Mattie's Story

Right after Mattie was born our computer broke.  And we've been waiting two very long weeks for it to be fixed.  I've kind of been dying, but I've read a lot and I'm all caught up on thank you notes, so I guess it really hasn't been that bad.  But now we're back in business!

My sister Leslie tells a 'PG' or an 'R' rated version of Mattie's birth story based on who her audience is.    If you want the 'G' version- we went to the hospital and about 35 minutes later Mattie was born on the bathroom floor.  If you'd like a few more details then read on.

I woke up on May 15th feeling yucky.  I had been up with Jilly for a while in the night so I was super tired and my body just hurt from carrying around extra weight for so long.  We were supposed to meet a friend at the play place at the mall at 10.  I was tempted to cancel, but I thought maybe getting up and going would help me feel better.

We had fun at the mall but while there I realized that I was not just feeling achy, these were contractions coming every 10 or 15 minutes.  They weren't too bad, and I don't think my friend even caught on because she was shocked when I texted her a few hours later that we'd had a baby.  At noon we left the mall and I called my mom and said, "I think I might be having this baby."

We got home and I cleaned up for a while, made us lunch, and we watched a few episodes of Curious George.  I had downloaded a free contraction timer on my phone and was extremely annoyed when it told me I had reached the limit of 20 contractions and had to pay a dollar to continue.  Seriously, who only has 20 contractions?!

At 2:00 I put Jilly down for her nap and laid down myself but I couldn't sleep.  The contractions gradually started getting stronger and closer together.  I texted Bryan and told him that we would be having a baby that night but he could stay at work longer, I'd keep him posted.  I did some last minute packing, cleaning, and getting ready to go.  Around 3:45 I was talking to my mom and told her my contractions were coming about 3 minutes apart.  She told me that it was probably time to get to the hospital, something that I was kind of in denial about.  Thankfully I listened to her and texted Bryan to come home from work.  Next I called a friend who happened to be driving right by our house and stopped to get Jilly (again, such a blessing!)

We got to the hospital at 4:45.  In triage the nurse said I was dilated to a 6 or 7.  They gave us a room, started my IV, and asked what seemed like a million health history questions.  At this point I was hurting pretty bad and was less than thrilled to be discussing whether any of my relatives had a history of heart disease.  Bryan was a champion- as I squeezed all the life out of his hand he answered as many questions as they would let him answer for me.  Between questions my nurse kept telling me that I needed to relax (yeah, she was not my very favorite person in the world.)  At 5:15 we texted my mom and told her that we were all checked into the hospital.

Things were getting pretty intense.  I knew I wanted to try it without an epidural but I was struggling.  I had convinced my nurse to let me sit in the rocking chair, but she would not let me move around (I was hooked up to an iv, though I wasn't receiving any medication through it yet.)  Finally I asked if I could get up and go to the restroom knowing the movement would feel so much better than just sitting there.  Once there I quickly realized that it was time to push- I could see her head coming!  I panicked and yelled to Bryan for help.  A nurse in the hall heard me and came running just in time to catch the baby's head.  She yelled and half a dozen other nurses and a doctor ran in as well.  A nurse helped me lay back and after one push our sweet Mattie arrived at 5:22pm.

Immediately I felt so relieved and so happy.  The pain was over and I felt great.  They asked me if I could walk back to the bed and I said, "yeah, of course!"  They were all pretty surprised as I easily stood up and got in the bed where someone handed me my little pink bundle.  I felt so, so happy and so lucky- she was here!  I had done it!

I kept apologizing and saying I really had no clue she was coming so fast.  The nurses seemed to enjoy a more exciting than average birth and their jokes were endless ("want some fries with that baby?")  I know to most people it sounds so crazy that I didn't realize she was coming but it just all happened so fast.  And, looking back, I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Yes, it was very intense for about 20 minutes but then I was all done and I immediately felt so, so great.  I'm now a believer in no epidural because my recovery was a breeze.  And, hello, how completely adorable is this baby girl?

welcome, welcome

Mattie Claire

May 15, 2013 at 5:22pm

7lb 9oz, 21 inches

More to come as she made quite an exciting entrance, but for now we're spending all our time loving on this sweet girl (sometimes a little too much love from big sis!)

a baby-free weekend

On Friday some friends threw me the most lovely shower.  It was in my friend Megan's backyard, which is already to die for.  But they added lots of icicle lights, glittery gold candles, and gorgeous flowers.  Seriously, it looked so beautiful.  We all sat around chatting for hours; I finally looked at my phone and was shocked to see that it was 11:30pm (this is coming from the girl who thinks going to bed at 11 is late.)  Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures until the very end so I didn't get any group pictures.

Everyone was so generous- we got some cute outfits for baby girl (helpful since she is coming at the exact opposite time of year as Jillian), blankets, and Megan made these adorable dolls; I can't wait to see both my girls playing with their dolls together!

Then on Saturday Bryan, Jilly, and I packed up a picnic and headed to Folsom Lake.  Jillian is even more of a fish than she was last year.  She loved being in the water, especially since Daddy was so fun to play with.

And her close second favorite thing to do was sit in her little chair drinking juice

 We found tons of ladybugs (yes, necklaces are necessary at the lake)

 We all loved having a day to just hang out together

Bryan and Jilly really spoiled me on Mother's Day.  I got to sleep in, we had french toast for breakfast,  they gave me flowers and new pajamas, we skyped with my family, had a nice day at church, and then ate gyros for dinner (which were an amazing recommendation from my bff Lisa.)  I'm so lucky to have  these two!

friday five

1. I generally shy away from pictures of my pregnant self, but on Sunday I caught a glimpse of my profile and decided it had to be documented.  I find it difficult to believe that really is my body and there really is a living, growing sweet little girl in there.

2. About a year ago we started a savings account for Jilly at Wells Fargo.  They gave her this horse which has sat in her stuffed animal basket until this week when suddenly she is obsessed with it.  We all know that every princess has a prince and all princes must ride a horse so I'm assuming that's where the sudden fixation came from. 

3. Going along with Jilly's love of the horse is her new favorite line in Sleeping Beauty.  When Prince Philip hears Aurora singing in the woods he offers his horse carrots to go out of their way to find her.  But when the horse throws Philip into a pond he says "No Carrots."  This little line sends Jilly into a fit of giggles and she repeats it all the time.

4. Bryan and Jilly both have birthdays in November which means they both have half birthdays this month.  My policy is to never pass up an opportunity for cake so we had half of our favorite cake this week to celebrate.  

5.  10 more days!  That's one day shy of single-digits. (Unless the little dear decides to come late, in which case she will start out life with a mother who is slightly annoyed.)

To my sweet Jilly,

Some big changes are coming our way.  It's not going to be just you and me together during the day anymore.  We're going to have a baby sister join us.  In all honesty, I'm kind of scared about adding a new little person to our mix: a new schedule, another car seat to buckle, an extra person to keep happy.  But at the same time I am over the moon excited for you to have a sister.

Trust me, I know all about being a big sister.  I know sometimes it really stinks that you'll have to share me with someone else.  But, I promise, we are going to love her so, so much.

You have a very important job- you must be her best friend and teach her everything you know.  She'll need to learn about princesses and dresses, how to make up funny songs like you do, and where the best places are to hide when playing with Daddy.  She is so lucky to have you as her big sister.

And please always remember that I love love love you.  No matter what, you'll always be my Jilly, my first little girl, my buddy.

xoxo, Mommy

cinco de mayo

We take Cinco de Mayo very seriously at our house.  In the words of my dear husband, "Cinco de Mayo is like Christmas for my mouth."  Lucky for me, May 5th fell on a Sunday this year so Bryan was home to do most of the cooking.  He made pork chili verde which was so, so, so delicious.  I'd post a recipe, but he kind of created his own compilation of a few different recipes he found online.  We had it over this rice, which was an excellent suggestion from my cousin-in-law.  I usually make this rice, but have recently decided I'm over cilantro so this new recipe is a perfect replacement.  I also made Mexican sweet corn cake for the first time, and we will definitely be having it again soon.  Even Jilly, who can be picky, scarfed down this meal.  Muy delicioso!

Summer Dress #2

My grandma gave me lots of pretty purple eyelet lace fabric last summer and I'd been looking for a way to use it.  I finally used this tutorial to make a dress for Jilly.  I love her tutorials so much because they have lots of great pictures and are easy to follow.  

 And Jilly loves this dress, which is saying a lot because we have had some rough two-year-old weeks full of tantrums because her dresses are "not working."

I wanted to take some pictures of Jilly in the dress before she went to bed so we walked over to the newly-blooming rose garden in our neighborhood. 

Jillian loved the flowers and was especially fascinated by the snail we spotted hiding under one of the bushes.

Spoiler Alert: there is a coordinating dress for baby sis and I cannot wait for her to get here so I can enjoy my matchy girls.