Birth Story

I have been meaning to write this out before I forget the details... So here it goes.

After two weeks of trying every possible natural remedy to induce labor, and even scheduling to be induced... Archer made it very clear that only he would decide when he was coming into the world.

I was scheduled to be induced last Tuesday. I had a difficult recovery after Keating so my Dr and I thought that delivering at 39 weeks would be best. On Monday afternoon we packed up Keating and his sleepover gear and brought him to my parents house. We were scheduled to arrive at the hospital at 5:30 am Tuesday morning. An early morning in labor and delivery didn't seem like a fun time for Blue, so off to my parents he went. On our way home we decided to stop at a new restaurant for a last minute date night. After-all, We would be home bound for a good while starting the following day.

After wrapping up dinner, we came home and went to bed around 10:30pm. At 11:30 I woke up to contractions that began at 3 minutes apart. I laid there for a few minutes to see if it was like the false labor contractions I had a few days before. The contractions stayed steady for over an hour and got even stronger. I made the call to the on-call Dr. and let her know I was coming in. Naturally the Dr on call was the only one in the practice I had never seen.

I woke up Brad and let him know we should go to the hospital. He thought it was morning and we had slept through our alarm clocks, but in reality he had only been asleep for an hour. (my labors just love to start in the middle of the night where we get no sleep)

Upon arriving to the hospital at 1am I was greeted by a not so friendly nurse that looked down her nose at me when she learned I was scheduled for an elective induction the following day. She told me that I was only 3cm dilated and would need to walk the halls for an hour before they would give me a room. I began walking the halls and contractions increased to every two minutes. Thankfully another nurse was kind enough to get me in a room at the 45 min mark. At that point I was contracting every minute and having back labor....( Which if you have never experienced it, it kicks regular labors ass. )The most miserable pain I've ever had. I was checked again at 2am and at 4cm. At that point, They gave me an epidural that offered a little relief. An hour later I had progressed to 8cm. I began feeling a lot of pressure and the nurse said that he was coming too quickly, that the epidural couldn't keep up. Just the words I wanted to hear! At 3:30 I was at 9cm and told the nurse that I needed to push. They quickly got the room ready for delivery and at 4am I was ready. I pushed for ten minutes and Archer was here.

It is crazy how fast everything happened. I went from 3cm to giving birth all within three hours. As they wheeled my bed past the nurses station on the way to the recovery floor, I held my little bundle proudly for the nurse that didn't take me seriously to see.

I'm so thankful that it was a quick process, because I'm not sure I could have done it if it was any longer. I am still recovering from the "quickness" of it all. There was a little bit of tearing but nothing near as traumatic as the third degree episiotomy I got last time. My unknown on call Dr ended up being fantastic, and she allowed my body to work on its own without jumping to cut anything.

Thank you to everyone for reading about my pregnancy the past few months, and for offering kind encouraging words. I truly appreciate it.

Since we have been home

We have been enjoying being a new little family of four. Archer is such a sweet baby. So far he only cries when he is hungry or needs a change. I hope I'm not jinxing anything by saying that!

Keating is doing better than I imagined being a big brother. He is so helpful and loves kissing his little brother. We have had a few moments where he has been testing his boundaries and acting out for extra attention. I know this is to be expected... We have been trying to show him extra love and undivided attention. Someone else has also been acting out a bit... Ike. I woke up this week with dirty diapers shredded all over the living room. That was fun!

Here are a few iPhone photos since we have been back home. Hopefully I can take a few sweet newborn photos as soon as Archers newborn rash clears up.

Charles Archer

Archer made his appearance on April 17, 2012 at 4:15am. 7 pounds 9 ounces and 19 inches long.

We are doing great! More photos and stories to come!

Archer's Nursery

Better late than never that I post photos of Archer's nursery! I am putting them up on a borrowed computer and they have not been color edited so some of the colors are a bit off... just use your imagination! It is still a work in progress, but at 38 weeks I lost a little bit of decorating steam.

I left the walls the original color they were painted so that this room can transition back into a guest room when Archer is old enough to share a room with Keating. I wanted a mix of blue's and greens and at the last minute decided to throw in a bit of orange.

One of my favorite things about the room is the drapes. I had been eyeing the fabric at a local store, but it was too pricey for me to justify for a nursery. On a random lunch break from work, I popped in the store and it was marked down to 6.99 a yard. I couldn't not use it at that point! The curtain rod is a damaged one from Hobby lobby that a little Gorilla Glue and copper spray paint fixed right up. I even used plastic shower curtain rings so that they were a bit bulkier than the clip on kind and cheaper .97 cents for a whole pack! The lamp is from Goodwill that I spray painted white and the shade is from Walmart. The bamboo shades are from JC Penney Home.

The A, I sketched out on plywood and had Brad cut it out. I coated it in a couple of coats of orange craft paint and then distressed it with the orbital sander and glazed it.

My other favorite part of the nursery is the Archer's peaches sign. I had been hoping to find an old sign that coincidentally had his name on it... since that was a long shot I decided to make my own. Its also made out of plywood and I painted the details on it. It was a serious labor of love that Keating and I worked on together (he helped with the sanding) but I love the way it turned out.
It also does a pretty good job of filling up the large vacant wall. Although I still may add something else to fill in the gaps.
The random copper bin in the corner is our make shift laundry basket until I can find something I like better. This just happened to be in the basement.

Keating had to make sure that the glider was still suitable for rocking. The ottoman was my great grandmothers that I recovered years ago. I like that its mis-matched. Every night when I sat rocking Keating, I had wished I had something to prop my feet up on, this just happened to be the perfect height.

And for the bedding. I can proudly say that I made it all, and making bedding really isn't that hard. You should try it! I had my heart set on the lime houndstooth print by Serena and Lily, but the sheet had been discontinued. Lucky for me, they still sold the fabric by the yard. I scored it on clearance.

The crib skirt is made out of a cheap flat white sheet from walmart. I made separate panels for each side and attached them to the bed frame so that they can be adjusted by height once the bed is lowered down. The trim is navy blue blanket binding that I stitched on. The blanket was a tutorial that I found on Pinterest for making chenilled blankets. It was by far the most time consuming project of the whole nursery. I wish I had bought more of the fabric to make bumpers, but by the time I realized this, Joann's had sold out and hasn't since gotten more. Crib bumpers are so taboo lately, but I just love the way they look. The bed looks a bit naked without them to me.

Above the bed I plan to have canvases made once I get photos taken of our little man. For now its a work in progress as well.

It is pretty simple, but I do love the way everything came together. Especially at the last minute!

Stick a Fork in me

Because I'm DONE.

If one more person clearly points out that I'm only 38 weeks I may hit them. Yes, 38 weeks is technically early, but when your first baby comes at 38 weeks naturally, one normally assumes your second will be early too.

Also if someone else looks at me and my enormous belly and says "still no baby??" like they cant tell I haven't given birth... I may just slap them too.

AND while I'm ranting, to the lady at work who asked me once again "are you sure your butt hasnt gotten bigger?" I have already told you that is very rude to say, why would you say it again?

If you can't tell, IM READY!

Here is the only 38 week picture I plan to take, and my mom forced me to do this one on Easter. I'm not really feeling so photogenic... you know ''Big Butt" and all.

How Far Along? 38 weeks

Maternity Clothes? Unfortunately yes, it got cold again this week so I have had to squeeze my big butt into my pants again.


Weight Gain? 24-25 lbs? no idea we don't own a scale


Stretch Marks? One. Hoping I dont add to it.


Gender? Boy


Sleep? What's that?


Food Cravings? watermelon, sushi


What I Miss? Not having a big butt


Symptoms? sexy cankles, false labor, groin pain that makes it impossible to do anything but waddle and shuffle my feet to walk. I am a true joy to read about, no?


Belly Button? outish

Best Moment of the Week? Finally finishing the nursery. I hope to share photos once we get the computer hooked back up in the basement.

Keating has been quite helpful in the nursery decorating department. He is also quite curious about all of the baby toys that he doesn't remember, particularly the bumbo. He will sit in it and then get mad that he can't get out. He's a pretty funny kid. A few nights ago, he knocked on our bedroom door at 2:30am. When I got up to see why he was out of bed, he told me that he wanted to eat cake. What the heck? No clue where he gets this stuff. We didn't even have cake in our house. This kid says the darndest things.

Well I will spare everyone with more of my complaining, but hopefully in the next few days I'll be back with a new baby to report!

Giveaway winner and Random Photos

Thanks to everyone who entered the What to Expect giveaway! Random.org drew #10 Christina from {Carolina Charm} and #35 Melanie from Life at 3010. Please email me at mrssouthernbelle@gmail.com with your address to claim your prize!!

This weekend was pretty productive. I was secretely hoping that all of the work around the house would send me into labor, but no such luck, it only resulted in cankles. Sexy right? I got the rest of the misc. items/ furniture out of the nursery (by myself) and I should be able to wrap everything up in there this week. I say by myself because I did it while Brad was working, it isn't that he wouldn't have helped me do it, its that I needed it done RIGHT THEN. If you have ever been 36 weeks pregnant then you know time is of the essence and I absolutely could not wait another second. I did find resourceful ways to move furniture though, such as turning my rugs upside down and sliding the furniture on the wood floors. I was pretty proud of myself!

Since we have moved into our house, we have had a large empty window in our hall bathroom that probably made our visitors a little uncomfortable. If you have used our bathroom in the last 6 months, I am sorry! I finally got around to making a roman shade for it. I used a tutorial I found on Pinterest for making roman shades out of mini blinds. I am happy with how they turned out, but I also picked up a few tricks for next time. It was a bit more tedious than I originally expected. There is nothing I hate more than installing blinds, they NEVER go up right the first time. Luckily I have a toddler that is quite handy at knowing the difference between a flat head and phillips head screw driver. He is a great little assistant. The bathroom is still a work in progress but it has come a LONG way since its turquoise days. I would still love to get rid of that ugly tile and vanity, but one project at a time... On Sunday I spraypainted a few misc. items and lamps. I have been working on the perfect nursery lamp after Ike broke the last one into a million pieces. Brad asked why I keep buying goodwill lamps to redo when I could just buy one from the store. He doesn't understand that the process is part of the fun for me.

We spent the afternoon at my parent's house dyeing Easter eggs with Keating for the first time. He was obviously too busy to take a picture with me here, just look at that pained expression! I have been trying to soak up as much bonding time with him as I can. Although he has no idea what to expect with his brother's pending arrival, I want for him to know that he is special and loved.

He really liked dyeing eggs, for about 3 minutes, but then it became too boring for him. He had to go play in his playhouse and entertain himself with more wild and crazy activities while he waited for the eggs to turn colors.

One good thing about being very pregnant is that your mom cooks you dinner and you dont have to do a thing. Thanks mom! Keating enjoyed his feast of "mawmaw's mac and cheese." If you had ever tried my MawMaw's mac and cheese you would know why he is so happy! It is quite the delicacy.

It is Tuesday and I'm still feeling the aftermath of all of the work I did. Late pregnancy is making me a wimp and so far 37 weeks has not been kind to me! Ready to get this show on the road!