Birth Story - Ainsley

Birth stories are very powerful. Every mom I know has shared their's with me and I have shared mine with them. There is even a TV show that revolves around the birthing experience.





When I was pregnant with Ainsley, my eldest, I fantasized about her delivery. I dreamed about going into labour, calling my loved ones to come to the hospital, and delivering her naturally and quickly. I figured it would hurt and that I would have my epidural, push her out and then cuddle her and all would be well.





I started to get an inkling that my dreams would not come true when I had my 32 week ultrasound which indicated that she was face up. I googled this and found out that being face up during delivery made a natural delivery more difficult and often came with back labour. I read this and thought that won't happen to me. The baby will turn.





When I finally went into labour 2 days before my due date I was so excited!!! My water broke at 10:30pm just as we were getting ready to go to sleep. I then googled what this meant. The website said my contractions would start probably 12-24 hours later. I decided to have a shower and then try to go to sleep. Well, 40 minutes later my contractions were 4 minutes apart and Brett and I were heading to the hospital.





Thank goodness we went when I did because within 20 minutes of arriving at the hospital the contractions went from uncomfortable to down right unbearable. I was having contraction on top of contraction (they never told me about this in my prenatal class) and I couldn't get away from them. Yes, I was having back labour.





When the doctor came to check if my water had indeed broken, I asked if my baby was face up and she confirmed that indeed that was the case. That is when I had a sickening feeling that a natural delivery may not take place.





Soon after this I was begging for the epidural and as soon as it went in about 45 agonizing minutes later I started to feel much better. I was also 8cms. I was hopeful that maybe things would go as planned and quickly. However, when I was 10 cms, Ainsley was not making her way out and no matter how hard they tried to turn her she wouldn't budge.





I pushed for two hours and would have kept going but when they came in to check on me after pushing I could see in their faces when I asked if they thought I could deliver her naturally, that they really didn't think so.





So my dream scenario did not happen. In fact, my worst case scenario happened and I was not prepared. I had come into the hospital saying that my birth plan was to avoid a c-section and that was what I ended up having.





The c-section was not great for a number of reasons (other than having major surgery). I didn't get to see Ainsley for about an hour after the delivery which is a long time to wait to see your new baby. My milk didn't come in right away so she lost a lot of weight and so breastfeeding also did not go as I had fantasized. My body felt alien to me. I was swollen and in pain. It was hard to not be able to get up to change my new baby's diaper because it hurt so much. I felt inadequate.





I mourned the loss of a natural delivery for months and to this day I still feel a little bit sad that I will never experience that. I intellectually know that I am lucky to have had a healthy baby and to have recovered well from the experience. However, emotionally I was not prepared for this eventuality. We never talked in our prenatal class about how we would feel if our births did not go according to plan. We didn't discuss what would happen in the post-partum period (other than depression) and how we could deal with these situations.





If I could do it all over again with what I know now, I would have searched for a prenatal class that talked about our hopes and dreams but made us look at our fears and how we would deal with them should they happen.

Healthy Baby Network - Cool new products for mom

Good afternoon everyone,

I am very excited today as "Baby's First Journal" has been listed as a Cool new product for mom on the Healthy Baby Network. Check them out at http://www.healthybabynetwork.com/newsletters/Aug_2009.aspx.

I am working very hard at getting the word out about "Baby's First Journal" and it is always nice to see people embracing this journal.

Thanks to Theresa who included us on her list.

Lindsay

Wordless Wednesdays

Great Blog post about women Entrepreneurs

I contributed tip #24 so please check it out. http://budurl.com/WomenEntrepreneurs

The posting is about why Women Entrepreneurs are taking the lead.

Lindsay

New Review of Baby's First Journal

Hello everyone,

"Baby's First Journal" has been reviewed by Tatiana - here is the link:

http://averygoodyear.net/reviews/babys-first-journal-by-glowbaby/

Check it out and let your friends know. There is a giveaway of one journal with this review.

Thanks!

Lindsay

Mompreneur Resources

I've been writing a lot about my girls and being a parent but this blog is also about my new business too. So I thought I would compile a short list of resources that I have found very helpful over the last few weeks. Starting your own business has a steep learning curve and I have found some wonderful women who have been happy to share their experiences.

Women Entrepreneur Groups:

These are fantastic places to meet other entrepreneurs who are happy to share their knowledge. My fav's this month are:

1. The Mom Entrepreneur Online Support Group http://groups.google.com/group/mom-entrepreneur-support-group?hl=en
2. Connect2Mums http://connect2mums.ning.com/
3. Mom Bloggers Club http://www.mombloggersclub.com/

Some Great Resources for PR Information:

1. http://www.marketmommy.com/
2. www.wikihow.com/Write-a-press-release
3. http://www.thebusinessofbeingamom.com/

Links for media requests:

1. http://www.helpareporter.com/
2. http://www.pitchrate.com/
3. http://www.reporterssource.com/

I would also like to thank those individual women entrepreneurs who I have found through these various groups and twitter. Your advice and wealth of knowledge has been invaluable!!!

We mompreneurs must stick together.

Stay at home moms never get sick days

Ever since becoming a mom, I find I am sicker more often. I think this is partly due to the germs children spread amongst themselves and then to their parents. However, I think I get sick more often due to the fact that I am chronically sleep deprived.

My sleep-deprivation started the moment Ainsley was born and I have never been able to catch up since. This state leaves me open to all of the germs Ainsley brings home with her and then some. What compounds the problem and leaves me sicker for longer, is the fact that I do not get a sick day.

No longer are there days where I can lounge in bed or on the couch watching TV and taking naps to get over an illness. These days, I'm lucky if I can get a 9 hour stretch of sleep at night to get better. My days are filled with meeting the demands of a toddler and an infant who don't care that mommy doesn't feel well.

I just hope that as the girls get older and I get more sleep, my immune system will get stronger or I will be able to find the time to rest and recuperate.

Top 5 Must-Haves for Baby (and Top 5 Useless Products)

I decided to compose my top 5 Must-Haves for expectant parents. I bought a lot of stuff when I was expecting my eldest and while some were lifesavers, some things were hardly used.

Top 5 Must-Haves:

1. Sling/Baby Bjorn - The baby bjorn saved me with both girls (especially my eldest). Ainsley would only sleep during the day in the baby bjorn for the first few weeks and when I had Juliet, I needed my hands free. My advice would be to wait until your baby is born and then pick out which carrier your baby prefers. I bought a sling for Juliet and she hated it so I sold it.

2. Breastfeeding pillow - if you are going to breastfeed, a good pillow is essential for saving your back. I started with a jolly jumper pillow which was too soft. My Brest Friend was fantastic. It gave me great support and was very firm.

3. Baby's First Journal - now I know this is my product but a journal to log your newborn's feeds, sleeps and diapers is essential for the first few months. I would have been lost without this. It definitely, helped me get to know my daughters' needs quickly.

4. A good diaper cream - even for kids with the best skin, a diaper rash is sure to appear at some point. The best cream I found is A&D Cream which is not sold in Canada. I actually make the trip to the US periodically and buy tons as I have found nothing else that works quite as effectively.

5. Large Receiving blankets - Swaddling your child in small receiving blankets is impossible. I actually made my own 1 meter by 1meter and it was the perfect size. This didn't cost much. I just went to a fabric store. You can buy larger swaddling blankets in stores but you have to look out for them.

Now for the Top 5 Biggest Wastes of money (for me):

1. The Swing - borrow one if you want to try it, neither of my girls liked it

2. Bumbo Chair - neither daughter like it - another one to borrow

3. Cradle - We bought a pack n'play which is very useful so we could have just used this instead of the cradle

4. Burp clothes - my girls did not spit up - they threw up - A folded up receiving blanket will do just as well and even better for the big spit ups

5. Bottling supplies - we bought all the bottle paraphenalia and had at least a dozen bottles, but them my eldest didn't take the bottle - my advice is to buy a few bottles and then if you child will take the bottle then invest in more

Posh Little Baby Names - Trendy Baby Boutique Shops - Baby Gifts

Posh Little Baby Names - Trendy Baby Boutique Shops - Baby Gifts: "Featured Fab Finds From Our Baby BlogBaby's First Journal
Wednesday August 05, 2009
Are you a new breastfeeding mom finding yourself using trying to subtly 'check' which breast is the fullest thinking to yourself Which Side Did We Do Last Time? If you find yourself nudging each boobi [ ... ]


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What do you track when your child is sick?

Hello Readers,

I am brainstorming for new products to add to the Glow Baby line and I've been asked by a few people to create a sick log for their children. I have been lucky enough to not have gone through any serious illnesses (neither of my daughters have had a fever yet) so I am asking other moms to weigh in on this.

What do you track when your child is sick?

What would you want to see included in a sick log?

Thanks to all who participate. I appreciate getting feedback from other moms. Please feel free to invite your friends to comment.

First Annual Mother-Daughter back to school shopping spree

Yes, Ainsley is 2 1/2 and some may say she is too young for a shopping spree. However, she is so opinionated about what she wears I decided that it might be a good idea to let her pick her new clothes.

We left this morning at around 10am and since we don't get to spend a lot of alone time just the two of us, I decided today would be a special day. We started off going to Tim Hortons for an apple juice and a bagel with cream cheese (her favorite). I had a large coffee of course.

We then headed off to Vaughan Mills, the factory store mecca just outside of Toronto. The Gap had sent me a 30% off coupon so our plan was to hit the Gap and Old Navy. Ainsley's attention span is iffy so I figured two stores would be about the max she could handle. We got to the Gap and she immediately picked out a few dresses (big surprise) but they were summer dresses so I steered her towards the fall clothing. She then picked out a pair of shoes. Dresses and shoes are her must haves. I was able to find a sweater she liked (pink) and a lounge suit (also pink) and we bought the pink shoes she liked and a purple dress.

We then headed off to Old Navy where (big surprise) she picked out pink running shoes and two skirts. I picked out a few tops to go with the skirts. I also picked out a cute little outfit for Juliet.

We then finished off our special day be heading to the Disney factory store where Ainsley picked out two princess dolls and princess pyjamas. Since coming home she has seemed to have forgotten about the princess dolls so I think they will be put away for Christmas. We then went and picked out a treat, Smarties, for the car ride home.

All in all it was a fun and successful day. She and I got to spend some time alone and she got my full attention. As soon as we got home, she put on her new shoes and skirt and is now napping in them.

I hope to do this twice a year with Ainsley and once Juliet is old enough she will get her own special day. I think its important to spend alone time with each of my girls so they get my undivided attention and we can spend some quality time together.

I look forward to the day they are old enough to go on mother/daughter spa days!!