nevermind

How wrong I was friends....how wrong I was.

1 month, 5 days

Oh my goodness, I think I may have found a pattern with Lucy! It took me a long time (a month and 5 days) to figure this out, but "my time" is going to be in the morning after her 8:30 feeding! (I think).

For the first month, we'd BOTH (Lucy and I) go down for another nap after she ate in the morning. Mostly because we hadn't slept much during the nights with her 2 to 3 hour cycles. But now, if I don't go back to bed I can get in a good 2 hours of sewing, laundry, emails, breakfast, etc. Hip hip hooray for patterns! This works, of course, if I choose not to go back to sleep when she does. Some mornings, a nap will be a must and that's when I'll sacrifice that extra time. In my book, sleep is totally worth it, so I'm fine with that. :)

And now, she's waking up, 20 minutes in. Maybe my plan is foiled. :( I spoke too soon. Bah.

Have a great Tuesday!

Oliver and Lucy Designs

Hello to my faithful readers! (And those of you who aren't so faithful)!

I've got exciting news! I've been working on a few sewing projects at home and decided to start selling them online! It all started with a baby shower and some burp rags as a gift and then a few ladies wanted me to make some for them to give as gifts and before I knew it, people were ringing my doorbell to pick up their orders! It's been SO MUCH FUN taking orders and making gifts to sell.

Here's my new website: http://www.oliverandlucydesigns.com/


Nate, my incredible man, is the mastermind behind the website. He's amazing.

GO! Click the link and poke around. Enjoy, friends!

1 month old!

Happy one month to my sweet little babe! I can't believe it's already been a month since we were sent to the hospital and laboring in a blizzard on the 4th floor. People say all the time, "it goes so fast!".... but now I see that it really does. Holy cow!

And to my Lucy:

I love you more than I thought I could ever love someone. You make me laugh EVERY DAY, multiple times.

I think you may have smiled at me on purpose today. That, or you were just glad to have a clean diaper. :)

I'm learning your cries.

If I want you to wake up all I have to do is lay you down in your crib. This is both good and bad.

You LOVE to snuggle and so do I. We spend a LOT of time watching food network and catching up on old episodes of "The Office".

They keep telling me I CANNOT spoil you by holding you too much, and I'm taking this advice very seriously.

Charlie really likes your pacifiers. We run them through the dishwasher on a daily basis.

You're learning to bat at toys with your hands.

I read to you every day in hopes that you'll share my love for literature. I think it's working. :)

There are already so many people in love with you.

I can't stop smelling you after you have a bath.

Charlie is VERY protective of you and always lets us know when you're rousing from a nap. We joke that we don't need a monitor when we've got Charlie. He has made it his duty to be your protector.

You grew from 6.10 to 7.5 pounds in a week and a half. I haven't weighed you lately, but I'm guessing you're over 8 pounds now. You're feeling stronger and less "breakable". I don't worry so much when I pull clothes on or off over your little head now.

You're holding your neck on your own for longer periods of time and pulling your body whichever direction you want to go.

You can already go from your back to your side all by yourself. You'll be rolling over in no time!

You don’t like wearing this hat today.  

Little love, we are crazy about you. The last month has flown by and I'm looking forward to spring with you. Here's to the next month of growing and smiling!

Blog? What's that?

Being a full time mom is AWESOME....and an adjustment! I've loved being home with Lucy, but I expected to have more "time" to get things done around the house. We spend a lot of our hours taking naps and catching up from the short nights. She sleeps A. LOT. I didn't know newborns could sleep up to 20 hours a day. Jeesh! You'd think I'd get all sorts of things done while she's sleeping. But really, she's so snuggly and sweet that I spend a lot of time holding her while she's napping. I sadly have the food network shows down to the half hour- I can tell you who is on when and I always catch at least a part of Oprah and/or Ellen- as they're on at the same time. :)

Today I've broken out the MOBY wrap that our great friend, Mike, gave us. It. is. a. miracle. !!!! I have both hands free to do laundry, BLOG (!), fold blankets and rearrange pillows from our lounging, empty the dishwasher, etc. She wasn't big enough to use the last couple of weeks, but I'm pretty sure she weighs enough now for it to be "safe". She's loving time close to mom and I'm loving the mobility.

I've also been trying to get a lot of sewing done when she's napping (and I've put her down in her crib). There have been quite a few orders coming in for burp rags, gift sets, etc., which makes me SO happy. I love sewing and it's fun that I'm finding time now to do it. It's just a matter of organizing my time better- and I think I'm getting it (kind of) figured out. :)

Here are a few pictures from the past week:

Happy 1 Week, Little Lucy!

I've been out of commission for a bit. Partly because life was getting busy trying to prepare for our little bundle- due this coming Sunday, and partly because I was busy giving birth. :) What a great day!

It was a week ago today, I taught the entire morning, had recess duty with my first graders, ate lunch with the gals at school, went home and made lunch for Nate so I could pick him up for our routine 38 week appointment. They had been watching me pretty close because, in short, my placenta was shutting down and the amount of amniotic fluid was decreasing weekly. We were having ultrasounds for a couple of weeks in a row to keep a close eye on her growth.

Anyway, we went to the appointment, saw on the ultrasound that the fluid was a little lower, but she still looked fine, and waited for the Dr. to come and tell us to go home and keep waiting. (That's what I had mentally prepared for- it was easier than being disappointed about not being sent to the hospital). He came in and checked for dilation and said, "Have you been having a lot of contractions?" I had felt crampy for about three days, but nothing more than your run-of-the-mill monthly cramps (ladies). "Heather, you're 4 centimeters dilated and fully effaced. You're in early labor and you need to go to the hospital! We're having this baby today!" I was shocked. Nate and I looked at each other in disbelief and felt a combination of "holy cow, are you serious?", "YES!", "WHAT? I'm not ready!", etc.

Our doctor called the hospital to tell them we were coming, and we were shooed out the door. By this time, a light dusting of snow had covered the rainy streets, which had frozen, making for a slippery drive there. We felt like we did the evening we got engaged- excited, wanting to call everyone we know, wanting to scream, a little scared....IS THIS REALLY HAPPENING?!

We parked on level 3, pink. Pink for our little girl. We grabbed the bags that had been in the back of the car for a week- since they'd been watching us close, we were very hopeful of going early. We walked in casually, asked which way to labor and delivery and found ourselves on the elevator headed up to 4th floor- delivery. Yikes!

I don't want to make this sound like a walk in the park, but my labor was really NOT what I expected it to be. Nothing like the movies. We checked in, situated ourselves in our delivery room, I changed into the beautiful green gown, they started an IV, and Nate and I took to the hallways and walked around and around for about a half hour. We stopped and took pictures of the blizzard that was swarming outside our warm hospital hallways. I prayed multiple times for our families that were headed from separate directions, 2 hours south and 45 minutes north. I was worried more about them driving than I was of myself giving birth in the next few hours.

After about 30 minutes the nurse said, "If you want, we can start the Pitocin and get your epidural started". I wanted to wait on the epi, I'd heard it may slow down labor. But the anesthesiologist was headed home for the evening and he said he'd come back, but with the weather, he couldn't promise a speedy response to a call later in the evening. So, we went ahead and got it started. For the next few hours, Nate and I watched the food network with my parents, who made it safely from 2 hours north, Praise God! Nate's parents eventually made it- a trip that normally takes 45 minutes in good weather turned to a 2 1/2 hour trip in a blizzard. But they made it. My brother and Nate's sister also joined everyone and they all waited together for our big news. What a special night for everyone!

From the time we checked in to the moment she was delivered, we had been there about 8 hours. Everything went so quickly and without hiccups. We were suddenly parents! Little Lucy was here! She was born at 11:09 PM, weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces, and was 19 1/2 inches long. Just perfect.

She's absolutely beautiful. I can't stop holding her. Nate and I are falling for each other all over again as we watch a mom and a dad grow out of the person we already loved. It's a very strange reality, but we love it. The nights are definitely shorter, but God has given both of us an incredible amount of grace this week. We've learned to work as a team to maximize sleep for each other.

Charlie is learning to be a big brother. He always checks on her when she cries and whimpers when he thinks she needs something. It's very sweet.

I'm home now, at least for the rest of this school year and the summer. Hopefully I'll find a beautiful balance at home and be able to share photos and videos of Lucy as she grows. I hope to blog more often, sew more, have wonderful meals prepared for my husband when he arrives home from work, etc. But I know that probably won't all happen in the same day. Some days, none of it will. But, I'm hopeful and I'll try. I'll let you know how it's going.

For now, some photos of our sweet little miracle.

 

Most likely my mom on the phone…walking the hallways.

 

The blizzard outside.Little Lucy Lea
Our first family photo. love.

My cup runneth over.