tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-598246399599561832024-03-13T20:29:25.352-07:00And Everything Will Be Made "Rice"I love my Savior, my husband, food, and my home. I enjoy girly things, crafts, cooking in the kitchen, gardening, and traveling. Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-31925706662538005432020-04-13T08:21:00.001-07:002020-04-13T09:12:13.473-07:00My 12 Week Miscarriage<div style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
I keep going back and forth on whether I should share my miscarriage experience. I’ve decided that I have openly shared my 3 birth stories and that my miscarriage experience was very much a mini birth experience. And in those late hours while going through it, I reflected on my friend’s experiences and how helpful it was to know some of what I was going through was normal. And if my story helps any of my friends in the future, then I want to share it. As much as I didn’t know if it would ever happen to me, I was still not fully prepared for what to expect. But these are my very real, personal feelings and details that I want to be able to look back on and remember what it was like. So that I can remember and empathize with others in the future who may have to walk this road. </div>
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Everything was normal at my 7 week appointment. Regretfully, and I mean I really, really regret it, I did not record the baby’s heartbeat. I confidently thought I would do it at a future appointment. And all I was thinking about was “I’m so glad it’s not twins!” I mentioned this concern to a lot of friends :)</div>
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My next appointment was at 11 weeks over the phone on March 27, as to avoid an unnecessary office visit and risk COVID19 exposure. I had declined the genetic test and my Dr. and I both agreed a phone appointment would be just fine. All was normal and actually a quick, boring phone call. </div>
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On Saturday April 3rd, I started experiencing menstrual-like cramps. I was concerned enough that I mentioned it to Erin and got into bed early that night to just take it easy. I still experienced cramps Sunday morning and called the advice nurse. I had only had the tiniest bit of pinkish/red blood after wiping once on Saturday. And Sunday morning had some brown blood that made it to my underwear. </div>
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An hour later I was talking to an OB Dr. working that day. He assured me that what I was experiencing was totally normal. It was likely my cervix stretching. In my pregnancy history, I have never had any bleeding or cramping this early in pregnancy. It did ease my mind some that day. But to me, it was not normal.</div>
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At 8:20 pm I stood up after kissing Piper goodnight and my water broke. I say that with 100% certainty. I felt that ballooning pressure and just as soon as I felt that, a gush of warm fluid filled my underwear and I instantly ran to my bathroom. I had already been wearing a pad all day just incase. I looked and it was not blood, but a soaked pad with just fluid. I sat down on the toilet and my mucus plug immediately plopped into the toilet and I watched blood start dripping into the water. The girls were asking for me to finish saying goodnight and I just sat there on the toilet thinking, “It’s happening.” I began miscarrying our 4th baby on April 5th, 2020, in my 12th week of pregnancy.</div>
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I sat there for a while bleeding and cramping. I went out to the living room to tell Erin that I was officially starting to miscarry. We had both been thinking it was maybe possible that’s what was happening that day but didn’t know for sure. I went back to the bathroom for long periods of time, just sitting on the toilet, at times pouring out blood in steady streams like peeing, and other times just drips. My legs began to shake with the adrenaline? Shock? They were also going numb from sitting there so often and long. I had thoughts like, “If I see the baby, do I stick my hand in the toilet and grab it?” “What do I do with it? I can’t just throw it away or back in the toilet.” “We could bury it in our garden.” I looked for that first hour or so, and then I decided to let it go. Torture. </div>
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We crawled in bed to snuggle just for a few moments until I started cramping and had to get up and sit on the toilet. Erin slept and I crept out of our room because I was tired of flushing our toilet and just wanted to be alone, really.</div>
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I watched TV on the couch for a bit. After heavily bleeding and passing large clots for an hour, I decided to call the advice nurse. How long should I expect to be bleeding this heavily? How large of a clot is too large? Was I passing golf ball size? Yes. Tennis ball size? Yes. They told me if I bled through 3 pads in 1 hour or began to feel faint and light headed to call back. I was very much laboring my baby out. Cramping and pain (contraction), immediately followed with lots of heavy bleeding then passing a clot or tissue. Repeat.</div>
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At 1:30 am I called the advice nurse again. It had been 5 hours at this point and I was still bleeding heavily. I had soaked through 6 pads at this point, when I wasn’t sitting on the toilet. Who knows how much I lost? At this point she recommended I come into the ER. I had been trying to put this off because I didn’t want to be exposed to Covid19 or be there if there was nothing they could do for me.</div>
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I decided to just try and sleep for a bit on the couch. I was exhausted at this point. An hour later I woke up soaked. The blanket I was using, my pants, my shirt bottom, wet with blood. I slowly made my way to the bathroom. My pad was completely red, no white at all. I passed several very, very large clots and pieces of tissue and immediately began to pass out. I thought, “Was that the baby?” I had been looking for hours, to see if that clot was big enough. If the baby lived until 12 weeks it should have been the size of a cupcake. </div>
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I quickly laid myself on the floor, and just waited for it to pass. Everything was spinning. I was extremely lightheaded, sweating and breathing heavily. After a few minutes I called my mom at 2:30am. She answered after 2 rings with something like “Hi, what do you need?” I told her that I had been having a miscarriage all night and I needed to go to the ER. She was at my house like 12 minutes later. </div>
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I just got in her car and Erin stayed back. I knew I couldn’t have anybody with me. We walked past a large yellow tent outside for testing Covid19 patients and before stepping 1 foot into the ER, the security guard squirted sanitizing foam into my palm, asked if I had a fever or cough, and told me no one visitors allowed in right now.</div>
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At this point it was 3am. I wore my mask. I repeated for the 4th time that day that I was having a miscarriage. Saying those words out loud made me cry every time. In my head I was holding it together, but saying it out loud brought out my emotions. There was not one single other person in the waiting room. It was not easy being that one person in there, literally alone. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_v2rptdIyHE/XpSDFb2oV8I/AAAAAAAADSw/lAdAcGI2hcQb8azzyuNXD-3fytpinJEFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/IMG_8707.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1203" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_v2rptdIyHE/XpSDFb2oV8I/AAAAAAAADSw/lAdAcGI2hcQb8azzyuNXD-3fytpinJEFgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/IMG_8707.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the only picture I took. It was a surreal experience, being alone in an emergency room during a pandemic, wearing a silly bright colored cheerful mask in a horrible situation. </td></tr>
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I went into a private room with a real door and I was grateful for that. A nurse came to take my blood, again I repeated why I was there. The ER Dr. was very nice and she did an ultrasound, confirming there was no baby in the uterus. Empty. I was grateful the baby had passed on it’s own but it was still heartbreaking to see it. She paged the OB working upstairs to come check, too. I apologized that I hadn’t shaved my legs in a few days, trying to make light of a situation I hated. She was quickly feeling my cervix and was so nice, saying she and all her coworkers also hadn’t shaved. I was dilated 1-2cm. </div>
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The OB Dr. came down a little while later. She and a nurse again apologized for the reason I was here, and that no one could be with me. My red cell count was low, but not concerning enough that I needed a blood transfusion. Another ultrasound, confirming she saw no bright white=bone and that it looked like it should. There was no need for a D & C, a surgical procedure they do if the baby doesn’t pass completely. They put this plastic wedge under my bottom and examined me. It was painful, uncomfortable, humiliating, and just sad. </div>
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After that they hooked up some fluids to my IV, turned off the lights and let me rest for an hour. My mom picked me back up around 5:45am. I had a prescription for Misoprostol, which would help my uterus continue to contract, cramp and bleed, ensuring everything would pass and in hopes that I wouldn’t have to come back to the hospital to check. I showered and crawled into bed just before 6:30am. </div>
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The mild cramping lasted for about 5 days. It felt like I was very much recovering from birth. My cervix was still going to be dilated for 1-2 weeks. My hormones had to adjust. My Dr. said HCG would be present for up to a few weeks, meaning if I take a pregnancy test it can show up positive for a while. I didn’t know that before this. For the first few days, every time I stood up from picking up a toy, getting off a chair or the couch, it felt like blacking out. My body had lost an incredible amount of blood and it very much felt like my blood pressure was affected. I got these throbbing headaches when bending down or standing up too soon, too. I just felt overall very weak. </div>
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So, I share all this for myself and for others who hadn’t thought much about miscarriage, like me. I used to just think how sad their baby died. Thinking it must have been like just starting their period or they had a D&C. I hadn’t ever given much thought towards the actual miscarriage process. And just like experiencing birth for the first time, you just can’t really fathom the circumstance until you’ve been through it yourself.</div>
Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-54430448275961599252018-01-14T16:59:00.000-08:002018-01-14T16:59:01.266-08:00Reid's Birth Story<div class="MsoNormal">
Reid’s Birth Story<o:p></o:p></div>
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Disclaimer: I mention things like membranes, dilated, poop,
etc. Read at your own risk, ha! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Monday January 8<sup>th</sup> I had my 40 week appointment
with my Nurse Practitioner. I’d never reached 40 weeks with my first 2
pregnancies. Norah was born 2 days early and Piper was 3 days early. My NP and
I were both a little surprised I was still pregnant. Baby was doing great and I
was already dilated to a 3.5. We went ahead and decided to strip my membranes.
I’d read that it’s not always successful and there’s not a huge risk, so why
not try. But it hurt surprisingly more than I thought it would. At the end of
my appointment she said if it works, you should have the baby by tonight or
tomorrow sometime! I was booked a 41 week appointment just in case and headed
home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I experienced some minor cramping throughout the day, which
was to be expected after stripping the membranes. I let my family know that we
may be going into labor at some point this evening, if it works, and made plans
for my sister to come spend the night at our house and my mom to plan on coming
to attend the birth at some point. I had no idea the timing of anything and
told them I may be calling in the middle of the night or maybe not until
tomorrow. Fortunately, my sister was off work and my mom was going to be able
to attend the birth. At 3pm I noticed some cramping turned into a contraction
or 2, but nothing consistent. I was trying not to get my hopes up in case they
stopped and the stripping didn’t work. I stayed busy just getting some stuff
done around the house, curled my hair, got dinner figured out. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At 4:30pm I started prepping dinner and decided my cramping
was turning into definite contractions, nothing regular or alarming, but I
noted it mentally and told Erin that I think they’re real contractions now. We
carried on with making dinner. I was using the bathroom a lot at this point,
emptying my bowels, which was totally what happened with Norah’s labor and is a
good indicator you’re in labor. Erin gave the girls a bath and I changed into a
skort/tank top to wear to the hospital. I started timing my contractions at
7:15pm and they were about 3 minutes apart and 45 seconds long. The whole
evening we never mentioned it to the girls about what was going on. I continued
to pee seriously every 10 minutes at least. We put the girls to bed and I had a
contraction while standing next to Piper’s crib and Norah asked, “What are you
doing?” I replied, “my belly hurts.” I didn’t want to alarm her or prompt her
to ask a million questions, ha. She came out of her room a few times, telling
us random stuff each time. Finally, she said, “Mom, I think the baby will be
here in the morning!” And I answered, “Maybe! But you better go to bed so we
can see!” She didn’t come back out after that, ha. <o:p></o:p></div>
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It’s about 7:30pm now and I told my sister to come at 8:30pm.
I told my mom an update and that it seems it will be earlier than I thought. My
contractions were getting strong and I was needing to stop talking during them
and found some relief by swaying my hips/belly side to side quickly, like a
windmill stretch. Erin loaded up our bag and birthing ball and placed a towel
on the front seat. We had already installed the infant seat in his car a few weeks
ago. I texted my sister at 7:56pm and said “come now!” I think we drove off
around 8:15pm to Kaiser, which is all of 3 miles away from our house. We walk
alllll the way down the world’s longest hallway to the birthing center, which
is good and all to keep the labor coming. I had called on the way in to let
them know I was on my way. When we came into the waiting room, I had to
wait….seriously!? It’s 8:32pm and I texted my sister that we were waiting! My
mom got there and laughed because when I was in labor with Norah, it was so
busy I had to labor in the tiny triage room for hours before getting a labor
room. So, this was not a good start. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Not sure what time, maybe 15-20 minutes later, I get to go
back and check in at the desk. Then I have go to the bathroom and give them a
urine sample and go into my triage room. They tell me to lay down and I said
“No thanks, standing is better.” The nurse looked a little annoyed because that
meant she had to <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>go grab the tight
stretchy band that goes over your stomach to hold the monitors on. But I’ve
learned to be a little more vocal in what I need to have the labor I want. They
monitored me for a few minutes and then Erin came in. The midwife came in to
introduce herself and check my progress. My contractions are still about 2-3
minutes apart and 1 minute long. Seriously strong. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At this point I had to lay down and that just meant very
uncomfortable contractions. I was only dilated to 4cm. (Mind you, I was 3.5cm
at noon that day) I could NOT believe it. I told Erin right before she checked
me that I almost didn’t want to know how far I may have been dilated because I
didn’t want to get discouraged. Well, in order to be admitted they need to know
your progress, which I totally understand. So, with that news, the Midwife told
me to walk to halls for 1 hour and see what happens. My mom had to stay in the
waiting room at this point and Erin and I took off to walk the halls. It was
9:30pm, so we knew to be back at 10:30pm to get checked again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I was having hard, long contractions, placing my hands on
the walls or hand rails to get through them while Erin applied counter-pressure
on my back. I could not get through a contraction without him pressing. I
wouldn’t necessarily call it “back labor”, which I had with Norah, it just felt
good to have a separate contact point. I could feel the contractions spreading
around the sides of my hips and in my uterus. I had to vocalize at this point
to get through them. Yep, I was that lady moaning down the hallway every 2
minutes, chanting “oooohhhhh,” inhale loudly, “ahhhhhhh”. That whole hip
swaying thing from just an hour ago wasn’t cutting it anymore. I was leaning
over and bracing myself against the wall, and would sort of bend my knees a tad
and move my weight from one foot to the other slowly during a contraction. Not
sure how Erin looked trying to push on my lower back and move with me, haha. We
walked for 30 minutes and my lips began to feel dry from breathing so heavy and
I was thirsty. We walked back to the room, took a sip of water, got some chap
stick, put my sweater back on and walked for 10 more minutes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At this point, I was starting to feel exhausted and wanted
get my ball, which my mom still had in the waiting room. It’s now 10:15pm. I
know what time it was because at every nurses station we walked past in the
halls I was able to see the clocks. Back into the tiny triage room we went. We
placed my ball up on the bed and laid a pillow on top. I climbed on the bed,
kept my knees on the bed and laid down over the ball. It felt great to rest my
head and legs for a minute. I had told Erin in advance this was a position I
wanted to labor in to relive pressure from my hips and get the baby in a good
position as well. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
2 contractions later and my water broke. If you’ve never
experienced your waters breaking, I think it feels exactly like a water balloon
is being squeezed out of your cervix and then pops! I felt this ballooning
pressure and by the time I could think about what that feeling even was, I felt
that big pop and warm water pour down my legs. I didn’t even open my eyes and
shouted to Erin, “My water just broke. Tell them my water just broke and I want
the gas now!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pause. I had been intending to try the nitrous
oxide/laughing gas during my labor. It’s pretty new at Kaiser and I wanted to
try it before getting an epidural, but my biggest hope was to have another
natural delivery (Norah’s was natural/15 hour labor and I got an epidural with
Piper after hitting transition and being in labor for 12 hours) I thought that
having the gas to get me through transition would help me achieve my natural
birth. This was all written out in my birth plan, in my suitcase, in the
waiting room with my mom. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once my water broke, I kid you not, I was starting to have
insane pressure and feeling like I needed to push already. “Hurry!” I yell at
no one in particular. Erin was out in the hall telling the nurses that my water
broke and I wanted the gas. They come in and see I’m starting to freak out a
little. My contractions are immediately stacking on top of one another. I’m a
moaning mess and breathing loudly. Erin’s half on the bed still applying
counter pressure. I’m not hooked up to any fetal monitor. No IV. They bring in
a wheelchair and decide to bring me to the labor suite. I tell them my mom is
still in the waiting room and needs to come with us. The nurse instructs Erin
to go get her and bring her back. We get about 3 feet out the door and I’m
moaning again and shouting for Erin, ha, poor guy. The nurse said, “okay daddy
come back!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We get to the labor room and I just stopped at the side of
the bed and had a contraction. They offer me a gown and I said no. Have you
ever had a baby before? There’s no hiding nothing at this point and I didn’t
want to be fussing with clothes at the moment. Someone takes off my wet clothes
and they told me to get on the bed. I said “no.” In my birth plan, you know the
one no one has any idea about, I expressed how I wanted to be standing or
squatting or anything but laying down this time. At this point I hear my mom in
the room and she said something like, “Melanie, you’re not having a baby on the
floor! Go get on the bed.” Ha. I climb on the bed and get on my knees again and
face the head of the bed, resting my forearms on the head of the bed. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Holy contractions. I can’t catch my breath. I’m freaking out
and starting to bear down. There’s a nurse at my head starting to ask me my
medical history (bless her). I’m sorry, what? “Do you have any family history
of blah blah blah…” I don’t hear half of what she’s saying because I’m focusing
on the point that suddenly the pressure is so real and low that now I’m feeling
like I have to poop. Great. I start shouting about how I have to poop. Someone
says that’s fine. I had NO control over anything at this point. Mind you, I’m
still not even admitted, hence them starting to ask questions and work on
getting me in the system. They tell me they’re going to start an IV, to which I
respond, “DO IT!” <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m moaning, basically hyperventilating and yelling: I need
gas *moooan* I need Fentinol…oooohhhh…. I can’t do it. I can’t do it. I can’t
do it….inhale inhale… I want a cold wash cloth on my head (gosh I was so
demanding but really proud about how I was vocalizing my needs…because no one
really knew what I wanted still and my sweet hubby isn’t really a vocal person,
especially in a chaotic scenario such as your wife yelling in pain)…mooooan… I
need gas now… I’m gonna poop! -I’m telling you, there’s no hiding anything
anymore. No dignity left. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And that’s what
happened, I think. Sorry but it’s real life. I didn’t see it and someone else
took care of it (again, bless them). I’m not proud of it, ha, and it’s the
first time that’s happened during 3 births, but with the way things were
moving, I’m not surprised at all. Now I’m legit, uncontrollably pushing but
also trying not to. It’s a serious physical battle. “Where’s the gas?” I shout.
The midwife gets a chance during one of the contractions to check me again and
I hear her say, (because everyone is behind me at this point and Erin is still
rubbing my back and my mom is up at my shoulder) I’m at 6cm. WHAT!?! I heard
that and I couldn’t believe it, again. No way. Sorry, but I’m pushing. They
start an IV. I’m shouting for the Fentanyl at this point because mentally I
know an epidural is out of the picture, screw the gas, I need drugs. Like an
hour ago. It’s roughly 10:30/40pm. My mom says calmly in my ear, “Melanie,
let’s try the gas. You wanted to try the gas. It’s coming soon.” Little did I
know that there was no way I was getting Fentanyl because again, not even an
admitted patient=no drugs. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m bearing down but also trying not too because they’re
telling me not to, naturally. You can’t push until you’re at a 10. I know this.
I reach down and apply some counter-pressure to my perineum because it hurts.
so. bad. I feel like I’m about to tear already at this point. They start
shouting for the midwife to come back in, because I guess she stepped out for a
minute? I’m not opening my eyes and also my back is facing everyone. I have no
idea who was there ha. Someone hands me the gas mask and I start breathing like
my life depended on it. Side note: the bridge of my nose was tender for 3 days
after delivery because I must have been pressing it so hard against me face! No
joke.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was still breathing so rapidly that I couldn’t breathe the
air back into the mask fast enough before inhaling again. I started to inhale
deeeeep and long, remove the mask, and exhale over my shoulder. I did this for
about 30 seconds until I could calm my breathing. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My mom snapped this picture of me with the gas. She took it
at 10:46pm, right after I had calmed down. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxDjWzsEMEs/Wlv8hSeo6tI/AAAAAAAABS8/wyVZXOoTe7I_XiA7lnpynJcjzSGqyWkzQCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_1383.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nxDjWzsEMEs/Wlv8hSeo6tI/AAAAAAAABS8/wyVZXOoTe7I_XiA7lnpynJcjzSGqyWkzQCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_1383.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
This is where time is lost to me. The gas was beginning to
work and I am breathing like a regular person now. I’m no longer trying to
push. I hear people behind me. A nurse told me to lift one knee, slid some
plastic or sheets or something under me and told me to lift the other knee. I’m
focusing on my pain going away, for the most part, breathing, and trying to refocus.
My eyes are closed the whole time. I remember taking it off my face in between
breathing and saying, “My mom wants to deliver the baby.” Inhale. “She’s a
paramedic.” Inhale. “Tell ‘em mom.” Ha. So bossy. Erin told me later that the
midwife looked at my mom and said, “suit up grandma!”<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I took off the mask again and said, “Remind me to tell you
about the rainbow.” I hear some chuckling. “And I love you all.” True story. I
hear someone say, “good pushing mom”. Am I pushing? I had to snap into it. I
started feeling like I was crowning. That pain was still there but not as real
as without gas. I remember totally being in control at this point, thinking:
Yes, I feel that pressure and that I could push now and it’s gonna hurt. But I
don’t think I need to push yet. I took another breathe. Waited another few
seconds until more pressure came and then pushed a little more. “Good” I hear.
One more deep inhale and slow push, I felt the head come out. I took one last
deep breathe with the mask and took it off my face so I could come to. I pushed
out the rest of the baby. Maybe a few seconds go by and I pivoted around and
sat down facing everyone. Someone handed me the baby and I saw it was a boy!!
Everyone else already could see but they all waited until I saw for myself.
(which is great because that was definitely written in the plan!) My mom was
able to assist in the delivery after his head was born, I think. Again, couldn’t
see it. I hear the cord was around his neck once, like Norah. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They were wiping him down with towels and I told them to
stop after a second (written down). Yay for being vocal! I just wanted to hold
him, I didn’t care if he was messy. At this point a nurse said, “Oh honey, you
ripped your IV out!” Sure enough, I looked down at my forearm and there’s blood
dripping down. That dang IV. It was in my right arm and when I turned over my
right shoulder to sit on the bed, it must have pulled out. Didn’t feel it.
Curse the dang thing, I didn’t need it anyway, ha. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We did skin to skin for a bit. Erin cut the cord once it was
done pulsating, which I asked about and she assured me it was done (written
down). They gave me a shot of Pitocin in my arm to help with some bleeding, but
honestly it was the least bleeding I had with all my deliveries! Placenta was
delivered and the pushing on my abdomen was pretty painful. But it needs to be
done.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reid Cameron Rice was born at 10:58pm. 8lbs 11 oz 21” long.
I went from 6cm to delivery in roughly 15 minutes, give or take. It was a
whirlwind. I got my gas, which was great because it was the only thing I was
going to get anyway. I highly recommend it, especially if you’re trying to have
a natural birth. Maybe get admitted a littler earlier than I did, ha! I got to
use it for all of 12 minutes. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<!--EndFragment-->Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-38626373762531869982016-05-27T21:51:00.002-07:002016-05-27T22:03:29.727-07:00Piper's Birth Story<div style="color: #454545; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal;">
I had been having a handful of contractions throughout the night on February 19. They were strong enough and were obviously different to me than just Braxton Hicks. I tossed and turned a bit and tried to sleep as much as I could. Around 5am, I looked at the clock as a reference to look back on and be able to say that is when my labor “started.” </div>
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This time was different than with Norah, where my water broke in the middle of the night and then my contractions started.(You can find her birth story <a href="https://erinandmelanierice.blogspot.com/b/post-preview?token=1PRr91QBAAA.gzKV-BjZKHfccMYaTCEsRf_FzR8WjrgyTHriadviB2eUTfPGsY5uyd6BW-vCPMvNcsUeXh74_pXpcO2cD83yAA.Rjbv29yj7AdSLaz7gv2vww&postId=4575854976420018844&type=POST" target="_blank">here</a>) I kept waiting for my water to break this time so I could say my labor had started! I woke up around 6:30 and got Norah out of bed. We hung out in the living room for a bit and I was like a kid on Christmas morning all excited that I was having contractions! Erin woke up around 7:30. It was a Saturday, so he was home. I told him I was in labor and he was surprised! I was 3 days away from my due date and excited to be having another early baby. After I told him I was in labor and had steady contractions, I could see him mentally starting to get into the mindset of “we’re having a baby today.” </div>
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Norah was 20 months old and was just being a typical clingy toddler, wanting me to pick her up or have me hold her around the house. I remember washing dishes, vacuuming, anything to keep the contractions coming. She was not letting me do my own thing, hehe. So, Erin took her over to my parents house around 10am. My contractions were still totally manageable, just not ideal while having a toddler pulling on my leg or climbing all over me. I kissed my only baby goodbye and off she went to Nana & Papa’s house.</div>
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Our friend, Dan, who was building our kitchen cabinets showed up about 9am and asked casually, “how’s it going?” I bluntly replied, “Well, I’m in labor.” Ha ha. He was definitely surprised and I know he was thinking, “Well, this is awkward.” We all kind of laughed and I said, “No seriously. But it’s all good.” I really wanted my kitchen cabinets to get done! So he was working on those while I labored around the house. I mostly stayed in our bedroom and sat on my ball while watching my DVR. </div>
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I remember eating so much this time around. I was starving! I had breakfast, and then a snack, and then pizza leftovers for lunch (bad, bad move). I was feeling really great in between contractions. This had me a little nervous, though. I kept thinking that I must not be making much progress if I feel this good and my water hasn’t even broken. I hadn’t even bothered to time my contractions until after lunch. I did my makeup and curled my hair, because I was trying to kill time and stay distracted.</div>
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Erin was around the house working on projects here and there. He was wrapping up some work on his computer before baby leave. I was able to lay down and take a little nap. I let my sister Colleen know that I was in labor. She lives in Monterey and wasn’t sure when and if she should get in the car and drive! I didn’t really know what to tell her. I wasn’t sure how much longer I had since my labor was picking up a little but my water still hadn’t broke. I was all thrown off.</div>
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Around 1pm my contractions were getting longer and more intense. I began timing them on a app I downloaded after lunch lol. Talk about being prepared! I was definitely having to breathe through my contractions after lunch and remember “breathing” open my cervix. I was trying to keep my mental game strong! I truly was staying so relaxed, it was surprising me. I walked around our property and met Erin and my Father-in-law out in the greenhouse. He was surprised it was the real deal and that I was out walking around. I was doing everything I could to keep contractions coming. </div>
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I walked back to the house and went into our room. My contractions were around 4 minutes apart at this point and 1 minute long. I finally called the delivery center at Kaiser Vacaville (where I delivered Norah) and told them the details. I had tested GBS+ so I knew that I needed to get there and have time to get the antibiotics. They said since it was my second baby, I needed antibiotics and based on my contractions, it was time to head in. So off we went!</div>
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We said bye to Dan, who was still working in the kitchen and he wished us luck hehe. I remember looking at Erin on the way to the hospital, just the two of us and smiling, thinking “okay, let’s have another baby!” It was a surreal moment. </div>
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When we got there, they told me I was at 4cm and was getting admitted! I felt somewhat nervous that I may not have been that progressed and would have to go back home. So I was excited that we were staying and this was it. The midwife who greeted us knew my wishes for a low intervention, natural delivery. She asked Erin if he would like to catch the baby and he said yes! I’m so glad she was including him in the birth if he wanted to help. I opted for the wireless monitoring so that I could freely walk around and labor without intermittent monitoring. We let our family know that we had checked in and this was it.</div>
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After getting settled into the labor suite (something foreign to me since I labored for 5 hours with Norah in the triage room!) we walked the halls for a while. Labor was definitely picking up. We came back into the room and I sat on my ball for a bit. They started an IV and started administering the antibiotics for me. After that was done, I didn’t need to be hooked up any longer. I remember getting some really bad gas pains at this point, maybe around 5pm. Suddenly that pizza I ate for lunch was causing me some serious pain on top of my contraction pain. I was able to use the bathroom and felt a little better. However, bearing down only caused my labor to get seriously so much more intense. </div>
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I remember starting to get scared. Around 6pm I told Erin that I was thinking about getting an epidural. I began to feel nauseous and started shaking and sweating. This is textbook transition phase. I was just in so much pain and my contractions were not letting up. I was no longer able to calmly focus my breathe and relax during contractions. I was fighting them. I asked my nurse to check me because I was wanting an epidural and needed to know how much progress I had made. I was 6.5 cm dilated.</div>
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My nurse came in and knew my birth plan and told me again the other options, but I told her to order the epidural. This was around 6:30pm. I had been in labor for over 12 hours at this point. Norah’s labor was 15 hours and I was getting discouraged. Wasn’t your second labor supposed to be shorter? I still had more to dilate and knew how much harder it was going to get. And I hadn’t even began pushing yet! Erin was very sweet and asked me, “Have you been thinking about this for a while? I thought you didn’t want an epidural. Are you sure this is what you want?” I said, “I want the epidural!” lol I was reassuring him that it was definitely what I wanted at this point. </div>
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Around 7pm, the gal who administers the epidural came in and agreed that Erin could stay there with me while I got it. I was shaking so uncontrollably at this time I wasn’t sure I would be able to sit still long enough to get it! I kept saying how I didn’t want to hold still. Movement was seriously my best friend. Swaying, dancing, bouncing, anything but being still to get me through one contraction onto the next one. I sat on the edge of the bed, hugging a pillow. Erin was facing me in a chair and I was resting my feet on his legs and held onto him. This was the first time I had really sat down in hours. It was hell. lol. They gave me the epidural and I didn’t even care that it hurt. I truly am surprised they gave me one. It was seriously cutting it way too close. </div>
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I got into the bed. I changed into the hospital gown, finally. They gave me the oh-so-fun catheter. They were explaining the whole IV button thing, were you press it and it takes 10 minutes to feel the relief, so don’t wait too long. I remember feeling everything still, but now only on the right side of my body. I kept waiting for the drugs to kick in! Come on! At this point, the pain was constant. No letting up at all. Colleen had Facetimed me and was on her way from Monterey! I couldn’t even talk to her and had to hang up because I was in so much pain. I told Erin to push that button! Then my water broke. Finally! I felt the pop and gush of water and the nurse confirmed it had broken. I looked at the monitors and my contractions were just stacking one after another. I was slowly getting some relief from the epidural. My left side was getting numb. My nurse told me to let her know when I felt the urge to push. Seriously, 2 minutes later I had the urge to push. It came on so strong.</div>
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I was filled with relief knowing my labor was still progressing. That was definitely a fear of mine, getting the epidural and then my labor stalling. The nurse checked me and I was at a 10!!!! I couldn’t believe it. My midwife came in, along with 27 other people (just kidding, but seriously like 5 other people) and she told me to start bringing the baby down. They brought over the mirror and got everything all set up. </div>
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We had had the TV on earlier that afternoon and I remember sitting there, at the edge of the bed, feet in the stirrups with all my goodies exposed looking at the discovery channel lol. I asked someone to turn it off and then it got awkwardly silent. haha, I made a joke out of it. Seriously though, everyone was just there waiting for the big show. Anyways, I was able to sit up completely straight and use my arms a little to hold myself up as I pushed. The epidural had kicked in 100% at this point. Praise Jesus. I started to see the head in the mirror and began pushing more and more. I had to look over my shoulder at the monitor to even know when to push! I could no longer feel contractions. </div>
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After maybe 10 minutes of pushing, her head was born. Erin had put on some gloves and was there with my midwife. He grabbed just under her hands and helped pull out the baby as she was being born. I reached down and met Erin’s hands and we brought her up to my stomach. I could tell in the mirror that she was a girl:) I went to bring her up to my chest, but the midwife said her cord was a little short lol. After a minute, she got some slack on the cord and I was able to bring her up to my chest and take in all her little slimy, wrinkling goodness. </div>
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Piper Ellie Rice was born at 8:26pm February 20, 2016. 7 lbs 3oz and 20 inches long. My labor was around 15 hours. We kept her placenta and plan on planting it somewhere at our new home…along with Norah’s, which is still in the freezer. Yikes! </div>
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I did have some minor tearing. I also had some blood clots that they had to sweep out after she was born. Overall, it was a great labor and delivery! I loved having an all natural delivery with Norah and I love that I was able to labor so long with Piper on my own and that the drugs kicked in for the most important part! The recovery with an epidural is harder, in my opinion. I was numb for hours after Piper was born. I had to keep the catheter in overnight, which was really uncomfortable. I had a little bit of bruising from the epidural itself. Overall, not terrible and totally worth it:)</div>
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My sister, mom and aunt came to visit that night around 10pm and got to see little Piper. We hadn't told them over the phone if the baby was a boy or girl, so that was fun for them to come and see! My parents brought Norah over the next morning to meet her sissy :) We went home Sunday night around 7pm. We have had such great experiences at the Vacaville Kaiser! </div>
Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-53167478719530397002014-07-29T19:12:00.001-07:002014-07-29T19:12:49.914-07:00Cloth DiapersWe have been cloth diapering Norah for a few weeks now, so I feel like we are experienced enough to blog about it:) I believe we started when she was about 2 1/2 weeks old.<br />
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I had originally intended to start the cloth diapers when she was big enough to exclusively wear the AIO (all in one) size pocket diapers we have. However, one of Erin's coworkers gave us 17 newborn prefolds with a variety of covers. Awesome! So, we started earlier than we had planned but we were able to do so for free :)<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8vN3Y1oo7oI/U9g98jy7RjI/AAAAAAAABH4/lS8A8oxUpbU/s1600/photo-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8vN3Y1oo7oI/U9g98jy7RjI/AAAAAAAABH4/lS8A8oxUpbU/s1600/photo-14.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
These are the newborn prefolds (free) and the cloth wipes I purchased from Buy Buy Baby. We have 24 flannel wipes and so far that has been a good amount. I had to wash diapers every other day when we were exclusively using the prefold diapers. About 1 1/2 weeks later, we introduced the AOI pocket diapers, too.<br />
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I honestly don't know how many diapers Norah goes through in one day. Sometimes she likes to poop in the diaper 1.5 seconds after I lift her off the changing pad. So, that throws off my count of how many she would have normally gone through :)<br />
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Anyways, this is what our diaper area looks like and the system we have.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hz2v6-aslB0/U9g_0jcu8oI/AAAAAAAABIM/GERf9JgMvwk/s1600/DSC_0256.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hz2v6-aslB0/U9g_0jcu8oI/AAAAAAAABIM/GERf9JgMvwk/s1600/DSC_0256.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prefolds and wipes are stored in this drawer.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vk6iE2gd5Kg/U9g_83bbgRI/AAAAAAAABIU/r8QBUZMD_IE/s1600/DSC_0257.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Vk6iE2gd5Kg/U9g_83bbgRI/AAAAAAAABIU/r8QBUZMD_IE/s1600/DSC_0257.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The green thing is a "insert grabber." It's really meant to be an over mit thingy, but it's perfect for grabbing wet inserts from the pocket diapers! </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iiZdewoEemY/U9hF6KueEvI/AAAAAAAABIs/rYnfBENXltw/s1600/DSC_0259.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iiZdewoEemY/U9hF6KueEvI/AAAAAAAABIs/rYnfBENXltw/s1600/DSC_0259.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second shelf is where I store the pocket diapers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JnDxBeNGTeM/U9hF3EusVNI/AAAAAAAABIk/oil0lQjkQrU/s1600/DSC_0261.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-JnDxBeNGTeM/U9hF3EusVNI/AAAAAAAABIk/oil0lQjkQrU/s1600/DSC_0261.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I also store pocket diapers on this side. These diapers are already stuffed with a charcoal and microfiber insert. We double up at night time so I rarely have to change Norah's diaper unless its poopy. I stuff the diaper with both inserts in the pocket. It's so much better than waking her up more by changing her diaper. And, she has never had a diaper rash so far.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lm04RNxA_8E/U9hF-zlb3VI/AAAAAAAABI0/Kgg3pKFqF_E/s1600/DSC_0262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Lm04RNxA_8E/U9hF-zlb3VI/AAAAAAAABI0/Kgg3pKFqF_E/s1600/DSC_0262.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I am able to store the flannel wipes in this old wipe container that I saved. I found this awesome tutorial <a href="http://www.diaperjunction.com/Cloth-Diaper-Tip-Fold-your-cloth-wipes-and-make-them-POP_b_599.html" target="_blank">here</a> that shows you how to fold them just right so they can be dispensed one by one. Brilliant. We store them dry and when we change a diaper, we just walk about 5 feet to the bathroom sink and wet it with water. Easy peasy.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fJpMmRQu1Os/U9hGObU-boI/AAAAAAAABI8/Csc6Ji1Dt0k/s1600/DSC_0263.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fJpMmRQu1Os/U9hGObU-boI/AAAAAAAABI8/Csc6Ji1Dt0k/s1600/DSC_0263.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have two of these super cute wet bags. This is a small/medium size bag that will hold a days worth of diapers. I keep one in my diaper bag. I also have a larger wet bag that I use on rotation when these are dirty. I throw the wet bags in the laundry with the diapers.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hsc_x6iiONY/U9hGQ4IvpSI/AAAAAAAABJE/pzT82Re7Rmo/s1600/DSC_0264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hsc_x6iiONY/U9hGQ4IvpSI/AAAAAAAABJE/pzT82Re7Rmo/s1600/DSC_0264.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a long wet bag I bought on Etsy that fits in the diaper genie. I wash it with the diapers as well.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My husband, who doesn't "know" how to fold his own t-shirts will fold a prefold diaper on Norah. What a man! Now we need to work on the t-shirts...<br />
<br />
Here is what the prefold looks like on a super cute baby!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1W0oi0KwEW8/U9hJLSTbn_I/AAAAAAAABJQ/1rdUhR8Mf40/s1600/DSC_0268.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1W0oi0KwEW8/U9hJLSTbn_I/AAAAAAAABJQ/1rdUhR8Mf40/s1600/DSC_0268.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We fold them with a snappi. They are really easy to use. The 3 ends have little prongs that catch on the diaper and hold it in place. We have a 3 pack and that's really all you need. I keep an extra in the diaper bag and changing table. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1lmh4KcDZ9o/U9hJt1HWQ7I/AAAAAAAABJg/9vrY9tGelJY/s1600/DSC_0270.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1lmh4KcDZ9o/U9hJt1HWQ7I/AAAAAAAABJg/9vrY9tGelJY/s1600/DSC_0270.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the cover you put around the prefold. We have a handful of these that we were given, too.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z8qB3--PNMI/U9hJofWqw1I/AAAAAAAABJY/4Krbkfr0nSg/s1600/photo+2-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Z8qB3--PNMI/U9hJofWqw1I/AAAAAAAABJY/4Krbkfr0nSg/s1600/photo+2-1.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is a AIO pocket diaper. Fishy butt!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zLDGYl-7v-s/U9hJ0oC-zyI/AAAAAAAABJo/Dn4XvKkn4-A/s1600/DSC_0272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zLDGYl-7v-s/U9hJ0oC-zyI/AAAAAAAABJo/Dn4XvKkn4-A/s1600/DSC_0272.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When I'm done with diaper laundry, I sit on the couch for maybe 7 minutes and stuff the diapers. When they are stuffed in advance, it makes changing the diaper just as fast as a disposable. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
How do I wash my diapers? It's pretty simple. They all are stored in the wet bags. That doesn't mean there is any liquid or anything in the bag. You just put the dirty diaper in the bag and zip it shut. Or shove it in the diaper genie. We do remove the insert first, that way we don't have to do it two days later when they smell "nice" ;) <br />
<br />
When it's time to wash, everything goes into the washer: the AIOs, the prefolds, the wipes, the covers and the wet bags. Rinse on COLD. Wash on HOT with detergent. Rinse on COLD again. I put the prefolds, wipes, and inserts into the dryer. The AIOs, wet bags, and outer covers get line dried. When anything has a stain, they get bleached by the sun. It does wonders I say!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ScB2FD97x2o/U9hO_N6dDCI/AAAAAAAABKA/JMc9q4mZAYA/s1600/photo+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ScB2FD97x2o/U9hO_N6dDCI/AAAAAAAABKA/JMc9q4mZAYA/s1600/photo+3.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JT_1o9Qtac8/U9hO9XEzr4I/AAAAAAAABJ4/LCHm1IJxMus/s1600/photo+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JT_1o9Qtac8/U9hO9XEzr4I/AAAAAAAABJ4/LCHm1IJxMus/s1600/photo+4.jpg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After drying in the sun for a few hours.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I use Tide free & gentle laundry detergent. It's not a cloth diapering detergent but a lot of people use Tide and say it's fine. It's also very affordable. <br />
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My AIO diaper stash consists of:<br />
-16 Alva pocket diapers with microfiber inserts<br />
-7 Bumgenius freetimes<br />
-2 Bumgenius 4.0s<br />
-10 charcoal liners<br />
<br />That's about it! When I'm not at home, changing her diaper isn't any harder. I store dry wipes in the wipe container my diaper bag came with and throw the dirty diapers into the wet bag! For now, we are using both the prefolds and the AIO but eventually it will just be the AIO diapers. I don't plan on buying any larger prefolds.<br />
<br />
I think I personally have spent about $200 for my diaper stash. I used 20% off coupons for all my bumgenius diapers since I bought them at Buy Buy Baby. I did have a giftcard or two from baby showers, too. I bought 10 alva diapers from a diaper exchange facebook group for $50. Only 2 had been used. The other six I bought new for $50 (these ones have the fun designs: fish, owls and chevron). The charcoal liners I bought from either Amazon or Mot's Tot's Diaper Boutique on facebook. That is also where I bought the owl wet bags ($6 each). The diaper genie bag was from Etsy and I think it was $10. Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-45758549764200188442014-07-01T00:02:00.003-07:002014-07-01T07:27:19.987-07:00Norah's Birth Story I really loved reading other women's birth stories while I was
pregnant. It helped me understand how every woman is different and I
learned a lot about ways to birth, how to labor, and what medical
interventions I did or did not want. I want to share Norah's birth story
with anybody who wants to read it. I will be honest and open, so if you
think you might not want to know the little details, maybe you
shouldn't read it :) Also, my sister took some really great pictures of
her birth and I will put in the tasteful/web appropriate ones that are
very special!<br />
<br />
Norah's birth was no cake walk
but I absolutely love that I brought her into this world myself, as a
woman doing what my body was designed to do and as her mother, bringing
her into my arms and finding out our little rice cake was a girl :) You
might want to get comfortable, this is one lengthy post. <br />
<br />
Thursday, June 19th was a pretty relaxing day for me. Erin went to work
in Sacramento. I had a lazy morning in our apartment. I took a belly
shot of me (my last one). I met my mom for pedicures around 12:30. It
was a really nice pedicure! I had been wanting to get one all week.
After that, I went to 5 guys and got a hot dog with everything on it
except pickles. This girl has never liked them and pregnancy did not
change that. I also asked for jalapenos. Praise Jesus I NEVER had
heartburn while I was pregnant. Then I went and grabbed a coffee from
Peet's.<br />
<br />
Later, I met Erin in Sacramento and we
drove together up to Roseville where we grabbed Thai food for dinner and
then headed over to a family's home from our church and we had a
meeting that ended about 9:30pm. We drove back to Dixon and crawled into
bed at 11pm. <br />
<br />
At exactly 1:45am on Friday, my
water broke. I woke up to warm water gushing and said "oh my god" and
jumped (as good as a extra pregnant girl can jump/flop/roll) out of bed,
then ran to the bathroom, which happens to be all of 7 feet from the
bed. Erin was up right away and it was obvious that we knew what just
happened. I think we laughed a little and were like, "Ok, now the sheets
are all wet and the bathroom floor has puddles." We immediately washed
the sheets and made the bed again. I put on a pad, only to have my water
keep gushing every contraction for a while. I went through a lot of
pads :) I called my mom first at 2 am and told her my water broke and I
would keep her posted. Then I called my doula Michelle and told her the
facts, "I was having contractions but they are irregular and not
painful, just like a braxton hicks." By 2:45am, they were painful and
there was no doubt this was the real deal!<br />
<br />
I
remember reading a lot and people saying to go back to bed if you can.
Ya right! I was so excited. I think I laid in the bed for all of 10
minutes and then got up. I took a shower and shaved my legs and washed
my hair. The contractions were totally manageable. I texted my doula
later, not sure what time and told her my contractions were about every
5 minutes. She said she was on her way!<br />
<br />
Erin and I
had breakfast at about 2:30 am lol. I sat on my ball and was able to be
comfortable. Michelle arrived around 5 am and suggested we walk around
the block. That was nice and we walked for about 15 minutes. When I had a
contraction, we stopped and I tried not to look like a crazy bent over
pregnant woman, but that's probably what I looked like. When we got
back,we popped in a movie and sat in the living room. I tried getting on
all fours and sticking my butt in the air but really sitting on my ball
was most comfortable. We decided to head to the hospital about 7:30 am
when my contractions were between 3 1/2 -4 minutes apart and
consistently 1 minute long.<br />
<br />
We checked into the
hospital at 8 am. I kid you not, it was the busiest day the birthing
center has since they opened in November. They finally checked me and I
was at 4 1/2 centimeters. Not bad! The baby's heart rate was dropping a
little during contractions when they first started monitoring me and
that concerned them (however, I think that is very common to have their
heart rate drop a little and then pick back up after the contraction).
Unfortunately, it concerned them enough to keep me hooked up to the
monitors and they started a IV in my arm but didn't connect me to
anything. I didn't want to be hooked up and wanted wireless monitoring,
but oh well. Mind you, I was planning on having a natural birth with as
little medical intervention as possible.<br />
<br />
I had
to labor in the triage room for 5 hours! They did not have any labor
suites open because there were so many women in labor. I sat on my ball
for the few hours and would stand up and sway my hips during
contractions. I kept having to go pee and would have to disconnect from
the monitor and walk across the hall to the bathroom, since our room was
so small and not a labor room. My water was still just gushing with
contractions and I was constantly drinking water to stay hydrated. I did
eat half of a granola bar sometime after 9 I think. It made me a little
nauseous so I only ate half. Sometimes during contractions I would
lean across the bed and someone would hold my hands on the other side
(my mom or Michelle) and Erin started applying pressure to my lower back
at this point. They checked me again and I was 6 1/2 centimeters
dilated. After 12:30pm, they finally said there was a room ready and we
eventually made it to the labor suite.<br />
<br />
This part of
the labor is kind of hard to remember all the details. I was in full on
active labor and had to close my eyes and really concentrate during
contractions. My mom and sister were there in the labor room, I remember
them sitting on the couch and talking and they would take turns holding
my hands while Erin or Michelle pushed on my back. I would get up to
use the bathroom and then cry out that I was having a contraction and
Erin was always right there waiting to help me through it.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ez8rjsxWLss/U7JBJlxvIFI/AAAAAAAABE4/ch1gnIhOJDo/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ez8rjsxWLss/U7JBJlxvIFI/AAAAAAAABE4/ch1gnIhOJDo/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erin looks exhausted too. I could tell my sister was starting to take pictures but I seriously didn't open my eyes for 3 hours. It was easier for me to keep them closed and concentrate.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
<br />
There came a point where I was just exhausted and Michelle recommended I lay on the bed and try to sleep during contractions. I didn't want to at first because I knew I would be really uncomfortable but sure enough, I fell asleep during every contraction for over an hour and would wake up when one came, grab onto someones arms and Erin would push on my back. When it would pass, I would lay down and fall asleep! My contractions slowed back down to 5 minutes apart but I was still progressing. They checked me and I was at 8 1/2.<br />
<br />
<br />
I then moved to my knees and leaned over the back of the bed and labored for awhile. I was now at 9 centimeters. This was the one time I asked for something for the pain. It went something like, "Is there anything you can give me now? Just anything right now?" He he. The answer was gently no and that was that. I didn't cry or beg, I was going to have to keep going. In my mind I had wanted to ask for a while but I never said it out loud until this point. I started second guessing my ability to continue because I hadn't even started pushing yet and that scared me. I kept saying, "I don't know. I don't know." My sweet husband just kept holding my hand. I know it put him in a hard place to stand there and watch me say that and be in pain.<br />
<br />
Then I started involuntarily pushing and they told me not to and to try and breathe through the urge. I kept saying how I needed to poop haha. It seriously is the exact same feeling. I tried not to push but at the same time I really tried to poop. I didn't even care who would see or that I was still in the bed, that's what I wanted to do! Don't worry, I didn't :) Next thing I know, I was at 10 centimeters and it was time to push. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michelle fanned me for hours. She is a really sweet and awesome doula.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
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I turned around and started to push the baby down. This was hard but not the hardest part :) They brought over a mirror and I was able to start seeing the baby's head come down more and more. I started pushing on my back but I didn't like that. I ended up turning onto my left side and holding my legs up myself and leaning forward. Eventually, the head started to crown and I started screaming. Like full on wild animal screams every time a contraction came and I would push. I could tell I was going to tear, I said it out loud how I knew it and it hurt but everyone said, "It's the ring of fire. It's going to hurt." Well, it hurts!<br />
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Eventually, I pushed the head came out, and the cord was wrapped around her neck once. Her hand was also at her head as she was born. Ouch. I stopped pushing so the midwife could move the cord and a few more pushes and her body came out. I pulled her up onto my chest and said, "It's a girl!" I loved that we were able to see for ourselves that it was a baby girl. I didn't wait 9 months for someone else to tell me! I looked at her and said, "Hello Norah." Erin thought it was a girl as I was pulling her towards me, but then the cord was between her legs and he second guessed for second :)<br />
<br />
Norah Amelia Rice was born at 5:11 pm Friday, June 20, 2014 weighing 7 lbs 14oz and 21" long <br />
<br />
Erin cut the cord after it was done pulsating. We weren't sure he would want to do it, but they handed him the scissors and he just did it like it was no big deal. I did skin to skin for a long time and then passed her off to Erin, who also did skin to skin for a while. My labor was 15 1/2 hours and I pushed for 1 hour.<br />
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<br />
<br />
Right after the cord cutting, they focused on me. I had a lot of bleeding. They gave me 2 different pitocin treatments, a shot in my leg and one through an IV. Good thing I already had the IV started just in case. I immediately had more cramps/contractions that hurt. Then, they had to empty my bladder and put a catheter in me for only a minute. I pushed out the placenta and we kept it. We plan on planting it at our new house. I had 3rd degree tearing and needed stitches in my rectal sphincter muscle. That required a different doctor to come and do that repair. Ouch. I could definitely feel some of the stitches and kept asking for more lidocain. I wanted a natural birth but I'm not a martyr:)<br />
<br />
After an hour, I was all ready to go! I feel very blessed to have the support of my husband and family and my doula. They really helped me get through it all. <br />
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And yes, I would do it again :)Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-51372273482649287702014-05-31T22:32:00.000-07:002014-05-31T22:32:00.689-07:00Full term baby... And my bags are packed!I can't believe I am full term! This pregnancy has been wonderful, seriously. Yes, I had a little bit of morning sickness (but no throwing up) and some aches and pains but I absolutely LOVE being pregnant. This kid has been good to me :)<br />
<br />
So far, I have gained 22 pounds. Not too bad! I haven't had any heartburn, praise Jesus! And this girl likes spicy foods too, so I haven't had to sacrifice in that department :) The only stretch mark I can see is right above my belly button and it's about 1/4" long. I will tell you I have got quite the outtie and this pregnancy has done a number on my cute little belly button that I used to have...oh well :)<br />
<br />
My 36 week appointment went well! The baby is head down. What a relief! I honestly thought they were sideways sometimes by the way I could feel movement on both sides of my bump when baby was practicing some dance moves. So, I don't have to worry about the baby being in the wrong position for delivery! My midwife thinks the baby is about 6-6 1/2 pounds. I tested negative for Strep B, so no antibiotics! Yay! And I'm 50% effaced and she thinks 1 1/2 centimeters dilated. That's 1 less I have to go during labor ;)<br />
<br />
Erin and I have hired a Doula to help us with the birth and we are really learning a lot from her and feeling confident about the whole birth process. We just have to make sure we bring our hospital bags with us for the next few weekends. We are going to a wedding on the 14th and Erin is in a wedding on the 21st. Remember my due date is the 22nd? Oh boy! <br />
<br />
Speaking of hospital bags...they are all packed!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q4LLjzBj6MU/U4qu7KdhLSI/AAAAAAAABBU/jNDEZ3b9NDA/s1600/DSC_0019.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q4LLjzBj6MU/U4qu7KdhLSI/AAAAAAAABBU/jNDEZ3b9NDA/s1600/DSC_0019.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthing ball, diaper bag, and suitcase all ready to go</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I was originally going to pack in an over-the-shoulder, cute duffel bag but then realized a rolling suitcase will be much easier for us to take in/out of the hospital. And by us, I mean Erin :) I also thought about bringing my nursing pillow but feel like that's a luxury I can save for home and I can just use pillows in the hospital. Plus, it's one less thing to carry. That ball is awkward enough, haha.<br />
<br />
The car seat has been in my car for a few weeks now, so we're all set there! We'll have to carry that in/out of the hospital, too!<br />
<br />
Did I show you my diaper bag yet?!! It's adorable and I am so blessed to have amazing friends :)<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uOL7YQspy04/U4qy3Vs9crI/AAAAAAAABCc/qnKLqYnWiec/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uOL7YQspy04/U4qy3Vs9crI/AAAAAAAABCc/qnKLqYnWiec/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Petunia Pickle Bottom is the cutest!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This is what I have packed in my diaper bag with lots of room to spare:<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--ltP1AkUSrk/U4qytV5ganI/AAAAAAAABCU/yXpocxRCRKE/s1600/DSC_0025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--ltP1AkUSrk/U4qytV5ganI/AAAAAAAABCU/yXpocxRCRKE/s1600/DSC_0025.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pP_PDAAUxzY/U4qy3RUhyhI/AAAAAAAABCg/CG2lMIWgdZU/s1600/DSC_0029.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pP_PDAAUxzY/U4qy3RUhyhI/AAAAAAAABCg/CG2lMIWgdZU/s1600/DSC_0029.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nursing cover, 1 set of disposable nursing pads and a pair of reusable pads. Pretty sure my milk won't be in but I thought I would pack them just in case. I also have some Earth Mama nipple butter.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p_IScy7jQ_A/U4qz8ZYwSVI/AAAAAAAABCs/tAs_XUwsqNM/s1600/DSC_0030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-p_IScy7jQ_A/U4qz8ZYwSVI/AAAAAAAABCs/tAs_XUwsqNM/s1600/DSC_0030.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Girl socks and boy socks! Since we don't know what we're having, I'm bringing them both :)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xM2j8X20EuY/U4q0TwSANTI/AAAAAAAABC0/rf61j-U74f0/s1600/DSC_0033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xM2j8X20EuY/U4q0TwSANTI/AAAAAAAABC0/rf61j-U74f0/s1600/DSC_0033.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vaseline to put on their butt before the meconium diaper! I hear it helps clean it up so much easier. Earth Mama bottom butter, Honest Company hand sanitizer and a pacifier just in case. I actually don't plan on using one for a while but thought I would throw it in my bag. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sYfRCwfbw3w/U4q0bnW3YTI/AAAAAAAABC8/gdQXCHq3usE/s1600/DSC_0035.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sYfRCwfbw3w/U4q0bnW3YTI/AAAAAAAABC8/gdQXCHq3usE/s1600/DSC_0035.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Little hair bows, another neutral pair of socks and baby mittens. Also, 2 white onesies.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4DedCibErHE/U4q1WYz2quI/AAAAAAAABDI/h7nzrhRX4Qw/s1600/DSC_0037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4DedCibErHE/U4q1WYz2quI/AAAAAAAABDI/h7nzrhRX4Qw/s1600/DSC_0037.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm bringing one Aden & Anais swaddling blanket and a burp cloth.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FodbqCGCVhE/U4q1aX20Z1I/AAAAAAAABDQ/Sc296swDhqo/s1600/DSC_0038.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FodbqCGCVhE/U4q1aX20Z1I/AAAAAAAABDQ/Sc296swDhqo/s1600/DSC_0038.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A going home outfit for baby boy or baby girl :)</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I read a lot of posts on Pinterest about what to pack and felt like there is plenty the hospital will provide and I don't need to waste space packing my own. I'm not about to bring my own diapers!They will be taking care of that for me. In fact, I'm sure I'll be stocking up on things to take home :)<br />
<br />
As for "our" bag, here's what we got:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNkKusAzznE/U4q3Qk1WxoI/AAAAAAAABDk/RvxxsaFNY9E/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GNkKusAzznE/U4q3Qk1WxoI/AAAAAAAABDk/RvxxsaFNY9E/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5bBxJqLcV9s/U4q3MViz-sI/AAAAAAAABDg/5vpV3ve1POM/s1600/DSC_0040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5bBxJqLcV9s/U4q3MViz-sI/AAAAAAAABDg/5vpV3ve1POM/s1600/DSC_0040.JPG" height="265" width="400" /> </a></div>
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For me:</div>
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-1 pair of sweatpants</div>
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-1 tank top</div>
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-sports bra</div>
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-nursing bra</div>
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-1 pair of underwear- I am planning on stocking up on lots of mesh panties to take home</div>
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-1 pair of socks</div>
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-flip flops</div>
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-going home maxi dress</div>
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<br /></div>
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For Erin:</div>
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-1 t-shirt</div>
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-sweatpants</div>
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-swimsuit and flip flops-in case he helps me labor in the shower or wants to shower himself</div>
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<br /></div>
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Other things:</div>
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-birth plan</div>
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-medicine ball pump</div>
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-toiletry bag for me</div>
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-snacks</div>
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-camera </div>
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-phone chargers </div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbLT9QFNJzs/U4q3UPB471I/AAAAAAAABDw/7-fQBoYiBvs/s1600/DSC_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hbLT9QFNJzs/U4q3UPB471I/AAAAAAAABDw/7-fQBoYiBvs/s1600/DSC_0044.JPG" height="265" width="400" /></a></div>
Toiletry bag:<br />
-shower cap<br />
-lotion<br />
-make-up remover towels<br />
-small mirror<br />
-toothbrushes/toothpaste<br />
-chapstick<br />
-deodorant<br />
<br />
Not yet packed: make-up bag and hair brush. I'll grab those hopefully at the last minute :)<br />
<br />
Things I might still pack: laptop. But, I will have my iphone if we think we want to send out a quick e-mail or something. We only live 15 minutes from the hospital, so if there's anything we think we can't live without or need to stay longer than overnight, Erin can easily grab it or family can help us out :) <br />
<br />
Anything I am clearly missing? Help me out!<br />
<br />
<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-59269202476854605572014-03-24T14:33:00.001-07:002014-03-24T14:33:32.672-07:00Guess What!?!
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Guess what???</div>
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<br /></div>
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…I’m pregnant! Just kidding, you already knew that:)<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span> The short answer is:
we moved! To Dixon! Because that’s so much more fun than Midtown, Sac <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">:)</span></span> This last week was one
of the busiest weeks of my life and definitely the most challenging one of my
entire pregnancy. And wouldn’t you know it, my most hormonal one, of course.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Why the move? A couple of factors helped us make the
decision. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>I want to quit working as a waitress. I have
definitely been cutting back on my hours at Black Bear and was ready to stop all
together. There aren’t really any opportunities throughout my 6-7 hour shift to
sit and rest. I have to carry heavy plates of food all day long, which was
really killing my back at the end of my shift. And pregnant hormones don’t
allow me to put up with much crap from stupid customers ha-ha. Let’s be honest.
I was over it. And it is physically hard on this mama.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle">
However, on a nice busy day I would make
around $20 an hour. So in order to help our household income stay afloat, we
decided to cut back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We found a
much more affordable place to live with utilities and laundry (and free pool
access) included <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">:)</span></span>
And it’s sooo much more quite than midtown. </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>We have been thinking about moving out of our
side of the duplex for a while and knew we could bring in more money if we
rented it out to other people and we lived somewhere cheaper. Make sense? </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>We have some friends who have a granny flat/1
bedroom apartment on their property in Dixon and were looking to rent it out.
So we jumped on it. Did I say 1 bedroom? Yep. Talk about downsize <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">;)</span></span> But we really like it
and it brings me to point 4.</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>We are closer to family. My mother in law lives
in Dixon and my parents and father in law live in Vacaville, which is 15
minutes away! And with the baby coming, that will be nice to be closer so we
can take the kid to them and take a nap. Hey Grandma!</div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Cambria; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span>But the most exciting reason of all is: WE ARE
BUILDING A HOUSE IN VACAVILLE THIS YEAR!!!! This has been a plan of ours for a
few years now. We will be able to save money for the house/make new house
payments on that while I can stay home with the baby! Praise the Lord! We have
officially got the financing done and contractor ready to go. We are hoping to
have it done within a year. No problem right? Because everything in new construction
is totally easy and always on time <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">;)</span></span>
Right….</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
That about sums it up! My main concern is the small space
with the baby. But, I am excited to downsize, minimize and do something new.
The baby wasn’t enough change this year, so we added a few more things...<span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m glad this week is over. Last Saturday, we hosted a
dinner at our house. It was my last night of the house being cute and hosting
in our home. Waaaaahh. Then on Sunday, we started packing after church. We
singed the lease on the apartment Tuesday night and got the keys. We stayed in
Dixon Friday night and finished moving everything out of our home by Sunday.
DANG! 7 days. A lot of our stuff is being stored at my father in laws, which is
where we are building the house. Makes sense to store it there: free and that’s
where the new house will go, so we won’t have far to move it all next time.
Bonus.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
My sweet husband worked so hard and we had some nice friends
help lighten the load. Did I mention our house is 95% move in ready, too? We
moved out and cleaned it in 7 days. Since I can’t do any heavy lifting, I
puttied, painted, scrubbed, dusted, and vacuumed like a maniac so that we could
get it ready to show as fast a possible. And I worked 3 days last week at my job. Dang. We are hoping to get it rented out in
early April and start making some mulah. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, this post is long enough. I will keep you all updated on
the new house plans soon. But right now I need to unpack our apartment. Wish me
luck! And energy. And storage space miracles. <span style="font-family: Wingdings; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-9479755480953294252014-02-20T10:54:00.000-08:002014-02-20T10:56:09.328-08:00Pregnancy Update! 22 WeeksI'm not that great at blogging regularly. I know, big shock if you've read my blog over the last few years. Ha ha. Being pregnant isn't really changing that. I'll try and fill you in on the last few months!<br />
<br />
I'm now 22 weeks and 4 days along in this pregnancy! I had a super easy first trimester, with only 2 weeks of "morning sickness" like symptoms but never any throwing up. The second trimester is going just as great! I am still working about 20 hours a week at the diner and 4 hours a week with my friend Amy who runs her own Etsy shop out of her home (<a href="https://www.etsy.com/shop/thebelleandthebeau?ref=shop_sugg" target="_blank">The Belle and The Beau</a>). Working at the diner is definitely getting harder. I'm pretty beat after I get home.<br />
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The baby is doing great! I always hear really positive things at all my appointments. Thank you Lord! Baby Rice was measuring a week ahead at my last appointment, so it may be possible that my due date could be as early as June 15. My normal due date is June 22. I won't hold my breath. This baby will come whenever baby wants to come (or so I hear that's how it goes). :)<br />
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We did not find out the sex of the baby. We held strong! For someone who doesn't want to find out, we have sure had plenty of opportunities. I had food poisoning last week which brought me to the ER for fluids and then back again 2 days later for pain management. I am all well and recovered now and the baby was doing perfect the whole time. They did 2 more ultrasounds last week just to make sure, making our total at 6 ultrasounds this pregnancy! Ha ha that is at least 3 opportunities we had to find out and luckily no one slipped up and told us :)<br />
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Here are my "bumpdate" pictures!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SN28c_hbLE4/UwZLh4DjYlI/AAAAAAAAA-4/g8Pj6sCl5Wk/s1600/IMG_2204.jpg" height="400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">16 Weeks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w-cppMomh-U/UwZLinTutUI/AAAAAAAAA-8/WiRt5wwhmQk/s1600/IMG_2226.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w-cppMomh-U/UwZLinTutUI/AAAAAAAAA-8/WiRt5wwhmQk/s1600/IMG_2226.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">17 Weeks</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">18 Weeks. This is the week we felt the baby move for the first time! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B49Vgj47n2U/UwZMHSegEjI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/foEWXo-tfV0/s1600/IMG_2266.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-B49Vgj47n2U/UwZMHSegEjI/AAAAAAAAA_Q/foEWXo-tfV0/s1600/IMG_2266.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">19 Weeks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Jw3bdYAi5U/UwZMeUvCeGI/AAAAAAAAA_o/dPL8TR1bKuU/s1600/IMG_2295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-5Jw3bdYAi5U/UwZMeUvCeGI/AAAAAAAAA_o/dPL8TR1bKuU/s1600/IMG_2295.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">20 Weeks!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ULP8zTSBFoc/UwZMfBTOSWI/AAAAAAAAA_0/fQnbPQKkG7I/s1600/IMG_2286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ULP8zTSBFoc/UwZMfBTOSWI/AAAAAAAAA_0/fQnbPQKkG7I/s1600/IMG_2286.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">20 Week Ultrasound</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1XI4rZxOAPc/UwZMw6BZ_6I/AAAAAAAABAA/vVcBe75zz-4/s1600/IMG_2313.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1XI4rZxOAPc/UwZMw6BZ_6I/AAAAAAAABAA/vVcBe75zz-4/s1600/IMG_2313.JPG" height="400" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">21 Weeks! A little small after all the food poisoning issues lol</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pUCMhmVsO3Q/UwZMx-7KfiI/AAAAAAAABAQ/kvRYvpccs1M/s1600/IMG_2322.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pUCMhmVsO3Q/UwZMx-7KfiI/AAAAAAAABAQ/kvRYvpccs1M/s1600/IMG_2322.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">22 Weeks! </td></tr>
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We have been making some progress on the nursery! We moved out the guest bed and some smaller bookshelves. Now we need to install our new window, pack up the last books and swap out the last bookcase. All we need is the crib and it's pretty much done!<br />
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I didn't paint the room since I really liked the existing color and it's gender neutral. I got our changing table/dresser from a friend who was moving and didn't want it anymore (thanks Leslie!). I painted it and love how it turned out. My Nana bought me the white chair from Ikea and my Aunt bought the rug from Target. My parents are getting us the crib! We are so blessed and are feeling the love. <br />
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-36577187631154118612013-12-29T19:22:00.000-08:002013-12-29T19:22:36.692-08:0015 weeks!Baby Rice is coming along! I am officially starting to show. The bump made its reveal at 13 weeks and is the biggest after dinner :)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yNanMDK2rN0/UsDhZ7w3HNI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/rfKUizBSa78/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yNanMDK2rN0/UsDhZ7w3HNI/AAAAAAAAA9Q/rfKUizBSa78/s400/photo+1.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12 weeks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jVrsz148-g8/UsDhdDuDlrI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/8zKxXgsGB-I/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jVrsz148-g8/UsDhdDuDlrI/AAAAAAAAA9Y/8zKxXgsGB-I/s400/photo+2.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">13 weeks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UmFkd4fn2DA/UsDhdU_pBcI/AAAAAAAAA9c/vkk16CHeIvE/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UmFkd4fn2DA/UsDhdU_pBcI/AAAAAAAAA9c/vkk16CHeIvE/s400/photo+3.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">14 weeks</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uBzhPWqctTI/UsDjuxzxl0I/AAAAAAAAA9w/09bhToH8QzU/s1600/photo-11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uBzhPWqctTI/UsDjuxzxl0I/AAAAAAAAA9w/09bhToH8QzU/s400/photo-11.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">15 weeks</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I'm not sure we have enough pictures of our kid.<br />
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And here is a little video of the rice cake. Can't feel 'em yet but they are moving so much! This is from my 13 week appointment. <br />
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I have been feeling great! I really had it easy for the first trimester and try not to complain very much. I am still working part time at Blackbear Diner and that leaves me feeling super beat after work, but I'm only working around 25 hours a week. However, I am on my feet for 5-6 hours without a break...so that is rough. The couch and I have become great friends.<br />
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When I was having my two week "rough patch" I lost 6 pounds. I'm not sure if I've gained all that back yet since my scale's battery conveniently pooped out. It's a special battery, so we'll see when I get around to replacing it. I have been playing around with some maternity pants and shirts. I don't really need the pants yet but they are suuuper comfy. The problem with wearing them is that I have to wear a maternity shirt with it to be long enough to cover the stretchy-belly part.<br />
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Erin is out of town right now, so naturally I went shopping. Yesterday I bought our stroller!! YAY! I had been thinking about getting a BOB for a while and knew we would only be using one stroller and it might as well be a jogging stroller. We received some Christmas money from Erin's mom and put it towards the BOB. I am tempted to open it up and put it together, but it will just sit collecting dust until June. We'll see how long I hold off ;) Also, I had pizza for dinner. Don't tell Erin.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qeah-V3mFCY/UsDSusOf7cI/AAAAAAAAA8g/5AjJ5zdv-IA/s1600/161556128735c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Qeah-V3mFCY/UsDSusOf7cI/AAAAAAAAA8g/5AjJ5zdv-IA/s400/161556128735c.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This thing is amazing and no one will tell you otherwise.</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We decided right away that we didn't want to find out the sex of the baby! So we won't! A lot of people find out and I think that's great and maybe we will for our next kid, but we truly want to be surprised. Please don't try and talk us out of it, it's our kid ;)<br />
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We plan on using our back bedroom as the nursery. Currently it has our guest bed, dresser, and some bookcases in there. We can move the bed into our craft room/office and store some books in the basement. The nursery will need to be gender neutral! However, it will not be full of yellow and green. It will be cute! I don't even need to paint because the color is fine. It's like a grey/blue/pastel color. <br />
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I've been painting a dresser/changing table a friend gave me with antique white chalk paint for the nursery. I like this crib. A lot! (Not really the mattress cover)<br />
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And this rug!<br />
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This is an old picture of the back bedroom but this is the color we will be keeping.<br />
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So far I have a picture of what I want, but it's hard for anyone else to see it :)Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-54847912876723959152013-12-08T20:22:00.002-08:002013-12-08T20:22:51.419-08:00We Made a Baby! Yay!!<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We are officially sharing the most exciting news we have ever had-we're pregnant! Erin and I decided to start a family and praise the Lord it didn't take very long :)</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When we first got engaged, I wanted to be on the 10 year plan! I thought we would be married for a long time and be selfish and enjoy our time together, party of 2 ;) Let's be honest! But, our hearts have changed and after 3 years of marriage and a "babymoon" to Kauai (one last hoorah), we decided it was time to start a family. If it happened, it happened. It was such a comfortable and exciting place to be in! We were totally willing to see what happened and it was all in the Lord's timing. </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I found out I was pregnant in October :) 2 days late and 3 tests later (all possitive), Erin said, "Well, I think you're really pregnant!" I definitely told him the same morning I took all the tests, we were both excited and like, "Wow. Ok, now what?!" It was hard to go about our normal routine, seeing friends and co-workers everyday and having to hide such exciting news! We told our family around week 6, I think... I had my first ultrasound at 7 1/2 weeks. It was all becoming so real! </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Praise the Lord I only had 2 weeks of "morning sickness," from week 6-7. Ha, more like all day sickness and through the night sickness. But I only suffered nausea and never any throwing up, thank you Jesus!! If you really know me, you know barf is just NOT my thing. I lost 6 pounds in 2 weeks from absolute lack of appetite. I would have crackers by my bed so in the middle of the night if I got hungry I would nibble on a cracker. Erin thought he was sleeping next to a little mouse. I had to have a cracker before getting out of bed and would stratagize how fast I could make it to the kitchen from bed and shove a piece of toast in my mouth before getting hungry and then nauseous. Hungry=nasuea. However, I had no appetite and eating 2 bites made me feel "I'm so full, I'm gonna puke," to 5 minutes later, "I'm so hungry, I'm gonna puke." Do I sound crazy yet? </span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Anyways, now I am past all of that and onto the more fun symptoms like gas, bloating, constipation, hormonal induced headaches and fatigue. Yay! Ha Ha really though, I am loving being pregnant. I am still working, attending social functions and visiting with friends. But if you come over to my house after 5pm, don't expect any homemade dinner or me to get off the couch...Erin has fond memories of when I used to make dinner. He is being so sweet and doing a lot of dinner cooking for us. I'm pretty content with a bagel and cream cheese but he can only take so much of that ;)</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Wow this is getting lengthy! Here are a few belly shots from the last few weeks. Sorry, not really any bump yet. But let me just tell you, gas baby is no joke.</span></i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">8 weeks!</span></i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">10 weeks! </span></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #134f5c;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-22556025154391672232013-09-05T00:17:00.000-07:002013-09-05T00:17:34.581-07:00Kauai- Day 9Today was our last full day!! :( So sad! We could easily stay for another week, it's crazy.<br />
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This morning we went on a boat tour of the Na Pali coastline. So fun! We left about 8:30am and the water was perfect. No wind or white caps. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip and I would highly recommend this tour. It was the Blue Dolphin Charters. Use them if you are coming here. All of the crew was super friendly. The captain was awesome. They are remembered our names throughout the day. We had fruit and cinnamon rolls for breakfast and a deli lunch. They walked around and made sure everyone had something to drink. Soda, fruit juice, water. The captain even bartended after the snorkeling!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A great view of Ni'ihau. Did you know only 200 people live on the island and ONLY hawaiians can live on the island. No one else is allowed on the island. </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We were guaranteed to see dolphins and we sure did. This video is just a small glimpse of them. There were tons. These are spinner dolphins. Seriously, they spin out of the water. It was so fun to watch. Jumps, spins, flips and everything! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The captain drove the boat right under a little waterfall. It felt really nice. We were on a large catamaran but some smaller boat tours go into the tunnels. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gorgeous water. It looked like it was glowing in the dark.</td></tr>
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We snorkeled for about an hour and it was amazing. We saw tons of fish, warm water, great visibility. And we saw lots of turtles! On the ride back, we had all you can drink mai tais. Good time all around. Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-8261897960454595492013-09-04T23:42:00.000-07:002013-09-04T23:42:32.359-07:00Kauai-Day 8 Well, its no secret I like to fall asleep early, especially on the couch. That is exactly what I did last night, hence no blog post. <br />
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Yesterday, Erin went scuba diving nice and early. I hit the mall for a while, which consisted of Starbucks and Macy's. Not many large department stores on the island. However, there is KMart, Walmart and Costco.<br />
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Erin had a great dive! He could see all the way to the bottom, which was about 60 feet or so. That doesn't happen in California. I got me a hat and some TOMS.<br />
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We had some delicious lunch after I picked up Erin from diving. I got to drive the car for the first time while he was gone. The whole time I have been chauffeured by my husband! He is sweet, but mostly because we didn't want to pay extra for me to be a driver. I'm not 25 yet :) So cruising in the convertible was fun!<br />
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This place was fun. Everyone writes on the walls. We thought this was a funny picture!<br />
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Next, we headed to the Kilohanna Plantation. We took a 40 minute train ride around the plantation. It was pretty fun! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There are papayas growing on the trees!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We don't get a sunset on our side of the island but we have a golden hour :)</td></tr>
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-75855156804183691652013-09-02T23:30:00.003-07:002013-09-02T23:30:52.999-07:00Kauai-Day 7We headed out to Tunnels reef first thing this morning to go snorkeling. It was great! We borrowed a friend's underwater camera to get pictures of the fish but I won't be able to get the pictures off the camera for a while. So, you'll have to wait with me! We did see a turtle!<br />
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We went to a fancy dinner tonight! We have been wanting to go to Gaylord's and tonight was the night. Lots of Mai Tais and lots of food. MMMmm.<br />
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I'm so full right now. Must. sleep. Food coma. Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-30455581000217478092013-09-01T23:44:00.000-07:002013-09-01T23:44:31.974-07:00Kauai-Day 6Day 6!?!? Man, we only have 4 more days :( We met an old guy last night in the hot tub who was here for 2 months! Lucky.<br />
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This morning we went out to breakfast for the first time. We have been making eggs and bagels and fruit for breakfasts here at the resort. It was time to go get some breakfast! I had an amazing Luau omlette with cheddar, spinach, onions, and kalua pig. Amazing. Erin had mahi mahi and eggs, with rice and cornbread. Ya know, a normal breakfast.<br />
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We found a reformed church (the only one on the island) to attend this morning. It was great. We sang the doxology in Hawaiian, so cool! Then we sang it in English, too. We came back, swam in the pool, took a nap. We were really embracing the day of rest :)<br />
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We went to the Kauai Coffee Plantation later today! <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Free coffee samples! </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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For dinner tonight, we went to a great restaurant in Old Koloa town. We ate ahi poke as an appetizer and shared a kalua pig sandwich and marlin sandwich. Delish!<br />
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Time for the hot tub :)Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-32517926690494813842013-09-01T00:09:00.000-07:002013-09-01T00:09:12.123-07:00Kauai- Day 5Today was a very fun day of hiking! I'm beat, but it was a great hike. We headed out to the North Shore today. We went hiking on the Hanakapiai Falls trail. 8 miles round trip. 8, people! By far the longest hike I've ever been on. So glad we did it. Erin has done it once before and he was barefoot. He is a <br />
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The hike took us about 6 hours total, with time to hang out at the falls for a bit. It was the coldest swim I think I've ever done, but so glad we got in. We almost didn't get in. Then I thought about how everyone who sees the pictures will ask us if we swam and I didn't want to say no! We walked 8 stinking miles! He He. Glad we did it for sure. Also, my camera was on video and I didn't notice until the guy walked away, so there ya go! You get a video of us! <br />
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After the hike, we decided it was time to get happy. We stopped at a restaurant with patio dining upstairs! We love sitting on the edge and looking out. Can you blame us?<br />
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After fish and chips and mai tais, we headed back towards the resort. But first, we stopped to look at the lighthouse!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kilauea Point is the northern most part in all of the Hawaiian islands! The lighthouse was closed by the time we got there. We are hoping to go back and see it. It also has a bird refuge. Pretty neat!</td></tr>
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We came back and sat in the hot tub for a while. Living the life! </div>
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Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-66487040683923762152013-08-30T23:34:00.000-07:002013-08-30T23:34:25.093-07:00Kauai-Day 4I slept in until 6:15, oh ya! Still watched the sunrise. It has been rising about 6 and is spectacular to watch. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not in focus, but you get the idea</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We headed straight to see Opaekaa falls<br />
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Then we explored and drove around. We stumbled upon this really awesome park.<br />
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We found a little rope swing. Erin jumped into the stream. It was a bit chilly for me.<br />
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Next we headed to a hiking trail with a gorgeous lookout. </div>
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-3543858212614730622013-08-29T22:42:00.001-07:002013-08-29T23:35:24.145-07:00Kauai-Day 3I don't know what it is with me and sleeping in, but sometimes it is just not possible! We are on vacation and I woke up at 5:45! Seriously!? At least I can watch the sunrise each morning.<br />
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Today we left by 8:30 and headed to the West Side of the island. We went to Waimea Canyon. It took about 1 1/2 hours to get to the top from out resort, but the view was completely worth it. It was gorgeous. I keep feeling like I'm in Jurassic Park and I expect to see a dinosaur run by me. It's very prehistoric. <br />
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After the canyon, we hit up a taco stand for lunch. We found a glass beach! It was very similar to the one we frequent in Ca, in Fort Bragg. Then we headed to shipwreck beach. Is it picture perfect or what?!<br />
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We spent some time there swimming, watching people jump off the cliff and napping on our straw mats.<br />
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Tonight's dinner and my date! <br />
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-28018418170226982592013-08-29T00:32:00.001-07:002013-08-29T00:32:41.718-07:00Kauai-Day 2This morning I woke up nice and early. I crawled out of bed at 6am and was faced with this gorgeous view at the door. <br />
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Today we celebrated 3 years of marriage! It feels like it was just last year that we got married, not 3! But it also feels like its always been Erin and I. I love being a wife and know the Lord has placed the two of us together. That is why we are in Kauai after all, it's our anniversary trip! Pretty sure this will be better than our honeymoon. We were just talking about that tonight. Mexico is overrated. Kauai=so much better. </div>
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We headed out the door at 7:30am and hit the road in our sweet convertible. </div>
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We went to see the spouting blow horns on the South Shore. (We are in Kapaa, on the East Shore, just so ya know :)). These were very cool!</div>
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Then we headed to Poipu Beach and did some late morning snorkeling!
Erin's sinuses are still bad, so he wasn't able to dive down. Mine were
just fine! Praise the Lord. We brought our own snorkels and fins so we
can jump in whenever we want. After that we headed to Koloa for some
snacks and coffee. <br />
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After our lomi salmon snack, we went to see some botanical gardens. So fun! <br />
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Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-23573237097376640002013-08-27T23:14:00.002-07:002013-08-27T23:14:38.911-07:00Kauai- Day 1<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>We made it to Kauai today! Last night (Monday) we stayed in Oakland overnight and took the free shuttle from our hotel to the airport first thing this morning. Like, first first thing. We were at the airport by 5:45am. Dang.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>On Monday we took our time getting to the bay area. We made a happy hour pit stop in Vacaville to see my family. Then we stopped in Emeryville to do some window shopping and walking around. We ended up in Oakland around 8:30, locked ourselves in the room and called it a night! We chose to stay in/fly out of Oakland because 1) They fly non-stop to Kauai and 2)We stayed one night at this hotel so we could park our car there for free for 10 days and 3)It was just cheaper all around to do that! Hopefully our car is still there when we get home ;)</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>We left this morning at 7:15am and arrived around 9:45am in Kauai. Side note: Erin and I have been battling sinus colds all week and my biggest fear about getting here was flying with our sinuses all screwed up. Guys, it was awful. I was basically crying when we landed from the pain in my ears and head. It was probably the worst pain I've ever been in. Hard to want to be in paradise when you can't hear anything and are miserable. We are doing much better now. Please pray we can do some diving later this week! </i></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>Complimentary Mai Tai's. Yes please!</i></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>When we went to pick up the rental car, we (me) decided to upgrade to a convertible! </i></span></span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>Why not!?! </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>We found our resort and were met with this view. Not bad, right? </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>So far we have seen lots of chickens! Like, there was one inside the car rental building! And there were some outside at the grocery store by our feet waiting for us to drop crumbs. They must be Hawaii's seagulls or squirrels or something. Too funny. </i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><i>I hope to blog regularly while we are here :) Aloha!</i></span></span>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-22120732946301780342013-03-24T21:35:00.000-07:002013-03-24T21:35:13.803-07:00Decorating My Home<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lately, patterns and prints have been speaking to me. My house has turned into a wonderful, eclectic, and homey style. Of course, It still doesn't look like a man lives with me. Whatever. He has a whole man cave he can <strike>decorate</strike> store <strike>junk</strike> treasures in. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As lovely as I am making our home, we will soon have to change things up a little bit. And it sure ain't my style. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pretty soon this guy will be joining us. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QM0McAInmCk/UU_N-NNs_EI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/McLWG9Pp_CA/s1600/737817_10151247466896359_172527229_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-QM0McAInmCk/UU_N-NNs_EI/AAAAAAAAAlQ/McLWG9Pp_CA/s400/737817_10151247466896359_172527229_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Not the guy on the right. I'm talking about the other thing. The big guy in the truck bed. Poor Bambi. Yes guys, my man shot a deer. And not only are we eating it, but now I get to look at it hanging on my wall. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's not here yet. The taxidermist is still working on it in Alabama. Erin had it mounted. We will see where it ends up. I'm still 99% sure it should go in the man cave.</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I have other lovely things to look at. Like this:</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> I just recently recovered all of these pillows except for the super cute, antique coffee sack pillow my mom gave me. I love mixing different prints. Erin thinks we have too many pillows. I don't know what he's talking about. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And this:</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAQ-sqwpNqM/UU_PZuCzfQI/AAAAAAAAAlg/5aoMHvbe9hQ/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZAQ-sqwpNqM/UU_PZuCzfQI/AAAAAAAAAlg/5aoMHvbe9hQ/s400/image.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I found a home for the cork board I made a few weeks ago. It is above our trash/recycling and next to the pantry in our kitchen. I like the pop of the mustard against the grey.</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And this:</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Db-_e3Gpv1Y/UU_P0Q9HK4I/AAAAAAAAAlo/KbOq7ddbb6o/s1600/photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Db-_e3Gpv1Y/UU_P0Q9HK4I/AAAAAAAAAlo/KbOq7ddbb6o/s400/photo.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a lovely shade of yellow. I scored this at Target a few weeks ago for $19. It looks lovely in our living room. I like all the different patterns I got going on. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lastly, I love this print too:</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DMC-nF3tkWo/UU_Qal3f_kI/AAAAAAAAAlw/tVLTAxXWAzE/s1600/photo-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DMC-nF3tkWo/UU_Qal3f_kI/AAAAAAAAAlw/tVLTAxXWAzE/s400/photo-5.jpg" width="300" /></a></span></i></div>
<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a super cute hamper I bought so my husband could put his super dirty clothes in it! Seriously though. He must roll around on the basement floor. He knows to immediately remove all dirty clothes before coming in, so now they are hidden in here instead of a pile on my floor. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So back to the deer head. My style of adding some cute antlers would be this</span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">White. Just a little fun decoration on the wall. Clean looking. No eyeballs. Or fur.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My man is thinking something more like this</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Oh deer. </span></i>Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-46739245744157325902013-03-21T18:17:00.001-07:002013-03-21T18:17:10.094-07:00Bagels<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>I have been making all of our bread for the last several months now. I love it. I'm no expert, but I am learning a ton and really enjoy it. Erin really likes eating the baked goods too. Things I make regularly are soaked whole wheat bread, biscuits, pie crusts, crusty bread, bagels and I'm working on the sourdough :) </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>I tried out this <a href="http://thefloursack.blogspot.com/2012/01/whole-wheat-bagels.html" target="_blank">recipe</a> last night/today and I think it is a decent one. I have tried a few others too, but am looking for my ''go to" recipe and I haven't found it or mastered it yet. The only thing that I found negative about this recipe is that it only made 6 bagels. However, I think next time I will use this recipe again and shape them into smaller bagels and could probably squeeze out 8. I also liked how </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>I had all of the ingredients on hand. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>They ain't perfect, but sure make my house smell good :)</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><i>Bagels take time and are not necessarily easy, but not hard either. I really enjoy making our own breads and this is just another thing I enjoy spending time on. I let the bagels sit overnight in the fridge and then boiled and baked them when I got home from work. Now I can have some with cream cheese for breakfast, or fry an egg with a slice of cheese on top. Have you ever made bagels? </i></span><br />
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-56247787297376413312013-03-20T20:16:00.002-07:002013-03-20T20:16:30.905-07:00What's Cookin<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a very nice day off, even though it was cold and rainy outside. I'm not complaining. This morning I spent some time with a dear friend and her sweet kids. Then, I headed to the mall to meet my Nana for some shopping and lunch. After that, I went and worked with my friend who owns a lovely business that makes custom bow ties, ties, kids accessories, etc. Check out her shop at <a href="http://www.thebelleandthebeau.com/" target="_blank">The Belle and The Beau</a>. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As I was driving home and thinking about dinner, I remembered that I was missing the key ingredient for the dinner I had planned. My bad. The original plan was to use some ground venison I am trying to <strike>get rid of</strike> use up and make scalloped potatoes. That recipe is <a href="http://theelliotthomestead.com/2012/02/scalloped-potatoes-with-grass-fed-ground-beef/" target="_blank">here</a>. I have made that before and it is wonderful. When I went grocery shopping yesterday I decided to get sweet potatoes instead, forgetting that I had planned to make scalloped potatoes. Booo. </span></i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">What's a girl to do? When I was at the store, I had randomly bought jalapenos. Why? No reason. So, tonight's dinner consisted of left over olive bread from St. Patrick's Day, quinoa made with chicken stock, stuffed jalapenos, roasted sweet potatoes with onions and a kale salad. Random, but generally pretty healthy. </span></i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This was our kale salad. It has feta cheese crumbles, croutons, cranberries, walnuts, sunflower seeds and balsamic dressing.</span></i></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Yummy.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The recipe for the stuffed jalapenos is from Pinterest. If you're not on, you should be. It's awesome. The recipe is from <a href="http://www.winnerdinners.com/stuffed-jalapenos/" target="_blank">here</a>. Your welcome :) I just roast the sweet potatoes with some garlic flavored olive oil, salt and pepper at 400 for 30 minutes or so. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I don't know why I felt the need to share my dinner with you, but I did. If you are looking to make some sweet napkins, check out my <a href="http://erinandmelanierice.blogspot.com/2012/05/napkin-tutorial.html" target="_blank">tutorial</a>. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I will also show you my new toy! </span></i></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sorry that its blurry for some reason. But it is bamboo, and very thin so I can store it easily.</span></i></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A kitchen scale! I've been wanting one and finally used a BB&B coupon, making it only $35. It is digital and touch screen. YAY! I am so excited. I believe my bread making skills will improve even more once I am properly weighing my ingredients. For example, a recipe that calls for 8 ounces of water and 8 ounces of flour?? Water weighs more than flour, so that won't be accurate if you don't weigh them and just use a measuring cup. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That is all folks. </span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">P.s. My first scale initiation is bagels. I am making the dough tonight and will be baking them tomorrow. We shall see how they turn out :) </span></i></div>
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-47489862844053400562013-03-19T08:04:00.002-07:002013-03-19T08:04:53.741-07:00So, about my blog...Well, the last post I have on here is from June 2012. Oops. If you have a blog of your own or know someone who had a blog, it can be very easy to stop blogging. Let's be honest.<br />
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I personally love reading blogs. Some of my favorite ones are <a href="http://theelliotthomestead.com/" target="_blank">The Elliott Homestead</a> and <a href="http://younghouselove.com/" target="_blank">Young House Love</a>. I don't mean they are just "good" blogs. What I am really saying but not saying is how I could spend hours and days reading their posts. They inspire me in many ways. Check 'em out. Anywho, I have been caught up in other blogs and neglected mine in the process. But, I am back!<br />
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I often feel like I don't have anything special to blog about on a regular basis. When we were remodeling our home, I had tons of things to post. Like <a href="http://erinandmelanierice.blogspot.com/2011/05/one-more-week.html" target="_blank">this</a>. And <a href="http://erinandmelanierice.blogspot.com/2011/05/all-moved-in.html" target="_blank">this one</a>. Okay one <a href="http://erinandmelanierice.blogspot.com/2011/07/inside-is-almost-done.html" target="_blank">more</a>. But now that that is all done, praise Jesus, I want to start blogging about other things. I do a lot of things I guess that are "blog worthy", but I need to be consistent and possibly have a theme or goal. My mom helped me come up with some ideas. So far, they are still ideas :)<br />
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But, today I did a fun little paint project. I woke up today and said to myself, "Self, you need to paint something." So I did. I have had this cart in my kitchen for a long time.<br />
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Plain. Not stained. But today I painted it and stained the top. I like it a lot! Pretty easy. The part that took the longest was painting the shelf slats. Just a little time consuming is all. I sat out on my little deck in the sun with Pandora on. A great way to spend my day. I already had the stain and some brushes. Not to mention the cart. It cost me a whopping $9 for the paint. And it kept my entertained for 3 hours! :)<br />
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I also made this sourdough bread tonight. It doesn't look anything like the <a href="http://www.annies-eats.com/2012/08/08/sourdough-bread/" target="_blank">picture</a>. HAHA its actually really funny how opposite they are. But the taste is great :) I am really trying to perfect some sourdough bread. I will keep trying. Sorry husband.<br />
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-24905826886571192422012-06-19T07:16:00.002-07:002012-06-19T07:16:56.561-07:00Hello Day off<div style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<i><span style="font-size: small;">Today I was supposed to go to jury duty. Thank the Lord when I called in the night before I didn't have to report! So what's a girl to do on a day off? All the projects in her dreams! Or on her to-do list :)</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">Today I "glazed" a dresser I've been painting to go in my craft room. It was actually very simple to do. I unfortunately don't have any before/ pictures of that. The dresser was a garage sale gem I found last week for a whopping $30. I already had the paint and I bought some glaze for $5. I was going to buy new hardware but decided I liked what was already on it, score! So, that project was finished by 9am.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">After that, I found myself being called to Hobby Lobby. It really is a calling. What can I say? $100 later I had enough stuff to occupy me for the rest of the day.</span></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">First, I finally picked out some curtains for the craft room. We've been in this house for over a year now and I am still working on ''finishing" rooms. This feels like a forever project, though. I LOVE nesting in my home.</span></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eEfpc8uh-nU/T-AB-2RCAkI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/SbdcpTWy3S4/s1600/IMAG0533.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eEfpc8uh-nU/T-AB-2RCAkI/AAAAAAAAAhQ/SbdcpTWy3S4/s640/IMAG0533.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">before</span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cl9m0EbZFQ4/T-AE4pY3JmI/AAAAAAAAAhc/9dtqOJerYCY/s1600/IMAG0534.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cl9m0EbZFQ4/T-AE4pY3JmI/AAAAAAAAAhc/9dtqOJerYCY/s640/IMAG0534.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">after</span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">Then, I worked on some letters I want above our bed. Our bedroom is not very decorated. I have had lots of ideas but today I finally decided. I bought some cardboard letters at Hobby Lobby for $1.99 each. I already had spray paint and the glaze that I used to make them look like metal, sorta an anthropologie look.</span></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8ytm2c0UZdc/T-AGZK4aQgI/AAAAAAAAAhk/4gMsqTa3B90/s1600/IMAG0536.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8ytm2c0UZdc/T-AGZK4aQgI/AAAAAAAAAhk/4gMsqTa3B90/s640/IMAG0536.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">They started off looking like this.</span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXU0PSDfTT0/T-AG7U5sxsI/AAAAAAAAAhw/6CTNmSK4oko/s1600/IMAG0540.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZXU0PSDfTT0/T-AG7U5sxsI/AAAAAAAAAhw/6CTNmSK4oko/s640/IMAG0540.jpg" width="382" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">This was the empty space above our bed. </span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2wZYoYIWKIw/T-AIF0Qtv3I/AAAAAAAAAiA/6ETsxprDaGo/s1600/IMAG0543.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2wZYoYIWKIw/T-AIF0Qtv3I/AAAAAAAAAiA/6ETsxprDaGo/s640/IMAG0543.jpg" width="382" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">This is what they looked like after I painted and distressed them.</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1bZHXOydN30/T-AHrCga0JI/AAAAAAAAAh4/YbW2juJARrk/s1600/IMAG0545.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1bZHXOydN30/T-AHrCga0JI/AAAAAAAAAh4/YbW2juJARrk/s640/IMAG0545.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">And this is the finished project. </span></i></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;">Then I moved into the dining area. I found these awesome jumbo silverware at Hobby Lobby of course and fell in love with them.</span></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QWhE2KZPXnI/T-AJLiIYgVI/AAAAAAAAAiI/uZvZkituxIo/s1600/IMAG0546.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="382" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QWhE2KZPXnI/T-AJLiIYgVI/AAAAAAAAAiI/uZvZkituxIo/s640/IMAG0546.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">Before</span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></i></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PlEQkcdISYc/T-AJ6otrcZI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/qYvJ9X8QCwI/s1600/IMAG0547.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PlEQkcdISYc/T-AJ6otrcZI/AAAAAAAAAiQ/qYvJ9X8QCwI/s640/IMAG0547.jpg" width="382" /></a></span></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFlrT9XJAXM/T-AK1qN1MwI/AAAAAAAAAiY/-fU7lIBfFhM/s1600/IMAG0548.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mFlrT9XJAXM/T-AK1qN1MwI/AAAAAAAAAiY/-fU7lIBfFhM/s640/IMAG0548.jpg" width="382" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">After</span></i></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pvjZEZRG3tM/T-ALIGdrjLI/AAAAAAAAAig/QgArppcWdjY/s1600/IMAG0556.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-pvjZEZRG3tM/T-ALIGdrjLI/AAAAAAAAAig/QgArppcWdjY/s640/IMAG0556.jpg" width="382" /></a></span></i></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: small;">The "new" dresser in my sewing room. I'll store my fabric and craft supplies in it. </span></i></td></tr>
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59824639959956183.post-43263498583478397802012-05-24T20:05:00.002-07:002012-05-24T20:05:52.537-07:00I've got the project itchThis next project of mine is no small undertaking. Chair re-upholstery. Yep, it's crazy. I might fail. I might not finish it. I might have to buy the really cute chairs I see at World Market or Pier 1. Ha ha, never mind, I will finish it because I don't want to spend $$$ on a new chair.<br />
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You might be wondering why I want to get a new chair in the first place. Our roommate Kaitlin will be moving out soon and we have been using her chair in our living room. I'm assuming she wants to take it with her, since it is a lovely chair, it's comfy, and well, hers.<br />
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So, I've been looking on craigslist for some cheap wing back chairs that I could re-upholster. Than I thought to myself, "hey that's a lot of chair and you've never done this before." Right! Then, I remembered that Erin brought a chair home a few months ago and stashed it in our basement. Where everything else gets stashed and doesn't come out. Like the couch that's also down there, and the extra fridge, and the extra stove, and the extra little cute vintage furnace, and the other extra stove, and the old cast iron bathtub, and the buried bodies. Whoa, just kidding. Anyways, it's slowly becoming a man cave/junk yard, which is fine for Erin's man cave since he is a big fan of junk yards. I'm not kidding.<br />
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Alas, I am going to re-upholster this little beauty.<br />
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I've already started ripping out hundreds of nails, getting a few new calluses and a sunburn on my feet. It's really fun! Actually, I'm not really kidding. It's hard work for sure, but I enjoy spending time working on it. I spent 2 hours on it and I only took apart the bottom cushion/seat. Yikes. This is no 1 day project. Especially since the fabric I picked out won't be in the store for at least 3 weeks. Boo.<br />
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<br />You might be thinking, why does it need to be re-upholstered? You're right, it is a cute little chair. And it is totally my color, don't get me wrong. But, it's vinyl...<br />
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And it has a few little tears in it. <br />
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And I really want to strip, sand and re-finish the wood, too!<br />
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Doesn't it sound fun!??!<br />
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I started off with my tools. 2 flat head screwdrivers, needle nose pliers, a bowl and a Starbucks coffee, most important tool of all. The bowl was also found in the basement, holla.<br />
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I ripped out so many nails. SO many. Then, at one point, I got down to this.<br />
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I realized the stripes fabric was the original fabric. Yay for surprises. And more fabric to have to rip off.<br />
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Yes folks, this is straw/hay. This is the seat cushion. It is folded inside the batting. Straw/hay was used a long time ago. Pretty sure I need to buy a new foam cushion for it. And pretty sure this chair might be as old as our house, so cool!<br />
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See?? Hundreds of nails! Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating. But it's more like 73. I counted.<br />
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So far this project cost me $50. The fabric is SO expensive. And I had to pay $8 just in shipping. Boo. But, the chair was free. I'm planning on also having to buy new foam cushion, and new batting, and possibly some Dacron. So, it could easily be over $100. But, not nearly as expensive as paying a professional. We're talking well over $300. Stay tuned!<br />
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p.s. Here is the limencello I made! It tastes okay. Just okay. It's not as tart as I was hoping. It's pretty sweet. So, I'm planning on adding fresh lemon juice to it and making a cocktail with sparkling water, limencello, and fresh blueberries. MMM.<br />
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<br />Melaniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08803523452628759065noreply@blogger.com0