Duke Leavitt Graham

Welcome to the world our sweet baby boy.

Duke Leavitt Graham

Born January 27, 2011 6:43pm

5 lb 10 oz

19 inches

Our hearts are bursting with love for you.

Forever Yours,

Mama and Dada

New Blankets

Over the last few days I finished up the little mister's crib bedding and "coming home from the hospital" blankie.

Here are some photos of his special hospital blankie.  I did add an embroidered initial but since i've been sworn to secrecy by my husband not to reveal his name (not even to our friends, only our immediate family is in on the secret) I kept the full initial out of the photos.

For his crib bedding we decided on a green and blue animal print with turquoise gingham on the back.  We decided to skip bumpers for a simple and 100% baby safe crib.

Today i'm working on finishing some new boppy pillow covers and i'm starting on a mobile project.  I'm not exactly sure of my plan for the mobile, all I know is it includes some branches from the yard, a pattern for little stuffed birdies, fabric scraps, fishing line and colorful felt balls.  I'm going to wing it and see what I come up with!  

Photos coming soon.

Love,

Chels

Reader Question

STEPHANIE ASKED: Hi Chelsea! I found your blog through Melissa's Dear Baby blog and it is lovely! I also have admired many things in your etsy shop. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and being a mom! How wonderful it is! You look great in this picture...and I just have to ask...what boots do you have on? I have been looking for some just like that and have yet to find the perfect pair! Hope you don't mind me asking! 

Thanks so much Stephanie!  The boots I have on in the photo in this post  are by Frye, they're called the "Veronica Slouch" in dark brown.  You can find them here.  I was lucky enough to have a friend who was able to get them for me at wholesale price a few years ago.  They are by far my favorite boots and i've worn them to DEATH.  They are still in amazing shape and I know i'll have them forever.  

Thanks for your question Stephanie....now go get your boots!

xo,

Chels

So Creative

I found this baby announcement yesterday while browsing around on some blogs via Lovely Morning who found it posted on Jill Thomas' photography blog.  So creative and cute!  What a great idea.

Also, no news from the ultrasound yesterday.  They sent me home and re-scheduled me for next week.  Apparently the midwife who sent me back yesterday sent me too early since growth ultrasounds are done every 3 weeks, not every 2 weeks.  Oh well.  He's been moving around like a little karate superstar so my feeling is that he's doing just fine in his little oven.  Keep on baking bread boy!

xo,

Chels

Almost Home

We're going for another ultrasound today to check the little fella's growth.  He's just a teeny guy.  Hope he's put on some lb's since we last checked in on him a little over 2 weeks ago.  My fingers are crossed for another glimpse of his cute face.

xo,

Chels

Surprise! It's a Baby Shower!

Saturday was a great day.  My amazing and loving girlfriends (and husband too) arranged a surprise baby shower for me and baby boy, complete with balloons, cupcakes, snacks, "cocktails", and beautiful gifts.  Since all of our friends and family are so spread out across the country and the world I had decided there was no possible way to have a baby shower.  We don't have a close knit group of friends here in Maryland and no family members at all, so it just didn't seem logistically possible.

Summer, Holland and Sue ~ you really made me feel so special and loved....at a time when a good girlfriend is especially important.  Thank you girls SO much, from the bottom of my heart, for pulling this together.  It really means the world to me and I will remember this day forever.  I am so happy to have had a chance to celebrate this little boy coming into our lives.

Friends and family sent the most precious gifts from all over the map....New York City, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Colorado, Oregon....I am just overwhelmed at the generosity and thoughtfulness that went into this day.  Also, a special thank you to Christina and Cori for being super good sports and showing your sweet faces.

Here is a glimpse at some of the sweet gifts we received:

These adorable little numbers are from Christina.  I've been coveting this hat from the darling Etsy shop Snugars for ages.  I can't wait to put it on his sweet little head!

Anette sent this precious little ellie from Ella Bella May.  It is so incredibly soft and smushy....it's already in the little mister's crib for snuggling.

  

These adorable books and booties were sent by Miss Priscilla.  The books are darling and will be bedtime favorites i'm sure.  They are already put away on his apple crate bookshelf (pics of that soon!!!). Obviously, from my previous post about all of the little fella's shoes we are suckers for a cute booty and this little guy can never have too many!  I absolutely love the little applique monsters.  They are amazing.

My dear friend Carly sent the cutest little jammies and sweater suit from Baby Gap.  I've never seen these pajamas before (and i've logged some hours at Baby Gap the last few months) so i'm thinking they must be some kind of special NYC item that we don't get here in MD.  I heart them.  A LOT.

Thank you to Cori for the yummy Burt's Bees baby products...I could literally eat this stuff it smells so good (and doesn't have any of the yucky parabens/sulfates/etc found in so many baby products).  And the shoes....the SHOES!!!  Gracious May has been one of my favorite Etsy shops for ages.  They make the sweetest little girl shoes you've ever seen and luckily they have a select few little boy items.  How stinking cute are these!

I had some help from a friend with this last photo.  She's not sure about this baby.  Not sure at all.

Not only did Sue host the shower, and make the delicious food and cupcakes, and get the balloons, and wrap the gifts, and keep everything a surprise (and supply us a boatload of hand me downs from her boys)...she also surprised us with some toys that are favorites of her one year old twin boys Liam and Vaughn.  We had a good test run with them in the hands of real live babies who love them.  They look like winners to me.  Music...light....total entertainment!  Thank you Colin & Sue!

Not only was Summer the mastermind behind this whole surprise, but she put together the most amazing goodie bag of mama products that she thought we couldn't live without.  Summie is the mama to one year old baby Leo and has another little bundle on the way this summer.  Her gift is so thoughtful and came with a card explaining each item.  I just know these will be some of my favorites.

Included in this fun prize pack are:

1) The Moby Wrap - so perfect & cozy for carrying baby through 6 months or so.

2) The nursing cover from Etsy shop Gingersnappz

3) Kicky Pants Coveralls - these are LITERALLY the softest cotton i've ever felt in my whole life.  And who doesn't love a little butt flap with snaps??

4) Gerber Organic Crib Sheet - Summie loves these sheets best because they fit really tight and don't leave wrinkles under baby's sweet face.  Apparently some weeks you go through 3 or 4 sheets??!!  Who knew!

5) Mama Zen - This is supposed to be a great read around 3 months and puts things in perspective when you're sooooo exhausted you can barely speak.

6) Natrasutten Pacifier - This is the only pacifier Summer's baby would take.  It's natural rubber and all one piece so mold and bacteria can't grow in any cracks.

LOVE this whole entire pack and can not wait to try them all out!

Miss Holland outdid herself once again.  Along with helping to plan and coordinate the shower she went and got us these hand knit sock monkey pants from the Etsy shop CrankyPants Knits .  I can not believe she purchased these little bundles of cuteness.  I can't even imagine how adorable a little diaper butt is going to look in these pants.  These are definitely a keepsake item that can (and will!) be passed down through generations.

It's no secret that RD is a HUGE Minnesota Vikings fan.  I still have no idea why, since he grew up in Oregon.  He has photos of himself as a tiny tot in his Vikings t-shirt, a die hard fan forever.  Holland's fiance Justin is actually from Minnesota and couldn't resist this Vikings snowsuit for the little mister and his dada.  He was SO excited about this present!  And he got to open something too...

My parents have spoiled us rotten.  Not only did they buy us our dream stroller, our cradle and the moses basket....they went overboard at Christmas with tons of tiny clothes, toys and books for their first Grandson.   My mom couldn't resist and sent along this adorable knit kitty from blabla .  I have been eyeballing this doll for years in Anthropologie and always hoped it would someday be in my baby's room....and now it is!

 I just ordered more thank you cards because I ran out!  I literally can't express in words how much this meant to me.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you.  From the bottom of my heart.

All Our Love,

Chelsea and Baby Boy G

37 Weeks

Baby Boy,

Two weeks from today is your birthday.  I had really wanted you to pick your own birthday (and there is still a chance you might if you decide to come early) but as of today the people who love you the most think you should be born on February 1st.  You gave us a scare yesterday because you were sleepy all day.  It turns out you were just fine, but with that umbilical cord necktie you've got on in your little sideways cozy cove you've got us all pretty worried about you.  We're starting to think you might be safer in your mama and dada's arms than in my belly.

Your room is all finished.  I'm (actually, we're) sitting in your new chair right now looking at how perfectly it's turned out.  And it smells like you too.  Like freshly washed baby clothes and Burt's Bees baby lotion.  I can't wait for you to see it.  I can't wait to see you in it.  I really think you're going to love it here.

We love you baby boy, little mister, baby G, little man, menehune.  We love you so much it hurts.  Please get here safely.

All My Love,

Mama

  

Baby Samara Hearts Her Vintage Swimsuit

A Lola Miren customer sent me this photo of her cute as a button daughter Samara enjoying her "Senor Burrito" blankie in her new vintage swimsuit.  I mean.....does it GET any cuter than this??!!!  

Thank you so much for sharing this with me Karen, and also for giving me the OK to post on the blog!  This truly made my day!!

xo,

Chelsea

External Cephalic Version - Our Experience

Today was an interesting day.  Not terrible, but not great either.  This morning we went to the hospital to have an "External Cephalic Version", where a doctor tries to manually turn your baby through your belly into the vertex (head down) position.  Here is a video of the procedure if you're interested (this isn't me, I found this on youtube).  This little guy has been sideways (transverse) for quite some time and as i've written about before we've tried virtually everything to get him to turn his little self into the ideal position for birth.  Acupuncture, chiropractic, music, light, inversions....you name it, we've tried it.

A natural childbirth has been my ultimate goal throughout this entire pregnancy and my husband and I have spent so much time researching, reading, and taking classes on the subject that we felt like we needed to try this one last (and most invasive) approach as a last resort.  The doctor recommends doing the procedure at the end of 36 weeks while the baby is still small enough to turn without too much force.  I was hopeful and positive about the procedure, but at the same time I didn't have high expectations for the outcome based on how stubborn the little guy has been up until now. 

First we had an ultrasound scan to check his position.  Once the doctor decided on a "forward roll" (as opposed to a "backward roll") he laid me back and got started.  It didn't really hurt but was definitely uncomfortable and I felt a lot of pressure.  He started out more gently and wasn't having much luck so he tried more aggressively.  Suddenly the baby moved and his heart rate dropped from around 150 to 60 and then stopped for a second.  The doctor quickly turned him back to his original position and his heart rate recovered and was back to normal after a couple of minutes.  I actually couldn't see the screen during this time and everybody stayed so calm that I really didn't know what exactly was going on, which is probably better.  

After the baby recovered the doctor did another ultrasound (I think using infrared?) that allowed him to see blood flow and discovered the baby's cord is wrapped around his neck.  That's why his heart rate dropped so suddenly when he turned since the cord is actually keeping him in the position he's in.

We decided to stop and leave him as he is.  The cord isn't dangerous to him how he's laying and apparently this is fairly common, you just usually don't know about it until the baby is born.  I always wondered if he was in the position he's in for a reason, and now we know he is.  

Today was scary but everything turned out ok and I don't regret trying.  Now I know we've done everything we could possibly do to give all of us the best chance for a natural birth.  Now the hard part is accepting that it's most likely not going to happen for us (save for a cord untangling baby turning miracle).  I am disappointed that I am not going to be able to experience a normal childbirth.  I think it's ok to mourn that for a few minutes.  I also know that we are extremely lucky to have a healthy baby about to join our family and that after he's born it won't matter how he got here.  

We have a c-section tentatively scheduled for February 1st.  We'll take it week by week and see how it goes.  I'm not convinced that I want a scheduled c-section and may still allow myself to go into labor naturally, even if I know the outcome will be a c-section once we get to the hospital.  They also said there is a strong possibility that I could go into labor before February 1st.  We're meeting with our doula Heather on Sunday to talk about it.  She brings a different point of view to the table and gives us things to think about that the doctor/hospital setting doesn't.  

At the end of the day we knew our birth plan was just that - a plan.  I feel at peace knowing we did all that we could do and this is essentially out of our hands.  This baby is now in charge of how he's being born, and that's ok.  Plans change.  We just want to meet him and hold him and smooch his little tiny face to pieces.

Love,

Chelsea

Shoes....They Aren't Just For Girls

I've been spending a lot of time in this little fella's nursery the last few days and I realized that he has a lot of shoes.  Just like mama and dada.  Some were gifts, some are handmade, some were worn by me as a baby, some i've had stashed away in a box for 7 years, some are garage sale finds, some are brand new.  Our love of collecting shoes has clearly carried over to our baby.

We received these tiny little Van's as a gift just yesterday.

These little rainbow sandals were mine as a baby

Some booties for when he's teeny tiny

For when he's a snow bunny

I've had these little black boots in a box for 7 years, along with a few other pairs of baby Diesel shoes from my days as a footwear developer in California.  I have some pretty fancy girl boots stashed away for a possible future little sister.

These precious little leather sandals were my dad's.  My parents surprised us with them at Christmas.  I feel so lucky to own these.  The leather has gotten pretty stiff so they are sitting on his shelf as a display item....I'm sure i'll put them on him for a picture but they won't be for regular wearing.

These little gems were a lucky garage sale find for $1

For when he's a big boy running around outside with his dada

I've had so much fun shopping for this little mister.....his hat collection would put up a good fight next to his shoe collection.  

3 weeks until baby.  

Love,

Chels