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Introducing Jocelyn!

June 29, 2018

If you’ve been following our journey for a while, you’ll know that it’s been a difficult one. After two miscarriages, including a “missed miscarriage,” we finally had a viable pregnancy and were looking forward to having our sweet rainbow baby come into this world. The pregnancy was also tough from the very beginning. Morning sickness started almost immediately and grew worse each day. With Julia, I had very mild morning sickness, so I was not prepared for or expecting the crippling nausea that came with this pregnancy. I soon learned that I had Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), and after trying various remedies and medications, I finally was able to control the nausea enough to have a somewhat normal life (I’ll be sure and write another post about that). I would often talk to the baby girl in my belly, telling her that she’s causing mommy lots of trouble now, so she had better be an easy baby when she’s born!

big sister announcement       Pregnant mom with family at Disneyland during Christmas

As this was my second birth, I knew what to expect and had a good team ready to help. I had my mom on call ready to rush over to babysit, a great doula team, and a midwife practice that understood my concerns and expectations. My mother-in-law was also in town to help out. Julia’s birth was very quick, only lasting a few hours after I went into active labor. My midwives all knew this and advised me not to try and labor at home with this one; I should get to the hospital as soon as possible. I also knew that I would most likely need a shot of Pitocin after delivering to stop the bleeding, but I wanted to avoid having an IV put in.

Of course, our little one was due in the middle of cold and flu season. And, of course my husband caught a nasty virus just a few days and two weeks before my due date. With Julia, I went into labor two weeks before my due date, so I knew the baby was going to make her appearance soon. I made sure to take my vitamins and used the best supplements to prevent catching a cold. Each night my husband was sick, I told him the baby was coming soon, but he said to hold out until he was feeling better. Ha!

At about half past 1am on January 24th, I woke to my nearly 3-year old calling to me from her room. She had a bad dream and needed comforting. I carried her from her bed to her “snuggle chair” and rocked her back to sleep. As I went to put her back in her bed, I felt the familiar cramping that told me things were going to start moving along. In case it was just Braxton Hicks contractions, I chugged some water and lay down in bed, letting my doula team know what was going on. When the contractions didn’t ease up, I started timing them and called my mom to head over. By 3am, I knew I would be seeing my baby soon. I called our midwife and gathered things to head to the hospital. My husband grabbed a mask since he was feeling pretty lousy and didn’t want to spread germs.

Around 4am, I was in triage trying (once again) to explain that though I was only 4 cm dilated, they had better get me into a room soon. The nurses and doctor did not want to call my midwife in until I had shown more progression. I just wanted to get comfortable in a birthing room so I could get into a labor tub and get my calming music going. They wanted me to walk around for an hour. I was having very intense contractions by that point and the only walking I was able to do was to the bathroom. I had the nurse check me two more times before they decided it was time to get a room ready for me.

I was 5 cm dilated when they called a wheelchair to take me to a birthing suite. It was after 5am and I was livid, in pain, and just wanted to get settled somewhere. Anywhere. As soon as we got into the room, bags were tossed in a corner and the faucet on the labor tub immediately turned on. I felt things moving very quickly now and after one more visit to the bathroom, I was able to climb into the tub. I stepped in, had one contraction and had to step right back out to start pushing. I barely had enough time to climb onto the bed when another contraction came raging on. It was just about 6am. On my knees, clinging to the plastic lined pillows, I pushed through two more contractions. At 6:18am our sweet baby girl was born. She had her arm extended up with her hand covering her face, making her birth a bit more painful than it needed to be. The midwife quickly passed her to me and I held her warm, delicate body to my chest as she let out a weak little cry. Since she came out so quickly, the liquid in her lungs was not squeezed out thoroughly on her way through the birth canal. It took her a few more hours to get it all out. But we had a perfect little girl! She was 6lbs. 2 oz. and 19 inches, just a little smaller than her big sister was when she was born.

Newborn baby holding mama's hand

I knew in the first hours that she would be a mild mannered baby. She nursed like a champ and was so content, hardly crying at all. I told my husband to go home and get some rest since he was very unwell. Just after he left, I allowed the nurses to put in a catheter in case my bleeding didn’t stop and I needed blood. This was much more unpleasant than the shot of Pitocin I had just received to head off the bleeding. I hate needles and having a catheter in was both painful and gave me a constant icky feeling all over. Having my sweet little baby resting on my chest distracted me a little, but I remember asking a few times how much longer it had to stay in. After dropping off our older daughter at daycare, my mom came to the hospital to meet her new granddaughter. Luckily, she was able to take a couple days off work to help me in the hospital and the first couple nights at home. Jacob was still sick for several days after and didn’t even get to hold his baby girl until she was almost a week old. We were very fortunate to have two grandmas in the house to help take care of all of us.

baby one month photo shoot

While I was in the hospital, I was texting back and forth with Jacob, trying to decide on a name. We had narrowed the choices down to two: Jaclyn and Jocelyn. Jaclyn because it’s the female version of Jacob and if we were going to have a boy, his name would have been Jack. But I felt that Jocelyn was a bit more feminine and fit this petite little creature much better. I let Jacob decide on her middle name and he chose Rae.

We are all enjoying having our sweet Jocelyn Rae with us. She is still almost always content and likes to hang out watching us from her swing or bouncy chair. I call her my unicorn baby since I’ve never known another baby so laid-back and just easy. She completes our little family.

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Filed Under: Mom Life, Parenting, Pregnancy, Uncategorized Tagged: birth, doula, hospital birth, Hyperemis Gravidarum, midwife, natural birth

Frugal Bride – DIY Wedding Signs

November 17, 2013

There are some really great ideas out there for rustic weddings.  One that I just had to do myself was the weathered wooden sign.  I made a few different signs from a bunch of old wooden planks that were sitting in a friend’s backyard.

Since our wedding was very informal, we didn’t have assigned seating for the ceremony or reception.  It had a very backyard picnic feel, which I loved.  To let our guests know that there was no assigned seating, we posted a sign at the entrance to the ceremony area.  These were just three pieces of wood planks screwed to a wooden post.

We had a ring bearer and a sign holder to announce the bride’s entrance.  Our “Here Comes the Bride Sign” was also just two wooden planks.  My husband attached them together with two galvanized straps.  He also added handles to the back to make it easier to hold.

These were really easy to make and added to the rustic feel of our wedding.  Keep it simple with black painted letters or add some color and stenciled designs.  Like the choice of wedding themes, the possibilities are endless!
Check out more from my Frugal Bride series!

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Filed Under: Events/Parties, Uncategorized

Frugal Bride – DIY Make-Ahead Boutonnieres

October 19, 2013

Besides the caterer, the most expensive vendor at a wedding is usually the florist.  You can save some money by making your own boutonnieres, and you can save time by making them ahead.  Fresh floral boutonnieres will need to be made the morning of the wedding to keep them looking fresh, but if you use dried or silk flowers, you can make them as far ahead as you want.  With a Fall themed wedding, dried flowers made the most sense for me.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Dried or silk flowers or plants
  • Scissors and wire cutters
  • Floral tape
  • Ribbon
  • Boutonniere pins

I used eucalyptus stems as my background or base and built out from it.  Unlike a bouquet, with a boutonniere, you build forward from instead of around the base flowers (or stems or feather).

The process for assembling dried or silk flowers for a boutonniere is probably the most simple out of the other options.  Trim the stems to a manageable length, about three inches.  When you’ve decided how you want the arrangement to look, start taping stems together.  I only had a few stems I was working with, so I did it all in one shot, but if you have multiple stems it is best to start with two and add on.  Start wrapping the tape around from the top toward the end, stopping about half an inch from the end.  It should look like this:

You’re almost done!  Trim the stems to the desired length, usually about 2 – 2/12 inches.  Now you’ll use your ribbon to finish it off.  This time, you’ll start at the bottom.  About a quarter to half of an inch from the bottom, place your ribbon down the length of the stems and pull it down and around, then up the other side.

Start wrapping at the bottom, going around the stem and the small piece of ribbon.  This is to give the bottom a finished look.  If you need to, use a dab of hot glue to help hold the ribbon in place while you’re wrapping.  I didn’t need it, but you might if your ribbon is really slippery.  When you get to the top, weave the end of the ribbon under the last wrapped strand of ribbon and pull.  I also made a knot at the top and cut the end of the ribbon in a V-shape.

Now you can store these until your wedding and move on to the next wedding project!

Check out more from my Frugal Bride series!

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Filed Under: DIY, Uncategorized

Halloween Mantle Sneak Peek and Free Printables

October 14, 2013

I love the idea of framed printables leaning atop a mantle.  It gives a cluster of pumpkins and fall leaf garland a little something extra.  I’m still working on decorating my house for Halloween, and this year I’m having fun doing it on a budget.  Borrowing things from other parts of the house and picking up some good bargains from the thrift store is a good way to decorate on a budget.  Here’s a little sneak peek of my own mantle.

These prints are both 5×7 and give my mantle just the right amount of spooky.  I printed them both out on light orange card stock and borrowed frames from other areas of the house.  You can use any paper, really, but I recommend card stock.  Download them below:

{Click here to download}

{Click here to download}

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Filed Under: Uncategorized

Halloween Mantle Inspiration

October 12, 2013

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays for decorating.  You can really go with any theme you want – spooky forest, fun pumpkins, silly ghosts, creepy ghouls (to name a few).  If you’re lucky enough to have a mantle, this can be the perfect focal point to bring the whole thing together.  Our home has a fireplace with a very narrow mantle, so it’s a little difficult to get the look I’m going for.  Hopefully we’ll be beefing up the mantle soon.  Until then, I can pull bits of inspiration from these eight amazingly decorated mantles.

This cream and black mantle is very chic, but also fun with the pop of orange in the banner.  See it at Candace Stringham Photography.

A gold and white chevron background gives this mantle just the right amount of sparkle and pizzazz.  Check out Jessica Marie Design for printables and tutorials.

Natural touches, antique books, and framed prints on newspaper make this mantle look smart.  Find this design and more Halloween inspiration at The Moes Family.

The details in this design are great, from the cheesecloth spiderwebs to the homemade banner.  Sweet Something Designs has some great ideas.

The elegant simplicity of this mantle make it one of my favorites.  And I’m loving burlap right now!  See more at Hey Lauren Rene.

A whimsical mantle designed with orange and black makes this a very fun focal point.  See more photos and a link to the banner tutorial at Polka Dot Chair.

I love the green in this one, and also the great balance of cute and spooky.  This mantle was featured on Anders Ruff.

Hope you all are inspired to get those decorations up.  I’ll share some photos of my own mantle soon!

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Filed Under: DIY, Uncategorized

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Hi there!

Hi there!

Hello and welcome! I’m Jen, a proposal writer by day, blogger by night, happy wife and mommy. I live in SW Virginia with my husband, Jacob and our sweet girls, Julia and Jocelyn.

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