He's finally here...

Last Tuesday, January 24 at 4:17am our baby boy finally arrived and he is a dream!

....getting to the end result wasn't so dreamy.

On Monday morning we headed to our weekly check up at the doctor's office.  Since I was already late and everything was set with my body being ready, we were instructed to head over to the hospital.  After a quick detour of breakfast, we checked in and filled out all the fun paperwork.  
Our hospital room was fantastic..huge and as homey as a hospital room can be.  There were tons of different seating options for my Hubs, which is good because it was gonna be a long day/night....

They got me all hooked up on the IV and at about noon started on the pills.  I guess the new hip thing is to get a pill every four hours which helps induce labor.  (They have found that this gradual process is way, way better than just hitting you hard with the pitocin.)   Since I didn't feel the first four hours of contractions, I tend to agree with the experts.  Time passed and I got another pill.  While I sorta dossed off, the Hubs paced around and ordered a pizza.   I guess at around 6pm the pain started getting serious, so I opted for the drug that "takes the edge off".  That's what the nurses say, I say it's like a 6 pack straight to the head.  Either way, I felt better, like we were having our own little party in the room.  At about 9ish, the party was over and the pain was intense...I opted for the epidural.  Mind you, this was my plan all along.  I have done this before and I know it hurts...I wanted to skip the hurt part and enjoy the giving birth part.  I didn't get the epidural for another hour or so (not my choice), so I did get a big taste of contractions.  No thank you.....on to more glorious things.  The epidural kicks in...it's amazing.  It totally boggles my mind how they ever figured out to put a needle straight in someone's spine..and who was the 1st person to say "oh yeah, I'll be the guinea pig."  I thank them all.  Glorious. 
So now we are all set...
I'm feeling good..it's time to start pushing and finally get the little guy out.
I push and push.
The doctor comes in to check on us and casually clicks off my epidural.  
Straight fear hits me..  the nurse must have seen my panic because he follows with, "Don't worry it takes a while for it to totally wear off."  So, I'm in good spirits again. kind of. After a bit I can feel a some pressure, which is actually good, because I can get more accomplished in the whole pushing department.  After a while longer I can feel more pressure and some pain.
After a while longer, pain.  Lots of pain.  I'm in full blown panic mode again.  The baby is not out, the epidural is gone...no mas drugs.  
Holy Crap!  This cannot be happening.  This is so so not one of the ways I had this going in my mind.  No way.
Oh, yes way.  Whether I like it or not, we are moving forward with this.
I'll spare you the full details, but let's just say that there was A LOT  of cursing and yelling to turn the dang epidural back on.  And then just some general cursing and yelling.  Lots of pain....and some barf.
No time they say, no time.   even if they turn on the drugs, they won't have time to kick back in..
Oh, there was time...a couple of hours later, with the assistance of the 'vacuum' our beautiful baby boy was finally welcomed into the world.  
He's perfect, I love him instantly!
The mood in the room is happy and blissful..mostly. Mostly, except I'm now getting stitches, several of 'em (1st gift from the miracle) with no drugs.  Ouch..but at this point I think I'm delirious.  I'm now yelling at the doctor for something, numb me, stop, something,  God Bless the nurses..especially the pro they sent in at the end.  Talk about getting me to focus away from the pain.  And I couldn't forget my wonderful Hubs....what a trooper!  Luckily, all the hospital birth stuff doesn't gross him out or make him queasy in the least.  He was right with the nurses, holding legs, swapping out cold wet rags for my face, handing the doc utensils, he even got to cut the cord.  What a proud, proud papa!!

   And what a wonderful little cherub we have been blessed with!!

 He even managed to give us a smile on day 2 of life.
At 8lbs 7oz he was a bit bigger than his older brother at birth.
Yet he decided that he would enter the world el naturale.
Although, I will give him some credit for not trying to top the 20hrs of his bother's production. 
I'm not saying that I'm sure I'm ready to do it again, but there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that is more gratifying than seeing your child for the first time.  Nothing in the entire world.  My husband and I now, for second time, know how amazing having a child is!
LOVE. PURE AND INSTANT LOVE.






Now I will begin the process of healing.  Looks like I will have the preggo waddle for a bit longer than I intended....but...I have another wonderful, beautiful, perfect baby boy that I grew (after the help of my husband) in MY belly.   It truly, truly is a miracle of life.




We are so so blessed to have two miracles and I am thankful for that every single day!!

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Still pregnant.....

.....this maybe a bit more of venting from my end than really posting....

It's Sunday the 22nd and I'm still pregnant.   As this is perfectly healthy and fine, I am totally ready to meet my second born son.

Technically I had two due dates, the 21st and the 23rd.  The 21st was my 'cycle' date and the 23rd was my 'sonogram' date.  The doctor says he's using the 21st, although the Hubs and I have been using the 23rd, because that's his birthday.  

Tomorrow we have an appointment at 8:45 am.  Last week the doctor said we would talk about a possible induction, so naturally it's all I've been thinking about.  I have a bunch of questions, mostly concerning the health and safety of the baby and myself and he also needs to do an exam, but it could be the day.  The miracle of life day! Just the thought of this makes me super excited....almost like I wanna say Hi to the Doc and just head right on over to the hospital.  I mean, this would just take so much stress and anticipation away.   I would BE at the hospital, where I need to be to have the babes.  And the doctor would be there ready to deliver him.

  No worrying about....

if we are gonna make it in time, 

or how long I should hang at home before we load into the car, 

or if I have to decide if I'm really in labor or just gassy

or how much pain I'll be in

or making arrangements for my 4 year old to also be able to meet his brother as soon as possible

or wondering if it's gonna happen in the middle of the night

or when I'm alone

or calling  my parents so they can head on down from the Big Easy

the list goes on and on....

 

But for now I guess I will do what I've been doing...

WAITING.

I think I'm getting good at this.

Domino letter project

There was actual inspiration for this project..
When my son found out that we were having another boy he wanted to name him Domino Laser.  While the whole family was totally for this idea..me...not so much.  Either way, it was pretty cute and the little guy currently growing in my belly (due to come out any day now) is still referred to as Domino.   That will not be the name that goes on his birth certificate, but I did want to save the memory of it somehow.  I thought I would just get a picture of a domino, frame and hang it.  That idea came from David Bromstad.

 I love his artwork and his design style.  But with a new baby on the way I wasn't sure spending a whole bunch on a print, not to mention getting it stretched or framed, was such a good idea.  I had a few other thoughts...
Maybe I would take a picture of a domino, print and frame myself...this would in no way achieve the "Bromstad" look you see here..scratch that idea.  I can't paint, so that's out of the question.  Hmmmmmm....what to do?  I google...I google dominoes.  Wow, what a ton of neat ideas.  Did you know that people make entire face images out of dominoes?  It's pretty amazing, but I was going down the wrong alley.  After looking at pictures of baby's rooms and different ideas Moms had come up with to display their child's name on the wall, it hit me...
I will write his name in dominoes!!  

And this is what I did..

  After I had collected all the supplies the project didn't take too long....less than a day.



I got some peel-n-stick tiles from the home store, they were 38 cents each and my Hubs gave me some dominoes for Christmas, knowing I wanted to do this project.




 I laid out all the dominoes a few different ways until I had the size and proportions I wanted.  I had to go back to the store and get more and I had to run over to my mother-in-laws to grab what dominoes she had.  One tin = not enough.
 I peeled the backing off and stuck my domino tiles right on.   In my head, I'm thinking, "Wow, this is gonna be super easy."

Jinx....I shouldn't have thought that.  But moving right along...

I  get the exacto knife and score around the dominoes.  I ended up putting some of the paper from the back of the peel and sticks on so my hand wouldn't keep sticking as I cut.  Once scored, I could fold and tear off the excess tiles I didn't need.   This part was probably the most tedious and time consuming, so be patient and just keep scoring and folding and tearing.

 So I had all my letters cut out and I realize that they are kind of flimsy.  There is no way they are gonna hang well on the wall, they need to be firm.  I head into the garage to look around for a solution.  I discover a stack of paint stirrer sticks.  Ya know, they always give you a ton whenever you get a can of paint.  At that moment, I was glad I kept them.  I could score and snap those with the razor as well and not need to ask my Hubs for help cutting any wood.  Bonus.



I feel I'm almost done.  I hot glue the paint sticks on along with the picture hangers I picked up for $1.58 a pack.  I got two packs, but only ended up needing one.   

And Voila'!!!!  It came out great!!!

But...I'd be lying if I said "All done."

  I walked in the room later that day and a few of the dominoes had fallen off.  I thought, "Great, just what I need..these things falling on my baby's head while I'm changing his diaper."   So I gather up all the letters and head back to the hot glue gun.  I reinforce all the loose ones...I guess the sticky on the peel-n-stick tiles is not so strong after all.   Still, I am very satisfied with my project.  It's cute, quirky and has a back story.  :)

If I had involved my Hubs this may have been mounted on a solid wood board that I had painted and he then framed out....but that would also mean that this project could have sat in the garage until my son was off to college...J/K.  He's awesome and handy and I'm about to enlist his help for the next project...
After seeing this my 4.5 year old wants his name on his wall too.  We are gonna have to be creative, but I think the Hubs may have something....
So stay tuned...

We may have a slight delay in work, as the baby is due any day, any minute, but it will get done eventually.

UPDATE:
My hubs brought home a pallet for a different project,  but I ended up using it with the domino letters.  I stained the wood with a light coat of ebony and used Hard as Nails to secure the letters.  Even better than before in my opinion.

10 days left before delievery...technically...

Technically there are 10 days left before I give birth.  Of course, this is just a guesstimate and I could go at any time....any minute....

Because of this I pause and think with every pain, kick, nudge, gas bubble or movement that comes from my belly, 'Are we ready, Is today the day?'    Even when my Hubs walks in the door from work he asks, "Is it go time?"
The anticipation is killing me...it may even be worse than the last time. 
Correction..it is worse than the last time.  Last time I had no idea what to expect so I was just sort to rolling with the punches (or kicks), this time I do know...   Not sure that's a good thing.     You hear all these amazing stories from other mothers about their deliveries and how giving birth is so magical.  NO.  Disney World is magical...labor not so much.   Don't get me wrong, the end result is truly amazing.  I mean, they don't call it the miracle of life for nothing.  I did make the conscious decision to do it Again... But getting there...geeesh.  And I've had it pretty good as far as pregnancies go...no morning sickness, no back aches, mild heartburn, reasonable sleep (until now), it's just the end that is no fun.  I'm large, swollen (very swollen) and tired....and I totally know what I'm in for....no sugar coating it for me....
I have my hopes that this time will be a lot smoother...can't be worse than 20 hours, can it?  But I can't stop running different scenarios through my head....just can't.   I know, I know...perfectly normal.

I will say that I think the baby is fully grown.  'They' say that they do most of their growing in the last couple months....fatten up for the real world.  Well, someone needs to share that info with my body.  I'm not sure it was ready for the pressure.  Maybe he's just moving down getting ready for his big debut.    What ever it is, something is going on.  The Doc assures me that I will be seeing him on Monday...in the office.  So I guess all we can do is wait...and think...and try to make some sort of plan.....  There are probably 852 different ways I have played this out in my head and after the baby comes I will be sharing the un-thought-of 853rd way. 
 I just keep reminding myself of the end result...so glorious...

This is the last time I saw him..."Oh Boy" is right...he was only about 20 or so weeks...
Now he is doing jigs on my pelvic bones and playing my ribs like a piano...little bugger... and I  CAN NOT wait to meet him!!!

So we may or may not chat again before I am the mother of two....but either way...wish me luck.

My paint chip art project.

As of late..I have been really interested in the "paint chip" projects I've seen around the web.  This is my fav....http://lifecraftsandwhatever.blogspot.com/2011/01/paint-chip-wall-art.html. After reading this and a few similar crafts, I decided that I would try and tackle a small one. I have painted every room in my house at least once, not to mention a few pieces of furniture as well.

old 80's dresser painted for my 4 year old's room.  Blue is his favorite color and I needed the dresser he originally had for the baby's room...it matches the crib.  So this was pretty much a bribe.  I did a nightstand to match.

   From all the painting and testing I have tons of paint chips.  Also at one point I was  into taking close up pictures of flowers and nature, framing them and displaying them around the house.    (we had just moved in and I needed things on the wall STAT.)  They  were interesting, inexpensive and I always got compliments.  And because of this, I have tons of random frames.  Since we are having a baby boy....large bromeliads were not gonna cut it as far as wall art goes, so it only seemed right that I put something cooler and new in the frame.

Remember this is kind of a test run.  If I like it, I will be bold and take on the bigger project with many, many more paint chips, a more stable surface (like a wood board) and take my time with the first layer of glue.

First I laid the chips out on some thick card stock paper I had around the house to be sure I had enough.  Then I cut them to the appropriate size and glued them down.  I applied 2 coats of Mod Podge.  Since it's going to be behind some glass, I'm not quite as concerned with the finish being completely flat.
 For the last coat, I added a bit of brown acrylic paint to the glue and lightly brushed over it for some depth.

Paint chip art

 And there is the finished product.  Pretty good for a test run and much better for a baby boy's nursery. 
I have another 'wall art' project up my sleeve for his nursery and as soon as I get the supplies, I'll give you the step-by-step of that one too.  I have high expectations for it.  :)


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