Ginny's First Bath

Ginny's belly button stump finally fell off, so she was able to take her first real bath!

We used a Puj Tub, which her Aunt Paula and Uncle Evan gave her for Christmas. This thing is pretty awesome! I would definitely recommend it to others! Check out the demo here.

Ginny absolutely loved her bath. She was so content and calm in the warm water. Hayden had fun helping wash her tummy.

Ginny has a bit of a wave to her hair, but when it is wet it gets really tight curls. I tried to capture the curls here, but they'd already started to dry and straiten out. I think they're pretty darn cute!

Afterward, we had a little photoshoot with the now very sleepy Ginny. Even though she was about to fall asleep, she was still a good sport.

Meet Virginia

I've had that TRAIN song, "(I can't wait to) Meet Virginia" in my head for months now...

Well, now it's time! Virginia (Ginny) Lynn Neill finally made her appearance on Wednesday, January 20th.

My birth story in (almost) full detail...

I was scheduled to be induced on Monday, but the hospital was full, so they rescheduled to Wednesday morning. I was admitted and my Dr. broke my water around 7:30. Then we walked and walked and walked, and I finally gave up and sat on a ball for a while. Nothing happened. Okay, well, I had 2 contractions... TWO... and they weren't painful. So my Dr. came back around noon and gave me the tiniest little dose of pitocin available. I was trying to avoid the pictocin, as I'd heard plenty of not fun results from it. My body seemed to recognize the first few medicinally forced contractions, then took off on it's own in full speed.

In an hour and a half I dilated from a 4cm to a 7cm. By that time the contractions were coming so fast and strong, they stopped the pitocin drip, and had the anesthesiologist come in. Just like with Hayden, it was too late and too fast for an epidural (I actually could have had one, but no point with the speed of things), so they gave me an intrathecal spinal block shot. This shot takes about 5 minutes to kick in and start numbing, and about 10 minutes to completely numb. By the time it started to kick in, I was dilated to a 10, and my Dr. was having me start pushing. The shot really hadn't numbed anything yet, I could just feel the tingling in my toes, and was totally freaked out that it wasn't going to work in time. Thankfully it kicked in quick, just like they said, and numbed me enough (not all the way) to survive the delivery mostly pain free. From the time I was considered in labor (the beginning of pitocin) to delivery was a little less than 2 hours.

Getting all the way to the pushing point without any pain medication was pretty extreme. I got to a 9cm with Hayden without any, and I thought that was bad, but WOW, there was a huge difference this time! I really don't know how women do it without any pain relief. Those are some strong women! Then again, I guess if you were prepared in your mind to do that, it would be a bit easier...

I was almost done with the hard part of pushing when my Dr. had me stop, with a concerned look on her face she quickly grabbed the clamps, clamped the cord and cut it. I didn't realize what had happened until after I finished pushing her out and saw my little baby girl come out gray and not crying at all! They told me the cord was wrapped around her neck and quickly put her on a table and started working on her. I was completely freaked out of course, and they made Dirk sit down so he didn't pass out. They told me she had a heartbeat, but wasn't breathing and put the oxygen mask on her and started working on her. It seemed like an eternity before she started crying and turning pink. Apparently the combination of the cord around her neck and the extremely fast delivery put her little body in to shock.

I was extremely nervous about inducing and had very mixed feelings over it. After my experience I will never do it again (unless needed for health reasons), not because of the bad experience, but because of the speed of everything. I had a fast labor with Hayden, and they believe most of the quickness of this one was my own body again, with a little bit of an extra kick from the pitocin. Whatever the reason, I do not want to do it that fast again. It was nice to have it done and over with so quickly, but was a bit traumatizing, to both me and my baby.

My little baby girl, Ginny, was born at 2:21pm. She was a big baby at 9 pounds even, and 21.5inches long, with lots and lots of dark hair and a hairy little fur patch on her back!

Don't worry- you know me- more pictures will be coming. I'm just too busy snuggling with her to bother with posting them now!

My Last Belly Shots

I was just reminded today by a friend's belly shots that I wanted to do this... Good thing I remembered before it was too late!

I'm a little nervous about posting these online - I don't know why - I guess just the idea of my bare skin on the internet seems a little scandalous ;)

I didn't want to take this style of shot with Hayden, but I'm kind of sad I didn't, because I really do think they're beautiful to have- more so just for myself, but I'll share with you.

Everyone else is doing it, so I had to do the heart, heehee ;)

Ginny- I'm so excited to meet you! I love you so much already.

Sewing to Keep Busy

I'm trying to keep my mind off the finish line, by whipping out some last minute sewing projects for Ginny.

I made these quick and easy flannel swaddling blankets. The two on the left are double layered, and the green on on the right is just a single layer with the edges hemmed (very nice for swaddling in warmer weather... probably won't be using this one for a while!)

I added a bit of fabric to this cloth diaper to turn it in to a cute burp cloth. I plan on making quite a few more of these.

I still hadn't bought a hooded towel, and went out to buy some, and saw that a cheapy thin one, which would never be warm enough to keep a wet newborn warm in my freezing bathroom, cost $5. The nice, plush ones cost at least $12! I decided I could do better, so I bought a super soft, regular towel on clearance for $3. I cut one end off to make it more of a square, and used that end to create triangle hood. I embellished it with some ribbon I already had. I love it so much, and it was so inexpensive, I think I might have to make one or two more of these for Ginny and Hayden.

Last but not least, I made a ring sling! Here Dirk is modeling it, along with the teddy-bear he picked out for Ginny. We're going to condition her so it's her favorite! I had to pick out a fabric that Dirk would be comfortable wearing, but would also look good on me. It also had to be good enough quality to hold the weight and not wear thin where the rings are. I did a lot of research on what kind of fabric would be the best to use, and how to assemble it the best and safest way for my baby. I think picking out the fabric was the hardest part of this project!

There are so many ways and style to hold your baby, and I've been trying to figure out what's best for me. With Hayden we had some sort of front carrier with straps and hooks (similar to a baby bjorn), and it was a pain in the neck to put on and take off, and literally a pain in my neck and shoulders to wear. I'd been eying the wraps that are becoming more and more popular. I wanted one that would look good on me and still be functional. I don't like the kind where you're practically wrapping yourself like a mummy! I still wanted my own outfits to be visible (and breathable!). I've researched, and found that this "ring sling" style is actually really good for people with back pain, even though it's only on one shoulder. Apparently the way you fold it helps disperse the weight of the baby evenly. I guess only time will tell if this is true.

Lots and lots and lots and lots of layers of stitching to make sure my baby is safe and secure!
I originally chose and purchased a fabric that these bronze rings would look good with. Then when it came time to start sewing, I decided I didn't like the fabric enough to wear on a daily basis, and it was a bit to girly for me to ask Dirk to wear! I also did a lot of research on what type of rings to use. I didn't want to just go pick up some regular craft rings, and have them not hold strong enough. There is a sling rings company that is highly recommended all over the internet, by people who make and sell these slings for a living. To my excitement, the set of rings only cost me $4.50 with shipping! With that price, I really could have reordered a different color to go better with this fabric, but I couldn't wait to make it.

I've seen these slings priced anywhere from $50-$100... I made mine for $20.

Udder Cover Giveaway

"Take It From Me" blog is giving away an Udder Covers gift set. I really hope I win! I'd love to have one of these. I never knew about them when I was nursing Hayden, but my friend had one (or a similar brand) with her boy, and I just thought it was so amazing! Cross your fingers for me!

Boys...

I need to write this down so I don't forget, and hopefully I'll get around to printing my blog out someday so I can have a journal kept of all these things... I think that's my goal for the New Year - to work on organizing my blog and getting it printed and bound in to a book.

This morning while snuggling in bed and not wanting to get up for our early church Hayden goes, "huh?...whoa...my penis is really tall! Like a tall tall tower building!"

ummm.... yeah... Dirk and I busted up laughing of course.

Today at church a cute little girl, probably about 6yrs old, stood up to bear her testimony. Hayden says, "That's my friend. (S)he's pretty. I like him(her) because (s)he's really pretty. (S)he's my pretty friend." I'm not sure that he's ever even met her. And he still hasn't figured out the whole he/she him/her thing.

Keeping my Head Up

The last year or two have been full of lots of stress, turns for the worse, downfalls, bad luck, etc. I'm trying to keep a good and happy outlook for 2010, so I think in order to do so, I need to look back on the last year and count my blessings a little bit. I just want to write down some happy, exciting, fun, new things we did in 2009, just so I can remember that it wasn't all doom and gloom.

1.We sold our house in Texas in record time (for the market), to a woman who loved every uplift and update we'd given it.
2. My pregnancy with our very soon to be new little girl!
3. Visiting Moab Natl. Park for the first time.
4. We were very blessed with some large amounts of grants for Dirk's school, which will help us pay off our debt more quickly.
5. We finished paying off our car!
6. We've met so many new friends.
7. Having the advantage of living closer to family
8. We were able to go to the temple for my brother, Brinton's wedding.
9. We've been able to spend so much time with family from near and far, which is a great blessing, since we've been living so far away for so long.
10. We've moved in to an amazing ward family who loves us and has blessed us so much in the past few months.
11. Dirk finished his first semester back to school and really enjoyed it.
12. Dirk got out of the Army, ending the constant fear and wonder of deployment, and ending a lifestyle he really hated.
13. I started my own Mary Kay business, and it has been perfect for me. I do well with it when I feel like working, but if I'm not up to working, I don't have to!
14. We got moved in to our bigger apartment which is just perfect for us.
15. We made almost $900 at our yard sale this spring!
16. We live in a place that has 4 seasons again!
17. We've been able to play and explore in nature much more than we ever could in the big city in TX.
18. I have a calling in the church that I love (very nice, since I left a very similar calling behind in TX which I also loved).
19. Dirk and I saw his mission president when we went to the temple in Salt Lake. I'd never met him, and it'd been 8yrs since Dirk had seen him.
20. We got a pool membership and love to go to the pool as a family at least once or twice a week.
And the Ultimate kicker that is forcing me to be optimistic... Dirk finally got a job. Again. This one is supposed to actually work out and be reliable, and I'm having a hard time being optimistic about it... but I guess our happy thing number 21. is Dirk got a job. - now let's hope it's actually going to work out... unlike the other 3 times he "finally got a job" this year... Wish us luck!