Friday, April 26, 2013

Our Birth Story and My Birth Plan (or lack there of)





Preparing For A Little One


Blake Elizabeth 



Oh this crazy daughter of mine.
They say that you forget all that happens when you give birth, and that's how women have multiple children.
I beg to differ, I say, you remember every little thing, but it is so worth to pain to meet your child.
So I'm doing this again... I know what's to come.  I know it won't be fun, but man, is it worth meeting the wonderful little human that God gives you to raise for Him.

As for a birth plan.  I didn't have one.  You see, before having Blake, I was a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl.  I hated planning and I loved just "rolling with it".  We didn't do any birthing classes or anything, I was literally was going to roll with it.  Crazy as that might sound, I'm going to do the same thing with Mr. Man I'm carrying.  Just go with it.  

The only 2 things I had planned were, I wanted an epidural, and I wanted my husband and my mom in the room with me and that was it.  Well I got my second thing, but my first... I got the epidural but it sure didn't help all that much.  And that my friends, is why I don't plan!  :)

Moving on....

Well here is one of my favorite pictures... Caleb, absolutely exhausted and a little nervous about what is getting ready to happen, and me smiling away because for the first time in a month I haven't felt a single contraction for the past 4 hours.... Little did I know, that was all about to change.


1:15am- my water breaks while I'm sleeping!!!! SLEEPING! I had been walking, cleaning, eating spicy food, you name it and it breaks while I'm doing nothing but sleeping.

1:20am- after calling the doctor I called my husband at work! After weeks of trying to be available at work, I call him in the middle of a "paper" call, which means, he's swarmed with paperwork galore from a pretty crazy night.... He is superman and his boss helped him leave so he got to me within half an hour! VERY IMPRESSIVE.

2:30am- we're at the hospital. I didn't tell anyone but my mom that I thought my water had broken. I was so scared that we'd get there and they would just tell me that I just had poor bladder control. So in effort to save face and getting made fun of for peeing the bed,  I waited until the hospital confirmed I was being admitted to tell people what was going on.

7:30am- My mom (who lives in Oklahoma) and my friend, Kodi make it to the hospital to help relieve Caleb, get him food, and let him sleep.  My mom was pretty phenomenal.  She got a call at 1:15a from a frantic daughter and immediately books a 6am flight to get to me ASAP.  I love that woman!

8:00am- They decide my contractions weren't strong enough to start the labor process in the time frame they wanted. (when your water breaks they worry about infection so you have to have the baby rather quickly after that happens) so we started Pitocin. That stuff SUCKS! I went about 2 hours on my own and then got my epidural around 10.... yeah more about the epidural later... the times from here on out were a little fuzzy so I'll consolidate.

I went through the labor process of dilating pretty much pain free until I hit a 9 and then it was hurting.  It was hurtin real bad! My legs were numb and paralyzed, and my stomach was numb, but where Blake was going to make her entrance, yeah that wasn't so numb. So I did what any normal mom to be would do.... I panicked!   I realized that I was probably going to do this with some pain..... and after the doctor says they've done all they can do in the pain management department, well I knew I was in for some fun....

I started pushing at 2:45, and she came out at 4:43... it was a rather exhausting and painful 2 hours of my life but it was so incredibly worth it. Now I have to give credit to my amazing husband. He was phenomenal during this whole thing. He kept me calm, focused, and I mean it when I say I COULD NOT have done it without him.   I remember at one point, looking at him exhausted, scared, in so much pain and telling him I couldn't do it anymore.  I will never forget the look in his eyes... he had so much confidence in me and told me I could do it.  That man's strength is something that God knew I needed and I desperately needed it that day.

Blake had some problems arriving. She had swallowed the poo in the womb, AND she had the cord wrapped around her neck. She came out and she was as white as a ghost and dead silent because they had to cut the cord before she came out. Oh I was freaking out. I knew something was wrong but I couldn't do anything. Caleb stayed with me, and mom kept us posted on her! It was awful!!!! When I finally got to hold her and see her I just cried out of relief. I had run a fever through all of labor, and was exhausted and sick in every which way but seeing her made it all better.


Little Miss was so pale when we first saw her... think I'm kidding, check this out.

I am not an overly tan person but the contrast here between me and her is crazy.

Just 24 hours later, her color returned.
Thank, God, she was a healthy baby girl and nothing worse happened.



Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Get Yourself One

Welcome to the Photo Ready Giveaway Event

Organized by: Mom Powered Media

Please take a moment to say hello to our sponsor: Giveaway Booster

Have a giveaway? Great! Now, how do you get the word out about your giveaway? Of course you want to reach more than just your audience right?!
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Now let's talk about the fabulous prize package which includes:

Canon EOS REBEL T4i 18.0 MP CMOS Digital Camera with 3-inch Touchscreen and Full HD Movie Mode (Body) - Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II SLR Zoom Lens - Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS Telephoto Zoom Lens - Telephoto & Wide Angle Lens Set - 3 pc Filter Kit: UV/ Polarizing filter/Fluorescent correction & Case - 32 Gigabyte SDHC Secure Digital Memory Card - Secure Digital USB Card Reader - Universal Memory Card Wallet - Pack of LCD Screen Protectors - Additional LP-E8 Rechargeable Lithium-ion Replacement Battery Pack - Well Protective SLR Camera Gadget Bag w/Pockets & Strap - Full Size 59" Tripod W/Case - Focus DVD Guide to Digital SLR Cameras - Focus Digital Grey Card Set for color correction - Focus 5pc Deluxe Lens Care & Cleaning Kit - HDMI cable

One lucky winner will receive the Canon EOS REBEL T4i Prize Package {detailed above}!

Giveaway ends May 14th at 11:59pm, open worldwide residents, ages 18+. Residents outside of the US will receive a $750 Amazon GC instead. To enter please use the Rafflecopter form below.
Disclosure: I received no compensation for this publication. My opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. The Lulu Mom is not responsible for sponsor prize shipment. Please contact teri@mompoweredmedia.com with questions or to see your business or blog featured on the next big event!

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

And the Baby is a......


So on Monday, we went in for our 20 week ultrasound.
And as you can imagine we were so excited to find out if baby was a boy or a girl.
I fought the urge of doing an earlier ultrasound after several of my friends had the gender "change" on them so 20 weeks could not come fast enough!

Well we are proud to share that Baby #2 is......




Yep, a boy!  I don't think I have seen my husband so excited.
He probably would have hugged the tech if he hadn't been so busy trying to explain to Blake that "Baby Sister" was actually going to be Baby Brother.

So please allow me to introduce you to


Jaxson Dale
(named after my little brother, with different spelling, and Caleb's Dad)

And here is Caleb's favorite shot of the baby.


He finally gets his boy.

Most importantly, Little Man is healthy and growing beautifully.
We are so blessed!



Saturday, April 6, 2013

Bloggers Wanted



Photo Ready Giveaway Event

Organized by: Mom Powered Media
Prize: Canon EOS REBEL T4i 18.0 MP CMOS Digital Camera Prize Package {RV$950+}
Event dates: 4/23 - 5/14


Friday, April 5, 2013

How to Register for Baby





Preparing For A Little One


First off, CONGRATULATIONS!
If you are reading this then I'm assuming you are expecting which deserves a big fat CONGRATS!
Life can seem pretty overwhelming and exciting right now.

I'm so excited that Kaitlyn decided to host such a wonderful series.   So if this is your first or 5th child, hopefully you can find some new advice along the way.  I have a 2 and half year old and another one on the way.  So although I'm no pro, I did make quite a few mistakes my first go round so I feel like I should share.


Let's get down to business now, shall we.

Registering!  What the heck do you need?  
I remember when my husband and I registered for our first, we were completely clueless.
So hopefully you can learn from our mistakes.

Pick at least 3 places to register.
Think, high end, middle of the road and low end.
I registered at Pottery Barn (high), Babies R Us (middle) and Target (low end)
The majority of the stuff I needed came from Target and Babies R Us... but there were a few special high end items that I registered for at Pottery Barn that a lot of the hostess' gifts came from.

DO NOT register for clothes
People LOVE, I repeat, LOVE giving baby clothes so there is no need to register for this.  I'm not talking cute shoes and outfits, I'm also talking onsies, socks, bibs, etc.   I know it may seem tempting to go straight there because it's easy to pick and choose and let's face it, they are all so dang cute.  But this is honestly a waste of time.  People will load you up with more clothes than you can imagine.

Outside of crib bedding, don't register for blankets
I love blankets!  So naturally I figured my child would.  
Which she does, but she has 2 huge drawers full of blankets.  Both receiving and fluffy blankets.
And we have honestly only used half of them.  I loved registering and getting baby blankets and I refused to take any of them back so now I have a million.
Blankets are right up there with clothes, people love giving them so don't bother.

Now that I have covered the Don'ts of registering... here are the Do's.

The following items are a must:


Stroller, Baby Swing, Baby Wrap/Carrier, Bobby Pillow, Crib Bedding and now for a the controversial one.... a breast pump.


I personally did not register for this.  I was to embarrassed to put this on a registry, but this is a definite must have for a breast feeding mom.

Now you might be a stay at home mom and not need to pump much.  But if you ever plan on letting your husband feed your child, or leaving your baby with a grandparent so you and the hubs can go to  dinner alone, then you must invest in a breast pump.
Manual, hand held pumps are a pain in the butt, but they are cheap and get the job done.
But if you plan on pumping more than twice, I'd go ahead and get yourself an electric one.

Now here is a trick.... Buy a pump from a mommy who is done having kids.  Now before you freak out and tell me how gross it is.  Keep in mind that you can buy and replace all of the parts.  So really all you are purchasing is the actual plug in pump bag.  Everything else you can buy brand new for around $30.00

So now it's up to you.  Put it on your registry or not.  But please buy yourself one of these bad boys.
It will make your life much much easier.

Well there you go.  My tips on registering.  You will get lots of things you don't need, so make one big trip and return everything you don't need and buy stuff you do.  And enjoy all the hand made sweet things everyone makes for you.  No it might not be practical, but it is very sweet and thoughtful and make with love for your little bundle of joy.



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