Snowflake Snuggles

The past two weeks have been full of snuggles, surprises and getting to know one another! Here's a little peak into our days around here with our new addition:

Peanut and Snowflake snuggling up together- so precious!

A sleeping Snowflake, so peaceful:

Another Campbell Has Arrived! The Birth Story of Baby Snowflake

'Baby Snowflake' is our little "drama" queen! She really knows how to play tricks on her mommy! After 2 bouts of false labor, she finally decided to come at the last minute before 2011 was over- our New Year’s Eve baby!

Here is the full story of her birth:

On Saturday, Christmas Eve, the day before my due date, I started having contractions about 7 minutes apart around 1pm. The night before, I had been having contractions on and off, which really hindered my ability to get a good night's rest. Friday morning, I nested like crazy, cleaning the whole house thinking baby would be here soon. Daddy C was feeling sick like he might have the flu, which made me even more anxious. Between all the cleaning, I tried to feed us all good, nutrient dense foods and supplements to ward off the sickies. By 1pm, the contractions had returned with regularity. I went on a walk, and they got stronger and closer together. I decided to call the midwives and tell them to come at 4:30pm. Daddy C took Peanut to a relative's house just in case, and the midwives arrived around 5:30pm, by which time the contractions were now coming 5 minutes apart. They were not really painful though, and since I had back labor with Peanut, I wasn't sure if this was just what regular labor contractions felt like. I decided to be checked to see how far along I was since Daddy C was trying to decide whether or not to miss the Christmas Eve Worship service he needed to lead. They checked me and I was just 1-2cm, so he left and my sister who was there with us stayed and hung out with me while we waited for him to get back. During this time my contractions did not get any closer together and they varied in intensity.

When Daddy C got back, the midwives went out for a Chinese dinner and me, my sister and Daddy C took another long walk. It was kinda pretty walking around after dark on Christmas Eve, looking at all the lights. I had quite a few intense contractions while walking, and by the time I got back I sat on the stability ball to work through them. They were coming 2 minutes apart and were pretty intense. I was so worn out by time point I decided to try and lay down on the bed for a while. During this time about 10pm, the midwives came back and checked me again to see if any progress had been made. I was still the same 1-2cm. I pretty much knew it was not going to happen that night and we sent them home. I then took a long hot shower and had a good cry. I was more upset over not having our Peanut home with us than anything- it was the first time she had ever been away at night and we did not want to wake her up just to bring her back home when we could just get her in the morning.

The next few days came and went without any contractions. On Tuesday, I was feeling crampy in the evening, but nothing like I had on Saturday. Daddy C and I went to bed, and contractions started coming soon after around 9:30pm. I had to really work through these contractions which were much different from the ones I had on Saturday. It was eerily reminiscent of Peanut's labor and birth, so we called the midwives over at around 10:45pm and they got here shortly before midnight. We had been timing the contractions to be 4 minutes apart and lasting around a minute each. My sister also came soon after since she was going to take care of Peanut if she woke up. Unfortunately, she also brought her dog, which I didn't expect, and I got needlessly upset. The stress slowed the contractions down considerably. I was checked and found to be 4-5cm, 80% effaced and -2 station. Because the contractions were slowing, the midwives suggested I take a shower and see if that stopped them. I did and it seemed at that point they were slowing. My body was extremely tired by now and all I wanted was sleep. I think my body knew this, and everything stopped by 2am and we sent everyone home once again. I still had very irregular contractions all throughout the night before they stopped completely in the morning. I was so sore the next day, disappointed, and thinking the baby would never come.

Friday morning, I decided to go get adjusted one last time at my chiropractor. I was so stiff and sore from the stress the past week had brought on me. I felt so much better after being adjusted, thinking that the next time labor started I would probably stay in labor. We then went out to eat at a Mexican joint for lunch so I could eat some spicy foods.

Saturday morning, New Years Eve, I really needed to get my mind off things now that I was nearly a week overdue. We went hiking at a nearby nature preserve and I flew down the trail, hiking with gusto. This was so abnormal for me since I normally take my time climbing hills! I didn't really think too much of it though. Later that afternoon, Daddy C and I made love (for like the millionth time that week, haha!) and then went out shopping at Lowes. At Lowes, I started having contractions that were pretty strong, but I didn't want to

get my hopes up so I didn't think too much of them. They were coming every 10 minutes so nothing to get excited over. We went home, made dinner, and I started timing them around 6:30pm and they were coming 6-7 minutes apart. I made the call to alert one of the midwives, but did not tell them to come yet.

We put Peanut to bed, and I took a shower to see if that would stop the contractions. Shortly before the shower, I had a very small amount of "bloody show" which was really just pink twinged mucus, and not much of it- it certainly wasn't as much show as I had with Peanut. The shower seemed to intensify the contractions, and I was moaning and trying to get through each one. At 8:15, I had DH summon the midwives. He then worked on getting arrangements for Peanut while I worked through the contractions on my stability ball. I had to visualize myself getting through each one, like riding a wave. By the time the midwives arrived, I was having them very close together. Moving around seemed to intensify them so I

stayed on my ball. Despite the intensity and pain of each contraction, I was able to get through them with visualization and chanting "I can do this" over and over. I was determined to remain as relaxed and positive as possible throughout labor this time around. I held on tight to DH's hands through each one, and everyone was very encouraging throughout, telling me how great of a job I was doing.

Around 11, I decided to be checked to see my progress, since things were really picking up. I was starting to feel nauseated and getting chills. I was checked and found to be 7-8cm. I remember asking if I was going through transition and they told me I was. A few of the contractions became horrible at that point and someone suggested I get in the shower for a bit to see if that might help. I got in, and was relieved to feel the hot water. I couldn't really stand at that point, so I dropped to my hands and knees. We decided to fill up the tub for better relief, which helped a bit. The contractions were so intense at this point, I was afraid I would not get through them. I tried as hard as possible to remain as controlled and relaxed as I could, but a few of them I sorta lost it and everyone tried to bring me back down. I knew this baby needed to get out and now. I could not stand this a minute longer! I tried to get out of the tub and make my way to the bed, but as I stood up, I felt like I needed to push right there. I decided to stay in the tub. The uncontrollable urge to push came over me and after the first push, one of the midwives put my hand down to feel that the baby's head had crowned. I remember being freaked out and said "I don't want to feel it!" but it was actually very encouraging to know baby was close. I think my water broke sometime before that happened as well. Daddy C said the water suddenly got very cloudy when that happened. The last 4 minutes or so of pushing were agonizing, I was screaming partly in fear of it lasting forever. But within 3 more pushes, baby shot out like a rocket. I couldn't believe it- such relief! She made a wimper as soon as she was lifted out of the water and placed on my chest. I was in shock! I thought she should be crying more, but everyone was saying how gentle her birth was, she had no reason to cry! She was so warm on my chest, with the blankets all around her. After a minute, I had Daddy C look to see if it was a boy or a girl, and I was thrilled when we saw she was indeed a baby girl! (everyone was saying it was going to be a boy but I thought girl from the start!). She came into this world at 11:37pm on New Years Eve- just in time for that 2011 tax deduction, haha! She weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 19 inches long.

Afterwards, I got out of the tub and dried off, and got in our own bed and snuggled with our new baby girl. She took to nursing right away, and probably would have crawled up my chest if I had let her! I was a little distracted during the nursing session though from my after pains, which I knew would be bad (as a side note, can I say how unfair after pains are? I seem to have them pretty bad compared to most moms, boo!). I also was afraid I had tore really bad since I was having some sharp pains down there. However, later, one of the midwives checked me for tears and was actually surprised to tell me I was completely in tact! I wasn’t even swollen or bruised! I was so happy to hear this since I tore with Peanut's delivery and had needed stitches. The pain I was feeling was just because I had a natural delivery- hello just pushed a baby out, haha- and was normal. After nursing for a while, it had pretty much subsided though. I was, and still am, in awe of the fact that I could immediately go to the bathroom without any problems or pain! This has been wonderful!

After nursing and bonding for a while, I took a shower, and put on some clean clothes. About this time, I got to cut Snowflake’s umbillical cord and the midwives bagged up the placenta. After looking at the placenta, they said it was very healthy and had no signs of aging whatsoever. Even though Snowflake was technically a week late, she seemed to have been born right on time!

I really could not have asked for things to go any better than they did for our first homebirth! Total time spent in active labor was just over 3 hours. I went from 7cm to pushing in less than 30 minutes and then only pushed for just 4 minutes. I didn’t have any back labor either, which I was trying very hard to avoid this time around! The difference between back labor and "normal" labor was incredible- part of the reason I was in such shock that she came so fast was that I was expecting to be in excruciating pain for hours before the actual delivery, since that was how it went with Peanut. I am so thankful to have experienced birth without back labor, it made the whole labor process so much more bearable and positive.

So far my recovery has been going very well, and Snowflake is doing great. She is a such a little bundle of joy and we never get tired of just watching her!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Baby Campbell #2 is still "baking" and only has 2 more weeks until his or her due date! We are so excited, and are keeping very busy preparing for both Christmas and our new arrival. So in the coming days/weeks, if you notice an brief absence of posting, you'll know why! I hope all my readers have a wonderful Christmas- many blessings your way!

New Cloth Diapers!

In the past, we have simply used prefolds with covers for cloth diapering. It's worked out well for us, but we still found we preferred disposables, and we were reluctant to use them. With the cost of diapers quickly escalating, I knew we needed to invest in a few cloth diapers that functioned similar to disposables. But we didn't have a fortune to spend on them either.

Enter the pocket diaper! I was able to get 18 different one-size pocket diapers with inserts off e-bay for just under $60 total. I bought them all individually to save the most money. We got the Babyland diapers sold from China. True, they probably won't be as nice as a Bum Genius diaper, but they were so budget friendly I figured it didn't matter! I did some research before purchasing them, and most of the reviews of these diapers were satisfactory enough.

Now that we have had them for several weeks, I am kicking myself for not buying them sooner! They are so easy to use! I stuff all the diapers after washing and keep the snaps on the desired setting so it's as close as they come to using disposables! They are not the most absorbent at times, but we're dealing with cloth here, not chemical laden paper. Stuffing an extra insert in seems to help with that issue, but since cloth is typically changed more frequently than disposables, it's not that big of a deal.

We are also using flush-able liners in the diapers to help with poo clean up. I find it much easier to just shake it off into the toilet than wadding up a nasty disposable! These liners, if just used for a wet diaper and not a poopy one, can also be washed and reused a few times, which helps save even more money! This has been the biggest change in the way we cloth diaper. Since our daughter is prone to extremely messy diapers, the liners were like a miracle!

As soon as the new baby comes and is big enough, we will be using cloth on him/her as well! At that point I will probably buy more or just use the prefolds to tide us over.

If you are considering cloth diapering but don't want to pay an arm and a leg for a stash of the "nicer" diapers, I encourage you to look into these Babyland e-bay diapers! They get the job done nicely with the ease a pocket diaper provides.

Thanksgiving Family Photos

This was the first Thanksgiving in many years where Daddy C and I did not have to travel! It was so nice getting ready for the day and preparing food, without the rush of driving 1.5 or 3 hours! It's truly amazing how much Peanut has grown from last Thanksgiving!

Here is a picture of the Campbell clan- I am 35.5 weeks pregnant in this photo:

She loved "playing" the piano while we were there! She even climbed up there on that stool and started playing all by herself! It was too cute!

Just happy to be with family, and showing off her pearly whites:

17 Months!

My little peanut is growing everyday! It's truly amazing how fast the time has gone! She will be a big sister in just a few short weeks!

We took a little getaway to Amish Country here in Ohio a few weeks ago as a last hurrah before the new baby arrives. Peanut had lots of fun staying in our rental apartment!

We've also finished cleaning up the yard for winter. Luckily we didn't have too many leaves to rake, although we saved all the ones we did gather for use as organic material in our raised garden beds. Peanut had fun playing in the leaves!

Money-Saving Recipes

There are plenty of recipes for items that are more expensive to make than to buy pre-made. The trick is finding the ones that are cheaper to make at home. Pancake syrup is one of them. Pizza sauce and dough is another. Here are a few money-saving recipes our family enjoys:

Maple Syrup
Combine in saucepan:

• 1 ¾ cup white sugar
• ¼ cup brown sugar
• 1 cup water

Bring to boil, cover, and cook 1 minute. Cool slightly. Add:

• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon maple flavoring

Cover saucepan for a few minutes as syrup cooks to melt down crystals

Store in the refrigerator.

I made this today and was surprised how easy and better tasting it was compared to the cheap store-brand syrup. I was able to whip it up while my pancakes were cooking and have it ready in a jiffy! (note: if you don't normally keep maple flavoring on hand in your pantry, I highly suggest you start. It is a relatively inexpensive ingredient that can add lots of flavor and zing to many recipes like this one.)

Pizza Dough- No Rise, No Yeast

• 2 C Flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2/3 C water
• 1/4 C + 2 TBSP olive Oil
• Optional- Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning, etc to taste

Pre heat to 425

Combine everything except for the 2 TBSP olive Oil (You can stop at this point and wrap the crust and freeze for later use)

Stretch to pizza pan, brush on the 2 TBSP olive oil (you may need more or less depending on how thick/thin you made your crust)

Bake about 5 min or so just to get a good crust going. Take out and top with your pizza toppings and continue baking from there for another 15 minutes.

This is a great recipe to have on hand for those quick, last-minute pizza nights. I'm just about full-term with this pregnancy, and don't always remember to get my dough started an hour and a half beforehand, so this was perfect! It makes a biscuit-like crust and would be perfect for calzones or pizza pockets too! I did not add the extra seasonings since we have so many in our homemade sauce as it is.

Pizza Sauce

• 1 6oz. can tomato paste
• 1.5 cups water
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1/2 Tb. dried oregano
• 1/2 Tb. dried basil
• 1/2 ts. dried rosemary

Mix together water, paste and oil. Add seasonings, and mix well. Let stand 2-24 hours to let flavors blend. Store in refrigerator up to 3 weeks.

This sauce blows the stuff from the store out of the water, and it is so simple and easy to make! It really adds that pizzeria taste to homemade pizza, and after using this sauce I now truly prefer homemade pizza over many delivery types. This batch makes enough for around 3 pizzas for us. It will thicken and intensify in flavor after being stored in the fridge.