First Adventure in Baby Food Making

ok so I KNOW I need to catch up on the last 8 months, and I am going to! One month per day for the next week :) But I had to share this since I actually got it done lol

so homemade baby food! An adventure I embarked on with a feeling of being both Martha Stewart and Julia Child. Only I'm nicer than Martha and it's not nearly as fancy at what Julia did. But still, I felt empowered, womanly... I felt like MOTHER. And that feeling continued as I bought the steamer, bought the veggies, sliced them... heck that feeling is still there!

First I got the broccoli washed all the while Aurora is in her swing watching me and listening to my long winded explanation of what I was doing and what color broccoli is and what it does for you (bless her for looking attentive!) then as I tore off the individual florrets and some of the stalk into the steam tray and placed the cover I felt a sense of "AHA! I'm doing something!".
We walked to the living room and played. 15 minutes later, "DING!" and the broccoli was ready for me to transform it into amazing goop. Now let me tell you, steam is hot. Just in case any of the rest of you forgot it like I did. So, one broccoli steam facial later, I have placed the broccoli with some breastmilk in the Magic Bullet.
Now first off I want to say THANK YOU to whomever invented the Magic Bullet. No lie. I have used it over the years, but never have I been so amazed at how quickly, thouroughly, and easily it does stuff! 6 seconds of whiirrrrrring later, we have perfectly purreed baby food! Now for the official test...

and...


She loved it!

Bolstered anew by her approval I hastened to peel and cut up the zuccini. And might I say that zuccini may be the easiest veggie ever to prep. Took like 9 seconds to peel.ANyway, Bam! in the steamer! I waited excitedly for the "DiNG!" and sang to Aurora about Zuccini wonders as I blended up our newest creation. Her taste test= thrilled! Yay! On to the last culinary adventure of the day... the Eggplant
.

I confidently pick up the purple monstrosity and get my peeler into the "attack position"... and am promptly laughed at by said purple beast. Now, I have never cooked eggplant. But I did not know they had advanced defense mechanism known as "rubber skin". Seriously, you cannot peel these things! Trust me I tried, much to my daughters ammusement. and I failed. OH did I fail. Finally i gave up and got out the trusty Chef Knife. Let's see that tough veggie stand up to it! As predicited, my knife won. At this point the novelty of watching mommy become a culinary master lost it's luster. And the grin-y babbelling gave way to the wails of a very done child. As I attempted to sing and do silly voices while carving up the eggplant I realized it was NOT working and I had about 3 minutes till total meltdown. I raced to chop that sucker like no other... and then realized I was totally off on my "3 minute" timer. She lost it about 1 minute later. So to the tune of tears I finished my chopping and tossed it all in the steamer, threw the switch and grabbed my child. Who promptly stopped crying and grinned at me. Geez I'm a sucker!

Fast forward 20 mins ( a full eggplant needed to cook longer) we had a tray of funny looking veggie. It's a weird blend of ivory, purple, green, it's gritty and has a weird foam look...kinda like an odd clay/paint experiment gone bad. But I digress. I blended that up (and made the mistake of tasting it.. bleh!) and gave her a try, again Success! However as I put it in the ice cube trays, I got the banshie again. Although the wails of a cranky child will motivate you to move at lightening speed I have to say.


Anyway, At the end of this adventure, I have a child who loves veggies, 3 new veggie baby foods in freezer bags and containers ready to be enjoyed, and my pride has grown a bit. I made food my daughter loved! and is sooo good for her! And honestly, it was sooo much easier than I thought it would be! (although I may try to do it at different times so she doesn't get frustrated in the future).

So our next culinary goal....Lychee and Mango! (and perhaps mushrooms?)

more labor/birth pics from Nikkie..

so thought I'd share these as they are awesome shots! I think my favorite 3 shots of labor are in here :) Thank you Nikkie!!

Allyson and Celina Filling up the tub, while I was getting labor-inducing massage...
Early Labor Walks While I still had it! Labor Inducing Massage
Support and Love...
This was my view while in the tub lol Going through transition.. what a great hubby!



And she's HERE!!!!



Bonding and our first latching on.. My only pics w/ her after that I have that are good! :)



And this is my favorite labor picture.. during transition. My husbands hands, helping us through it and loving her already..

The first few days... miracles every second

so things are going great!!

She's a great great eater and honestly the only "pain" with breastfeeding is the initial latches each time.. for about 3o seconds it hurts till she gets the flow going well and then it's just fine. You can breathe through it with no issue. I now look like Lara Croft from Tomb Raider but no one is really complaining there!

She sleeps like a CHAMP! at night when we're all in bed together she sleeps a good solid 3 hours, then eats for about 45 mins or so again and then is out for another 4 hours. So we both get really good sleep for which I'm really grateful. She LOVES to snuggle, and LOVES kisses which I have never seen a newborn like. Usually they turn their faces away or kinda flail their hands to avoid them.. not her. She just will let you kiss her till the cows come home. OH! and we have a freaking awesome update...

ready?

SHE SMILES!!! no lie, when she's happy she smiles. Not the gassy "grimace smile" but a legitimate smile. When she's looking in our eyes or just finished eating she'll look at us with a big grin. It is amazing! I've heard of babies doing that as early as a month... but only 3 days?!! We are so so so lucky.

She also LOVES her daddy time and the sunbaths they take together (to keep from getting jaundice). She will just look at him for hours and plays with his hands and just is so content. The dogs of course thinks that the sunbaths are cuddle time for them too so they jump on the bed and cuddle with them too which I think is adorabe. Rogue has decided that Auroras safety is her new job so she has decided that the title "bodygaurd" is hers. lol, it's so funny she'll watch anyone who gets close to her other than us like a hawk!

All the animals have been GREAT with her too. Kida (the cat) oddly enough doesn't seem to interested in her. She used to love cuddling on my tummy and Aurora never kicked her (odd right?) but now that she's out Kida doesn't seem to care at all. Storm just thinks she's cool and loves to sniff her all the time.

I am so crazily in love with this little person it's literally indescribable. and she is just waking up and I think hungry so I'm gonna go! more pics to come!!

just some pics of her from the last couple days..

this is what I woke up to a few hours after birth and a nap ... is my life amazing or what?!

taking a sun bath with daddy

all curled up in her boppy earlier yesterday

this is my favorite picture. THIS is love folks

My perfect daughter

Labor and Birth!!!!

so I had been having a feeling for a LONG time that she would arrive on Dec. 1st. As of 10:34 monday the 30th I told me sister "ah, still nothing really.. I'll let you know if anything starts!"...well fast forward a few minutes to 11:13pm.. and GUSH!!! Niagra falls falling out of my uterus wakes me up. Now apparently I had like 2 gallons of water because I was gushing out water forever lol..

*and btw... I don't know why I didn't think of this before, but just cause you loose 2 gallons of water does not mean you stop leaking all over for the rest of the duration lol. I kinda forgot that amniotic fluid keeps regenerating...Ladies, invest ina GIANT pack of thick pads if you're doing a home birth just to keep from leaking everywhere. I was SO grateful I had!

So, most women when their water breaks labor goes into overdrive and it's only 5 -10 hours till they have a little one in their arms. Yeah, not me! lol. I was having contractions, every 3 mins or so for about 50 seconds long for a couple hours before we called the midwife to come check me. She got there at 3:3oam and I was 2cm ( I had been 1cm 5 days prior lol) and of course still fully effaced (thankfully that doesn't go backwards!). i wasn't having hard pain and could blow through them uber uber easy. She left around 5 am or so (no more changes yet) and I tried to get some sleep inbetween them. I was able to and that was really nice. Come around 7:15am however they were intense enough that I couldn't really recover enough to go back to sleep so I got up and took a shower.

**another BIG tip ladies, save the shaving till early labor! Especially the "nether regions" because it's a GREAT early labor distractor! not only does the hot water feel like heaven on your back of course, but the contractions are mild enough to just make you pause and since you can't see down there it takes like 25 mins to do it without nicking yourself lol! So out I got feeling great, refreshed, and smooth :)

At this point my sister had come already (she got there around 3:30am too because given how fast both her and moms labors were she wanted to be on hand in case I followed suit) and around 10:30 or so my coach Allyson came. Both Billy and Tiffany (my sister) were sleeping at that point so Allyson and I made muffins and just chatted till noon or so and then got them up.

Contractions started picking up some more and my midwife came back around 1ish and I was a good easy stretch to a 3 and she was moving even lower so progress was slow but still happening. Still not what they call "LABOR"...it was early labor of course and things were still easy to deal with. Celina and Nikkie and Allocen (billy sister) showed up around now too and Taylor ended up coming over sometime around 4 as well I think. Now remember that my orriginal plan was just to have Billys sisters, my sister Tiffany, and Allyson there when she was born. I couldn't be happier with how that changed!

By the time my midwife got back around 5 I was having to concentrate a bit and really 'blow' through them and I had gotten to 4cm. I had taken a walk around the block with Allyson and Celina and Nikkie and that was fun and a great way to work through contractions I must say. I was about 4cm and she said that she was really hoping things started to pick up more. Ordered me another walk around the block and left some Kohosh to possibly start to "kick things up". After another walk and then a couple doses of Kohosh things were more intense and my midwife, Sonya, came again around 7. I was a loose 4cm. Not very hopeful. SO Nikkie (who is a massuese) started working on the "Labor making" spots which while not pleasant DID work. Within an hour I was really having some GOOD contractions. Sonya got back at 9 and.... Well at 9 I was 5.5!! WOOT!!! things were moving! And oh yeah were contractions gettting harder. The pain was there but not horrid, still "blowable" and I was happy stuff was moving along. Sonya was no longer going to leave.. she was there till the end!

Now the fun stuff started, the back labor. it had been there all along but now it got worse. I thought I was going to escape this I really did since she was NOT sunny side up and my back had actually been BETTER during pregnancy than normal! I had issues pre pregnancy that went away of all things :) but no. It came and it came rearing it's ugly head in stages. Everyone keep taking turns putting counter pressure on my lower back which REALLY helped and God bless you all who did that cause I KNOW it was hard work!

Celina and a few other people got the Birth Tub all filled and I finally got to get in the water.. OH WHAT HEAVEN!!! to ANY mom who is considering it, all I have to say is DO IT!! the comfort during labor is indiscribably helpful and yeah, just do it. Getting in the tub I though it might slow labor, it didn't! Contractions stayed moving along and getting more intense.

Fast forward to 11:15pm, 24 hours post water breaking and the official "ok things NEED to be happening now...we're on a time limit" spot. I started feeling pushy (and had only had a couple of little yelps btw, all the rest was deep "toning" and blowing techniques). Sonya came to check me and announced "hey! we're at a full 9cm!" and a resounding "huzzah and YAY!" came from everyone. Now let me fill you in on who everyone was real quick:
*Allocen-Billys sister
*Tiffany-My sister
*Nikkie
*Celina
*Allyson-my coach
*Zeke -allysons hubby and Auroras Godfather
*Sonya-Midwife
*Taylor-our friend (guy)
*Billy of course

WOW! but oh what a difference! Sadly Amber billys other sister got snowed in but she is here now. The whole "village" mentality truly works. I mean people could take turns putting pressure on my back, feeding me lol (my hands were wet!), ect. And I didn't ever have all of them surrounding me until she was actually coming out so I never felt overwhelmed. And I loved having the whole process surrounded by OUR support system, the people she will grow up around and that Billy and I are close to. It was so so incredible and NEVER could have happened at a hospital birth. Not in a million years!

So anyway, Sonya checks me around 11:30pm. 9cm Whoo HOO!! so a few mins later checks me again in a slightly different position and we discover that I have a funky thing going on. 3/4 of my cervix, the back and sides were fully dilated.. but I had a 3cm LIP in the front! This is where the the HELL part of my labor started. (and even that was worth it). I had both pushing contractions (which coupled with the back labor sucked a little more than usual I think) AND regular contractions that were pushing HARD on that lip. SO I had to fight the urge to push and at the same time ride out a transition contraction. Here is where I started to falter a bit. I hadn't yelled at all up to this point and I still didn't yet, but I was getting close. There was a lot more kinda "half crying" owwwsss... post contractions and a lot more "ok i can do this i can do this i can do this" having to go on. After another hour things weren't changed as much so I got in the shower for a few, yeah THOSE 3 contractions were SUPER Strong. Got back in the tub and at 1am Sonya checked me again.

still had about 2cms of lip left. She left her fingers in me and tried to help "lift" the lip so I could push past it. THAT is where the agony was. Trying to push her head through an already tight space with someones hand up there and the fingers in the same spot you're pushing was truly truly painful. I will not deny it. HERE is where I yelled. (however I watched the video last night, and yeah I was not the banshee I thought I was and it was only like an hour and a half of the whole process that was like this). After a few unsuccessful attempts I was ready to give up and go to the hospital. I was so exhausted and frustrated that I thought I just couldn't do it. Which was devistating to me. Although the fact that I said this but didn't make any attmept to get out of the tub says that I didn't REALLY want to go. Sonya had called Christine, her co=midwife, who was on her way and got me to wait for Christine to get a second oppinon. Christine came and checked. still over a cm of lip left.

Here I was like fuck it, Im a failure, take me in. Christine very appropriately told me to "suck it up and I can do this" she was going to hold the lip and I was going to push past it. And that was that.
I think having a fresh voice and someone who hadn't been around be that blunt with me really worked.
"ok, ok.. ok.. i'll do it"
well, a few good screams and pushes later, we were past the lip!!!! HOORAY!!!!!!! and then the relief hit. oh dear god it was wonderful lol. Who would have thought that pushing would feel good right?

So I started pushing. As I was sooo tired, I could really only manage a few pushes per contraction and at first wasn't making huge progress. about half an hour in though, we saw hair! and then another 30 mins, we had hair that wasn't slipping back in lol. Honestly the pushing doesn't hurt, the stretchign does and the little yells at the end of pushes weren't from "HOLY HELL IT HURTS' more from just "holy crap it's INTENSE!" and lots of energy. The pushing felt really good. and using the Mirror is a GREAT tool to keep you motivated in pushing!

Right at the end it was pretty hard getting her head to "pop" out but it was fine! and she came out like me, with her hand up by her face lol. She also had very loosly wrapped her cord around her neck and then her body! So the last push to get her out was pretty intense instead of a "slip her out" push because they had to corkscrew her around to "unwrap" the cord. and then it was just this little miracle on my chest. She was the MOST vernix covered baby i have ever in my life seen! 2:47am on her daddys birthday, Dec. 2nd, our little Aurora swam in to this world with a slight conehead and one heck of a set of lungs!

I did tear, but it didn't hurt to tear and it was a super clean one. Heck it doesn't even hurt when I go to the bathroom! My midwives did an AMAZING job and everyone was such a wonderful suport! Here are lots of pics, beware nudity, and The next post will cover the first day of our new life with her.

being held through contractions midway through

Very early labor with Daddy, cuddling :)

one hour after water broke, still uber easy. lol

massage to loosen up fairly early on ish. around 4cm I think?


Kohosh tastes TERRIBLE! But it does work!


the relief is so wonderful, I recommend it to all women!

getting in the water felt SOOO good!

haha, my hands were wet and they wouldn't let me feed myslef :)

Sister Support! My amazing sister helping out, and I was still doing great here around 7cm!

My loving hubby!

Blowing through a contraction

This was my crew of ladies except for Allocen who was taking the picture lol. from left to right: Tiffany, Celina, Allyson, and Nikkie!


Transition time.. Billy working on me during a contraction

Allyson was the best coach and Billy was incredible!

and transition was almost done! Nikki was working on my hubby who was working on me, Teamwork people!

it was intense here.. this was when I was fully dilated 3/4 of the way around and started trying to ride out the combo contractions/pushing need to get that lip out of the way.

Still trying to get through it

My support system with me, this is where the contractions started getting horrid, and I had to push so bad at the same time. not easy, but well worth it!

trying to just deal with them, he was so supportive

Allyson coaching me through a particularly bad one


She found the lip and checked Auroras heartbeat, perfect as always!

About to push through the lip. Getting strengthened up for it!

Crowning!! using the mirror really helped :)

Here she is!! And she was holding her head up all on her own! for a WHILE!

Hello my angel! My precious perfect girl!

Look at that Daddy! SO STRONG!

We have a daughter!


Seriously, look at how vernix-y she is! WHOA!

about 5 or 6 mins post birth. calm and in her daddys arms :)

again, just after birth


meeting storm about 30 mins post birth or so.

look at her studying her daddy. She was quiet instantly with him.

Celebration cigars!

adoring her daddys voice

He's happy lol


And more to come tomorrow! Pics of her first 3 days and I'll fill you all in on all kinds of awesome new parent stuff. SHE IS INCREDIBLE!!!!!