Getting Close!

Photo by Timeless Moments. Visit their Facebook page!

How far along? 38 weeks 1 day

Overall Emotion last month? Overwhelmed, nervous, excited, huge! 

Maternity clothes?  are you kidding me.... my maternity clothes are too tight for me now!

Sleep: I tend to sleep great for the first 4-5 hours... then I'm awake and end up finding something to do in the livingroom until I fall asleep on the couch. super fun.

Best moment this month: Hmmmm.... It's been a craazzzyyy month. The best moment was probably when I found out that the baby finally turned head down!! That may have been more than a month ago, I dont know :-) AND my amazing baby shower last Saturday!

Weight Gain: Yes. That's all I'll say for now :-)

Movement: Oh yeah. He's quite the boxer. Seems to always be trying to break out of my belly button.

Food cravings: Anything and everything. I have been indulging in quite a bit of hot chocolate- for good reason though! I swear it's the only thing that gets rid of my heartburn... i swear... really.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Said terrible heartburn.

Have you started to show yet: I'm way beyond starting to show. I have strangers coming up to me, asking if I'm have triplets. Seriously... this happened twice.

Wedding rings on or off? on 

Looking forward to: Having this baby in my arms finally! Being done with the anxiety over the anticipation of what labor will be like.

One thing I did well this month? Being an emotional mess. Well, it's been a rough month. At the beginning of November my midwife found my blood pressure to be pretty damn high. (the bottom number was 90.... which is not good) But I wasn't showing any other indicators of preeclamsia, so she ordered some lab work and put me on semi bed rest just to make sure. At my next appointment I found out that my blood work came back "okay" and that my blood pressure had come down to a more comfortable level! Although, I had been crap at the bed rest thing... which was totally stressing me out, because I was sure that all of the stress was then causing my blood pressure to go up, which then made me even more stressed. Ugh, not fun. Anyway, even though by BP was lower at this appointment, the midwaife still wanted me on semi bed rest because the levels of my BP were leaving me with no wiggle room, and I could still be at risk for developing preeclamsia. Tried to take it easy the week after that, but I had SO much to do to get ready for baby! It really was a super busy week and I was sure that my BP was going back up (all of this, by the way, made me not the most pleasant person to be married to. God bless you Ryan!). BUT at my last appointment (Last Monday) my BP had gone down even more! Down to an almost normal level. Still went and had blood work done yesterday, but I should still be fine for a normal delivery! We were all worried about the chances of me having to be induced, but everything should be fine now!  

All that to say, it's been one heck of a month!

Protein intake this month: Because of my blood pressure thing, I'm on a super high protein diet now... doing alright but could be better.

Book Currently reading: NOTHING! My brain needs a break! 

Some other things I want to mention: Going to the chiropractor has been aaammmaaaazing! Totally worth the money and the time. I hardly ever feel back pain or any discomfort anymore, whereas before... I was in pain all the time it seemed like. One week after being adjusted just 2 times, the baby turned head down! I also believe it's what really helped my blood pressure go down. I admit, I had never seen a chiropractor before and was super skeptical of the whole thing... but now I'm a total believer! I will be taking the baby there for adjustments as well. Giles Family Chiropractic in Napa, go there. Dr. Kristen is awesome, has had 2 homebirths and truly cares about the well being of her clients. So awesome. 

Also, I haven't really gotten into our delivery decisions and beliefs. Many people know that we're delivering the baby NOT in a hospital- but if you didn't know that, and are interested in some more info, let me know! We're delivering at a birthing center, no they do not have the pain medications that hospitals do... and therefore, NO I will not be having an epidural. I'm hoping for a water birth, Ryan wants to be the one to "catch" the baby, I have a doula, and I am getting my placenta encapsulated. Questions?! Just ask!  

 Okay, I'm done! Sorry it had been so long since my last baby update. Hope this one holds you over until baby comes, which I'm hoping is super soon!!!  

Photo by Timeless Moments. Visit their Facebook page! 

Felting Adventure!

I made a felted scarf a couple nights ago! I love it!

This was taken right after I laid all of the wool out, before any felting occurred. It took a very long time, but it was fun and the scarf turned out beautifully! It's so soft and lightweight, I'm very pleased :-) Anyway, hoping to make some more once my order of wool comes in!

This specific scarf is now available in my Etsy shop- go check it out!

Lately.

Ahhhhh, it's good to be living in the most beautiful place in the world! It sure does make my daily walking goal a little easier when I have this to look at! Anyway, these days I have been feeling more and more pregnant and less and less ready for this baby to come... not the best combo ever. We have about 2 months to go! I will be at 32 weeks in just a couple days, the end is in sight! And it's freaking me out! 

This picture was taken last week at 31 weeks along. I'll give a bit of a detailed update... not going to use that little question format though, just going to wing it!

The last few days have been filled with zero lung capacity and lots of Braxton Hicks contractions! Not the most fun, but it's pretty cool to see how my body is already doing so much to prepare itself for labor. And now that this baby is getting big enough to totally take up any room my diaphragm may have had before, I'm looking forward to this baby dropping a bit lower! Limited lung capacity for an already asthmatic person is not very fun, but I'll get through it!!

I get totally freaked out whenever anyone plays Christmas music or talks about Christmas in anyway as if it's super close. Christmas time= Baby time. YIKES!

My diet has been fairly good. Lots of protein and I have been keeping up with my vitamins really well. I have been letting myself have coffee more often now that pumpkin lattes and Trader Joes pumpkin spice coffee blends are around! Everything in moderation, right :-)

ps- the Babe has hiccups right now. so. cute. 

About to have our third week of birthing class tomorrow! These classes are at our birthing center and have been amazing! I'm learning so much about how my mind and body deals with pain the best. It's scary to think and focus on the pain so much... but feeling better prepared has been very empowering! I'm realizing more and more that it is a huge passion of mine to help other women/ couples feel as knowledgeable and empowered as the amazing midwives, doulas and birth educators at my birth center have helped me feel! I would definitely love to pursue becoming a doula after this baby is born.

Ryan has been nothing but pure awesome.

Thank you dear brother for the lovely photo bombing.

Sure, it's hard sometimes when I'm feeling like life is unfair because he doesn't have to deal with all the "joys" of pregnancy. And I know I act like a total whiny brat A LOT of times, but he has been so amazing and encouraging though all of the times of feeling good and feeling not so good. He even painted my toe nails for me when I realized I could no longer reach :-) I love how confident he is in my strength and ability to have this baby. He totally gets it. Which is totally awesome. and sexy. Never once has he tried to talk me into birthing at a hospital, or questioned my convictions. Instead, he educates himself. He reads books about birth and being a good birthing partner. He's not scared of witnessing the birth of our son, he's even hoping to be the one to "catch" our baby!

Had my glucose screening test done last week. I'm assuming all is well since I have not heard back from the midwife. Dang that drink was NASTY!

Also, cloth diapers. I'm in love with my cloth diapers. Talk about addicting! I already have about 20 now. I'm going to stop there because I know I wont need many more, and I'm going to leave some space open for gifts since I still have 2 baby showers coming up. Never know what people will give! I'm just hoping the kind of diapers I purchased actually work! I've been prewashing them, and it just makes me so happy to see all the cute little diapers up on the clothes line :-) This is what my living room looked like for about an hour the other day while the diapers were waiting their turn for the line..

As you can see, we're doing cloth wipes too. Found a great deal on Etsy and now have about 30 wipes and have only spent $7 on them!

Okay, I think I'm finally out of pictures and info to share.... for now. I would love to get my act together and do a post dedicated to where we're living. Yountville is totally awesome beautiful, and well, a very weird place to live.

Hope this lovely October day finds you well! Ryan and I have plans to go "up valley" to see if there is anything fun to do in St. Helena today. We dont usually go north of Yountville, so we're excited! Peace and love to you all!

xoxo elyse

Flowers and Acorns

This is what I spend a lot of my days doing. More acorns and more flowers. constantly. :-) It's actually a lot of fun, and I have been having a great time getting creative with the flowers and trying techniques and designs that I have always been too intimidated to try!

Every morning when I go on my walks with Bruce the Yorkie, I always make sure to do two things.... Pick a ripe and juicy fig to eat for breakfast, and to pick up as many acorn caps as humanly possible. I usually prove to be quite successful in both areas.

I love these little acorns! I sold a ton of them last year to people wanting a fun center piece at their Thanksgiving table. They are just so darn cute and charming! Some are needle felted, some are wet felted.... all depends on my mood (and the state of my poor fingers). Who knew needle felting could be so dangerous?! My fingers are covered in puncture wounds. Maybe I'll stick to wet felting the rest of these babies until my wounds heal.

And these flowers! So much fun. I love keeping them out on display in the apartment because they're so colorful and happy.

 

Well, that's it for now. A lot of these flowers and acorns will not be available in my Etsy shop because most of them are for a custom order/ I'm building my inventory for a craft festival I may be involved in next month. But let me know if you are interested and I'll be sure to work something out! Happy Tuesday everyone! 

-elyse 

Scrub a dub dub

Soaps are back in the Heart Felt Etsy shop! To be honest.... Before a couple days ago, I had gone about 6 months without having felted a bar of soap. And it was a needed and nice break. BUT it feels so right and so good to finally be back into the soap felting groove! I have come to understand that I have been spreading myself a bit too thin when it came to the felted soaps. Trying to get too crazy and fancy with them proved to be good for my creative growth, but not that great for an increase in sales. SO, with that said... to keep things reasonably priced and to keep my sanity in tact, I have decided to go back to the basics of felted soap. I am still going to be creating some special wet felted/ needle felted specialty soaps around the holidays, but that's about it. Simple is good for me right now :-)

With that said, here are some recently listed soaps in my Etsy shop! More will be gradually coming as well! Enjoy!

Baby Update!!

How far along?: 26 weeks 4 days

Overall Emotion last month? Happy, a little stressed about finances, and very hungry :-)
Maternity clothes?: More and more often now. Thanks goodness for my belly band! (Becky- that thanks was to you!)

Sleep: Better! Hallelujah! Still pretty tossy and turny, but at least I'm not up and ready to start the day at 4:30 am everyday :-)

Best moment this month: Getting asked for the first time by a total stranger when I'm due :-) being able to tag along and take my cousin in college, and having my first real appointment at the birthing center.

Weight Gain: total +18 pounds. Thankfully my weight gain has slowed down enough to where I'm back with in the normal range. 

Movement: Yes! All the time still! We were listening to his heartbeat at my midwife appointment the other day, and he totally kicked the doppler. It was super funny :-) 

Food cravings: Not really anything in particular. I was telling Ryan the other day that I feel kind of left out of the "stereotypical" pregnant woman image because I'm not having those crazy cravings! Pretty much everything and anything sounds good... all the time.
  

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope! Feelin good!

Have you started to show yet: Yes, I feel like I'm getting huge! 

Wedding rings on or off? on 

Looking forward to: Hopefully having my in laws come visit later this month, having the birthing center become more and more familiar, starting the classes there and (oh my gosh!) starting my THIRD trimester in a couple weeks!

One thing I did well this month?: Walked... a lot. I've been trying to walk at least 2-3 miles a day. I've been feeling great and my weight gain has totally slowed down. I've been eating pretty well too, trying to pack in the protein.

Protein intake this month: Better 

Book Currently reading: Just finished reading A Good Birth, A Safe Birth. It was amazing- I would totally recommend it! Just checked out another book from the Birthing center library about getting a baby to sleep better through the night (Can't remember what the title is....). 

And now to answer some other questions that my darling Lindsey asked me on my facebook the other day...

I'm really liking my job- I'm working part time as a teacher for the aftercare program at First Christian School. 

Things at our church are going very well! Ryan's been leading the worship a lot lately and I'm usually on the worship team as well. I also teach first service Sunday school for the elementary aged kiddos. We found out some really awesome history about the church and the apartment int he church that we're living in. I'm hoping to do a post all about that sometime very soon! 

Names for the baby.... hmmmmmmm...... We're pretty set on one BUT we're not telling people!!!! Muuuahahaha! Nothing is actually for sure, but there are a select few that we like and a certain one we like the best. 

Okay, this post is wearing me out... time for a nap! 

Back in Business!

Finally! I found some inspiration as well as time to act it out! Made some cool things recently and actually put them in my Etsy shop! Much more is to come, but here is a sneaky peeky...

Mini Chalkboard Trays!

Lovely Wire Coil Bracelet

Lots of earrings!

Be sure to head on over to the Heart Felt Esty site to check everything out! More items will be added hopefully daily this week. It's nice to be back!