Wednesday, October 20, 2010

The Best Birthday Present Ever!

Introducing.....Kai Manu!!

Born on my 31st birthday :D Here is his amazing birth story...

The night before we all had lovely dinner for my birthday, and I was feeling as tired as I had all week (at 41 weeks..thats pretty tired!). All through dinner I was crampy, so a glass of wine was in order to help me sleep later. We came home, put kiddo to bed, and relaxed with a movie for a bit. I went to bet shortly there after and went to sleep quite content! That is until about 3am when I was awoken by rushes I had to concentrate and breath through. I could still sleep in between, so I stayed put and snuggled with my family. At 7am I could no longer deal with them laying down and got up to bounce on my ball. Getting up immediately made the rushes intense, so much I had to start vocalizing through them and timing their regularity. Hubby began cleaning and inflating or pool. All was clean and calm :)



At 8am I called my midwife and she had been at a birth all night! She sent her back up and said she was right behind her, I was so glad she was still coming, and I was to have the same birth team I did with kiddo! My mom and sister were notified as well, Mom was to keep kiddo busy and calm, sister was to film the birth! By 9:30am everyone was there, and we started filling up the pool. I was having some back pressure and Mom rubbed my lower back during each rush, in between I just stared at the pool and wanted in so bad! Hubby suggested music, and I wanted something upbeat.....so he put on a great disco mix from a dear friend :D Thanks Guava!!



At 9:45am the pool was full and I was in.....ahh.....so good! So good....but right away I felt like pushing during a rush, so I did! My midwife did not feel the need to check my progress, she said if I feel the urge, do it! This was immense pressure and hubby was right there for every one, to squeeze his hands tight, he was my rock!





My water had not broken and I thought I had a ways to go still....Kiddo popped is head in once in awhile to check on me, between rushes I was clear headed enough to chat with him....I remember telling him I was ok, and I needed to make these noises to get the baby out!

I could not get comfortable in any position, I tried sitting, all fours, leaning on Hubby, but after all I ended up squatting again....Perfect! My midwife commented that this is exactly how I ended up birthing kiddo! :D So my water still had not broken and I decided to investigate....I reached in, and yup! there was the bag of waters about an inch in, he was coming out with bags intact. I felt a huge rush coming on and roared through it, right in the middle I felt a POP! I thought this was the bag breaking, but nope, I looked down and there was part of the bag bulging out of me....wow...my midwife exclaimed, "Someone get a camera! This is amazing!" haha, I thought so too. At 10:45am another big rush was coming on and I knew this was the last one....it just had to be, it was so intense. So ROAR again, and ROAR once more and his whole body slid out at once! I look down to catch him and I see this little blue being floating inside his bag, utterly amazing, his bag (or Caul) was completely intact! I pulled him up and the caul fell away and he turned pink right away and looked a bit sleepy, then let out a little tiny cry. I realized I could not pull him all the way up so I looked down and his cord was wrapped around his little foot :/ we untangled him and he stopped crying right away. Awww, I could not believe I had another son! He was just perfect :D



We got out of the tub so that we could get the placenta out.....and it was taking quite a while. After a couple of contractions, out it came, along with a TON of blood (after all it was about 4 cups!!!) So everything at that moment became focused on getting me to stop bleeding, breastfeeding, massaging my belly, laying down. I was quite weak after so I asked Hubby to make me up a smoothie with some placenta, yup placenta, in it. I drank that, some juice, and eventually a burrito :). After that I started to feel better, but I knew it was going to be a few weeks before I was feeling completely better (and yes, I was right).

I just kept focusing on my baby, my beautiful baby boy, that I did not have a name for! Didn't matter though, he was delightful!
My midwife weighed him, 7lbs 9oz, and measured him, 19 3/4 in! Great size :D


So there it is, my second and most likely final birth, just the way it should have been. Kai is now 3 weeks old, nursing like a champ, and is still quite sleepy ;) (except at night!) He has steel blue eyes, light brown hair, my complection, and 10 fingers and toes! Like I said....perfect!!





Friday, October 1, 2010

Belly Art!

You know what can make you feel much better at the "I feel like a balloon" stage of pregnancy?

Belly Art! It makes you feel special, and beautiful, like a walking piece of artwork :D

My Hubby helped me create a belly cast that will one day make a welcome addition to our bedroom wall art.... next to This One.

(I was a little shy to post the whole pic....so here is just the belly for now...)



and my very talented little sis came by for an evening of Belly Henna





Belly Henna is a bit of a long process that involves quite some time siting still (very difficult at 9 months preggo), but it is well worth the 2 -3 weeks that it stays with you! Mine lasted long enough to be captured in my "official" maternity photo shoot!!





You can find more from that photo shoot Here!

(Thanks again to my Hubby for being the talented one behind the camera!)

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Getting ready for The Babe

I do think it's high time for an update don't you?!?

So happy to report that we are now 38 weeks along and doing great! I am gearing up by doing lots of sewing and crocheting for this little one....here is what I have so far....

We are cloth diapering again, so most of the crafting has been diaper related

Here are the crocheted bits so far, two wool soakers/diaper covers. I used the Tickle Turdle Wrap Pattern



I am converting 20....yes 20...prefold diapers into fitted diapers....



I found the best little Kimono Wrap by Habitual, and thought it would be perfect paired with some wool longies for The Babe's first outfit!

(The Kimono is an upcycled pillow case....very soft....and the longies are an upcycled merino wool sweater!)



My very own version of this sleeper (also made from the same upcycled sweater as the longies!). Do I see a tutorial in the very near future?!?



We have gotten all our supplies together for our homebirth as well, here we are trying out the birth pool (ok....its a kiddie pool...but it'll work!)




More on the Henna and Belly Art later!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

NYC....through the eyes of a 3.5 year old

(during our June trip!)










Friday, June 11, 2010

Sewing for Kiddo (Boys Tank Top Tutorial)

Can I tell you how hard it is to find tutorials for cute boys clothes out there!! I had an urge to make a simple tank top for the kiddo after work, and I only found ONE! and to be honest.....I had a hard time understanding the sizing....hmn

Sooo I decided that I could do this on my own!! I know I am very empowered right :D

Here's my process.....any suggestions will be well received!

I started out with a favorite tank of kiddo's, folded it in half, and cut around (the fabric is a thrifted pillow case)



With extra cut at the bottom and sides for seam allowance



Cut two of those on the fold (and cut about 1/2 an inch more out of the neck line to leave room for the bias binding)



Make bias binding for neck and arm holes, mine turned out to be 2 1/2 in x 18 in

**Edit for the bias binding**

I was corrected by my mother.....bias binding should be cut at a 45 degree angle...thus making it "on the bias" so that it will stretch! Like this or this

Thanks Mom!! I was wondering why it was a tight squeeze over his head!!



Sew the right sides of one of the shoulder seams together (just one!)



Pin RIGHT side of binding to the WRONG side of the neck hole and sew together
(I dont have a fancy binding maker and this way works out best for me)

Here is another explanation



Once that side is sewn, flip the garment over, then make sure the bias binding is folded so you can see the wrong side facing up. Fold the binding in half like so



Fold binding again, this time over the seam, and pin all along the neck hole (covering the exposed seam)





Top stitch close to edge of the binding (sewing through binding and garment fabric

Repeat this binding process for the arm hole under the shoulder seam already sewn together



Sew the other shoulder seam together and repeat binding process for that armhole



Sew down the sides of the garment (I like to start at the arm hole and sew down)



Fold over the bottom edge 3/8 in and then fold over again 1/2 in, pin, and sew



(funny how the light changed on this last photo....its a totally different color!)

Enjoy watching your little one play in their nice, cool, summer top!



Let me know if you try it :D

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The Color of Home - Living Room (plus demolition fun!)

Warm, natural colors and lots of light fill the main living space in our home.......



Toys included of course....




This great 60's "Danish Modern" couch we found at a local antique market! Lucky find.......all thats needed is a little reupholstering job to make it perfect.....I have time....I promise!




We used Olympic's Zero VOC line of paint.....no odor and amazing color selection!
(this advertisement not paid for by Olympic......but I wish it had been!)

aaand here is a sneak peek of some demolition starting at our house.....finally!!! This is just the beginning ;)



I was envious of all the fun hubby was having tearing up our detached "casita"



Kiddo desperately wanting to help too....



and without this special man (my very own daddio) much of this would not be possible! yay for family!



Whew....I get exhausted just watching them....

We are trying our best to find used construction materials over at our local ReStore and whenever we can we will donate our usable materials right back!