Sew Ruffled Capri Pants

I love the way these turned out. I've been meaning to make them for a long time, but there wasn't much point in the winter and I didn't have a good pattern and wasn't sure if I wanted to spend the time making my own. I almost bought the Britches & Bloomers pattern, but it seemed like it should be pretty simple to make myself.

I ended up putting both elastic in the waistband and a tie drawstring because the elastic lost its stretch when I sewed it. Next time I'm going to try some knit elastic, versus the woven I used, because I think its supposed to do better when sewn. But I might like the drawstring better anyway.

When I made the pattern I tried to make a wider area for the crotch and included a raised center back to accommodate her cloth diapers. It ended up working pretty well. They fit well when she is in a diaper or in underwear.

For the ruffles I wanted to use my gathering foot on my serger, but I couldn't get it to work consistently so I ended up using elastic.




The front is the left piece and the back is the right.

Its a girl!

Allie Mae arrived Sunday May 24th (10 days past her due date) at 3:33pm. She was 8lbs 2oz and 21 inches long. Things didn't go according to plan. After fast and relatively easy first and second stages I spent a long time pushing and she wouldn't descend. I transferred from the birth center to the hospital and ended up deciding that a cesarean was the best option. The recovery has been a challenge, but every day I'm feeling better. Allie is super cute and Selena loves being a big sister.

I'll post a novel length birth story when I get a chance.

Carnival of Breastfeeding

So I was invited to join in the Carnival of Breastfeeding blog posts by Breastfeeding 1-2-3. Since breastfeeding is a dichotomy of physical and emotional experiences, I love reading stories about other mom's felt, reacted, the challenges they faced and how they overcame them. So here is my post as well as other mom's posts as well. This list will be added to as more mom's post.

Weaning a toddler

Sticking with it - our breastfeeding story

Life, Death, and Nourishment

The Story of Hannah's Weaning

Flying Breastmilk

GrudgeMom: Breastfeeding Failures and Success

Baby Carriers Down Under

Ben's Story

I told you so

Breastfeeding is not easy

They said the latch was fine

Can Early Public Breastfeeding Sightings Shape One's Future Breastfeeding Practices?

Zen Mommy

Nursing after breast reduction surgery

Nursing in Public

Found Memory

41 weeks pregnant

Actually 41 weeks and 1 day. I really didn't think I'd make it to my due date, but I really, really didn't think I'd make it past 41 weeks.

But I had an appointment today and my midwife did a non-stress test and the baby did great. I've been having a bajillion Braxton Hicks but of course during the test I didn't have one, but as soon as she took the belt off I did. This baby is a tricky one. I did get my cervix checked this time and I am 3cm dilated, 90% effaced, and the baby was at -1 station. So it would be nicer if the baby was a little lower, but my water is in the way.

She refused to schedule me another appointment and said that I won't make it through the weekend. But I did ask her what would happen if I do, and she said she'll do another non-stress test on Tuesday. If I do make it to 42 weeks then she has to pass me over to the docs since then I'm no longer low risk. So at 41 weeks 6 days she says she will induce me by breaking my water and using some homeopathic concoctions. If that doesn't work then I would transfer to the hospital and see whoever is on call. But she says that she has never had to do this. I really don't want to be induced, but I do think that breaking my water would do the trick. And her induction plan sounds a ton better than being put on Pitocin, especially since I will still have access to a tub, which I think is super important and helpful in being comfortable during birth. And the fact that she says she hasn't had to transfer someone makes me feel confident it will work if it comes to that.

I have had some sporadic pressure waves that have had the potential to be real, but they have just petered out. I've actually just had a few while typing this. I feel like I can tell my body to have one, but once I stop thinking about it they disappear. I might have lost part of my mucus plug this morning and am in a surprisingly good mood and have a bit of energy which is what happened the day Selena was born. But I've spent the last 4 weeks thinking various things could be signs it is soon and yet here I still am.

Well the good thing about still being pregnant...

is that I've been able to finish a lot more sewing projects than I thought I would.

Here are four fitted diapers I've been able to make. I wasn't going to make any newborn size diapers because the baby will only be able to wear them for about a month, but I had some french terry bamboo fabric that was only big enough to make newborn diapers and they are so tiny and cute that I figured why not. I also made a couple size small fitted diapers.

I used Shar's version of Wee Weka Side Snap, adjusted to a NB size for the newborn pattern from theNappy Network, but I found the front wings too wide so I trimmed them at least an inch on each side for the second one I made. I used my own pattern for the small sized fitteds.

From left to right: bamboo french terry, quilting cotton outer bamboo french terry inner, unknown knit with a bamboo velour inner, bamboo velour

Also I was really excited because I got to use my new snap pliers. I've been wanting to try and make snap diapers for a while, but in order to apply snaps I would have needed a $130-$150 snap press, which I really couldn't justify buying. But then I found out that there was a yahoo coop for a set of snap pliers for $20. So I got them and they are perfect. I haven't had any problems setting the snaps and they are in really tight, almost impossible to remove (I had to use a drill to remove them when I made a mistake).

I also was able to make another soft structured baby carrier. After making two carriers as gifts from this free SCC pattern I decided that the resulting carriers were way too big for me, so I went back to the original pattern I had made but included the darts in the body from the free pattern. I also couldn't decide what kind of padding (camping mat, versus yoga mat, versus foam) I wanted in the belt so I made it have an opening that I could unsnap and I could switch out the padding whenever I wanted. This also will make it very easy to throw the whole thing in the washing machine. I loved the way it turned out, but I'm afraid I made the straps a little short. It is hard to tell since I can't exactly try it on due the gigantic belly I currently have. I don't think they will be too short to make the carrier not useful, but they might make it not quite as comfortable as it could have been. We'll have to see. I still have to sew on the chest strap, but I'm going to wait till after I have the baby to figure out the best placement.

Three days past "due"

So here I am past my due date and still pregnant. I tried to prepare myself for this possibility but honestly didn't think it would happen. I didn't think this baby would come as early as Selena but thought 39 weeks sounded reasonable. I haven't handled it very well and have been pretty much on the verge of tears or in tears the last two days. I really don't have many physical complaints. Obviously I'm not completely comfortable, but I'm not in pain, and am sleeping reasonably well. It is more the emotional side that is hard for me at the moment.

My Braxton Hicks are coming more often and are stronger. If I sit in a regular chair or on my knee chair for a while, or listen to my Hypnobabies scripts I can get some consistent BH and cramping, but as soon as I get up or turn off the script they go away. I was really tempted to get my cervix checked, but if there was no progress I don't think I could have handled it, so I decided not to. I did measure a centimeter less than the week before so my midwife said that does mean the baby has dropped some and gave me one glimmer of positive news.

I've been doing most of the natural induction technqiues but I don't know if it is worth it. On one hand it makes me feel like I'm doing something, but on the other hand it just makes me think about it more.

So I'm going to try to be "lovingly patient" waiting for my baby and I've decided my new due date is the 28th as something will have to be decided by then. Maybe I'll go early? Ha ha.

Mama help me. I'll do it myself. Mama help me.

Those are the words I hear many, many times a day. Unfortunately being super pregnant makes me less patient and sometimes those words are very frustrating for me.

I forgot to sign her up for toddler gym this month, but fortunately the weather has been mostly nice so we've been visiting the park often as well as going to library story times. She's been riding her trike some and is starting to get the hang of it. The local children's museum has a program they started at the local libraries with arts, crafts, toys, dancing, and stories that is a lot of fun. Sometimes it gets pretty crowded, and then I get a little overwhelmed, but Selena doesn't seem to mind.


Selena's thing this month is making dresses and diapers for baby doll. She goes into my sewing room and picks out fabric, a pattern, and some velcro, and then gets her own "sharp, green, scissors" (they really aren't sharp, they are the round edge kind) and starts snipping away. So we've sewn four dresses for baby doll so far. The craftsmanship isn't the greatest on them since Selena sits on my non-existent nap and snips the threads for me and it isn't easy to get nice hems or seams with a wiggly toddler helping, but she enjoys the process so that is all that matters.

Favorite books for the month are:

• Who Ate All the Cookie Dough?
• What Will Fat Cat Sit On?
• There Is a Bird On Your Head! (An Elephant and Piggie Book).

39 weeks pregnant

Ok, I am tired of waiting. I've had enough excitement and anticipation. Baby please come soon.

The last two weekends I've had some cramping and thought for sure it would develop into something and then nothing happened. This last week I seem to even have lost symptoms. I've had less Braxton Hicks, less pressure on my bladder. I even made it through the entire night last night without having to go. I guess its better than weeks of false labor.

Here are updated belly pictures.

38 weeks pregnant

I am 38 weeks pregnant (plus a day) and actually feel pretty great. For the past week and a half I haven't had any bad days where I feel yucky all day. I haven't had any bad heartburn either. Yay! I attribute it to my focus on eating beef and iron.

My midwife says the baby is in perfect position and all aligned ready to go. I thought the head might be off to the side so she took a peek with the ultrasound and I saw the baby swallow and smile. Very cute. But we only saw the head. No peeking at the sex.

I've been having some cramping all week, but nothing that feels very immediate or real to me. I'm still wondering when and how it will all happen. I'm waiting for the magical moment when I "know" it is time.

I lost a couple pounds this week, so I probably had some extra fluid last week. My blood pressure was still good. She offered to check my cervix but I declined. So we continue to wait.