water, water everywhere...

...and not a drop to drink!

So I'm nursing. And anyone who has ever nursed a baby knows that it's basically a full time job. Sometimes, I don't even know when one session has ended and another has begun because it seems endless. And anyone who has ever nursed a baby knows that terrible thirst that sets in riiiiiiight after the baby gets a good latch! Seriously, I look over and see my glass of water just a little bit too far out of my reach. SO FRUSTRATING!

So I've been on the quest to find the perfect water bottle for nursing. My criteria:

- the right capacity.  Too small, and I can chug the whole thing.  Too large, and I don't want to carry it with me when I leave the house.

- leakproof! I need to keep it on the sofa or bed next to me and not rely on a side table since the baby may be nursing on the side opposite the table, etc.

- one-handed opening. One hand is helping baby while the other is free for vital things like playing on my iPhone or drinking water.

- no straw.  I can't chug from a straw. Can you?

For a while, I used a bike bottle, but it wasn't perfect. It's kinda noisy to drink from, and if you have an almost sleeping baby, you will not be psyched about waking them! It also made it hard to chug, as I'm prone to do when I'm trying to drink about 1,000 cups of water a day and when I'm super thirsty.

So I finally found "it", and I beg you to buy the same one for any nursing mom you know.  The one thing I don't like is that it's plastic, but if it was glass, it would be too heavy to tote around in the diaper bag, and I'm not sure if it would work in stainless steel.  But anyway.  DRUMROLL PLEASE.....

The Contigo Jackson Water Bottle in the 24oz. size!

 

This bottle has it all.  An easy, one handed opening; it's leakproof; you can take the whole top off and fill with ice, if you like.  

Best money I've spent on nursing gear so far!

Our addition...

To borrow from the car commercials, it truly was a December to remember for our family!  

After some concern was raised by one of my doctors for the health of the Guppy, we went in to be induced on Thanksgiving night.  It turned out to be a bit of a start-stop situation.  They tried to start my labor (chemically), but I was overly sensitive to the meds used, and we had to stop.  After that, they said we could try another way (different meds), but that we'd be in for a looooooong labor.  After laboring all night, I was DONE, so we opted to go home.

At my regular appointment just one day shy of my due date, the doctor again advised that we should induce, so we raced home to grab our bags and then on to the hospital. Again, things were very slow to progress. They kept increasing the meds, but I just couldn't progress and got stuck only dilated to 4 (of 10) centimeters.  The labor was increasingly AWFUL but the Guppy was a total champ thru all of it with a perfect heart rate, so we kept going for over 24 hours.  Still nothing.  I knew, in my heart of hearts, that he hadn't dropped, and I didn't think he would, so we consulted with my doctor and decided on a c-section.  I had always known that a c-section could be in the cards since I'm tiny, so it didn't feel like a defeat.  And I'm actually glad we made the call when we did because the hospital was crazy busy, and we got slotted in pretty quickly.  Even still, it was about an hour and a half before we got in, and during that time, the Guppy's heart rate went up into the danger zone, so it was a relief to get wheeled in to the operating room.

It turned out that the Guppy was "sunny side up" (facing forward/the wrong direction) which makes delivery extremely painful (oooooohhhh, so that's what back labor is. Check that off the bucket list) and much more challenging, especially consider my small frame. Also, the doctor confirmed that the Guppy had, indeed, not dropped, and in his words, "was never coming out on his own".  

In my mind, a healthy baby and a healthy mom is the goal of every delivery, so I'm grateful that I can say we achieved that.  I don't have the time or energy to begrudge myself, my body, or my doctors for not being able to deliver "naturally". I'm just so happy to have a perfect baby boy to love and hold (and change about 1 million of his diapers)...

Without further ado, I introduce Henry Rush...

Please don't judge...

Ok, so we're in a bit of a transition.  A transition from two to three.  Or four to five.  Our office/dog bedroom is going to be the Guppy (as the babe is known around here) room, so we're in the process of cleaning it up and moving the office to the guest room which will now serve double duty.  The dogs have been evicted officially.  

But MAN is it a lot of work.  I wish someone would come do it for me.  Sort of.  Please don't judge.  It's a mess.  

First order of business was clearing the room of kennels.  We still use "baby" Buck's at night.  Olive's is just for when we leave them in the evenings.  We're going to move her to our baby gated kitchen and then try to leave her solo (fingers crossed for no destruction).  In order to make Buck feel safe/secure in his new location (and make it less unsightly, I made a cover for his kennel to match the living room.  Just so happens I had the perfect amount of material leftover from the extra pillows I made for the sofa...

Hard to see, I know.  Here's the the new kennel cover...

I didn't use a pattern but instead just kind of held the fabric up to the kennel and sewed as I went. I used my serger (yay) and even used it to make the "blind" hems on the bottom and edges.  Was definitely trial/error, but it looks quite good if I say so myself.  

Next up is patching a few holes with some spackle.  Of course, the house was painted when we moved in, and we like it, so we've left it.  However, I had no idea what color they used, so I did a little sleuthing.  I know they used Glidden paints because they left some decrepit cans in the garage.  I picked up a whole load of chips and believe I found the correct one:

So I'm off to Home Depot (again) to pick up a little can to do some touch ups.  I'm considering taking down the shelves (at least on the left side of the window) because I bashed my head into them several times while cleaning up the room.  It'll be a while before the Guppy can do that, but it might save me from further head trauma.  Might, I say.  

Btw, when looking at these photos, it seems like our whole house is greige.  Yech.  I promise, there is definitely color.  More to come on the Guppy's room...

A little news...

I have been so dang tired recently (ohhhh who hasn't, you think...).  No, I swear.  Too tired to cook.  Too tired to craft.  Too tired to shop.  Too tired to do anything that's not 100% required.  Why?  Oh, well... I'm growing a human!

We're having a little boy at the beginning of December!  So trippy (and I never say that kind of thing).  By far the biggest commitment I've ever made - even beyond agreeing to be married.  We're thrilled but exhausted - at least I am.

Forgive me if I'm missing; now you know why...