BABY!

Introducing

Here's what went down! Luke was originally due on March 19th.  I had about a dozen sonograms throughout this pregnancy. I had polyhydramnios (excess amniotic fluid) with my firstborn which created lots of problems - high blood pressure, about 30 lbs of water weight gain in 5 days which was an obvious sign of pending kidney failure. So Aiden was born 4 weeks early. He weighed 10lbs 7oz and was the biggest baby in NICU. Anyway, polyhydramnios can occur again, so I was being closely monitored.

We knew via the sonograms Luke was going to be a bigger baby too. I stuck to a very strict low carb/ high protein diet. I also exercised (via swimming and water aerobics) regularly. I'm not diabetic, but I am hypoglycemic so my goal was keep my blood sugar stable and my weight down. I was hoping for a smaller baby than Aiden, but I think we just produce Amazon children. 

I put my shop on vacation around pregnancy week 35.5. My workaholic self wouldn't let me do it any sooner and I totally regret that. I needed more rest! The end of week 36, I started feeling...bad. I couldn't sleep in bed anymore, no matter how much I propped myself up. I couldn't lay on either side for more than 30-45min without my hips aching dreadfully. So I slept in a recliner. 'Slept' is overstating it. I went through episodes of dozing. By now, I'm on biweekly DR appts and I had an appt on Monday, Feb 27th. I knew from my experience with Aiden, I was starting to fill up with amniotic fluid. It was super visible and most importantly I could FEEL it. Despite Luke's size, his movements didn't feel as strong or powerful. So I knew I had more fluid than my sono the Thursday before. Unfortunately, there was a different sono technician and her measurements didn't show an increase in fluid - in fact, it showed a decrease! My DR knew that wasn't right, but by state law, couldn't admit me to the hospital. So I went home, reluctantly. I was scheduled for a c-section on March 5th and I knew I wasn't going to make it till then.

I made it through Tuesday, but by Tuesday night, I was miserable. I had an appt on Thurs, but on Wed morning, I told my husband there's no way you're going to work! You're taking me to the DR. I cried on the phone with the nurse, so of course, my DR told me to come in right away and admitted me that day. The excess amniotic fluid was clearly obvious - my preggo belly was huge and you could feel the fluid by pressing on my stomach. Thankfully, this is the only symptom I had this time around. I didn't have excessive water weight gain, my blood pressure remained normal and everything else was functioning properly.

So, aside from the anesthesiologist trying for 20 min and 5 sticks to get my epidural started and then ME discovering he put the epidural too low, everything went fine. I basically felt the entire surgery from the belly button up - I liken this to field surgery. No joke, it is the most pain I've ever felt in my life. At this point, there's not much they can do. But my DR is absolutely amazing, and worked as fast as he could. Luke was more transverse than head down, so it felt like an eternity, but I survived it. And have a beautiful baby boy to show for it.

Here's my dad holding up Aiden to kiss his mommy before going back for my c-section. My wonderful husband on the left holding my hand:

Our mothers (mine has Aiden), my husband's is next to mine and aunt (far left) waiting...

Luke first went to the regular nursery. It's normal protocol for them to test the blood sugar of bigger babies, and they noticed he was having a hard time maintaining his blood sugar. So by the end of Wed, they moved him to NICU to start an IV of glucose. Essentially, they start him on a certain dose and then gradually wean him off of it and make sure he can maintain his blood sugar on his own. He responded beautifully and got to go home with me on Sat (and yes, I should have stayed until Sun...I would have rested better!)

Here's Aiden checking up on his little brother in NICU:

Proud Big Brother!

Bath time - about 3 weeks old

One month old! (3/28/12)

I am so in love with this little boy! He's 5-1/2 weeks now and it is already so obvious how different he is from his older brother. Aiden is wired like his mommy and Luke is wired like his daddy. So glad we now have balance! Where Aiden is intense and on fire, Luke is cool and calm. He is so laid back, I feel like I have to keep checking on him to make sure he's ok. He pretty much only cries if he's hungry. And he coos! I've heard of baby cooing, but I have never actually heard it. With almost every exhaling breath that he's awake, he makes some sort of soft little cooing noise. Talk about endearing! 

I've opened the shop back up for shopping. You should see the list of 'stuff' I'd planned to make before opening up the shop...yeah, not even close to starting it, much less getting it done. I've had to come to terms with the fact that I'm human. Luke eats every 3 hrs and there is only so much you can reasonably get done with that time restriction. Especially when you throw in an almost 5 yr old and your innate desire to do nothing but sit and cuddle a baby all day. Plus, Aiden is starting school in August and I'm already dreading him being gone during the day. I feel like I'm trying to pack in as much time with him as possible. So, I was not able to make anything for stock to sell. And I've had to extend the lead time on all 'Build Your Own' stuff to 3 weeks. It kills me to do that, but I have to be reasonable. I'm not a machine. And I always go back to the reason I started my own business in the first place - to stay home with my babies. If my life were just me--no husband, no babies--I'd be a workaholic hermit. I'd be a freakin' machine, churning out each new idea as it occurred to me in record time. But I'd be alone. Who would be there to bask in my brilliance? (come on, that was sarcasm.)  Instead, God has intrusted to me a husband who treasures me and two beautiful, beautiful boys.  A family to take care of (and who takes care of me), a family to love and cherish and not ignore so I can carry out my brilliant ideas. And apparently, a bathroom that will require me to forever check the seat before I sit down - I do live with all boys after all.  It's all about balance. Which is hard for this all or nothing personality. 

I have a whole new division of Owl Say that will be rolling out this year, Owl Say Home. Realistically speaking, it will take me all year, maybe more, to roll out it out. It will include a new baby line - embroidered bibs, nursery art, burp clothes, embroidered pillows, and appliques. I'm also going to offer several patterns for sale this year. But right now, I'm going to go feed a baby. All 4 of us will pile into my bed while I feed him, change him and snuggle him til he sleeps. Hopefully during this time, Boy 1 will fall asleep and my husband will move him. Then we will tell each other that we'll watch 30 minutes of our favorite show but we'll actually fall asleep about 5 minutes in. And I'll sleep well knowing I am surrounded by so much love.

May & June 2011

Whew! May & June turned out to be busy months! I had several wholesale orders and custom requests for which I'd like to say thank you lovely customers! I also had a couple of very large orders! It started with an order for 42 oversized zip pouches to hold headphones for an LA County School District.

 

Zip pouches are relatively easy to make, but anything in the quantity of 42 tends to become monotonous after a while.  Just FYI, I do offer discounts on large orders. Discounts can be as good as wholesale pricing (50% off) depending on how many you need.

I also had a couple of custom request embroidered travel clutches - which are one of my favorite things to do. Especially since I'm so recently obsessed with the embroidery function of my sewing machine. I haven't totaled my bill on how much I've spent on embroidery designs and materials thus far, but I have a feeling I'm going to be shocked at that total. That's ok. I'm going to chalk that overage up to how much fun it's been this year to do all this embroidery! Anyway, here's one of the designs:

The customer wanted to change the color scheme of the Peacock Plume to focus more on purples and blues. I thought it was such a great idea, I actually made two of them. The other one is half way finished, so I'll be listing it pretty soon.

Perhaps my most favorite request of the year so far is a bride requesting matching travel clutches, purses and luggage tags. I LOVE making purses, but so do a lot of other people in the Etsy market so I tend to focus on more of my travel niche. Anyway, I was lucky enough to make 12 purses, one for each of the 11 bridesmaids and one matching smaller scale purse for the flower girl (to match her bridesmaid mom’s purse), 11 travel clutches and 11 luggage tags. Believe me, I fully planned to take advantage of that photo shoot. I may never get an opportunity like that again. My Love* was NOT happy that I agreed to a 2.5 week time line.  In order for me to agree to that kind of time line, it means nothing else gets done around here. No laundry, no cleaning, no meals – I’m doing good to take daily showers. Seriously. The only thing I WILL take time for is Busy*. I refuse to ignore or become lazy in being Busy’s mom because he is why I do this business. If I ever lose sight of that, then I’m sunk. Luckily, Busy’s Gigi (my mother –in-law) was able to watch him a couple days a week. So, that helped. My Love was, however, happy that the price tag of the order paid for half of Busy’s recent surgery bill. Of course, My Love is my love for a reason, and he was really awesome during those 2 weeks and definitely picked up where I left off. Oh, and don’t get me started on how much Obamacare is such a ridiculous farce, or I will absolutely lose my mind. I could fill several blog posts on the obscene cost of health care and how if we lived anywhere else but these great United States, my beautiful boy would not even be eligible for the surgery's he's received and will be receiving in the future.  More on Busy’s health later….Anyway,  take a look at this great order.

My Love  helped me set up a laundry line between two trees outside so I could try and get them all in one picture. 

Ok, obviously I'm a picture short in the collage above...which is why you should never do anything worth while when you're tired. Below are some close-ups.

 

 

It was windy on picture day which was nice considering the hot weather, but not so nice when you're trying to take pictures! I have lots of blogging to catch up on, but first a Newsletter for my loyal followers. If you're not signed up for it, hurry! Click on the 'Newsletter' tab at the top to get signed up!

*I recently read a blog where the blogger referred to her husband and child by nicknames, to protect their identity of course. I loved that idea. She referred to her child as 'Busy' so I'm adopting that for my own.  And my husband is 'My Love'. Really how perfect?