Nursery Details

I know it's long overdo, but here are a few details from Aniela's nursery.

There is a humongous window behind the crib that gives off some beautiful natural lighting, but I cropped it out to get a closeup of the nursery bedding. We don't really have to turn lights on in Aniela's nursery until nighttime because of the window.

I actually have a thing about putting carpet in nurseries, it's just something I don't do, but in every house there is a room that can be a bit drafty/cooler than others, and unfortunately this is it. I had the carpet laid down to absorb some of that cooler air. I do plan on ripping it up one day when she's older, though.

She's co-sleeping with us now so this room doesn't even get used except during her naptime. That TV is going elsewhere by the way. My husband put it there "temporarily" he says. I told him that by the time she is sleeping through the night, at which point we will move her to her nursery, it had better have a home or it's going in the garage.

If anyone has any questions about where I got particular items, feel free to ask.

Aniela's Birth Story

Momma Morgan here and I'm taking back the reigns of my blog.

To my wonderful husband who took control over my blog for 3 days, thank you! What you all out there don't know is that I didn't even ask him to do it. We were all just sitting around after Aniela's birth, and out of the blue Poppa Morgan said "Hun, do you want me to update your blog and let everyone know about the baby? I can do it if you want me to." He was so ready for the world to know that our little angel had arrived. As I hopped online this morning and read comments and messages and e-mails, I was glad to see that everyone really loved his posts, even if it were only three of them. I even had some e-mails stating that he needs to do a guest spot again. When I told Poppa Morgan this information, he responded "I will check my schedule and get back to you." That's my husband!

Also, thank you to everyone for all of the congratulations and warm wishes. They are much appreciated.

Now, for Miss Aniela's birth story.

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

I started having what I thought to be just very strong Braxton Hicks contractions. Then, one hit me pretty hard and that's when something told me to keep track of when these pangs occurred. I realized that these surges (that's what us Hypnobirthing moms call them) were occurring in a certain range, about 12 to 15 minutes apart. As everyone knows, Braxton Hicks are random and sporadic, so I was indeed having contractions. My boss was in a meeting so I left a message with her secretary to let her know that I was leaving for the day as it seemed that my daughter was preparing to arrive and I didn't want our design studio to become a birthing studio as well. I called Ted once I got to my SUV and let him know that I was heading home because I was having surges that were pretty regular. I told him that they weren't very strong, but they were happening, and I felt it best for me to just go home. He told me he was going to get off from work too and come home, which I figured he would do. I told him to go ahead and pick Talan up while he was at it. I also called my midwife and let her know what was going on.

Fast forward to 9 o' clock ... yeah, 9 o' clock, PM. Dinner had been made and eaten, Talan had been nursed, bathed, and put down for the night, and my contractions, well they had almost completely fizzled out. They had lost all sequence and order and were even milder than they were earlier in the day. I still had minor surges here and there, but again they were randomly occurring and weren't very strong, basically like Braxton Hicks. My midwife had come by and stayed for some hours, but we all figured that the little girl wasn't going to be making an appearance that night, so she left, Ted and I hit the shower and then the hay.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

I was awakened Thursday morning around 5:30 AM by a very strong surge. I didn't wake Poppa Morgan as it was just one surge, so I just went downstairs, put "Return to Me" into the DVD player, and started watching it. I have this nifty little gadget called that KickTrak that does numerous things, including time contractions, so that's how I kept track of how often the surges were occurring. I guess Poppa Morgan realized that I had gotten up because he came downstairs about 10 minutes after me.

Just like with Talan's birth, I used Hypnobirthing relaxation techniques. When pregnant with Mr. T, I read the Hypnobirthing book and Poppa Morgan and I took the classes as well. Ted called our parents and a few of our friends to let them know what was going on. One of my best friends (and the mother of my Godson) Katie is a professional photographer who photographed Talan's birth, so naturally we enlisted her to photograph Aniela's as well. Our friend's Matt, Kevin, and Eric helped Ted to prep the birthing pool in our bedroom. After they finished and everyone else had arrived, we all just sat around and hung out like we always do. We watched movies and talked about random happenings, and just enjoyed each others company.

Around approximately 10:15 is when I would say the pressure down below was really strong and I had began to get uncomfortable, so Ted and I, and Katie, made our way upstairs to our bedroom (everyone else stayed downstairs). About 10 minutes later my forewater broke and I asked Poppa Morgan to call my midwife and have her come on over. We had been giving her progress reports throughout my labor, but now I felt as though my contractions were strong enough and close enough together that the little girl could come any minute.

My midwife came straight over, got prepped, and checked my cervix. To my surprise I was only 6 cm dilated. She had us go ahead and get in the pool. Sometime later, my midwife started to look at me a bit funny. She told me that she noticed that I was "grunting" whenever I talked, which is generally a sign that a woman is working with her body to push the baby out, though she may not realize it. And to be honest, I didn't realize it! My midwife didn't ever get a chance to check my cervix again as before we knew it, I was giving full blown pushes. I found that I was more comfortable on my knees with my arms resting on the edge of the pool. Poppa Morgan stayed behind me, rubbing my back and reinforcing me to keep me focused. He was so wonderful and just his presence was so much help in my labor process. The next thing I knew my midwife said she felt Aneila's head, and once her shoulders were out she allowed Ted to help bring our little girl forth. After 41 weeks and 5 days of being in my womb, Aniela Grace arrived at 11:21 AM, head first I might add. If you all recall, from 28 weeks forward our little angel was a bit stubborn and remained breech. My midwife found that she had turned head first when I was about 41 weeks and 2 days.

We stayed in the pool for about 20 minutes, giving Aneila's cord time to stop pulsing. My midwife and I wiped her down and then I nursed her, all while soaking in the water. Then, Ted cut her cord and helped me get out of the pool get dry and wrapped up in my robe. My midwife weighed and measured Aniela (6 lbs, 2 oz, 19 1/2 inches long), wrapped her up all nice and snuggly, and myself, my husband, and our daughter all got comfy in our bed.

I had Katie go downstairs and get Talan and bring him up. As Ted mentioned in his blog post, Talan was, and still is, a bit on the fence about his sister. He will touch her hand or pat her head from time to time, but he hasn't really embraced the whole "new baby" concept yet.

Today is Aniela's third day with us and every day, both Poppa Morgan and I can't help but to look at our beautiful children and thank God for blessing us with them and giving us the opportunity to be their parents.


We're still learning about this new little blessing, but I have personally learned that when she wants something, she is going to let you know. There is no shame in our little girl's game when it comes to crying. If she wants something, she's going to cry, period. As for eating, she nurses every 2 to 3 hours for about 10 to 12 minutes. And yes, I am still nursing Talan, though I have a feeling that he is about to wean himself. He is so into learning about the world around him that he doesn't have time to nurse anymore. I do, however, plan on expressing milk for him up until he turns 2 years old.

As you can see in the photo above, Aniela's skin has been just flaking off. I didn't ever have this problem with Talan. He shed, but not in big flakes like Aniela has been. I called our pediatrician and spoke with him about the situation. He informed me that it is normal for babies that are born past their due dates to shed in big flakes. Why? Who knows, but I just wanted to make sure it wasn't anything worse than it is.

My midwife will be coming over soon for her last visit with us. She has been absolutely wonderful throughout this entire process, and when we have our next child, I will certainly be using her services again.

Thanks again to everyone for the warm wishes and support. I look forward to sharing more about the new little lady in our lives with you all.

The Countdown to Aniela

The nursery is ready, the birthing pool has been brought up from the downstairs area (still in the box though), food is being pre-prepared and frozen, and time is now of the essence. The Morgan mound is preparing for the arrival of a most precious blessing, little Aniela. Until someone brought it to my attention today, I had forgotten that it is indeed October, and our little girl is estimated to arrive in only SEVEN days!

Poppa Morgan is on edge, just as he was with Talan. Every little kick that makes me grunt or rub at my belly, he goes "Are you okay?" He is now at the point where he always has a look of concern on his face.

As for Mr. T, we don't know what he's feeling exactly. I do believe that he is going to miss laying on my big belly, and I also think he is going to miss when I put his hand on my belly and Aniela moves. It makes him laugh the biggest laugh. Luckily we have captured tons of video footage of this so we will always have the memory on hand. I'm really intrigued to see how the little guy is going to react to his little sister, but I guess time will tell.

As for me, I'm as big as house, but I'm loving every minute of it. I'm one of those rare women who enjoys pregnancy. It has even been said that morning sickness has a purpose, and though it's no fun, it's a part of the process. I have achieved a lot of things in my life, but my greatest achievement in my opinion is having a life form inside of me, a life created by the union of my husband and I and overseen by the man above. But it doesn't stop there, as I not only carry this life, but I am essentially it's life force. It lives because of me. It thrives and flourishes because of me. I am its protector, its sanctuary, its home for 9 months. I can't think of a greater process than pregnancy, and that's why I make it my duty to enjoy every minute of it. I am even thankful for the aches and pains, as a wonderful blessing is the cause of them.

And for those who are curious, yes, I am still working. I worked up all the way up until Talan's birth, and I'm doing the same thing now. It really keeps me on my toes and it keeps my mind off of how anxious I am to meet our daughter.

So anyhow, that's basically what's going on in the mound ... anticipation. Naturally I will keep you all updated ... duh, it is a blog! Poppa Morgan has volunteered to be a guest blogger after the baby's birth so that should be interesting. I can see myself now over his shoulder trying to dictate every word he writes. I think he'll do fine though.

Well, I'm off to finish stuffing diapers and folding prefolds, what fun!

Sciatica Aniela

Our darling daughter Aniela, who is all snuggly within my womb, has somehow managed to position herself so that she is pressing against my sciatic nerve. Now, when I was pregnant with Mr. T, he would bump against the nerve from time to time and cause a sharp pain to shoot down my leg, but the little lady has actually somehow managed to put constant pressure on the nerve, something I haven't dealt with before. I will say that it is highly, highly uncomfortable. My left side, from my lower back, down, is feeling quite a bit painful. Poppa Morgan has attempted to help the situation, only to make it worse. A little while ago he thought that maybe poking at our little girl would get her to move off of the nerve ... not so much. Each time he poked at her she just moved and pressed against it even more. I told him that I appreciate his services but that I would rather just deal with the situation at hand instead of having him poke and prod at not only our child, but me as well. I am very tired and thought that I would call it a night early tonight, but I don't see that happening as no matter how I turn, whether laying down or sitting up, I just can't get very comfortable. I have even tried laying on my really big pregnancy pillow but to no avail. Poppa Morgan has said that he will sit up with me though I told him that he doesn't have to. But, it is good to have some company while I attempt to amuse myself into a state of extreme sleepiness to the point that I won't care if I'm hurting or not because I will be so tired. Hopefully this bout of "Sciatica Aniela" will pass soon.

34 Weeks

No, that's not the title of a movie, that's how far along I am in my pregnancy now.


My midwife did another visit with us today and little miss Aniela is doing great. She is approximately a little over 5 lbs. in weight now and is as active as ever. She is also still in the breech position. I'm not worried about it though. My midwife keeps reassuring me and keeping me uplifted about the situation, which is definitely something I need, and she told me that breech homebirths do occur and though they can be a bit more difficult, they are possible. However things go, I have faith in God and my body that we can bring this little girl into the world safely.

Talan certainly enjoyed himself today during my midwife's visit. I love that he can be so involved in what is happening during this pregnancy. My midwife is great including him too. Today she let him tinker around with her fetoscope which is what she uses to listen to the baby's heartbeat. Mr. T thought it was just the greatest thing! I don't think he even heard anything because the earpieces were everywhere except in his ear canals, but he enjoyed himself nonetheless. Poppa Morgan took some photos for Aniela's "first year of life" book that we will make (we did one for Mr. T as well). Poppa is using a camera about as much as I do nowadays.

I often wonder if he understands what it is going on. I think that he understands that there is something inside of my belly moving that makes him giggle whenever he feels it, but I often wonder if when we say "baby" and point to my belly, or sign baby, that he understands that there is an actual baby inside of me. Only he knows for sure. Regardless, he certainly enjoying feeling his little sister's kicks and sometimes I can be sitting down and unconsciously rubbing at my belly, and he will walk up and pat it a few times. If she moves and he feels it, then most of the time he'll giggle and run away, LOL!

I can't believe how close we are to meeting our daughter. Approximately six weeks to go before the bun in the oven is done!

Wordless Wednesday - Impatiently Waiting

Thanks to Poppa Morgan for capturing this moment!
I did the editing, though!

32 Week Midwife Visit

Well, today I had my 32 week visit from my midwife. Since with Aniela I will be having a home waterbirth, she comes to our home for my appointments. One thing I can say that I love about her is that she is very thorough in every aspect and explains exactly what she is going to do, even though it is basically the same thing with each visit. She has a great sense of humor too, which is also a plus.

Anyway, today was the same typical routine; blood pressure check, blood sugar check, then she measures my fundal height. Next she generally listens to the baby's heartbeat, and then she does those good ol' belly palpitations ... what fun! LOL! For urine tests, blood tests, and things of that nature, if she feels they are needed, I go in to her office.

For me, with this pregnancy, I decided to cut out ultrasound with the exception of one. With Talan, since he was our first child, I was a worry wart and had as many ultrasounds as I could, but I have since educated myself. With Aniela, I have had one ultrasound to see what her sex was. During that one ultrasound, my midwife did a very thorough check of everything. "Well, since we're going to do one, we may as well make good use of the one," is what she said, and I agreed. It may have only been one ultrasound, but it could have been that one time that we found something that we didn't know about. Thank God everything was fine and our little girl, and myself, are both very healthy ladies.



Everything went pretty well today. My blood pressure and everything were just fine. My fundal height is right where it should be, and I am holding steady with a 27 lb weight gain, which is how much it was during our last visit. Miss Aniela is doing great. Her heart rate is wonderful and she weighs about 4 lbs. There is one thing though: at my 28 week visit, Aniela had decided that she would turn in the breech position. Well, she's still in that position. My midwife has told me not to worry as she still has plenty of time to turn, and that some baby's don't turn until birth. It's kind of hard not to worry, but I leave it in God's hands. Let's face it, it could be worse. She's a healthy baby girl who is growing as she should be, and that in itself is a blessing. Hopefully she'll turn her little tucus around!

Aniela vs. Aneilia

Since announcing the name of our upcoming arrival, Aniela Grace, I have received a few messages and comments about how the name may be mispronounced and confused with the name Anielia, so I thought I would do a comparison of the two names and break them down to show the differences in pronunciation and spelling.

Aniela

Aneilia

First of all, note the the difference in the arrangement of the n, e, i, and l in both of the names. This is what I believe people are confusing. You have to remember that the name "Neil" is an exception to the "i before e" rule, hence why Aniela would more than likely be pronounced as "On-yell-a" or "Ann-yell-ah", the latter being how we will be pronouncing it. In order for our girl's name to be pronounced "A-Kneel-ya", we would need to have "N-E-I-L" in that particular order. Also, the ending of the name would have to be different, as I'm about to show.

Aniela

Aneilia

Note the ending of the two names. Aniela ends with just "a" which makes the "ah" sound, while Aneilia ends with "ia" which makes the "ya" sound ... definitely not the same thing.

Hopefully this helps those who are confused and think it will be mispronounced. Upon showing it to my family and friends, all of them pronounced it correctly off the bat, prior to me telling them that we would be pronouncing it as "Ann-yell-ah." Remember too that this name has many origins, and we're using the Italian pronunciation. Nonetheless, upon looking into the name more, I have only seen it pronounced two ways when spelled as A-N-I-E-L-A, and those would be the pronunciations that I gave earlier. Not to say that there aren't people who pronounce it the other way, but I have personally not seen it to be pronounced that way with the spelling we are using. I even found the name Niela, which is our little ones name without the "A" on the front, and it is pronounced "Knee-yell-ah," not "Neil-ya." I apologize for the grammar lesson, but I felt the need to clarify. Other than an almost (but not quite) similar spelling, the dialect used to pronounce the two names is completely different. I do understand that many people come from different places and pronounce things differently though, so hopefully this blog has helped those of you who were a bit confused.