Which ewe are you?

A quiz of the day for knitters, courtesy of Clara Parkes and her new book that is coming out soon. Check it out here.

Gifts and crafts

We have been so blessed to recieve countless gifts for Maggie. Here is one of her most recent handmade gifts, which is her full first name spelled out in little handsewn pillows. These are just a few of the letters.

The fabric is a yellow carebears print and fondly reminds me of my childhood days. They are so cute and I can't wait for Maggie to enjoy them.

This past weekend we celebrated a birthday so a few days before, I got creative and without spending lots, I made my friend Angela Reese's monster cookie mix in a jar. It was my first time making a gift like this and was pleased with how cute it turned out. Can't wait to do more down the road, possibly around the holidays.

Two bigger projects have been in the works. One has been my belly cast. My mom and sister helped me make my belly cast before my due date and it was a special day for the three of us. I chose a sweet pea motif for the design. Here is a picture of my work-in-progress. I have another day or two of painting left and finding that time will be tricky. My plan is to hang it in Maggie's nursery with pink lace ribbon.
My sister and I thought it would be fun and easy to sew drapes for Maggie's room after I had a hard time finding ones I liked, but it has taken us much longer than we thought. We bought fabric, then bought some more after she was born, and finally had help finishing them from a family friend. Shay and I both sew, but now that we have kids, our time to do so is very limited. So, not as easy as we first thought. However, I did find time to made a lampshade to match the drapes. I went off instructions from the book "B is for Baby" by Suzanne Stirling and used a white lampshade I found at my favorite kid's consignment shop. More photos to come soon of the finished belly cast and drapes...

Good daddy

It's been a struggle getting Michael to wear the baby but he recently took to wearing the ergo. Above all slings and carriers, this one is pretty "man-friendly" :-) Maggie has loved being worn since she was born and prefers the upright position. It's an instant baby calmer and usually she sleeps most of the time. It's the best way to nurture and be close to her during the day while also getting stuff done around the house or doing errands. She's not quite comfortable on long walks in the stroller yet, so it comes in handy for that too.

Soaking up the sun

My friend Christy commented to me that I must carry around my camera with me all the time now that I have a blog. I have to admit it's true. I haven't been the big picture taker in the family, as Michael has been known to catch some really great moments with his fancy camera over the years, but he gifted me a cute pink point and shoot at Christmas and it's definitely come in handy.

I took Maggie in the pool for the first time last week. It helped that the pool was in full sun, making the water a comfortable 80 degrees. We got the idea to put her on a boogie board and right after we put her on it she fell asleep. She rocked on the water for a good 45 minutes!

The three R's

This picture cracks me up. I made this onesie over the weekend and I love this outfit. Dressing up babies is so much fun!

Our birth story

This post has been a long time coming. Lots of folks have wanted to hear our birth story and I'm happy to share it. I always envisioned sharing it on a blog at some point. I was just asked by my yoga instructor, who is also a Bradley teacher, to attend her birthing class and share my story. I am really looking forward to this. I have lots to share, so a warning that this might be a long read. Trust me though, it's good stuff.

After we bought our home last year, within a couple months we decided to try for a baby. I had been bugging Michael about it for years, quite unaware of what I was really asking for. He knew what it involved and kept putting me off with good reason. I have to say (and I know Michael would agree) that our niece Eden was the true inspiration. We had spent the previous 6 months falling in love with baby Eden and knew it was time to go for it ourselves and give Eden a little playmate. It didn't help that all of our close friends were having babies too. It just made sense. Funny thing is, when Michael told me he was ready, I looked at him, not expecting that to come out of his mouth, and went into shock, saying I of all people, needed to think on it :-)

I had, for the most part, a wonderful pregnancy. Morning sickness in the beginning but by the 2nd trimester, it was good going. Michael and I planned an attended home waterbirth. Unconventional but the right choice for us. Our midwives were amazing and looking back on everything, it was hands down one of the coolest experiences we've had yet, especially as a couple. Michael was there with me every step of the way through pregnancy and birth. Other homebirthers we knew prior to choosing this for ourselves were the Weston-Lees and the Fishers and both of their birth experiences were inspiring. Since Maggie's birth, we've met so many families that have taken the same path. It's quite an amazing community.

Maggie was born on March 15, 2009 in water at 10:43 am. She was 7 pounds 15 ounces and 20 3/4 inches long. We chose to not find out the gender during pregnancy, so when she came into the world, I was extremely suprised to see a little girl laying on my chest. I had been convinced she was a boy for many months and I even thought she was a boy for the first minute of her life until I checked! On my mom's side, we have not had any boys born into the family and count (at least) 14 women born in a row, 4 generations back. I had thought that in this year of change, I would have a boy but was proved otherwise.

Our birth was amazing. I chose to do it naturally and it was a very empowering experience for me. I had no idea really what giving birth was all about and now that I am on the other side, I can't believe I was that strong. I truly believe every woman has this strength in her and that you find it through these experiences. There aren't many like this in life and with that, I feel blessed to be a woman.

As for our birth details, my water broke first and then mild contractions started but only lasted for a few hours. We got a good night's sleep after that and spent the next day waiting for things to happen. I was 3 days past due at that point and our midwives wanted us to wait until the evening to do anything. By the evening, contractions had not started back up so I took castor oil, and blue and black cohosh to get labor going. We had not planned for any family to be present, but in the waiting period where I was praying for contractions to come on stronger, I asked my mom and sister to join us. My labor went through the night and into the morning and I think it was pretty typical from what I hear, not too long and not too short. It was very intense but by the time Maggie was born, it was over just like that. Everyone in the room was crying when she was born but I just looked at everyone with dry eyes, revelling at what I had just accomplished. Michael and I were both on a high after that, which lasted for a good couple days.

We had post-partum care with our midwives for the first 6 weeks of her life and that was invaluable. I would say the first 6 weeks were the toughest for me, with the sharp learning curve in becoming a parent, learning how to nurse and being on demand 24/7, and getting little blocks of sleep. Everyone told me three months was the magical number and I think they are right. Maggie is just about three months old and she has really come into her own. She is developing such a personality and just looks up at you with those long eyelashes and blinking eyes, making my heart melt every time.

I am treasuring every day I have with her. I'm fond of the baby stage, but Michael is very excited for her to be a year old and beyond. We both love being parents in our own ways.