Charlotte's Birth Story

Both babies are sleeping (yay!) so I thought I would take the time to put Charlotte's birth story down on 'paper'.

This is one for the records people.

Here goes:

I started having early labour contractions at about 2:30am on Monday morning (April 8th), they were not painful, just uncomfortable enough to keep me awake.  I hadn't really experience early labour with Harrison, and I knew it could last for hours if not days, so I really didn't think anything of it.

I guess I dozed off, because I was awoken around 4:00am by a very painful contraction.  I had downloaded a contraction timer the night before, so I started timing them.  This felt like the real thing, and I decided to wake Bobby after the next contraction - but I had to wait for the third strong contraction to finish.

I woke him up (he told me later that he was mad that I had woken him up - he forgot that I was even pregnant.  I guess that can happen...) told him I was in labour and that he should start calling people.  I then went to brush my teeth, I didn't want to offend our new baby with morning breath.

We had planned for a home birth so we knew we didn't have to go anywhere, it was just a matter of getting everybody here.

He texted my sister-in-law Nicole who was going to be our doula.  She didn't respond right away, so Bobby called her and told her I was in labour and to make her way over.  He then called my mom, this was around 4:20am.  The only part of their conversation I remember hearing was her telling Bobby to call the midwife right away.

Bobby paged the midwife  and when she called back he told her I was in labour and that the contractions were intense and close together.

Seriously, these contractions were so incredibly painful.  They were way worse than what I remember with Harrison.   I wasn't in as much of a 'zone' as I was when I was labouring with Harrison because there was no time to get into a rhythm.  I was trying to get through the contractions while keeping tabs on Bobby's phone calls.

Very shortly after Bobby got off the phone with my mom my water broke, and the next contraction after that, I had the urge to push.   Bobby, in a panic, called the midwife to tell her the new developments and find her ETA.  She was still about 15 minutes away, so she told Bobby she would call 911 and hopefully the paramedics would arrive before she did.  Thankfully, at this point, Bobby was able to shove some waterproof pads from our Homebirth kit underneath me, or else we would have needed a new mattress.

Knowing that Bobby and I were not prepared or qualified to bring this child into the world by ourselves, I was determined to slow things down till help came.

Well, my body had different plans.

The next contraction after my water broke, my body started bearing down and pushing - with absolutely no conscious help from me.  I started to feel a lot of pressure 'down there', and could feel something happening when I felt with my hand.  I still had my underwear on at that point so Bobby ran to the kitchen to get some scissors and took care of that little problem.

She was crowning, and it was still just the two of us.  Holy smokes.

With the next contraction, her head was out.  I remember reaching around to feel what was happening, and couldn't figure out what I was feeling.

I asked Bobby what I was feeling, and he yelled 'It's her face!!'

Again, still just the two of us.

At this point, Bobby realized that no one was going to make it here before the baby was born so he ran to wash his hands.

Bobby later told me that this point was the most terrifying for him.  With just her head out, he didn't know if she should be breathing or not.  Why would we ever need to know that!  That's what the midwife is for!  FYI - it is totally normal for a baby not to be breathing when just the head is out.

I don't remember Bobby saying a whole lot during this time, but after her head was out, I remember him saying/exclaiming "Dez, what do I do?! What do you want me to do?!"  He wasn't sure if he should be pulling her out or not, but I told him that we needed to wait for the next contraction.

With the next contraction, Bobby caught our daughter and handed her over to me.

The first photo of Charlotte taken by Amanda

Charlotte Grace C. was born at 4:45am on Monday April 8th, 2013, welcomed into this world by her amazing Daddy.  She weighed 7lbs 4oz, and was 20 inches long.

As soon as Bobby handed her over, I remember thinking 'Ok, she has to start crying'.  I rubbed her chest, and cleared out her nose, and after what seemed like forever (but was only about 30 seconds) she started crying, and it was the most beautiful and relieving sound ever.  She was ok!

Once she started crying, Bobby went to the front door to wait for someone, (anyone!) to arrive.

The first people to arrive were my best friend Amanda (who had agreed to take labour and birth pictures for me) and our friend Dave, who is a Doctor in Australia and just happened to be in town and staying with Amanda and her husband Matt just up the street from our house.  Bobby had called them about three minutes before Charlotte was born and told them to get down here!  Just in case something went wrong, it was nice to have Dave so close by!

Thankfully both myself and Charlotte were fine, so Dave didn't have to do anything (thank goodness, that could have been weird).

And then the onslaught of people arrived.  One minute we were all alone with our brand new baby girl, and then our bedroom was full of people!

The midwives arrived at the same time as the paramedics, and then shortly after that Nicole, my mom and step-dad arrived.

Charlotte's labour and delivery still boggles my mind when I think about it.  Under an hour people!  It's amazing what the body is capable of!  We are so thankful that everything went smoothly and there were no complications,  I know the possibility of things going wrong weighed really heavily on Bobby during the delivery.  God blessed us with a healthy baby girl who was eager to make her way into the world!

Adorable baby feet!

After the midwives checked everything over and cleaned things up, I was able to relax in my bed, in my own home, with my daughter.  I can't describe how nice it was to be at home in the comfort of our bedroom.

Even though this was not exactly how I envisioned my homebirth going, it ended up being an incredible experience.  One we will not soon forget.

Bobby went from not wanting (but being forced to be) in the delivery room with Harrison, to delivering his daughter.  He is still recovering.

Oh, and Harrison slept through the whole thing and didn't wake up until his usual time.  Sleeps like a rock, that kid.

When Harrison was up, and had his bottle, he got to meet his little sister.  He seemed slightly interested.

There was definitely a few attempts at poking her face.  Poor girl, just a taste of whats to come in the future, I'm sure.

Our first photos of our little family of four!

We are so happy that Charlotte is here now, and that we all survived her crazy quick birth.  

The midwives joked that if we decide to have a third baby, they will have to move in during my 38th week!

All Together Now!

You've seen bits and pieces of Baby Girls room, so who would like to see the whole thing?

That's what I thought.

Here we go!

I love walking down the hallway and seeing this view.  All the different pinks against the beautiful grey.  I want to spend all my time in there!  The frame above the rocking chair will eventually have Psalm 92:4 ("I sing for joy at the works of your hands") in it.  There is another frame on the closet wall that will eventually have one of her newborn pictures in it.

The glider is the same one that was in here for Harrison, except I recovered it in pink minky, instead of the brown minky I had for Harrison.  I'm so glad that I 'recovered' the glider with safety pins the first time!  I knew I would eventually be changing the fabric.

Before Harrison was born, I made him a quilt which hung over the back of the crib (until he started pulling it off) and used in his monthly pictures.  I knew this time I wouldn't really have the energy or the time (mostly energy) to make Baby Girl a quilt, so I decided to crochet her a blanket.  I've expanded my crocheting abilities as it is easier to crochet, than to quilt (don't need to lug my sewing machine, cutting matt and fabric upstairs every time I want to create something).  Crocheting fit the bill for ease of nap time craftiness.

That's it hanging over the back of the glider.

And here is a view of the other side of the room:

Not much new and exciting over here,  I've already shown you the mobile and the hair bow holder.  The shelves are the same ones that were in here for Harrison, just with some pink on them this time.  I'm sure the shelves will eventually look a little nicer, but for now - this is it!

I got the pink metal pails from Target a while ago not knowing what I was going to do with them.  They now hold headband overflow, soothers and newborn hats.

The rug (that you can kind of see in both pictures) is from Costco in the States.  For some reason, they don't have the solid grey color in Canada.

Oh, and the drapes!  I made them.  Only because I couldn't find any blackout drapes in the color that I wanted.  They probably ended up costing me more than if I had just bought a set of blackout drapes, but this way I got exactly what I wanted.  That makes it worth it to me!

And a peek inside the closet:

Unfortunately (very unfortunately) I couldn't convince Bobby to repaint the closet.  Apparently it would have been too much hassle to completely disassemble the Expedit, repaint, and then reassemble the Expedit back inside the closet.  I guess I should have thought of that the first time and just had him paint it white.  Oh well, it's hard to see the blue through all the adorable dresses!

I also recovered the clothing dividers that I made for Harrison - because the closet needed some pink!  I absolutely LOVE opening the closet and seeing all the girly things that I get to dress her up in.

I'm loving the way my vision for a pink and grey nursery turned out.  Even better than I pictured it in my head.

Now all it's missing is our baby girl!

The End (Of Pregnancy) Is Near...

As of Saturday, April 6th, I am 39 weeks pregnant.  The end of this pregnancy is so close, and it brings with it so many feelings and emotions.

I am so excited to meet this baby girl.  I can't wait to see what she looks like (right now when I try to envision it, she looks exactly like Harrison did as a newborn), what colour hair she has, if she looks like me or if I have another Bobby Doppleganger on my hands.  I am actually looking forward to the labour and delivery, believe it or not.  This time, we are planning a homebirth, which I am excited about.  When I had Harrison, part of my 'birth plan' was to stay at home as long as possible, which could have very easily led to a homebirth as we were still at our house when I had the urge to push!  I knew as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I wanted to have a homebirth.  My home is where I feel the most comfortable and happy, and being comfortable and happy during labour can't hurt!  It also helps that my labour and delivery with Harrison was complication free and my midwives are totally on board with it.  I think the only thing I will miss about the hospital is the bed.  Definitely not for comfort, but for the electric reclining part of it.

I am overwhelmed at the thought of what it is going to be like with two babies.  I try not to even think about it.  When I first found out I was pregnant, I thought that 13-14 months old was pretty old and that it wouldn't be terrible to have two that close together.  Now that Harrison is just over 13 months old, I realize how much of a baby he still is.  I have no idea why I thought a 13 month old would be at all self-reliant.  Foolish of me.  I know that I will survive, that I will make it work, and that every scenario that I am thinking of now will probably (hopefully) not be that bad in reality.  Here's hoping (and praying!)

I am soooooo done with being pregnant.  When I was pregnant with Harrison, I was almost sad that pregnancy didn't last longer than 9 months.  I LOVED being pregnant, there was nothing about it that I didn't like!  This time is totally different.  The pregnancy itself is very similar, no issues or problems or anything at all.  The difference this time - Harrison.  Even though I was working full time when I was pregnant with Harrison, when I got home it was all about me.  I could rest as much or as little as I wanted.  This time around I have little human whose needs surpass my own - even when I felt nauseous and exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep.  Apparently, little humans are like that.  The first trimester was hard because I was feeling so gross, but I napped when Harrison napped (didn't do that after I had him, clearly it takes the first trimester of pregnancy to get me to heed that advice).  But when he was awake, it wasn't too bad.  He wasn't crawling or walking yet, so he was totally content to sit in one spot and play with his toys for extended periods of time.  The second trimester was a breeze.  I had my energy back, could actually play with Harrison without my belly getting in the way.  And then slowly but surely, I started falling apart.  Achy hips and back, sore feet, and huge belly.  This was all around the time that Harrison started crawling and never sat still - ever.  Its almost like he can tell that I would rather not pick him up because it is all he wants to do now is to be held.  Never before has this little boy wanted to be held so much.  But when it is uncomfortable for me - he's all for it.  Go figure.  I am ready for this little girl to make her arrival.  I want my body and energy back!

Any day now, this little princess will make her arrival, and our lives with be forever changed.  I am beyond grateful for this new addition to our family and know that I am extremely blessed.

Oh, and Harrison told me he is super excited to be a big brother!

And because I don't think a post is a post without pictures, here's a look at Harrison's Cake Smash Photoshoot with Megan from Family Creative. 

She Has The Key To My Heart

I had so many big idea's about what to do above the crib in the nursery (Thanks Pinterest!)  Here are a few things that I pinned that looked good to me:

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I really liked the gallery wall idea, but realized that it would most likely cost me a pretty penny to accumulate items that I thought were worth hanging up above the crib.  So, I scrapped that idea.  

I really liked the look of the tissue paper pom poms, and had already started sourcing quality tissue paper in the colors that I wanted when Bobby decided he would like to have a say about what goes in the nursery.

Perfect timing.

Turns out he really didn't like the look of the pom poms, thought they were too overdone (no idea where he has seen an overabundance of tissue paper pom poms, but whatever).  So, to keep him happy, and to avoid more input on the room, I kiboshed the pom pom idea.

A few weeks later, it hit me.  We had gone to Winners a couple of months ago, and I picked up a set of 'antique' skeleton keys with no idea what to do with them.

I knew what to do with them now!

I painted the keys in two different shades of pink, and hung them randomly above the crib.

Why is there that open space in the middle of the keys?  The first letter of her name will go there, but I'm not going to spill the beans on that until she's born, so just use your imagination.

I really like how it turned out.  It's different, and unique (well, I think it is anyway!)

I LOVE the pinks against the grey wall.  So pretty....

Hair Bows & Headbands

After perusing Pinterest one day, I came across this:

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I knew that my baby girl would be wearing bows and headbands, and I thought this was the perfect way to store them.  Hair bows and headbands are pretty - so why not use them for decoration!  Its the perfect combination of function and pretty-ness.

I picked up a cheap frame from Winners (it ended up being plastic, should have been more thoughtful about it and gotten a wood frame) and had Bobby paint it for me.

I also picked up some ribbon from Michaels, and used that to string on the inside of the frame.  Then I got some small hooks and just screwed them into the bottom of the frame (for this part it was nice the frame was plastic!)

After all was said and done, the last thing to do was to attach my hair bows and headbands.

This is another project that turned out just how I pictured it in my head.  Unreal!  I'm two for two here people!

I put the frame beside the change table so that it was easily accessible when I was dressing her.

Oh, and if you're eyeing the prettiest bows in the frame, my best friend, Amanda, sells them in her Etsy shop.  She makes them all by hand, and they are fabulous.  She also makes tutu's!  

I may have bought one for Baby Girls newborn photos....