A learning experience for all of us...

August 5th 2017 I was induced about 3 days early due to my baby being large and me not being able to go past my due date because I had been diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes.  While pregnant I researched everything I could find about labor and delivery.  I had no birth plan minus I wanted my husband in the room and I didn't want an epidural.  I felt prepared for labor, but realized after that all the research in the world didn't prepare me for my OWN experience.

The only part of my "plan" was I went into labor on a Saturday, because I was induced, I then had a 26.5 hour labor.  Yes i know other women had gone longer, but due to the placement of my baby's umbilical cord, I had an emergency C-section when I went, "IM DONE" after they couldn't keep his heart rate steady and I wasn't 10 centimetes,  I was barely 7.  He wasn't going to fit, even though the poor little guy did try to come out naturally, so I had to have a c-section, and I had to be knocked out because I wasn't allowed an epidural.

The 10 Things I learned during my first baby labor experience.

1. Induction = Bed Rest
They tell you when you go into labor that they want you up and walking and moving.  THIS does not apply when you are induced.  They actually get kind of annoyed if you want to get up and move around away from the monitor depending on your nurse because they have to unplug you each time.  We had one nurse who was like, "yea just page me when you get done and I'll hook you back up" and another who was NOT happy each time I had to pee... So try that natural induction stuff at home to get labor going because if they induce you, you're pretty much stuck to the bed...

2. The Water Breaking GUSH
They aren't joking about that GUSH of water when your water breaks.  Mine was broken by my midwife and it just kept coming, and apparently it smelled really bad.  My husband informed me of this recently.  I was too busy with labor pains to notice the smell.  My husband has a very sensitive nose though so I'm not surprised he smelled it.
3. Internal Monitors
If they have difficulty finding your baby's heart beat with an EXTERNAL monitor, they will give you an internal one.  Be very careful with this, it is attached to your baby.  They drape it around your neck when your go to the bathroom, and my husband would help me in the bathroom each time I went so I wasn't tugging on anything.  He also accompanied me to make sure I didn't trip or anything.
4. Talk to your specialty Doctors, not just the pregnancy ones
 If you want an epidural, you should probably talk to the anesthesia team BEFORE you go into labor, especially if you bruise easily and are short, and get things in writing from your OWN doctors too.  I decided at 3 in the morning to get an epidural after our nurse (who wasn't our favorite person...) kept telling me "the pain will lessen in you get an epidural" and "you'll stop thrashing around in bed if you have an epidural".  She called the Anesthesia team, got me all hooked up and turns out I COULDN'T have one.  I have Ehlers Danlos and bruise easily.  At 4:30 in the morning I was informed by the Anesthesiologist that I had a high probability of being paralyzed if she gave me an epidural due to my EDS and how short I am, which my genetisist had told me wouldnt happen, but they refused to give me one.
5. Ask about pain management and drugs, Even if you don't want them
DISCUSS IT with your midwife or doctor beforehand.  I had not wanted drugs and I didn't know my options besides an Epidural, and was dead set on I didn't want anything.  I was given an IV med to start, and when I couldn't have the epidural, my midwife called the doctor she is associated with and was given Morphine so that I could sleep because I was having contractions every 2 minutes but wasn't dilating any further.  Also, the Demi (I forget the full name) doens't work as well the SECOND time they give it to you, thus why I had morphine..
6. TEAM WORK!
If your baby is in distress, EVERYONE gets on board.  My baby's heart rate started dropping because his umbilical cord was going from his belly button up over his one shoulder and down the other.  While he was trying to get out of me and I would have a contraction, it would put pressure on his cord and he wouldn't get an oxygen.  No joke, 4 people rushed in my room, and my husband noticed it before they were in the room yelling for me to get on my hands and knees and shoving an oxygen mask in my face because he was watching the monitor, even though they told us not to... My midwife in the morning turned it for us saying, "I know you like to watch it"
7.  Things go quick
An emergency c-section is the quickest surgery I have ever experienced.   Due to my inability to have an Epidural, I had to be unconscious for my cesarean, and my poor husband who had wanted to cut the cord and was excited to do skin to skin while I was recovering, wasn't even allowed in the room because I was unconscious.  SO, no cord cutting, no skin to skin.  BUT he got to watch his first bath, and hold him before me.  My husband claims it felt like 15 minutes from the moment they took me to the moment the doctor said, "you have a son!".  I could have sworn it was a half hour... but that may be from the moment they all came running in to his birth time.
8. If your mother wants to be there, let her be there.
 My mom asked constantly, "do you want me to come over?" and we were like, "everything is fine, you'd just be sitting here..." and about 20 minutes before I went in for my cesarean, she texts me again, and I said the same thing.  Looking back, I wish I had said, "sure, come on over and hang out with us, given hubs a break from rubbing my back" because she would have been there by the time everything happend and hubs wouldn't have been alone when I went into surgery.  Everything went so quick, that if the rolls were switched, I wouldn't have known what was going on if I was him... thus I yelled to the nurse to explain it again to him.
9. Stay calm, and breathe
 Lots of people try to tell you alot of information at the same time.  Try to stay calm because you won't hear any of it.  I literally told my midwife, "I don't care what the risks are, lets just get him out", as she tried telling me what was going on half way through me having another contraction and trying to keep an oxygen mask on my face.
10. You need that birth partner
Finally, you don't realize how much you need your spouse, or birthing partner until you are in it.  I could not have gone through that alone, and my husband really pushed through it.  He doesn't function well on little sleep, and by the time we had the baby, we had that contraction relief down to a science.  He'd hear me groan, and immediately sit up and start rubbing my back.

They tell you that you forget the pain when its all over.  Frankly I am not forgetting ANY of that first birth experience, but I did learn alot from it.  Especially the hour and a half wait to find out I couldn't have an epidural, my new found hatred for pitocin, and a new found love for pain killers in a pinch.  That said, it was all completely worth it for my little handsome guy

The Great Coupon Debate

So with this upcoming baby, hubs and I have been discussing the fact that we need to start really buckling down and using coupons, especially because we just added ANOTHER monthly bill to our outgoing income because we had to buy me a new car (check back here for article on car buying later!)  So on this beautiful Sunday morning, when the humidity hasn't hit the part of PA we are just yet, I decided to do some legitimate research about extreme couponing with the plans to give it a serious try.  While doing this, I came up with some pros and cons, so if any of you are possibly trying to be frugal and save money, here's my own findings.
***I do actually plan to try out couponing to see how much we may save, but I also see some major negatives with it, so don't just assume I'm saying screw couponing***

The Pros of Couponing

1. When done correctly, couponing has promised to save me money on my monthly grocery bill every time I go shopping, to the point I may get free toilet paper and paper towels.  If it will also get me free diapers for this baby that I can also possibly donate to a women's shelter or something, I consider that a win-win.  Who doesn't love free stuff?

2. By doing a "stock pile" I will run out items less frequently, and will be able to save money on further shopping trips because I'll be able to say, "Ok, we have enough toilet paper to last til next week, when I can buy MORE toilet paper on sale, and with a coupon" rather than going, "shoot.. we're out of toilet paper" and having to pay full price.  I don't mind paying sale price, but if I can get it for even cheaper, AWESOME.  Having a small stock pile for certain every day items my husband and I use will also help me not have to take as long of grocery trips, or as frequently when the baby comes, and that will be very helpful.

3. You can possibly write off your couponing on your taxes IF AND ONLY IF you donate enough of your items to charity.  Like I said above, if I can get a bunch of diapers free and donate them to a local women's shelter than may have mothers with babies, that's a win-win.  I'm getting free diapers, AND I'm helping someone else who is having a more difficult time getting diapers for their baby get diapers.  Same goes for canned goods, and other items that you can take to a food bank or homless shelter.

That was literally all the pro's I came up with for using coupons.  The cons apply to people in general, not just myself.

The Coupon Con's

1. While doing my research, several articles suggested researching different stores sales, and NOT doing your shopping like on the TLC show "Extreme Couponing" where you see a mom with about 4 kids walking the store with her, each having a cart, then they get the register and your biting your nails for whether she's going to get her $300 bill down to $25 using her giant binder sized stack of coupons.  Successful couponers are suggesting you go to various stores for your stock pile.
       FOR EXAMPLE:
          If you get your weekly newspaper ads and find Walmart has toilet paper on sale, and you've got coupons that will drop that price even more, BUT tooth paste isn't on sale there, BUT IT IS at Acme, you should go to Walmart, get your toilet paper, then go to Acme and get your toothpaste.

This is all fine for someone who has the time to go to separate stores for various items, but now you are having to take into account the gas mileage you are using to get these items, just to save money, and if you haven't done your research right, you just drove to another store for nothing.

2. Many of the successful couponers warn that couponing requires a good chunk of your time just to keep yourself organized so you can save money, and you need to be focused.  Someone who doesn't work, and has children who are angels may possibly be able to do the organizational portion of this easily.  Put on a nice long film for your kids, and do your coupons while they're entertained by Mickey Mouse, or the Octonauts.  Someone who doesn't work, that may be doing night classes and is couponing to save for college may be able to easily coupon.  HOWEVER, someone with four kids under the age of 6 that is a single parent, might find it more difficult to fit this and shopping at different stores into their daily schedule.

3. Purchasing JUST the inserts is possibly the worst "money saving" tactic I read.  Hubs and I live just outside Philadelphia, SO we can get the Philadelphia Inquirer each Sunday from our local Newsstand, or have it delivered.  When I started looking for insert subscriptions so I could get JUST the coupons, the different venues for that were priced at 9-20 dollars depending on how many different inserts you got in a week.  When we did the math, it was still the same price IF NOT CHEAPER to simply buy the Newspaper, rather than have it delivered.  One had shipping costs at almost 7 dollars to send me JUST 8 inserts of coupons, PLUS the price they were charging for the coupons.  Another site wanted 11 dollars for shipping but claimed the coupons were free.  I'd rather just walk to Wawa and buy an Inquirer... get some sunshine and exercise while I save money.

4.  You can't be loyal to brand names.  Brand names go on sale less often than store brands apparently... and you also will get less coupons (so I've been told...).  This means that if you have special diet needs, then your coupon usage starts being restricted, or if you are someone who is stuck on your brand names, it won't work for you.


NOW with all that said, you can use "coupons.com" and other printable coupon websites on top of buying the newspaper, or getting coupons from family and friends (I will take all coupons family and friends are willing to give by the way...) so that you can try couponing yourself.  It's something to try if you want to start stocking up on laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc, but foods that are going to expire, my husband and I have found that doesn't work well with coupons, since there is only 2 of us.

I still plan to give coupons an actual try, but I don't expect to be on Extreme Couponing anytime soon, or that it will be saving it me thousands and thousands of dollars each year.

Pregnancy Posts

Well, its official, I have finally had to go through all of my clothing so I am not digging through laundry each day trying to find an outfit for work.  I've had to buy 4 shirts, 2 skirts and 2 pairs of jeans so that I can go to work each day and I'm pretty sure I'll need to buy more shirts as the bump continues to grow.  I'm proud of myself that from a change in my diet so I am as healthy as can be for this baby, and slightly increased exercise (you know not just sitting on the cough each day...) I've been able to wear most of my clothes because I have lost fat as I've gotten more pregnant, gained weight, but definitely lost fat.
But DUDE buying maternity clothes is tough!  Even having gone down slightly in my jean size, it was very difficult finding pants that fit.  Basically the rule for buying clothes when you are pregnant is to simply buy the same size you were BEFORE you became pregnant.  For example: you were a 2 when you got pregnant, despite the large round belly on the front of you now, you are still a 2.  I wear a 16 currently, but apparently pregnancy clothes manufactures and myself have different view on what a 16 really is... thus it was very difficult for me to find clothes for myself,  I went to Motherhood Maternity and the girl (who was very nice and helpful) said, "maybe you need a bigger size.." and it was in reference to the seam of the pants not coming up as high as I wanted them to.  They fit everywhere else, but typical maternity clothes hit BELOW your waist because your waist is now holding an incubator for a tiny human, so no one in their right mind makes pants that the seam is at your waist and I felt like they weren't sitting where I needed them to, thus I bought everything else but pants on that first trip...  Now I finally can't wear my leggings, jeans, sweats, basically anything that't not pajama pants on a regular basis, and I've become one of those people who have to drive with their pants unbuttoned because I feel like I'm squishing my poor baby!
BUT! THE OTHER DAY after going to Macy's, Marshalls, Kohls AND Target in search of jeans to wear to work (I can't wear the same like 4 outfits to work each week...) I went to Old Navy after a search online told me they might have something and I lucked out!  Not only did I find multiple styles of clothing to buy but I found multiple pairs in my size, in the multiple styles, AND they actually fit.  I ended up actually going DOWN a size in the one pair I bought, and if I hadn't thought about the fact that my belly is going to keep growing, I would have bought the second pair in a size lower than I typically would buy.  It was a win win kind of day for me!  Baby is happy he isn't being squished all the time, I'm happy to wear something other than skirts to work, AND I'm thrilled that I am possibly a pants size down since I got pregnant.  Now to just keep this healthy eating thing up and get myself down 2 sizes after I have the baby.

I did, in my search for clothes for bigger pregnant ladies, find a website called "Yours Clothing" and its a plus size clothing site, that has MATERNITY CLOTHES, and like, CUTE maternity clothes for curvier mommas.  It goes from 12-34 and has everything from shirts to underwear.  Their website does carry bathing suits, but not in their pregnancy line, which was slightly disappointing, BUT I now know when I've had the baby I can buy a bathing suit top from them that might actually fit my chest and be supportive, so I've got that going for me!

https://www.yoursclothing.com/maternity

there is their website for everyone out there, specifically their maternity section.  Check it out.  They're not a US based company though so everyone in America will have to pay more for shipping, sorry...

Thats my rant about pregnancy clothing... now onto my next adventure, finding a pregnancy bathing suit that will fit, and won't cost tons of money.  HERE WE GO!

Happy Mothers Day

taxikab

Adulting Level 2: Yard work, bills and babies

Good Evening Blog readers!  Its Monday, I'm waiting for my soup to finish cooking on this slightly dreary weather Spring day.  Yesterday was amazing weather, but didn't stick.  It was good it was so nice out though, because our lawn was looking atrocious and my husband and I FINALLY bought a lawn mower.  I wish I could have been the one using the nice new outdoor toy but alas I was stuck with just using my nifty orange weed whacker BECAUSE.... we are having A BABY.

Check out my little cutie who's ultrasounds look like most other baby ultrasounds!!

Besides the fact that we are having a boy... my husband keeps informing me that I was warned about the possibility of a big baby, and low and behold, he was 1.5 pounds at his last ultrasound.  The tech put him in the 65th percentile for other babies that are 24 weeks... Tomorrow he will be 25 weeks, but still, lol.

Due to our little bundle of joy coming late this summer (hopefully not sooner...), hubs and me have been working diligently to get the house ready through cleaning constantly, organizing different parts of the house and getting our bills in order so that if I end up in the hospital on bed rest, or possibly can't manage our finances for whatever reason (be it baby exhaustion, or just plain laziness...) hubs can manage everything.  Currently I handle making sure all of our bills get paid on time, and am thankful for automatic bill pay.  Most of our bills are automatic bill pay just so I don't have to worry about it.  The downside is, then you forget the password and username for things, and you need the account number, your Social Security number, the promise to give them your first born just to get that damn password reset...  SO!  Hubs and I came up with a system so that if anything ever happened to either of us, we can easily make sure our bills are still being paid and we have the account number for each one.


Ready for this posts project? 

You will need the following:
1. A printer
2. A binder
3. 1 or 2 packs of page dividers
4. Any bills that are already printed.  

**I used a pack of dividers that were pocket dividers to hold stuff related to that bill in it.**

1. Figure out how many bills you have, and how many dividers you may need.  I labeled ours in general sections such as "Utilities" and "car".  We currently only have 1 car payment, but eventually will have 2, just like our Utilities are our water, oil and electric are currently 3 separate bills.
2. Label each divider how you see fit.  As i've already said, I did ours as general things specifically because I was too cheap to buy 2 packs of dividers, BUT some people need more dividers than we did.
3. Sort those bills!! If you don't have paper copies of all of your bills, this is where your printer comes into play.  Go online and print your bills.  Even if you are signed up for paperless billing, whoever you own money to, or holds your money should have a statement online that you can easily print out.  Now, give each set of bills there own little section so that you can easily be reminded of when things are due.  I went so far as to create a little calendar chart so I know when everything is due and don't miss one.  (I know I'm slightly obsessed... its okay)

Now you have a copy of all of your bills in one place.  Now if you are like some other people I know that are lucky enough to have a filing cabinet to put there bills in, AWESOME, you can put away as many paper bills as you need and be super organized.  But I suggest having this binder as well anyway, because then you don't have to go find the most recent bill just to get 1 account number.

I know this posts project wasn't a very typical craft project, but hey, still took some time to do.  I suggest getting brightly colored binder dividers and a fun binder, because fun binders just make bill paying more fun, as opposed to now where you simply watch your money fly out the window...

Happy Crafting readers!!

taxikab