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!

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:

(No source found through Pinterest)

(Source)

(Source)

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:

(Source)

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....  

Butterflies & Tutu's

Since I made all of Harrison's crib bedding, I decided that I wanted to 'splurge' and buy a mobile for above the change table.  This time, since I bought the bedding, I decided I was going to make a mobile.

I took to Pinterest for inspiration and knew I wanted something that looked like these:

(Couldn't find the source on Pinterest)

(Couldn't find the source on Pinterest)

(Source)

With those pictures as my inspiration, I set out to figure out how to bring my vision to life.  Thankfully I know someone fabulous that has a Cricut machine.  This project would not have been possible with her help!

Unfortunately, since I wasn't in blog-mode when doing any of my nursery projects, I have no 'in process' photos.  Sorry...

Anyways, I went to Michaels and picked out two shades of pink paper and grey paper and spent one of Harrison's naps over at her house cutting out butterflies (in three different sizes) on the Cricut.  No specific reason I chose butterflies, I just think they are pretty.

Once I had all my butterflies cut out, it was time to start stringing them up using fishing line.  To add sparkle (because every little girl needs sparkle) and a little weight, I used plastic beads before and after each butterfly and on the bottom of every line.

It was a time consuming and tedious part of the job, but I was just so excited to be making something for my little girl that I didn't care!

After I had all my butterflies strung, It was time to hang them on the frame.  I ended up using a wooden embroidery hoop, because I couldn't think of anything else to use.  I knew I wanted there to be two layers of butterflies, so I strung some fishing line across the hoop so I could attach some butterflies to the 'inside' of the mobile.

Once they were all strung, it was time to do something about the ugly wooden frame. I made it look like a tutu, because, just like sparkle, every little girl needs a tutu.

And here is the finished product:

It is very rare that a something I attempt to make turns out to be just as good, if not better, than I envisioned.  This is one of those times.  Just sayin'.

I absolutely LOVE this mobile, and am pretty proud of myself for making it!  I can't wait to see her look up at the mobile and be in awe of what her mother can do. (Just kidding!)

Laundry Hamper & A Surprise!

This is our change table.  I think it's pretty cute! (It's also fully stocked and ready for baby!)

Notice how it is on an angle?  You can't see in this picture, but there is dead wasted space behind it.

I hate wasted space!

(There is also dead air space above the change table, but don't worry, I'm waiting for a little something to arrive in the mail from Etsy.)

'What a perfect spot for a laundry basket!'  I exclaimed in my head.

I took some leftover fabric that I originally bought to make a crib sheet out with (but it was not wide enough) and decided to turned it into a laundry basket.

I measured the height that it needed to be, and then just kind of winged it from there!

After sewing two edges, and taking care of the raw edges, this is what I was left with (clearly it's inside out).

And this is the completed hamper:

I decided to use Command hooks to hold up my flimsy laundry hamper.

After 'measuring' where they needed to go, I ended up with this:

After some strategic cuts in the hamper, I had this:

It serves its purpose and looks pretty cute!

I can toss dirty clothes in there and then just grab and go! (to the laundry room)

Success.

After completing this little project I was left with this:

Well, there was more than this, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

I decided I wanted to make a pillow cover. Shazaam!

After a quick 'google', I found this tutorial and got started.

It took about 30 minutes and then I had this:

My very first ever pillow cover!

Double success for the night! Woot woot!

The tutorial was super easy to follow - thank goodness!

I see many more pillow covers in my future.

Gallery Wall

Wow, I just noticed that I originally started this post in May.  MAY!  Thats how on top of this whole situation I am.

Anyways....

I chose one of the walls in our hallway to host our gallery wall, our house is pretty small so this was really the only spot for one to go.  I wish I took a before photo, but I did take a picture of the opposite wall so you get a better idea.

So hard to get a good picture of these walls.

I originally started with only a few frames, and chose to put up a few of our wedding pictures, and then a wedding picture from the rest of our family - and of course, one of our sweet fur-baby Jasper.  After hanging those pictures up, I bought about six more IKEA frames with the very good intention of expanding it.  I even bought a print off Etsy to be the centre of the gallery - on April 8th! Geez louise... where did the time go!

And then I received my Secret Santa gift at work and was given this:

(Those people are not us, just the stock frame fillers.  We'll eventually get nice pics to put in there!)

This is THE BEST SECRET SANTA GIFT EVER! And my Santa was not so secret. Thanks Lindsay!

I got home that night, and it's like I couldn't sit down without doing something with that frame!  I originally wanted to put it in the nursery, but with the frame being black, it didn't fit.

Then the hubby suggested it go on the gallery wall.  Well, that just got me going.  Nesting in full force!

I got right down to business.  I grabbed the previously purchased IKEA frames from the basement, along with the Etsy print and got to work.  It took a bit of shuffling around and a few misplaced nail holes, but I LOVE the way it looks now!

Again, so hard to get a nice picture of this wall!

I bought this print from an Etsy shop called Frilly Chilly Designs.  They were so awesome to deal with and it was exactly like I pictured it.

I think it is the perfect centrepiece for this gallery wall.

I also made (and by made, I mean painted and mod-podged) this letter 'C' for our last name.

I know there are lots of methods of creating a gallery wall out there in the blogosphere, but I just flew by the seat of my pants.  No method, just madness.  And I think it looks great.

I smile a little every time I walk by it, which is very often as the bathroom is at the end of the hallway!

Now, I just have to get some pictures in the new frames! 

Nursery 'Art'

I must be getting into the 'nesting' phase of this pregnancy because I can't stop making things for the nursery.

After many hours spent perusing Pinterest, I was feeling inspired to be artsy.  I am not a particularly artsy person, I don't even draw stick people well, so I had to keep my art inspiration realistic.

I wanted to put a bible verse up in the nursery somehow, and decided this would be the perfect way.

I chose 1 Samuel 1:27:

'I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted me what I asked of him'

This verse couldn't be more true for me and the hubby.  We have been praying for this baby for nearly three years, and God answered our prayers - in his time.  And for that I am thankful (what an understatement).

I started with a canvas from Michaels.  It was a two pack for $12.99.

And alphabet letters.  I bought three packs for on sale for $2.99 each.

First, I put one coat of white paint one the canvas to get a nice base for the lettering.

While the paint was drying, I cut out the letter stickers so I would be able to test out spacing before sticking them on the canvas.  It was a good thing I bought three packs of the letters as I had to go into all three!

Then I drew pencil lines on the canvas so everything would be straight and threw everything down (in an extremely methodical way).

I borrowed one of the hubby's paint brushes and put two coats on the canvas.

To help the drying process along (because I am impatient), I brought out my hairdryer.  It's multi-functional that way.

After peeling off the letters, here is the finished result:

There was a little bit of bleeding on some of the letters, and the edges aren't as crisp as I was expecting, but I kind of like how its not perfect.

I think it looks great in the nursery.  I'm pretty sure that its home will be above the change table, but we'll have to see!

Fit For A Prince

Who knew fitted crib sheets would so easy!  Not me.  I was intimidated at the thought of them, but thankfully I found a ridiculously simple tutorial that was simple to follow and fool proof.

Dana over at MADE could not have made it simpler.

Here's the fabric I started with:

One note I want to make (because this didn't even occur to me when I  was buying my fabric) is to make sure that your fabric is at least 45 inches wide.  The two outside fabrics were only 44 inches wide, and the middle was only 41 inches.

I decided to give it a shot with the 44 inch wide fabric - and it turned out great! But I wouldn't try it with fabric that was less than that.

Each sheet took me about an hour with the most time consuming part of the process being ironing the casing down, and then threading the elastic through the casing.  But, both of those processes are wonderful when paired with a good TV show.

Here is the result of my first attempt:

I was probably a little too proud of myself after finishing this, but come on!  It's a fitted sheet!  Made by me!  All by myself!

I think it looks pretty fantastic.

Since making this one, I have made one more out of the striped fabric.  I will probably do one or two more once I get some more fabric.

Now the crib is ready for a baby!