Losing the 9-5

Among other things I've decided to take charge of how I spend my day. My typical day has consisted of:

• Waking up to chubby bunny around 5:45
• Diaper changes
• Nursing
• Jumping in the shower and quickly getting ready
• Bringing Bunny down to Gramma/Nanny at 7:00
• Making a super quick lunch
• Getting all pumping supplies together
• 25 minute commute with hubs (we work for the same company)
• Work from 8-4:30 (sometimes add overtime in that mix)
• Pump 3 times while at work
• Home to Bunny
• Nursing immediately
• Dinner
• Clean up as much as possible
• Play time
• 7:00pm wind-down
• Nurse to sleep
• Crib
• Drag myself to bed

Somehow I manage to interact with my husband during all of this. We also have a dog that we try to give attention to as well.  If the weather isn't too hot we might snag a walk in with the whole family. 

So, why did I just spell out my typical day timeline?  To show you that I feel like I'm wasting my time working at a place where I've been told that after two years and despite above average reviews I will not be getting a raise. I spend my days at a place where I was told not to "take advantage" of calling in when the nanny/gramma couldn't come to watch chubby bunny. A place where I get back to my desk after pumping a measly 2 ounces in 30 minutes and I get asked "where I was" because I "wasn't at my desk" and I "didn't answer my phone."  Well guess what buddy I wasn't goofing off or out having fun.

SOOOO...I've decided that my time is better spent home with CB. Between exclusively breastfeeding CB, making her food, keeping the house clean, the laundry done, etc. I feel that I have enough on my plate. At least for a few weeks. Maybe once things settle down I'll feel like I want a part-time job to get out of the house. But in the end, working at a place where you are not appreciated and will not be rewarded for a job well done is overrated. Life is too short to be unhappy.

And Then We Were Three

Our little lady has made her arrival. Baby McCann came into this world on February 18th at 6:49pm.  My labor and delivery were uneventful and remarkably easy.  This is our first child so I was as surprised as you (and my midwife) that all was so fast and easy.

I woke up around 2:00am on Monday morning with painful contractions. Now, I had been having Braxton Hicks contractions for weeks so what got my attention with these was the pain level.  Around 7:00am I got out of bed and decided to ignore the contractions because surely baby was not going to make her way into the world today. I mean, I had just had a doctor appointment on Thursday and there was no action happening. My midwife had even given me permission to go up north for the weekend.  And by "up north" i mean about two hours away from home. Not a big deal but when you're less than a week from your due date its risky.

By 9:00am I was in full tears/panic mode. I had gone to the bathroom and was greeted with the unexpected surprise of my bloody show. Its a bit alarming to be greeted with blood after 9 months of not having a period.  I made hubs call the birthing center and they wanted us to come in within the hour.  9:45am saw us showered and at the hospital, bags in tow (just in case). My midwife checked me out and I was 1cm dilated.  I was hooked up to a monitor to track contractions and baby's heartbeat.  I was advised to walk the halls for 2 hours and come back so they could check the progress.

After two hours they hooked me up again and were a little concerned about baby's heartbeat so, even though we had just talked about sending me home, they decided to keep me for about 30 minutes more.  After 30 minutes my midwife came to check on me again....3cm dilated!  What??  I think everyone was shocked by that.

So needless to day I was not going home at this point. Hubs and I ordered lunch and just tried to get through the next few hours of painful contractions. He was so good to me; distracting me, playing the Lumineers when I randomly requested them. Dancing around the birthing room with me during some of the more painful contractions.

Throughout the day I dilated quite fast and around 5:00pm we had the conversation to break my waters.  I had wanted to wait til the last possible moment because after your waters break the contractions become more intense. They were intense enough as I did not have any pain medication. I had planned for a water birth, all natural.  Thus far I was able to manage the painful contractions through breathing techniques and distractions from my hubby.

Ok, back to waters breaking...my midwife broke my waters at 9cm and it felt like I had peed the bad and couldn't stop. It didn't hurt or feel uncomfortable, just weird.  After my waters broke I quickly (within minutes) dilated to 10cm.  The magic pushing number had finally arrived and into the tub I went. 

The tub was about 100 degrees, had lights, and handles for me to use when pushing.  The handles were the greatest.  Really helped me get leverage when pushing.  I pushed for about an hour (remarkable for a first child I was told).  Baby Rory came into the world at 6:49pm weighing in at 6lbs 3oz and 18 and 3/4 inches long.  She was alert and eyes open from the minute she was pulled out of the water and placed on my chest. We were shocked to see her.  Little peanut has a full head of hair and was very very pink.

Perfect birth and perfect baby. We are home now and just trying to manage the lack of sleep, hives from breastfeeding, and wearing an adult diaper for the next few weeks while I have mega period. We can do this...

DIY Maternity Photos

Hubs wants to DIY our baby photos. I kind of cringe at this thought only because neither of us are professional (or even amateur) photographers in any sense.  We do have a nice camera though and I know he wants to save some money.

We I did look at photographers and price out newborn photos. Just the one session would end up running us an average of  $300-400 when all is said and done. So I can see why Brad wants to give it the old college try. Thanks to Pinterest I've been reading articles and saving them to show Brad. Hopefully we can pick up enough tips and tricks to make these look really nice.  

10 Tips for Photographing Babies

I really wanted maternity photos done and approached Brad about it with the thought that this could be a nice practice run for newborn photos.  We spend the morning taking shots around the house.  Then we decided that we would brave the outdoors...in the middle of the winter...in Wisconsin.  It was a sunny 8 degree day (not including the windchill).  Needless to say, we did not last long outside.

Just a little peak, but I really liked them.  These have not been Photoshopped yet. The top one is going to be a silhouette where I am more blacked out and you can just see my shape.  Showing off that little bump!

For the second photo I just wore leggings and one of Brad's work shirts. Something comfy and relaxing so the bump could take center stage. 

Fake Labor is a Pain in the...

Since Friday night I've been feeling contractions more and more. I tried explaining them to my midwife at my last visit and did not get a definite answer as to whether they were contractions or just Braxton Hicks. Having never experienced childbirth, I feel like the twinges and tummy tightening sensations are a bit alarming. How do I know when it's the real deal?

The countdown is really on now. I will be 38 weeks on Wednesday and I am so ready to meet this little lady.  We have almost finished the nursery; just need to get a rocking chair and move a rug from downstairs to her bedroom. The rocking chair has been delegated to Brad.  I had picked one out from IKEA but he did not think it was comfortable enough and vetoed it. So I decided that this one one task I would leave entirely up to him...about a month ago. Thus far a chair has not been bought, mentioned (unless I bring it up), or even looked at.

I'm guessing this will be a "baby has arrived and we need to stop and pick one up on the way home" type of thing.  Which is especially annoying since he's had over a month to research and buy a stupid chair. I don't understand how the one tiny task I delegate to him has not taken precedence over everything else.  I have even gotten his mother to start calling and asking if he found a chair yet.

Ok enough of that extremely pregnant lady vent...

Enough about fake contractions and a frustrating rocking chair situation.  I'll just think about the nursery and all the hard work we put into it.  Bean's godmother and I painted the nursery white (from a robins egg blue). Brad's mother and I made the crib bedding. I made the owl mobile and the curtains. I ordered the vinyl from a cute Etsy shop and it took almost all day one Sunday to put that up. Brad put together the crib and dresser. He also put up the shelving for me, and hung the pictures.

This baby better come soon...

Tis the Season...

...The cold and flu season that is! Yup, 8 1/2 months pregnant and my husband someone decided to share a lovely cold.  Not exactly sure who the culprit is as I've been trying to stay away from any and all hacking, coughing, sniffling, etc no matter who is doing it. Alas, it was not meant to be. 

Despite the temptation to run to our now well stocked medicine basket, I must occasionally remind myself to refrain.  Usually this weakness occurs after a particularly bad coughing fest or when my throat feels like it's on fire in the morning. But, baby doesn't have any need for Theraflu or NyQuil so by default neither do I. 

On another note, we made it through "The Season."  11 Christmases later and we are officially done buying presents, wrapping, grumbling to ourselves, visiting family, stuffing our faces, watching hubby enjoy a drink, and chatting with people we might see only once a year. 11 Christmases you say...seems a bit excessive right?  Well let me break it down for you.  Hubs and I both come from divorced families so...

• That's 2 separate parent Christmases for me, plus 1 set of grandparents still living. Also my brother spent Christmas with his wife's family this year so they hosted a small get together for immediate family the weekend before. That makes 4 Christmas celebrations on my side.
• Hubs has 2 seperate parent Christmases as well, plus 3 sets of grandparents (divorce again) still living. That makes 5 Christmas celebrations on his side. 
• We are fortunate enough to live in a fun neighborhood that hosts a Progressive Christmas Dinner night complete with a Toys for Tots drive. Since we are fairly new to the neighborhood we couldn't say no to this one. 
• We have one group of friends (husbands' man-friends from high school & all the wives) that all decided to have a get together this year. We definitely didn't want to miss that as it was probably the most fun and there were NO presents involved, just lots of food and alcohol

So, there you have it. Now these 11 Christmases were not the only things happening in the month of December. We do have a life to get on with in-between all this holiday cheer.  We had birthday parties (mine, a friends daughter, my sister in law, my soon to be step-mother, a cousin, etc.), doctors appointments to see our little Bean grow, baby classes, classes for work, etc. So you can see where I might have fallen short of holiday cheer this year.

But where is the cutoff point? It's not like we can refuse to attend the parties our grandparents are hosting. This time of year is really the only time we are able to visit these family members. What if it's their last? And you can't say no to parents; the guilt trip that never ends isn't worth it no matter how tempted I get. So that puts us down to a bare minimum of about 8 a year. What are we going to do when Bean is here?  Granted she'll be almost a year by next Christmas but HOLY COW! what a nightmare.

Thankfully December is now behind us...and we survived.  Now to get through January and these colds. Bring on February and Bean! 

Nightmare before Christmas

Oh geezzz! Per usual I've got some catching up to do. Well, as I expand, I need to find clothing to cover the bump. Halloween has always been one of my favorites. So when I realized that I couldn't make use of the box of costumes I have stored I was both sad and a little panicked.

I went searching for something cute and fun that I could wear and not feel like a pumpkin. I found it on Etsy in the form of an iron on.

This little gem arrived about a week after I ordered it. I used a pre-pregnancy shirt and, because we're expecting a little lady, I added a bow to the skeleton baby's' head later that night.  I had the hubby take this picture with my phone so I know that quality is not the best. But, I was so excited to have a cute Halloween costume that I didn't think to demand he capture the moment with our nice camera.

Glowing Skin...Where are you?

There is a falsity in the pregnancy community that I need to dispel!  Just because you are pregnant does not mean, I repeat, does not mean that you will have that glowing beautify pregnancy skin. 

Because of all the hormones running around through your body during this wonderful time many women (including myself) experience acne, dry skin patches, changes in your skin type (oily to dry vs dry to oily).  It's exhausting!  Trying to keep up with all the changes, trying to take in all in stride, takes a tole on your skin and vanity.