Preparing for the big day

So we had a busy weekend, like always.  The most fun part was going to the parade in Brookside and doing a little pre-holiday celebrating.  Kentaro, Chiaki, Amanda and I had a great time watching the parade, having a drink, and making new friends.

New Friends

I remember one of my favorite St. Patrick’s Day was my Junior year in College, when my roommate Emily, and I had driven to Florida for Spring Break.  We spent the day laying out on the beach, drinking beer, and then we went to a restaurant and ate some delicious fish and chips with my Grandma Jenni and one of her friends.  Later that evening we went to an Irish Pub and met an Irish guy, a guy from England, and another foreigner who were in the area going to the local flight school.   They of course were celebrating to the extreme, and were highly entertaining!  What is your favorite St. Pat’s Day memory (or do you have a favorite)?

We also got our taxes done this weekend.  Luckily we don’t owe the government, so that is also a reason to celebrate.

Taxes

My sister,  Jendra, who is a Sophomore in high school, has been staying with us this week.  She is on spring break, and so is Izzy’s sitter, so luckily Jendra was able to come and stay and can play with Izzy this week.  I really think they both are enjoying the company, and I think Izzy is glad to sleep-in in the mornings.  She takes after her momma on that one!  Grant is with his dad this week, so it is just the girls hanging.

This Friday, my mom (Granny Donna), Jendra, Grant and I will be attending Disney on Ice.  I remember going to see something very similar when I was little (5 or 6).  I’m really looking forward to it, and I hope Grant will remember doing this when he gets old too!

Disney on Ice

Well, enjoy your St. Pat’s Day for 2010, and maybe drink a green beer or two!

I wanted to note on her that I would love to become a famous photographer – well not even famous, just a good one… and if I did, maybe I would get one of these bags:  http://www.haveanepiphanie.com/home/2010/2/28/epiphanie-give-away.html?postSubmitted=true&currentPage=23#comments

Anyway life has been going good for us.  Izzy is growing and growing, and growing.  She is smiling and giggling more and more.  Her most recent activities include sucking her thumb, smiling at everyone that smiles at her, and if eating, she will stop and look if someone starts talking to me.  Let’s just say that Izzy is busy!

Grant is growing as well.  We recently redid decorated his room with star wars stuff, and he is such a great big brother.   We are planing on making a few trips this summer…before he starts kindergarten (YIKES my baby is growing up!), and he will most likely play soccer or football in the fall.

Star Wars Room

As for Chris and I, we are great too.  He recently took me on a surprise weekend where we went on a wine tasting, ate at a fancy restaurant for dinner, stayed in a bed & breakfast, went hiking, cave exploring, visiting, and relaxing.  It was wonderful to get some “us” time.

Snow Hike

Wine Country

Izzy Foot

Proud Big Brother

Little Izzy Burrito

Yeah, I'm cool like that

Brother wouldn't share his cookie...

The layout could turn into a disaster from here… disaster avoided!

Momma's get tired too.

3 am is really early

I'll always have daddy wrapped around my finger!

Izzy - minutes old

She gave me a garment and told me to change into it, and told Chris to put our stuff in the corner.  At some point He changed into his “father scrubs” too, but I kinda lost track of time at this point.  After I changed I got on the bed, and the nurse put the monitors on me to watch the baby’s heartbeat, and to watch my contractions.  Another nurse was checking my cervix and she stated ” She’s COMPLETE” (meaning I was fully dialiated at 10 cm) and then all I remember is about 15 people rushing in and doing things…getting things ready, and calling the Dr., and who knows what else.  It was kinda crazy in there, not only because I was ready and didn’t really give them time to be ready for me, but also because it was at shift change time, so new nurses were coming in and the ones that were there when I arrived were trying to leave.  Again this annoying nurse was telling me to breath, not to push yet, and to open my eyes.  Two other nurses were asking several important questions that Chris, luckily, was able to answer, as I was concentrating on having a baby, and two other nurses were trying to put an IV in…very unsuccessfully, but after the 3rd try, (two on one hand, one on the other) they finally were successful. (I do kinda remember this because one of the nurses was telling me to hold still and not to make a fist with my hand.  I don’t know if the fist was to help me deal with the contractions, or if it was to imply I was going to punch her if she stuck me again!) .  I also was kindly trying to answer the nurse that I was breathing, and me having my eyes open had no real affect on the birth process.  ***side note*** I often close my eyes when in pain.  If I can’t see it, then it is not as bad as it feels!

By this point the Dr had arrived, and was finishing up getting his scrubs on.  I ever so kindly asked him to hurry and break my water, as it had not broken yet, and I was enduring very, very strong contractions at this point.  He did break my water, and I remember feeling some relief…like the pressure had subsided for a min.  He checked me again and said that I went down to a 9 cm and for me not to push.  I informed him that I was ready to push and after the next contraction he was convinced that I knew my body better than he did, and he agreed that I should give it a try.

So I pushed.  The Dr coached me and Chris.  He told Chris to help me hold the back of my thighs, and said if we were going to get this done, we were going to do it right.  He had me push on the contractions, helping to work with my body.  In between a contraction, he was giving me directions on what to do on the next one… He was going to have me push a little, then pause, then push a little, then pause.  So that is what we did on the next contraction, and then the head was out. On the next contraction the rest of the body came out, and Chris told me we had a little girl!  She didn’t scream right away (as they were suctioning out her mouth, nose, and wiping her eyes down) but then I heard the most amazing little scream I think I have ever heard.  Our baby girl was saying Hello for the very first time.  I had said (at some point earlier…prob like 15 min earlier) that I wanted immediate skin to skin contact, so they put her on my tummy, and I was able to see and hold our beautiful baby girl as Chris cut the cord.  3 contractions while pushing was all it took. I held her for a min while I delivered the placenta, then they took her over to the cart (still in the room, really close to my bed) where they weighted her, got her length, did foot prints, etc.  Chris was watching her, and remembered he had the camera and took some pictures of her.

Izzy getting weighed for the fist time...it says 7lbs and 14 oz.

The Dr. finished cleaning me up and shook my hand and said congratulations and that I did a great job.  The nurse brought the baby back to me, and asked if we had a name.  I said we needed to talk about it for a min, and so she went out to do some paperwork, and I fed her for the first time

Izzy's first feeding

while Chris and I discussed the name.  I really liked the name Danica, but Chris didn’t.  We had kinda already decided if it was a girl she would be Isabella (which is a name I have liked for a long time), but  I brought up Danica again.  We finally decided on Isabella.  We took a bit longer talking about middle names, but we both really liked the idea of her having my middle name, so it was to be:  Isabella Renee Prewitt.

Welcome to the world our new little one!

The newest Prewitt

Sweet Baby Izzy

So after we stuffed ourselves at the American Royal BBQ, we headed home.  We had a busy Saturday and we didn’t want to be tired for it.  It started out with breakfast, and then we headed out to Olathe.  One of Grant’s friends from school was having a birthday party at Pump-it-up, and of course we were invited.  We headed out that way, and as Grant ran around with the other kids Chris and I sat and visited with other parents, and discussed things among ourselves.  After the party we decided to head down to Gardner to check on Kelly and her new house in Gardner.  She was excited to see us, and Chris looked at an issue she had with her ice maker, and Grant ran around, and I mostly sat around.  I did sit on the stairs and wipe down the spindals, but not much more than that.  I mostly tried to stay off my feet.  We ended up going to Nana K’s house and got another huge load of Kelly’s stuff and brought it back to her house.  Shortly after they unloaded the van, we headed out again, for Grant’s 2nd birthday party for the day.  It was at a health center that was just down the street from my work.  After that party we headed home to eat dinner and relax.  We had been in the habit of talking with Grant every night what we would do if the baby came that night, but we never had to use our ideas.  Until that night.

That night was not exactly the most restful sleep I had ever had.  Like many other nights, I tossed and turned, and once I finally fell asleep, I had to get up and go to the bathroom.  After that I finally got comfortable enough to fall back asleep, and then I was awoken from a subtle pain in my lower back and lower abdomen.  I figured it was braxton hicks pains, and so I changed positions and rearranged my pillows and tried to settle back down into sleep.  Soon I felt the same thing again.  I figured maybe if I walked around and got a drink of water it would settle them down a bit, so I got up and went into the living room.  I got a drink and started watching tv.  This had happened before….where I was awoken in the night with some pains and I had gotten up and watched TV and relaxed on the couch, and they would go away.  This time wasn’t the case.  As I watched Tv, I noticed that the pains were not really subsiding.  I decided to sit on our birthing ball, and hoping that the rocking movements and positioning of my body on the ball (helping to open the hips) would help to relieve some pressure.  I did this for about an hour (from 3am to 4am) and by 4, the pains were not going away, so I decided to wake Chris and let him know I was having some pains.

We had discussed before hand, and I asked him how early he wanted me to wake him if I started going in to labor in the middle of the night.  I wasn’t sure if he wanted to sleep as much as he could, or if he wanted to be up early with  me.  He said that he wanted to be up, that way  he could get stuff together, and send emails to his office and such.  When my pains didn’t go away, I got him up.  I walked in the bedroom and sat on the bed.  He had somewhat stirred when I turned the hall light on, and when I opened the door to our bedroom, it shone right in his face, and this kinda woke him.  I let him know I had been up for about an hour and that I was having some contractions, but I wasn’t sure if it was the real deal or not, but I wanted to give him plenty of time just in case it was.  He decided to get up.  He was pretty slow moving at first. He came in living room with me and after he decided he didn’t like the tv show I was watching, he got up and started some coffee and did the dishes.  After this I was still having contractions and they were getting more painful at this point, and he decided to send an email to his office.  I told him that I still wasn’t sure if it was the real deal, so not to get angry if we ended up going back to bed.  He was ok with that, and after he sent his email, he jumped in the shower and started getting our stuff to put in the van in case we needed to go to the hospital.

All during this time I was having contractions.  I’m not sure when I decided it was the real deal, but I know that several times I would lean (face forward, palms against the wall, knees slightly bent out, and simi-squatting) against a wall, and breathing through the contractions. Some were painful, and some were less painful. Around 5 am I decided that I wanted to get in the shower and let the warm/hot water relax me, and keep me warm.  I decided that we should also start timing the contractions to see if we needed to think about going to the hospital or what.  Another thing we needed to arrange for was Grant.  He was soundly sleeping through this whole ordeal, and unaware he was to about to be a big brother in some unknown amount of time.  Chris started timing my contractions, using an online program he found where you just click the button when one starts and when it stops.  They seemed to be about 1 min in length, and anywhere between 1 – 3 min apart.  I don’t know why, but that didnt scare me that they were that close together.  I guess I was just expecting that it would take alot longer because I was in labor with Grant for about 20 hrs.  When I got out of the Shower I was having full blown, hard contractions.  I had Chris push in on my hips while I was leaning towards the wall (stance I explained earlier).  This did help some.  Chris called Grant’s dad around 6 and let him know we were going into labor, and that he should come get Grant.

The next hour or so is kinda hazy.  I remember Chris getting Grant up and me giving him a hug.  Chris was explaining to him that his dad was on the way to pick him up because we were going to the hospital soon to have the baby.  After I gave Grant a hug and kiss and told him I loved him, he wanted to hug the baby too.  It was soooo cute!  Grant’s dad showed up around 6:30 and picked him up.  They said they didn’t have much going on, but that they would probably go to Church.  I think I told them we would call, but I’m not exactly sure.  Chris probably said we would be in touch with them later to let them know the status and what not.  After they left,  I told Chris we needed to go to the hospital. He finished putting stuff in the van, and I got shoes on and we locked up the house and headed out.  I remember having really hard contractions on the way to the hospital, and glad that it was only like a 5 min drive.  Chris called the Dr to let her know we were on our way in.  We were lucky because our new Dr was on call that weekend.  However, shifts were changing at 7, and she was already on her way home.  She called another Dr that was closer and he started to head in.

So we got to the hospital between 6:45 and 6:50 am.  We went to the emergency room entrance, and luckily there was a parking spot available.  For some reason, I didn’t want him to drop me off and go park, so I parked with him and we walked in.  The lady at the ER check in was chatting it up with a janitor when we got there, and she called maternity for us.  I had one or two pretty hard contractions while we waited, and she started saying that she wasn’t a nurse and not to have the baby there, to hold it in and wait to get to maternity.  She was asking Chris what we were going to do with the labor ball we brought in, and she was saying something about saying clear of me when the baby was coming, and making some other type of comments, but I wasn’t listing, as I was having strong painful contractions.

more to come…

It was a busy weekend.  The first weekend of October, 2009, and no baby yet.  I was due to have the baby on September 27…and we had passed that date, almost by a week.  When we went to the new Dr. on the 28th, she was more than willing to enduce if we wanted to.  We had discussed it and even set up a date to go in, but after we got home I was thinking that I wanted to wait and see if the baby would come on it’s own.  I hadn’t even been a week late yet, and I started thinking what if the baby wasn’t ready yet, or what if they had the conception date wrong, and it would be way to early.  I decided to wait another week, and set up an Dr. appointment for that Monday, October 5th.   Dr. Hensley wanted to do an ultrasound and check the fluid levels and such, and make sure everything inside was still ok with me being late.

I’m not sure if I told you about it, but my old Dr, Dr. Mou, her practice was closing at the end of the month (end of  Sept).  The oldest partner of her practice was retiring, so the practice was closing and Dr. Mou and the other dr were moving to different practices.  Dr. Mou told us about it early Sept, but she was expecting the baby to come early so she wasn’t that concerned about it.  She did suggest us looking into an alternate Dr. just incase, but she was very convinced that baby would be here before the end of the month.  As the time got closer she also thought she would know the new practice she would be moving too, and both Chris and I thought we would just go ahead and use her at her new practice if possible.

The appointment before our last one with her she still didn’t know what new practice she was going to, so I figured I better get a back-up plan.  Our good friend Amanda, and one of our other friends’ wife, both had use Dr. Amsterdam at Rockhill Women’s Care, and consequently I had consider using her when we first found out we were expecting, but had gone with Dr. Mou because we had gotten high recommendations from one of Chris’ friends at work.  Anyway, I called RWC and got the information to have my file transferred to there and told them the situation.  At my last appointment with Dr. Mou (on Sept 22nd) I was dialiated to a 3cm and appx 70% to 80% effaced.  She was sure I would have the baby by my due date of Sept 27th, so she did not schedule another appointment.  Well, my due date came and went and on the 27th I called the office to see if I could get an appointment, the office was no longer accepting calls, and I was not able to leave a message.  I was aware that the office was closing at the end of the month, but I was kinda offended that she didn’t try to get intouch with me or anything.  I did get a letter from her sometime during the first or second week in October, telling me she had moved practices and all the contact info, but I had already had the baby by then, and gotten a new Dr.

So when my files were transferred to RWC, I was expecting to see Dr. Amsterdam.  However, she was out on vacation on the 28th when I needed to go in, so Dr. Honsey was able to see me (another doc at RWC).  When Chris and I first met her, first thing I though was that she was young… but she seemed to know her stuff, and she was way nice.  We both appreciated her willingness to accept a patient that was due at any min, and how great she was at answering any questions and working with us regarding the pregnancy and everything. We also thought it was cool when she pulled out her Iphone and used an “App” to look up some information regarding due dates and such.  I’m glad we switched to RWC, and that we got her as our Dr.  I think I will stay with her.  Another great thing is that her office is right across the hall from the pediatrics office that I take both Grant and Izzy to.

Anyways, so it was now Friday October 2nd and no baby.  Our friends, The Clarks, were entering in the American Royal BBQ cook off, and it was that weekend, so we decided to go down and enjoy some great food and good friends.  Last year, Allie, Ben Clark’s wife, had been pregnant, and she ended up having the baby on that same weekend, so this was also a birthday party for Joe, their little boy, who was turning one.

American Royal BBQ/ Joe Clark's 1st B-Day 09

AR BBQ 2008

So we had a great time at the royal, both this year and last year!

To Be Continued….

40 wks

So I’m expanding just a bit, and I’m pretty ready to meet the little jumping bean that has been having a square dancing party in my uterus for the last 9 months.  But I guess s/he is just not ready.

So last Dr appointment (Sept 22nd) I was at 39 weeks, 3cm dialiated, and appx 70% effaced.  The Dr. was convinced that I would have the baby by my due date (Sept 27th), which we all know I didn’t.  On Monday, when the baby had not come, I called our Dr only to find out that they were no longer accepting calls unless it was an emergency, and that they were using the last few days of the month to clean out the office.  I believe I told you that the senior partner in her practice was retiring and that is why they were closing her practice.  She thought she would be in her new practice by the time we needed her, but I guess the lawyers were taking a lot of time getting things together, so we never heard back.  Anyways, both Chris and I really like the new Dr we saw yesterday.  I was able to get an appointment, and even though she was kinda young, she was very sympathetic towards our situation and very willing to work with us for whatever we wanted.  She checked me out and said I was at a 4 cm and about 60-70% effaced.  She said if I was ready she was ok w. scheduling an induction, and looked over her schedule to see when she was oncall for Labor and Delivery and gave us some dates and such.  She stepped out so I could get dressed again, and Chris and I talked about it, and decided to set something up for either Thursday (Oct 1) or Saturday (Oct 3).  However, on the way home we talked about it some more, and I decided I wanted to wait another week to see if baby would come on it’s own.   I have made another appointment for Monday (Oct 5th) to see the Dr, and she will do an ultrasound to see the baby, measure the fluids, and monitor the baby and make sure little bean is doing ok in there.  We are very excited for this next appointment…and even more excited to try out some acupressure points that my chiropractor gave me.  Maybe they will kick things into gear?!

Acupressure

Now, here are a few interesting tips I found…thanks to the all knowing internet!:

1. Each year in the United States, there are approximately six million pregnancies. This means that at any one time, about 4% of women in the U.S. are pregnant.^a
2. Only 25% of couples actively trying to conceive will experience pregnancy within the woman’s first cycle. However, 90% of couples will achieve pregnancy within the first 12 months of actively trying.^a
3. Approximately 10% of pregnancies will end in miscarriage. Many miscarriages often occur before a woman even knows she is pregnant.^a
4. Each year, 1.2 million women in the U.S. choose to end their pregnancies through early termination.^a

1. About 3% of all pregnant women will give birth to twins. This rate is an increase of nearly 60% since the early 1980s. However, 17% of pregnant women over 45 will give birth to twins.^b
2. Nigeria has the highest twinning rate in the world at around 4.5%. Some experts attribute this number to the large consumption of yams in Nigeria.^b
3. Just under 500,000 babies are born each year in the U.S. to teenage mothers.^a
4. After delivery, approximately 13% of U.S. women are diagnosed with post-partum depression.^b
5. The average size of a full-term baby in the U.S. is 8 pounds. This is an increase from an average size of 6 pounds 30 years ago.^a
6. The largest surviving baby ever born weighed 14 pounds, 13 ounces and was nearly 23 inches in length.^c
7. Less than 1% of women in the United States choose to deliver their babies at home, while 30% of Dutch women opt for home births.^a
8. Approximately one in three babies in the United States is now delivered by cesarean section. The number of cesarean sections in the U.S. has risen nearly 46% since 1996.^a
9. According to a Time Magazine article published in 1945, the longest pregnancy on record is 375 days (as opposed to the usual 280 days). Amazingly, the delivered baby was only 6 pounds, 15 ounces.^e
10. The highest number of surviving children from a single birth is seven. Worldwide, there are currently three sets of surviving septuplets: one in Iowa, U.S.; one in Washington, D.C., U.S.; and one in Saudi Arabia.^c
11. Fewer than 10% of babies are born on their exact due date, 50% are born within one week of the due date, and 90% are born within two weeks of the date.^a
    
12. Pregnant women at a healthy weight should eat an extra 300 calories per day. This amount is roughly equivalent to a serving of yogurt and half of a bagel.^d
13. While not all pregnant women will crave pickles and ice cream specifically, pregnancy cravings are rooted in the body’s extra need for minerals and comfort-inducing serotonin.^d
14. Despite several rumors to the contrary, microwave ovens do not pose a threat to an unborn fetus.^a
15. During pregnancy, a woman is more likely to experience bleeding gums and nosebleeds due to hormonal changes that increase blood flow to the mouth and nose.^d
16. Milk production and lactation can actually begin as early as the second trimester in some women.^d Carrying a baby “high” or “low” is dependent on a woman’s body type and is not a reliable predictor of the baby’s gender.^d
17. Approximately 70% of expectant mothers report experiencing some symptoms of morning sickness during the first trimester of pregnancy.^a
18. Pregnant women usually experience a heightened sense of smell beginning late in the first trimester. Some experts call this the body’s way of protecting a pregnant women from foods that are unsafe for the fetus.^d
19. Many women experience thicker and shinier hair during pregnancy due to hormonal changes and consumption of extra vitamins. New hair volume gained during pregnancy typically begins to fall out after three months post partum.^d
20. While the feet do not actually get longer or wider during pregnancy, most women do gain up to half a shoe size, due to increased fluid volume in the foot.^d

Some of these no longer apply because of recent developments, like OCTOMom and the lady who had the 19 lb baby a few weeks ago.  Take them or leave them, all interesting none the less!

39 weeks

So we had our 39 wk appointment on 9/22/09.  I got off work early, picked up peanut, and headed home to meet up with Chris.  Becky came over to stay with peanut, and Chris and I headed out to the Dr’s office.  Peanut and Becky had plans to go to the library, and before we left I set him up with a snack he was finishing before they left, and I handed over the  car seat and instructions how to buckle him in to Becky.

We got to the Dr’s office, and I had to pee (as usual) pretty intensely.  I gave my name and went back to give a sample.  Right when I was done, they were ready to see me, so I called Chris out of the waiting room and we went back to the examination room.  On the way we stopped by the scale so I could get weighed, and once in the room she took my blood pressure, got the sheet out, and said the Dr would be right in.

I'm reaching elephant status....

Waiting for Dr to come in examination room

Finally Dr. Mou came in to see us.  She asked about the baby movement, and looked over my swollen feet, and reviewed the blood pressure numbers the nurse had taken.  Everything was fine.  Next was measuring my belly and listening for the heartbeat.  She got the measuring tape out, and said that it was going to be a big baby…. I’m measuring 41.5 cm.  Next she got the goo out and put some on my tummy and got the heartbeat listing tool out and rubbed around on my belly till she heard the heart beat…strong and loud, running 140′s to 150′s.  Next she did the internal exam (where the good stats are for how I’m progressing towards labor).  I was dilated to a 3,  still 70% effaced (this is describing how thinned out my cervix is) and she said the baby was down there, and she could feel the head.  She asked about us wanting to induce, and I said I would want to wait to see if the baby came naturally first.  She agreed, and then we talked about her moving practices.  The senior partner in her office is retiring at the end of this month, and she will be looking for a new office to work out of.  She has found one, and is getting everything set up, but there is alot left for the lawyers to do, and until all the legalities are finished she can’t really say where she is going to be if I don’t deliver by the end of the month.  I have already found a different doctor, just in case, but when we went to leave I asked if we should set up an appointment for next week if the baby didn’t come, and she said that the baby would be here by then, and didn’t set up another appointment.  The nurse we usually have was doing front desk duties, and suggested walking alot to help move the baby along.

So Tuesday night we went and ate Mexican at one of our favorite places, Chelly’s, and Becky & Stephen joined us.  Afterwards we stopped by the house and grabbed Peanut’s bike and our dog, Berry, and then headed to the trail that is behind the shops at 99th & Holmes.  We walked to the East, and found a place where they were extending the trail, making it nice and new.

Indian Creek Trail

Peanut is getting good at riding his bike, and we all had a good time, and the weather was wonderful.  I’m guessing we walked about 1 mile that night.

Yesterday they were having a Wellness fair at my work, and were giving tickets for a drawing for walking around our building, so me and a friend, Dianna (a lady I work with) walked around our building twice in the morning, and then did another loop in the afternoon, walking probably close to 1 to 1.25 miles.  So I am trying.

I’ve had lots of people tell me I look like the baby has dropped, but that really doesn’t help me when it still is not here.  Peanut was two days early (he was due on 7/14/04, but I had him on 7/12/04) so if there is no progress today, and if you believe that history repeats itself, the I’m guessing that maybe tomorrow will be the lucky day???

Here are some pictures to see the progress:

7 wks

27 wks

39 wks

Boy, the transformation is amazing!  It will be hard to remember that it took me 9 mo to get that way, so I’m sure it will take 9 mo to a yr to return.   Wish me luck!

Nursery

As you can see we had the nursery pretty much put together.  We had primed and painted the walls, replaced all the outlets and vent registers, put up a decorative stripe and put the decals on it, and even put crown molding up on the ceiling.  The furniture was coming together as well.  We refinished and painted the dresser you see in the picture above, and put new hardware on it.  My mom got a changing table at a garage sale, and we had sanded it down and repainted it also.  We got the bed put together, and even bought a shelf and got that put together as well.  The empty space you see in the picture above is where my glider rocking chair is to go.  We searched all over for one of these, looking new and used.  New ones are can be very expensive, and used ones can be pretty iffy, but finally we found one for free on Craigslist that was perfect….well, almost:

Glider Rocking Chair w. Ottoman

As you can see, the chair has all the necessary items:  it rocks, has a ottoman that also rocks, is very comfortable, and it has lots of padding.  The wood color is even very nice and light.  I was thinking if we ended up buying new, I would prefer to get a white one to match the rest of the furniture, but this is close enough…especially because it was free.  The one MAJOR issue was the color/ pattern of the pads.  It was an ugly floral pattern with pastel colors, and it did not match.  So when this little jewel came along, I decided it was time to get the sewing machine out and do some Susie home maker projects:  It was time for operation cushion recover.

My Sewing Machine

Jo-Ann’s was having a sale last week on home interior fabric, 50% off.  I had talked to Chris and we decide that a dark color fabric would look good.  Dark brown that is.  I figured it would hide stains easier, and it would match the dark monkeys and the trim on the white stripe around the room.  I also wanted to get enough fabric (if I could afford it, and if there was enough to buy) to make curtains for that room, and the darker the fabric, the better it would be at keeping the light out.

So off to Jo-Ann’s I went.  Chris and peanut dropped me off, and then they went on down to Wal-mart to do some birthday present shopping.  I looked through all the isles of the home interior fabric, and found a few I thought were suitable, but even at 50% off, they were going to be expensive.  I finally decided on one that was regularly $21.99 a yard and got in line.  Once in line, I realized that I had missed a few isles of additional fabrics, and went to check them out.  Right before I got back in line I found another fabric that I liked.  It was the dark brown I was looking for, seemed thicker, and was regularly $6.00 a yard.  When I got up to the lady, I asked her the difference, and then made a decision that the cheaper fabric was better.  Not only was it cheaper, but it was going to be way way more durable, so that is what I got.  So the 12 yards I ended up getting (to cover all the cushions on the chair and to make curtains for both windows in that room, and some extra for mess-ups) was only $36.00!  I was stoked.

Now all I needed was a little guidance, some time and patience, and a get it done attitude, and we would be set.  I called my wonderful Aunt Connie to see if I could come over so she could show me some steps.  I got there and we talked about curtains, and I got an idea of what i wanted, and she semi drew a plan out for me on what I would need to do to get that type of curtain.  I had found a book at the library and we looked through it, but the ones she had made (and had hanging in her house) looked good, and seemed simple, so I decide that is what I would try.

After we had discussed the curtains, it was time to get to work on the glider cushions.

Making Pattern

So the first thing to do is to make a pattern.  My aunt used news paper…which is really easy and almost always on hand.  You take the piece you are wanting to recover, and set it down on the news paper.  If the piece you have is to big for the piece of paper you have, you can just tape another piece to it to make it bigger, or you can use wrapping paper.  Whatever you prefer.  When measuring to cut,  you want to have the pattern come up a bit higher than half way, that way you will have room for your stitch.

Cutting Fabric

Once the pattern is cut, place it on the fabric.  Now even thought the fabric was cut a little big, (you kinda measure as you cut, pulling the paper up to ensure it is big enough) I still would cut the fabric slightly wider than the pattern.  Just me being extra cautious.  So you would put the pattern down, and then cut two of them out of the fabric.

Next you would want to place the two pieces of fabric with the good side in, as your stitch will be on the inside once you turn it inside out.

Good side in

The next part you can do if you want, or not. It is pinning the pieces together before you sew them.  Because I am a beginner (this is only my 2nd project, and the first one was a pillow that I only had to sew 3 sides of) I went a head and pinned the pieces together.  This helped me to keep them together, and to move it as I was sewing.  The thing to remember when pinning is that you want to put the pins in opposite way that you are sewing.  This way the sewing machine will just stitch right over the pin, and it will be easy to pull out.  If you do it the same way (direction) you are sewing, you risk breaking the sewing machine needle, which I hear can get messy!  After pinning comes the sewing!

Pinning

Sewing the pieces together

So the first few stitches sew forward, and then always back stitch over that to help seal it, and then sew forward.  I tried to keep the edge of mine on the 4th line out from the needle, so I think the seam  was like 1/4 or 1/2 a inch in from the edge of the fabric.  Not real sure on the measurements here, but I tried to keep it the same on all the pieces, and I think that is what matters.  So you will want do the same back stitch/ forward stitch thing when you get to your stopping point as well.  Please remember to leave a straight edge open that is large enough to get the cushion in that you are making the cover for!  Once the cover is ready, remove from sewing machine (remove all the long threads) and turn it right side out.

Turning it right side out

Ready for cushion

Once the fabric is right side out, it is ready to have the old cushion shoved into it.  Go ahead and do this, using care as to not rip what you have just sewn!  So you take the cushion and fold it up and shove it in there, and move it around so that it fits just right.

Now the final thing to do after you have the cushion in there, is to stitch up the bottom.  Depending on how much room you have, and if that part will be visible, you can use either the sewing machine, or you can hand stitch it.

After all the hard work, look at what I have created:

finished project!

Now I just need to do the curtains!  Let me kno what you think! (And if you have any questions!)

37 weeks

This is from last week, but I though I would catch you up real quick before my appointment tomorrow.So Last week I had my 37 week appointment.  Chris & I went to the Dr. office, and we did get there on time, but there were a few people ahead of us, so we did have a bit of a wait.  Once back in the office we did the usual:  Give urine sample, get weighed, get BP, and get handed a cover-up.  The nurse stepped out, and I got ready, and then the Dr came in.  We listened to the heart beat (~140 beats p/min), and got measured (~ 39 1/2 cm) and then she did the internal exam.

internal view

This consist of her checking my cervix to feel for dialiation, checking the thickness of the cervix, also known as effacement, and to check to see if the baby has moved down, and if she can feel it.

She did all these and these are my stats as of Sep 8th, 2009:  I was 2 cm dialiated (have to be at 10 to deliver baby) and I was 70% effaced (which means that my cervix is thining in order to let baby move through), and she could feel the baby’s head, so s/he has moved down in the right direction.  She also said that my cervix had moved down a bit, and was more in a convex state, rather than a straight or concave state.  This was also good news.

Besides my feet, fingers, and ankles swelling, and my hands & arms falling asleep while I’m sleeping (pretty annoying because it wakes me up and they are all tingly.  The Dr said it is very common, and just due to the extra fluid my body is retaining, and is kinda like pregnancy – enduced capral tunnel, but all should go away a week or two after delivery) every thinkg is going good.  I get tired if we try to do a lot of things, and I try to stay off my feet as much as possible (helps with swelling too if I can put them up).  BP has been moving around alot, and seems to be excited to make an entrance, but not quites sure if s/he is ready.

I did work on a project over this last week, and I’m going to do a seperate post with my step-by-step instructions on how I did it.  But here is a sneak view:

Ottoman Cushin