Allyson's Birth Story

Allyson is 4 months old, and I really feel like I need to get her birth story written down before I forget it!

We moved into our new house in October 2008. Then began the house renovations. The master bedroom and Braydon's room were major projects and began after Christmas. Allyson was due March 23rd. When Braydon was born we were rushing to get his room finished. His room was finally completed April 21st, Braydon was born April 22nd. Braydon's room in the new house was finished and then work on the master bedroom began. Our old mattress and box spring wouldn't fit up the stairs of the new house, so we bought a new two-piece box spring and a big mattress. My goal was to sleep on the new mattress before the baby was born and my sleep was compromised for who knows how long.

So, the room was finished and the new bed was set up March 14th....do you see where this was going?

I went to bed on Saturday March 14th. I woke up around 4:30am with stomach cramps. Nah, I thought, it couldn't possibly be labour, I'm not due for a week. Braydon was one day early, but I still have time. But nope, the pesky cramps were 10 minutes apart and not going away. I can't remember what time I woke Wylie up, it may have been close to 5:30 or 6am. I told him I thought I was in labour. Because of how quickly the first labour progressed, we were definitely going to make it to the hospital this time before I was 10cm dilated! Around 7am I called my dad and asked if he could come and get Braydon soonish. He was still in bed when I called, he was at my house (a 10 minute drive) by 7:20am. By this time I was freaking a little because my contractions were pretty strong and 5 minutes apart. When my dad got to our house with my sister Erin, they practically grabbed Braydon and threw me out of the house....no time for long goodbyes, they were worried I'd go fast.

We got to the hospital before 8am. When I arrived at the hospital I told them I'd only been in labour for 3.5 hours and I know I probably am not very far along, but last time it went really quick so I didn't want to go home even if I wasn't far along. They took one look at my chart (not even at me) and said, your doctor says you have precipitous labour, you're not going anywhere. Remembering that I was having contractions every 5 minutes I was like 'precipi-what?' Not going anywhere? Great!!!!

So I was sent into my labour and delivery room, hooked up to the monitors and all was good. When I was first checked, somewhere around 8:30am, after just 4 hours of labour, I was already at 7cm. Craziness!!!! No wonder it hurts so freaking much.

At this point time frames start to get a little fuzzy. Since I progress sooooo quickly and my water hadn't yet broken, the on-call decided to break my water so that they could control when things would happen more. More progression and water breakage later it was shortly after 10am (maybe 10:10ish?) when I was ready to push.

I don't know if this is typical, but when I'm not allowed to 'push' all I want to do is push. Then when they let me push I decide I don't want to cause it hurts too much....women in labour are not rational! Also, I am not a screamer apparently. I just said 'ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch' the whole time there was pain. Fun....anyway, after a bit of pushing at 10:25am on March 15th Allyson was born! Then the fun began.

First, as soon as Allyson was born they placed her on me. This is normally a wonderful thing, but they were delivering my placenta at the same time, which involves a lot of uncomfortable and painful pushing on your tummy. I was completely stressed out that I was going to drop her. And then she peed all over me. Ah babies.

I required stitches this time, fairly common but I didn't have any with Braydon. So once everything was delivered, they realized that my bleeding was not stopping. They also discovered during my pre-birth blood work that I was severely anemic so this was a pretty big problem. I ended up on blood clotting iv stuff and we had to stay in labour and delivery until the bleeding was 'under control'. We were in l&d for 4 or 5 more hours....yes, that's right, I was in l&d for longer after birth than before the baby was born.

So all in all, Allyson's labour took 6 hours start to finish.....I'm scared what will happen if I have a 3rd kid....

The one in which I am proven wrong

So every morning Braydon wakes up an and every car he has taken to bed with him must make the return trek downstairs for the day. Some times this means I am carrying Allyson, approximately 300 cars, a sippy cup, Winnie the Pooh etc, etc, etc.... One day this past week Braydon wanted to take so many cars downstairs I grabbed a bag and threw the cars in there to carry them downstairs (or downshares in Braydon speak). Braydon got very excited and exclaimed 'Packback, packback'....at first I was confused....then I figured it out 'Back pack?' I asked him. 'Yes mommy, packback'. OK, so we have learned a new word apparently! Yay for that. All day he was carrying things around, and no matter what he was carrying, he was calling it a 'packback', especially this basket that hangs around in our family room. He was carrying the basket over his arm or around his neck and saying 'look at my packback mommy'. So Braydon's daddy comes home and I figure we'll show him Braydon's new funny word.
Braydon was playing with the basket so I said 'What's that you're playing with Braydon? Is that your packback?' He looked at me and yelled, 'No mommy...BASKET!!!!'. Add in a teenager 'that is the stupidest thing you've ever said moooom' glare and yep, boy was I wrong....

Enough with the kids.....bring back the crafts!

OK, this post will be picture heavy. I'll show you many of the crafts I have completed in the last year or so and provide a brief story/explanation where applicable. If you have questions feel free to ask in the comments. However, I don't remember what yarn I used in a lot of cases....so I may not be able to help you there.

This is Cheer Bear. Made for my adorable niece. This is the first in a series of Care Bears, only one other one is pictured here because in a lot of cases I don't have time to look through hundreds of photos to find the crafty ones. In addition to Wish Bear below I have also made Good Luck Bear and Funshine Bear. I have decided to make it a tradition to give a Care Bear to each of my nieces, nephews and children. Good Luck Bear was actually made for my sister by her demand, um, I mean request....and Funshine was for my nephew. Allyson's bear has not been started and I am still decided which one to make. Right now it is between Lovesalot (pink), and Friendship (orange). Any thoughts?

This is Wish Bear - given to Braydon for his first birthday. I used a different wool than on any of the others, because this was the first one I didn't buy a kit for. I liked using wool I selected myself better (I think it's Bernat Satin). I also changed the recommended eyes from felt to embroidery with wool. You can really see the difference the yarn made...this one is much shorter and wider.

Allyson's first blanket. I used Cottontots (bernat I think), which is what the pattern called for. I did modify several things. There are many more rows of blue than called for. I also changed the colours that were called for, added extra flowers and did the flowers with different colours and different coloured centres. Oh, and I completely changed the border. I didn't like the striped border of the original design, so I just did a few rounds of the various pinks and white and then did the same picot edge on the last row that the pattern did suggest. I think it turned out really cute. If I did this again I would do more rounds of the grass. Also I wasn't able to get enough of the blue in the same dye lot, but I bought it anyway, you can see stripes in the sky when the skeins changed. At first I didn't like it, but now I think it looks more like the variations of blue in a real sky and it adds to the quirky homemade look. I love it, but it's a bit heavy so Allyson hasn't actually used it yet.

Meet Tigger. This turned out super, super cute, but it was the worst written pattern I have ever encountered. I had to change the pattern several times in order to make things centered and symmetrical. I do not recommend this to beginners. I'd like to make the other items in the pattern book (Winnie-the-Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore), but I dread having to re-write more patterns cause it was such a hassle.

That's all I've got pictures of for now. Going forward I will probably not do pictures of older crafts unless it's requested and I have time to find the pictures. Other stuffed objects include a Strawberry Shortcake and several amigurumi animals. I have also made several purses and afghans.

And on the go right now I have a gift for my father-in-law, a gift for my mother-in-law, a bowling set for Braydon, and a truck afghan for Braydon. I have the yarn for, but have not commenced the following: 2 baby afghans, and another afghan for Allyson.

Dear Allyson

You are squishy, sweet, jolly and oh, so happy...and just a tiny little bit round....you are a joy every day!

So far you seem a million worlds apart from how your brother was as a baby. When you were just brand new, you preferred to be in your bouncer chair or your car seat to being held, and man oh man, do you ever love the swing. You have many a nap in the swing, unlike your brother who preferred being held at all times. Now at 3.5 months old, you are starting to prefer to be held...but only when you are awake and alert. This is because you have been trying like the dickens to sit up. You prefer to watch the world in an upright position, instead of being reclined. For a few weeks you have been very close to rolling, but you seem to like to lie on your side for floor play time and have no desire to roll the whole way. So you kick, and play and teeter on your side instead of rolling.

Things that would make your brother go ballistic, such as car rides, baths and being put down are awesome for you. Getting a smile and a giggle from you is also pretty darn easy. I don't believe I have encountered a happier baby, you are just a delight!

When Braydon was born I always knew I wanted 2 more children. Now that you are here I am not so sure. Our family feels complete now, in a way it didn't when it was just the three of us. There is a distinct possibility we will only have 2 kids, and the thought that you might be my last baby makes me want to keep you a tiny(ish) squishy little baby forever.

Oh, by the way, did you know that you can put a baby (even a new born) to bed, still awake, and they will just babble to themselves then go to sleep without even crying? I was not aware of this, thank-you for teaching me:) It is easy to forgive the 3am play sessions, when I want to sleep, please dear god let me sleep, for 2 reasons, first, you are an adorable ball of giggles and smiles at 3am, and second, putting you and getting you to sleep is approximately 1000% easier than it was with your brother. I still remember the pain of his bedtimes vividly. Thank you for being an awesome sleeper.

Right now I don't have as many cute stories about you, because you aren't really doing all that much yet, but you bring endless joy to my life every single day, and right now that's more than enough.

Love, mommy.

Dear Braydon

You are my first born, my little man, my pride and my joy. Every day I marvel at the sweet, cool little person you are becoming. There were days, very early on in your life, when I feared you would be a high maintenance, spoiled little guy. Those first months we had together, you did not want to be put down....like, ever....it was hard, so very hard. I was tired and I thought I would never feel rested again. You did not sleep well unless you were held, and if you were not being held you would usually cry. I also remember many nights when nothing seemed to settle you at all, and I could do nothing but cuddle you while you cried. Thankfully the mantra 'this too shall pass' has held true with you.



You are almost 2.5, and you are an independant, thoughtful, cute little man, who sleeps through the night, who no longer requires some one to stay with him til he falls asleep, eats pretty well, and is generally well behaved. You certainly have your tantrumy moments, but you're two, that comes with the territory. At this exact moment you are actually having a tantrum. Apparently the world is nearing an end because I told you we are not watching WALL-E right now. Ah, as quickly as the tantrum started, it is now over, all is right with the world again and you are playing with your cars.



Right now one of my very favourite things about you is your desire to make people happy. You definitely have a class clown kind of attitude about you. This morning your Grandma Cox stopped by briefly. While she was here you found a cardboard box, placed it on your head, announced it was a 'perfect hat' and then started running in circles around the house while screaming. Grandma asked if you do this a lot. While, nope, you don't, you were just entertaining our company. If any one around you seems sad, you either take their face in your hands and say 'ok mommy?' (0r fill in correct name here). Or else, you demand of them 'come here mommy.' (or fill in correct name here), and give a big hug. Sometimes I make sad faces just to get the hugs:)



You also care very much for animals. You are constantly trying to hug any pets we encounter. And well, let's just say your first try at fishing did not go well. You screeched and demanded your daddy pick you up. You wanted no part of removing fishies from the water. Apparently you like fish quite a lot, because the little rabbit that lives in our backyard has also been named 'fishie'.



You also have many irrational fears, so many that I cannot keep up with what will freak you out any given day. Sometimes bugs cause you great stress. Once you were calling 'stuck mommy' over the monitor and when I came to see what was up you were cornered in your room by an ant. Other times you take great delight in smashing bugs with any tools at your disposal. There are also a few toys that freak you right out. One of your toy trucks makes noise and drives itself when you shake it, you played with it for one day, and now any appearances of said toy make you run from the room shouting 'no, scary, no like it!'.



One thing I could definitely do without though, is being kick-attacked during diaper changes. Surely you have noticed by now I have changed your diaper several times a day, every day of your life. Until you decide you're ready for the potty that won't be changing, so how about you make that part of our life a little easier....



You make every day brighter, and happier. I love you little man!



Love, mommy.

Bringing Back the Blog

Well, well, well. It seems I suck at blogging. When I started this blog just 2 weeks before returning to work after mat leave I didn't realize how incredibly hard it is to be a working mother. For the 11 months or so I was back at work, life looked something like this. Get up at 6am, get dressed, get Braydon up, get Braydon dressed, get the car loaded, drop Braydon off at daycare, take the 7:30am train into Toronto, work from 8-4, catch the 4:30 train home, pick up Braydon at daycare, get home from work by 6pm, immediately make dinner, after dinner, bath and bedtime for Braydon (who was not an easy child to get to sleep), and by the time he's finally asleep it's 9:00ish, and I have an hour before bedtime to do household chores and prepare for doing it all again tomorrow. As you can see, that schedule left oh about zero time for blogging. Any spare minutes I had, I'd rather spend with my family than the computer.

Anyway, in my months away from the blog I created something pretty awesome:

Meet Allyson! She was born this past March and will be 4 months old in a couple of weeks.

Braydon is pleased with the new addition.

So anyway, I'm back on mat leave again. Barring any unforeseen circumstances with my husband's job, I'll be taking advantage of my leave for care and nurturing (thank you federal government!), and I will be home with the kids until October 2014.

So, even though the kids keep me VERY busy I think I will be able to find more time for blogging. Also, Braydon is nearly 2.5 and man oh man, he's a fun little guy to have a conversation with, and I really want a place to write things down so I can remember all these stories when they're older. And don't worry, I will still talk about crafts! There may not be many pictures for a while though, because many of the things I am working on are Christmas presents. Recently I completed an afghan for Ally (pics soon) and another afghan for a present and I am working on another afghan right now.

So I think that's enough for one day...I will be back soon and start the stories...oh the stories!