Oliver's Birth

Welcome Oliver on Vimeo.

(Mom, you will need to click here to view the video that's embedded in this post.)

Baby Be Blessed

Oliver's lion came yesterday!  I love the way it turned out.  You can't pick the fabric other than the color of the body and I wasn't sure what we'd end up with, but it's perfect!  It took roughly 14 weeks - it could have been 16, I didn't keep up - but it was a long time.  

Big Sister!

A lot of people have asked how my big girl is doing with Oliver... safe to say she's enjoying being the big sister!  When he cries, she'll run to him to see what's going on and she's always with me when he nurses.  It looks like she's a little jealous since she's in my lap, but she was actually afraid of something and I thought it was fun holding both my babies so I made Chandler take pictures each time! :)  I think in the picture of us on the bed she was just hanging out, but I can't be sure since she's afraid of her shadow.

Pregnant? Some things to note...

I've been hoping to get these things posted sooner, but I don't often have two free hands!  If you've emailed me, I promise I've been trying to write back... I'm better with texts these days because it's easier with one hand :)  We just got a new carrier so that may help some... and that's another post coming at some point.

A few things I thought I'd pass to anyone who is currently pregnant...

The hospital gives you mesh panties.  Several people mentioned how great these were.  In my opinion, they're junk - at least the ones at our hospital... I sent Ollie's Papa out to pick up Depends about eight hours after birth.  The mesh panties are a great idea, but they just don't do the trick.  Depends come in a 6-pack and I only needed 3 pair.  They're great because they are big.  I had a S/M - the smallest size, and they were big enough (I was a 4/6 pre-preg) to still use the large (like, mega large) pads from the hospital.  It was nice because you could wear them a good 24 hours and just change out the inside pad and still be and feel clean.  ... and you can tear them off if they get gross.  I think I used them for only one day once home and mailed my other three to a friend who's expecting in the next week or so who's also my size.

Lip balm.  Everyone tells you to take this to the hospital for labor as does everything you read - but when you're in that much pain, it's the LAST thing on your mind.  Give it to your husband/partner/birth coach and have them be in charge of putting it on you.  You will NEED it.  Breathing that long and deep and hard... ouch.  Mega chapped lips!  It's nothing a couple nights of Vaseline won't take care of, but it would be better to just have someone else be in charge of it - period!

A friend wrote me after just having her baby and said to take soft toilet paper.  Do it.  Why the hospital doesn't think about these things is beyond me.  I didn't need the water bottle, nor did I have a lot of pain from my stitches.  Blotting is the way to go - but the thin, cheap stuff will stick to you and that is simply not cool.

Once home, you'll still be using thick pads - regular undies won't cut it.  I went out and bought Hanes briefs in two sizes larger than my pre-preg size for nighttime and one size larger for the daytime.  For me, that was a 7 for night and a 6 for day.  The 7s looked humungo, but for the first week they were great for the bigger pads.

The nurses LOVED our treat boxes.  One of the nurses came in just to meet the 'famous Oliver who was sweet on the nurses!'  It was really fun and I'm SO, SO glad we had them.  My tip if you decide to do something like that is to check and see what the shift changes are and how many nurses you will have each time.  It should be a simple phone call.  We had JUST ENOUGH for our 43-hour stay and if we'd stayed just one more hour, I would have been short due to another shift change.  I didn't anticipate the number of staff that we'd have coming in and out of our room.  I also started passing them out in heavy labor right when we got to the hospital.  I'd asked a friend about how many nurses she had and planned based on that, but she delivered in MD and so each hospital is obviously very different.  I should have thought to double check, but in the rush of getting things done I didn't.  We had 20 boxes and came home with none.

**edited to add Cottonelle wipes... for obvious reasons; and Colace... take it as soon as you get the baby out!  :)

That's all I can think of for now... GOOD LUCK!!  (It hurts!)

Labor & Delivery, Short Version

After laboring at home for 14 hours, we checked into the hospital...

nine and a half hours later, at 1:21am, Ollie was born!

Our midwife was AWESOME... I felt the cord pulse before Chan cut it and we all got a lesson on the placenta... me and Chan put gloves on even... it was really neat to see and feel.

Ollie weighed 7lbs 2oz at birth and 6lbs 13oz when we left the hospital.  The sweetest moment was when Pat put him on my chest right after he came out and was crying... I rubbed his face and the minute I started talking to him he stopped crying and turned towards me with his big blue eyes.  It was incredible... the most indescribable feeling ever.

I still cannot believe my baby has blonde hair!

Most beautiful baby in the world!

Our amazing midwife!!

'Aunt Bingo loves me!'

We left the hospital early because I could not sleep... 43 hours spent in the hospital and 46 hours that I was awake...

I'm typing the long version of Ollie's birth and including many details.  If you would like to read it, email/comment/message me.  I am happy to share - I know a lot of people who read this are pregnant right now and even if we don't talk much, please feel free to message me for the long version.  The experience was part traumatic and part out of body AMAZING.  I'm typing with one hand and wanted to get this post up, but there are a lot of things that I write about in the long version.  I really appreciated talking to other friends in detail before it was my turn and would love to pass the favor along.

I'm sure I'll expand a little more on here later, but until then, the long birth story has it all.  :)  I still have a couple more pages to go before its done, but if you want to read just pass me a note so I know to add you to my list.  Some of you are already getting it - want it or not!! ;)

Also - I will be posting one or two more TIBS photos postpartum.  I've always been curious about bellies after babies and thought it would be fun to share!

My valentine...

(Thankful for our awesome L&D nurse, Tiffany, who helped me make Valentines for the grandparents!)

Remember when I was pregnant?!

Oliver Paxton

2.10.11

1:21am

7lbs 2oz

TIBS - Week 40

 Week 40

Being pregnant is still somewhat surreal to me, despite that I've had [gulp] nine months to get used to the idea.  You'd think that it would sink in to feel him moving, to stand in the nursery, to wash and fold his tiny clothes... I still think that in the coming weeks I'll look down at him and have to remind myself that he is my baby and I was pregnant.  Maybe when he's three I'll have come to terms with the fact.  Or perhaps in the first five minutes of holding him.

The last few weeks and days haven't been as crazy as I'd imagined them to be... I thought I'd be anxious and unable to think of anything other than being ready to have this baby.  Instead, I'm surprisingly calm and at peace just knowing that he will be here in the next couple of weeks.  Sure, sooner is better - so is smaller ;) - but for some reason, I'm simply at ease.  I'd had some trouble with my back aching in the afternoons and quickly learned that the garden tub is a fab solution.  I now have a routine date there for at least an hour at night - and bonus: it helps me sleep!

Tuesday, I had a ton of energy and got lots done.  Not nesting, think more just random things like deciding to take a walk and wanting to go here and there as if it were a Sunday afternoon of open houses in Arlington Village.  I can't think of a single thing that needs to be done before OP arrives.  We went to Trader Joe's and Sam's over the weekend to stock up on food and other necessities; picked up everyone's favorite cereal; Chandler finally packed a few things in his hospital bag; you name it, it's been done.

So far, total weight gain has stayed right at 30lbs give or take a couple.  I'm calling it at 30 for now - one appointment will have me a pound or two heavier and another will say I've lost a pound or two.  On average I'm right at 30.3 so I'm calling it at 30 - assuming that between this week and when he's out doesn't bring any sudden changes.

Who's counting?

Surely not us!  

We started this back in December... this was the board earlier this week.  

It's been fun marking off the days.  

I suppose we'll have to add a '-1, -2' starting Sunday!

Designer Baby

I randomly decided to do this earlier tonight and realized all my needles were too small.  I haven't been feeling great and refused to go back out, so Chandler decided we could use a nail and hammer it through the eye to make it larger - it was still tight, but I mananged to get the thread going after a little while...  Definitely not perfect, but I love the way it turned out!  I had a really sweet cream/light blue/beige cashmere romper for OP to wear home, but I'm thinking that this paired with blue pants and his blue/white striped hat might be perfect.  I should post the entire outfit, but I think it would be cuter with him in it so I may wait! ;)  Until then, I see a few more of these being made around here... (with a bigger needle!)

Whoa belly!

 That's right - raw and uncensored.

Ready, ready, ready, ready, ready....

20 days until our due date, 11 days of work, 2 bags packed, 20 nurse boxes ready, 4 surprise goody bags assembled, and 1 kinda large belly containing a baby who continues to move more than any book says he should... Did I mention we're ready?

You're ripe my dear child, let's get this party started!

Project Life - Week 2

 Since this is my first year doing Project Life - and it's a BIG year for us... I've been all over the place deciding what to do with PL.  Last week I saw some really neat ideas and loved them and was thinking that I'd order another kit for the family and use this one for OP.  Now I'm thinking that I might just use this one for him and wait on doing two until next year when there's more going on... to be decided when the second go 'round of kits are available!

We don't have a lot going on right now and while I do take lots of pictures, there are other things I'd rather put in the album.  I decided to use January to document things that we've been up to, aptly titled 'A  week in our life...' mixed in with baby planning.  Last week I did that theme (and I've already changed it a little since deciding to go with that) and this week I decided to go with our 3D pictures, the nursery, and some vintage pics of me and Chan.  

In the very first few pages, I have my weekly belly pictures with a few spaces left for the remaining weeks.  I also picked up some large pocket 12x12 sleeves for doctor visit/insurance papers and other random tidbits of info.  I think this will be a really fun album for OP when he's older.  

Baby Bling - sort of...not really...

I've written about my love of Lisa Leonard before - and have known since the day I found out I was pregnant for months that I wanted a necklace with our sweet baby's name on it.  After we finalized his name, I had a hard time choosing which necklace.  There is a SUPER sweet one with a charm that has two little feet that was a top contender, and then I thought about the classic round because I love my first LL necklace so much... but I have two other round LL necklaces (one pictured in the first link above) and the heart strings one that Chandler gave me last Valentine's day.  I love them both - but decided that I wanted something a little different for OP.

I thought about the heart and this circle, but I ended up going with the dew drop.

I LOVE the way it turned out!  I knew we wouldn't be using his birthdate and wanted something special on the back so we decided to go with a Bible verse.  There were several that came to mind but after going through my Bible and looking through some that I'd underlined, I found the perfect one.

2 Corinthians 9:15 -->  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! 

We are so fortunate to have been blessed with the ability to have a baby.  I know what a gift that is in and of itself and we are so grateful to have had a healthy pregnancy and so far, healthy baby... as soon as I saw this verse and read it to Chan, we both agreed it was the one.  

There were several others that were similar, but we chose this one because in context, Paul is explaining the importance of giving to the people of Corinth.  There are so many Bible verses that are wonderful alone, but in context, don't seem as great - so I tend to read an entire chapter to pull out what's going on before I really love a verse on its own.  If OP learns nothing else, I want him to understand the importance of giving and kindness - and not just giving, but cheerful giving...giving from the heart.  The same giving that Paul references in chapter 9.  

Baby Treats!

Due to a change in plans, the weekend was spent getting things ready for BABY TIME.  We picked up several travel items from Target and there was a considerable amount of chocolate in the mix.  Mmmm....

 Chocolate boxes for nurses and other hospital staff...

The only thing left to do is print the stickers.  The tags will have a note that says something to the effect of 'Thanks for taking care of me and my mom, xo'  

Project Life

Have you heard of Project Life?  It's the neatest way to scrapbook!  I waited too long to order in 2010 and the kits sold out, so I jumped on it this year and my kit arrived today.  Soooo exciting!  I know with a new baby I'll have loads of pictures and new experiences so it was especially important to have this for 2011.  The greatest thing about this kit is that you can use it for virtually anything.  I debated waiting and starting it when baby was here and do an album for each year of his life, but I'm too excited to start so I'm just going to go traditional and use it for the entire year.  Did you watch the video?  AMAZING!

There were two kit options this year - I really liked the other one better, it was girlier, but with a baby boy joining the house and knowing that he would likely be the subject of the album, I decided it was best to stick to a more neutral color scheme and turquoise is great too.

It has even MORE that isn't pictured here - too difficult to get it all in the frame... if you're looking for a unique and easy way to scrapbook and capture memories - this is definitely the way to go.  And yes, I say that before even using it.  My faith in it is that strong.  ;)  WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR - order it already!  The idea of it is simple yet genius and you could totally mimic it but just buying similar materials to get the same concept going, but for the money I found this to be the best option for us.

40 Days and 40 Nights, Or....

Dear God,

Could I please have my baby in two weeks?

Pretty please?

Thanks for listening.

Love,

me

PS: Thanks for making him perfect - You are the master baby maker!

iMovie - Take 1

                                             Baby Hatcher from Ginger Hatcher on Vimeo.

With only a few weeks until OP arrives, I'm trying to figure out as much as I can about Pebbles so I'll be somewhat proficient with what I want to do with baby pictures/videos, etc... This is my first attempt at using iMovie.  If anyone has good reference links, I'd love them.  I think Apple has some on their site, but I haven't checked them out yet - this was just me playing around last night.  I have another that's finalizing that has both stills and video - it took a while to figure out the music fading, but I think I did it... I may have to go back and read the help or find a tutorial depending on what it sounds like when it's done.  One thing is certain - iMovie is definitely better than MovieMaker!

YouTube version.

Word of the Year - 2011

This is not the word that first came to mind... nor was it the second.  But neither of the words I was thinking seemed to be 'it.'  I wanted my word to be one that wasn't just 'thought up,' but one that had meaning for me in this upcoming year.  In 2009, I chose 'dedication' because I recognized there were areas in my life that needed attention and I was ready to tackle each area head-on.  Last year, I chose 'contentment' and 'simplicity.'  2010 brought lots of change for me and included moving to a new state, combining two homes into one, and ajdusting to a 'new' life - both of these words seemed to sum up the goal of all of that.

Last night, for whatever reason, 'renew' kept coming to mind....which led to me remembering Psalm 51:10, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right Spirit within me.' Immediately I knew my word.  'Create.' It is a perfect word for 2011.  Chandler and I have been discussing traditions we want to start with OP, things that are important to us that we want to pass to him, things we want to do as a family... This year, we will create the cornerstone for our family.

At some point, I will post some of the things we hope to incorporate into this year and things we want to do with OP.  I'm really excited about them and look forward to sharing!

What's your word for 2011?

The wheels on the...

...STROLLER

City Elite (L), City Micro (R)

After exploring several options, we finally decided on a stroller.  You can read about that here.  We started looking when I was only 13 weeks along (wow, I was tiny then - cannot WAIT to get back into my summer clothes - don't tell me it won't happen either!).

The main stroller criteria:

-comfort for the boy

-ability go off-road

-good suspension

-easy to fold/travel

-sturdy, to last through future child(ren)

-ability to face either way

-somewhat light weight

-reasonably priced

After checking around, we determined that Baby Jogger's City Elite was going to be the best option for us.  We called them to ask some questions and basically confirm that this was the right stroller for  our lifestyle.  We looked at the City Select because it had so many configurations and could accommodate a second seat for another child, but it lacked the off-road ability, which was a major factor in our selection.  The Elite will allow a child to face the parent with the infant seat attachment (we haven't ordered that yet), so not exactly what we were originally looking for, but the other features make up for it.  It's also not very 'light weight,' but again, it has everything else we were looking for... Overall, I am LOVING it.  And it will be perfect for Spring as I start the quest to get back into my pants! :)

You also may remember the first stroller we bought - City Micro.  We felt like we needed something a little more compact and more geared for indoors - we really liked the easy fold of the City series so we stuck with it and got the Micro.  The differences are obvious:

 The Micro is as basic as basic gets in the City series making it a true 'umbrella' stroller.  The wheels are standard plastic - Elite has foam filled tires that won't go flat or shred on pavement; the footrest doesn't flip up; the sunshade is minimal; nothing is adjustable... it's basic.  So basic in fact, that we have it listed on CraigsList.  We originally thought it would be the perfect second stroller, but after seeing the Elite we are thinking we'll trade up for the Mini to replace the Micro.  It's a little more $ than the Micro, but let's face it - I like to shop and there's a good possibility OP could be in this indoor/second stroller for more than he'd like and anything I can do to make him more comfortable will surely be helpful.

If you're looking for a great stroller without a lot of bells and whistles, let me know!  The infant seat adapter piece is separate - we haven't ordered it yet.  The Micro also doesn't lounge all the way back so if you have an infant you'd need that adaptor to use with a baby <6 months.

So that's our stroller sitch in a nutshell.

TIBS - Week 34

 Week 34

Six weeks to go!  One the one hand, it's been SO fast - but on the other hand, come on already!  After our 3D last week I am SO ready to meet this boy!  He may have an identity crisis before he's three months old, but he's sure to be cute!  He started as Gilgamesh Methuselah but we had to announce his real name, Paxton, before 'Baby Gil' stuck with us.  From the beginning, we've had differing opinions on the middle name.  We discussed a couple options and even tried hyphenating two choices before finally calling it quits on both.  I probably could have had my choice in the matter, but I wanted Chan to be happy with his child's name and the initials of my choice didn't sit right with him.  There was only one other name we agreed on and we decided to go with it.  Without further ado, baby boy will be:

Oliver Paxton

There were several reasons we moved Paxton to the middle, and while we'd always planned to call him Paxton - after seeing his face last week, I can't help but call him Baby Ollie.  SO... all this to say, we're not really sure what he'll go by - Pax or Ollie.  Either are possible.  We've been calling him Ollie Pax most recently - and before you even say it, yes our child is part human part pharmaceutical.  I'm to the point of not caring.  Truly.  And we'll definitely pick one or the other when he's here.  More times than not, he's just Ollie - but I consciously add Pax to the end just in case he looks more like a Paxton and we choose that name... TMI on the naming?  You can thank me for providing the short version and I'll thank you for still being here as I rambled on :)

In other news...

-OP gets hiccups on average, twice each day - once in the morning and then again in the late afternoon or evening.

-Still no stretch marks, no itchy belly, and still LOTS of concentrated Palmers.

-Stroller arrived yesterday so the only item we lack is the swing and when we went to get it they'd sold out and I refuse to pay full price so next time there's a 20% Babies R Us coupon, I'm on it!