That is why I chose to birth at home, in my own private space, with the people I love most in the world cheering me on. I experienced the most extraordinary moments of my life and a few hours later settled in bed with a new little person, my incredible husband, and a slice of homemade chocolate cake with avocado buttercream frosting I had made myself when contractions were lighter, washed down with a glass of sparkling cider to celebrate. It was even better than I could have imagined.

On Saturday morning, the day which I had marked as my official estimated due date, I woke up to a toilet full of bloody toilet paper and stained panties. Frantic internet searching commenced and I learned that this could mean everything or it could mean nothing. Baby could come that day or 3 weeks from that day. Very light contractions began happening somewhere between every 20-30 minutes, lasting an average of 40 seconds each.

That Husband and I started going down my birth plan, gathering the items we needed and cleaning up the house as it was very important to me that things be neat while I labored. I do not like clutter and I knew it would be distracting to me if we didn’t tackle the messes early in labor. We moved the dining room table into the middle of the living room and TH blew up the birth tub. I laughed so hard as he decided to get in the freezing cold water to “test it out”. I think we were both a bit giddy realizing that we were going to have a baby in our lives sometime soon.

At 8:00 pm pm Saturday night I ate my last official meal before baby would arrive, egg salad sandwhiches on sourdough bread I had purchased at the farmer’s market the day before, and saw that my average contraction interval had increased to 47 seconds about every 5 minutes. They were becoming a bit harder to talk through, but when I called Sarah she said I sounded too good to be very far along yet, and urged me to go for another walk to kick start things from what she at the time considered to be prodromal labor. I walked around the parking lot of my apartment complex with my mom, hanging from the poles separating one parking spot from another during contractions. We passed a lady walking her dog and I wanted to say to her “I’m in labor, and soon I’m going to have a baby. Could you tell?” I wondered if my neighbors were looking out their windows questioning why I was walking in circles and dancing with poles every few minutes.

At 11:00 pm on Sunday I felt it was time to get in the birth tub. TH warmed the water up by pouring in boiling pots of water that we kept heating on the stove throughout my labor. I changed into the closest thing I had to a bikini (wish I would have bought one), wearing a Bella Band on top and a pair of too-small bottoms that are likely stretched out for good. The tub felt wonderful and I remember doing a bit of twisting and turning (dare I say frolicking) in delight at how buoyant and care free I felt all of a sudden. Of course then a contraction came and it didn’t feel quite as nice, but still rather wonderful. I kept singing and humming during contractions, and between them I sent out a tweet asking for song suggestions to sing during labor and scanned my iPhone for songs I already had to create a labor playlist. It was at this point that my mom took over the task of jotting down notes in my labor notebook, “11:30 pm, Fun in tub, ducky joined me.”

I tried to sleep for about 5 hours, and then I was ready to be laboring in a new position, new place. From Saturday night through the time I delivered on Monday afternoon I spent a total of 15 hours in bed trying to sleep, all but 3 of it while I endured contractions spaced 10 minutes apart or less. I was absolutely exhausted by this point. I knelt on some pillows on the floor with my top half draped over the couch cushions, chux pad underneath my pelvis so I could pee at will. Before labor began I imagined I would really like laboring on the toilet, but I actually hated the position and avoided it whenever I could. I had no shame and laid down chux pads all over the apartment, allowing myself to relax and let things flow whenever I felt the urge as an empty bladder was much more comfortable. I tried to keep singing, but by this point my throat was a bit raw and so I started with the buzzing horse lips. Ina May recommends this laboring technique as she posits that focusing on relaxing one bodily orifice helps to relax all of the others. Whenever the contractions came I buzzed and buzzed and buzzed some more, straight through until I started pushing.

Everything that happened from around 5:30 am on Monday morning to about 10:00 am is a bit of a blur of moaning, horse lips, leaning over the couch, and pacing the apartment. TH stayed with me the entire time, my mom woke up somewhere around 6, and Kelli woke up and started taking pictures just before 8:45 am. I started trying some different positions for laboring, including throwing a towel over a door frame and hanging down from it. It sort of felt okay, but I remember spending most of my time simply leaning over the kitchen counter while TH applied pressure to my lower back. He was sore for days afterward because I kept telling him to push harder. I wasn’t experiencing any back labor, I think the strong pressure from him felt so good because it distracted me from the pain in my belly. All I wanted though, was to get in the tub, something I believe Sarah had discouraged a little bit because she thought things would progress better if I labored standing up. We weren’t tracking how far apart my contractions were or how long they were lasting at this point because there was no longer any need. I don’t think anyone doubted that this was the real deal.

When my midwife arrived at 9:50 am I was already dilated to 8 centimeters. During my third and final vaginal exam at 1:00 pm Sarah recommended that we break my water artificially, the sole intervention I would experience during my labor. I asked her what she felt the pros and cons were, and what she thought might happen if we decided not to do so. She said that the baby’s head wasn’t descending as expected and that breaking my water would likely encourage him/her to move down the birth canal. After talking things over we told her go go ahead and do it, and we all agree now that it was the best thing to do at the time. She later told us that she woke up that morning thinking to herself “I think I’m going to have to rupture Jenna’s membranes today”, which she said was odd because it’s not an intervention that she does very often. She tried to break it with her fingers alone, but said the sac was too tough to do the task without the crochet hook type tool that is commonly used. As the amniotic fluid gushed out it felt warm and I was surprised at how much came out. I didn’t have to worry about leaking all over the apartment because as soon as my membranes were ruptured I climbed right back into the tub again.

At 2:00 pm I started to notice a slight increase in the activity going on around me. Sarah and her assistant were moving their supplies closer, my mom was at my side holding a cool towel to my forehead, and Kelli was zooming around taking pictures at a pretty rapid pace. Could it be? Was it really that time?

I managed to speak up enough to say, “Sarah, I think it feels like I’m ready to start pushing.” “You just do what your body tells you,” she replied. It was time.

Sarah kept telling me to push past the burning feeling. She had me reach down and touch the baby’s head but instead of being delighted and amazed as I had imagine I would be, I acted like it was no big deal and went back to saying how badly it burned. Everyone was repeating over and over, “You’re doing so good. So good.” Kelli can be heard on the video saying “Wow Jenna!”. Those words of encouragement, even as repetitious as they were, were exactly what I needed to hear.

One last round of 3-4 pushes and baby was out! As soon as the body emerged fully Sarah quickly unwound the cord from around his neck and told me to reach forward and grab my baby up out of the water. I grabbed hold of the slippery little body and pulled up, glancing down quickly to see if I had just pushed out a boy or a girl. I announced to the room that it was a boy! I couldn’t believe it. All of these months I had suspected I was carrying a girl, though I never felt certain either way. I think because I am a girl, and a firstborn, part of me thought I would have a girl as well, because that is what seemed right to me. Now that I had a boy though, I couldn’t imagine things being any other way. He sat so quietly on my chest, working hard to fill his lungs with air for the first time. I wasn’t nervous that he wasn’t crying right away, I knew it would come soon enough, and within a few seconds a sweet little “waahhhhh” sound was heard.

But wait, was it really a boy? I got nervous that I had said the wrong gender so I held him back from my chest and took another peek. Yep, I saw the goods hanging down and told everyone that I had been correct in my early pronouncement. I saw back against my husband and breathed a sigh of relief. It was over, the pressure was gone, baby was doing great, and we were now a family of three.

That night my mom, Kelli, TH, and I gathered in our bedroom with T1 in my arms to celebrate his birth day. My mom had iced the cake I made the day before, placed it on the red “You Are Special” plate, and Kelli brought in the flutes and sparkling cider. That Husband sang the birthday song in Polish, and I mumbled along pretending like I knew what I was saying. We laughed and smiled and marveled at how beautiful our new baby was. I looked down at him and thought how exceedingly blessed I was by a loving Father in Heaven. Tired, sore, but intensely happy… I had everything.

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All credit for these goes to the adorable and incredibly talented Bethany Jackman.

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My favorite item found on my Wishpot registry. I’m sure my organic farmer father would love to see his first grand-baby wearing this! From seller Twig and Closer on Etsy.

Aside from the daily “registry update” emails I seem to be unable to escape from, creating this second registry wasn’t so bad. Except at the very beginning, when they forced me to put down my due date to continue the sign-up process! Though I’ve been a bit more liberal about tossing it out toward the end, for the most part my exact due date has been held close. I’ve heard the stories from other women, detailing how miserable those last few weeks are, which is often compounded by the endless inquiries dropped in casual conversation by well-intentioned yet clueless strangers making jokes along the lines of “You still haven’t had that baby yet?” Trust me, with cankles, tiny feet in her ribs, trips to the bathroom on the hour every hour, heartburn, and the inability to lift herself off the floor, she would like to be able to provide you with an answer other than “Nope, not yet” accompanied by a rather forced smile.

This is why, on the Babies”R”Us registry… I lied. I pushed the date back by several days, hoping it might eliminate some of those questions for me. When people ask when I’m due, instead of responding with a due date, I give a due month, April. According to the American College of Midwives, only 5% of babies are born on their actual due date. Baby is considered full term at 37 weeks and can bask in my uterus for about 42, and so I think it’s silly to pinpoint a specific date on the calendar. As my belly gets bigger, and I start to look more miserable, I’m going to hold firm to my belief in the due date. There is no magic number, baby will come when s/he is ready and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Will you join me in my anti due-date campaign?

Let’s rephrase the question from “When are you due?” to “What month are you due?”.  That way, the woman can decide what route she wants to take. If voicing the actual due date is important to them they can, but if they’re like me they’ll be free to answer however they please.

Oh, and if I respond to your question (no matter how you phrase it) with “April”, please don’t lean in and say “I mean, what day?” I feel bad when I feel cornered into telling lies, even little white ones that save my sanity.

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 11 comments · StumbleUpon It!
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Not to choose favorites but… I’m going to tell you which is my favorite. It’s the gift that makes me smile every time I use it. I think it’s also the gift I can’t stop talking about because I threw it on to my wish list at the last second when my mom asked for ideas. A few things I wanted/needed this year? A toaster. LaraBars. Accessories to dress up my black stretchy maternity dresses. And oh yeah, a robe since I remember making my dad a bit uncomfortable while I walked around in my towel when my parents came to stay for the weekend at the beginning of December.

Yep, my favorite gift this year, out of all the wonderful things I was blessed to receive, is a robe. This robe to be exact.

Source

This isn’t just any robe. It’s the softest, most luxurious, dreamiest article of clothing I have ever slipped into. Wearing it feels like a visit to the spa and I find myself getting excited to step out of the shower each day and slip into it.Thanks mom, this was one of my favorite gifts ever from you.

What about you? What was your favorite Christmas gift this year?

P.S.-Isn’t the model posing this way ridiculous?

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2010 · Permalink · 7 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: Fashion, Good Things

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If you’re really feeling lost about which camera will work best for you, I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to go to a store and try it out for yourself. Hold it in your hand, put it in your pocket (just don’t walk out with it, no one should be blaming me if they get arrested for shoplifting), see if the response time will work for your needs. I think it can get overwhelming to go to an electronics store and see all of the choices, so make a list of what features are most important to you. Will you be shooting in lots of low light situations without flash? Is portability the most important feature for you? Do you want to be able to turn some of the settings to manual and have more control over what your photos look like? What’s the largest size you’ll ever be blowing up an image to, as often sensor quality is more important than a high megapixel count. Choose your top three most important features and find the camera that best fits those needs.

Point and Shoot

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Canon PowerShot SD120-$150

Pros: It comes in a variety of colors, 10 megapixels, compact, movie mode, and reviews say it’s very easy to use.

Cons: It’s not going to perform well in low light situations without the flash, and I think everyone with a camera (no matter what kind) should be using their flash the least amount possible.

Splurge

Canon G11-$450

I have the Canon G9, a fantastic little camera, and the G10 is great as well (and both went down in price after the G11 was released), but it’s the latest model, the Canon G11 that has photographers buzzing. I’ve even heard people claim they wouldn’t be afraid to shoot a wedding with this thing if their main body were to freak out during the wedding day. I think that’s a bit extreme (and you would look ridiculous shooting a wedding with a point and shoot), but it gives you an idea how much this camera is loved by pro photogs.

Pros: The ability to shoot completely in manual just like you would be able to do with a dSLR, 10 megapixels, gorgeous LCD, ability to flip the LCD out from the body making it perfect for self-portraits (you know I love that feature!), ISO settings ranging from 80-3,200. Macro macro macro! This thing has superb macro performance.

Cons: For that much money you really could get a dSLR which would give you the ability to buy and use different lenses (something that can’t be done with a p&s), rather expensive for a point and shoot, very grainy at the high ISO settings.

Entry Level dSLR

As everyone knows, I’m an avid hater of kit lenses and I highly recommend buying body only with any dSLR purchase and then buying the lens that works to meet your specific needs. I wish someone had given me this advice when I bought my first dSLR, as the kit lens is sitting in a corner of my closet, collecting dust, only having been used a handful of times.

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Canon EOS Rebel XSi (body only)-$500

Pros: Fast, good battery life, bright LCD, 12 megapixels, 9-point autofocus.

Cons: Maximum ISO of 1600, feels a bit cheap in hand, continuous shooting mode of 3.5 fps, LifeView mode isn’t that great. It also is very noisy when the shutter is triggered, something some prefer but I find to be annoying and amateurish.

Splurge

Canon EOS Rebel T1i (body only)-$600

Pros: HD video (although it’s won’t be nearly as good as what you will find in the bodies that cost $1000 more), quick startup, quieter, features “creative auto mode”, 15 megapixels (three more than found in the xsi), 9-point autofocus, improved low-light autofocus over the xsi, bright LCD.

Cons: Identical body to the xsi so some may also say it feels cheap, small viewfinder, battery drains quickly in LiveView mode (though this is true for all dSLRs).

Prosumer dSLR

Although I’m snobby and don’t think you should buy any dSLR over $1000 if you don’t know how to use your camera on manual, there are most certainly people out there who work hard and are able to splurge in life. If you’re one of those people, either one of the cameras below should make you very, very happy.

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Canon EOS 7D-$1700

Pros: ISO 100-12800, 19 point userselectable autofocus (twice as many as found in the 5dmkii, one of the huge pluses of this model), great battery life, bright 3″ LCD, 8 fps, noise much improved over the 20D-50D line, wireless off-camera flash system built into the camera, 18 megapixels.

Cons: The biggest con? It’s not full frame. I’ve also picture quality suffers somewhere around 1600 ISO and above.

Splurge

Canon 5d Mark II-$2700

Pros: Full frame! Beautiful HD video! (Can you tell I adore this camera?) High quality images even at higher ISO settings (translation: better low-light photos without the need for a flash), 21 megapixels, beautiful colors (I own it so I’ve seen this firsthand!), ISO range of 50-25600

Cons: No built in flash (I actually consider this a plus :) ), better autofocus on the 7D (which is a less expensive model by $1000), only 3.9 fps, no in-camera wireless flash controller, image stabilization not found in camera (only in the Canon lenses).

Lenses

Need a lens? I personally don’t think that Canon makes a high quality zoom lens for less than $1000. If you think you can get used to not being able to zoom in and out (more exercise that way!) I’d recommend a 50mm lens to start with.

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EF 50mm f/1.8 II-$100

This lens is beloved by those who have a tiny budget, but it’s biggest con is it’s plastic construction and slightly inferior glass to the 50mm 1.4. I’d say it’s better than a kit lens any day, but I’d strongly recommend rounding up an extra $250 for the 50mm 1.4 if you can.

Splurge

EF 50mm f/1.4 USM-$350

The 50mm 1.4 is a great little lens, much lighter than the 50mm 1.2 (which costs almost $1000 more), and almost as good in quality. In fact, I know there are several well known photographers out there who prefer the 50mm 1.4 over the 1.2 because the difference in quality isn’t as noticeable as you would think and the lighter construction makes it much easier on the wrists after a long day of shooting. If you can get used to moving around instead of zooming you are going to love this lens!

The lens that is sitting at the top of my Christmas wish list this year is the EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM, which would set me back at least $1,840. I’ll keep dreaming until the 25th passes me by though!

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2009 · Permalink · 10 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: Gift Guides, Photography

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Our Texas friends? A free photo session with me. We came up with three couples that we are closest with and contacted them several weeks before Christmas to set up photo sessions in case they wanted to use the pictures for Christmas cards. Two session down, one more to go. I really love working with my friends in this way!

His sister (who lives in Poland)? She’s getting a cute set of hair pins from Etsy seller Hot Pink Chick. We’ve only met a few times, and there is a bit of a language barrier, but her hair is curly and I think these will work with her outdoorsy/earthy personality.

Cost to me? $12 because they were purchased on Black Friday when a discount and free shipping were being offered.

My Sister? She’s getting a 1 year subscription to Real Simple magazine. Have you ever been gifted a magazine subscription? It’s like getting a new gift in your mailbox every single week!

Cost to me? $5. It’s a subscription that auto-renews so I need to be careful or she’ll be getting the same thing next year as well. :) I put a notice that updates weekly in my Google Calendar starting next October to remind me to call and cancel the subscription.The information I need to cancel is stored in my inbox with my confirmation email so I think my plan should work.

My parents & his parents? Last year for our wedding I made my husband a Blurb book chronicling our first year together.

This year when I was working on the book for our second year I realized, “Why not gift this book to our parents each year as well?” Kill three birds with one stone, build them a collection of memories revolving around their favorite kids, etc. You can preview it here if you would like to see what I came up with.

Cost to me? $25.56/copy including shipping, making the total for the gift’s for our parents $51.12.

How are you getting creative with your Christmas gifts this year?

© Elizabeth Anne Designs, 2009 · Permalink · 13 comments · StumbleUpon It!
Posted in: Gift Guides, Holidays

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