Christmas Decorations with a Toddler

Decorating for Christmas this year had a few extra considerations thanks to the most adorable 14 month old who pretty much rules the house.

There were very few things that I put out this year that were breakable because one of her new favorite things it to try and reach things that are on tables. She has been remarkably good about not touching previous season's decorations so I was hopeful that this would hold true for Christmas too.  

This little display on our bar cabinet is well out of her reach so I was comfortable putting a glass jar here.

She can technically reach this table I think but so far she hasn't really tried to grab anything off of it.

She can definitely reach our TV stand so I only put things she could't hurt by touching. Her toy bins are right in front of this so she generally is more focused on her toys than my decorations which is just fine with me.

This is the only display of breakable things that she gets near and that is only because sometimes I am getting something off the table with her in my arms.

I had heard the most about toddlers wreaking havoc on Christmas trees so I was a little bit worried. Fortunately it has not been an issue. After we got the tree I put lights on it and left it that way overnight to see how she would react. She looked at the lights but didn't really show any interest in trying to pull them off so I put non-breakable ornaments on the to half of the tree and called it a day. Even now after being up for a few weeks she has only touched the branches a couple of times to see what they feel like and once she tried to hug the tree skirt because it looks like a blanket. I am calling that a success!

 This limited decorations is going to be part of my future for a while so I guess I better get used to it!

A Visit to the Pumpkin Patch and Other Recent Adventures

A couple of weeks ago we dressed Ellie in her best pumpkin outfit and headed off to the pumpkin patch. We headed out as soon as she woke up from her first nap because we figured it would only get hotter and more crowded as the day went on. It was actually a little more crowded than I was expecting but we wore our masks and kept our distance from people.

Ellie was a little unsure of this whole thing when we first took her out of the stroller but she quickly realized that pumpkins were fun to bang on and try to pick up.

This year we decided to just walk around and look at the pumpkins but they had a little train to ride and some other activities to do so maybe next year when she is a bit older we will do those too.

A few weeks ago playgrounds in our county reopened after being closed since March so we have been exploring the ones near our house. Ellie is good about not putting things she finds on the ground in her mouth or really even putting her hands in her mouth when we are out so we have just been washing our hands thoroughly after playing and have felt pretty safe.  

 We have been going to parks in the morning in case they get busy as the day goes on and have really only been there with a handful of other people who all kept their distance.  Ellie has loved being able to get out and see things and play.

One day we even took lunch with us to the park and had a little picnic. She was more interested in walking around and looking at things than actually eating but at least mom got a snack!

Any safe socially distant activities for an almost 13 month old to do on weekends are welcome!

Ellie's First Birthday!

 It is hard to believe but Ellie turned one last week.  I don't know where this year has gone. The saying that sometimes the days are long but the months are short is so true. It feels like just yesterday that she was in my belly and I was anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Her birthday fell on a weekday so we didn't plan too much hoopla for her actual birthday since she doesn't know what a birthday even is yet.  She went to daycare in her special shirt and after we picked her up in the afternoon we gave her one of her favorite treats. This little pumpkin loves all things pumpkin and Starbucks Pumpkin Loaf is one of her favorite things.

While we were feeding her dinner we decided to FaceTime my mom so she could say hi and when she and my sister answered they were in our front yard to surprise us! We were very surprised and happy to see them.  

They brought her a balloon and a gift from my Aunt and Uncle for Ellie to open. She had a great time pulling everything out of the bag and carrying it around. She doesn't understand social distancing (what one year old does) so she kept picking up leaves and offering them to my mom and sister.  We all wore masks and enjoyed seeing each other. She has been carrying around her balloon ever since.

 

Since having a party with in person guests was out of the question (dumb COVID) we had a Zoom party for her that weekend. Since she loves all things pumpkin I decided that gold pumpkins was an appropriate theme.  Even the cake was pumpkin flavored. She played with her cake a bit but wasn't that into smashing or even eating the cake during the party.  Too many other things/people to look at on the screen.  She was busy waving and blowing kisses to all her relatives. She was pretty much just hamming it up.

  

After cake she opened presents and was (like most one year olds) most excited about the wrapping and the boxes but we did open the packaging of a couple of her gifts to let her play with them. Over the next few days we opened a few more and she has had a great time playing and learning with her new toys.  She is such a loved little girl and not just by us! As people left the Zoom call she was waving and blowing kisses again and just loving life.

Happy Birthday beautiful girl!

Disneyland in the Third Trimester

Since I am having serious Disneyland withdrawals waiting to hear when it will reopen I figured it was time to write about my last trip to Disneyland. Who knows when the next time I will be able to go but I know it will be at least a year and a half between my last trip and my next trip!

Last July (2019) at 31 weeks pregnant I went to Disneyland with a couple of my girlfriends. I had thought my trip in the beginning of my second trimester would be my last before baby girl arrived but when the opportunity presented itself and I was still feeling fine I decided to go for it. I kept an eye on the weather in the weeks before the trip because I knew if the weather report said it was going to be 100 degrees while I was there I knew I needed to not go. The weather was supposed to be in the low to mid 80's while I was there so that was fine. For the first time I got to pre-board the airplane which was kind of cool.  I didn't really need the extra time to get on the plane but it allowed me to sit in the bulkhead seat which was way easier to get in and out of with a big ole belly.

We stayed at the Best Western that was right at the crosswalk to Disneyland and it was super convenient.  Breakfast was included and you can't beat the location unless you are staying on property. I would definitely stay there again. Our first night we just walked over to Downtown Disney to have dinner and do a little shopping since we all got there in the late afternoon. 

While we were there Galaxy's Edge had only been open to the public without a reservation to enter the land for about a month so it was still very new. You didn't need a reservation to get into the land but at this point they were still doing same day only reservations for Olga's Cantina so I logged on first thing in the morning and made us a reservation to check it out. Our reservation was for sometime in the late morning but we still ordered a cocktail.  We got the blue milk, the fuzzy tonton and something else. They were all good and the fuzzy tonton did actually make your lips tingle so that was kind of fun. 

While my girlfriends rode Smugglers Run without me (not pregnancy approved) I decided to take advantage of the PhotoPass photographer and get my picture taken in Batuu. I have been to Disneyland enough times that I pretty much know where everything is so going to Batuu and having no clue where anything was was kind of a strange feeling. Don't worry I found the bathroom which is a necessity when pregnant to always know where the bathroom is.

That afternoon we headed over to the Disneyland Hotel for Alice in Wonderland tea. Taking a break from the parks for a little while in the afternoon is always nice but when you are very pregnant it becomes a necessity. I knew I would need more breaks than normal so I was glad that when I suggested tea my friends were all for it. All the food was good but my favorite thing was the little cups with fried basil on top.

We decided we were going to try and stay for the fireworks so after dinner I took another break while my friends went on a few non-pregnancy friendly rides. This time I went and sat in the lobby of the Grand Californian and had a grapefruit and ginger ale. Despite the break I didn't exactly make it to watch the fireworks but we ended up getting stuck in the Haunted Mansion for a little while so I saw the beginning of them on my walk back to the hotel. 

Our second day in the parks we rode the double decker bus down Main Street which is not something I usually take the time to do so that was nice. 

I didn't get a good picture of me wearing it but my teal shirt said snacking for two and was from Blushing Mimosa Co on Etsy though it doesn't look like this exact shirt is available anymore. 

One of my favorite ways to take a break during the afternoon is to go and sit at the bar in Carthay Circle Loung, have a cocktail, a snack (or late lunch) and chat with the bartenders and whoever else is sitting at the bar. Many of my Disney trips are solo trips (though those might be a rare occurrence now that I have a child) so it is usually pretty easy to get one seat at the bar. This time I didn't get a cocktail (obviously) but I did sit at the bar and rest while my friends rode a few things I couldn't. The bartenders are great at making up drinks (both alcoholic and non) so of course my drink was fabulous. 

 

One last story from my trip: My friends went off to ride Big Thunder and then had Fastpasses to Indiana Jones so I decided to see what I could ride in Fantasyland before meeting up with them again. I rode a couple of rides and then ended up on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride since it is one of my favorites.  I made it almost to the end of the ride and then the ride stopped. I am sitting in the dark in the train crash room right before Mr. Toad goes to hell and then the lights go on and an announcement comes on saying to stay in your cars and someone will come lead you out of the ride. When the cast member gets to me (with a group of people from the previous dozen cars behind me) I get out and we head forward towards the next room. There is a car stopped right in the doorway between the room I am in and the next room and so everyone walks along the side to get past it. I try and can't get past it because the widest part of the car is right at the height of my big baby belly.  I start laughing and tell the cast member I don't fit.  He looks worried for a sec but then realizes I am not offended about not fitting and has me wait while he takes everyone else out.  He comes back and gets me and we go backwards towards the entrance to the ride and I got to see all the rooms of Mr. Toad with the lights on. Makes for a pretty good pregnant at Disneyland story!

Now I just have to wait for Disneyland to reopen so I can take my daughter!

Fall Decorations

Happy Fall! I actually managed to get my house all dressed up for Fall.

Since I use part of my dining room table as a desk during the week (thanks COVID) I had to make sure I had decorations that could easily be moved if I needed more space to spread something out.  I haven't had to move my centerpiece but it is nice to have the option.

I made sure when decorating my side table that I pushed everything away from the edge because little fingers are just learning how (and are just tall enough) to pull things off of table.

Overall she is pretty good about not touching things after I have said no but she is very curious about what is on table since she is too short to see over them.

This little piece on my TV stand was the one I was most worried about her bothering but really she has her toys in front of the TV stand and is content to play with them. I don't even think she has noticed the decorations other than the orange pumpkin off to the side.

I didn't get any new decorations this year since I am really not spending much time in stores at the moment but I am looking forward to burning the fall candle I have from last year. Now if the weather would just cooperate with my desire to burn a candle.

 I have said this before and failed but I am hoping this is the start of getting back into blogging...

Friday Favorites

With all the scary stuff going on in the world I have decided to try and focus on the good/positive things are happening around here.

This week was my second week back at work from maternity leave. While my office is very mom/family friendly and has its own lactation room for pumping I was still nervous about going back to work and having to leave my baby girl. A silver lining to all of this sheltering in place is that because I am working from home I am still with my baby. I am home to feed her when she is hungry so I don't have to worry about pumping or using my freezer supply of milk yet.

Working from home with an almost 6 month old is interesting but we are working on her being able to play independently so my husband and I can get some work done but there is a lot of taking turns being in charge of her. She is almost mobile so even when she is playing on the floor someone has to be nearby in case she gets herself into a position she can't get out of or gets near the edge and could hit her head on the floor. We have a play area thing for her ordered and it arrives next week so then she will be a little more safely contained. 

Since I am spending so much time in my house I want it to feel happy so I have been buying lots of flowers to brighten up the place. 

Since I had been on maternity leave prior to two weeks ago I had already been wearing mostly comfy lounge clothes when I decided to get a couple of new pairs of leggings to wear around the house. Eventually I will be able to wear them to OrangeTheory but for now I am just wearing them on lots and lots of walks around my neighborhood.

Since we will continue to shelter in place here for at least another month I will continue to think all the positive thoughts and dream about taking my baby girl to Disneyland in the fall!

The Birth Story

So as promised here is the story of our little lady's birth. Warning it is very long!

I stopped working a couple of days after I was 36 weeks pregnant which just happened to make my first day of maternity leave Labor Day weekend.  Thankfully there was no labor on labor day for me. My last couple of weeks of work were fairly uncomfortable so I just figured this was what I was in for for the rest of my pregnancy but once I was on maternity leave most of the uncomfortableness subsided due to the extra rest I was able to get. That was a nice surprise.

She was due on September 25th but that date came and went with no signs of labor. I wasn't super uncomfortable so I wasn't in any rush for her to make an appearance but the just waiting was a little bit stressful for the planner nature in me. I went to the doctor at 40 weeks and they said everything looked fine and I was not dilated at all though I could go into labor at any time. They set me an appointment at 41 weeks to see the doctor and do a non-stress test and then said hope we don't see you. They also had us set up a tentative induction date just in case it came to that.

Went back at 41 weeks and everything still looked fine and still no signs of labor.  Set another non-stress test for a couple days later and if I still hadn't had the baby by then and the tests still looked fine then my induction would be on the date we chose. We chose Sunday October 6th as our induction date which would make me 41 weeks and 4 days pregnant. Since we knew inductions usually took some time we picked this date knowing it would give us the best chance of her being born on October 7th which also happened to be my husband's birthday. All the tests were fine so on Sunday October 6th we got up nice and early and headed to the hospital for my 7 AM induction.

We got all checked in and since they were pretty full in labor and delivery we had to be in a triage room for the first few hours of the induction. Triage rooms can have 2 people in them but we were the only ones in the room. I got all checked out, monitors hooked up and my IV was set up but not hooked up to anything yet. They did a check and I was still not dilated at all and was not having any contractions so they gave me the first dose of a pill to help start labor at 10 AM and at this point they hooked the IV up too to some saline to keep me hydrated. If I had been dilated at all there would have been some choices/options as to how to proceed with the induction but since I was not dilated at all there were no choices to be made at this point.

The pill can be given every 4 hours up to 6 times so at 2 PM I got the second dose of the pill. Sometime before the second pill I was moved to our actual regular delivery room. All I felt during those first two doses of the pill were some cramps that just felt like period cramps. Not super bad cramps but enough to feel them. Since nothing exciting was going on my husband left for a little while to go get us some food since I was still allowed to eat whatever I wanted. At 6 PM I got another does of the medicine and continued waiting for labor to start or really just anything besides a few cramps to happen.

The cramps with the third dose of medicine were a little more noticeable but still nothing more than period cramps.  They can give up to 6 doses of the medication but when it was time to give the 4th dose at 10 PM the midwife came in and told us they couldn't give me any more of the medicine because during the 3rd dose the baby's heart rate had dipped a little bit.

We were told that the two options at that point were to either have a balloon inserted to help dilate me and start a low level of pitocin or just starting the pitocin with option 1 being the preferred option. I had not heard good things about the balloon option so I was not exactly excited that it was being presented as the next best step. To do the balloon you have to be 1 centimeter dilated and when they checked I was still not even at 1 centimeter so there was again no decision to be made.

They started the pitocin and I tried to get some sleep without too much success. The beds are designed for labor not really designed for comfortable sleeping so my hips were killing me.  We tired to make it better with lots of pillows and towels and eventually one of the nurses said they had egg crate mattress toppers we would use and that made it much better.  My IV was also bothering me quite a bit so in the middle of the night they took it out and moved it to my other hand.  It was rough night but eventually I got a bit of sleep.

The next morning they checked me again and while my cervix was softening I was still not at 1 centimeter dilated so they just continued to slowly up my dose of pitocin. The contractions were starting to be a bit uncomfortable but nowhere near unbearable.  Sometime in the early afternoon they checked me again and I was finally 1 centimeter dilated. This meant I could get the foley balloon inserted.

After talking to a different midwife than the one we had talked to the night before and telling her our concerns with it often not being very effective and the pain associated with the insertion she was able to give us options/solutions that made us more comfortable using the balloon as the next step.  She confirmed our thoughts that the insertion and first hour or so of having the balloon are really not comfortable but that they could give me some pain medication before starting. I got a dose of fentanyl before they inserted the balloon and I was very happy with my decision. Funny thing about this is that during my childbirth class fentanyl was the type of medicine that I thought I probably wouldn't want and it ended up being the first pain medicine I had.  I didn't think I would want it because it can only be given early in labor because it relaxes you and makes you sleepy which can also make the baby sleepy. Just goes to show that you can have all the plans you want but need to keep an open mind.

After giving me the fentanyl they put the ballon in and said it usually takes 6-12 hours for it to dilate you to 3-4 centimeters and once it does the balloon will just fall out.  Since the fentanyl just basically makes you feel very relaxed for an hour or so I decided to take advantage of that feeling and sleep while the medicine was in my system while the balloon did its work.  My husband and I both took much needed naps for about an hour and a half and then I woke up and needed to use the bathroom though my husband was still asleep.

I called the nurse and they helped me get to the bathroom with all my cords and such. Not sure if it was due to the ballon or the pain meds or just labor but my bladder felt full but my body wasn't letting me empty it so I decided ok I will just go back to the bed for a bit and try again later.  As I was walking towards the door of the bathroom the balloon (and a bunch of blood) fell onto the bathroom floor. I got to the bathroom door and called out to wake my husband up and told him to get the nurse. I also told him don't come in or look into the bathroom because it looked like a crime scene in there and I wasn't sure if it would freak him out. It took less than 2 hours for the balloon to fall out so after all the negative stuff we had heard about this procedure it actually worked really well and really quickly for me.

Since I was now presumably 3 or 4 centimeters dilated the nurse said I could be unhooked from all the machines for an hour or so to take a shower and then eat dinner before getting all hooked up again. A shower sounded great so I got unhooked, put a glove over my IV port and took a nice long shower.

After the shower I got all dried off and was about to put a clean hospital gown on when there was a big whoosh of water on the floor because my water broke. It happened exactly how it does in the movies! Again I went to the bathroom door and told me husband to call the nurse. From the time they put the balloon in until the time my water broke was less than 3 hours so things were moving along. At this point it was about 5 PM or so on the 7th so I had been in the hospital a day and a half already.

I didn't get to stay off the monitors once my water broke but I did get to eat dinner. After dinner the pain started to get pretty bad and I decided to have another dose of fentanyl to help with the pain. Around 10 PM I decided to get the epidural. We didn't know how long it would take the anesthesiologist to get there so I opted to get one more dose of fentanyl to tide me over until the epidural since they work differently and can be used at the same time.  The anesthesiologist actually got there a few minutes after the last does of fentanyl so I probably didn't need it but it made getting the epidural painless.

The epidural took effect and it was much more comfortable.  I was still only about 4 centimeters dilated so I had a ways to go. We decided to try and get some rest before the main event and by 2 AM I was dilated 6 centimeters and by a little before 7 AM on Tuesday the 8th I was 9 centimeters dilated.

Finally mid morning it was time to push.  At this point I had been in the hospital over 48 hour and it had been right about 48 hours since they started the induction process so I was excited it was time to meet our baby girl.

I pushed and pushed and pushed some more and still no baby. After 3 and a half hours of pushing (at the time I had no long I had been pushing) they said the baby hadn't made any progress in the last hour so my two options were to keep pushing and use either suction or forceps to see if we could help her or to have a c-section.

At this point I was absolutely exhausted since I had been pushing for 3 1/2 hours and was also totally over people touching and checking me so my husband and I decided it was time for a c-section. As soon as I made the decision I signed paperwork and they started prepping me for surgery. I would have liked to have a few minutes to catch my breath and stop crying but everything from this point on seemed to be rush rush rush.

I went into the operating room to be prepped for surgery and my husband couldn't come with me until I was all ready for surgery.  It seemed like I was in there forever before my husband was able to join me. I was still having contractions even while they were prepping me and my back was killing me so much that I couldn't even lay flat on the table so they had to give me some pain meds during the prep. Near the end of the prep they were putting up the curtain to block me from seeing the actual surgery and it was so close to my face that it was against my nose. I always had seen it kind of at chest level but they said this is where it had to be. Fortunately my husband came in right after that and was able to hold it so the curtain wasn't actually touching my face.

They started the c-section and while I could feel it I didn't feel pain at the beginning. They got my baby girl out and I got to see her for just a minute before they took her to the other side of the room to do whatever they do. At this point I was starting to feel more pain and they had to up the dose of medicine which started to make me dizzy and almost like I was hallucinating. All was fine with the baby so she and my husband headed off to the recovery room so he could do skin to skin with her while I was getting sewn up. I was so full of medicine during this part of the surgery that I don't remember exactly what happened but I remember thinking I was dying though they finally finished sewing me up and I started to feel better as the medicine started to wear off.

I got wheeled to the recovery room where my husband and baby girl were waiting for me and I was so happy to see them and hold my beautiful girl. I had to wait just a minute before I got to hold her because they were taking her footprints but soon she was in my arms. As expected she was the most beautiful little thing I had ever seen and I was so in love.

So 56 hours after we got to the hospital we had our little girl at 3:10 PM. She was happy and healthy which is all you can ask for. She was 6 lbs 13 oz and 19 inches long so even at almost 42 weeks she was a petite little thing.  We sent out a quick text to our families while we were in the recovery room since they knew I had gone in for the c-section and we thought they might be getting worried but other than that we just soaked up our time with our little girl.

After we were moved into our room we got settled and gave our families the okay to come visit.  My sister in North Carolina was actually the first one to "meet" our little girl since we had to Facetime her instead of her getting to visit in person.  Everyone arrived and ooood and ahhd over her. That first few hours was a blur but I was so happy.

If you made it to the end of this congratulations!

I'm Back (Hopefully)

It's been a long time since I have sat down to write a post here.  Hello third trimester and the first 3 months of motherhood! I have a whole bunch of partially written posts from the last few months of my pregnancy and many posts about the first 3 months of motherhood that I want to write so hopefully those will start showing up soon but in the meantime I am also going to start writing about current things as I don't want to forget these moments either.

As anyone who follows me on Instagram or Facebook has already seen in October I give birth to my beautiful daughter.  The post about her birth is top on my backlog priority list because it is not something I want to forget so expect that whole story soon!

Short version is she was born healthy and my husband and I are so in love!

More to come soon but in the meantime happy 2020!