A "Mit-Nat" For Elijah

Most people who know my oldest son (2.5 years old) know he is a blanket thief. What they may not know is that he also happens to be what I call a blanket murderer.  The first blanket I made him was a bias knit garter blanket. It was large and blue and a sort of silky soft. I don't quite remember when he started using it, I believe it was before his first birthday.

But the problem with garter stitch, though simple, classic and beautiful, is that it is difficult to fix a snag. And boy could he cause a snag! He would bite a the blanket and drag a loop of yarn around his teeth... It drove me crazy! Then there is this thing he does where he wiggles his fingers to just the right spot where he gets strands of yarn to rest in the place between of his fingernail and finger. The wiggling results in snags and occasional holes in the blanket. Anyway, I did a lot of repair work to his favorite blue blanket. But there came a point in time where he had ripped a hole/holes and gotten the yarn in such a mess that it was no longer salvageable or safe to let him use. I call this picture Exhibit A:

Please note this was not the only blanket he has ruined. I made another just like his blue blanket so that he would have something when his favorite was in the wash... It received the same abuse. I even found small holes in one of our beautiful, expensive name brand muslin receiving blankets. An attempt was made to get him to switch to a crochet blanket which already had holes and would not be harmed by his "tactile fixation". I was not successful.

His most recent "victim" is a blanket that was made for me by some generous fellow knitters that I know through an online group. It has a variety of 12" squares on it all of different patterns... Wouldn't you know it, he was drawn to just one square: a garter stitch square that has a similar feel to his blue blanket. Every night he insists we help him find that square ("Other color!" as he emphatically calls it) in the blanket. He has even come to me in the middle of the night distressed because he cannot locate his precious "other color" on the blanket.

Half in desperation and half in love for my child,  I decided to make my sweet blanket murderer another blanket for Christmas this year. And perhaps procrastinating other projects on my 'to do' list may have been a motivator for undertaking this task as well...

I decided to make it of many squares so that when one is ruined I can trade it out instead of having to scrap the whole thing. I also hope that the smaller squares will make it safer if/when he does pull a loop out of it. Every square is in garter stitch and most of the squares are made with the same brand yarn that his blue blanket was. It is a scrap blanket, so I have even included squares using the same yarn that was used to make his original blanket. It includes bits of yarn from many blankets I have made, leftovers from baby sweaters, scarves, shawls and it even has some squares made from leftover yarn from Elijah's Halloween costume this year. 

I even got help from 'baby brother'

It took me a while to find a pattern that would fit exactly what I wanted. I have been on a scrap blanket kick and wanted this one to look homey and homemade. It seemed a good idea to have a sort of random look so that if/when I have to replace squares I won't have extra hassle of fitting a particular color scheme. I finally settled on the Ron Weasley Blanket pattern. A lady studied glimpses of the blanket seen on the Harry Potter Movies and put together a pattern based on that blanket. I had seen this before but overlooked the pattern since it is what I considered fan paraphernalia. And while I enjoy the Harry Potter universe very much, I thought making a blanket just like the one from the movies seemed, well, kitschy. But once I got past my prejudice I realized the pattern was really just what I was looking for. I started out following the pattern color schematics for each square but very quickly ended up making my own designs for my squares. This really added a personalized touch. The blanket is comprised of two types of square: a plain knit garter and a bias knit garter. I ended up making 42 squares which is 14 less than the pattern calls for. I didn't want to make something too big for him especially given his tendency to drag his blankets around. 

Anyway, it turned out lovely. I LOVE IT. To me it looks like it was designed for a boy by his mother. It is so perfectly homemade looking (and not in the bad way). I know there will be holes in it in no time, but I also know it will be well loved. 

A Shawl for Mom

A year and a half ago my mom asked me if I could make her a black shawl. We sat on my couch pouring over pattern after pattern until we found Haruni. This is a lace shawl with leaf motifs worked throughout the entire shawl. I knew right away I didn't have the time to make a shawl with such an involved lace pattern so I opted to simplify it and do just the lace edge which produced a lovely leaf frame to the otherwise simple stockinette shawl. I cast on July 4th 2013 and set to work. Then I got pregnant with my second child and it sat untouched for months. I was going to make it for her 2013 Christmas gift. Christmas came and went and I was only halfway done! A toddler and pregnancy had slowed me down. But now, I have finally finished it. I'm only a Christmas late but who's keeping track? I just love the result. It is simple, elegant and lightweight. I can't wait to give it to my mom.

Happypotamus

"I wanna hippopotamus for Christmas..." This classic Christmas tune has been running through my head for a while now. Why? Because I have been busy working on a special toy for my little niece. I ran across the "Happypotamus" pattern a couple months ago and it was love at first sight. I just HAD to make this cute critter. So, I dug into my yarn stash and set to work. As it came together, I found it was much bigger than I anticipated, but it is still awesome and I can't wait to give it to my little neice when we celebrate Christmas. I also have a book about a hippo who is easy to spot when playing hide and seek called "Hide and Seek Harry" to go with it. I felt it was appropriate given how large this hippo turned out. This was the first stuffed animal I have ever made. Here are some more photos of my handiwork. I even got a buddy to model with him... but I forgot to brush his bedhead before I took the picture...

Pretend Birthday Cake

Today we had a birthday party! I thought it would be fun to do a little pretend cake with Elijah today and this is what I came up with: I started with a cookie sheet and play-dough. We have a cookie sheet specifically set aside for play which we shaped our dough onto. We made a nice big circle (I'm really focusing on shapes lately). Then I put magnet letters around it to spell his name. He isn't old enough to really know letters yet, but I suppose it's never to early to start learning your name. Then we stuck two golf tees into our circle "cake" and put two puff balls on top of them to make candles. We, mostly I, sang the happy birthday song and I had Eli "blow out the candles" (blow the puff balls off the tees). He thought the whole thing was marvelous.We then just explored the golf tees with the play-dough and then pressed the letters into it as well. Eli also had to "blow out the candles" a few more times too.

Learning points of this little exercise: Shape identification, name and a little letter identification. It helped reinforce knowing his age. And it was a bit of fine motor skill building with manipulating play-dough and balancing a puff ball on the golf tees.

All in all, we had a little learning this morning and I had so much fun that I wanted to share it with all of you.

Tot School: Teaching Colors

This is our "Colors" Basket

So, even though I have an infant, I'm still trying to provide planned learning experiences for our two-year-old. Now, I have to say that I don't keep up with new material for him but, hey, it just gives him the chance to really get to know a subject. And, given that he is two, I don't really expect much knowledge retention from him. I just want to get him comfortable with learning new things. My hope with it is to foster in him a love of learning. Anyway, I've recently begun doing themes where I fill a basket with all sorts of items I think might be interesting for him on the subject. I keep it in his room in an accessible spot so he can dig into it whenever he wants. So far I switch subjects out every month or so but, I really don't have much structure and it ends up being whenever I get around to it...

Today I want to tell you about our basket on colors. We have been working on colors in every day life for a while now and I figure it will take us quite a while to really learn them. When I introduced our color basket Eli knew the names of colors but often just guessed when asked what color an item was. He still does sometimes and everything is blue or an item is three different colors at once. But after a month of using the basket he has learned his colors pretty well (most of the time).

Eli likes to read books every morning

Since one of his favorite things is to look at books, I decided that one thing I had to do was get some books on color. I picked up a handful at the library, and also sorted through some out from our family collection. One of his favorite books from infancy has been Boynton's Blue Hat Green hat. One of the new books I recently picked up is Lemons are not Red which is a beautiful book focusing on just colors. Eli also likes Little Blue Truck which doesn't really have anything to do with color identification except that the truck is blue. I figured it would be more fun for him to have some books with plot mixed in with books that just identify colors. So I have a pretty good mix for him.

"Sorting"

Our color basket also has a mini basket with different items for sorting. It contains a few little toys and cups to sort with in each color. I also included bouncy balls in each color for counting (not that it did much good), and I put in blue beads with a blue pipe cleaner for stringing to practice fine motor skills. I put a big green puff ball and little green puff ball in to compare sizes. And I included some colored chip clips to pick up puff balls as well (more fine motor development). I also, placed a Hotwheel car of each color in since they are one of his favorite things to play with these days.  He hasn't really developed to the sorting stage yet, but I thought I'd give it a try. When I started, I found out he isn't really interested in sorting AT ALL. But he does like to look at the items and especially likes to put the cars into the cups. Except the blue car, that one belongs on the floor. For now, I just identify the color of the item he has picked up, or I ask him. Then I leave him to play as he sees fit. (My purpose is to let him explore colors and I won't force him to play the way I intended when putting the basket together... even IF the bossy sister side of me feels he should do things differently.) By the third week he did surprise me by sorting the cars into the right colored cups, so I guess there is hope he will learn sorting.

Counting Beads

 Another thing I stumbled upon was at Freehomeschooldeals.com. They have tons of free learning activities with printables for home school parents. The particular pack I found for color ties in with the book Mouse Paint written by Ellen Stoll Wash. You can get it here if you are interested. There is a lot available in this theme, but I decided to just take the color matching game since I am focusing on just colors right now. But I may come back to get the writing/fine motor and shape activities, and cutting practice. I printed out the matching game which included a picture of a  mouse, jar of paint, and a puddle in each color. I then laminated them so that they could stand up to toddler use. Once again, Eli hasn't reached the sorting and matching stage yet. But he liked looking at them and lining them up in a row. These are something I see him playing with in the future when he develops a little more, but in the mean time, it ties in well with the book and I guess they are nice to line up. (Lining things up is a favorite activity of my two year old right now). As an aside, the book Mouse Paint is one that Eli insists on reading every morning and I would recommend it as a color learning book. It's a library book that I think we will have to look into purchasing.

Another color matching item I'm planning on adding to the basket is felt popsicles (I found the directions here). These little guys are just another fun little matching activity. I think these are kind of self explanatory. You match the Popsicle stick with the right color felt Popsicle. I think they are really cute and they will be great in the play kitchen long after my kids learn their colors.

The final item I included in the basket is the game we gave Eli for his second birthday. Eli calls it the BIG Puffball game, but it is really called ThinkFun Roll and Play Board Game This is an excellent game for learning colors (and many other things like counting, emotions, animal sounds and physical activities). I have Eli throw the "dice" which is a giant stuffed block with a color on each side. And whatever color lands up we pull out a card of the corresponding color and then do what the card says. Each color has a theme. Red is physical activities like: hop up and down, sing a song, dance... The green cards have a picture of an animal and you have to make the sound the animal makes. Blue is finding an item that is a specific color (each card has a different color). Orange is counting, but it tries to keep it specific to engaging the body like: count 5 fingers, or pat your head three times. Purple is body parts but it also engages the body: tap your knee, nod your head, etc. And finally, yellow is facial expressions/feelings where you make an angry face, or happy face. Eli loves this game and it is nice for engaging a little one with movement while learning, which is handy when stuck inside with a little boy. It is a game you could make at home as well. You would just have to place a colored sticker on each side of a dice and come up with activities and put them on colored construction paper.

I also have been coloring and doing watercolors with him which I didn't put in the basket since he can get into the basket whenever he wants and I'm not a fan of having crayon on my furniture and walls. But if he were older I would have included crayons and coloring pages for him as well. I'm also reading the story of Joseph and his colorful coat as a scripture tie-in to our color theme. So, that is the "Color" basket I made for Eli. He seems to be enjoying it. And honestly, I am too. :)

Ezra's Denim Car seat Blanket

I decided it was time for me to make a little blanket I can keep in the car for Ezra. I decided to use Simple Lines Baby Blanket, which I found for free online. I can't get over how cute this little blanket turned out!

The yarn I used was a gift from a dear friend who I don't get to see very often. I have to confess it has been sitting in my stash for quite a while because I just couldn't commit to a pattern for it. It is a worsted weight cotton made from recycled blue jeans and is a perfect weight for a blanket, so I finally found a pattern I felt would show off this unique yarn.

The pattern calls for dk weight but since my yarn is worsted I went up a needle size from what is recommended in the pattern, and honestly, I could have gone up to US8 and the pattern would not have looked holey. Anyway, the pattern is very simple and was an easy knit. It is available in different sizes and I chose to make the small since all we need  is a little something to throw over Ezra when he is in the car.

My biggest challenge with this one was that this was my very first attempt at attaching fabric to the back of a knit blanket. I found the owl print at Joann's and just knew it was made to go with this yarn! So, I pinned the fabric to my knit blanket, made sure I had no wrinkles and  used my sewing machine to sew the two together. Since they are different colors, I used white thread for the top and black thread in the bottom, this made the thread blend well with each side of the blanket. I'm not gonna lie, I had to rip out two sides and smooth the fabric out and try again. Sewing over knits can be tough because they are so stretchy. Even now it isn't perfectly fitted together but, in the end I'm really happy with the result. The pattern shows yarn texture so beautifully and was so easy, I just know I will be making more of them.

I still have a bit of the owl fabric left, so I decided to try making some bandanna drooler bibs out of it. I'm not nearly as in love with how they turned out, (it's just a lot of fabric bunched around his neck) but they are still cute. I saw them on Pinterest a while back and the tutorial on how to make them is here.

Camping with a Toddler and/or Baby

So we just got back from a camping trip with our little ones (the oldest is two years old and our youngest is two months old) and I'm looking back at the first time we took our oldest camping last summer. I remember scouring the internet for tips on camping with very little ones and having very little luck getting specifics. So today I thought I would share my two cents on camping with a toddler and infant in tow.

First up: Safety. Our first concern when camping is making sure the little one doesn't jump into the "pretty fire". Fortunately we have taught him that fire is VERY hot and to never touch it. We did this by introducing fire with candles at home long before he ever had the chance to be around a big fire. Now he has the self-control to look but never touch. And obviously, it's also important to always keep one eye on the little one. So, if you can, you may want to include more adults in your camping experience than mom and dad. Two of my brothers came with us yesterday, and I have to say they helped make the time much more pleasant than it would have been if it had just been Jeff and myself tending to little ones and trying to put up a tent, organize the site, make a fire, and cook food. Trust me, it helps to have the kids outnumbered.

As far as packing for the first aid kit, we make sure we bring sunscreen, Family bug spray, burn cream and bite cream in addition to our regular kit contents. The infant is too little for sunscreen so I make sure to bring hats and keep him shaded. If he liked to be in the car seat I would have used that for a little shade, but alas, he seems to view the car seat as some kind of torture device. So I just had to make sure we kept him in the shade of the trees. I also keep bug spray away from anything that would get near his face.

There are a few items that I found super handy when camping with the little ones in tow. The first of which is a picnic quilt. A blanket is nice because you can't hold an infant all the time and it is nice to have a clean and fairly bug free spot to lay little one down so you can get something done. Our baby was kept fascinated for quite a while by the trees and clouds above him, and he enjoyed napping on the blanket much more than in our hot tent. It is also a great spot for a toddler to lounge while reading or playing quietly. Some of my best camping memories as a kid are when my Mom would read to us in a shady spot on a blanket. (It is also a nice clean spot for diaper changes). Yesterday the ground was wet so I used a vinyl tablecloth underneath it to keep it from getting wet, I'm thinking next time I will take a tarp and safety pin it to each of the corners. The waterproof bottom was also nice when it started to rain because we were able to fold it up and keep it dry easily.

Baby Wipes are another camping item that I found really handy for more than their traditional purpose. Since we were camping in hot weather it was nice to give the kids a "wipe bath" before bed so that they felt at lease a little refreshed while trying to fall asleep. They also came in handy for various clean-ups around the site.

It was also nice to pack our toddler a few books and toys that he could play with by himself. These kept him busy while Daddy was busy with the fire and kept him from getting in the way (to a certain extent). I chose flap books, a look and find book, and a few that he finds to have very interesting pictures. These also came in handy keeping him entertained when we had a little rain shower and had to spend half an hour stuck in the tent. He was able to read a book while the grown-ups played cards.

There was very little "gear" I ended up needing but there were a couple items that I wouldn't want to be camping without. The first is a folding rocking chair. It has been so handy in soothing both our kids! Our toddler finds rocking the best method for soothing, so it was nice when he had a couple upset moments that all toddlers have in the course of a day. But it was also nice to have a nice spot to rock the baby during his fussy times as well. I found my chair for around $50 at Amazon.com and I use it for much more than just camping.

The other piece of gear I found indispensable was a travel bassinet which we also got from Amazon for around $25. Since our baby is still very young it was important to me that we had a space for him that would keep him safe from being accidentally smothered by clothing or a misplaced bag while we slept. This provided a safe sleeping area which made it possible for me to sleep well too! It's also nice because it folded up small for packing up.

The final item I really needed for baby was a baby carrier. It is hard to go on hikes if you have to carry little one in arms. It is also nice to get some things done around the campsite while keeping baby happily snug against mommy or daddy.

The other thing I would advise, though I think this one is obvious, is packing a few extra clothes. You never know when your baby will barf all over you and himself, or your toddler will dump his plate of food down his front.

For me this whole enjoying the great outdoors with our very little ones has been a bit of trial and error. We have started introducing camping by just going for one night. This has enabled us to not overextend ourselves and gives the toddler the chance to get used to the concept of camping without a really long trying experience. And even though it leaves you really tired, I feel it has been so worth it to share God's creation with our little ones. I will say this though: don't be a martyr. If it starts to thunderstorm and pour cats and dogs, don't feel like you have to tough it out. Camping should be about building fun memories, which is why we left our site this morning (without making the eggs and sausage for breakfast) because of a crazy downpour. Don't worry, we had a happy end-of-camping breakfast at Tim Horton's on the way home.

Ezra's Birth Story

Well, now our family is four. It has been a bit of an adjustment, but overall I'm happy to say that we are doing pretty well. So I decided it is time to write down my birth story before I forget everything. I really should do this in two parts but I'm just going to make it one really long blog. My apologies in advance for that. Also, I am telling the story of giving birth... this may seem obvious but I will be talking about bodily fluids and other kinda icky stuff--nothing too graphic but still... I'm also including a modest nursing photo. Consider yourself warned. Also, I'm not a grammar wiz and a little sleep deprived so please overlook my run-on sentences etc.

When I was nearly to the 36 week mark of pregnancy I had a freak out moment and decided it was time to really start preparing for labor. I didn't want to have the same exhausting pushing and lengthy recovery as I did the first time around. I also wanted it to just be easier than the first time. My Mom/Douala who had delivered both myself and my little brother at home with no drugs, insisted that I practice relaxation breathing every day to prepare. I told her that I thought that was just a little hokey. When I said this, Elijah thought I said "cookie" and well, he just had to have one. But, hokeyness aside, I decided  to take her advise and began listening to guided relaxation meditation. I bought the book HypnoBabies which  teaches relaxation, visualization, and breathing techniques that help you "not have pain during labor". And I began to practice breathing and relaxation. I feel like all my free time leading up to this delivery was spent either physically exercising to relieve my hip and back pain, or mentally exercising to prepare for labor... not fun, but I just had to hope it would be worth it.

Skip ahead to March 28th. I had been waiting all week (or three weeks, but who's counting) for my little one to make his appearance. I'm not going to lie, I took some castor oil that Friday morning in hopes that baby would come. I want to point out though that my doctor had already offered to strip my membranes and I was 3 cm dilated and my cervix was extremely ripe. My body was ready to have a baby and I was just trying to help it along a little. That ended up being and epic fail on the induction front. It had no effect on me whatsoever except to work as it is intended: as a laxative (which isn't such a bad thing in late pregnancy). No contractions. Not even a mild cramp. Just some poop. It was a bit of a letdown since my Mom used it for getting things going with some of her pregnancies and it worked for her every time.

But that Friday night I did began having mild contractions that were 6 min apart. They weren't very typical contractions but I still called Jeff home from work a little early, had Josiah (my brother) come over to sit for Elijah and we went in to the hospital around 1 am on my due date. I knew it wasn't quite time yet though and they sent me home to sleep. So we grabbed some burgers at Steak and Shake then headed to bed around 2:30. Saturday morning at 5:30 I rolled over in bed and my water broke. Drats! I was hoping we would have gotten more sleep before going into battle but, at that point, my contractions came on much stronger and frequently and it really was time to head to the hospital. Fortunately, Josiah had decided to stay and sleep on our couch so that we could leave immediately.

We arrived, somewhat bleary-eyed, at the birthing center (which is part of the hospital) around 6 that morning. I was still just 3 cm dilated and I don't remember how effaced, but it was pretty much there. We got into our room and I was given an IV lock to receive antibiotics every 4 hrs of labor because I tested positive for strep B at some point during my pregnancy. Then my Mom arrived, and I rode waves of contractions that were once again in my back. But other than back labor, this time was so different from my first time! Instead of pacing the floor, worrying about keeping things going, I stayed mostly on the bed just saving my energy and focusing all of it into my contractions. Each contraction came and I breathed through it and rested on my pillows in between. They were really close together and sometimes right on top of each other, they never seemed to reach a nice consistent rate or intensity. At some point I felt really tired and laid down on my left side to rest. My nurse offered me a heating pad and oh, my word, was that thing lovely. I was able to rest with my eyes closed and really get my mind into the focused and relaxed zone I had practiced for weeks. Jeff was so wonderful and never left my side. (I don't really remember what he did, but I do know whatever it was it was nice).

After an hour (7 am), I moved to leaning on a birthing ball to help baby get in just the right position and try to relieve the pain in my back. I'm pretty sure this was the point that I lost the burger I had eaten a few hours earlier. Good thing Jeff was there with a pan to catch it because I really didn't care where it landed. I really began to focus down each of my breaths now as I went through every contraction. Each wave came and I rocked back on the ball and reminded myself to breathe breathe breathe as my Mom encouraged me on and Jeff applied counter pressure to my hips, rubbed my back, and reminded me to relax. Soon the contractions were so powerful and painful that I told them I needed to get into the tub. The nurse went to fill it and when she came back to check me I was 10 cm! Time to push! It was about 8:45 when we headed to the tub and Jeff laughingly remarked that we would have a baby 10 minutes from then. (Little did we know.)

Once I was in the tub I leaned on my knees with my arms braced against the side of the tub. The water was so soothing and that was the only thought I had time for before I felt a great urge to push. Well, I did have one other panicked thought just after that urge, it was "Oh dear God, I don't want to do this!" and then my mental reply: "Suck it up Christina. It's too late now. You have to." And so, with Jeff behind me applying counter pressure to my hips I began to really work. No screaming this time, just concentrated breathing and pushing. Please note, I say no screaming, not no pain. I don't remember the exact number of pushes but I do know it couldn't have been more than 4 or 5.

And then, one minute before 9 am, my son was born 8 lbs 9oz and 21 inches. I turned around, the doctor handed me my baby and I held him as we waited for him to begin breathing. They placed a blanket over him to help keep him warm and I just sat there with him looking up at me and feeling the umbilical cord still tying us together. Blood began to pool around me and the doctor said it was time for me to deliver the placenta soon and I had better get on dry land. At this point everyone had grabbed some towels and the doctor asked Jeff if he wanted to cut the cord... Jeff says that is what we pay doctors for. So I asked if I could cut it. And that was kinda cool. It's silly, but it felt like the final step where I had truly birthed my baby and was releasing him to begin his life.

They took me to the bed to deliver the placenta, allowing our little one to nurse and help things along, and with the help of the doctor it came out fairly easily. The doctor then began stitching up a 3cm perineal tear I had that looked to be the same spot as the one I had with Eli.

Everything was great. I was finished! And it only took me like 3 hours to have the baby! If only I hadn't nearly fainted when they helped me up to pee. When they put me back on the bed I lost my hearing and everything seemed to be very far away... In case you are wondering, that isn't normal or healthy. They laid me down and began to really push on my uterus to get all the blood clots out. And they kept pushing. And they kept getting out VERY large clots. And I kept bleeding. And they pushed more, it hurt. A. Lot.

The timing for the rest is a bit of a blur because I ended up losing over half my blood that day. They wanted to encourage my body to have contractions so that my uterus would close up so they used the IV already in my arm to give me pictocin. That didn't slow my bleeding, so they stuck I don't know what kind of contraction inducing pills up my butt. Ten of them. That didn't slow the bleeding and clotting either, so they threw one last hail Mary and gave me a shot of yet another something. I had chosen to endure the pain of natural childbirth because I hate needles that much. So yeah, getting poked and filled with drugs kinda sucked. What had started as a beautiful empowering day had become a nightmare. All those drugs they had given me caused me to shiver uncontrollably and caused painful cramping.

Eventually, when they saw that the bleeding wasn't letting up and my blood pressure was getting scary low, my doctor said they were going to take me into surgery and perform a D&C to get out the excess blood, grab any leftover placenta and see what was going on. He said he would try inserting a balloon into my uterus to compress the bleeding but if it didn't work they would have to remove the uterus all together. They took me into surgery (thank God the maternity ER was just down the hall from the birthing center) and I got a very nice anesthesia induced nap.

Nursing my sweet little one

Afterwards my doctor said I had a cervical tear that was 3 inches long that he stitched up. They put me in the ICU, put in a catheter to drain urine and blood from the balloon which now resided in my uterus, took my blood, put a IV in my other arm, put these horrible compression things on my legs to prevent blood clots, hooked me up to blood pressure and heart monitors (on my finger, and nodes around my chest), and gave me 2 blood transfusions. Let me tell you, nursing a newborn with all that nonsense is not easy. (But praise God they let me keep nursing! I remember asking when the last time I had nursed was just before I went into surgery thinking "Oh, ok. Plenty of time before he needs to nurse again. We can do this." Little did I realize my life could have been at stake, I was just thinking about taking care of my the baby.)

Hanging out during my many transfusions

It was difficult sleeping in the ICU with beepers going off all the time and those things constantly pressing on my legs. Oh, and the whole taking care of a newborn thing...The next morning they took my blood and my hemoglobin levels were at 5.5. I guess that is bad (they said I started with them around 12 which means I lost a little over half the blood in my body, and that number was taken after receiving 2 transfusions the day before). So I spent that day getting 4 more transfusions and some plasma. By the end of the day my levels were up to 9.6 and I felt much better and I was pretty much in the clear. They also took the balloon out which relieved a lot of pressure and made me much more comfortable. Jeff said that the balloon had "Happy Birthday Ezra" written on it. But it didn't.

Ezra under the grow lights

Unfortunately, that night they had to put Ezra under lights because he was a little jaundiced. The poor boy had to be under them for 24 hours to get everything to the right levels and he was only allowed out for eating. We decided to send Ezra to the nursery so that we could sleep, and to avoid the temptation to pull him out from the lights. The next morning they took off all the other stuff and let me get out of bed for the first time in 2 days. They took my blood again and found my hemoglobin was up to 10.2. My Doctor says my recovery is pretty miraculous. Which I would have to agree with (there were a LOT of people praying for me). Then they sent us down to regular maternity recovery where we had to wait till the evening to see if Ezra could be taken out from the lights. We were able to have Eli come visit that day which made me happy. But we had to spend yet another night in the hospital waiting on the all clear from doctors.

Our family together for the first time

They finally let us go home Tuesday late afternoon and it was like being released from prison. It was such a pretty day that we had a picnic dinner at our park before heading home.

The next day my parents brought Elijah home after his nap time and we were finally able to get the chance to figure out being a family of four. I did put together a little gift basket from Ezra to Eli. I included a coloring book, Tow-mater truck (from one Eli's favorite movies) and a ball. I also included his glow-worm which looks like a baby so that he could have a baby to take care of also. Eli loves the truck.

Holding his baby like Grandma

Brothers

It has been a couple weeks now and I am feeling so much better! Ezra is a pretty good sleeper, so we are getting some three hour stretches of sleep which has made a real difference for me. Eli absolutely adores his little brother. He is a toddler though and the adjustment has had dramatic moments in other areas of life. We have had a ton of boundary testing and Eli has begun waking up crying every night. So prayers for him would be very appreciated.

So, it wasn't painless like the book claimed it would be, but I was able to manage my pain during labor and I was actually able to use the relaxation techniques to calm myself when being poked and prodded with a million needles and dealing with unnatural drug induced contractions. All in all we are starting to get to a sense of normal now. I have to say that even though the aftermath was a nightmare, Ezra's birth was exactly what I wanted it to be. It was so perfect and magical and I am so thankful to have had that experience. I'm also very grateful for my doctor and nurses who made it possible for me to tell the birth story of my third child (If we have one). And I'm especially grateful to my Lord who watched over me through it all.

Three weeks later and feeling good enough to take a 2 hour hike. Hallelujah!

Frog Prince Counting Quiet Page

So.... I know it has been like a year or so since I posted on my blog. Funny how having a toddler to run after changes your priorities. But, I have been seeing all these neat felt quiet book patterns online and I came up with a very simple one of my own that I thought I would share.

It all started when my sister-in-law was having a monkey themed baby shower... I bought some really cute felt 3-D sticker packs that had monkeys in them, and there happened to be frogs as well. I got them at Joann's here if you want some. At the time I had no idea what I would do with the frogs, but slowly I developed an idea. So many moms post blogs about the fun little activities they are making for their children to play with and learn with quietly, which gave me the idea of using the stickers for an activity page for a quiet book or a busy bag...I haven't decided yet...

Anyway, I had 10 frog stickers and that just happens to be a great counting number. So, I decided to make little felt crowns for each of the frogs with 1-10 numerals on them and then on the backs of the stickers I put dots for each corresponding number. So when E is a little older and learning numbers he can match up the frogs with the right crown. (As a side note, this would be a really cute page in a princess quiet book).

It's not very complicated but I thought it was cute and wanted to share. :)