Love Bean's Birth Story

If you didn't gather, our love bean has made her debut! While I was pregnant I really enjoyed reading birth stories, so I thought I would share Stella's.

I went to work on Monday, the 19th, as always. I had a few contractions during the day, but didn't think much of it. That night, I woke up at a couple times with contractions, but could always fall back asleep, until 2:00 AM. At 2:00 I contractions were coming pretty regularly and I couldn't sleep through them. I laid awake in bed thinking about the dirty dishes in our sink until 2:30 AM. So I did the dishes and then woke Tim up and told him that I thought we needed to started timing the contractions. At this point they were 7 to 10 minutes apart, not quite close enough to start heading to the hospital. Tim went back to sleep and I took a super long hot shower and then just tried to distract myself until they started getting closer together.

My weekly check-up was scheduled for Tuesday morning at 8:20 AM and by the time it was time for us to head to my appointment, my contractions had started getting a little closer together, at this point they were like 5 to 7 minutes. We made it to the appointment, and when my Dr. came in I told her I'd been up with contractions since 2:00 AM and thought that this was the real deal. I was dilated to 3.5 when she checked me. She called the hospital to let them know she was sending me over.

Tim and I arrived at the hospital around 9:00 AM. Lucky for us another woman didn't show up for her scheduled induction and we got her room (the last open labor and delivery room at the time). I was checked in and in my room by 9:15 and the on duty Dr. checked me around 9:30, I had dilated to 4. Now it was just time to wait...she checked me every hour, but I wasn't progressing much. By 12:30 PM I was at a 4.5 and they wanted to start me on Pitocin. Since, Tim and I had decided that if possible we didn't really want to use any drugs to induce labor or manage pain, I asked if we could wait another hour or so before starting it. That next hour my contractions got a lot stronger and thought for sure I was progressing. She came back to check and I was still at 4.5 and hadn't thinned any further. I agreed to start Pitocin.

At this point, I was worried I wouldn't be able to handle the pain, but didn't want an epidural, so before they started the Pitocin, I had them give me a narcotic through my IV. Within a minute I felt so drunk, and was much more relaxed. They started the Pitocin and immediately my contractions got stronger and closer together. After awhile, it seriously felt like I was having one continuous contraction and it was incredibly painful. I was shaking and freaking out. I looked at Tim and said, "don't be mad, I want an epidural." He told my nurse I wanted one, but there ended up being 2 women ahead of me and only one anesthesiologist. The nurse turned off the Pitocin, and my contractions spaced back out a little bit, but were still super strong. Every time I had one I said to Tim, "I waited too long to ask for the epidural, I'm gonna be so mad because I'm not going to get it." Every new person who came into the room was asked, "are you gonna give me my epidural?" Of course, none of them could.

I don't know how much later it was, maybe an hour or two, my water broke. Shortly after that I felt the need to push. It was too late for the epidural. I freaked a little and told Tim, "I've gotta push. Get the nurse." The nurse and the Dr. came into the room, checked me and sure enough, I was fully dilated and thinned. The Dr. who was on duty left the room to call my Dr. to let her know I was pushing, so that she could come over to the hospital.

Pushing started. This might sound crazy, but it was kind of a relief. Contractions slowed and I got to use the contraction instead of just having to lay there and wait it out. I don't know how long I pushed, I don't think it was for very long actually even though, it felt like everyone was telling me, "almost there" for forever. Just when I wanted to give up, there she was. Our beautiful, perfect tiny little love bean.

Stella Marie made her debut at 4:03 PM after 14 hours of labor. She weighed 5 lbs. 15 oz. and was 19.5 inches long. She looks just like her daddy and has a full head of blonde hair, and has blue eyes. It safe to say, we're both already wrapped around her little finger.

I'm so happy that the anesthesiologist never got to me. Because I had no epidural, no tearing or hemorrhaging, recovery was/has been easy and uncomplicated. That pretty much sums it up. Timmy and I feel so fortunate and blessed to have had such a easy labor and delivery experience. Give me a few years and I might even do it all over again. There are no words to describe how one tiny little human can instantly fill you heart and change your life in the best way possible.

Love Bean Update: 39 Weeks

Eeek...39 weeks! One more week until her due date. I have a feeling the 24th will come and go with no Stella though. My dad doesn't think she'll make her debut until October. He'll probably be right. My daddy has a way of usually being right about everything...shh don't tell him I said that.

I've done a really good job the last 39 weeks of not complaining. Mostly because I've had a super easy pregnancy. And when I was just getting to the point where it would have been acceptable and easy to start complaining, my sister's water broke at 19 weeks (that's not good) and that really put into perspective how good/easy I have had it. (side note: sister and baby are doing well. He's still cookin' away, and she's being strong, brave and fighting just as hard as him. She's on bed rest in the hospital until he's born).

But, I'm tired of being pregnant. If I'm honest though, I was tired of being pregnant from the first day I found out. I know that sounds horrible, but I'm a straight shooter and that's how I feel. I'm just not one of those women who thinks growing a human is the most rewarding experience ever. (I think raising her to be a beautiful, intelligent, creative and loving woman, will be the most rewarding experience ever). And no it doesn't mean that I don't love my child or that I already resent her. I do love her and I'm so so so excited to meet her.

It's just that I'm ready to have my body back, I really want to drink a beer while watching the Bears game, I'm really sick of wearing the same 5 outfits over and over again. I want to know what she looks like. I don't want to be short of breath anymore just from climbing into bed or walking up the stairs. I want to wear skinny jeans again. Ok. I'm done now :)

Another doctor's appointment on Tuesday. She'll check me this week, so I'll actually know if I'm progressing at all. I really like my doctor, she's super honest and straight forward. She warned me when I hit 37 weeks, that even though I was considered full term, it'd probably still be awhile. Most first time pregnancies go all the to 40 weeks or longer. And while, I'm selfishly so over being pregnant, love bean can cook in there as long as she wants.

Animal Farm

I made some more progress on my 25 Before Twenty-Five List! I read another book off of Time Magazine's ALL TIME 100 Novels. 3 down, 7 to go. I've already read Catch-22 and Atonement. I just finished Animal Farm by George Orwell.

I pretty much read this book in record time. I checked it out from the library yesterday and finished it tonight. I estimate I finished it in about 4ish hours (it's pretty short). I really enjoyed reading it too.

"The novel addresses not only the corruption of the revolution by its leaders but also how wickedness, indifference, ignorance, greed and myopia destroy any possibility of a Utopia. While this novel portrays corrupt leadership as the flaw in revolution (and not the act of revolution itself), it also shows how potential ignorance and indifference to problems within a revolution could allow horrors to happen if a smooth transition to a people's government is not achieved."

 You can read a longer synopsis and history of Animal Farm here.

Love Bean Update: 38 Weeks

Last week marked making it full term. Today we hit 38 weeks! Love bean could come at anytime, but I'm hoping she'll hold off at least through the weekend. My daddy, brother and brother in-law are all at "man camp" and I'm going to the Renegade Craft Fair with my friend Rachel. Feeling really good this morning, so I think I'm safe. Actually my gut tells me she isn't going to come until after her due date, and from what I've read, that's totally normal for first time pregnancies.

Hospital bag is packed, nursery is complete, bassinet has a fresh sheet, freezer and pantry are stocked with easy to prepare meals. I still have a few things on what the hubs is calling my "nesting to do list"

1. Laundry (this really needs to get done, but I've been out of quarters and it's a pain to walk down 2 flights of stairs 9 months preggo with a laundry basket on your hip)
2. Clean and rearrange our bedroom
3. Organize the coat closet, or should I say junk closet. Hubs was suppose to take a bunch of stuff out there and down to storage like 3 weeks ago, but it hasn't happened...
4. Organize bathroom closest, I'm coming to terms that this probably won't get done, but it'd be nice

So the wait is on, but I'm not complaining. Sometimes I just get so anxious and nervous about labor/delivery and life after baby that I want her to take as long as possible before making her debut. I have strict instructions from the hubs though, "don't fight it, it will only make it worse." What do men know about carrying a child anyway?

My new boots came! I was super excited, until I tried them on and realized either my feet and calves are really swollen, just fatter now or I just ordered too small of size. I plan on trying the on again after love bean arrives, then I'll determine if I need to exchange them for a bigger size. This is why I hardly ever shop online...it always turns into a big hassle for me.

Pinterest Favorites

All images from my Pinterest

Just a small collection of some of my favorite recent finds on Pinterest.

• I adore that photo at the top left. Hoping the photographer I booked can get one like that of the love bean and hubs. 
• Dr. Pepper is my favorite and I love boneless wings, so I have to try this Dr. Pepper sauce. 
• I love looking at all the wedding stationery on Pinterest. It's my dream job to design custom wedding invitations. 
• The flowers are so pretty. I've also tossed around the idea of taking florist classes...it's not too expensive and it seems like it'd be a fun career and it compliments my dream job. 
• It's no secret that I love anything Native American-ish, so of course I'm in love with these teeny moccasins.

Love Bean's Nursery

Last time I blogged about the love bean's nursery, all we had up was a sign on the outside of her door. After a trip to Joann Fabrics, Buy Buy Baby and Ikea, and an online purchase from Anthropologie, Stella's nursery is ready for her arrival! It's still missing a rocking chair,  and of course there are a few little things I would still like to do, but for now it's finished. I couldn't get a shot of the whole room, and you can't see the red rug in the middle of the room any of the pictures, but this will give you an idea of what her nursery looks like.

Skip Hop Mod Dot Crib Bedding

The red pillow is actually from the first set of bedding hubs and I had. It won't stay in the crib. It's for the rocking chair once we have it.  I'm pretty proud of the frame collage! The two empty frames will have photos of us as a family of three.

 This is will be the reading/rocking corner, once the stroller is replaced by the rocking chair

Closet door, toy tote and Gerry

Her dresser with the Anthropologie knobs I bought last week. Yes, we know the letters aren't level...

Diapers, monitor and her mute button pacifier

Love this lamp we bought at Ikea today. And how adorable are the pink sparkly shoes?! Welp folks, that concludes your little tour of our love bean's nursery. Sorry the pictures aren't the best quality. I'm still only have my point and shoot that's like 6 years old. I'm still trying to talk the hubs into getting me an SLR for as a push present...but that isn't likely to happen.

25 Before Twenty-Five Update

I have 4 months and 8 days to complete my 25 Before Twenty-Five List, so let's review where I stand with things.


Total Items to Complete: 25 
Items Completed: 7
Items Not Completed: 18


There are a few things on the list I know I won't be able to complete this time around. Like #18 Party In Vegas. Growing a human inside of you for 9 months, kind of puts a damper on the idea of living it up in Vegas. I think numbers 02, 05 and 06 will also be pretty pretty tough to cross off as well.

• #02 go on a real road trip, it'll just be tough to find the time. Though my good friend Amy of Lemon Treehouse also has go on a real road trip on her 30 Before 30 List so maybe we can plan something together
• #05 is pay off my student loan. We we're totally on track with this until we needed to save more to cover hospital bills and other baby stuff. But maybe once we get that all taken care of we'll have enough savings left over to put a nice dent in what's left. 
• #06 is establish myself as a freelance graphic designer. Just not sure 4 months is enough time to do that. I do plan on using my maternity leave to get my portfolio site up and running again though so that will help.

Some I know will be super easy to get off the list.

•  #14 try Indian food - just have to find a good restaurant to try
• #09 Pay for someone behind me in line 

Others I'm a little nervous about, but know I can complete them if I set my mind to it

• #19 Go vegetarian for one month, that will be tough for me. But I think if I do it mid October to mid November it shouldn't be too bad (no major food holidays :). Plus I think this will help shed some baby poundage
• #24 Get back in shape. When I put this on the list I wasn't expecting that I'd be having pregnancy weight to shed, but if I get on a good work out plan, I should be almost there by the time I turn 25.

So since I've already completed 7 items and I'm going to not really worry about completing 4 of them, that leaves 14 items to complete in the next 4 months. I think I can do it, I just have to get working at it a little more often.

September Love List

September is here, but outside it feels like it's still mid July. We're in the 90's here Chi Town today. I'm glad I'm indoors in AC all day, or else my toes would look like sausages and my ankles would disappear.

Before I get into this month's Love List. I have to share this collage I made as joke for the hubs.

Please note I made this in Photoshop in about 5 minutes.

Let me explain - Timmy and I have these on going Toby Keith jokes whenever we listen to country music. I equate them to Chuck Norris jokes. We say things like "Toby Keith loves America so much he sleeps wrapped in the American Flag." or "Toby Keith's doorbell is the National Anthem" or "Even Toby Keith's pet Bald Eagle has and American Flag tattoo" and we go on and on with one liners like that. I don't know, maybe you don't find that as funny as we do...anyway on to my September Love List.

This Month I'm Loving...

• Love Bean's birth month (well as long as she isn't more than 6 days overdue).
• Little Brother's birthday (one day after love bean's due date) He's going to be 19!
• Fall - since moving to the city it's pretty much became my favorite season.
• My new boots - ok so they haven't arrived yet, but when they do I know I'm going to love them
• Maternity leave is approaching
• Season 3 of 'Modern Family' starts the 21st. Seriously if you don't watch this show you need to.
• Another hilarious TV show starts back up - 'Happy Endings' - it's sort of, kind of like 'Friends'