It's not secret that I was preparing for and hoping for a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) a.k.a. trial of labor. Everything was falling into place: no complications on my part, a head down baby, started showing labor symptoms without intervention, term baby...
On Tuesday morning (the 29th) I had a good feeling that I would be going into labor very soon. Sure enough, while having dinner with my in-laws that night, my water broke. It worked out perfectly because they were able to take Kenzie home with them and Mike and I headed off to the hospital to meet Miss Daphne. I was excited and eager to deliver her like I believed I was intended to.
That's where everything started going nothing like I planned.
I knew that I was already dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced. Apparently my water broke a little earlier than my OB would have liked. We checked in at the hospital and found out that although my water had broken I had not started contractions and was not any further dilated or effaced...first problem. The triage nurse knew I was a VBAC but seemed really skeptical because after your water breaks you can't be sent home (like you would if you thought you were in labor but had progressed far enough) but they can't just leave you either because of danger of infection without the amniotic fluid to protect the baby.
I had no choice but to start pitocin...second problem.
I moved to a labor and delivery room , started my epidural (which was embarrassing and awkward but bless my husband's heart for dealing with it) and was set up for a long night of contractions and trying to sleep...gearing up and reserving my strength for delivery. After a few hours, I progressed to 3 cm but only with the help of my nurse. After a few more hours...nothing. On top of that Daphne wasn't handling the pitocin well. Her heart rate kept dropping, forcing the nurse to turn off the pitocin altogether...third problem.
10 hours after arriving at the hospital, despite the pitocin, efforts on my nurse's part to help me progress, and my water breaking, I was still dilated only 3 cm, my baby's heart rate was unstable, and my contractions were progressively tougher but with no results. Around 5;30 I spoke to my OB who basically said that I could keep trying for the VBAC but my chances of going to an emergency c-section vs. a planned one were increasing fast because of Daphne's heart rate. For the safety of my baby, I really had no choice but to prepare for my second c-section. I had a moment of tears where I mourned losing my only attempt at a vaginal birth but quickly resolved to embrace our new plan.
After zero complications and sleeping through most of it, we greeted our second daughter at 6:17am on the 30th. She was perfect, APGAR was great, heart rate strong and stable. In recovery, Daphne latched and nursed extremely well and it seemed like everything was looking up...
Many parents know that newborns go through a couple screenings in the hospital including hearing. Daphne failed her hearing test twice. We also noticed and were told by every nurse and LC that she was tongue tied. Frustratingly, the pediatricians who do rounds through the hospital every morning kept saying her tongue tie was fine and required no intervention. So we headed home.
After being home only 24 hours, Daphne became inconsolable for almost 3 hours and was showing alarming BMs in a small period for a newborn so we ended up at Phoenix Children's emergency room. Fortunately, she was fine and we were discharged but not before the ER doctor who also happened to be a lactation specialist told us that Daphne was very tongue tied and we needed to get her frenulum clipped ASAP! Done!
Our pediatrician referred us to an ENT who happened to be her husband to get the tongue tie taken care of. While there, the doc looked in her ears and commented on Daphne having tiny ear canals. We mentioned that she failed her hearing test twice so he decided to suction out any built up fluid that could have been causing a blockage. He discovered that she has some kind of obtrusion in both ears (basically a deformity) which was preventing him from seeing her inner ear anatomy and from passing her hearing tests. We are now waiting to see an otologist (sp) who is going to likely look into a CT scan to see if her inner ears formed correctly and decide on the next course of action to open up her ears. There is no way to know right now if there is any hearing loss or problems with the inner ear.
We are still working on nursing together now that we had the tongue tie fixed. I am anxiously waiting to hear about Daphne's ears. In reflection, there are several things that have happened outside our control but Daphne is amazing. She's eating, sleeping, she smiles, she laughed yesterday, and Kenzie already loves her and does so well with her.
I guess you just never really know how things are going to unfold.
7.23.2013
Submission and Surrender- not bad words
The words submission and surrender tend to cause women's hackles to rise and our chests to puff up in indignation. I think due in large part to our society and ongoing development of the feminist movement, the words submission and surrender imply weakness, deficit, and degradation. However, on the contrary, the Bible displays these terms in honorable, loving, and worthy ways.
Why am I writing about this?
This summer has led Mike and I on our first house buying experience. We are the property virgins! How very fitting that I refer to us that way because I certainly went into this process envisioning us looking at three amazing houses, all of which would be waiting and available for us to mull over, and with sellers who were more than willing to pay our closing costs. Oh I was wrong!
We have been up against deadlines (our lease ending, the school year starting, a baby on the way) and a less than desirable market (increasing interest rates, modest budget, and competitive market). The combination of all these factors made for a more stressful summer than we could have imagined.
A few weeks ago we found a lovely home and put in a bid, which was beat by another buyer. This caused us to go into something of a frenzy, feeling absolutely positive that we had to buy something right away or we would never find a home. Another home came along that just happened to belong to our wedding photographer. We decided to bid and it was accepted. We thought everything was perfect because the seller was even willing to negotiate with us and for a while we felt relieved that our house buying nightmare was ending. It wasn't.
The day before our inspection period ended, we met with the inspector and had a chance to see the house for the second time. Mike came to me that night with a gut feeling that something wasn't right. He just knew this wasn't our house. I of course was adamant that he was wrong! I knew our finances, interest rates were going up, the yard was great etc etc etc. I just knew that I was right and was very upset that Mike would put our family's future in danger because of some fleeting reservations. After hours of prayer (on his part, definitely not mine), Mike asked me to please trust him as my husband to make the right decision even if it wasn't the one I thought we should make. I said yes and then went to bed in a complete state of panic. The next morning I woke up with a sense of calm and peace that I can't find words to describe. I knew God was telling me to submit to my husband's will. Suddenly I was relieved that I didn't have to worry about the decision anymore. I know that day was really hard for Mike because our contract was final at midnight. The whole process was more difficult because we had to contend with hurting a friend's feelings by backing out on someone we knew. Ultimately Mike made the decision to cancel our contract. It was heartbreaking and we definitely took a financial loss in the decision.
The next day (Friday) I started chatting with my friend Cheryl from Tres Dias and as a real estate professional herself she had much encouragement and advice to offer. She suggested we meet for coffee the next morning, which we did.
Cheryl came to me on Saturday morning having spent time in prayer herself for Mike and me. Her first words of wisdom after hearing me rant and rave were, "you and Mike need to rest. God never intended for us to strive like this. Making huge financial decisions while you are this stressed is not smart and ultimately you need to rest in Him." Wow!
After sharing some other steps and ideas as well, I went home and shared Cheryl's advice and after praying together, Mike and I decided to give up house hunting for the rest of the weekend. No looking at our portal, no researching lenders, we just decided to rest for the weekend. I won't say surrendering in this way was easy because I am a doer and I could hear that nagging voice saying, "there is a house out there that someone else is scooping up right now." Oh shut up, stupid voice!
Fast forward to Monday morning. Cheryl's husband Fred sent me a couple listings to check out and my realtor's portal updated. Guess what popped up? Our dream home!!!! It was back on the market...WHAT!!! I called Mike and we put in an offer right away. Guess what? Not only did the seller accept but he offered to pay our closing costs!
This is what happens when we submit and surrender. That is the lesson I've learned here. I submitted to my husband's will and allowed him to make the right decision (my decision would have been wrong). Then we submitted to God and He demonstrated that He is in control, He already had a plan for the home we were supposed to have. I surrendered my will, my timing, my desire, and my insistence that I knew best and ultimately, we ended up with a home more perfect than we could have imagined, we saved .4% on our new interest rate, and we ended up with a little more cash in our pocket to work on some home renos. On top of that, we are closing with a month to spare before our lease is up so we have some leisure with moving.
Lesson learned...there is something beautiful and perfect in submission and surrender. They are not bad words.
Why am I writing about this?
This summer has led Mike and I on our first house buying experience. We are the property virgins! How very fitting that I refer to us that way because I certainly went into this process envisioning us looking at three amazing houses, all of which would be waiting and available for us to mull over, and with sellers who were more than willing to pay our closing costs. Oh I was wrong!
We have been up against deadlines (our lease ending, the school year starting, a baby on the way) and a less than desirable market (increasing interest rates, modest budget, and competitive market). The combination of all these factors made for a more stressful summer than we could have imagined.
A few weeks ago we found a lovely home and put in a bid, which was beat by another buyer. This caused us to go into something of a frenzy, feeling absolutely positive that we had to buy something right away or we would never find a home. Another home came along that just happened to belong to our wedding photographer. We decided to bid and it was accepted. We thought everything was perfect because the seller was even willing to negotiate with us and for a while we felt relieved that our house buying nightmare was ending. It wasn't.
The day before our inspection period ended, we met with the inspector and had a chance to see the house for the second time. Mike came to me that night with a gut feeling that something wasn't right. He just knew this wasn't our house. I of course was adamant that he was wrong! I knew our finances, interest rates were going up, the yard was great etc etc etc. I just knew that I was right and was very upset that Mike would put our family's future in danger because of some fleeting reservations. After hours of prayer (on his part, definitely not mine), Mike asked me to please trust him as my husband to make the right decision even if it wasn't the one I thought we should make. I said yes and then went to bed in a complete state of panic. The next morning I woke up with a sense of calm and peace that I can't find words to describe. I knew God was telling me to submit to my husband's will. Suddenly I was relieved that I didn't have to worry about the decision anymore. I know that day was really hard for Mike because our contract was final at midnight. The whole process was more difficult because we had to contend with hurting a friend's feelings by backing out on someone we knew. Ultimately Mike made the decision to cancel our contract. It was heartbreaking and we definitely took a financial loss in the decision.
The next day (Friday) I started chatting with my friend Cheryl from Tres Dias and as a real estate professional herself she had much encouragement and advice to offer. She suggested we meet for coffee the next morning, which we did.
Cheryl came to me on Saturday morning having spent time in prayer herself for Mike and me. Her first words of wisdom after hearing me rant and rave were, "you and Mike need to rest. God never intended for us to strive like this. Making huge financial decisions while you are this stressed is not smart and ultimately you need to rest in Him." Wow!
After sharing some other steps and ideas as well, I went home and shared Cheryl's advice and after praying together, Mike and I decided to give up house hunting for the rest of the weekend. No looking at our portal, no researching lenders, we just decided to rest for the weekend. I won't say surrendering in this way was easy because I am a doer and I could hear that nagging voice saying, "there is a house out there that someone else is scooping up right now." Oh shut up, stupid voice!
Fast forward to Monday morning. Cheryl's husband Fred sent me a couple listings to check out and my realtor's portal updated. Guess what popped up? Our dream home!!!! It was back on the market...WHAT!!! I called Mike and we put in an offer right away. Guess what? Not only did the seller accept but he offered to pay our closing costs!
This is what happens when we submit and surrender. That is the lesson I've learned here. I submitted to my husband's will and allowed him to make the right decision (my decision would have been wrong). Then we submitted to God and He demonstrated that He is in control, He already had a plan for the home we were supposed to have. I surrendered my will, my timing, my desire, and my insistence that I knew best and ultimately, we ended up with a home more perfect than we could have imagined, we saved .4% on our new interest rate, and we ended up with a little more cash in our pocket to work on some home renos. On top of that, we are closing with a month to spare before our lease is up so we have some leisure with moving.
Lesson learned...there is something beautiful and perfect in submission and surrender. They are not bad words.
7.12.2013
DIY head band roll
After my exciting hair bow frame I decided to tackle a new project. A friend of mine shared her beautiful head band rolls that she made for her daughter's room and it inspired me to do the same.
If the base doesn't lay flat you may need to trim the little plastic leaves.
6. Finally, add the flower to the top. If it has a stem, you can feed it down into the roll through the fabric. Add a couple dabs of glue to keep the flower in place.
Finished!
Here is Jess's version:
She got her idea and tutorial from the following website and its a good one to check out for ideas: http://thebeautydepartment.com/2012/04/organization-station-headband-holder/
Here is my version:
1. I started with another trip to Hobby Lobby for more materials. Here are the additional supplies I purchased.
Fabric (I needed 2/3 yard for my paper towel roll) $3.84
Paper towel spool (I want my roll to stand, not hang) $1.99 plus I used my Hobby lobby 40% off coupon.
Top flower $1.99
Mini pink roses $3.50
You will obviously want to pick colors and flowers that fit your room style.
2. Cover the paper towel roll in fabric. I removed the plastic first because I didn't want the hot glue to melt it.
Once rolled, I folded the edge under to make it look nicer.
3. Tuck the fabric into the holes of the paper towel roll
4. You can now stand the roll up on the wooden holder
You will notice that it isn't very attractive so I planned to hot glue roses around the base. To do so, you have to pluck the flowers from the stems and then trim the plastic down so they will glue flat
5. There may be some extra wood showing so if you have spare roses you ca. Fill in that space
If the base doesn't lay flat you may need to trim the little plastic leaves.
6. Finally, add the flower to the top. If it has a stem, you can feed it down into the roll through the fabric. Add a couple dabs of glue to keep the flower in place.
Finished!
Here are some after photos once I added K's bows and clips to both projects
7.08.2013
DIY hair bow frame
I have wanted to make something to display K's bows since before she was born but I just didn't want the typical hanging ribbon from a flower. I saw this and fell in love... Also because her new room will be gray and pink.
I took at trip to Hobby Lobby for the following materials:
Picture frame (I did 11 x 14 but the size is up to you) cost $16
Fabric I loved the gray Damask from the example so I sought that out and had the lady at the counter figure out exactly how much to cut. I need 3/8 of yard. Cost $1.83
Ribbon again I wanted pink see through ribbon. Cost $2. I still have quite a bit left, which I'm sure I will continue to use in K's new room.
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Measuring tape
Here's what I bought to start:
Fist thing was to take the frame apart. You won't need the glass at all.
You will see here that the fabric is just enough to cover the frame back and it is doubled over
The fabric was a little longer than I needed so I trimmed before I started, keeping in mind where the hanging pegs are on the frame
Then, I glued the sides first using hot glue. I used a liberal amount but be careful because you will feel the heat through the fabric.
Since the fabric is doubled you will also want to put a dab of glue under the top layer as well. That way the fabric stays tight.
To glue the top and bottom, I did triangle corners (like you would if you were wrapping a present). This makes the material tighter and thicker.
Fabric done!
Next is to add the ribbon. I used a tape measure to figure out the full distance around the frame. For my frame and material it was 15 inches
Next I needed to measure and decide how many ribbon strips to include. For this size frame and ribbon, 4 worked great, they are spaced 1 1/2 inches apart
I laid a tape measure on the table and placed my strips of ribbon and frame board against it to keep the ribbons evenly spaced as I glued them down.
All the ribbon is on!
Almost done. Carefully press the board back into the frame
Done!
You will notice my finished product is a little different from the example but I'm very pleased. I did not include the hanging bow at the top because it will get smashed in the move plus I'm not sure how I want to hang it yet so ill add that later.
Total cost: less than $20
6.15.2013
Spice Up Your Life
I love pinterest and have tried many recipes, crafts, decorations, etc from that amazing website. Out of boredom one night I decided to do an overhaul of my spices and work on creating some of my own spice blends. I have the same spice rack full of the original supply of spices from our wedding registry. I realized there were some spices I've never even opened and although I didn't know the exact shelf life of spices and herbs, I figured 4 years was too much. I used the chart located at the bottom of the blog as proof that it was time to say farewell to most of my herb spices.
I went on a trek to Sprouts and discovered my new favorite part of the the store: bulk herbs. From there I filled up about 9 bags of herbs (all only 99 cents an ounce). For the lighter herbs that is beyond a great deal! When I came home I refilled many of my herb/spice jars and created several homemade spice blends from pinterest.
Poultry Seasoning
Italian Seasoning
Faijta Seasoning
Steak Seasoning
You may be wondering why I would even spend the time to make my own seasonings when I can buy all of these pre-mixed and ready for me at the grocery store. A couple reasons come to mind:
1. guaranteed no MSG
2. less sodium goes into my spice mixtures than store made ones
3. fun!
I encourage you to try to it
I went on a trek to Sprouts and discovered my new favorite part of the the store: bulk herbs. From there I filled up about 9 bags of herbs (all only 99 cents an ounce). For the lighter herbs that is beyond a great deal! When I came home I refilled many of my herb/spice jars and created several homemade spice blends from pinterest.
Poultry Seasoning
 |
http://pinterest.com/pin/257127459948004734 |
 |
| http://pinterest.com/pin/257127459948004704 |
 |
| http://pinterest.com/pin/257127459948004691 |
 |
| http://pinterest.com/pin/286330488779923656 |
You may be wondering why I would even spend the time to make my own seasonings when I can buy all of these pre-mixed and ready for me at the grocery store. A couple reasons come to mind:
1. guaranteed no MSG
2. less sodium goes into my spice mixtures than store made ones
3. fun!
I encourage you to try to it
4.27.2013
Worry Wart
Are you like me? Do you worry too much? I am fully aware that the Bible calls worrying a sin, that worrying implies my lack of trust in God and that I am commanded in all things with prayer to bring my burdens to God.
Yes, I still worry...like all the time. The kind of worry that makes your stomach hurt and makes it difficult to feel happy about anything. The kind of worry that almost invokes paranoia that more things are wrong than the small issue that I'm worrying about.
Unfortunately, despite my efforts to be proactive or make amends this past week, things just went terribly wrong like they can do once in a while. Because of these vents, I've found myself worrying so much this week and along with it has come the stomach knots that rival the already present nausea.
So my question and reason for posting...what do you do? For those of you who are prone to worrying like me, what do you do to make it stop or manage it?
Yes, I still worry...like all the time. The kind of worry that makes your stomach hurt and makes it difficult to feel happy about anything. The kind of worry that almost invokes paranoia that more things are wrong than the small issue that I'm worrying about.
Unfortunately, despite my efforts to be proactive or make amends this past week, things just went terribly wrong like they can do once in a while. Because of these vents, I've found myself worrying so much this week and along with it has come the stomach knots that rival the already present nausea.
So my question and reason for posting...what do you do? For those of you who are prone to worrying like me, what do you do to make it stop or manage it?
3.19.2013
The Toddler Workout
Not too long ago a friend of mine told me about the idea of working out simply by following your toddler around for an hour. At first, I mentally scoffed and then was skeptical but I've started watching Kenzie and holy cow! How does she move as much as she does? If I followed her around and copied her movements for an hour, here is what my workout might look like:
60 squats- in order to examine items, pick up toys, get on the floor, and get off the floor, Kenzie squats. She squats both quickly and sometimes for long periods of time at least once every minute, that's 60 squats in a one hour workout.
120 Sit down/stand ups- Kenzie does not stay in one place ever! She sits, she stands, she sits, she stands, she sits, she stands. Not kidding...about 120 reps in an hour.
30 arm curls/arm raises- everything she picks up ends up on her shoulder, over her head, or thrown on the floor. Try it. Pick up an object off the floor, raise it over your head, and throw it back down, 30 times- hey maybe even while squatting.
30 push ups- remember that a baby push up goes from full standing, to flinging yourself to the floor, rolling over, and then pushing back to full standing.
30 mins straight of running laps- either turn yourself in circles, chasw an object such as an animal or run everywhere you go for 30 mins because after all, toddlers do not walk anywhere ever!
20 climb up/climbs downs- toddlers climb up on everything including couches, laps, chairs etc and then immediately want to get down. Try climbing up on the equivalent, which would roughly be the height of a wall that comes up to your stomach. Go ahead, climb up and immediately get down...20 times.
15 mins of dragging items 1/3 to 1/2 your body weight- toddlers want to move things around. Kenzie rearranges her furniture constantly. She grabs objects much too big for her and drags them around. Take a dining room chair and just drag it around for about 15 mins straight.
Finally- do not stop moving, ever, at all, for 60 mins straight. Break these activities up or do them straight through in succession. Don't believe me, watch your toddler and take stock of their activities for an hour.
I'd love to know what your toddler workout would look like.
60 squats- in order to examine items, pick up toys, get on the floor, and get off the floor, Kenzie squats. She squats both quickly and sometimes for long periods of time at least once every minute, that's 60 squats in a one hour workout.
120 Sit down/stand ups- Kenzie does not stay in one place ever! She sits, she stands, she sits, she stands, she sits, she stands. Not kidding...about 120 reps in an hour.
30 arm curls/arm raises- everything she picks up ends up on her shoulder, over her head, or thrown on the floor. Try it. Pick up an object off the floor, raise it over your head, and throw it back down, 30 times- hey maybe even while squatting.
30 push ups- remember that a baby push up goes from full standing, to flinging yourself to the floor, rolling over, and then pushing back to full standing.
30 mins straight of running laps- either turn yourself in circles, chasw an object such as an animal or run everywhere you go for 30 mins because after all, toddlers do not walk anywhere ever!
20 climb up/climbs downs- toddlers climb up on everything including couches, laps, chairs etc and then immediately want to get down. Try climbing up on the equivalent, which would roughly be the height of a wall that comes up to your stomach. Go ahead, climb up and immediately get down...20 times.
15 mins of dragging items 1/3 to 1/2 your body weight- toddlers want to move things around. Kenzie rearranges her furniture constantly. She grabs objects much too big for her and drags them around. Take a dining room chair and just drag it around for about 15 mins straight.
Finally- do not stop moving, ever, at all, for 60 mins straight. Break these activities up or do them straight through in succession. Don't believe me, watch your toddler and take stock of their activities for an hour.
I'd love to know what your toddler workout would look like.
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