tells her my waters broke and we are gonna pack up the car and head to the hospital. By now, I'm crawling on the floor, as that's the only comfortable position to be in and hubbers is running all over the place packing up the car, giving encouraging words to me (and warnings as to not try to get up to do anything). We end up heading to the hospital, which is about 30 minutes away, around 3:45. I have to say, that having contractions in the car every few minutes is not fun! However, Ben was amazing and helped me through each one of them.
What seemed like an eternity later, we reached the hospital. Knowing how close my contractions were, we parked right in front of the doors and headed in. I was wheeled up to triage, they measured me at 8cm dilated and got us right into labor and delivery room. By then our doula was there, and I was getting all set up in the room. The nurses couldn't get a hold of my doctor so the on-call doctor was called. When they told me that, I believe my response was something like "That's just fine! I'm ready to go!!" By the time the doctor got there I was really ready to push, I remember I kept saying that I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. Apparently, that's a normal feeling (side note - we are almost done, I can't believe you stayed with me for so long, who knew this would be so long!). From here on, things are a little fuzzy in my memory.
I remember the doctor being there and allowing me to push when I was ready, he was getting himself ready to go in between my pushes.
I remember him talking about the third push being the hardest one of each set.
At one point, I remember him saying I had made a lot of progress for 15 minutes, to which my response was "It's only been 15 minutes!!"
I remember thinking, one kid is good enough, we don't need two. I can never do this again!
I remember the doctor having me feel her head as she was crowning.
I remember Ben and my doula giving me encouraging words.
I remember drinking a lot of water.
I remember pushing. A lot.
I remember a lot of pain.
More pushing.
And then... when I thought I had no more to give, at 6:46 a final push, and then there she was. On my chest. My baby girl. My Eleanor. My love. And it was all worth it.

Much love,
Allison

A First: Etsy shop review

I few weeks back a friend contacted me and asked if I would do a review of some of her products on her Etsy site, Crowned with Beauty. Of course I was really excited to do this for her. She let me browse her shop and choose some items to bring home and play around with. I have to tell you that the HARDEST part was not being too greedy and wanting one of everything! Finally I narrowed it down and picked only a handful of items. One thing I love about her products is that they can easily fit into many different styles of decor. If you take a look around her shop, here, you can see that there are so many cute items that would fit in any home. ALSO, right now she has Christmas items to sell!! How can you go wrong with that. Not only can you find some cute stuff for gifts but you can also get some Christmas decorations for yourself! Bonus! I'm loving the Pine Cone Ornament right now. Ok, so now for the actual items that I got to play around with...

First off the Mason Jar Votive Candle Holder Autumn Lantern set of 3, she does have this set in another color combination as well. I chose the "autumn" colors because... well, its autumn :) but also because these are the colors that fit well in my living room already. I love the blue set too though and actually went back and forth a few times trying to decide. I put regular tea lights in these, but I think I might pick up some electric candles so I don't have to keep replacing the tiny tea lights over and over! I love the look these give off with paint colors, so pretty! Check these out here.

Next up from Crowned with Beauty are the Medium Burlap Bows, check them out on her site here. I had so much fun decided where to put these in my house. They would be super cute on the top of a Christmas gift too, especially with how popular burlap is right now! Have you noticed that?? I decided to wrap mine around some decorations that I already had up. You can see them on the two candle holders. So fun! I love adding new decorations to things I already have!

I also chose the Mason Jar lid and straw combo. You can also see the Mason Jar cozy, which I am IN LOVE with. I kind of have this weird thing about holding cold glasses, which means I usually use our Starbucks plastic cups, but with the cozy around my mason jar I can actually hold it! Yay! And on a more practical basis it absorbs condensation with cold drinks. Wait, there's more! You can actually drink hot tea out of the mason jar with the cozy! How awesome is that? I never would have thought of drinking tea out of a mason jar, but the cozy totally makes it work!

Oh boy, last but not least! I wasn't even going to get one, but sweet Aimee threw one in for me anyway and I'm so glad she did. Look at how cute this is! I don't have a lot of hooks around but I found one that worked. This is her Mason Jar hanging lid, check it out here. This was my own mason jar I had in the cupboard and you can see it works perfectly! I threw in some Christmas time potpourri and it's perfect. What I really love is that I can have a cute decoration that doesn't take up any space on shelves or side tables (mostly because I'm running out of room, but also because with Lill' Baby coming soon I'm going to have to put away a lot of stuff on my tables)! I also really like how easy it's going to be to change the decorations inside based on the season and the holidays. Now, I am going to have to find more cute hooks so I can hang up more of these. I'm thinking some in the nursery would be amazing!!

Please take some time to visit Crowned with Beauty and support Aimee and her new business. She is a lovely person and I would love to see this being a successful business for her.

Blessings, 

Pregnancy Chalkboard

We started taking pictures at week 9! By the way, what's happening with my hair? I blame going back to work.

Obviously, here I am at week 10!

Starting getting more creative with the chalkboard at week 11. And, yep, there's our sub-woofer peeking out there in the corner. I told you we're not professionals!

The week we told everyone the exciting news!

Hubby did a good job on this one! Well, you can see my boots but that's okay :)

I told you we forgot week 14!  I think my belly is really starting to show here. Baby is the size of an orange this week!   (Eek! double chins are no good.)

Baby's the size of an avocado! Plus, only 2 more weeks and 2 days until we find out the gender!

Yep, we missed week 17. Sometimes we are busy, sometimes we just forget. BUT here is this week's! Also, we find out in 2 days if Lill' Baby is boy or girl!! 

Yay for Baby Girl!! We are so excited to have a little girl! My belly is getting bigger by the day!

AND... you get two pictures this week, the first one shows off the belly more, but this one is fun too!

Oh, yep. We missed a couple of weeks, so for that I'm posting up 2 pictures again. My guess is that this is what's gonna happen from here on out. It's getting busy around here and I don't always find time to take a picture each week.

I'm finding it harder and harder to find poses that I like. My poor hubby has to deal with taking 20 pictures before I'm satisfied! And yes, the writing is crooked :( but I really didn't fee like doing it all over again, so crooked writing for week 22 it is!

 

Hey friends! I finally found some time to do another picture, I tried to make it a little extra special for Christmas! Week 25 on the 25th day of the month! Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy spending time with loved ones.

Showing off baby girl in two pictures again this week! I'm really amazed at how she's growing (um... and therefore me too!)

Here we go friends! Happy week 27, baby girl is about 13.75 inches (the length of an English Cucumber), and right around 2 lbs. I'm feeling her move a LOT now, and it's probably the most amazing thing to experience! I'm so in love, only about three more months until we get to meet her!

Whaaaat is that number in front of the zero people?? Oh my, we are in the 30s. It is very exciting, we cannot wait to meet Lill' Miss!! And... I think I'm getting bigger. Everywhere. Ben keeps telling me I'm supposed to, I keep telling him I should probably lay off the cookies. Also, our nursery is coming along nicely. It is NOT DONE at all yet... but we are getting there and that is very exciting too! I'm really enjoying pregnancy, it is such a miraculous event and I'm so blessed that I get to be a part of this miracle of life. 

Well, as you can see we don't always get the same positioning from week to week, but that's ok with me. It's fun to see the progression from week to week and I'm excited to share them with you!

Happy Sunday everyone! Come back soon to see the next week's pictures.

A resurrection

Oh, hello there again. It's been a while. Well, to be exact it's been 6 months. 6 months too long! I have decided to *try* to keep this blog alive. It will need some TLC though since it's been neglected and ignored for a good half a year. But I feel as though I'm ready to have at it again. It's gotten a face lift (and as much as I would REALLY love to have a custom designed template I have not even a clue at all how I would even do that, so the on-line template design is the best I can do), and is ready for new life! I feel as though I actually have things to share about again. The most important, thrilling, exciting, and above all humbling is the news that I am pregnant! It is unreal, it is already life-changing, and it is the most blessed feeling I have experienced in a long time. I would like to share my story about infertility. But not quite yet, that will be saved for another day, soon though. I'll ready to share it soon. I think part of my need to share our experience is just for myself. I feel as though I need to get it out in writing. But I also hope that it could, or would, be helpful for someone else too someday. And although I really doubt I would ever forget what we've gone through, having it written out somewhere feels right to me. So, that is what I'll do. Soon. For now though, I have decided to share my weekly pictures of my pregnancy on my blog instead of on FB. So, if you want to see the updates each week, you'll have to check them out here! So exciting (ok, for me it is!). We are not professional photographers or models around this house so don't expect anything crazy cool. I don't even know how to edit the pictures, so what my hubby snaps is what you (we) get. I also bug him every week to tell me how to stand so I'm not doing the same thing each week, we even have looked at other people's pregnancy chalkboard for ideas. I've got to say if you were a fly on the wall here on Sundays you'd probably see some pretty entertaining conversations! So, here's the plan. I'm going to post this blog entry then start a new one, and then post the previous 15 weeks pregnancy pictures (I know... there's no week 14 because we got busy and forgot! Oops) in new entry. I hope you enjoy!

Good Shows

So, I have small confession. I have decided that I like sci-fi shows, now I don't even try to compare to the real die-hards and please don't quiz me! However, I have found a few shows that I have come across that I love. If you are curious to check them out, here's what I've found (yes I know that many of them have been around for a long time)...
Warehouse 13
Eureka
Doctor Who

If you have Netfix I must recommend all of these, some of them start out a bit "cheesy" but give them a few shows and I promise you'll love them! If you don't, well, I guess that's ok too. In the meantime you can wonder what show this is from...

An update. Finally!

So, I am still here :) My presence on here has been pretty absent, but that's just the way it goes! What is new with me?? Well, for January I decided to stop eating sugar. I did let myself indulge every now and again. And to tell you the truth it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I do like my treats. Now that February is halfway over I must say that I am back to enjoying my treats but not as much as I used to... especially not as much as I indulged during December (isn't that what always happens). Let's see, what else.

Well, I also decided in January that I would focus again on getting more exercise into my life. Whenever I go back to work in September, exercise usually takes a back seat. I realize that's probably the worse thing I can do when I get busy and stressed - stop exercising. But in reality that is just the way it goes. I hit it hard in January again. I bought a few DVDs and (try to) make sure to exercise 4-5 days a week and (minus a few exceptions) I've stuck with it. In combination with cutting out most sweets I'm feeling pretty good about how my body is getting stronger. Want to know what DVDs I've been using? I spent most of January using Jillian Michael's Killer Buns and Thighs. This one:

To tell you the truth, it really stinks...but in the best way possible. Level 1 killed me. Level 2 really killed me. And level 3... well, yeah, killed me too. I actually prefer Level 3 over Level 2, not that it was easier but I enjoyed the exercises better. Unfortunately, like most people, after a month of doing the same DVD I got pretty bored with it. However, I was actually seeing results so I am really trying to stick with it. You know when you can mimic everything JM is saying you've done the DVD a few times. Now I rotate it with this JM DVD:

I've read some people's critique's on this DVD which have said they don't think it's very "Jillian" but I personally love this workout DVD. Yes, it's not as "Jillian" as some of her other workouts but that's probably why I like it so much. It's fun! And there are a whole group of girls doing it with her so it feels more like I'm taking a class with a bunch of friends. I am a big ball of grossed out sweat at the end (the DVD is broken into 3 workouts and I typically do 2 of them, one right after another for a total of 40 minutes). I am pretty sure I look like a complete fool trying to do all the punches and kicks but I don't care! Next up I'd like to try these:

Also:

And, I just heard about this on the Today show and it looks so fun! Combination of Pilates and Boxing:

Well, I suppose that's all for now. I'd say that's pretty good seeing as how I hardly ever blog anymore... I'd like to say I'll be better, but we'll see :)

Quitting??

So, I guess I should fire my blogger self. Unfortunately I'm not too surprised that I haven't written anything on here in like...um...4 months. I have a confession. I'm a quitter. I start things and then I quit things. I've done this for as long as I can remember. Let's see...there was basketball, then volleyball, then track (these I started and quit at some point along my high school career), but I'm going to blame lack of skills required (it was probably actually lack of commitment needed to gain required skills). Then there was knitting, pottery, kempo-karate, golf, photography (remember I was doing a photo/week things - yep gave up on that too didn't I?), cooking, crafting, sewing (although I'm not ready to totally give this up yet), painting, baking (I haven't totally given up on this although last night I made some pretty amazing banana muffins... and burnt the bottoms (which means that baking might be next on the give-it-up list). I've started exercising and quit exercising more times than I can count, but I think that's pretty normal, right? Also, I started and then quit doing my own nails (that didn't go over too well). I did garden this year and didn't give up on that yet! So, there's that. And now this blog. I'm not saying I'm quitting it. Yet. I still think about it and wonder what I should do. Should I keep it? Should I quit it? Should I keep it and just think about it and never actually write anything (because right now that's working for me).

Anyway, I just thought I'd send this little note out there and let anyone who actually reads this informed on the fact that I haven't completely given up on blogging yet. Also, to wish you all a very merry Thanksgiving and I hope that I won't actually quit this Lill' Life blog, yet.