Baby Story - False Alarm

So yesterday, I learned the importance of proper hydration and fever management during pregnancy.  It all started Sunday evening - I was feeling mildly dehydrated, so over the course of the evening, I sipped on 2 glasses of water and brought a third glass with me to bed.  I started having some mild contractions that were may 60-90 minutes apart, so decided to go to bed early, around 8:30, to get some rest.

I woke up around 1am Monday morning to some pretty severe back pain, a little nausea, and contractions.  So I started timing my contractions.  When they were about 10 minutes apart for an hour, I dragged myself out of bed, finished the glass of water I brought with me, and promptly headed for the toilet and vomited it all up.  I had read that nausea during labor was normal, so I didn't think much of it - I switched to ice chips and went about getting ready to go. I think I woke up G around 4am because I wanted to take a hot shower before going to the hospital, and he also started getting ready - and in the process, I made friends with the toilet 2 or 3 more times, usually right after a contraction finished. G also mentioned feeling nauseous, so at this point I was a little worried that we might have picked up the stomach bug that Baby L was currently recovering from. We left for the hospital shortly after 5am, with my stomach completely empty and my contractions were 6-8 min apart.

We got to the hospital, checked in, and I got hooked up to a CTG machine so the staff could monitor the baby.  At this point I was soooo uncomfortable because I wasn't permitted to fully sit up, nor was I permitted to fully lie down - I had to sit in a sort of reclined position which was killer on my back.  Since the baby was in distress though, I had to continue with monitoring until the staff was comfortable that the baby was ok.  The doctor checked my cervix, and after all that, I was only 1cm dilated!  I was just crushed, because by that time, my contractions were about 2 min apart and I was ready to go.  The doctor advised that I had a low grade fever, the combination of the fever and dehydration were causing stress to the baby, so she ordered 1 liter of IV fluids and medication for fever.

During all this, G also made friends with the toilet and emptied his stomach, confirming that both of us likely had the same virus as Baby L.  To make matters worse, Miss J texted us while we were at the hospital that Baby L vomited a little while after waking up, and then took a very early morning nap shortly after that.  As usual Miss J is totally fine with no signs of nausea or vomiting (praise God!).

As the IV progressed, the contractions slowed, and by the time I'd absorbed a liter, had completely gone away.  We are both relieved to not have a baby while everyone has a stomach virus, but at the same time a little disappointed that Baby #2 wasn't ready to join us.  We briefly discussed the possibility of inducing labor since I was already at the hospital, but it also meant being hooked up to the CTG machine for monitoring, so I opted to go home.  My doctor kept me at the hospital for a bit longer after the IV to make sure that I could drink water and eat some crackers without vomiting again, mostly so I didn't end up right back in the hospital a few hours later.  Once I passed that test, I was released instructions to drink a lot of water and take Panadol (Tylenol) if the fever comes back.

We got home from the hospital around 10am, and I then proceeded to sleep 17 of the next 24 hours, getting up long enough to eat some more crackers, drink more water, and then go back to sleep.  So...baby watch continues!

March/April Project finishes!

So G has had this horrible cold that just refuses to go away (we actually think it was 3 different colds) so he's essentially been sick for the last 5-6 weeks.  Baby L has been sick, gotten better, and then gotten sick again during the same period. I had a little sore throat and cough for a few days (thank you pregnancy immune system!) and Miss J seems to have made it through this whole ordeal unscathed. That means G has had some early nights to bed, and I've had a lot of time at my sewing machine!  I'm taking full advantage before Baby #2 comes along and whisks away all my sewing time.

So first, a quilt finish that I didn't share previously because it hadn't made it to its final home.  Now that it has, here it is!

A fun geometric pattern on front, and cuddly minky on the back

Next in the project finish list is a chair cover for a kid's Ikea POANG chair. I used an old shower curtain to save a bunch of time hemming, so this project came together in a little over an hour.  Now when Baby L wipes her snot all over the chair, we can pull the cover off and wash it.  She still prefers the big chair over her little chair, but I think that's more because she likes climbing more than she likes the actual big chair.  We're working on that...

POANG Chair Cover

I also made Baby L some bathrobes from hooded Ikea towels.  Since our amazing and beautiful apartment doesn't have any bathtubs, we've been teaching her to take a shower, and then walk from the shower to her bedroom so we can put on her diaper and pajamas.  She's not really coordinated enough to hold a hooded towel around herself, so I converted these 2 towels into baby bathrobes.

Before....

After some quick cutting and sewing....

Baby robes with sleeves!

In keeping with the theme, I decided Baby L needed one more towel bathrobe in her rotation because only have 2 is a little short based on our laundry schedule - especially when she's a little bit sick and super duper snotty all the time.  Rather than buy another hooded towel, I decided to make one from some terry that I purchased from another expat here in Dubai - and I wrote a tutorial about it!  I also made 4 extras of these little robes to give away as gifts since they are pretty quick but have a pretty good "wow, you made that?!?" factor.  Have I mentioned I love baby projects?  They are so fast, the instant gratification is just so....instant! I could have made 6 robes out of the terry cloth that I had, but I ended up cutting the the first one in such a way that the scraps don't really work out for making a second robe without adding a few seams...so those scraps will probably turn into bibs, burp cloths, and washcloths.

One of five toddler bathrobes that I created a tutorial for.  Baby L's is pink on pink, but currently in the laundry so I didn't get a photo of it.  

In between all this terry cloth, I made up some quick cloth bags as part of a volunteer effort for Dubai Sustainable City. While we don't live there because it's too far from my office, it's beautiful community! The mums that live light put together care packages for the workers every year at the end of Ramadan, and the package is housed in a "boomerang bag", which is basically just a cloth tote bag. I couldn't make it to any of their sewing events, so instead I committed to making 5 of these quick and easy bags at home.

Boomerang Bags for Ramadan care packages

And finally, the best project, for me anyways - my new sewing table!  I had been sewing in a little cubby area under the stairs (very Harry Potter-ish, I know), and I had to duck every time I went to and from my sewing machine.  No more!  With my new sewing table and the removal of a big ugly out-of-date treadmill from our stairway landing, I now have a big space for sewing.  My old sewing desk is now my cutting table, and I have tons of room to spread out - plus a nice big rug (not in the photo, I happen to be standing on it when taking this shot) that I can work on layouts with!  The only issue I've had with my table so far is that since it's mostly steel, it tends to shake a lot when I'm sewing fast (vs a wooden table), but I'm in love with how much s-p-a-c-e I have.  I'm pretty sure once Baby #2 is born, she'll be in a little bassinet or rocker sitting next to the sewing table while I work away.

Mama's new happy place!