Holy crap you guys....I'm a mom. A MOM! I've only been dreaming of this my entire life. Just about a full week in, and I'm still like...pinch me! Although waking up every few hours to feed her is exhausting, I almost look forward to it. I love just holding her and staring in amazement at how incredible it all is. It's a total miracle what our bodies are capable of! The evening before our lives changed forever, we were out celebrating Dane's birthday (June 19th). We had joked about he and Lenna sharing a birthday, but I really didn't think my body was prepping for labor yet, and her due date wasn't until June 28th. In all honesty, Dane had bought me a June birthstone necklace for Mother's Day in celebration of our sweet baby-to-be, and so I was really afraid she'd be out in July. So we took my doctor's advice and headed downtown to Broadway Oyster Bar to have some cajun inspired foods, hoping to speed things up. Right before bed, Dane had put his mouth to my belly and told Lenna that she was being evacuated. We both had a pretty good laugh and then got into bed. About 2:30 in the morning, my water broke. The feeling woke me from a dead sleep and I tried to get out of bed as quickly as I could, hoping not to make too much of a mess of the sheets. I woke up Dane -who immediately asked if I was sure I hadn't just peed myself. I reminded him that I had been on earth for 29 years and pretty much knew that wasn't what peeing felt like. Lol. Strangely enough, neither of us panicked. It's like a sense of calmness came over us. In my mind, I thought I would just grab everything I had and rush to the hospital. But instead, I went to the bathroom to take a shower, while Dane cleaned the sheets and called our parents. We tidied up a bit and I think left the house around 5am? I wasn't experiencing contractions as they were described to me. But OH MY HECK my back hurt! I had been warned about back labor, and I guess I should've seen it coming. My pregnancy was so easy, something was bound to break my streak. I think I asked for drugs the second they put me in my labor room. Like, immediately. The anesthesiologist was my new best friend. A few minutes after the epidural was administered, my body started shaking, I threw up, and then Lenna's heart beat dropped. The alarms started going off, and it seemed every nurse on the floor was in my room. This was BY FAR the scariest moment of my life. They gave me oxygen and tried a few different positions until her heart beat was brought back to a safe speed. You guys, this happened again. Finally, they had to stop administering. Yeah, also scary. But really, by that point, I just wanted her out safely, no matter what my body had to endure. Turns out Lenna was facing up and wasn't able to extend her head from under my pubic bone. I'm not going to go into too much detail here, I'll just say.....manual rotation. Mkay?! Annnnywayyy....I pushed for a little over an hour and our sweet baby girl was here. I remember the pressure going away and Dane saying, "She's here! She's here!". She was definitely a nice shade of purple, but you guys, my nurses were amazing. Lenna cried almost immediately, but obviously needed help. My nurses worked so quickly to get her the oxygen and attention she needed, all while complimenting how beautiful and perfect she was, and how great I did. They did an amazing job at making sure I didn't totally freak. Dane and I spent a few hours alone with our newest addition while my legs got their feeling back, and then we welcomed our families in to meet her. It was a beautiful day. Lenna Christine was born June 20th at 1:23pm. 6lbs, 5oz and 19 inches long. XO -Heather
0 Comments
Today my hubby is 32 years young! This post will be short and sweet so that I can get back to celebrating him, but I wanted you all to be able to celebrate right along with us.
We each had to work today, but were able to leave early to head to our 39 week appointment and hear our baby's heartbeat one last time before meeting her. What an amazing birthday gift! It's so crazy to think that in just a week or so, we'll meet our sweet baby girl! After our appointment, we headed downtown to Broadway Oyster Bar. Dane loves the crab they serve, and has nothing but good things to say about their outdoor patio. We're also hopeful that the Buffalo Chicken Wrap I had puts a little pressure on our baby girl to evacuate sooner than later. Haha! I am extremely grateful today for this man of mine. When we met six something years ago, I never imagined where my life would be today. He's made me both a wife and a (soon-to-be) mother. Happy Birthday Lover! Here's to many more! Have you ever started a project, became bored of it, and then let it sit unfinished....for months? Yeah...Hi, I'm Heather and I'm a procrastinator. I started this bathroom makeover in December. And unfortunately there is no hiding it because the only 'before' photo I have clearly showcases my Christmas tree. After a few years of my warm and cozy bathroom, I felt it was time for something new and fresh. I was so excited for a new 'light and bright' look! So excited, in fact, that I painted this tiny bathroom in one evening after work. Screw dinner, dishes, and laundry! I had a bathroom to paint! The color I had chosen was part of Valspar's Historical Society series. They've since dropped the historical marks (shame!) and renamed all of the colors. The new name for this color is Warm Putty (6006-1A). I was first a little disappointed my paint deck was so quickly outdated, but then SUPER thankful I lucked out and have all of the historical colors clearly marked for me. Being that our house is 105 years old, I felt that the historical color was a perfect way to incorporate the age of our home into the decoration of just about every room in our house. -I'm still working on that. Although our rooms are all pretty small, we were blessed with 9ft ceilings. So I felt that this tiny bathroom needed an emphasis on the height since there was nothing I could do about the width or length. I had Dane make me simple wooden shelving for above the toilet, and hung a piece of art I had from Target up high to help draw the eye up. I also scored an ah-mazing vintage mirror from craigslist. It, amazingly, looked IDENTICAL to the mirror I had sketched when planning this bathroom makeover. That never happens! After everything was finished, the bathroom was still missing something. It didn't give me all the feels I was hoping for. It was missing texture and life! Sooo...I left the bathroom as it was until I could come up with something I loved. Eight months later....haha! In my defense, life happened. My work schedule picked up, and our build list for our business went crazy! I'm not AT ALL complaining about it either. Building furniture for you guys is what we love to do! But then it hit me! My tiny bathroom needed pattern! Something that wouldn't compete with the curves of my vintage mirror, or the tight pattern in my art piece. I was inspired by a wall paper I saw in one of Ikea's kitchen displays and decided to recreate it in a pattern size and color palette that worked for my space. So yeah! I hand sketched a faux wallpaper! It took two evenings, and because it isn't real wallpaper, it'll be easy to paint over if the next homeowner isn't a fan. It was SO easy! I'll write another post on how I did it in case a wall in your house needs something similar. I honestly couldn't be happier with how it turned out. It's the perfect pop of pattern for that space! Let us know what you think in the comments below! Do you have a wall you'd love to stencil?
|