Nursery Notes 8 - Final Nursery Reveal

I was going to post the final nursery reveal before the baby came - but then Kimber decided to come a week early and I since then I've been busy with feedings, diaper changes and all things baby!!

I still have a couple things I want to do the finish the room and to personalize it- throw pillows, a rug, a sign with her name, canvas of Kimber's newborn pictures - but I'd say the nursery is mostly finished.  AND I love how the nursery turned out!! It's very close to what my vision was when I started the nursery planning process!!

Before we had Kimber, I would sit in the glider and take it all in. Now, I sit in the glider during feedings and love the room even more because we have a baby in there!!

I was going to use green as an accent color in the room, but once the room started coming together - I realized that the aqua/turquoise color worked well with the chevron fabric.

I found the aqua "K" at TJ Maxx -before I even knew we were having a girl {our boy name did not start with a K} but I bought it anyways because it fit the room perfectly!

 



I made the bunting out off all the fabric that we used in the room & I love how it turned out! The spaces in the wall collage are going to be filled in with canvas prints of Kimber's newborn session. 

 

Below is the same view but with the changing pad {my MIL made the cover to match the room} and side table.

 

I wasn't sure what I wanted to put above the crib {I didn't want anything too heavy that might fall off the wall}. The paper lanterns and tissue poms were a perfect addition to the room!



 

I found this cute basket at TJ Maxx - it'll work great as a toy basket in the room.



 

With so many baby items - I wanted to make sure the closet was well organized. I even made tags for the baskets in the closet!

 

Since we didn't find out the gender of the baby, we didn't have many clothes - besides sleepers & onsies - but the closet is now full of cute girly clothes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kimber: 2 weeks old

Kimber had her 2 week appointment yesterday, so I wanted to share her stats & updates on her since her birth.

 ** Kimber's stat's at 2 weeks **

Weight: 9 pounds, 4 ounces {78.29%}. She was born at 8 pounds - the pediatrician said she's doing a great job breastfeeding and gaining weight well.
 

Height: 20 3/4 inches {60.18%}. Same as her birth height.
 

Clothing Size: Newborn. I never thought my child would wear newborn clothes!! I thought I'd have a 9 pound+ baby and they would go straight to 0-3 month clothes. This was a surprise to me and I've had to go out and buy several newborn outfits/sleepers for her.
 

Diaper Size: Newborn. Again, I didn't think I would need newborn diapers. We did receive a couple packages of newborn diapers as gifts at showers so we've had some at home. We've only had to buy one package of diapers so far. We're only buying one package at a time because she probably won't be in them much longer and I don't want a bunch left over.

We like Pampers & Target Brand diapers - the Huggies diapers haven't worked as well.

 Sleeping:  Most nights she is sleeping 3-4 hours between feedings on a good night. There have been a couple nights that she wants to eat every 1.5-2 hours, but luckily that has only happened a couple nights.

 She naps throughout the day {and so does Mom when she wants to eat every 1.5-2 hours at night!}. She's typically awake after her second morning feeding {usually around 10am}, late afternoon and from 7-9pm.
 
When she is awake I interact with her - talking & playing with her or she plays with her activity gym.

She has a fussy time from 7-9pm - so we're working through this and trying to figure out the best way to sooth her during this time.
 

 

Food: 100% breast milk. So far the breastfeeding is going really well. She's latched on since the beginning and is getting enough milk {as shown by her weight gain and the fact that she's satisfied after feedings}.

She eats every 2-3 hours during the day and typically 3-4 hours at night.
 
I've started pumping this week to build up my stash for when I return back to work.
 

Things to note:
Kimber is a chill baby. She does have her fussy at time night but other than that she's pretty laid back and goes with the flow.
 
I could hold & snuggle her all day long!! But I do try to put her in her bouncy seat or on the floor for at least one nap a day. I don't want her to get used to being held all day every day. Plus, it give me time to get something done!!
 
Kimber was holding her head up from the time she was born {when we would hold her against us}. But she's not all about tummy time and only lasts a couple minutes before she starts fussing.
 
Kimber loves to be swaddled. If she's fussy/crying and we swaddle her, she usually feels comforted and calms down. We use the Swaddle Me wearable blankets at night and she tends to sleep longer when she is swaddled {compared to the nights we haven't swaddled her}
 
She is sleeping in the Rock & Play next to our bed at night. It's nice to have her close to me in the middle of the night to get up for feedings. I take her into the nursery for feedings/diaper changes during the night so I don't wake up Nick.
 
On Saturday & Sunday mornings, Kimber gets up with Dad and goes downstairs to snuggle so Mom can get some more sleep {or get ready for church on Sunday morning}. Nick has been an amazing Dad - he's so hands on!! He gives her baths, changes her diapers and gets her ready on the weekends.
 
Kimber really likes it when Mom sings to her. My go-to song is "Jesus loves me"
 

Kimber's first photo shoot {hospital style}

The  Ames hospital {where we had Kimber} has a photographer come in to take newborn pictures. They're not your typical 'mug shot' pictures...they're much cuter than that! The parents then have the option to purchase the newborn pictures - which of course I had to do because I love pictures and I couldn't pass up her first newborn pictures {even though we were having our normal photographer take pictures too}.

Below are some of my favorite pictures from the hospital photo shoot:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo credits: http://www.bellababyphotography.com/ 

The Ginger{bred} House: What's in a name?!?

You might be wondering why I decided to name my blog The Ginger{bred} House. I think this pictures explains it all:

 

These are mine & Nick's baby pictures - Nick is on the left and I am on the right. There is no denying it - we're gingers and we knew that our kids would have red hair, too!!

 

We both have curly hair, too. So we'll see as Kimber's hair gets longer if it's curly as well!

 

 

Checklist before {and after} baby

Already completed:

• Pick a name {girl} - done! We had decided on a girls name at 6 weeks...and it never changed!!
• Pre-register at the hospital
• Take childbirth prep classes – decided not to go to classes but watch the DVD instead. I'm glad we didn't go to the classes - by listening to the nurses & doctors and just having natural instincts, the entire process went pretty smooth!
• Write birth plan– my plan is to listen to the doctor and do whatever they tell me to do! Best plan we had was not to have a plan!
• Complete shower registry - it's as complete as it's going to get since I don't really know what I need.
• Maternity photos - done and I LOVE them!!
• Book newborn photographer
• Design & order thank you cards for shower - designed cards to match the chevron pattern for the nursery and love them!
• Wash all baby items - I washed some items, but decided that I didn't want to wash all of them...
• Put away and organize baby items - all items from our showers are organized & put away in the nursery
• Finalize maternity leave with employer - I'm going to take 6 weeks off...maybe 8. We'll figure it out when the baby gets here. I might do some work from home, so I can take a longer maternity leave.
• Read childbirth books - I feel like the videos did a good enough job explaining things that I don't need to do any additional reading.
• Set up dog sitting while we're at the hospital - Since it'll be summer & Jayde is outside she'll be fine for a couple days on her own. Nick will run home & check on her.
• Write and send out thank you cards - Shower 1
• Write and send out thank you cards - Shower 2
• Write and send out thank you cards - Shower 3
• Get a pedicure - got one a couple weekends ago...but I need another one - planning on going Thursday after my doctor's appointment.
• Assemble all baby gear - all items that we have are assembled
• Purchase baby items needed not gifted at shower - need to decide if I want to buy a couple things, but I'm mostly done with buying items until after the baby is here & I figure out what additional items we need.
• Buy postpartum supplies - ice packs, sanitary pads, panty liners, wipes/creams
• Pack hospital bag {baby} - baby's diaper bag is packed with a couple sleep sacks, swaddlers and going home outfits.
• Make and freeze some meals - made 10 frozen meals with a friend & I can't wait to try all of them!
• Pack hospital bag {mom}- most of the items are packed besides the day to day things I use {straightening iron, etc}. I'm not too worried - I figure I'll be in labor for several hours at home before I have to head to the hospital.
• Pack ‘daddy hospital survival kit’ - packed with new pj bottoms and his travel toiletry bag, candy, food, soda, magazines, etc for Nick.
• Buy nursing supplies - nursing pads {done}, nursing bras {done}, pump pieces {done}, milk collection bags {done}, bottles {done}
• Research health insurance for baby - baby will be added to my health insurance.
• Watch DVD childbirth prep video - the videos were very informational and hopefully they will help once I go into labor!
• Watch Happiest Baby On the Block DVD - decided I don't want to watch any videos or read any books right now. Nick & I will figure it all out...and if we don't - then I might read a book or something. Our parents raised us without reading a book on how to do it..so I figure we can figure it out.
• Install car seat - Nick's parents bought the carseat for us. They brought it down to our house this week - within 5 minutes of Nick getting home, he had it installed in my vehicle. Guess he's ready for the baby to be here!!
• Purchase and install carbon monoxide detector - Nick was able to get one from work.
• Find pediatrician – found who we want to use and will set up follow-up appointments with him when we are discharged from the hospital.
• Get a haircut - cut & colored!
• Pick a name {boy} – decided on a boys name while I was in labor at the hospital
• Clean up around the house - we've cleaned the entire house and trying to maintain that until the baby gets here! It's not easy to do when we keep accumulating more & more baby stuff!
• Finish nursery - all the big things {furniture/bedding} are done...just working on the details - hang frames {done}, make fabric bunting {done}, make crib bumper{done}, make changing pad cover {done}, hang lanterns {done}, hang bunting {done}, buy clock, cover lamp shade with fabric, order rug. Didn't get all these items done...but I don't think Kimber will notice!

 

Post-baby:

• Call friends & family to announce arrival of baby - we called our parents & grandparents right away & then sent out text messages to all our friends & family to announce the news!!
• Send out birth announcement email to coworkers - sent a text to my co-workers when we were in the hospital. I stopped in at work {to add Kimber to my insurance & pick up my laptop} when she was 9 days old.
• Call newborn photographer to schedule session - newborn pictures were taken when Kimber was 8 days old and I can't wait to see how they turn out! We also purchased the newborn pictures that they took at the hospital....so we already have lots of pictures of her!
• Call to start FMLA/disability paperwork - called a couple days after Kimber was born.
• Add baby to health insurance - added Kimber to my insurance when she was 9 days old.
• Mail out birth certificate - filled out the paper work while in the hospital and received her birth certificate when she was 9 days old. We should receive her SSN card within a couple weeks.
• Mail out birth announcements - waiting to get the newborn pictures back & then I will mail them out!

Baby H: 39 & 40 weeks

Thought I'd finish out the weekly 'baby bump' picture series - week 39 and 40 with Kimber in the pictures!!

 

 

Week 39 - taken the day we came home from the hospital at 2 days old.

 

Week 40 - taken at 8 days old.

Kimber's birth story

Tuesday, May 28 was a normal day. I worked all day, organized the nursery closet and bought groceries. I'd been talking about getting groceries for about 3 weeks to have items on hand for when I had the baby and kept putting it off - it's a good thing I decided to go that night! When I got home from the store - we grilled out, watched TV and went to bed around 10:15pm.

At 11:15pm, I woke up to my water breaking!! I woke Nick up and told him my water broke & we were going to have a baby!!!  

I called first nurse to let them know my water broke and to determine what to do next. After giving them all the information, they told me to head to the hospital. While I was on the phone with the nurse, Nick was putting our bags in the car. {Good thing I had finished packing them the weekend before} And we were off to the hospital to have our baby!! 

After being admitted to the hospital around 12:15am, we had some decisions to make. I was only 1cm dilated, so we could wait to see if I started dilating on my own or start on pitocin to bring on the labor process. After discussing it, we decided to start on pitocin since it could be several hours before I would start in active labor {according to the doctors}. I was hooked up to an IV and started on pitocin at 2:45am.

I started feeling contractions within about 30 minutes...and after about 3 hours of getting no sleep and feeling the contractions, I decided it was time to ask the nurse for an epidural. She said it could take an hour before the anesthesiologist could get there to start the process and asked if I wanted to use an IV medication while I waited.  I decided to take the IV medication - and man was that an adventure! I can't remember the name of the medication they gave me but it made me feel drunk & I was seeing visions {I won't go into details, but it included rows of animated dogs}. Nick & the nurse got some good laughs when I was describing what I was seeing!! This drug eased the pain enough that I didn't feel much until the anesthesiologist could get there to give me the epidural around 7:00am.

At this point, my normal doctor was doing his morning rounds and checked in on me.  I was 3cm dilated and 80% effaced. And now, it was a waiting game. I sent our parents a text to let them know we were in the hospital and we would be having a baby that day! Then I slept for about 3-4 hours. After waking up, I sent a text to a couple close family members and friends to let them know we were in labor! 

I can't remember the time but sometime during the morning, the nurses had me use an oxygen mask because the baby's heart rate would drop every time I had a contraction.

Around 11:00am, my doctor came back in to check me and I was still at 3cm dilated. He also informed me that since I was not dilating and they were concerned about the baby's heart rate - that I might have to have a C-section. He said we could proceed with the C-section now or wait a little bit to see if I progress more. Nick & I decided to wait an hour or so to see what happened - which the doctor was fine with because the baby's heart rate wasn't extremely low and they were closely monitoring it.

After the doctor left the room, I was emotional about the whole situation. I was scared about the baby's health and that I might have to have  a C-section {which I really didn't want to do}. Nick was very supportive during this time and sat beside me holding my hand.

At 1:00pm, the doctor came back in to check me and I was dilated to 9cm!! And the baby's heart rate was doing much better - as long as I laid on my right side. So we decided to continue with a natural birth {and not do a C-section}.

It continued to be a waiting game from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. During this time, I kept getting text messages from family & friends asking if there was a baby yet...nope, not yet! I was slowly dilating from 9cm to 9.5cm to 9.75cm and finally to 10cm. We were also waiting for the baby to drop more - the nurses had me switch between laying on my right side and sitting up to have gravity make the baby drop.

Around 4:15pm, they decided it was time to push. I remember thinking "am I going to know how to push?' and "am I going to do this right?". It's amazing how it's such a natural instinct on how to do this. After about the 2nd or 3rd push, I thought there is no way I'm doing this for 2+ hours {like some of my friends have had to do} so I pushed as hard as I could! The doctor and nurses were surprised how fast the baby was coming out...and within 15 minutes, at 4:26pm, the baby was here!!
 
Of course, the first thing I asked was "What did we have???". The doctor showed the baby to Nick and he {Nick} said "It's a girl!"  Nick was able to cut the cord and the baby was placed on my chest. The second I saw her and her head full of red hair...I knew she was our Kimber Nicole that I had thought of during my entire pregnancy!! Kimber laid on my chest for about 30 minutes, while the doctor finished his process - this is when he discovered that I had  a true knot in my umbilical cord which could be why we were seeing issues with her heart rate during labor.

After holding my baby girl, the nurses took her to clean her up and take her measurements. She was a healthy 8 pound baby and we were surprised that she was 20 3/4 inches since Nick & I are both on the short side.

After they got done cleaning her up, I was able to breastfeed for about an hour. She latched on right away and did a great job! While I was feeding Kimber, Nick was making phone calls to spread the news of our new baby girl!!

Overall, I was in labor around 17-18 hours but it wasn't too bad. I only felt strong{er} contractions for an hour before I got the epidural and I only had to push for 15 minutes - which I think is pretty good for my first baby!

The nurses & my doctor were amazing during the entire labor. Even though they were closely monitoring the baby's heart rate and it was probably more serious than Nick & I realized at the time - they kept calm and played down the seriousness of the situation...which kept Nick & I calm during the labor process.

We are so excited to start this new journey of parenthood with our precious little girl!! She has already stole her daddy's heart and I know she's going to be a daddy's girl when she grows up!!

Baby H: It's a GIRL!!!

Kimber Nicole

May 29, 2013
4:26 pm

8 pounds

20 3/4 inches