I'm pleased to present the final birth story of the year.  Jennifer was able to have the natural, drug-free labor she wanted using HypnoBirthing.  With the support of her husband and a doula, she was able to overcome obstacles that nearly prevented her from delivering naturally.  Without further ado, here is Jennifer's story, and a very Happy New Year to you all! 

I was due with my first baby on May 24, 2009. We were ready for a natural labor, and had been taking Hypnobirthing classes and meeting with our doula. 40 weeks came and went, as well as 41 weeks. By 41 weeks and 5 days, I was sweating bullets. I was scheduled to be induced on the morning of my 42nd week (thanks to Dr. Dunn who let me go that far!), and I did NOT want to be induced. Finally, I woke up at midnight (12 am on Friday, June 5), and was having strong surges. I let Adam sleep, and I tried to sleep through the surges for as long as possible, listening to my HypnoBirthing CD the whole time. I got up and took a shower, got the rest of my hospital bag ready, and then got back into bed and started timing the surges. At about 4 a.m., I woke Adam up. My surges were still irregular, but about 2-3 minutes apart, and lasting 1 minute long. They were very tolerable at this point... I had been listening to the cd for the last 4 hours, and it had really helped. We called our doula at 5 a.m. She got to the house at 5:45. I was hoping to labor as long as possible at home, and that was her plan, too, but she took the baby's heartbeat and said it was a little bit slow. She was concerned, and suggested we go to the hospital right then to be able to monitor the baby, just in case. We drove from Vista to Scripps La Jolla which took about 40 minutes, but seriously seemed like 10, thanks to HB. I was also hooked up to a TENS unit which my doula gave me. Adam told me that I looked like I was asleep the whole car ride. When we got to the hospital, the staff didn't think anything was going on because I was calm and relaxed. But, when they triaged me, I was at 6 cm dilated and 100% effaced! Yay! They were pretty surprised. I was really excited, because up until this point, everything had gone so smoothly and quickly, and was very tolerable...

 
It didn't take me long to reach a 7 cm dilation. I labored in the shower for a while and got in different positions which my doula suggested. After about 2 hours in the hospital, I was at an 8, and I started feeling a lot more pressure. At that point, though, things started to slow down. I kept laboring, and my doula kept getting me moving in different positions. I listened to my cd and used my TENS unit throughout all of it. The RN came in and checked me and noticed that I had a cervical lip. She tried to massage it out so that the cervix could keep dilating. It took about an hour for the cervix to dilate again. Then, another obstacle... in spite of all my efforts and diligence to keep good posture during my last 6 weeks of pregnancy and keep the baby anterior (and it was up until this point), the baby decided to turn posterior. At this point, my doula got behind me on the bed and used the Rebozo technique to move the baby. This was the most uncomfortable point of the labor. With every surge, she would move my belly with a shawl and try to turn the baby. After about an hour, the baby turned anterior (I would find out later how crucial this step was). At about 3 p.m. (yes, I'd been admitted at 6:45 a.m.), the MD came in and told me I was fully dilated and could push! Music to my ears! It had been such a long day...
 
I tried to breathe the baby down for 2 hours. I was in multiple positions... on the squatting bar, on hands and knees, squatting on the floor, with my belly up against the back of the bed. After those 2 hours, the baby still hadn't descended at all. The RN came in at this point and told me that they only let people push for 3 hours before they call it quits, and that if I didn't push this baby out by myself in that time, I'd have to have a C-section. She meant business. My doula told me at that point that I was going to have to do purple pushing. 2 hours later, the baby was FINALLY crowning. This was after 2 hours of the nurse encouraging me on every push. I was so frustrated and so exhausted. At this point, another nurse, 2 midwives, and the MD came in. They told me that I had 2 options (it was 7:30 p.m.)... I could keep pushing on my own, but would probably be too exhausted, or, the MD could use the vacuum on my final pushes. We decided to use the vacuum because there really was no other choice. I did not want to have a C-section, and it was a close call. Finally, after 3 pushes with the vacuum, my baby was born... and it was a BOY! (We didn't know previously). A surprise to us all, the baby was 9 pounds, 9 oz! The ultrasound I had had the day prior said the baby was small, measuring about 6 1/2 pounds! So, not only was it a huge baby, but he had a nuchal hand, came out with part of his shoulder, and had a cord around his neck. No wonder it was so difficult to push him out! After they realized how big he was, they all said I wouldn't have been able to push him out on my own. So, finally, after 15 hours of active labor and 5 hours of pushing without medication, we had our baby! It was long and I was exhausted, but I felt like the labor was very tolerable because of Hypnobirthing and my doula. I wouldn't change anything about my birth plan, and I was so happy with my results. There are no words to describe how amazing the moment is when you first hold your baby!

Thank you to everyone who came to the Mother/Daughter day on Saturday.  We've sold over 50 copies of Prudent Advice so far, and Jaime was kind enough to sign a few more books here in the store, so if you couldn't make it last weekend, stop by the boutique soon or visit our website to pick up your copy!  I personally bought one for each woman in my family- now 1/3 of my Christmas shopping is done, and the stack of books looks ridiculously good on my desk.  Matches my Jonathan Adler boxes perfectly! 

Above is a sweet little video of Jaime's book launch last month in LA at The Little Seed.  It's really fun and well made, so I thought you'd like it!

Danielle, who was lucky enough to win the Eric Carle gift bag, told Jaime, "I love Prudent Baby!"  She's been an avid follower of the site for many months, and she's even made a few of the easy-to-sew patterns on the blog for her daughter, Violet.  Prudent Baby (DIY's for Small Fries) is devoted to providing moms with unique recipes, paper craft and party ideas, art activities for kids,  and giveaways. "Email them to me and I'll post pictures on the blog!" Jaime told her.  I read the blog everyday and I'm not even a mom, so crafty and prudent mamas out there will adore Prudent Baby. 

Tiffany from Chic-a-Boo brought a rainbow of cute hats, bows and tutus that we are lucky enough to now have fully stocked in the shop.  Her beautiful, sequined, flowered hats and hairclips make great stocking stuffers.  A customer in the shop today said, "I'm not really a girly girl, but how cute is this?!", as she arranged the pink headband adorned with a gerbera daisy on her baby's head.

I brought a selection of Marlo Noël toddler crystal bracelets to the event, which sparkled very nicely in the sun.  The bracelets are handmade (by me, of course) with sterling silver beads, charms, and heart clasps, and Swarovski crystals.  They can be customized to be a different length, special colors, and with whichever charm you or your little one prefers.  We'll have these on the website very soon, but until then, stop by Babies by the Sea to pick one up for the holidays.

Sara from Vignette Patisserie made us some amazing mini pumpkin and carrot cupcakes- made with real pumpkin (she scooped out the pumpkin herself, people!) and carrots.  Organic and delicious?  Lucky us.  It was really hard not to eat just one; just ask Scarlet (pictured behind her mom, Jaime).  I'm really wishing for a couple of those right now. 

Shawna from Zane Leslie set up a plethora of vintage, reworked jewelry.  She had some really neat antique lockets (Nana would love one of those, right?) and a manzanita branch filled with different beaded necklaces.  You can find Zane Leslie jewelry here in the store, but her one of a kind pieces sell out quickly, so if you love one, buy it!

Rachel and Crystal from Teamotions sampled all six flavors of their delicious tea for everyone.  We now carry Teamotions in the store (coming soon to the website!), and we've had a great response.  We have sealed bags to smell each of the teas in, and everytime I show them to a customer, I must smell each one I offer them.  They both smell and taste amazing, while having phenomenal health benefits.  They told us the Enjoy Rest Cinnamon Apple Chamomile Tea would calm both you and your baby if you're a nursing mom.  Rachel said, "No, seriously, it works.  We tell people not to drink this before heading to work or operating any heavy machinery, as it might just put them to sleep."  I might have to bring some for my 5 and 3 year old nephew and niece when I babysit tomorrow night- I can tell them it's apple cider!  Brilliant.  We even have these beautiful glass teapots and strainers so you can admire the lovely tea as it steeps.  I know I've already told you all of the above would make great Christmas gifts, but you have lots of people on your list, so, you could make a gift basket with a few different teas and teapot for that tea lover in your life. 

Well, we had a great time Saturday, and we hope you did, too!  We'll see you at the next Babies by the Sea event...

Housepoet's Famous Lactation Boosting Chocolate Chip & Flaxseed Oatmeal Cookies

Makes 6 dozen cookies.
Prep time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup (organic) butter
• 1 cup (organic) brown sugar
• ½ cup (organic) white sugar
• 4 Tablespoons water
• 2 Tablespoons flaxseed meal*
• 2 large eggs (Farmer's market eggs are the best)
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• 2 cups (Bob's Red Mill*) flour (if using whole wheat cut down to 1 ½ cups)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt (Himalayan salt has great health benefits*)
• 3 cups oats (thick cut if you can get them)
• 1 cup or more chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons of brewer’s yeast* (be generous)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Mix together 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal and water, set aside for 3-5 minutes. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time, mix well.

Stir flaxseed mixture and add with vanilla to the butter mix. Beat until blended. Whisk together dry ingredients, except oats and chips. Add to butter mixture. Stir in oats, then chips. Scoop or drop onto baking sheet, preferably lined with parchment paper or a Silpat.

The dough will be a little crumbly, so it helps to use a scoop. Bake 8-12 minutes, depending on size of cookies.

_{*Can be found at any local health food store
*Note* It must be Brewer's Yeast, no substitutions}

Recipe courtesy of Lactation Consultant Shari Silady, who said: "I made these for a friend who's having supply issues and they were so flippin' good. You can feel yourself lactating as you nibble on them ;) If you don’t like chocolate, you can substitute carob chips, raisins, butterscotch chips, or make them savory with basil or thyme. Make them gluten free with rice flour and gluten free oats from Bob's Red Mill."

Thank you, Shari - these were indeed delicious, and I'm not even a lactating mother!

Thank you to Noemi Duenas for helping families properly install car seats today! We learned that:

• -96% of car seats in San Diego are installed incorrectly
• -Rear-facing car seats are 5 times safer for children between 1-2 years
• -Children should be rear-facing in their car seats for a minimum of 2 years, but 3 is better
• -Our new Sunshine Kids Radian XTSL car seats support rear-facing children up to 45 lbs., and forward-facing up to 80 lbs.
• …and so much more!

If you're interested in a car seat safety lesson, call us at 760.230.4272 and we'll let you know the next time we're having an event.

Thank you to the moms who replied to this blog- it was VERY hard to pick a winner! I had to read the posts 2 at a time with breaks in between because (being a pregnant and emotional mom, myself) I was overwhelmingly touched by the responses. Narrowing down to one winner was a serious feat!

I will be emailing the winner by morning. If you did not win the free breakfast, I would like to thank you for participating by offering 10% off the brunch delivery, if you would like to have brunch delivered. Please let me know (858.248.3413/julie@diningdetails.com) before the end of the day on Thursday. Julie Frans, Chickpeas