Posts Tagged ‘BYOG’

Everyone loves a good labor story.

Or a bad labor story.

At least I do!

Here is how it (or she) went down…

My due date was September 20th. But since all my babies have come really early or really late, I wasn’t counting on a due date baby. All I knew I wanted was an even number birth date… because all my kiddos were born on an even number. Ideally the 18th or the 20th because my others are 14, 16 & 22 so it would fill in the gaps.

OCD much?

The night of the 20th I started having some contractions. The kind you can’t sleep through. I got up at 2am (on the 21st, darn it!) and fished out What to Expect When You’re Expecting to see if I really was in labor.

Even though I’ve done this 3 times before, I wasn’t sure. The last thing I wanted to do was get all the kiddos to their respective babysitters then not really be in labor.

Darn logistics.

At 3am I realized it was the “real thing” and woke Hot Hubby up to start loading the car and waking the kiddos. Oh, and I did my hair.

Naturally.

The contractions were horrible.

After hearing horror stories of 4th babies coming on the front lawn and because my contractions were so flippin’ painful AND right on top of each other, I was convinced the baby was going to come on the way to the hospital.

Which if everything turns out great, is an awesome story to tell, BUT if it doesn’t then…

I don’t even want to think about it!

Finally we are on the road just after 4 in the morning and my husband stops at the first stoplight and I’m like, “I’m DYING. There is no one around. Just go!!”

We ran like 30 lights.

AND someone made a wrong turn on the way.

Seriously.

We get to the hospital and go into the wrong entrance… oops.

After a bit of trekking, complaining (on my part)  and wheelchair swiping (on hot hubby’s part). We made it to the right floor (yes, floor) and checked in. It’s about 5am.

I just “know” I’m at 9 or 10 centimeters and if I don’t get to the room quick there will be a baby on the gross hospital floor.

They check me (ahem), and I’m 4 centimeters.

“You have got to be freaking kidding me!!!!?!?!?!?!?!???!?!?!”

I cried.

Then they took me to my room and checked me again.

6 centimeters in like 20 minutes.

I was a little more encouraged.

Then I closed my eyes and visualized blooming flowers and all the ridiculous things the tree huggers tell you to think about while my Hot Hubby whispered in my ear that “we will be holding our new baby soon.”

I looked like h-e double hockey sticks.

I didn’t do my make-up… big mistake considering all the pictures taken.

I was super quiet and kept thinking I was talking to my family (I have a lot of peeps in the room with me) but I wasn’t.

Odd.

Looking back at pictures I got to see what my death vigil would look like…

(sis and cousin)

Then after only 2 hours in the hospital and 20 seconds of pushing I was indeed holding my sweet new baby.

Pretty surreal.

A girl – Tessa Pearl 8 lbs 15.3 oz.

(I just say 9 lbs, that’s OK right? The Dr said if she wouldn’t have pooed right after she came out she would have been at least 9…)

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Tell me you have posted a birth story on your blog too!!

Leave the link to your birth post in the comments because I wanna read it.

REALLY!

I’m nursing all the time and I can’t type while I do it (yet) but I can read.

PS

I’m wearing a BYOG from my beautiful-talented-in-real-life-friend Andrea. Check out the site.

Today’s guest post is my IRL buddy Andrea from BYOG. Remember the Labor and Delivery Gown I wore 3 weeks ago? She is the mastermind behind the fashion!

Marjorie Priceman how to Make a Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A.

My son (who had just graduated Kindergarten) brought this book home from the library last Summer mixed in with Star Wars comics and some gross out science books. I actually think he threw this one in by mistake or maybe he liked the illustration on the cover? This book isn’t just about baking. It is more a lesson in history, geography, chemistry and a tour of the United States. The story follows a little girl who goes on an adventure to find everything she needs to make a cherry pie. She travels to New Mexico to find clay to make her bowl, then Pennsylvania to gather coal for the pie pan while exploring National Monuments and gathering historical facts along the way. My husband was trying to encourage my son to read this book (or any book for that matter!) As an incentive for finishing the book, he promised they would make the Cherry Pie together when they were finished with the book. That did it! Noah was off and reading! I glanced at the recipe inside the book (which called for fresh or canned sour cherries and homemade pie crust ) and seriously had my doubts. I then pictured myself rolling out the dough with a rolling pin…do I even own a rolling pin? They finished the book on a Tuesday and the next day were off to the Farmer’s Market to buy cherries…a lot of cherries! I have never made Cherry Pie from scratch. O.K. who am I kidding? I’ve never made a cherry pie! I was wondering how they were going to get the pits out of all those cherries and how I would get the stains out of their shirts when they were done? Turns out there is a tool for that (the pits…not the cherry stains!) and that was part of the fun of making the pie…boy’s like anything that involves using tools.

I felt a little guilty for doubting their father/son baking skills as I watched them carefully place the lattice crust across the top of the pie and pop it in the oven. They did it without any help and only left a category 3 mess in the kitchen. I have to say…when this pie was baking, the whole house was filled with the amazing aroma of real cherry pie! Not the kind that starts from a can! I opened all the windows to entice our neighbors as they purposely unknowingly do to us all Summer long with their billowing BBQ’s. Yeah, that’s right, we may not have a fancy grill but, we bake cherry pies…from scratch! We couldn’t wait to try it and my husband Noah was so proud of his accomplishment. This book has definitely become a Summer tradition in our house. I am also happy to say that my son who had to be forced bribed coaxed to read a book last year is now reading non-stop and loving it! Like most boys, he is a hands on learner. Having an activity to go along with the story and a map to follow helped keep his attention and reinforced what he had read. 

GrEeN iDeA…

I love how the book explores how each item is made and where it comes from (before it magically appears at our local Target.) If we train ourselves and teach our kids to really think about the energy and resources it takes to make each common household item, these items will become less disposable and we will hopefully create less waste or find a way to repurpose things.

Recommended reading level for this book is ages 4-8 but, younger kids will enjoy the colorful illustrations and can follow the map inside too. If you read the book…don’t forget to make the pie and sprinkle a little sugar on top. Once you try fresh, homemade cherry pie, you will never waste calories on the canned version again!

Marjorie’s other books…

How to make an Apple Pie and See the World

Hot Air: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Hot-Air Balloon Ride

Thanks Andrea!!

See what me, Andrea and Donna (from Blessed Nest) have cooking over at MOMday Morning this Month!

I’m just giddy about announcing our MOMday Morning winner!!

 Maggie is 5 months preggers and has a 2-year-old boy! She needs our awesome products ASAP!!
A bit about her blog:  

She has some great giveaways going right now:

You’ll have a chance to win the next MOMday Morning (Monday, 6/7/10) over at Blessed Nest Perch!

But not just any giveaway…
The prizes are our awesome products:
one B.Y.O.G. Labor and Delivery Gown, one Blessed Nest Nesting pillow, one Eli’s Lids Trucker Lid, one Eli’s Lids Snowboarder Lid and one Eli’s Lids tee!!
AND $75!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Why?!?!? (you ask)

You just have to be you… which I think YOU do so well!

 Our featured blogger this month is none other than the founder of Blissfully Domestic,  Allison Worthington! 

She started a personal blog, Mrs. Fussypants, in 2007 and things have really snowballed for this lovely Mom Blogger! She is the co-founder of the oh-so-popular BlissDom Conference, and the author of the digital book, The Smart Girls’ Guide to Twitter. If that doesn’t keep her busy enough she has 5 sons and a step daughter to boot!! A recent post I love of hers is about choosing to keep a personal blog public. 
(Thx for your input Allison! We really appreciate you. Smooches, The MOMday Morning Gals)

Be refreshed for MOMday Morning http://bit.ly/bTg6vM Enter to win awesome prizes AND $75 cash from @BlessedNest @BYOG & @ElisLids

<a target=”_blank” href=”http://elislids.blogspot.com/2010/05/momday-morning.html”><img border=”0″ width=”176″ alt=”MOMday Morning” src=”http://www.elislids.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/momdaybutton.jpg” height=”175″/></a>

***Giveaway open 2 weeks! Ends MOMday (Monday) May 24th 9:00pm PST***