The holidays are my favorite time of year, there’s just something in the air that makes everything feel a little more *magical*! However, struggling to find the perfect gift can really take away from enjoying it. I like to think I’m a pretty good gift giver, so I’m here to help you find the perfect present (or at least spark an idea!) for whoever you need.
On today’s gift guide, I’m rounding up a selection of presents for the wonderful lady in your life who deserves the best. We all know women can be a little hard to shop for, and a big mistake guys make is trying to get a gift that in general can be a good idea, like a purse, but unless you know exactly what she wants, she might end up returning or exchanging it. These gifts are all great, without running the risk of being “appreciated, but not my style”.
I adore my Ray Bans, and I’ve actually put them on my Christmas list twice in the past few years! I feel like a quality pair of eye wear can never be a bad gift.
2. A Unique Necklace
Here come the jewelry options! A statement initial necklace is personalized, but still beautiful.
A more dainty option is this necklace where you can have multiple letters on the chain. You can do her first and last initial, just her first, or your first and her first initial! Also a great option if you have children, so you can include their initials as well.
Lastly, this gorgeous zodiac constellation necklace is a beautiful choice!
This mug is a great gift for a stay-at-home mom or a woman working from home. You use an app to set the temperature of your beverage, and it keeps it hot for hours! There are multiple color and size choices as well.
The holidays are my favorite time of year, there’s just something in the air that makes everything feel a little more *magical*! However, struggling to find the perfect gift can really take away from enjoying it. I like to think I’m a pretty good gift giver, so I’m here to help you find the perfect present (or at least spark an idea!) for whoever you need.
Today, I’ll be helping you find the perfect present for that special guy in your life! These are all things I’ve gotten or have thought about getting for my husband, who is incredibly low maintenance and practical. So whether your man is the same way or you’re just in a rut, I’m here for you!
This is a great option for those guys who are always doing something, but don’t want to use headphones. Justin uses his when he works out in the garage, or when he’s washing his truck!
3. Shoes
A nice pair of boots is always a hit with men, especially for the winter months or when you need something more sturdy than a sneaker (think, hiking or building something).
A casual pair of sneakers that can be worn with anything are always a safe bet, and can be great for those guys that aren’t style conscious.
A pair of boat shoes is another safe option, they can be dressed up or down!
A hybrid smart watch is a great gift for those who don’t always have time to look at their phone when they get buzzed, but don’t need the functionality of a full smart watch. Bonus: It still looks super classy!
A quality pair of sunglasses that will get used year round are a great gift! If you know what kind of metal & lens your significant other prefers, you can even customize them after choosing the style!
These are SO. COOL. They basically take the stress out of gift giving, all you have to do is find the type of box your guy would like! And some of them, like this pint glass set, are customizable! They have boxes and items at so many price points, you’re bound to find something!
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I earn a small commission for any purchases made from these links, at no extra cost to you!
We made it, guys! 1 whole year of momming under my belt, a lifetime to go. I can’t believe how fast this first year has flown by. I absolutely adore watching her grow and learn and seeing her personality come out, but I’m also sad that she’s just going to keep growing. I’ve really started to appreciate every day with her more and more, because I know that all too soon she’s going to be too “cool” to hang out with me haha!
Milestones
The biggest milestone we reached was walking! She picked it up super quick, so she stopped crawling altogether around 10.5 months! It’s so much fun to play with her now that she’s on two feet. We’ve definitely had to step up our babyproofing, but after we got that taken care of she’s been able to roam around and enjoy most of the house without me always following behind. She does really well with independent play these days, but she also has started to initiate games like peek-a-boo and “tag”, which is mostly just me crawling after her around the living room table saying “I’m gonna get you!”. She also started waving and clapping a few weeks before her birthday, and she loves to wave night-night to Justin.
Sleeping
On July 31st, we moved Kelsi into her own room. It was just time for us to make the transition. I’m not gonna lie, it was really hard for me because I loved cuddling her so much, but we were both not getting the quality sleep we needed. I bought a custom sleep plan from Andrea at Babysleep Answers to help me make it through. After the second night, she didn’t need any night feedings and started sleeping through the night 11-12 hours! 2 weeks after we conquered independent night sleep, we worked on naps and she got the hang of it so fast! She’s been on a solid 2-3-4 schedule since she was 6 months old. The week of her first birthday it seemed like she was going to drop down to one nap, but I think it was just the 12 month regression, which typically affects naps more than night sleep. So we just rolled with the punches for a few days and then she went back to the 2-3-4 schedule! But I’m glad to know that when she is actually ready to drop to one nap, it seems like she’ll handle it really well.
Eating
Once she stopped nursing at night, she started eating more which I am so thankful for. Now that she’s a year, we’re allowed to offer solids before any milk or nursing sessions. It’s been a change for her, and we’re still working out the best schedule, like should we give her lunch before or after her nap? Should I give her one or two snacks? It’s definitely a learning process. She still likes lunch the most, and dinner is hit or miss depending on what time we serve it and what we’re having. Breakfast is something she didn’t have much interest in until her birthday, its like a switch flipped and her appetite woke up! But she still only nibbles a little. It’s definitely stressful, because I want her to eat, but I know she doesn’t need as much food as I think she does and she will eat when she’s hungry.
Things We’re Loving
Burts Bees Sleep Sack – I love how soft their organic cotton is, and it’s a good thickness for the temperature we keep our house at!
Kids Camelback Water Bottle – I let her carry this around all day and she loves it! It’s 14oz so I love that I’m not constantly filling it up.
Portable High Chair – Super convenient to take to friends houses, or if we want to go have a picnic!
Climbing Blocks – A fun activity that’s different from playing with a toy! Would also be great for a younger baby, but we just happened to get them for her birthday.
Scooter Bee – She’s already figured out if she climbs on, we will zoom her around! She absolutely loves getting pushed all over the house.
Fisher Price Car – This is great for when we need to get outside to make it to the end of her wake window, or for a little walk around the block!
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I earn a small commission for any purchases made from these links, at no extra cost to you!
I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Like, a lot. I make 3 meals a day at home, and I spend a decent amount of time baking too! There’s a good chance you’ll find cookies or muffins on our counter most days! So being in the kitchen so much, of course I prefer items that make cooking and baking that much easier!
Kitchenaid Stand Mixer – This is one of my favorite kitchen tools, because for the price you get something really versatile! It’s great for mixing your batters and kneading doughs, making whipped cream and even shredding chicken! And if you get any attachments, it can do so much more!
Silicon Cookie Mats – These are new to me! I’ve used parchment paper for AGES but its so expensive! When I stumbled across a reusable mat, I knew I had to get it and it does not disappoint!
Nonstick Pots and Pans – I had a Calphalon set on my wedding registry but no one got it for us, then Target discontinued it before we had a chance to use our discount! So in my search for a set of reasonably priced pots and pans, I came across the Chrissy Teigan line and I LOVE them! They are truly nonstick but still allow foods to get crispy, and they clean up sooo easy! For the price, it can’t be beat!
My KCup – This might seem like a silly little thing to love, but hear me out. Instead of spending extra money on kcups, you can buy your favorite ground coffee and use this! I adore the Archer Farms Breakfast Blend from Target, and a bag is only $6 and since I’m the only one that drinks coffee, it lasts me 2 weeks! For $10, its one of my favorite gadgets.
Keurig Coffee Maker – Since I’m the only one that drinks coffee in the house, a no frills single serve coffee maker is everything. I’ve had mine for almost 7 years, and even though I’m probably close to it kicking the bucket, I’m going to wait until the day it dies to replace it.
Olive Oil Dispenser – I buy giant bottles of olive oil, so pouring out of this makes my life way easier, and it eliminates the chance of accidentally pouring in like 1/4 cup of oil (not that I’m speaking from experience…)
Cookie Scoop – This is one of my most used baking accessories! It helps keep your cookies the same size, and you can also use it to scoop batter into muffin tins!
Crockpot – A kitchen staple. I use mine at least once a week, sometimes just to make shredded chicken, sometimes for soup, other times for dinner like Kung Pao chicken!
Knife Set – What would any home chef be without a good knife set? I used to work at William’s Sonoma, so I know a good knife set makes all the difference, but unfortunately they also get expensive fast. This Chicago Cutlery set has lasted me 2 years so far, and as long as you put the edge back on the knife after every use, it should last a good while longer! Bonus: it’s under $100!
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I earn a small commission for any purchases made from these links, at no extra cost to you!
I knew months before I gave birth that I wanted to babywear, mostly because it seemed like a great way to be able to get stuff done around the house while bonding with baby! I ended up wearing her a LOT. I would wear her at Target, on walks around the neighborhood, I’d even wear her when she was fighting a nap! I’d just have to bounce a little and she would sleep for literally hours. It was glorious. At first I only had one kind of carrier, the wrap style, but it quickly became clear that wasn’t always the best. So, I ended up buying a second kind of cloth carrier, and when she was 2.5 months old my mom bought us an Ergo baby, which is a structured carrier! There’s a few carriers out there that I never ended up trying, like a ring sling, so I can’t speak to ease of use and comfort on those, but I hope this little review helps you decide which type is right for you!
First off, Boba is not the only brand of wrap carrier, it just happens to be the one that I have. I know there’s also the Solly, and I would think they’d be pretty similar but this is just geared toward the Boba since that’s what I was working with.
Firstly, I loved the snugness of the wrap. Once you got the actual wrapping technique down, it was a really comfortable way to babywear. Kelsi always felt really secure, and the weight distribution is great thanks to the wideness of the wrap! I only used it for inward facing wearing, I never tried any other way because she’s a small baby (less than 15lbs the whole time I used the Boba wrap with her). Sometimes, this was the only way I could get her to nap in those first three months, and even a few times between 3 and 6 months I had the put it on for her to get a good snooze!
A wrap is definitely something you need to learn how to use, I practiced tying it a lot the day I got it before I was able to get it tight enough without any help. There’s a few different ways to wear baby in a wrap, but forward facing isn’t one of them. After a month, I bought a different cloth carrier and I exclusively used the Boba at home because whenever I would use it while wearing a shirt, it always pulled my shirt up so my back and belly were showing, which is just because of the way you have to wrap it. So I would recommend a wrap carrier for the house so you don’t have to wear a shirt.
The Baby Ktan carrier was really intriguing to me, because its like a wrap but you don’t actually have to wrap and tie it It’s two loops of extremely soft fabric and the tie-on piece to secure baby, so it’s a lot less to deal with than a wrap, but still provides the comfort of a wrap for you and baby. This is the carrier I kept in my car for when I would go to the grocery store or Target. It doesn’t take nearly as long to put on, and goes over shirts a lot easier. There’s also a LOT of different ways you can wear your baby with the Ktan, including forward facing!
The downside is that it isn’t a one-size-fits-all, so if anyone else wants to babywear (like your spouse or parents), they would either have to be the same size as you or have a different way to wear baby. It also stretches out after multiple uses, so you do have to wash it to shrink it back to being snug. But, that’s a small price to pay for a cloth carrier that, in my opinion, is easier to use and is more versatile than a wrap.
A structured carrier is a game changer. Justin didn’t babywear until we got the Ergo Baby, and he loves it now! The reason we went with the 360 is because it can be used for children up to 2 years! It’s super easy to adjust to different wearers as well. I love that you can forward face or inward face baby, and if baby falls asleep (they should only sleep while inward facing) it has a neck support you can pop up to keep their head in place! It also has a little cover attached so that if it’s raining you can keep baby’s head dry! The ergo baby is also great for wearing your little one on your back, something you can’t do with a wrap or Baby Ktan.
All in all, having different kinds of carriers has been super convenient. If I had to do it over, I would get the Boba wrap and the Ergo from the start, and possibly skip the Baby Ktan altogether. The Boba is my favorite to wear at home, and is really comfortable to wear for long periods of time, while the Ergo is the easiest to get baby in and out of, as well as the quickest and easiest one to get on in public. I hope this helps you decide which carrier is right for you and your situation, baby wearing has been one of my favorite ways to bond with my girl!
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I earn a small commission for any purchases made from these links, at no extra cost to you!
“The days may be long but the months are short”. I don’t know if that’s exactly the saying, but man is it true. I can’t believe Kelsi is closer to being a toddler than a baby now! Time is a thief, but I am also so excited about my girl acting more and more like a little person! She has the most adorable little personality, and is curious about everything around her! We’re definitely going to have to get more baby gates to help contain her, especially because she likes to be right in the middle of the kitchen while we cook dinner! When she’s old enough I’ll put her to work as my little sous chef!
Milestones
She finally built up the strength to start crawling on her hands and knees, and man is she a speedy little thing now! I can put her down in the living room, get a snack from the kitchen, and by the time I come back she’s made her way to her bedroom! She’s also able to get into sitting position on her own now, which she does all the time to look at the tv or watch me cook dinner. She’s also able to pull up to standing, and has started to cruise along the couch! She’s a mover that’s for sure.
Sleeping
Sleep has taken a hard left turn, we hit the 6 month sleep regression and everything I was doing was no longer good enough. The only way she would end up sleeping was if she was in bed with us, so we’ve started to do that. We do plan on sleep training eventually, but I’m honestly just loving the all night cuddles so it’s not a top priority for me. But, the upside is she’s still on a solid 2-3-4 routine and she gets about 3 hours of day sleep. I do lay down with her for naps as well, but it’s a small sacrifice to make sure we have a well-rested and happy baby.
Eating
We still nurse on demand, but we also do 2 meals a day now! I’ve started giving her lunch since she always wants some of mine. I usually make her a little cheese quesadilla and give her some fruit on the side (she loves cherries and blueberries!) or if I’m making mac and cheese for myself, I’ll give her some of that! I definitely need to add a few more lunches to the lineup. For dinner, she still gets a serving of whatever we’re having! Some nights she loves it, some nights she doesn’t. If she doesn’t eat a lot of it, it doesn’t worry me since her main source of nutrition is still breastmilk.
Things We Love
Doorway BouncerI got this for her to be near me while I make dinner but also keep her out of my way, and since it’s something she can move in it’s a hit! It took her a few days to figure out how to bounce but once she did she was all smiles!
Lollipop Camera For the rare occasion that I’m able to get her down in her pack n play for a nap, I love being able to watch her and see when she wakes up instead of opening the door to check and risk waking her up. The app also gives you alerts if they’re crying or their environment is too noisy (great for if you have a bigger house!)
Babyletto Glider I got this because I wanted to start nursing Kelsi in it to get her used to being in her own room before we took the plunge into sleep training, and it is SO comfortable! I got the color “Ecru” even though I wanted the pink, it was just sold out when we ordered.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I earn a small commission for any purchases made from these links, at no extra cost to you!
Oh my gosh, a whole half a year with our sweet peanut! This has seriously been the fastest 6 months of my life, I don’t even want to think about how fast 1 year is going to get here. I truly cannot say how lucky I am to have Kelsi, she has made being a mom so much better than I ever could have imagined! Don’t get me wrong, we have our rough days for sure but the good days outweigh the bad by far! Now that we’re six months into this journey, we’ve settled into a nice little routine which I am so happy about, it makes planning a Target run or scheduling a haircut sooo much easier! Covid-19 has definitely put a little bit of a damper on our plans to make mom friends, the playgroup I literally just started going to got shut down for now, and I can’t even have a playdate. Only having direct contact with Justin has been rough on me, but I’m very thankful we all still have our health!
Milestones
Kelsi has mastered rolling over in both directions now, but she 100% prefers to be on her belly all the time. She’s even started army crawling! I didn’t see her do it for a couple days because she would only move when I took the dog out (sneaky sneaky!) but now she can’t be stopped! She can also sit unassisted, but only if I get her into that position. She hasn’t figured out how to get there herself but I know that’ll come in a few months! She loves sitting and throwing her toys for me to fetch. Lastly, she got her two bottom teeth in! Poor girl, they came in back to back so it was almost 2 weeks of teething pains for her. Honestly, she dealt with it pretty good, she was fine during the day and just needed one dose of Tylenol at the start of the night to help dull the pain enough to fall asleep.
Sleeping
We’re still nursing to sleep, because it’s still working fairly well for us. I didn’t know until recently that babies wake periods get longer every month until they’re 6 months old, which explains why I would finally nail a wake window only to have it change on me again. Now that she has a more consistent “schedule” getting her down for a nap at the right time has been a lot easier. She’s transitioned down to two naps, so her nap lengths have also become more consistent. In the morning, she typically gets a 1.25-.175 hour nap. For her afternoon nap, I usually lay down in bed with her just to make sure that it’s a good length, because she always sleeps better when she cuddles me. Because of that, her afternoon nap is normally around 2 hours, with her waking up between 4pm and 5pm. Sometimes I do put her down in her pack n play, but her afternoon nap never ends up being quite as long and then she has to go to bed really early.
Getting her down to bed at night is a little challenging especially now that she’s got more adult-like sleep cycles. Some nights are really good and she stays asleep the first time I put her down, sometimes I’m going in the room every 30 minutes for 2 hours nursing or rocking her back to sleep. I don’t know why some nights are harder than others, but I just keep reminding myself she’s just a little person who’s trying her best. We still haven’t sleep trained and I’m fine with that, even if it means that during teething spells or when she’s sick she wakes up and needs my help going back to sleep much more frequently. She’s usually initially put down between 7pm and 8pm, and she wakes up around 11pm for a feed, and then on good nights, she’ll sleep until 7am or 8am! On the bad nights she wakes up around 2am and possibly again at 5am, but those are extremely rare bad sleep nights. It’s the only reason I truly am considering sleep training, but we’re taking it month by month to see how she does.
Eating
We made it 6 months exclusively breastfeeding, which I am insanely happy about. It has been a hard journey, feeling like my body still isn’t my own and having a baby who definitely uses the boob as a way to soothe herself, but it’s been so rewarding. There have been times where I’ve been so overwhelmed and so unsure about my ability to provide for her that I’ve wanted to stop, but Justin has been so supportive and keeps me grounded.
We also started giving her “real” food! We’re doing baby-led weaning, so we skipped purees entirely and went straight to table food. She was confused by the new textures and tastes at first, but she’s getting the hang of feeding herself. She prefers savory food and carbs, just like her momma! Fruits and yogurt are still something she needs to get used to, but put some pasta, chicken or broccoli on her tray and she wants it!
Things We Love at 6 Months
Skip Hop activity center Right now we use this as a safe spot to put her when we need to do something where we wouldn’t be able to watch her as closely, like if I need to break down boxes for recycling. Since she’s mobile she doesn’t like to be put in it for fun anymore, but we’re keeping it since it turns into a toddler activity table.
Ingenuity Trio high chair I wasn’t looking to spend a small fortune on a high chair. For less than $100, I’m really happy with it and would highly recommend it! It comes in 3 colors, too!
Fisher Price Rock n Stack This has been a fun new thing for her to play with. She doesn’t understand how to put the rings on yet, but she’s really good at getting them off! For a toy that was less than $5, it keeps her entertained for a long time!
Fisher Price Controller She loves to reach for our electronics, especially Justin’s Xbox remote when he’s playing, so I got her her own remote! She kinda just throws it around and smashes the buttons, but it makes her happy and keeps her from stealing stuff out of our hands so it was a great buy to me!
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning that I earn a small commission for any purchases made from these links, at no extra cost to you!
How has it already been four months with our sweet girl?! The fourth trimester is no joke, but we survived and dare I say, thrived! Life looks a lot different these days, and even though some days are hard, I don’t remember the hard days as much as I remember the good times! I’m soaking it all up, getting to know my baby, and giving myself LOTS of grace. Housework has taken a backseat because all I want to do is play and cuddle with my babe so that’s what I’m gonna do!
Milestones
We got our first laugh a few days after her four month birthday, and it was the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard! I cried because I couldn’t believe how precious it was, and thankfully I got her to do it again while I was recording! She also started rolling from her belly to her back, but she doesn’t do it a lot because she would prefer to be on her tummy playing with her toys! She’s also discovered her feet and loves to grab them and suck on her toes, which is weird but so adorable!
Sleeping
We don’t follow eat, play, sleep because I breasfeed on demand and don’t want to risk lowering my supply, so our routine is more like eat, play, eat, sleep. She nurses to sleep for naps and bedtime, and it usually works pretty good! Sometimes I have to let her nap on me / lay in bed with her for her to get a solid nap, but I love the cuddles.
Starting at about 6 weeks, Kelsi slept longer and longer at night until she was going 12 hours straight through the night, with maybe one waking between 3AM and 6AM, and I was sooo happy and just prayed that the 4 month sleep regression wouldn’t ruin it. That didn’t happen. We are trying to steer clear of sleep training for as long as possible, so getting her down to bed was a battle for a few weeks but once she was asleep she would stay asleep the rest of the night.
Eating
Kelsi is exclusively breastfed, minus the first week of her life when she was getting phototherapy for jaundice. Now if you try to give her a bottle, she throws a fit! I know you can teach babies how to take a bottle but honestly, since I’m home with her all the time and take her with me everywhere, it’s not something that I really want to put a lot of effort into.
In regards to starting solids, we’ve decided to go with baby-led weaning (more like baby-led feeding, since I don’t plan on weaning her until hopefully 2 years) so we have to wait another 2 months to introduce food. Plus, she isn’t showing all signs of readiness, the biggest being she can’t sit up unassisted yet. We’re working on it, though, so hopefully by the time 6 months rolls around she’ll be a pro!
Things We Love at 4 Months
Carters Play Mat This has been awesome! She loves grabbing at the toys, and I love having a safe spot to lay her down on! Also, it’s super adorable!
Skip-Hop activity center Another favorite! We tried using it at 3 months but she didn’t quite have the motor skills to really enjoy it yet, but at 4 months a switch flipped and she loved it! She got much better about independent play when she figured out the toys, as well.
Baby Bjorn bouncer Something we have used from day one, and I don’t know how I would have survived without it! If she’s tired of being on the floor, I move her to this. I can also bring her into the kitchen while I cook dinner, or she can sit in the bathroom if I’m doing my hair and I know she’s safe!
Car Seat and Bouncer ToysSince she spends so much time in her bouncer and car seat, I decided to get some toys to keep her entertained! Now that she’s older and more aware of her surroundings, she loves having stuff to look at and grab!
Baby Carriers (Boba, Baby Ktan, Ergo Baby) Baby wearing has been a godsend. The first 3 months of her life, a lot of the time the only way I could get her to nap was in the wrap and she would snooze for 1.5 to 3 hours! It definitely saved my sanity since I had a surefire way to get her to stop crying. I used multiple carriers for different situations. Here’s a post where I compare all three I have.
September 17th, 9:22 AM, the day we got to meet our baby girl, was not what we were expecting but it was so meant to be. It’s hard to believe I spent all of 2019 with her in my belly. Looking back, it’s such a blur, but I am so happy we got to spend an extra 2.5 weeks with her!
My first moments with Kelsi Rose.
So let’s go back to September 11th. I was scheduled for an ultrasound because at my appointment 2 weeks earlier, I was measuring small. Justin had taken off to go to this appointment with me because he missed our anatomy scan, so he hadn’t seen her in months. During this ultrasound, we found out that I had a low amniotic fluid index, which explained why I wasn’t as big for her age (I still think I was fine, I’d gained 25 lbs on a 5”4’ frame!) and seeing as we were just one day shy of that 37 week sweet spot, she told us to come to the hospital at 5AM the next day to reevaluate my fluid levels, and if things hadn’t improved that she was going to have us admitted and induced.
Justin and I were not ready to hear that! We looked at each other and looked at the doctor like, “Excuse me??? You want to do what?!” We freaked out a little, and then hurried to prepare for the very real possibility of bringing our baby home in a couple of days. We went to Target and panic bought things we still needed, and stayed up until midnight cleaning the nursery.
We went into the hospital on 4 hours of sleep, and got set up in the triage room. We were there for about 2 hours, and at the end of it all, they said my fluid got back to an acceptable, but still low, level and that I could go home.
Because of all this, they scheduled me for twice weekly appointments to keep an eye on everything. Thankfully, Justin was able to get the afternoon off to come to the next appointment as well! This time, we were just going to do a non-stress test and since she was a wiggly one, I wasn’t worried. We got hooked up at 2pm on September 16th, and for the next 45 minutes she didn’t budge. Not once. They gave me cold water, I had Justin go buy me some candy, and nothing. I could feel her butt in my ribcage and she had been moving all morning, but just decided not to cooperate. So we waited for the sonographer, and for another 45 minutes, she didn’t move or pee for us. So they called the doc to see what she wanted to do and she told us to get over to labor and delivery to be admitted because, and I quote, “I think it’s time to have a baby!”
The last bump picture!
We were so not prepared. You would think that after last time, we would’ve packed a bag to keep in the car, but nope we were naively optimistic that we wouldn’t be induced. Justin was my savior, and after he went home to get my stuff (and by stuff I mean my going home pajamas and a nursing bra because hell if I knew what else I needed) he got us some Chipotle. I was so thankful they weren’t starting my Pitocin until midnight so I could eat, it was MUCH needed.
So we made our phone calls to our parents and just hung out until about 10pm, we both were tired and kinda crashing from the rush of having to process that we were about to have a baby. I woke up when the nurse came in to hang my Pitocin at midnight, and asked her some questions. She confirmed my fears when she said that yes, Pitocin contractions are worse than if you go into labor naturally and she’s seen people who have previously given birth without pain meds get the epidural. So I tried to get some more sleep since I wasn’t feeling contractions yet.
I get woken up at 4am for them to check my dilation, and I was at 4cm with contractions that felt like period cramps. The on-call doctor wanted to manually break my water but, seeing as I was already being induced, I wanted to wait and see if everything else would go according to plan. 20 minutes later I’m getting up to pee and when I kick my legs over the side of the bed, I feel a little gush and think “Uhm, did I just pee on the bed?”. So I woke Justin up and he tells me to call the nurse in to check if it was my water breaking, which thankfully it was! She warned me that now the contractions are going to get even worse, and asked if I wanted to get ready for the epidural. Don’t ask me why, but I said I wanted to wait it out. I had this idea that I was going to walk around during this part of labor, but it was 4:30 in the morning and I just wanted to sleep. She told me that she could give me Stadyl to take the edge off so that’s what we did. That was a mistake. All it did was make me feel drunk and sleepy.
The contractions got worse faster than I expected so around 6am I called the nurse and told her to get me ready for the epidural. Not so fun fact: You have to get a whole bag of fluids before the you get the epidural, which takes about a half hour. The contractions were so bad at this point I think the entire maternity ward could hear me scream. The epidural was a gift from the gods. I literally couldn’t feel a thing. The only scary part about the epidural was when Kelsi’s heart rate dropped about 20 minutes later. I barely remember this, maybe because of the drugs or lack of sleep or because I was having problems as well but all I know is one minute I’m laying in bed fine, and the next second I have like 6 nurses around me, putting an oxygen mask on me and trying to get Kelsi out of distress. Thankfully it was just a blip, they think because of the epidural, and we went back to normal.
I don’t really remember much of the morning, maybe because I was drifting in and out of sleep or maybe because of the drugs, but at around 8:45 they confirmed I was at 10 cm and it was time to get her out! I’m not going to lie; I had no idea what I was doing. I didn’t go to any birthing classes, simply because the thought of having to push a whole baby out was the scariest thing and I didn’t want to get myself freaked out about it. Ignorance was bliss, and I would do it that way again! At this point, my doctor lowered the dose of Pitocin because my contractions were actually happening TOO fast, and I still couldn’t feel them. I had no clue when to push so she had to tell me when based off my heart rate. Because I couldn’t feel anything, I had no clue how hard I was pushing or how much I was progressing. I only pushed for about 30 minutes, and the crazy thing is it felt like it took SO much longer but also felt like it went by in a second. When they handed her to me, it’s like time stopped. I cried, I held her close, I held Justin close. She was tiny and warm, and I couldn’t (and still can’t!) get enough of her!
1 week old!
Giving birth was so scary but so rewarding, and life with our baby girl has been such a dream. I love her more than my heart can handle! I’m so excited for the day I get to tell her about how she was born and changed our lives forever!
Karli Bri 