Happy Birhday Maeve

June 20, 2009 - 5:57am
6lb 10oz
20.5 inches

Maeve Ina Templin Ashford




-- Post From Paul's iPhone

At the hospital ...

Well, it's for real this time!!! We've been admitted. Very similar to last time, a slight rupture so they are going to induce. I'll keep everyone posted as the day move on.



All we ask at this point is that you keep us in your prayers.

-- Post From Paul's iPhone

Nursery

Here are the pictures from the nursery.  It is 98% done.  We recently ordered a vinyl wall sticky of a very large branch to go up in the top area and that is coming this week.  There are lots of pics here, so I hope it loads for you!!!

Here's the best overall picture I can get.  It's a pretty small room, so I did my best!  The plaque on the windowsill, which still needs to be hung, has the scripture I picked for her:

"Consider the birds of the air, careless in the care of God.  Free and unfettered, not tied to a job description.  And you, little one, count far more to God than the birds."  Matthew 6:26 (Message, ed).

Our rocking chair (actually one from Cracker Barrel!) given to us by my parents before Noah was born.  The pillow is from the same artist as the painting on the mantel (both are from Urban Outfitters).

Her little table.  I found an old owl journal on Etsy, an Owl Babies book, and one of my very favorite people, Ali, who is now stationed in Japan in the Navy sent this picture frame for Maeve.... how cute!

The bulletin board I made for her and two tree branch hooks with her bath robe hung on one of them.  
Her enormous closet.  It is funny the way things work out.  Noah's room doesn't have a closet at all and Maeve's room has a big closet for her 8 million dresses!  We have sooooooo many clothes.  Some of our friends lent us their girl clothes and our friends Jane and Justin gave us everything they had for two girls who were always dressed to the nines.  They are totally done with kids and gave us their swing, bouncer, coats, shoes, everything... pretty amazing!  We had the big stuff from Noah, but Jane suggested having one swing, bouncy on each floor in case you are upstairs with Noah and need a quick place to put her down.  

Her crib bedding is Pottery Barn Penelope which I think I shared before.  Her sheets are Brooke with owls all over them.  This is the dress I found to bring her home in.  I just hope she's big enough!  At 36 weeks, her weight according to the book is about 6 lbs.  Noah was an even 7 and the newborn clothes were huge on him.  

This is the view of the other side of the room.  This is a painting of a tree with roots growing in a strawberry patch.  We couldn't decide what to put on the mantel and I gave Paul some options and he chose this one.  I think is is beautiful.  You can also see how the mobile hangs.  

This is the quilt I finally finished for her.  I have never quilted before so this was a huge task for me.  It is sooooo far from being perfect, but I love it anyway.  I originally bought a quick quilt kit but I didn't like the fabrics they used so I took it back and bought fabrics I liked.  I'm pretty happy with it.  I bought 4 owl appliques and sewed them on as well.  Paul helped a ton with the actual quilting portion of it....

I didn't like any burp cloths I found so I took old school diapers and sewed ribbon and pink decorative thread into them.  They are like the ones my friend Katie made back when Noah was born.

Here is her owl mobile.  We used a pattern for the birds and sat around one Saturday night cutting them all out.  It is hung from a photo mobile holder we bought online.  The trees have little light catching jewels on them.  

These are the blocks I made of her name and the owl bank we got on Etsy.

I'm really happy with the way the nursery looks.  It is not what I had in mind in the beginning, but I love that it is a great mix between girly and classic and whimisical.  Most people were really surprised that I picked owls and thought it was really weird, but I really love it and I think it is out of the ordinary (at least in the mainstream, not in the etsy/handmade world).  I hope you enjoyed seeing my ridiculous journey to finish Maeve's nursery!!!! Soon she'll be here to enjoy it herself.  

36 Weeks

I just got back from the doctor.  Here's the report: another half cm, 3.5 cm, very ripe.  Sounds like a piece of fruit, doesn't it?  Ripe means that the cervix is very pliable and in perfect condition to begin labor. I read online that an unripe cervix has the consistency of a nose and a ripe cervix has the consistency of a cheek, if that helps at all.  The doctor was stunned to see me today and wholeheartedly expected that I would have delivered already.  After my exam she said that she expects my water to break soon, based on the way everything looks.  I didn't know that was something predictable, but I don't know much, do I?

I was off of bedrest yesterday and I went and got everything else on my list, so I feel much more prepared.  I spent no money, because we got sooo many gift cards and monetary gifts that I was able to get everything which was awesome.  But, somehow in the midst of the day an incredible sharp pain shot up from my right ankle and made it almost unbearable to put pressure on my right foot.  I am almost positive that this is a repercussion of wearing only flip flops for the past two months and I wore sneakers all day today.  The pain is still horrible and it is very difficult to walk.  So, now I look hugely pregnant and I can barely walk.  The doctor said that she believed it was the poor choice in footwear combined with the uneven weight distribution on a pregnant woman's hips.  She recommended these shoe inserts by Dr. Scholl's for pregnant women, yippee.  Between bedrest, Dr. School's, Acid Reflux reducer, prenatals, and everything else, I am a walking super model these days.  

So, now we just wait.  I've got some pics from my shower and the nursery to upload, so you'll see those soon.  And after that, hopefully the next post will be BABY!!!!!!!!!

35 Weeks

And the countdown (and the drama) continues.  

Last Saturday I was hanging out on the lovely couch when I started to feel my first contractions pretty much ever.   I casually watched the clock.  They kept coming and coming and coming, every 5 minutes for over an hour.  I didn't tell anyone.  Finally I told Paul a little while later and he convinced me to call our friend to come over and watch Noah (who was in bed) so we could go to the hospital.  I had instructions to go in if I had more than 4 in an hour, but they weren't painful so I was blowing it off.  We drove there and I knew it wasn't labor, but they hooked me up anyway and sure enough, every 5 minutes the entire time we were there.  I wasn't dilating anymore and I was completely fine.   After watching us for 2 hours we were sent home with instructions to come back if they were every 4 minutes and/or painful.  Seriously....

So, they have been on and off ever since, but no big deal.

Today was my 35 week appointment.  I was very sick and nauseous this morning and vomited quite a bit.  Turns out I have acquired reflux through the end of this pregnancy, lovely!  So, now I am on meds for that.  The doctor checked me and I am now 3cm dilated and 75% effaced.  I am considered "near term" and no longer "pre-term."  The baby is out of danger and would likely not have complications if she was born now.   I will not be considered full term for another two weeks.  My bedrest has been modified so that I am allowed to do more and be outside and walking around.  I am not allowed to exercise, go for walks, clean, or do anything strenuous. Next week at 36 weeks all restrictions will be lifted.  I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, there's you're update!!!  I am getting so excited to meet my baby girl soon!!!!

Knowing that God has it all under control...

Yesterday there was a boating accident in the midst of a terrible storm here in PA.  Two kayakers went missing in the Brandywine Creek.  Last night when I got home from a meeting I got an email from the Presbytery that one of the kayakers was Chad Miller, a minister in our area and a dear, dear friend of mine.  He was kayaking with his brother when they went over a dam and never resurfaced.  They found his brother's body but are still searching for Chad's body.  I'm pretty upset about it all... he was such an amazing guy, someone I truly identified with and always looked forward to being with.  We definitely shared so many things in common and had a great friendship.  It is a great loss for his church and community and for all of us who knew him and loved him....

Here's a link to his last sermon... about the ascension and how tough it is when it seems as though God is leaving us, but how through prayer we can come to know that God is always faithful an always fulfills his promises.... 

http://www.wpc.org/uploads/sermons/audio/MillerMay242009.mp3

Every Woman Is Beautiful

Every Woman is Beautiful
  by: Author Unknown, Source Unknown

One of the members of Rock Church sent this to me today.  For all of the tears I've cried....   A little boy asked his mother, " Why are you crying?" "Because I'm a woman", she told him. " I don't understand", he said. His mum just hugged him and said, " And you never will".. Later the little boy asked his father, " Why does mother seem to cry for no reason?" " All women cry for no reason" was all his dad could say. The little boy grew up and became a man, still wondering why women cry. Finally he put in a call to God; when God got on the phone, the man said, " God, why women cry so easily?" God said, "When I made women she had to be special. I made her shoulders strong enough to carry the weight of the world; yet, gentle enough to give comfort. I gave her an inner strength to endure childbirth and the rejection that many times come from her children. I gave her a hardness that allows her to keep going when everyone else gives up and take care of her family through sickness and fatigue without complaining. I gave her the sensitivity to love her children under any and all circumstances, even when her child has hurt them very badly. This same sensitivity helps her make a child's boo hoo feel better and shares in their teenagers' anxieties and fears. I gave her strength to carry her husband through his faults and fashioned her from his rib to protect his heart. I gave her wisdom to know that a good husband never hurts his wife, but sometimes tests her strengths and her resolve to stand beside him unfalteringly. And finally I gave her a tear to shed. This is hers exclusively to use whenever it is needed. The beauty of a woman is not in the clothes she wears, the figure that she carries, or the way she combs her hair. The beauty of a woman must be seen in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides." Every woman is beautiful