A Baby Story. The Birth of Brileigh Ray

I can't believe it has been 48 days since I went into labor, 47 days since our daughter was born. She has been the biggest blessing in our lives and we thank God for her multiple times a day. This is the story of how she was born...

  Having a baby is a wonderful event. As the days get closer the anticipation builds as you, your husband, family and friends all look forward to meeting that precious baby growing inside of you. I have never experienced anything so wonderful. It can also be a stressful time if you are not careful. So much change comes with your first child, and in my personal experience, there were a few stressors in my life and staying relaxed was my main priority. I never imagined bringing my baby home to someone else's home. Never thought I'd be so far from my own family, or that months into my child's life I'd be taking her back to another country. But that was our situation, and every day I had to remind myself that it was worth it all for the work we are doing. Most importantly, I had Brian and we would have a few months to bond with our baby and adjust to life as a family of three before moving back to Central Asia.  All this background is to establish the stress I began to feel a few weeks before my due date.

   First, (long story short) Brian found out he would have to return to Central Asia September 24. So now, the one thing I was counting on, the one positive in my (so I thought) less than ideal situation was that the three of us could be together without any other distractions. Now all I could think about were all the days of Brileigh's life he would miss.
 Then I found out a dear friend of ours lost their baby full-term. While I mourned for them and prayed for them I became even more concerned with taking care of the baby I was carrying. Not a bad thing, in many ways it actually helped to offset the thought of Brian having to leave us. I became even more thankful for our baby and for Brian. The loss our friends were going through was not ever far from my mind and in so many ways helped me through the hardest part of Brileigh's delivery.
Finally, we had been given September 11 as the babies due date but when I went to see the midwives they set her due date for September 20 (I was 37 weeks when I found this out). Now I was worried Brian might only have a few days with the baby before he had to leave. To help relieve this stress, I spoke with the midwife and we set an induction date for September 14. Knowing that helped me to not be so anxious about going into labor, although I was praying I would not have to be induced since I wanted a "natural" birth.

   The next week I spent trying every little thing people say can bring on labor. It started to become a joke to my sister Olivia who was visiting with our mom and younger sister, Lindy. If I ate a peppermint she'd say "hey, if you go into labor you can say peppermints induce labor."
The birth story finally begins Saturday, September 8th. My whole pregnancy I thought Brileigh would arrive on September 9th, so on Saturday I tried a number of things to induce labor including eating a whole pineapple and a really big dinner. Brian and I were staying at a friend's house for the weekend while they were out of town and it was nice to have that time alone before the baby came. That night I began to have contractions, but they were slightly inconsistent, so I thought they might just be stronger Braxton hicks, which I'd been experiencing for the past month. Sunday morning I woke up early, still feeling contractions. When we arrived at Sunday School, I felt them getting a little stronger and decided to check my watch as they seemed to be closer together. By the time we left church 2 hours later I'd established they were coming every 6 minutes or so and I told Brian and my mom. I was praying they'd continue through the night and that Brileigh would be born soon. They continued through church that evening and were still coming close together when I fell asleep that night, but Monday morning they were gone. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday morning my mom and I went walking around the track at church. Every time I felt contractions but they would stop just shortly after I stopped walking. Wednesday they were the strongest and continued for about an hour after I stopped walking. We went back to the house my mom and sisters were staying at and I spent some time swimming and enjoying the warm Texas sunshine. My mom also bought me another pineapple, just incase that was what brought on the contractions before. We got ready for church that afternoon and my mom and sisters took turns giving me a leg massage as we were told that massaging the ankles and calves can induce labor.  We then went to subway and I ate as much as I could as we were also told eating a large meal can induce labor (can you understand why Olivia started making fun of me?) At this point I was saying that while I would love nothing more than to just relax and let the baby come when she will, circumstances made that thought slightly stressful.
    At church everyone was talking with us about the baby. Tuesday was her due date, Friday morning we were going to be induced...everyone said they were praying she'd come soon. I brought my walking shoes so that after church Mom and I could walk the track some more before going over to our friend, Jennifer's, house to watch her kids. Well, in the middle of Ryan's (our youth pastor) message I began having contractions again. This time they started pretty strong and I got up to go to the bathroom. Of course half the room was concerned it might be go time, except Brian. It was fun to joke, but I was thinking this might really be it as the contractions were quickly getting stronger than anything I'd felt before. I did some walking with my mom but while we went for hours before this time I couldn't even make it 30 minutes. We left and went to the Taber's where, with Olivia and Lindy, we were going to watch their kids. As Jen was leaving, and I was brewing a cup of pregnancy tea, I said "Have fun!" and she said "Ok I will. You go into labor!" and I said "Ok I will."  And I did.
    As I sat in their living room, on a couch that used to be mine, my contractions started getting stronger and closer together, though far from unbearable. By the time Ryan and Brian got to the house I was ready to leave so I could get some sleep. I knew if I was entering active labor I would need to rest. I was going to drive my mom and sisters back to their place, but I didn't think I could do that so they took the car and I drove home with Brian. I got into bed as quickly as I could and the last time I looked at the clock it said 11:30pm. I woke up at 1:00am the morning of September 13 with strong contractions. I went to the bathroom and then tried to go back to sleep. At 2am I decided to start timing them. They were 4 minutes apart. I didn't get any more rest until about 2am the next morning, and that time I had a beautiful baby girl sleeping beside me.

The rest of her birth story to come...

(didn't mean for this to be a book, but I'm a detail oriented person, so you get the details)

Pinteresting Project #6 Window Frame

  The first week I was at my in-laws, I was showing my dear mom-in-law something on pinterest I had in mind for the little office we turned into a nursery. While looking for it on one of my boards she saw I had posted a link of an old window turned into a picture frame. In fact I has pinned several. I think they are rustic and fun. I like them painted and cleaned up nicely. I like them rustic with the old worn look. I like them with shelves or hooks. I like them with paper behind, photos inside, or chalk board paint. I think there are so many things you can do with an old, wooden, window. Well, to my surprise and delight she said "I have two old windows like that out in the shop."

  I took a look and thought "these are perfect!" then I thought "what do I do with them? How do I decide with all the cool options?" For several weeks I thought about it. I also thought "where will I hang it?" They aren't huge, but they are a decent size, and fairly heavy. Finally, I got board one afternoon and went and grabbed one, got all the dust, dirt, and bugs off it and washed the glass a few times. Then I took a photo of it and posted it on Facebook as that weeks "Pinteresting Project." That was about 9 days ago...I ordered some photos to put in it and then got stuck trying to decide how to adhere the photos to the glass. I thought of a few different options, but never a solution. Well, yesterday  my sister (in-law), Alicia, found it for me! She had the perfect, clear, photo corners. They worked perfectly. Tomorrow I'm going to stick a wire on the back and hang this baby up on our (really my bro-in-law Josiah's) room. The great thing about the way I put the photos on is you can easily switch the photo out, so before we leave in November, I can add photos of the whole family and hang it in the living room (unless Josiah just loves it and wants to keep it in his room)

      So here it is, the final project (wish I'd taken a shot of it all dirty so you could see the change)

My cousin, Mallory Rose, took the photos. If you want to see more you can see them on her blog Without Words Photography

Pinteresting Project #5 Bathroom "redesign"

     Due to a week long trip to Ohio, and third-trimester energy low, I haven't been the best at posting my "Pinteresting Projects." BUT, I have been doing things (here and there) like gluing hemp to glass jars to make cute cotton ball and q-tip holders for the bathroom "re-design" I just finished up tonight...

 Which is the project this post is covering. 

It's nothing grand, nothing unique, just a simple clean/organize/re-decorate of a bathroom. 

   My in-laws hall bathroom is painted red, has white shelving, and blue & tan towels. My mother-in-law is a big DIYer and has many projects going around her house, including remodeling the master bath. They re-did their hall bathroom years ago, new tub, shelving, etc. all done themselves. There are no cabinet doors under the sink, mostly because more important things came up. One day I noticed a tension rod under the sink and thought perhaps she was considering putting a curtain up rather than doors. I thought it was a great idea, so while out with my sister and a friend one day, I stopped by Hancock Fabrics and sent her some pictures of fabric. We picked a navy and white pattern.

The curtain still isn't finished for want of a machine to sew it on, but that should get done soon....

     I also wanted to get things organized so that when baby comes I'm able to have my things (yes, this sounds so selfish, I know) easily accessible and a place for any baby bath items also. Plus, it's nice to be in an inviting bathroom, with a relaxing feel, and where (as my mom always said) everything has a place and everything is in it's place. So, once the fabric was chosen (which I'll reveal once the curtain is done) I decided to go with a subtle nautical theme. Figured it would tie the red, brown, blue and white together nicely.
Trying to be frugal, I thought I'd search thrift shops and check out if Hobby Lobby, Ross, Marshall's, Big Lots or Tuesday Mornings had what I was looking for in way of frames and baskets. I checked these places every time I went into town for a Prenatal appointment and had yet to see anything like what I had in mind for a reasonable price. Today I finally found a set of baskets that I knew would work nicely and it they were priced reasonably. I searched around for some white frames (didn't have to match exactly) for the prints I wanted to hang (both found on pinterest, protect your artwork or  someone might be enjoying it at no cost!) and after finding the baskets today, decided to just go with a frame I found at Wal*Mart (after visiting and re-visiting Salvation Army and Goodwill, where I found other nice frames but not what I wanted for the bathroom redesign) So, I got all this today AND my sister-in-law texted me to hang out and was totally up to helping me out. So, even though the curtain has yet to be made, we did the "redesign" this evening.

Josiah (my 10-year-old bro-in-law) even helped out. It doesn't look like it here, but  he happily volunteered!

Here is what the bathroom looked like earlier today....

 (thanks to my sister-in-law, Jessica, who brought the towel rack over last week for her mom to hang!)

Here is what the bathroom looks like now.... 

 notice the cotton ball and q-tip jars? The can wrapped in twine will hold flowers

[I cleaned up and re-organized a 3-drawer cart and the other things under the sink, but didn't take an after picture since I'm waiting on the curtain. The before picture will go in that post also.]

Pinteresting Project #4 (week 3)

   This week I finished those storage boxes for the office-turned-nursery.

   I got the idea from these blogs: Mandy's Kraft Exploits, Make it and Love it,  and Positively Splendid, all of which I found pinned on pinterest.

   I didn't really follow any of their instructions.

   I bought the size boxes I wanted at Walmart for .60 cents because I didn't have any boxes around that were in good enough condition or the size I wanted. I found some scrap fabric at Hancock's that I thought would match the nursery, made some paper mache glue*, cut the fabric, glued it on (following those directions on Positively Splendid) and waited for it to dry. I put a handle on one but once I had it on, I didn't love it so decided to leave it off the other two.

     I like the way they look on the shelf and love the extra space they will provide for baby clothes, diapers etc. They cost a total of $1.50 each and really didn't take much time at all, except waiting for them to dry.

Here are a pair of socks a friend gave me. I'm going to use this bowl for her cutest socks and/or hair bows

                                              *Combine ½ cup flour and 2 cups cold water in a bowl.

Boil 2 cups of water in a sauce pan and add the flour and cold water mixture.

Bring to a boil again.

Remove from heat and add 3 tablespoons of sugar.

Let cool. The paste will thicken as it cools.

It ends of a little clumpy but that is okay.

Nesting

   While we were still in Central Asia I overheard a skype conversation between Brian and his mom where she said "If Kelleigh is nesting, she is more than welcome to paint the office and make it Brileigh's room" All I thought was, I am THE worst painter and have a very hard time finding motivation to do big projects like that, I don't think I'll be painting!

  Yesterday I painted the office which is now affectionately referred to as Brileigh's room.

  My sister Olivia helped me out with picking out the paint, priming, and getting the first coat on. She also helped keep me motivated. My mother-in-law helped me move all the stuff out of the room, finished the second coat (notice I wrote finished, if she had simply helped I would have said finish. She did it all by herself!) and this morning we peeled off the paint, touched up the trim, moved stuff back into the room and found a new home for the things we no longer wanted in it.

 This small space was created by my in-laws when they put up a wall in one of their bedrooms. It is accessed by walking through Josiah's (that's my 10 year-old- bro-in-law) room. Josiah will be sleeping on the couch the next 4 months while Brian and I are staying in his room. He approves of the renovations and has been a good sport about making the sacrifice.

Here is a before of the room (after I had already removed most of the stuff from the shelves.)

The colors were DARK green, brown and grey, so I got brave and choose yellow thinking then we could keep the brown and grey, and I've really gotten into that yellow/grey color scheme! Of course that meant a brighter yellow rather than a soft yellow and A LOT of primer

End result: A bright space for us to use as an office and baby changing area

I am in the process of finishing some boxes to put Brileigh's clothes in and plan on putting a baby changing pad on the right side of the desk. Also, this green chair is going to be painted and I'm keeping an eye out for a deal on a nice yellow/brown/grey schemed cushion. 

The vase was on my in-laws porch, she was going to toss it but it ends up working well in the room, keeping an eye out for a good price on some pretty fabric flowers.

Might make a fabric flower and sew it on that lampshade, might not ;)

And of course the yarn ball hanging from the ceiling and the hemp basket are from this weeks pinteresting project. Don't they look so nice in this space? 

This piece of furniture was made by my mother-in-law a few years back. Even though the red would not have clashed with the yellow, I wanted to keep the number of colors in the room to a minimum (yellow, brown, and grey are enough plus I'm throwing in some blue/teal accents.) So we painted this toy-shelf-turned-Brian's-dresser grey to match the trim. Looks nice, huh? I think so...

Pinteresting Week #2 "Bird's Nest" baby mobile

    This weeks pinteresting project started out with me wanting to create a simple mobile to hang in the corner of the room over Baby Brileigh's cradle. Originally, my sister and I were going to do something like this, but after going to the store and seeing a pretty grapevine wreath (which was cheaper than an embroidery hoop) we decided to do something a little different.

     We followed the instructions on this blog (from a picture I'd repined on pinterest of course) and made yarn balls to hang from the grapevine. The blog she followed also had instructions for a yarn bowl, which I made later with the extra paper mache glue. I still have a lot left and am planning on making these boxes for my next project. They should give us some nice storage for diapers and such and will be a part of next weeks pinteresting project which includes a baby changing station!

   Here is a look at how we completed this pinteresting project. If you are interested in doing the same, you can follow the links above as I don't have full instructions. The only thing I did that they had yet to do was actually hang the balls, and I added some pretty lace ribbon to my bowl.

Step 1: gather material, make paper mache glue, blow up ballons to desired size, turn on your favorite pandora radio station for crafty motivation

Step 2: wrap yarn around balls (follow her instructions here, we did it and it worked. I might have worn latex gloves if I had some because I was washing the stuff off my hands and arms all day) We put a towel over our laps and worn old t-shirts, it's always messy doing this type of project. Before we began we set up a "drying station" by hanging wire hangers on a drying rack and putting newspaper on the ground. It worked perfectly. 

Step 3: Hang balls to dry, this takes a long while. To make sure they were completely dry we waited over night and then some. Don't rush the process 

I don't have a photo of step 4 (just like I don't have one of us wrapping the balls because, well, my hands were covered in goop) but this is where you carefully let the air out of the ballon and gently pul it away from the yarn. If you let the air out too quickly it might pull in the yarn and your ball can collapse. It almost happened to us, but we recovered it nicely. 

Step 5: Hang balls, step back and admire your handiwork :) 

My 3-year-old nephew was here when I was hanging it and called the wreath a birds nest and the balls eggs. I thought it was cute, and so the name "bird's nest baby mobile" but you can hang it in any area of your home! 

I got the idea for this bowl from Caroline's Homework and followed her easy instructions. I did use hemp instead of yarn, and added a pretty ribbon to dress it up a little for my baby girls "nursery" (we are living in my 10-yr-old bro-in-laws bedroom for the next 4 months) 

Keep checking back for more Pinteresting nesting projects and to see before and after pictures of the space we're painting today! 

Blueberry Love and Ten Weeks of Pinterest

    A few days ago I decided I wanted to one "pinteresting" thing a day up until my baby is born. Whether it be to try out a recipe, a cleaning tip, or a DIY project. Yesterday I decided maybe I'd be a little more realistic and admit I'm not really that ambitious. So instead I'm setting the goal of doing at least one "pinteresting" thing a week. If I do more, than great, I've exceeded my goal! Way to set the bar low, eh? Yea, I'm good at that, because I hate failing. Anyone else able to relate? I mean, I'm not proud of it, but this is how it's going to be for this project :) I'm excited about it. As I'm living with my in-laws and doing some traveling, and going through my final trimester of pregnancy, I think one pinteresting thing will keep me busy enough. As I find time I do hope I can do more. So keep an eye out for my reviews on the projects/recipes/tips I try out. 


     For my first Pinteresting Project, I made yummy blueberry cake doughnuts. I saw them while browsing pinterest on Thursday, on Friday I went with a friend to pick FRESH blueberries and this morning I baked them and ate them! 
You can get the recipe here on How Sweet It Is. She has an easy to follow recipe, with great pictures and amusing commentary.  Make suer your oil is the right temp, and when you roll out the dough remember the blueberries can stain things. I'd also put a little less than 1 1/2 cups of blueberries in as it makes the doughnuts very gooey and harder to stay together. I had a few fall apart in the oil and ended up making all doughnut holes for my second round. 


  If you try it, I hope you enjoy them as much as my family and I did. Although my sweet husband is in health freak mode and so he only tried one doughnut hole to humor me. He did say they were good, just not good for you. In my defense I told him I had a bowl of wheaties with fresh bananas, strawberries and blueberries! 


  Have a great weekend all and I will see you when I finish my next Pinteresting Project