Memorial Day Weekend & Other Randomness

We had a great Memorial Day weekend! Family, friends, BBQ, swimming, and baby free Star Trek date!

First time swimming at Grammy and Grandpa's pool!

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Dressed up to show off the baby at my family's ward

Rylee got to hang with her cousin Belle Sunday!

And I finally got my Trudys stuffed avocado! If you haven't tried one of these, go now. It kind of changed my life!  I blame my mother for my obsession!

Stuffed avocado=stuffed my face!

It took forever to get home because a certain little person needed to eat and have a diaper change...twice!



While we were gone, San Antonio had major flooding and lightening struck one of the buildings in our complex! Our's was fine, but still scary!

On another note entirely, we brought home my mom's old juicer. After a trip to Costco and pounds of fruit later, we had some delicious juice! I tried some vegetable juice today...apple, carrot, cucumber, and gulp...kale.  Is kale an acquired taste? I've tried it a couple times and I just can't get into it.

Also, my new food blog obsession is "Our Best Bites." I made their breadsticks and Ryan and I devoured them! Unfortunately while cleaning up the kitchen I dropped a glass on the counter and it broke EVERYWHERE. So Ryan threw away the breadsticks in case they had shards stuck to them. I might have cried a little. 

Rylee has been chewing on everything lately, mainly her hands.  So we went and got her a Sophie giraffe.  So far she has covered it in slober and driven the dog crazy with the squeaking!  Hopefully Blanca does not get a hold of it, as it was kind of an expensive toy!

Hanging with Mom in the kitchen.

I also bought some Avengers fleece and made a couple more diaper covers.

Rylee Smash!

Lastly, we "borrowed" my in-laws' copies of Star Wars, Harry Potter, and the Bourne Series. We're going to have a major movie marathon if the kiddo ever cooperates!

Woolies!

Here are the wool soakers I made this week! The whale was the first one I did, but it was a little big because the sweater was so stretchy. The bird one fits her best. Then I made the pink and white one, but the legs are a little too big. The last one I made is the red one, and it was super thick, so it was a little harder to sew. It's also big on her, but she'll grow into it.

First sewing machine project!

I had been looking at buying some fleece and wool diaper covers because they're so much more breathable than my PUL covers. But wool can run anywhere from $20-50 a cover! And fleece is around $10-15, but you can't use them as much between washes, so you need more than you would with wool. So I did some research, watched ALOT of YouTube videos, borrowed a friend's sewing machine, went and bought some fleece to start with, and some sweaters from the thrift store to upcycle and felt.

Popping tags!

 

I decided to start out with fleece and not ruin my awesome thrift store sweaters! Some of which were 100% cashmere sweaters from JCREW and Ralph Lauren! Unfortunately they were too small on me, otherwise I would have kept them!

I used  Katrina's Free Soaker Pattern that I found on a dozen other people's blogs, got some adorable pirate fleece on sale at Hancock. The first diaper attempt is the picture on the upper left.  I messed the legs up pretty badly. But it still functioned! The rest of the pictures are of my 2nd attempt and it turned out MUCH better and even kind of cute! 

Next up, I will attempt to not ruin all the wool sweaters! Pictures to come soon when the first one is finished(if I don't completely botch it!)

Almost 7 weeks...A Rylee update!

I can't believe it's almost been 7 weeks!  Our life right now is very much about feeding baby, holding baby, changing diapers/clothes and then washing said diapers/clothes.  And taking pictures of said baby.  Rylee is such a joy to have.  She's starting to smile more and is making more babbling noises.  She's also getting super big fast, so I thought I would post some of my favorite pictures from the last several weeks.

Eating at Beto's with the family.

Tummy time with Blanca!

Easter Sunday. We didn't take her to church, but she got stuffed into her cute
Easter dress (compliments of Grandma Sue) anyway!

Watching General Conference with Dad. She loves sleeping with her arms stretched out!

Loves her play mat!  Occasionally she'll also fall asleep with her head propped up.

5 weeks old. First Sunday at church!

Getting so big and chubby!!!

We took our first mini road trip to go back to Austin General Conference weekend to go to our friends' little girl's birthday party.  Rylee snoozed most of the way there and back!  Weekend before last, two of my best friends from college came down to see the baby.  We went to the Alamo, two of the other missions, and ate at the Cove!  We were out pretty much all day that Saturday, so Rylee and I were wiped!

My besties all the way from AR & OK!

 

Cloth diapering is going really well!  We love it!  I had some weird smell issues for a little bit after a week of diapering and I had to try everything to get rid of it (finally resorted to bleach).  But then I bought some Calgon water softener to use and we've been good since!  We have extremely hard water, so I think I was already getting some mineral buildup on the diapers.  I bought a couple new diapers to try out (we've been using all prefolds and covers) so I'm pretty excited!  I know, it's sad I'm excited about diapers, but if you cloth diaper you might understand.  One of these days I'll post about our cloth diaper experience and what we've liked so far, for anybody interested.  

I'm having problems taking too many pictures of this sweet little baby!  My photo stream is overrun with Rylee pictures.  I'm trying really hard not to post too many on Facebook!  I had always promised myself I wouldn't overrun my blog with baby pictures and baby posts, but that might not really happen, at least for a little while.  Bear with me, baby is kind of my life right now!

On a last note, Rylee has been pulling at my hair, it gets continually knotted, and I have no time to do anything with it, so it's been getting thrown in a ponytail.  I loved my haircut last year when it was at my shoulders, but it required blowdrying, straightening, and styling before I went anywhere.  I've been seriously thinking about getting a pixie cut for awhile now.  I found myself envying anyone with short hair, but I wasn't sure if I was ready for it yet.  Today I took the plunge!

And I love it!

Rylee's Birth

Here's Rylee's birth story finally! It's a long post, and some of it is personal obviously.  So if that scares you, here's the short version.  Rylee Graciela was born March 7th at 12:18am, weighing 7 pounds 7 ounces and 19 inches long.  We got to have the natural birth that we wanted, and it seemed like it went really quick!  We got to the hospital sometime around 11pm, got to triage, got admitted, taken to my room and immediately started pushing.  None of our family even knew I was in labor!  40 minutes later we were holding our beautiful baby girl!

Here's the longer story, for those of you who want to read on...

Long before we even talked about having a baby, Ryan and I decided we wanted to have a natural birth.  I had always thought women who didn't want an epidural were crazy, why wouldn't you get one?  But then I went to nursing school and learned a lot about the labor process and started considering a natural birth.

When we moved back to Austin and got pregnant,  we decided to go with the Austin Area Birthing Center.  But then Ryan got a job in San Antonio and we had to move.  I found a nurse midwife group that delivered at a hospital, and decided to go with them.  They were awesome and great!

Around 37 weeks, my blood pressure started to get a little elevated and urine tests in the clinic were showing trace amounts of protein. My labs still looked good, but the midwives seemed worried about me developing preeclampsia.  They started talking about the possibility of having to induce me and they were worried I wouldn't get much past 41 weeks.  So I was instructed to take it easy, stop exercising, and stay home as much as  I could.  I was disappointed I had to stop walking because that was my delivery strategy! I had to come in twice weekly for BP checks and fetal nonstress tests.  The NST’s were kind of neat because I got to spend 20+ minutes quality time in a recliner listening to baby girl’s heartbeat.

I had been having lots of cramps and Braxton Hicks since Thursday February 28th.  When I went in for my appointment on March 1st(the day before my due date), I was at a 2, almost a 3 and 75% effaced.  My cramps were doing something!  But I tried not to get too excited, just because it could still take awhile for her to come.  Well due date came and went...still pregnant...sigh.

Wednesday, March 6th, I was supposed to have a brunch date with two of my friends.  Well again, I woke up at about 4am with strong regular cramps.  They went away though, and so I went to brunch at the Magnolia Pancake Haus.  My friend's friend had gone into labor after eating there with friends, so I was hoping for the same thing.  I had a fun time, went home, and spent the afternoon relaxing.  At about 5pm I started making this new recipe, Asian Orange Beef that I was excited to try.  By 5:30, I was having contractions that felt really different from the ones I had been having.  I talked with my mom on the phone, but didn't say anything to her because I didn't want her getting too excited in case it was nothing.  But they were coming every 6-8 minutes and made me have to stop what I was doing and breathe through them.  Wow they were intense!  But I was kind of excited.  Could this be it?  I got out my birthing ball when Ryan got home, and bounced and he helped me finish dinner.  By the time we were ready to eat, I couldn’t sit on a chair through a contraction, so I grabbed my ball and ate between contractions!  I know I looked ridiculous bouncing and eating!

I asked Ryan to finish packing the bag to go to the hospital.  He ran around trying to get everything together and I had to remind him we weren’t going to the hospital yet.  Around 8 or so, we called our friends that were going to watch Blanca. Ryan took her over around 9. I was so nervous while he was gone! My contractions were getting really intense and I felt I really needed his support.  I tried to watch Grey’s Anatomy in between contractions, but was having to pause them at the start of a contraction, so I gave up. I finally called the midwife to let them know I was having regular contractions for the last 4 or 5 hours.  I talked with the nurse midwife on call, Lauren, (who was my favorite) and because I was in between contractions, I was pretty calm.  She asked me how uncomfortable I was and I said “pretty uncomfortable.”  She told me I was probably still pretty early in the labor process, and because it was late, I should take a bath, and try to get some sleep.  I hung up the phone very disappointed, doubting my ability to get through labor. Twenty minutes later or so, I felt a little squirt of fluid, and thought my water might be leaking.  It wasn't a lot, so I wasn't really sure.  Ryan finally got home and I had him start a bath for me.  My contractions sped up to every couple minutes and got so much more intense!  I told Ryan I didn't think I could do this naturally.  He reassured me  I could and was really supportive. I got into bed after that, but couldn't sit still.  Finally around 10:30 or so, I decided that I thought that my water had broken and we should go to the hospital.  The worst that could happen was that they sent me home.  We were waiting to call family till I was actually admitted (everyone had been pestering me since I had passed my due date!).

I was moaning really loudly at this point(we had windows open, so who knows what our neighbors thought).  I waited for a contraction to end and then hurried down the 3 flights of stairs.  I didn't quite make it to the car before another one came and I had to stand at the base of the stairs, moaning through it.  Then I hurried up and got in the car.  The hospital was only about 3 minutes away, but it took awhile to actually walk to the L&D floor because I had to stop every 2 minutes for a contraction.  It was the longest walk of my life!  We checked in at the desk, I had a couple more contractions, and got into triage.  I kept squirming as they tried to hook me up to the monitor, and check me.  I just could not sit in the bed through it!  She asked if I was planning on an epidural and I very reluctantly said no.  I was really hoping I was close to transition, because I knew I couldn't keep it up for hours more.  They checked me and I was a 5 or 6 and a 100% effaced! I was going to be admitted!  Ryan came back, they got me in a wheelchair, and they rolled me down the hall.  Then I started feeling some pressure, which  I told the nurse about.  She said “You’re going to start feeling some more pressure now.”  I got into the bed and found myself grunting.  The nurse Ashley part of me was like “Hmm, I’m grunting.  Textbook sign of full dilation!”  The nurse asked if I needed to push and I said yes.  I then started making completely involuntary LOUD noises and pushed.  She checked me and I was at a full 10! Yes!  Lauren was on her way, and all the nurses were in the room with me.  Some of the nurses were asking my nurse, “You’re sure she’s totally dilated? Do you want an IV?” I told them there was no way I could sit still for one.  I was hanging all over the side rail on my side pushing.  Interestingly enough, the contraction itself was less painful when I got to push.

Lauren got there, was real calm and couldn't believe I was there! We kind of laughed about it and I told her I guess I sounded way too calm over the phone.  In between contractions, I was totally calm and talking with everyone.  But man, as soon as one started and I had to push, I was so loud!  I asked if they had a squat bar and they set one up for me.  I was all over that rail!  I was getting shaky and tired, but I couldn't sit through the pushing, I had to get up and squat.  Lauren told me that if laid back and put my feet up on the bar, she could help me not tear as much.  So I said ok and laid back.  She asked if I wanted a mirror and I said sure.  I watched a little as her head crowned, and then decided I couldn't watch anymore and was doing better with my eyes closed.  A couple more really strong pushes, and  then they put my baby on my chest, all wet and gooey!  I don’t remember if she came out crying or not.  She did pee on me though!  I do remember it being so surreal!  I just gave birth to a little girl, totally natural without any drugs! And she was mine?  It happened so fast!  I kept her on my chest almost the entire time we recovered in L&D. I asked Ryan if he wanted to hold her, but he said I needed mommy daughter bonding time.  He called our parents to tell them we’d just had a baby and we were sorry it had been so fast we didn't have time to call and tell them I was in labor!

She came out with her hand on her face, so I ended up with stitches (which are no fun to recover from).  Lauren was so impressed with me, and told me I was definitely made for having babies, and we needed to have like 10!  I laughed and told her we did want several.  Seriously? I just gave birth to one and I was already talking about the next ones as my midwife is stitching me up?  I was just so impressed that I actually did it! I was surprised I was so calm through the whole thing.  I was really expecting to cry once I finally got to hold our baby, but I was just really calm and so happy!

Ryan finally got to hold Rylee and I couldn’t get enough of seeing the two of them together.  Around 2:30am we went up to the postpartum floor.  They took Rylee to bathe her and it felt like part of my heart was gone! I missed her so much and worried every minute she was gone.  I was tired, but I was also so full of adrenaline and I was so sore, I didn’t really sleep at all.  The hospital stay was rough.  I couldn’t get comfortable in the bed, and I was so sore, and I couldn’t sleep.  We had some breastfeeding issues which was frustrating because that was part of the reason I wanted a natural birth, so we could avoid potential problems.  We're still working on some issues, but I think we're getting there.

The postpartum period has by far been the hardest to deal with.  Pregnancy, even labor was all easy compared to the last couple weeks.  Breastfeeding is hard, being a mom is hard, sleep deprivation is even harder.  But so worth it! We're making progress and we love our little girl.  My favorite thing to do is watch her sleep.  She makes adorable soft little noises when she's deeply asleep which we call her "owl hoots."  She also makes much louder grunting noises in her sleep, which we call her "gremlin noises" which aren't quite as sweet to listen too when we're trying to sleep! 

I'm also so grateful for my family.  We've had so much help and I've felt so much closer to all the women in my life who have come, sometimes on short notice to help me.  Thank you to my mom, my mother-in-law, sisters, and Granny who have all loved and helped us so much!  

Asleep on Dad's chest, and then rudely awoken to be stuck in the bathtub!

Rylee's "Wall" Complete!

I think we finally have everything together for this little girl! My in-laws came up today bearing gifts and our changing table(which was a free hand-me-down, yay!).  My amazing mother-in-law made this adorable carseat canopy.

And then after a wonderful day of lunch and sitting around chatting with them, they went home, & Ryan and I made a trip to Babies R Us to get the rest of the odds and ends we needed.  Ryan is ecstatic that we're "done for now" on the baby stuff.  I got him popcorn at Target and allowed myself to be dragged to Best Buy so he could reassert his manliness.  And after drilling some holes in the ceiling, the final product is this!  It's kind of all squished together, but I only have the one wall to work with in our one bedroom apartment.

The top banner was made by my lovely step-sister, Alex. I made the owl picture, the "Rylee" letters, and the mobile. And my awesome friend from Fayetteville, Meredith, made the adorable banner hung around the crib.  This little girl is already well loved by a lot of people!

Here's a close up of the owl mobile I made that took FOREVER!

I feel very accomplished! After a little bit more organization of the newly accumulated odds and ends, all we will need is for her to get here!

38 weeks

Pregnancy Thus Far

We hit 37 weeks on Saturday, so baby girl is officially full term now! My due date is March 2nd, but as long as everything goes well, my midwives will let me go to 42 weeks before they induce.  So at the very latest, March 16th, we will get to meet this little girl! That's within the next 5 weeks, which is really crazy for me!  I'm very tired of being pregnant, BUT, I'm not sure if I'm ready to have her yet! I've been really blessed to have such a great, healthy pregnancy. I only had about 2-3 weeks of really bad nausea where I didn't want to eat anything and I've obviously had emotional ups and downs, but that's to be expected.  Getting in and out of bed has been harder and harder to do, and within the last couple weeks, my belly finally got big enough to where I can't see my enormous size 10 feet!  The 3 flights of stairs up to our apartment seem to get taller each day, but I'm managing.  I'm really tired all the time and am waiting for my "nesting" spurt of energy (I feel like I've been cleaning and organizing like crazy, but I haven't had that boost of extra energy yet).  But I've enjoyed being pregnant for the most part and can't wait to meet this little girl!  

So Ryan and Blanca and I will be doing lots of hiking, walking, etc. over the next couple weeks to hopefully get things moving!  We'll see when she makes her grand appearance!

6 wks(might have been sucking it in), 19 wks(finally started having a belly), 30 wks, 33 wks, 36 wks, 37 wks!

Just as a side note, Cassie came and spent the weekend with us last week and we went to a pretty cool Western Heritage Parade.  There was even a cattle drive through the middle of downtown San Antonio!

The bottom picture is of Cassie sitting in Rylee's stroller! It holds up to 70 pounds, and she's still not quite that heavy.
Her legs are obviously way too long though!