Tuesday's Child : 22 Weeks

It's Tuesday.

It's 7:16 am.

I've showered. I can see spots on my head where my hair has visibly thinned. I've had one cup of coffee. I've posted my Tuesday post.

Baby E was up at 5:45 this morning....

Today might be a long day.

But we're experimenting with solid (bit of a misnomer as it's 75% breast milk and not solid at all) food!

Read about it and watch the cutest video here 

And send long baby nap vibes my way today cause coffee ain't cutting it.

Tuesday's Child : 21 Weeks

Guess who made the most of baby's short nap to blog?

This mama.

Read all about it here!

Now we're off to pick up passport photos and cat litter. 

Busy day.

P.S. John's birthday is on Saturday so stay tuned for a savoury cupcake recipe!

Tuesday's Child : 19 Weeks

Someone was up at 6 and then took a nice snooze from 7:30-8 so that I could get todays post up!

My first mother's day was wonderful and got me thinking about what being a mother means to me.

Read it here!

Tuesday's Child : 18 Weeks

Last week I finally got around to making those coffee cake muffins. 

This week I will post it.

It all depends on the doodle-bug taking some much needed naps....

Read why this week has felt long already here (it has to do with naps and squealing)!

Tuesday's Child : 17 Weeks

Sorry for the lack of posts - last week I was out of the house most days and truly I've done nothing worth blogging about.

Hopefully that will change this week!

Here's my Tuesday baby post in the meantime - complete with another video!

Tuesday's Child : 14 Weeks Old

It's Tuesday!

AND - my dad's birthday!

Happy happy birthday Daddy-o! 

I love you :)

Tuesday's Child : 13 Weeks Old

The love-bug officially turned 3 months old on Monday!

And boy is she becoming more aware of herself and her surroundings.

This weeks post has pictures and videos!

Check it out here

Tuesday's Child : 12 Weeks Old

Last week there was no post because we had no power/internet.

But we:re back with week 12 here!

Hard to believe it's been almost 3 months since the little monkey came home with us.

Gosh I love this kid. 

In other news, I've got a recipe for an apple-coleslaw that I plan to post this week.

My cooking recipes ain't so fancy anymore. 

It's all about quick & easy these days!

Tuesday's Child : 10 Weeks Old

As per usual, I can't believe another week has gone by!

This morning we registered for a baby & caregiver yoga class on Thursday mornings.

This mama is excited about the warm weather and getting out to meet other parents in the area!

I'm fortunate enough to already know a lot of new moms who are incredibly supportive. 

Incredibly.

So this week's post is all about the most important thing I was told as I adjusted to life as a parent.

Read it here! 

Tuesday's Child : 9 Weeks Old

The blog post is up!

My goal is to find something other than my kid to post about this week....

I'm thinking.

In the meantime, check out the Tuesday post here!

And check out my friend Kayla's blog.
She recently took some photos of our little family that you can check out here. And while you're there, read through her other posts about finding the beauty in everyday life.

Tuesday's Child: 8 Weeks Old

I almost missed posting on Tuesday's Child yesterday but remembered at about 9 pm last night.

Check out the post here and check out that cute little one-week old bug in the picture above!

We got her newborn photos back and she's grown so much. Her face has filled out and her arms and legs aren't quite so skinny anymore.

I can't believe she's almost 2 months old already.

P.S. John made the mobile hanging above her!

Tuesday's Child: 7 Weeks Old

This post was almost late - sorry!

Our furnace has been on the fritz so we spent a lot of the day getting space heaters set up and starting a fire. 

We're nice and warm in the living room and we'll probably have a sleep-over of sorts out here tonight. 

I feel childish saying I'm excited. It's like being a kid again on the weekends when my parents would pull out the sofa bed and my sister and I would sleep in the living room and watch tv until late at night. 

But here it is, the ol' Tuesday baby blog post!

This week she's started smiling and almost laughing a lot more. It's the best. 

Tuesday's Child: 6 Weeks Old

It's Tuesday!

And this week there's a picture with my post. 

I'd planned (and already started) to do a monthly photo to see how she changes but I think I'm going to do weekly photos too and then put them all in a 52-photo frame then hang it up in her room so that it takes up her entire wall and she can see how crazy about her we are. 

But in the meantime, check out the blog here !

Tuesday's Child: 5 Weeks Old

It's Tuesday!

The bug is 5 weeks old today!

Read this weeks musings here

Tuesday's Child: 3 Weeks Old

It's Tuesday!

You know what that means. 

I have a baby update for you at Tuesday's Child! 

Mommy-Daughter Day

Today was John's first day back at work. 

I was dreading this day a little bit, having enjoyed spending almost the last 3 weeks uninterrupted with my husband. It was wonderful.

I fell in love with him on a totally new level watching him in dad mode and seeing how caring he has been with her and with me as I birthed her and recovered from said birthing.

And now I'm home alone with a 2 week old, a dog, and a cat. 

None of whom speak or understand English. 

"Sit", "paw", "lie down", "okay", and "stay" not withstanding. 

Thankfully this little girl is an absolute angel.

She went to sleep at 11:45 last night, was up from 3:30-4:30 for a feeding, then went back down from 4;30-7:30 this morning. 

I feel like one well-rested Mama.

Next Dear Daughter post will include a promise to buy her a pony if she doesn't change her sleeping habits for the next few weeks.

This is my plan for today. 

Be warned, it's ambitious:

• Enjoy a hot cup of coffee. Real, caffeinated coffee.
• Watch the premiere of The Bachelor from last Monday.
• Do exercise of some sort. Use baby as weight.
• Do laundry.
• Blog about being a new mom.

___________________________________________________

Coffee - consumed in bed, snuggled with baby & dog while watching Breakfast Television. Coffee remained warm throughout consumption. Do not anticipate this trend lasting.

Bachelor - watched. Will this truly be the most dramatic season yet? I'm glad we can have some Mother-Daughter bonding over trashy TV. John has no interest in it. I need to start Evelyn early so I have a partner in crime. 

Exercise - did 25 squats. Then ate a ziplock bag full of skittles. Plan to continue to do some squats and lunges around the house with the babe. Maybe lay out the yoga mat and do some stretches later.

Laundry - 2 loads! This day has been QUITE a success.

Blog - I've started up a sister blog to keep track of all my parenting adventures so that this blog doesn't just become all about the little baby that I'm currently obsessed with. My goal is to post every Tuesday and I will post the link on this blog for convenience :)

The new blog can be found here at Tuesdayfullofgrace.blogspot.com 

Let's hope tomorrow is as successful as today was! 

Tomorrows goals include take a shower, eat something other than ice cream for lunch, and watch some Sherlock

Motherhood (and how it happened)

After waiting an extra week, our little girl finally made her way into the world.

Our sweet, perfect Evelyn Grace was born Tuesday December 30th at 5:18 pm weighing 7 lbs 15 ounces.

Birth story coming up - turn back now if you don't want to read about it.

On Monday morning I woke up, went to the bathroom as per usual, and realized I was losing my mucus plug. We had an ultrasound at 2:30 and an OB appointment afterward where we would be setting a date to induce me. 

The ultrasound was fine, so the doctor did an internal exam and immediately after my water broke. All over the exam table!

I didn't realize it had happened until the doctor said, "oh, I think your water just broke!" And sure enough I felt like I had peed on the table. 

Suddenly, plans were changing.

John and I had decided that, if given the choice, we would opt for an induction on Thursday the 1st for a 2015 baby. We even planned to go to the Keg for dinner the night before for one last date night before we were parents. 

The doctor went to get John and as soon as he walked in I told him my water had broken. His facial expressions mirrored my emotions - excitement, terror, happiness and panic.

The plan now was to go home and wait for contractions to start. If nothing had warranted a trip to the hospital by midnight, we were to head down to be admitted and I'd be given meds to get the contractions going.

We drove home, both managed to keep it together, and made our game plan. We would make sure we had everything ready to go, watch a movie, tidy up, and spend the evening on the couch relaxing.

By 11 pm I was only having mild contractions and there was no rhythm or increasing pattern to them. We dropped the dog off at John's parents' and got to the hospital just after midnight. 

I was 1 cm dilated so they hooked me up to the pitocin and we settled in for the night. 

I woke up around 4 with increasingly intense contractions. I also had a few episodes of diarrhea which is horrible when coupled with contractions. 

I had one very intense contraction that caused me to sit up and when I did I was convinced I had peed all over the bed. Turns out it was just the rest of my water breaking but I was convinced that the bed would be soaked (it wasn't).

After that the contractions continued to build and I opted for the epidural.

One blunt but wise nurse told us to get as much sleep as we could because labour could take days and I would need my strength for pushing.

I got the epidural and it was bliss after that. The epidural seemed like such a scary thing - a giant needle being pushed into my spine - but it was nothing. The only thing I felt was the initial needle to freeze the area. After that it was a tiny bit of pressure but nothing painful, not even uncomfortable. 

After that we tried to sleep but it was hard for me to roll side to side so my sleep wasn't great. And I can't imagine John got a much better sleep on his pull out bed-chair contraption. 

At 6 am the doctor checked me and I was only 2 cm dilated but much more effaced. Some progress.

Family started to filter in, I met Dr. Berger who would be delivering my girl, and I craved a burger while I made due with my jello and popsicle and juice. 
At around 10 am they checked me again and I was 4-5 cm dilated.  Half way there!

By 2 pm I was about 7 cm dilated. 
Around 3 pm I started to feel the contractions a bit more intensely. My pitocin had been upped to a fairly high level which made the contractions very close together with little relief in between. The nurse explained that when they initially put in the epidural they give a higher dose to ensure that the area freezes but that this wears off over time. John and I tried unsuccessfully to get back to the level of comfort I was at before by giving myself a dose every 10 minutes but after 30-40 minutes of that it was evident that the epidural was starting to wear off in the upper half of my abdomen. Thankfully they were able to give me a top up dose and after that I was in heaven again. A little dopey but much more comfortable. 
All I wanted to do after that was sleep. 
So I did. 
I closed my eyes and slept.
When I woke up around 4:30 the nurse was checking me again and I was instantly awake when she said, "okay, we're ready to push. Let's get set up!"
John went to get my sister from the waiting room and our family members then also left the waiting room and gathered in the hall outside of the delivery room. 
As scared as I was to actually be in the process now of actively having a baby, I was excited as well.
After about 30-40 minutes of pushing (pushing, for the record, is HARD. Way way harder than I expected it to be. I thought I was going to pass out a few times), our little girl had arrived. The nurse brought in a mirror so I could watch the birth and holy cow... watching her head come out and seeing her face... there aren't words to describe how magical it is. 

Our beautiful daughter entered the world at 5:18 pm on Tuesday December 30th. 

John cut the cord and the doctors went in for an intense internal exam because they were afraid part of my placenta hadn't come out. This was by far the most painful and uncomfortable part of the entire process. 
Thankfully I didn't need stitches.

We were moved into the post-partum room after about an hour. 
Family came to ooh and ahh and we did the same, just staring at this perfect little human we had brought into the world. 

I learned how to waddle to the bathroom and only peed my pants once. I made it right into the bathroom and had just closed the door behind me when my bladder just let go. 
Thankfully I was wearing one of the giant pads the hospital gives you so it absorbed most of the damage. 

Why did I share that? There should be no shame if you pee your pants after giving birth.
Those muscles need time to recover! 

We stayed 3 nights in total as the nurses wanted to be sure I didn't have an infection since my water had broken more than 24 hours before she was born.

I also had my first I'm-a-terrible-mother breakdown (highly influenced also by raging hormones and 2 nights of no sleep) when Evelyn spent the third night unconsolably fussing and the nurses couldn't give me any advice beyond "just keep breastfeeding". 
In the morning our nurse, and my favourite of all of the nurse we had, suggested we give her a bit of formula in case she was hungry and my colostrum wasn't producing enough just yet. She gulped down the formula then immediately settled to sleep.
So I cried. 
Because obviously it was clear that 2 days into motherhood I couldn't provide for my daughter. 
The wonderful nurse assured me this wasn't the case.

Thankfully, Evelyn continues to have her fussy, inconsolable moments but she does eventually settle and we know that she is well fed. 

We spent our New Years cuddled together on John's pull out bed chair sipping champagne and watching the fireworks at City Hall from the window. 
It was actually quite romantic and definitely a New Years Eve I will never forget. 

Hard to believe we've had our beautiful little bug for a whole week now.
Things are starting to feel like routine and we're getting the hang of this parenting thing - although every day is different and sleep is hit or miss. 

Pictures of the little bug to come! 

Adventures In Knitting : The Cable Stitch

My mother in law made us this incredibly beautiful and intricate Aran wool sweater for our pup for Christmas.

Woven into it were cable stitches and I decided that I wanted the cable stitch to be my next knitting adventure.

Turns out it's not as hard as I thought.

For a first try my cable wasn't too bad but I'll work at making it tighter and making it pop more.

I knit it into a baby blanket that I made for my good friends who are pregnant with their first child, due this summer.

They're not as impatient as me so they're planning to wait to find out if they're having a boy or a girl until the baby arrives.

Not that I want to be accused of gender typing, but I decided that grey and white was a good way to go.

It also matches with most colours so should be fine with whatever room they decide to paint the baby's room. 

If you want to learn to cable stitch, I recommend this youtube video, which was the one I watched and seemed pretty straight forward. Although I did practice a few times before I started incorporating it into the blanket.

And if you don't like that one, search around a bit because there are a ton of great video tutorials online.

I made up my own pattern which went somewhat like:

row 1: knit 25, purl 14, knit 25, purl 14, knit 25

row 2: p 25, k 14, p 25, k 25

row 3: k 25, p 2, put 5 on cable, knit 5,  knit 5 off cable, p 2, k 25, p 2, put 5 on cable, knit 5, knit 5 off cable, p 2, knit 25

row 4: p 25, k 14, p 25, k 14, p 25

row 5: k 25, p 14, k 25, p 14, k 25

row 6: p 25, k 14, p 25, k 14, p 25

row 7: k 25, p 14, k 25, p 14, k 25

row 8: p 25, k 14, p 25, k 14, p 25

row 9: k 25, p 2, put 5 on cable, knit 5,  knit 5 off cable, p 2, k 25, p 2, put 5 on cable, knit 5, knit 5 off cable, p 2, knit 25

then repeat rows 2-9 until you reach your desired length.

I don't know what I want to try learning next in my knitting adventures... 

suggestions?