ruby’s story

Category: baby | February 5th, 2013


hi! so just a warning, this might be a long post. ;) i wanted to write all this down before i forgot. i know some people aren’t comfortable with sharing their birth story. it’s personal and intimate…but it’s also amazing and surreal. before i had penelope i remember reading other people’s birth stories and it really helped and inspired me, so i thought i’d share my story too. i won’t go into graphic detail, but if you have more specific questions please feel free to email me and i’d love to share some answers! i’m clearly no expert in this but i have done it twice. ;) so here it is…

oh where to start? i would say that on tuesday night (the night before the birth) i felt a little different. no contractions or anything worrisome, but i just felt different. lol. to the point where i went into hardcore nesting/cleaning mode and for 2 hours straight was cleaning the most random things…even on my hands and knees scrubbing the kitchen floor. ha. i didn’t do this to help bring on labor or anything…it was just my instinct to clean and get ready for a possible birth. and then comes 4am and i am woken up by some small contractions. (i knew it!) i remember smiling through those contractions because i knew today was the day. i was really excited. i was secretly hoping this baby would come before thanksgiving, which was my due date. (her birthday is 11.14.12).

so i’m having contractions. i knew they were real…i have been having braxton hicks contractions for the past 4 weeks and these were different. the mister and miss P were in the bed with me and i didn’t wake him up until about 6am to start helping me time the contractions since they were getting a little closer together. they were about 10 minutes apart, lasting about a minute each. i thought about doing the “trick” but since i was already sleeping in between each contraction and i had already gotten a decent amount a sleep then i didn’t. (my midwife’s trick is 2 ibuprofen, glass of wine, and a hot bath. totally works. i did it with P. you do this when it’s late at night/early morning so you can get some sleep…because you’ll need it!) anyways…we got up around 8am and literally just went about our day. since we were planning on a home birth, and hadn’t deep cleaned the house yet (oops!), we got to work and started scrubbing. my mother in law randomly called us that morning and she decided to change her plans for the day and come help us clean. (thank you!!!)


so lots of cleaning and playing with miss P for a few hours. throughout this time my contractions were about 7-9ish minutes apart and about 45 seconds each…but not getting stronger. to be honest i was a little discouraged at this. i had an idea that by this time my contractions would have been stronger, longer, and closer together (since usually second births are faster…and i had a pretty short labor with miss P). so i just tried to keep myself distracted with miss P and was calling/texting people giving them some updates. i had spoken to my midwife at this point but she had a couple of other appointments already scheduled and went ahead with those since i told her i didn’t need her then.

miss P needed to take a nap and i wanted to get things going (because i was determined to have this baby that day) and so my mother in law joined us for a walk outside. it was such a beautiful day. a beautiful day to have a baby. :) about 20 minutes later, with a sleeping toddler in the stroller, we went back home. my midwife showed up about 20 minutes after that (around 2:30pm) and i was excited to get an update on what was going on. i greeted her in the driveway and she told me that i didn’t look like i was in labor. lol. i just want to say that i am so very thankful and blessed to have had such an easy labor. don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t “easy” but i had it easier than others. so she checked me and to my surprise (and my midwife’s) i was already 8cm dilated and 100% effaced. she said i’d have this baby in a few hours. you don’t understand how excited i was to hear my progress. i didn’t think i would be so far along since my contractions weren’t stronger, longer, and closer together…but yay!



i am a firm believer that labor is not just a physical thing but a total mental and spiritual thing as well. if you know me i will put so much emphasis on the mental/spiritual aspect rather than physical. well anyways, as soon as i heard how far along i was my contractions immediately got closer together (about 4-5 minutes apart). crazy how our minds and bodies work. so things were picking up quickly. i had planned to use my tub like i did with miss P but i never felt the need since walking around was doing the trick. i had one of my favorite pandora stations playing throughout the house, “explosions in the sky,” and was just walking around chatting with others and still texting people updates. by this time i had the mister, mother in law, midwife, two midwife apprentices, and a dear friend of mine with her daughter (buddies with miss P) over at the house doing their thing.

after two hours my midwife checked again and i was fully dilated and ready to push. it didn’t feel like it but i was ready to see this baby. since i had such an easy labor up to this point, the pushing part seemed to catch me off guard. i guess i had forgotten what it felt like with miss P. ha. the pushing is hard. of course it is. my midwife always says you have to push through the pain and push harder than you think you can. man.that.is.hard. but really, it’s all mental. you have to mentally prepare yourself to really push HARDER, knowing that it’ll hurt more, but also knowing that the harder and more you push the faster this baby will come out. so clearly…you just do it. there’s no other choice. so i did. ;) i did the whole squatting in between contractions part until the baby was pretty much ready to come out. so i got on the bed and pushed some more and waited….this was probably the hardest part. you know how usually you push the head out and then wait until the next contraction to push the rest of the body out?! well i couldn’t do that. because my contractions only got as close as 4 minutes apart my midwife didn’t want the baby’s head sticking out and waiting for those 4 minutes to go by then push the body out. so yes…i had to wait the longest 4 minutes of my life while the head was fully crowned. it was intense let’s just say. haha. i remember asking/begging for the next contraction to come. lol. deep breaths and amazing people encouraging me were getting me through this part. (i had my mother in law and the mister holding my legs at this point).




next thing i know (at 5:31pm) the baby started coming out on her own and about 5 seconds later the mister caught her. they immediately put her on my chest (we didn’t know that she was a she at this point) and just looked at God’s miracle. oh my goodness was i ever glad that was over with. ;) i kept saying that over and over with what felt like the biggest smile on my face (but looking at photos it didn’t look that pretty of a smile). about 20 seconds went by and we finally got to find out….it’s a girl!! what a feeling. she was beautiful. she was here. she was ours. to be honest i was surprised, i thought she was going to be a he. but i was so excited. i couldn’t believe i had two girls!!! that’s when we announced her name too! (we kept that a surprise as well…not so sure my family liked that idea) ;) ruby esther. in love.






throughout all this time my mother in law and my sweet friend were watching the girls. i loved that penelope was there at the house the whole time. i wasn’t distracted by her at all. as soon as ruby was born the mister got penelope and brought her over to see us. she seemed very interested and kept asking if i was okay. lol. such a sweetheart. i was sooo excited that she was able to be there and bond immediately with her sister. after cleaning ruby up and nursing her we were able to get some family photos in with penelope holding her. those are some sweet memories i will never forget.




words cannot describe how thankful i am for everything and everyone who had some part in ruby’s delivery. all the cleaning, prepping, entertaining, encouraging, listening, picture taking, praying, and even just the being there part. gosh. i am beyond blessed and i do not take it for granted. i have some pretty awesome people in my life and i couldn’t have done it without them. i am so grateful for a loving family and friends who have supported me through this home birth. not everyone is a fan of midwifery and all that jazz. i know it’s not for everyone, but man….it sure is an amazing, indescribable experience. and of course i give all credit to God who gave me the strength and this little miracle. she completes us. it’s crazy to think that this little girl was growing inside me for so long. it was so fun not knowing she was a she. i didn’t even get an ultrasound done! so we had no clue to what she looked like or anything. we just trusted God (and my midwife) that she was healthy and growing strong. praise the Lord.

here we are now…almost 12 weeks later (finally got around to writing her story) and we are doing great! took us awhile to find our routine and get settled in this new life of 4 but we did it. ruby is such a great baby. a great little sister. i can honestly say that penelope adores her and is so sweet to her. it’s fun to watch her with ruby, especially when she doesn’t know i am looking. i know they will best buds. can’t wait for them to play with each other. sisters for life! ha. i could go on and on here but i’ll stop now. ;)

yay for babies! (you can read about penelope’s story too!)

 

a little photo shoot

Category: baby | December 12th, 2012


look at that little bitty girl. i still can’t believe that she was growing inside me all those months! we attempted a newborn photo shoot with her the other day. here’s a little sneak peek. :) i have an awesome and talented couple at our church who is doing the photos. it’s a learning experience for both of us since it’s their first time…and mine too (sadly i didn’t do newborn pics with miss P). let’s just say there was lots of cleaning up on the props and our own clothes. they were troopers! i love them.

miss ruby wasn’t so sure about everything and didn’t really “stay in whatever position we put her in like newborns are supposed to do.” ha but i think they got some super cute ones of what we managed to do. we are going to try another attempt here soon too. penelope was super cute too. she kept putting her baby dolls in all the baskets and wrapping them up in the blankets. she even kept trying to put headbands on ruby. lol. and then she threw a nice fit and colored with markers all over herself….in her defense she didn’t take a nap before hand like she normally does. :)

**thank you rick and cindy for everything y’all do! y’all are the best.

2 weeks later

Category: baby | November 29th, 2012


let’s all pretend i took this photo 2 weeks ago. ;) this little one is happy and healthy! i can’t believe she is already two weeks old!! time flies EVEN faster with the second baby. everyone is doing well over here too. we had a rough few sleepless nights (well miss P happily slept through all of it) this past week but i think we got the hang of things a little better. still learning.

i took the girls to the park to meet up with our group of friends that we usually see every other day. it was so nice to get outside and out of the house. penelope was sooo cute when we got there. she is such a proud sister. nothing but a big smile while everyone got to meet ruby! melted my heart. :) i think she was really happy to see her friends too.

i just want to say thank you to all my friends and family who have been soooo helpful and giving. i don’t know what i would do without y’all! the meals, the cleaning, the entertaining of my oldest, and even just sweet words of affirmation and prayers. all amazing. oh and you know you have amazing friends when they ask for your grocery list and go into town to get everything for you. you’re the best krista! :)

guess what!?!

Category: baby | November 19th, 2012


someone came a little early (november 14th) and it’s a girl!!!! we’ve been a little busy over here and today is our first day without friends/family staying to help. eek. i am looking forward to figuring out our routine. i have lots of great photos that i will share soon…clearly. and i’m excited to write up the birth story. more details on the precious babe soon!!!

diaper bag help!

Category: baby | June 25th, 2012


with another little one on the way i have been thinking of what i will need. with miss P we stuck with neutral colors for all the baby essentials: carseat, stroller, high chair, etc. there are a few things i do want to invest in and that’s where i need your help! what worked with you and your kiddos? one of the items i would like is a new diaper bag. i am having a hard time “shopping” for a new bag. we don’t live near many places so i do a lot of online shopping. therefore i don’t get a hands on approach.

with miss P i went through a few bags and wasn’t completely happy with them. i also didn’t spend much money on them…maybe that’s why. ;) also…keep in mind that i will have two in diapers and we love to pack lots of snacks. ha. since we live kind of out in the sticks our errands turn into day trips. so really i need one that will hold a good amount but not be massive. i have been eyeing the convertible bags that can be used as backpacks (but i don’t want an actual backpack…i am being picky and would like it to be cute looking still since it will be my purse for awhile). oh and preferably not black. omg. i am soooo picky. no wonder i can’t find one. sigh. i really don’t want to spend an arm and a leg for a bag but if it’s one that will really work and last awhile then i will do it for the kids. ;) sooo with all that in mind….any suggestions?? i’d LOVE to hear your thoughts….even if they are reasons why you don’t like something. those things are good to know too.

a few wish list favs:
1. baby bee bags fabien
2. the bumble collection chloe convertible
3. ju-ju-be be prepared
4. petunia pickle bottom boxy backpack
5. timi & leslie charlie