Birth Story Part 3

If you haven't read up on the previous posts, you should go back and read them HERE and HERE first...but on we go!

So, my official due date was Wednesday, July 27, but on the Wednesday before, I felt that the baby would be coming pretty soon. My mum was in Montreal, and I had invited her and my mother-in-law to be present for the birth with us. She was going to take the train on Saturday, but I called her Wednesday night and told her she should come Friday instead. I can't really pinpoint why I felt like the baby would be coming soon, it was just a sense that things were different and there was less movement than usual. The baby felt lower and heavier and I lost my appetite and got restless. Meanwhile, we were getting a huge heat wave in NYC with temperatures in the 110's. I was told by a good friend that the best thing I can do to help get labor going is to walk and walk and walk...so I did. I would wake up at 7am and head out the door and run errands all over town; walking everywhere and up and down the subway stairs. I had to be home by 10:30 or 11am at the latest, because the heat really started to kick in at midday. There's a terrible position for a pregnant woman to be in: I was terribly thirsty and drinking gallons of water because of the heat and the pregnancy, which in turn would make me have to pee every 10 minutes, but bathrooms are VERY scarce in NYC. I figured out the best and cleanest restrooms all over town and I would stay very close to them at all times! 

Around this time, I also decided that I should put together a bag of things for the hospital. I got all kinds of advice and recommendations from friends: anything from slippers to nightlights to bubblegum. BUT, I was convinced I only needed to pack light because I was NOT planning on staying at the hospital more than 10-12 hours after the birth. You see, I had decided before I was even pregnant, that I would be having a natural birth, with a midwife, at the BIRTHING CENTER, at St Luke's Roosevelt hospital, not the regular labor and delivery area. I actually wanted a home-birth, but my insurance wouldn't cover it (typical) and when I priced paying out of pocket for a midwife-assisted home birth, it was costing anywhere from $5-6,000!

My husband and I had to take special birthing classes, select a participating midwife who was part of the hospital's approved list, and at every prenatal visit, I had to make sure I was not disqualified from the birthing center for any health reasons. These reasons include: excessive weight gain (I worked hard and gained only 21lbs through my entire pregnancy! yay!), high blood pressure, group B strep positive, baby in breech or not engaged position, or gestational diabetes. The other thing I was worried about being unable to qualify for the birthing center was that if you go into labor at more than 38 weeks or later than 40 weeks and 5 days, you will have to deliver at the regular L&D.

I thoughtfully packed my vintage Fendi duffel bag (a sweet flea market find by my husband in Hell's Kitchen several years ago!) with a loose dress to come home in, two outfits for the baby (one in newborn size, one in 0-3 month size, depending on how big the baby turned out to be, several American Apparel deep-V t-shirts, a sweatshirt in case it was cold, a bikini top for the jacuzzi tub (if I decided to have a water birth) electric flickering candles and tealights (the birthing center didn't allow real candles) to have a gentle, dark room for the birth, peppermint and lavender essential oils, a wooden rolling massage tool, and some gatorade and protein bars for energy. I thought I was prepared for the perfect natural birth (we'll soon see that my best laid plans and efforts meant absolutely NOTHING when the big day actually arrived!)

My mum arrived on the train Friday evening, and we spent all day Saturday inside at the apartment, as it was too hot to go outside even for a walk. On Saturday afternoon, I was so restless- I just felt like I had to be moving, walking, swimming...SOMETHING! I spent an hour swimming in the indoor pool in our apartment building, then went back to the apartment. A few hours later, I told my mum and Dan that I needed to go to the gym and walk on the treadmill. I can't explain it other than just RESTLESSness that I was overwhelmed with. Something was telling me to move move move! I put on my yoga pants and hauled them up over my HUGE belly, and put a tank top on. I found my sneakers and had to completely loosen ALL the laces just to get them on my swollen feet...and they were SO tight and uncomfortable I ended up taking them off in the elevator on the way to the gym in our building! I walked into the gym and got on the treadmill. I could see people glancing my way in the reflection of the mirrors everywhere, and they were probably wondering what this VERY pregnant lady was doing in the gym! I absolutely did NOT care! I walked for maybe 20 minutes but I just didn't feel the relief I was looking for. I paced around the gym and finally came to the section of eliptical machines. There was this one machine that was a combination of a stair-master and eliptical, so I heaved myself onto it (in my sock feet), plugged in my headphones, and went crazy climbing on shifting, wide-stanced invisible stairs at the lowest resistance. I did this for about 40 minutes and when I stepped off, I felt amazing! I now think it was the wide stance and stair climbing that helped position the baby and took the pressure off my hips. Whatever it was, it WORKED! I went back up to our apartment and took a hot shower, shaving my legs, painted my toes, did my hair- everything to get ready for this kid. I just had a feeling it would happen soon! As I was in the shower, I remember looking down at my rounded belly and running my hands across it, wondering if it would be the last shower before my baby came. If I would ever see this belly like this again.

First Museum Visit

I took Sevryn to the Manhattan Children's Museum on Friday and she had so much fun! It's really for older children, but everyone was very shocked to see this little 5 month old standing, playing with the older kids, and showing off! Haha she is like her Mama!

Funny haha

Source: vi.sualize.us via Aly on Pinterest

New Year...New Posts!

Sorry for being M.I.A... I have a million reasons why, but I just want to welcome you back and promise that from now on, you'll be hearing more from me! I'll update you all soon on what's been going on (all good things, so don't worry!) and I've got TONS of pictures just waiting to be uploaded!

PLUS, I haven't forgotten about sharing the exciting conclusion to Sevryn's birth story! She is truly a treasure and I love spending every day and every minute with my best girl!

So check back later today or tomorrow and you'll find more stuff! In the mean time, here's a couple pictures of my dear little love :)

Swing Swang Swung

It's been forever since my last post and honestly, I PROMISE to finish sharing my birth story, but I just don't know how you moms out there have time to blog with a new baby! Every moment is devoted to her- and I'm so enthralled that even when she naps, I can't wait until the moment she wakes up so I can hold her and play with her again!

As I write this, it's one of our middle of the night feedings and I'm typing on my iPhone with one hand as I nurse her.

The other day I took a photo of Sevryn in her swing at 3 1/2 months and compared it to a photo I took when she was just a week old. How is it possible that a baby can grow and change SO fast in just the first months of life?

Drawn to Scenery: "Over the Fairway"

Drawn to Scenery: "Over the Fairway": Oil Painting Size: 22x30 $520.00

My uncle is a very talented artist who does oil and watercolor paintings. You can commission your own custom artwork of a special moment, childhood home, or scenic view. Just submit a photo!

If you have an avid golfer friend or relative, this makes an ideal gift- have their favorite hole or course customized!

www.drawntoscenery.com

Birth Story Part 2

As the weeks counted down closer and closer to my due date, I was so eager to meet this little baby that I was getting restless. I cleaned, read books on parenting and birth, took photos of my now enormous belly, and washed baby clothes, breathing in the soft baby scent and marveling at how tiny everything was. How could a little foot be THAT small to fit in these booties? How could a little bum be THAT tiny to wear newborn diapers? I was convinced that I would go PAST my due date of July 27, and even told people the baby would come around my birthday of August 9th. Of course, I hoped it would be much sooner than that, especially since I was turning 30 and I wanted to be able to say I had a baby in my 20's, not 30's :)

At work, I had decided that I would be leaving my job to take on my new job of "mama" to this little dear one. We researched daycare costs in NYC and there was just no way we could justify paying THAT much to have a stranger raise our child. My job offered 6 weeks off for maternity leave (typical of the U.S.). I know, for those of you in Canada and other countries reading this, I'm sure you're as shocked as I was. My mum put it best when she said, "SIX WEEKS?! Why, you arent even allowed to take a PUPPY away from
It's mother at 6 weeks!!" I can't imagine leaving a newborn for 8 hours a day in daycare at 6 weeks old.

Day care costs in manhattan- oh boy, are you ready for this? The centers we looked at averaged about $2400/month! And a full day is considered from 9am-4pm, and our jobs both have a LOT more extended hours than that! So if I was to keep working, I would also have to ask my employer to allow me to come in an hour later and leave 2 1/2 hours earlier every day! Probably not gonna go over too well! Then, if the child is sick, I would have to take the day off, and I only had 10 vacation days a year ( again, welcome to America!).

We looked into getting a nanny, as most people do in Manhattan, since daycare is so expensive anyway. Nannies cost about $700-750/week, which would mean $3,000 month. It was clear that I desperately wanted to be with my baby instead of working just to be able to pay someone else to see those first smiles and first steps. As much as I miss my job and my colleagues, when I wake up to those big smiles and coos, and get to hold my sleeping baby in my arms, I know we made the right decision.

My last day of work was July 8th. By that point, I was feeling so exhausted by the end of the day and my feet were so swollen it made getting around difficult. Plus, I was feeling the pressure of the baby dropping (Aka: bowling ball between my legs) and my waddle had grown comical. I was sick of dealing with commuting on the subway or bus, because it was 100 degrees outside, making it 110 or more down in the belly of Hell known as the subway in NYC summer. I was warned by my midwives to drink ridiculous amounts of water and stay far from the platform edge in case I should faint from the heat and fall onto the tracks. Yeah, scary, I know!

I took a picture of my last day at work:









Over the next 2 weeks, I spent time napping, walking, doing prenatal yoga and stretches 2-3 times a day, and enjoying the last few days of selfishness before this baby would radically change my life forever. I read books, wrote music on the piano, cleaned/organized, and dreamed of my little boy/girl. I was so excited and ready to meet him/her, but I loved being pregnant SO much!

Cory and I went out for drinks (well, Sprite for me!) at Croton Resevoir just a week before I went into labor. Cory was leaving town for a wedding and I warned her months ago that fate would proabably have it that I would go into labor on that very weekend that she would be away! She told me to hold it in until she gets back!

While she sipped on a pear martini and I gobbled down a plate of potato skins (yay carbs!) the waitress came over and asked me when I was due. She said I was having a boy for sure, since the belly only stuck out on the front, not the sides, and my nose hadn't spread or swelled. She also encouraged me not to have drugs for labor, saying that she chose not
To and it was the best decision she made. She said that if you turn off your body's way of communication through the pain, you don't have any idea how to push or move in order to get the baby in position. (I agree now- she was right!)

As we were leaving, Cory made me stop outside on the sidewalk and take a picture because she said it might be the last time she sees me pregnant...





...she was right TOO! ;)

Car seat

Getting buckled into her carseat for the first time, to take grandma Blinn to the airport, 4 days old:




...and here she is today, at just 1 day shy of 2 months old:





Unbelievable how fast they grow!!

Birth Story Part 1

Many people have asked me to share baby Sevryn's birth story, and while it's still fresh in my memory, I've decided to share with my readers about my journey into becoming a mama. Of course, if you are squeamish or just don't care about babytalk, best to skip these posts and put your fingers in your ears, saying, "lalalalala..."

The final days:
My last day of work was July 8th, 19 days before my due date of July 27th. The midwife had been telling us the baby was measuring about a week ahead, and I was certain that I didn't want my water to break and go into labor at my office on the 34th floor on 5th avenue. Getting to and from work was increasingly difficult- wait, let me correct myself, it was an effing NIGHTMARE! I would choose to walk to and from work because taking public transportation at that point was the worst possible hell. Buses and subways were so crowded because of the peak of tourist season, and no one would offer me a seat. That's right, a 38 week pregnant woman in NYC cannot get a seat on the bus. Women, more than men, would get up and give me a seat, which I still think is so absurd. As soon as I boarded, newspapers would fly up in front of the faces of men all throughout the train or bus. Several times, I would find a young man and quite bluntly ask him to give up his seat. In the last weeks before delivery, I was so irritated with the lack of chivalry that I told the bus driver as soon as I swiped my metrocard that I needed a seat and just let him/her take over and majestic someone get up. I should note that it wasn't that I needed a seat because I physically COULDN'T stand, but rather because I REFUSED to stand on a moving bus or train lurching around at high speed. Balance and agility are two traits that do not seem to come to mind when one is hauling a 20 lb watermelon under their dress. I was terrified of falling when the vehicle stops suddenly, or even worse, another person falling on top of me or pushing into my belly to stop their fall. In any case, I was NOT too shy to demand a place to park my pregnant ass.

I also gained a new understanding of what it must be like as a senior citizen in NYC. I was slow-moving, always looking for escalators or elevators instead of stairs, and had to sit down and drink water all the time
To just take a break while I was out around town.

I also can't even tell you how many people asked me if I was having TWINS. It was just assumed, since I was so huge! I started just agreeing with people and saying, "yep! A boy and a girl!" when they asked. It was just easier. There are 2 reasons I decided, that people would assume I was having twins: 1) that they had never seen a woman at full 40 weeks term, or 2) that most women stay at home all the time once they get that close to delivery, and I was still out all over the city every day, riding the bus, the subway, walking through times square, etc. I figured, if my water broke, no one would even notice, since there are thousands of other people on the same sidewalk anyway. I did wear a huge pad, tho- just in case!

Check out this belly, in the final days of my pregnancy:







39 weeks- 4 days before giving birth


So...yeah, I was huge, but I really was ALL belly. Oh, and ankles. My ankles looked like they were about to give birth as well:





I literally had creases in my ankles of where the rolls
were acumulating from all the water retention. I only wore long maxi dresses that covered my ankles and I literally had ONE pair of leather flip flops that fit, and that was it. Even my toes were puffy! It was SO hot in July, and we had weeks of 105-110F temperatures. I was retaining SO much water that I would drink a whole liter of water and still not have to pee.

Cory and I started gelato dates after work a couple times a week. We would meet up at Grand Central Terminal after work and get huge dishes of gelato and then walk to the park and eat it there. It was such a fun little ritual! One day, we walked by a psychic on 41st St who was doing a palm reading and she stopped in the middle and looked at me as I walked by and said, "you're having a boy!" EVERYWHERE I went, strangers told me I was having a boy. The only person who ever said it was a girl was my best friend (who has 2 girls), Kristi!

Cloth diapering- WIN!

Baby Sevryn has been 100% in cloth diapers for a week now, and I'm thrilled that they work SO well! We had to wait until she was about 9 lbs and her legs were big enough to fill the leg holes but now they fit perfectly!

I bought a few different brands to try and decide which work the best for us before ordering a whole bunch that don't work. Right now, fuzibunz are the clear winner. No leaks, no blowouts, even overnight! They are super easy to put on, easy to wash and I got the cutest bright primary colors! The soft fleece feels so cozy and gentle for a baby, I wonder why anyone would choose scratchy disposable diapers for day to day at home use. Disposables are good for traveling, or when staying at someone else's house, but I'm loving the cloth diapers for the rest of the time!


-- Post From My iPhone

All smiles!

Little poussin is so smiley now!








-- Post From My iPhone

Baby Doll is 6 weeks!

Hard to believe my little girl is 6 weeks old today! I can't wait to start blogging again and catch you all up on the amazing time I'm having being a Mama! Hang tight, as soon as I get out of my sleep-deprived state, and can pry myself away from cuddling my sweet sweet girl for a few minutes, I'll update my blog! Right now, when I have a free moment to spare, I usually choose a nap or a shower! :)

Sevryn 1 day old:





...and see how much she's grown at 6 weeks: