A Very Merry {pinterest} Christmas

How fitting of a title. If you have not been to Pinterest, I highly suggest it. Dan refers to it as a "dumbed down version of Google" but I love it! I really can't even describe what it is or how to use it, because I am learning myself. Anywho, since it was hard to get out of the house to shop, I had a lot of homemade gifts this year! :)

For the lovely ladies in my life, I made these:

Homemade sugar scrub! Peppermint and lavender flavor. Made with sugar (duh!), sunflower oil, essential oil (peppermint and lavender), and the peppermint has bits of candy cane! The sunflower oil makes it a bit oily, but in turn, makes your hands/feet very soft!

For my family and Dan's family I made these:

Photo coasters! Used tiles from Lowes, had pictures printed, cut to size, glued on, then used Resin to give it a glass-like finish. The resin was the hardest part of this project. I had to figure out how to use the resin just right, then it took forever to dry. It, honestly, could have used about a week to dry. But, alas, I didn't have a week. :/

So about pinterest, I got all of these ideas from that website. Amazing. I also made JT and Grant portable car holders that they can use to transport their matchbox cars and it even has a road so they can drive on it while in Church or in the car. I try to give my sister something to keep her boys busy and  out of her hair! :)

In other Cami news - She got waaaayyy too much stuff for Christmas! She is so spoiled!! :) But she got some great things for Christmas and a lot of it was off our registry. We only bought the things we needed right away for her, then we asked our family to get us the other things from her registry for Christmas since it was so close to her birth. Worked out nicely. And, she loves every single thing she got! (I do, too). Here is picture of her on Christmas Day:

She learned how to smile while we were home... Melts my heart every time. She is starting to coo a lot and I'm pretty sure in the next couple of weeks she will laugh! We are settled back in at our house. We took this weekend to clean the whole house. It was a crazy hot mess. But, since I can't get much done during the day, I needed Dan's help to keep Cami occupied while I cleaned. IT worked out nicely. Here are some pictures of Cami throughout our trip home:

Go Bearcats!! :)

looking cute!

up in the bobby

that precious smile that melts my heart!

As you can tell, things are going pretty well around the Welsh household! Until next time :)

3 weeks

Cami is almost a month old! Crazy to think that.. but they say it goes fast. And it does!

Things are going pretty good here at home. Cami and I are getting out more, mostly to do some Christmas shopping. I realize now how complicated it is to go out with a newborn. Yes, she is easy to transport because she just gets to stay in her carseat, but it's such a production to take her somewhere. On Monday, we decided to do some shopping around town. I had to take her into work to drop off some paperwork. Easy. Then we had to go to Hobby Lobby. She had a major meltdown in the middle of HL. I thought I was going to have to leave my cart behind and just run out of there. Horrible. Speaking of carts, why aren't they big enough for an infant carrier?! HL was WAAAAAYYYY too small. She had to sit on there sideways in order for her carseat to fit. Anyway, I got her to calm down and we went on to Walmart. But since we had been out for almost 2 hours, I had to nurse her. So I hopped in the back seat and nursed her there. People might think I'm crazy, but she has to eat! So get over it! :) Walmart carts were not big enough for her carrier either. If I put it on top, she was almost rolling out of the seat. Poor head positioning is not good for her. So she had to ride in the cart. Annoying because nothing would fit in the cart with her in there. Then our last stop was Lowe's. Seat didn't fit in that cart either.

Anyway the point of this is that it's very complicated for me to take her out to run a few errands. I'm sad to say I miss those days that I can just run into a store and pick something up real quick. But, happy to report that even though it's a big deal to go out, it's all worth it! (never thought I would say that either).

This past weekend we transitioned her to her crib. She is really well! She is still having a lot of trouble going down at night (takes us almost 2 hours), but she is sleeping in her own room. It makes it easier for Dan since he is trying to get as much sleep as he can during the night. We have this nice system working out for us. He takes the night shift of putting her down after he last feeding. Then I try and go to sleep early since I wake up overnight to feed her. Then I do the morning feeding as well. Since this past weekend here schedule is something like this:

9:00 pm - Last feeding of the night
9:30-11:00 - Dan's (and mine too) attempts at putting her down
3:00 am - Middle of the night feeding
7:15 am - Morning feeding

It's kind of nice that first stretch. That is when I get my most sleep. Then throughout the day, she nurses every 2 to 2 1/2 hours. I have a feeling she is going through a growth spurt because she is nursing a lot more lately. But since my boobies are supply and demand, I can't really do anything about it. I want a healthy baby! :)

We have also used bottles a lot more recently. I sometimes give her one at her 9pm feeding and have been giving one at the 3am feeding. It's a lot faster. And I know it shouldn't be about convience for me, but I usually will be up for about 2 hours with her during the night. She takes forever to nurse, falls asleep on the boob, and then I have to change her and put her back down. All of this takes about 2 hours. And then an hour and a half later, she is ready to eat again. This just wasn't working out for me and I was pretty much a zombie. So we switched to bottles during the night and it's been wonderful. (knock on wood, please!). We also use bottles during the day if we are going out.

Overall, it's been good here. We are starting to get on a little schedule and I can't wait until it sticks! I'm such a rigid person that all I need is a schedule and I will be happy. I have my follow up postpartum appointment tomorrow and I hope she can tell me I can run! I can't wait to get back. I am down about 25 pounds since I left the hospital, but since I was slightly overweight to begin with, I have a bit more to lose. I am also anxious to get back into training for the Flying Pig! I was going to do that race before I found out I was pregnant. Then, per doctor's orders, I had to cut running out of my life during the pregnancy. So... needless to say, I am ready to get back!

143 days and counting until the race!

Until next time! :)

Breastfeeding 101

I'll try not to make this too personal and graphic.. but like I said in a previous post, I am doing this for those of you who are expecting or want to get pregnant and eventually breast feed.

Breastfeeding was a very touchy subject when I was pregnant. Dan really wanted me to try it out, but I said it just didn't sound normal. Before Cami arrived, I would think about it and feel like it was so foreign and strange. The thought of having a baby strapped to my boob was not something I was excited about (or even wanted to do). But I promised Dan I would give it a try.

While I was in the hospital, I lost all modesty (which is what everyone told me would happen). They have to watch you breastfeed and to me, this felt completely wrong. Hello, personal space! I didn't really want some lady to come watch me nurse Cami and judge about incorrect latch or small nipple size. But with all the crap that people saw during labor and delivery, I thought, who cares about a boob!

My first time nursing was a bit strange AND painful! They warned me of sore nipples and cramping, but HOLY COW! I'm pretty sure my nipples were blistered after the first day in the hospital. And the cramping is awful! Not only do women have to endure labor and delivery (more power to those who do it naturally) but after it's all said and done, you get contractions of your uterus while you are nursing! How lovely it is to be a lady. But, I got through all of them, but it was painful. I used plenty of nipple cream while in the hospital and even had my first leak session while I was sleeping. Soaked all the way through to the nursing hospital gown. Embarrassing.

Also while I was pregnant, I was nervous about Dan seeing me breastfeed. It didn't seem natural and I didn't want him to watch while I did that. This also changed after Cami was born.. now I just whip that boob out and nurse her without even thinking about it. It's really not a big deal anymore! I've even nursed in public!

I'm not going to be one of those crazy moms who nurse until their child can request milk, but I'll continue to provide breast milk to Cami. I have been feeling really guilty lately for giving her a bottle (about one every few days), but eventually that is what she will need since she will be going to daycare. For some reason, they don't accept my boob there! :) A bit of advice to those who are thinking about breastfeeding - It's hard at first and painful. I will be honest. But it does get better! I never thought I would say this, but it's a good bonding experience and I look forward to nursing Cami, except in the middle of the night! I'm just too tired for all that. If anyone needs advice, let me know. I'm no expert, but I may be able to help somewhat.

Until next time!

btw - Cami is 2 weeks old. We had our 2 week well baby visit and she weighs 8lbs now! Her head circumference was 14 (grew an inch! - we need to make room for that engineering brain!) and her length is still the same because she was too wiggly to get it right! Our little girl is growing! Hopefully she'll fit into her 0-3 month clothes soon!

Postpartum and Home!

Let me continue my updating process with what happened after labor and delivery!

At our local hospital, there are 2 different locations throughout the hospital for those who are delivering and then after the baby is born. Labor and Delivery is in the Women's Center. I went there for only the labor and delivery process. After delivery (and when I could finally feel my legs again) I was moved downstairs to the postpartum floor. This is where I would recover and also where the nursery is.

Cami had to spend a few extra hours in the nursery because her temperature was not quite right. She spent some time under the french fry lamps to warm up, and by time I could feel my legs again, she was ready to leave the nursery. I met her and Dan in my room and I finally got to spend some time with her after having not seen her in about 4 hours.

This is where the real fun began (besides going home). It was so strange to see her laying in the bassinet from the nursery. I just kept looking at my belly and thinking "this was what was inside the whole time. This is who gave me nights of bad sleep, horrible back pain for the ENTIRE pregnancy, and heartburn I never want to experience again." But like they say, once you see your baby, all those feelings disappear and you are so totally in love with this little person you just met for the first time (besides being in your belly).

We stayed in the hospital for about 2 days. I was so ready to get home, but very nervous at the same time. When we left the hospital, I was in charge of putting Cami in her carseat. May I suggest practicing with a baby doll or stuffed animal. I jacked those car seat straps up so much trying to get this tiny person inside. I actually had her leg on the top side of the lap belt. HA! It was frustrating (mainly because Dan was yelling at me and making fun of me) but now that I look back, I can laugh about it.

Home:
Oh man was this an experience. Talk about eye opening!! First of all, let me just be completely honest with all of you (whoever you are that reads this) and say that it was VERY HARD! I had real bad baby blues (still lingering at times). I would just cry and cry for no reason. Cami was having a hard time nursing and it was like the end of the world to me. For those of you who read this who may be having a baby soon, let me assure you that the baby blues do go away. It's hard at first knowing that I was the only one who could feed the baby and when she eats every 2-3 hours, that's overwhelming. But it does get better. It's not entirely better right now, but I am used to it and we are starting to develop a bit of a schedule so I can anticipate when she will be eating again and so on. It was also hard having my family here. I LOVED to have them here, but it was so much at one time, it just caused me to breakdown even more. I just wished that Dan and I could have spent a couple days home with Cami before family was in town, but since she was stubborn and wanted to "bake" a little longer, we didn't have this option. But let me tell you, having family around was nice because I could rest and know that she was in good hands. So it wasn't all that bad, just felt like too much at the time.

Right now we are trying to get Cami to learn her days from nights. She will sleep all day and then be up all night. It's frustrating, but from what my friends and family have said, it will be here for a few more weeks and we just have to live with it. But everyone says, "it's gets better!" Let's hope so. The 3 hours of sleep last night aren't really working out for me today! :(

Until next time! :)

baby makes 3... FINALLY!

Well she is finally here!!! Cami decided to make her grand entrance on November 20, 2011 @ 12:31pm! Weighing in at 7lbs 6oz. Here's how it went:

Friday November 18th - started to have mild contractions about 5 mins apart. Dan wanted to rush to the hospital but I just didn't think that it was time yet. These contractions didn't feel like "the ones." When I have to really think about if I was having a contraction, then it was really not time yet.

Saturday November 19th - we were finishing Cami's initials to hang above her crib. (Yeah good timing, right?!). Dan was working in the garage when I started to have stronger contractions. I wanted to time them, but couldn't find Dan's phone (yay for contraction apps) and couldn't walk to find it either. Dan did come in eventually and we timed them and they were about 4 1/2 mintues apart. I thought, this is what labor feels like so I guess it's time. It was an emotional time as I was sort of freaking out about her actually coming out. Dan was very excited and was frantically packing his bag for the hospital. (Mine was already packed after my contractions the night before). So at 11:45 we headed to the hospital!!!

At the hospital - we arrived at the hospital around 11:50 or so. We finished registering and went on back to triage. At this point, when they checked me, I was 2-3cm dilated. They watched me for an hour and checked me again... still no progress. Dr. Shirley said that I had to make progress in another hour or I would have to go home. So I decided to do squats during my contractions to get things going. Boy that was stupid. That hurt like crazy, but good news, I made progress! 4cm! After this I was admitted.

We walked down to our labor room and I got settled there. This was around 4am! It had been a very long night already and I knew it would just get longer! ICK! So during my god-awful contractions, I tried to "rest." Yeah, not happening. I made it until 5:30am before I asked for the goods! :) I had to get a bag and a half of fluids before they would give me the epidural. Around 6:30 is when I finally got my epidural. I made it all the way to about 6cm before the epidural! I thought that was good enough for me! After the epidural, I was a different person. I was actually able to rest for a bit before the delivery started.

I was put in different positions in the bed, one known as the "fire hydrant." This opened my pelvis so Cami could come on down and make her arrival. My doctor was big on her coming down the canal naturally, and she did.

I only pushed for 15 minutes and then she was here! Dr. Shirley asked Dan to "catch the baby like a football" and he did! I was afraid he would pass out, but he did it and he survived! He also cut the cord too! He's so brave! :) Also- as a side note- he was WONDERFUL! He was helping me through each contraction before the epidural and was so supportive during the delivery process. I am so glad he was there with me through all of this.

Here is the first picture of our baby girl:

There are so many more pictures to put on this blog, but for now, I'll just upload that one. And this one from the hospital pictures:

Motherhood is very hard right now... sleep deprivation is starting to get to me, but it will get better! I'll update next with the postpartum stay in the hospital and life at home! 

Until next time :)

time flies!

Well it's been a while, the usual. But let me tell you that NOTHING has happened.

We are all ready for Baby Welsh to get here, so any time she wants to come out, she is welcome to!

Currently as I type this, I am 39 weeks and 4 days pregnant... and I am not progressing at all! I was trying to have her on 11-11-11, but since I'm typing this, you have to know she has not made her arrival yet.

We have been busy since my last update with getting all the things for her nursery, preparing ourselves with birthing classes and breastfeeding classes, and just trying to relax (well me anyway). This week I have been trying to get our to come out and meet her anxious parents! You know all those things you read about how to induce labor at home? Yeah, we've done them ALL. Every single one of them. And, alas, still nothing. I have been having a few braxton hicks contractions over the last week, but those mean nothing, so who even cares!

As you can tell, I'm very anxious and ready to meet Cami. And it's frustrating to try all these things, even things from the doctor, and still nothing. Speaking of the doctor, her and I have to discuss our options if I make it to my weekly appointment on Thursday. By the look/feel of things, I'll be attending that appointment.We have to discuss our options of inducing labor or waiting for nature to take over. I've been thinking about it and I think I want to wait for Cami to do it on her own, if she ever does! I want to know what labor feels like without induction. So I guess that's my decision. BUT if she doesn't come by 41 weeks, we'll be induced anyway.

So we'll wait.....

We are anxious to have family come visit for Thanksgiving/Cami's birth. My family will be in town the week of Thanksgiving and Dan's family will be in town the week after! So it will be a nice visit from all of them! Also, since I last wrote, we have chosen "God" Parents for Cami. Since we aren't religious, we don't want to call them god parents, but haven't found a good name for them, besides life sponsors. So when we do, I'll let all of you know! Anywho, we chose Raynelle (of course! ) and Alex! We are so thankful they are in our lives and can't wait for them to meet Cami as well. Raynelle said she was coming in late November and Alex has yet to let us know when he wants to come visit! But we hope it's soon!!! :)

Here is a pic of me and my baby girl (Chloe that is) at 39 weeks:

She is going to be the best big sister! She just doesn't realize it yet! :)

Until next time!

A Recent Update

It seems like all I do is update on here. I'm never consistent with my posts. My apologies to whoever it is that reads this! I have been a real slacker... but for good reason.


A lot has happened since my last post. Most importantly, my best friend is back! Dan made it home safely from his tour of duty. Those last few weeks were the worst, but I managed and although time felt like it was moving backwards instead of forwards, we finally got to reunite! 


I arrived to the airport about 2 hours in advance (hey, I was excited) and waited at the top of the mile long escalator for him. The first hug and kiss were indescribable. I had long waited for it, and it was just bliss! So glad to have him home. Then after we both cried, we found out we were having a baby girl! :) 


The pregnancy has been good. Uneventful, which is a good thing. The only horrible thing I'm feeling is back pain. And boy does it SUCK. It's never-ending and nothing I do seems to help it. The only thing I haven't done is buy a maternity support belt. I'll try that one day :). 


They have moved my due date about 30238403284 times. I am now due in mid November. But, for all the moms I have that read this, we all know she won't arrive when they think she will. She's on her own schedule and will come when she is ready. I'm hoping for a Thanksgiving baby! But will be happy when she does arrive and she is healthy.


I'm still having ridiculous hormonal changes. It's been difficult. I'll just sit and think about her arrival and just start crying. Asking myself "Am I ready?", "Did I do everything I wanted to do before I had babies?", "Will this nursery ever be finished?" etc, etc, etc. It's never ending worry for me and I'm not sure why. At times I know we are ready... we talked and (sort of ) planned this... but now that it's going to happen for reals, I'm kinda nervous. Dan assures me that it's normal (how should he know, but I love his support anyway) and we are ready to be parents. And also assures me that the nursery will be ready! 


In other Welsh family news, Chloe has really changed since Dan's deployment. She has calmed down a lot and I hope she is ready to be a big sister! She listens more to me, which if you know her, is a BIG deal. She's a good dog now. Still in her cage when we are gone, but we're working on that. 


We are due to come back to Ohio in September. We will be in town for the Air Force Marathon, baby showers, and visiting family!!! I can't wait to be home and see all of my family and my in-laws! It's been so long since I've seen everyone! Oh and I can't wait to see my friends either! It's been a while for that too! 


Well friends, until next time :)