Monday, October 24, 2011

A Baby Story


Hello, hello!  For those of you interested in hearing how sweet little Adelaide Helene came into this world, I will tell you.  This is a good baby story for anyone squeamish about childbirth.  I feel kind of bad saying this but labor was one of the easiest parts of my very easy pregnancy!  Please do not send me hate mail for that comment it is just the truth.  Get ready for the details, none of them are gruesome.






My due date was Wednesday, October 5 and I just happened to have my final doctors appointment that very day.  Full disclosure, my mucus plug (such a horrible name) came out on Tuesday night which had me convinced that I would be so dilated by my appointment that they would immediately check me into the hospital.  Not the case.  I was neither dilated or effaced.  Bumsies.  We trotted back home and prayed that this baby would come on her own before my induction date, October 12.  


Around 2:30 AM on Thursday I started having tiny contractions.  They didn't hurt but did wake me up and continued to wake me up erratically throughout the night.  By 6:00 AM I started to time them and they were pretty well between 9 and 12 minutes apart, but still not very painful and pretty short in duration.  We felt pretty certain that we would be heading to the hospital that morning so Hubs and I both showered (I shaved, washed my hair and put on makeup) and got ready in case we needed to go in a hurry.  Of course, after we did all of that they contractions started spacing way out to 20 minutes and sometimes more.  We called the soon-to-be grandparents in San Antonio and Dallas and told them to hold their horses as there might not be a new baby today.  


To entertain ourselves Hubs and I went to IHOP for a late breakfast, made a stop at Big Lots for some more frozen food storage and then hustled to the grocery store so my fabulous husband could make us some of his famous chicken soup.  By the time we were checking out at the grocery store around 3:00 my contractions were coming a bit more regularly and slightly more intensely.  I camped out on the couch for the remainder of the day while Hubs cooked and timed my contractions.  After coming around 9 minutes apart they jumped back to 14 minutes and I called the doctor to see if they could at least check and see if I was dilated.  They said not to even bother coming their way until my contractions were 5 minutes apart for an hour. 


That never happened!  Around 10 PM the contractions became super painful but weren't regular; they would be 6 minutes and then 8 then 10, always annoying.  They became so painful that we decided to go ahead and take our chances at the hospital.  While walking back to the bedroom to get our bags I had three contractions.  Then another one that knocked me to my knees - they were now coming every two minutes and we picked up the pace to make the 5 minute drive to the hospital.



We arrived at 11:45 PM and the nurses were none too impressed with how far along I might be (we didn't even bother to bring the bags in because we figured it was false labor and that we would soon be sent back home).  So they weighed me in (yikes) and had me change into a gown while I gave them a urine sample.  The nurse took a while to check me which made me flash back to the previous day when the doc delivered the news that nothing was happening anytime soon.  When she was finished she said that we would not believe how dilated I was...8 cm!  She left the room and Hubs heard her give the "Code Blue" call.  



The nurse said she hoped there was time for me to get the epidural that I desparately wanted and time to get the doctor on call to the hospital.  She assured me that she had delivered babies before and could do so for me if necessary.  At this point I lost my composure for a couple of minutes.  I had expected to be in labor for hours and get to wear my cute little labor/delivery gown that I bought to stylishly wander the halls while trying to dilate.  Having the baby so soon was not what I had anticipated in the made for TV movie playing in my head.

Get ready for a barrage of photos...













Lucky for me and for Hubs the anesthesiologist made it in time to give me a full dose in my epidural and I was feeling fabulous by 12:30 AM.  Note that even at this point, 9.5 cm dilated my water had not broken.  The doctor made it, broke my water and told me to sit tight while I finished dilating to 10 cm (too much info?).

















A few minutes later my nurse was back and said I was ready to push if I wanted to try.  I like new things, so why not?  One thing that they don't tell you in birth class is that when you have an epidural you can not feel yourself pushing.  The only thing that I felt like I was doing was scrunching up my face and pulling on my legs.  I didn't break a sweat and had to ask after every push if I had actually done anything.  It is a very odd feeling, not feeling anything.

Six pushes and 15 minutes later, Adelaide arrived!  I could not believe that it was over.  It was the strangest sensation because it seemed all too easy.  Nothing hurt, no stitches, no sweat, no toots (most of the time I was trying not to laugh because Hubs was using his "A" material) and she came out perfectly. 

Adelaide arrived at 2:50 AM weighing in at 6 lbs 11 oz and measuring 19.5" long.  She was wide-eyed and beautiful.  No jaundice, no scratches or marks just gorgeous baby girl.  After that we spent some time getting to know one another and then she went off to the nursery for washing, poking and prodding.  I headed to postpartum and continued to feel great.  Since giving birth I have taken one pain pill that they gave me and am totally healed after two weeks.  Only problem now is that I'm cleared to workout, no excuses.  Except trying to leave these two... 


 

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Please pardon my lapse in posting.  I have been a little preoccupied...



I promise to share the story and fun happenings soon!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Jason Wu for Target

Mark your calendars, kids. Jason Wu is the latest designer to announce a collaboration with Target. Announced on the heels of a possible publicity stunt visit to a Virginia Target last week by First Lady Michelle Obama, the thought is Target is hoping to recreate the quick sell-out of last month's Missoni collection. February 5, 2012 is the date set to introduce the selective line by Wu in stores.


'It was very interesting for me to translate my signature touches into a more affordable collection without compromising quality, design and sophistication,' said Wu to U.K.'s Mail Online.



The Taiwanese-American designer was made a household name after dressing the First Lady for the Inaugural Ball. Let's see what he comes up with for the favorite all-encompassing home store!





-- Post From My iPhone

Missoni Maddness

  
Target and Missoni did a great job promoting their pairing that launched in-store and online on September 13th.  They did such a great job that most Target stores were completely cleared of all of their Missoni for Target merchandise within a few hours.  

While I have had the Missoni for Target launch in my calendar for almost two months I had to work Tuesday morning and didn't make it to the store until a little after 12:00 pm.  By that time all of the clothing was out of there with the exception of two styles of less than stellar blouses.  I quickly skipped over those and headed to the cosmetic bags that I had gone intentionally to purchase.  After snagging a couple I toured the store to see what else was left to pillage. 

Here is what I scored:






There was one pair of chevron flats left in what was close-enough to my size, an adorable knit baby romper, some file folders and a few cute bins.  They still had the candles but while the designs were cute they didn't smell all that great and for $12.99 each I figured they were worth passing up. 

I was so flabbergasted (but not shocked) with the apparent Missoni collectors turnout that I had to call my mom in Dallas to find out what the response was there.  Same.  She was able to squeak out of there with a couple of cute melamine bowls, seen below.



What tickles me so much about this phenomenon is that while each item has a "Missoni" label, albeit a "Missoni for Target" label, it is still Target quality merchandise.  Don't misunderstand me, I have quite a few Target labels in my closet and home, but the fact remains that the cute little flats I picked up do not feel like any better quality than the Merona or Mossimo brands that you can purchase any day of the week (without fighting another chick for).  They are kind of flimsy and feel a bit like felt, however they are cute.  When I checked out the cashier told me that a woman had even had her cart of Missoni goods stolen in the store by a Missoni-crazed broad and that there was a line of women waiting for the doors to open at 8:00 am.  Bizarre!

With all of this publicity and success of another major designer pairing with Target (my favorite up until now was Calypso) I'm hoping that you will see more designers create affordable lines for the classic go-to store.  I'm thinking that Kate Spade would be the next perfect candidate.  What do y'all think?  Did you haul your cookies to Target to find a designer deal?  What designer would you like to see make the reasonably priced jump next?