A Baby Boy Quilt and a Peek at my Quilting Process

It's been about a year since I made a quilt and I was excited to jump back in for a baby quilt for a new babe in the extended family. This is not my best quilt craft-wise (the squares don't all line up), but definitely one of my favorites design-wise. I love the fabric I used for the binding (which I also used for my nephew's quilt) and also love the color combo of the pieces used for the front.

I use mostly the same process for all my triangle quilts. First, I cut out 64 - 6"x6" squares. I had a lot of counting help from Cora... along with lots of chatting about the baby. Next, I match up the squares, pin them, and draw a line down diagonally across the square. I use this line as a reference point and sew lines down both sides of that diagonal line. After sewing both sides, I cut down the drawn line and I have two squares complete. 

After completing all the squares, I lay them out in the chevron/herringbone pattern then stare at the layout for about 15-30 minutes. Depending on what I want for each quilt, I spend a lot of time rearranging the squares. For this quilt, I didn't want any of the same color touching and spent a lot of time making sure each color is balanced and spread out among the quilt front. Once I settle on an arrangement, I give it a little bit of time to make sure my eye isn't getting stuck on one particular place. This is probably my favorite part of the process.

When the layout if finalized, I pin the rows and write a little 1^, 2^, 3^...  on the back of each row so I know where is lines up on the quilt. Then I get to sewing that all together. When the front is finished, I always feel accomplished... until I remember how much more work that I still need to do.

Once the quilt is finished AND IRONED, I will baste the quilt (pinning the front, batting, and back together). My process for this varies, but lately I have been taping down each layer by the corner. I work my way pinning from middle to edges while constantly smoothing out and making sure it's as wrinkle-free as possible... then comes the quilting.

For this quilt pattern, I like to work in vertical stripes and a chevron pattern which looks like herringbone on the back. Because I like the way it looks when I do two lines of stitches, it takes twice as long as it probably should take to quilt the blanket.

I trim off the excess batting and fabric, then start working on the binding. I like a thick binding, so I start with strips of fabric about four inches wide. I fold the two sides in and iron through the entire strip, then fold it in half and iron again. I pin the batting around the edge of the blanket and double stitch it together. 

Once the binding is done, it's time for a quick wash! This part is a little nerve-wracking (I'm always worried the entire thing will just fall apart), but I love the way the quilts come out all wrinkly when they're finished. 

My little model was not happy about holding up the quilt for me.

Throughout the whole process, I spend my time picturing the sweet baby using the blanket and I make sure to send the baby and momma little prayers and good vibes.

C-section vs VBAC

You can read my cesearean birth story with Cora here, and my VBAC with Ida here. This is just my own personal experiences and you should still consult a doctor for the best decision for your own personal health.

Now that I've experienced both a cesarean and a vaginal birth, I get asked a lot which one I liked better. They were both enjoyable in their own way (welp, as enjoyable as the act of birth can be), but they both had their own pros and cons. Every body and birth is different, but here is my experience:

C-SECTION PROS AND CONS

My cesarean had no complications and was overall pretty great.  It was fairly quick and I got to do skin-to-skin with the baby while they were closing me up.  I had no contractions and the whole ordeal was over in less than an hour.... and that is pretty much where the positives ended for me. I got extremely sick from all of the medicine coursing through my body, so I spent most of my time in the recovery room throwing up. It hurt to laugh and I had to depend on other people to do nearly everything for me.  I wasn't able to drive for 2 weeks and was in pain for months. When I returned to work at 4 weeks post partum, I was barely even able to make it through a full day due to pain.  My incision finally stopped being sensitive and tingling when I was about 1 year post partum. It has been 5 years and I still get an uncomfortable sensation in the incision in some circumstances, like when I lean up against something near the scar (which is about the same height as most bathroom vanities).

VBAC PROS AND CONS

I went into my VBAC, with low risk and high determination. My water broke and I had to get pitocin to speed up my labor. After a couple hours, I got an epidural and overall the birth was relatively painless. It was fairly fast and my entire labor (from water break to birth) was about 20 hours. Personally, I preferred the vaginal birth over the cesarian.  I felt more present at both the birth and the following recovery period.

The biggest pro for vaginal birth was definitely my recovery.  I was out of the hospital after the mandatory 24 hours. While my privates hurt (why wouldn't they?!) I was feeling much better after about 2 weeks. I was able to help do school drop off and pickups within a week. A month after birth, I was able to go on a weekend vacation that required a lot of walking, then I was able to help move a bunch of boxes a couple days later when we moved to our new house.

MY TIPS FOR VBAC

Find a doctor/hospital that supports vbacs - Be very clear up front about trying for a vbac. The first appointment I had during my second pregnancy, I spoke with the doctor and let them know I wanted to attempt a vbac. Since I see many doctors within the same practice, I followed up about their practice policy and made sure a VBAC was something they would support. My doctor looked at my reason for a csection, calculated my vbac chances, and let me know it was a very real possibility.

Educate yourself - I spent a lot of time reading and educating myself on different procedures, complications, etc. and made sure I felt comfortable advocating for myself if necessary. We also had a lot of long discussions as a couple about my reasoning for specific decisions so they Ben felt comfortable advocating for me if necessary. Csections are easier for doctors and staff and the only person that can best advocate for you is you.

Assess your risk factors and do what you can to lessen them - My biggest risk factor was my weight. I hadn't lost any weight since my first pregnancy, so I did my best to not gain much during my second pregnancy. I gained about 11 pounds (and half of that was baby) so the doctors felt pretty comfortable that I could have a successful VBAC

Squats.... lots and lots of squats - the last couple months of my pregnancy, I would do about 20 squats every time I went to the bathroom throughout the day... which is a lot. Linking my 'workout' to something I always do (bathroom) ensured it would happen and did a great job splitting it out through the day. Squats are great to prepare you're body for labor and splitting it up this way made the effort pretty minimal.

Visualization - I spent a lot of time from day 1 visualizing myself during birth and having a successful vaginal birth... and also set my mind to baby's birthdate being the 15th. Picturing this end goal was helpful for me, but I also spent sometime 'coming to terms' with the thought of having a c-section. At the end of the day, a healthy baby was our goal and I had to be okay if a c-section happened again.

RESOURCES FOR VBAC

Mayo Clinic - Mayo clinic has a great breakdown of what a VBAC is, why you would chose one, risk factors, etc

ICAN - International Cesarean Awareness Network has a lot of great resources and information. They also have local chapters if that is something you would find helpful. The above graphic is from ICAN and it was one I found helpful to remind myself of my reason to go with a VBAC. I wanted having more babies to be my choice and not one that would be made for me due to my health and risk factors.

BabyCenter VBAC Support group - This VBAC support group was helpful to find other VBAC sources and get encouragement in my goal. I loved seeing VBAC success stories pop up and other posts helped me learn a lot about the different variables.

Life With Ida : 14 Months

Another month and Ida baby is growing bigger and bigger.

Ida has started sleeping in her room with Cora. We made it for a week straight before she figured out that she can get out of bed in the middle of the night and come into my bed. Like I said before, she's a huge cuddler so she really wants those night time snuggles. We're slowly working out some of the kinks with our bedtime routine/situation, 

Ida is world's cuddliest baby.  She always has to be touching someone and loves loves loves to cuddle. We still do some baby wearing whenever I'm doing something outside and she's happy to tag along and occasionally take a nap. I work from home once a week and she is always following me around and making sure she is getting as much cuddles in as she can.

Ida loves to eat and is always signing 'more' in the smallest way possible... even her signing is quiet. I usually sit her down in her high chair to start eating when I start cooking dinner. Ida will munch away the entire time I'm cooking dinner and then will even eat some dinner.  

Ida is a huge fan of the movie Trolls. TV doesn't hold her attention very much (which is fine by us), but when we play Trolls for her, baby girl will watch the entire movie. She loves the songs and she'll usually get up and dance when they come on. She doesn't try to say real words much, but whenever I mention Trolls she will make the most excited face and say something that vaguely sounds like trolls. She loves Trolls, but she also really likes reading. She loves to flip through her little books and checking out all of our touch&feel books.

Ida is really running around. She walks way more than she crawls and loves playing chase with her big sister. Ida also loves to tease her big sister.  She'll get some of Cora's toys and run off, or the second Cora leaves a chair or a cuddle spot, Ida will swoop in to claim it for her own. Ida also loves to carry around little stuffed animals and have anybody around give the toy kisses

Watching Ida grow up has been so fun, and it's really fun to watch a baby grow up with an older sibling and see how different life with a baby is when there is so much interaction with an older child. I can't wait for the holidays this year with Ida. She is loving our Christmas tree so far and I'm sure she will love checking out all of the Christmas decorations.

Life With Ida : 13 Months

What a big month! Baby girl is a walking machine.  Ida doesn't always feel confident enough to walk when I put her down, but she practices every chance she gets. She loves when we chant "Go Ida!" when she is walking and will usually stop to dance a little bit when we're cheering her on.

Ida had her first sleepover this month and is sleeping almost all the way through the night most nights. We're going to transition her into her bedroom soon. As excited as I am to get my own bed back, I'll miss her cuddles in the middle of the night. What I won't miss is when I go to the bathroom at night or wake up early for work, Ida wakes up and follows me. When she crawls after me, she reminds me of the girl from The Ring and scares the crap out of me every single time.

Ida has all four of her front teeth growing in. They're all crooked and cute and remind me exactly like Cora's teeth when they grew in. Ida reminds me more and more of Cora. When I look back at pictures of Cora, I'm just seeing pictures of a bald Ida. I know they may resemble each other, but they're personalities are so completely different.

Baby girl is curious and is always trying to get into something. We never needed to baby proof our old place, so this is a whole new territory. She's always looking into our bathroom cabinet, clothing drawer, and pretty much anything she can get her hands on. Ida loves to push her sister's buttons by taking away some of her toys or teasing her with them.

The first year of her life, Ida spent most of her time being quiet and observing, but now it feels like she's really pushing her way through. She joins in screaming and rough housing. We went to the park the other day and she walked around playing with Cora and exploring the different playground features.

I'm so exciting for the upcoming holidays and to watch as Ida really experiences them for the first time this year. I can already picture her making her "oooooh" face at all of the holiday lights.

Happy First Birthday Ida Rue!

Today, my Ida Rue turns ONE!!! I have loved, loved, loved, watching this baby grow and learn. She is always surprising me and I'm sure we're in for a lifetime of surprises with this little one. Ida has brought so much peace and joy into my life and I barely remember our family without her. We're looking forward to a lazy day cuddles and relaxing (maybe an adventure or two) to celebrate Ida turning one today. I'm also looking forward to her reaction to her first family birthday party (combined with 3 other people) this weekend.

Happy birthday Ida Rue! Mommy loves you more than you will ever know. xxoo!

Ida Rue: A Birth Story

I shared Cora's birth story, so I thought I'd share Ida's here as well.  Their births were both completely different, but equally amazing. Don't worry, there is no nudity or blood pictured.

I spent the evening eating pizza and watching The Jetsons movie with Cora while Ben rested for work. I made an induction smoothie (pineapple, banana, dates, etc) and Baby was moving around a lot, but I was making sure to get lots of rest and have a lazy evening.  Around 7:30 I was walking to the bathroom to start a bath for Cora so we could go to bed early and I felt a small gush of wetness thinking maybe I peed my pants... spoiler alert: I didn't.  I hollered for Ben to wake up cause my water broke and I stood in the shower with fluid gushing everywhere.  We called my mom to come over and get Cora while I quickly packed my hospital bag, packed Cora's bag, loaded the dishwasher, washed my hair, and ran around like a crazy person.  I spent a couple small moments slow dancing with Cora and cuddling (our nightly routine) as I said goodbye to life with one child.  I talked to the doctor and they told me to come in to get checked out, so the three of us (me, Ben, and my Mom) quickly figured out logistics. Ben needed to leave for work soon so he dropped me off at the hospital to get checked in while my Mom dropped Cora off at her house and joined me at the hospital.

I had a couple small contractions but not much else was happening.  My mom and I got a little bit of sleep before Ben arrived around 3 in the morning and the doctor came to check on me.  There was no change so they suggested to start pitocin and do it every 30 minutes. We compromised on doing it every hour.  I was hoping for a drug free birth, but was not against the drugs if it was necessary. Since my water broke we were on the clock and I felt pitocin was reasonable. With my last birth, I learned that knowing as much as you can about the process will help with decisions like this. The pitocin induced contractions weren't too bad at first but eventually they got unbearable. (this is what Ben said I sounded like whenever there was a contraction and we couldn't stop laughing about it afterwards)

Around 10-10:30, I asked for someone to come check me and see if I had progressed.  If I was close, then I felt like I could make it through labor, but if I wasn't then I would want the drugs. There was no real change except for the spacing/intensity of contractions, so I decided to get an epidural. The anesthesia people came pretty fast, but it wasn't working.  My legs were numb but my torso was not (exactly what happened during Cora's birth). I was annoyed that there was more medicine coursing through my body, but it wasn't helping. They tried a different medication and I felt soooo much better!  I was able to open my eyes (they'd been closed in pain for hours), I was in a much better mood (which the nurse even commented on), and I was able to get some rest.  I miraculously still had some control of my body, but was not feeling the pain. All the medicine did make me throw up, which was conveniently right when my dad decided to swing by to pick up our keys.

About an hour or so later I was feeling some pressure and contractions in one spot (particularly my hip that had been bothering me all pregnancy) so they checked and started rushing around getting the room ready for the delivery.  I started pushing around 1ish.  Since I delivered at a teaching hospital, the room was full of people and my nurse asked if some more nursing students could come watch. They said it was a slow day and I was the only one actually giving birth during that shift and they wanted the students to see a birth.  Since there were already a bunch of people in there, I figured a couple more couldn't hurt. I pushed for about 2 hours and the 'audience' was awesome. They were cheering me on and really encouraging me... Even if I'm pretty sure there wasn't a good push they still made me feel strong and capable. I always pictured one of those quiet serene births, but it turns out a crowded room full of people was actually pretty great too.

One of the nurses got a call and they were asking how long she'd be.  I jumped in feeling like I was almost there and said "I don't know, let's say 10 min!"  Then, everyone started placing their bets. Someone in the crowd said "I bet two pushes" so I asked "two pushes or two sets of pushes?" and a doctor said she thought it'd happen in the next set of pushes... So being the competitive person I am, it got done that next push.

It was so amazing to see her right away (with my csection I didn't get to see my baby for a couple minutes) and I started feeling emotional.  I was so excited to meet her and was relieved that I had a successful VBAC (something I had my mind set on).  Ida was placed on my chest, they wiped her down a little, cleaned me up, and there was a lot of bustle going on to get everything finished up. Most of the people cleared out of the room and Ben and I cuddled my little Ida bean.

Ben stayed pretty mellow throughout the labor.  He was supportive and helpful whenever I asked him to do something (even when I was a complete witch).  He helped hold my legs when I pushed and he was an encouraging presence in the room.  I loved watching Ben meet Ida and watch this big man turned to a puddle of mush over this little 6lb baby.

We eventually got moved to the our room and anxiously waited for Cora to arrive. Cora was excited to hold Ida but 2 seconds later she said "done!" and that was the end of them meeting.  We took a couple pictures then the rest of my family came in for a visit. (side note: I'm having issues getting all the pictures of me and the girls off of my camera, so here is just a preview and I'll share the other ones another time)

Cora enjoyed running around the room and showing my family her new sister.  They brought me Deweys and we chatted and looked at the babies (my nephew is 2 months old here). They didn't stay long since they had dinner plans that evening, but it was a good visit.

It was my brother's 30th birthday.  When he found out my water broke, he texted me around 10 O'clock that evening and jokingly told me to hold that baby in until after midnight so they could share a birthday... So I pretty much just gave him the best birthday present ever.  One of my favorite parts of becoming a mom has been watching my siblings become an Aunt and Uncle.

Ben and I cuddled Ida and watched the amazing sunset out our window before he headed off to work again. Despite not having really slept for quite a while, I stayed up late watching her sleep, eating almost the whole pizza, and enjoying the quiet. It was a great/challenging 24 hours, but I was so excited to finally have my Ida in my arms and see her sweet face.