Raising Haley

It’s hard to believe that it’s been close to a year since I had a baby (and written in my blog, yikes!) The time seemed to drag from the moment I first found out I was pregnant until the birth, and now my little girl is almost a year old–where did the time go? I know everyone always says to cherish this time when the kids are young because they grow up so fast, but it’s really true! I can remember being up every 2 hours with my little newborn and thinking about how nice it would be when she got a little more independent and could play by herself some and sleep through the night. Now, I have an (almost) 11 month-old who not only sleeps through the night, but crawls, babbles, and just got her first tooth. This past year has been a whirlwind– a mix of joy, insecurities, fears, learning, and most of all love.

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law just had a baby girl themselves, and I’m so excited to meet her and hold her for the first time. They’re so floppy and cuddly at that age. Now, it’s a struggle to get Haley to cuddle with me at all. If she’s REALLY tired, then she can’t do anything but give in and let me hold her. As a newborn, they have no choice I think Patrick’s a little nervous about it though because I’m beginning to get a little baby fever. Despite what he says though, he does want a little boy who will sit and watch Steelers games with him. I don’t understand football as much as I should, and if he gets his little boy, he can grow him up with all the football knowledge he needs to be spouting off statistics by the time he’s 3. And if we end up having all girls, Pat’s determined that one of them will be the first female kicker for the Steelers. He can dream, right?

In the meantime, if things go the way we plan, we’ll hopefully be having #2 sometime next year (God willing). Just as with the first one, I have a feeling it will be new all over again. Having a baby very quickly teaches you that it’s no longer about you. I can’t wake up and decide “what do I want to do today?” as much as I used to, because now there’s a little person that I have to plan around. I can’t sit for hours and watch tv or play games or go out as late as I want. Now, activities are planned around naps and feedings, and thank God for DVR or I’d never get to watch the shows I want to see. But I wouldn’t want it any other way. Having a baby means learning to love, to learn, and how to have patience when you really don’t want to awake at 4 AM. It taught me teamwork, sacrifice, and how to make a song out of changing a stinky diaper, just to see my daughter smile. Parenting is everything I was expecting, and a lot of things I wasn’t. And I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Haley is here!

After what seems like decades of waiting, my little girl made her way into the world on March 3rd, 2009. And people hate me for it. Why? Because I’m that .00001% for whom labor is EASY.

Before you jump to the conclusion that I probably also enjoy walking on fire and eating glass as a fun past time, let me tell you that I’ve never particularly liked pain and I go out of my way to avoid it at all costs. I would almost have to say that pain finds me, due to an unfortunate clumsiness that I’ve inherited as part of my genetic makeup. Thanks mom! While I’ve never broken any bones, at age 3 I had a close encounter with some marble steps that left me with a lovely “U-shaped” scar between my eyebrows. Later in life, while trying to show off my sweet Schwinn skills (try saying that 3 times fast) as a kid, I fell off my bike and acquired a permanant scar on my elbow that looks like Antarctica. I’ve managed to avoid any other major pain in life so far, though I will say that I attract paper cuts like Tatiana Del Toro on American Idol attracts annoying.

That said, I was all prepared for the worst when thinking about the birthing process. I’m one of those people who enjoy watching the baby shows on TLC that depict birth like an all out war: blood, guts, yelling…ice chips. There’s just something intriguing about watching someone bring a life into the world. Unfortunately though, they never show those women who have simple births. I mean, who wants to watch Jane Smith sitting peacefully in the hospital, with her hair and makeup perfectly done no less, push twice and produce the world’s next Gerber poster child? I mean, that’s just not reality right? Birthing is all about some poor sweaty woman who’s been in labor for 36 hours with her hair standing up in all directions, cursing the day her husband ever dared to come near her. Armed with the knowledge of every possible birthing situation, I was ready for any scenario:

1. I am eating lunch at Taco Bell while Patrick is at work. Labor starts quickly while I’m enjoying a delicious soft taco. I can’t make it to the hospital so the guy in charge of burrito assembly delivers the baby and uses his burrito-wrapping skills to swaddle baby. All celebrate with cinnamon twists.

2. Make it to the hospital in time to deliver. Endure 4 days of greuling labor. Awarded entry into Guinness Book of World Records as the “Woman With the Longest Labor Ever Recorded.”

3. Overcome by the lure of Subway’s “Five Dollar Foot Long” song, I begin to drive to the nearest Subway when suddenly, labor starts. Have baby in the car with the aid of a nearby jogger. In gratitude, give jogger the other half of my sub.

4. Go into labor and deliver healthy baby. Doctors accidentally switch baby. Spend the rest of my life in confusion trying to figure out whose looks the baby got.

We were ready, we had to be. I had been steadily dilating since week 25, so we had been warned that labor could start any day.We had the overnight bag packed, the nursery decorated, and enough diapers to rival a Pampers warehouse. I made it to 35 weeks and 2 days, and I was due for another weekly checkup. Like any other morning, I woke up, made phone calls for work, and left for my doctor’s appointment. At my appointment, my doctor checked me and made a surprised face. I was 7 centimeters dilated. For those of you who don’t know, 10 centimeters is the “magic number,” the number you have to hit in order to start pushing. Of course, most people KNOW they’re dilating because they feel contractions. Then there’s me, I was feeling nothing.

The doctor told me to drive to the hospital, saying I would probably have the baby that day or the next. Patrick met me at the hospital and we made our way to labor and delivery where, after being treated like a human pincushion as they inserted my IV, they hooked me up to some machines to monitor contractions. Sure enough, I was contracting without feeling much of anything. My family came and we all sat around and watched movies on TV until it was time for the hard work. The whole time, I’m waiting for heavy contractions to hit me and the cursing to begin, but they never came. Eventually, they asked if I would like an epidural. I am a big supporter of not feeling any pain, so while I didn’t need the drugs, I figure it’s an insult to science NOT to accept these wonderful drugs that were created for laboring women to have a comfortable birth. Even the anesthesiologist asked me if I was feeling any pain because I was so calm; I was a bit of an anomaly to all the nurses and medical staff that day.

After 6 1/2 hours of laying around watching TV and talking to my family, the nurses found that I was 10 centimeters dilated and asked if I would like to start pushing. After 30 minutes of pushing, Haley Nicole McCaffrey was born at 6:44 pm at 6 pounds 2 oz and 18 1/2 inches long, which is pretty darn good for a preemie who’s 4 1/2 weeks early. And she was born in time for me to watch American Idol. What a good kid.

After such a calm, easy pregnancy and delivery, the nurses were amazed at how well everything went. A few of them laughed and told me that they hated me for how easy I had it. They also warned me that I’m the kind of person who goes out there and has 20 kids. Maybe I’ll make Guinness Book of World Records afterall.

33 Weeks and Counting

32 weeks

Originally uploaded by JenSmith1

After I went in for my 25 week check up and was put on bed rest for premature dilation, I have been counting down the weeks until I reach 34 weeks gestation. This is when the doctor says Haley could be safely born (no extended stay in the NICU), just that she would be a smaller baby–this is fine with me since Patrick was born at a hefty 10 pounds 12 ounces. God bless his poor mother who decided to go through a natural birth with that Christmas ham (as I affectionately call my husband.) I’m just hoping that Haley weighs a nice 6 1/2-7 pounds like I did when I was born.

I’m now at 33 weeks with one week to go, and the doc’s say that, while I’m still 2 1/2 cm dilated, I’m holding strong and everything looks really good. If I can make it another week, I’ll be able to go back to work again. It’s exciting but still kind of sad. Working at home definitely has its benefits: I have a 5 second commute, I get to wear PJ’s every day, and I’m in a much more comfortable environment. I do need to build up some kind of aerobic stamina again though. All this sitting around has made me completely out of shape–stairs are now the bane of my existance. It’s bad when your heart continues to beat at an accellerated rate 5 minutes after climbing a flight of stairs.

Haley’s definitely enjoying her stay at Hotel McCaffrey–I’ve gotten much rounder in a short period of time lately. Two weeks ago at my doctor’s appointment, I found out that I gained 3 pounds in a week–hello Christmas ham! I blame the Superbowl…there were too many delicious goodies that I couldn’t pass up! That being said, space is running out in her home. She’s taken on a liking to jabbing me in the sides with either her elbows or knees…I can’t decide which it is, but it’s sharp. There will be times when I’m sitting on the couch and she elbows me in the side and it surprises me so much that I gasp and scare Patrick. Of course, he finds this incredibly hilarious. It’s not so much that it hurts (though it’s not the most comfortable feeling) it’s just really strange to have the distinct feeling that someone inside is trying to stretch out and is taking my entire abdomen with her.

Happy 33 weeks! Let’s try to make it at least one more…

A couple simple projects

I’ve been feeling extra crafty lately. It also helps that I have a baby on the way so that I can focus my creativity into something useful

While in Omaha for a work-related program, I discovered Pottery Barn Kids. I LOVE this store! I can’t afford anything in it, but the patterns are all so vivid and have a “handmade” feel to them. Of course after that I went online and obsessed over all of the cute stuff they have for kids. One thing I really liked was how they used decorative wall letters to add to a room. Since I would much rather duplicate the idea rather than spend $8.00 per letter, I decided to dive right in and make some for Haley.

It was a really simple and affordable project, with the help of pre-cut and painted letters I found at Wal Mart I’m sure there are more stylish fonts to choose from at different craft stores, but unfortunately I live 30 minutes away from Michaels so I made do with what I had. I used white craft paint and filled in any spots that were too light. Then, I used masking tape and made different sizes of lines which I painted over in my nursery colors. I chose chocolate brown, green, baby pink, and white but there are so many color varities that would work. I’ve also seen some pretty creative designs out there, but I chose to keep it simple. After the letters had dried, I used a hot glue gun to attach lengths of chocolate brown ribbon to the back of the letters and tied bows. All that was left was to attach them to the wall with thumb tacks. Ta dah! They really do add to the room.

Close up of one of the letters. They’re not perfect, but I still like them!

We recently bought the Butterfly Meadow crib sheet set at Babies R Us and I absolutely love it. It came with the sheets, comforter and cover, bumper, diaper stacker, and valance.

We washed and put everything together, but because the baby room has 3 large windows, we really couldn’t use the valance. Of course, I hate to waste good crafting potential, so I decided to get creative and make it into something useful.

We are short on space in the room as it is, so I already had an idea to make some kind of hanging pockets for me to put baby essentials in like lotion, wipes, etc. since there’s no more room for shelves and storage containers. The valance presented the perfect opportunity to do just that. It was just the right size, and already came with an easy way to hang them–with curtain rods.

I cut the valance in half to make two pockets, then proceeded to fold and iron my edges where I would need to sew (~1/4 inches from the top.) When that was done, I measured the entire length and used disappearing marker to mark 5 pockets across each. Then, I sewed the pockets and voila! Instant storage solution for a small room! The only expensive part was buying the curtain rods…They were about $10/rod, which wasn’t too bad really. Here’s how they turned out!

Here’s a close-up of the pockets.

I think my next venture will be into the world of baby bibs. I went to Barnes and Noble and used my birthday gift card my mother in law gave me to buy a book called “Sweet Booties!” which has a lot of great baby projects, including cloth blocks, bibs, and clothing. I can’t wait to start!

Preparing for Haley

After weeks of amassing all the things that tiny people need when they come into the world, I think we finally have the basics down. And when I say “down,” I mean we have this down to a science, or maybe a fine art.

My husband and I are all about the “combo’s.” What I mean is that we have discovered the joy of items that can be used for several purposes. Basically, these are items that save us money by being 40 things in one instead of having to buy those 40 things separately. Admit it. You love saving money too. Plus, who wouldn’t love a crib/pasta maker/swingset?

In the convertible items line, we have a Pack n’ Play, which converts from a bassinet to a playpen (which I’ve heard is a taboo word now because it implies imprisonment, but is probably still a better word choice than “kiddie jail thing that we throw you in so you can play with toys and stop screaming at us.”) We also have a dresser/changing table which is great for those short on space. Then there’s my personal favorite: the crib that turns from a crib to a toddler bed, then to a day bed, and finally into a twin bed. Wait, read that again. It’s 4 beds..in one! How great is that? When Haley grows up, she and her husband will have a bed to sleep in. Heck, it will be our wedding gift to her. For the $300 that we spent on this thing, you better believe Haley will be passing this bed down to my grandchildren’s grandchildren. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

That said, it’s been a lot of fun decorating the room with everything and waiting for Haley to make her appearance…which still can’t come soon enough for me, even though I know she has some cooking left to do.

Crib and crib sheets. We decided to go with a white/brown/pink/green kind of theme. Yeah, it’s a lot of colors but it looks good!

Dresser/changing table combo!

Getting creative with what little storage space we have.

I just love this little Willow figurine. My boss gave it to me and it’s one of my favorite things in the room! It even kind of looks like Pat and I.

The rocking chair we just got. It’s sooooo comfy! I sat in there for 4 hours the other day reading the Twilight series

Christmas present fromt he McCaffrey’s. I owe them my soul for this!

The baby shower will be in 2 1/2 weeks, I can’t wait! While we have a lot, there’s so much we still need!

Haley’s 26 Week Photo Op

While I’m in the posting mood, I thought I’d add some more ultrasound pictures. These were from a couple of weeks ago when I was in the hospital being poked and prodded. It just amazes me how big she’s gotten and how much she’s developed! I can hardly believe that I’m going to be holding her in 12 weeks or less….it still seems so far away…

Here’s Haley at only 11 1/2 weeks…

And here she is at 25 1/2 weeks. What a difference!

Stockings

I know Christmas is already over, but because of the circumstances, I didn’t finish these until a couple of days after Christmas so you’ll have to excuse me.

I got on a crafting kick and decided to try my hand at sewing Christmas stockings (I’ve never done anything like it before, there’s a first time for everything!) I put a TON of work into these babies, and I’m actually really proud of how they turned out! Thanks to my wonderful sister in law who has her own amazing blog here I learned how to use my new Singer sewing machine which made the work 10000% easier than hand sewing the entire thing! I did hand sew all of the appliques and lettering though to give it a more “homemade” kind of feel. I even made Haley one so she can use it next year when she’s about 9 months old, I can’t wait!

Not too shabby for my first time huh??

How I Spent My First Married Christmas

First, a belly picture from a 3 or so-ish weeks ago. I have been growing exponentially in the past few weeks…from a recent check up, I’ve gained 18 pounds (which I guess isn’t so bad for almost 7 months) And I thought I would have trouble gaining weight. Hello Holiday season. When this kid is born, I wouldn’t be surprised if the doctors told me that she has gravy in her bloodstream. Every one keeps telling me that I don’t look pregnant from the back, so they proved it by taking a couple of pictures.

I’m almost 27 weeks now, and the books tell me that now is when she starts to pack on the pounds because she’s pretty much done growing lungs and whatnot, so I suppose the roomy apartment my little developing daughter has been living in for the past 7 months is about to turn into a duplex. Despite all things considered, I’m pretty lucky though. I haven’t had any morning sickness, aches and pains, swelling, or unusual cravings for pork chops with strawberry jelly. I’ve also discovered the moment you tell people you haven’t had problems is the moment that something goes wrong.

I’ve been going to the doctor every 2 weeks to monitor my cervix because, as they discovered about 11 weeks into the pregnancy, I have a small cervix. It’s been 16 weeks since the diagnosis, and I have learned several things about this particular diagnosis:

1. Everyone seems to want me to tell them I have had some kind of surgical work done on my cervix because it’s smaller than usual. The same people ask me each time they see me, as if one day I’m going to surprise them and say, “Oh yeah, I remember now! I actually used to be a man. This cervix is just a borrowed one I picked up at the Good Will down the street. Is that unusual?”

2. Even though this condition could potentially push me into an early labor, it’s a pretty darn good time to build up a photo album filled with fetus pictures. I’ve had about 8 or more ultrasounds and gotten pictures each time. The machine is so advanced, they can see the tiniest detail and track her growth journey from sesame seed to pumpkin. One of these times I’m going to ask if they could arrange some kind of background in there with props so we can get Haley posing in front of a winter backdrop for a holiday card.

Despite the 2-week visits to the doctor to load up on ultrasound pics, the whole small cervix thing hasn’t been a problem. Until I said so in an email to a friend about a week ago. I just had to jinx the good luck. The husband and I had plans to visit my inlaws for Christmas in Pittsburgh this year since we spent it with my family last year. When we went in for a routine checkup 2 days before Christmas, the doctor walked in and said the one sentence no one wants to hear.

“I’m sorry to rain on your parade, but…”

This is never a good way to start out any conversation because you know whatever comes next won’t be something you want to hear. It’s not like anyone ever says, “I’m sorry to rain on your parade, but I just won the lottery and I have all these large bills that I was going to give to you, but I don’t know if your purse is big enough.” No, it’s always something quite the opposite. In my case, it was “I’m sorry to rain on your parade, but your cervix seems to be dialating some and I’m going to need you to go to the hospital to make sure you don’t go into early labor.”

And that is where I spent December 23rd through the 26th, my first Christmas together with my husband as a married couple. It was better than it could have been I suppose. I was only there for three days, and during that time I watched the all-day House marathon, experienced a new array of barely edible foods, discovered that it is possible to draw quarts of blood from several places in an arm, and mastered the art of Go Fish. Since escaping from the hospital, I have been ordered by the doctor to be on bed rest for the next 7 weeks (until the baby reaches 34 weeks old). To many, this may seem like a blessing in disguise, but it’s really not as great as it seems considering I’m only allowed to get up to go to the bathroom, take a quick shower, and make a sandwich. I have become very predictable lately.

I guess that means I’ll finally be updating my blog more in the next 8 weeks!

Crafting Madness!

Ever since I can remember, I have loved dabbling in the creative, from art to writing to needlework. You name it, I’ve done it. I took art classes from the day I could pick up a paintbrush, played handbells (as dorky as that sounds–I was 7!), tried embossing and needlework, taught myself guitar, wrote music and stories (including helping to publish an amateur newspaper in 6th grade), taught myself how to knit and crochet, worked with clay, filled sketch books with drawings and doodles, scrapbooked, made gift baskets, and currently I’m working on sewing (and blogging!) among other things. Phew!

 I’m always happiest when I’m creating. It’s always been an outlet to relieve stress and express myself. Now that I’m pregnant, I’ve gone over the edge I think. This little girl has given me even more motivation to expand my creative horizons, especially now that I have someone else to unleash my creativity on! While I was travelling, I got it into my head that I wanted to create designs to sew onto baby onesies and T-shirts. I had one idea for a shirt, then it just snowballed into more and more ideas, and now I’ve made 10 onesies in the course of 4 days.

Some I can’t post because they’re gifts, but here are some of the ones I’ve made so far! I’m thinking of selling them sometime soon, please let me know if you’re interested, I’d be happy to take requests! Each are designed and hand-sewn by me. (You’ll have to excuse the image quality, photography is one of those things that I’ll  be getting into in the future ) I don’t know why it’s cutting off part of the image either

Apple of My Eye

Close up

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

Inchworm

Close up of the Inchworm

Daddy’s Little Cupcake

Flowers (this is the one that started it all)

Little Strawberry

Made in Pittsburgh- this one has sentimental value

Close up

Like I said, I’ve made more too, I just can’t reveal them just yet! On a dorkier note, I also made Haley and I matching candycane scarves Someone stop me.

Baby Acrobatics

I have had the distinct feeling lately that my developing daughter may be a budding gymnast; she’s been using my abdomen as her practice arena.

 

 It all started probably 3 weeks ago when I began to feel small movements that I can only describe as “twitching” in my abdomen. I have heard lots of stories from many women about how those first movements might feel: butterflies fluttering in your stomach, bubbles, little hiccups. All I can say is that it’s weird. And wonderful. It’s a feeling that can’t be put into words. From even 3 weeks ago, Haley has gotten a lot bigger, and those little twitches have evolved into little kicks and rolls. I even had the strange experience of laying on the bed one night, watching my stomach as my daughter perfected her backflip, and I saw my stomach twitching like something from the movie Aliens. I half expected to see her reach her hand out for a high five. It’s amazing to me that someone that’s only ¾ of a pound can be moving as much as she is. I guess there’s not much else to do in there though J

Pat even felt her kick for the first time about a week and a half ago. I’ve discovered that she moves the most if I’m laying down right after I’ve eaten something. (I guess it’s the sugar rush…she’s definitely like her mom.) I had been travelling for most of the week, which was ironically the time that she began moving more than I’ve ever felt, and I was determined that he had to feel the acrobatics that I was going through on a daily basis. Sure enough, after I had been lying down for a few minutes, Haley began kicking up a storm. Pat looked at me for a second, trying to make sure he hadn’t just felt me digesting my latest snack, and then smiled. It was a great feeling seeing the look on his face as he felt his little girl move for the first time.

As of this past Sunday, I’m halfway through the pregnancy!! I can’t believe it!

 

Here’s one of the latest pictures I have of her. She looks like me in the morning when I hit snooze 5 times.

I